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The Spiritual Seeker Needs to Live Within His Own Spiritual Atmosphere Not Dependent on Outer Circumstances · Sri Aurobindo Studies

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  When an individual takes up spiritual practice, he naturally
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  will try to find a space that is calm and quiet to aid his
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  contemplation, aspiration, or devotion.
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  The hustle and bustle of the external life is distracting to
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  the concentration, and all of the noise and all of the
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  pressures of that external life can make it difficult for the
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  seeker to achieve the needed steady, calm aspiration on a
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  consistent basis. Many seekers believe that they
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  cannot make spiritual progress unless the external environment
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  is calm and quiet. Spirituality cannot be
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  conditioned upon any particular outer circumstances.
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  Sri Krishna delivers his teaching to Arjuna on an actual
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  battlefield, which illustrates the need for the seeker to not
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  be affected by the outer circumstances, but rather to
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  create the spiritual readiness, awaken the aspiration, and
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  create the consecration within himself.
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  Regardless of outer circumstances, few are those
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  individuals who have the opportunity to live a life of
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  quiet contemplation, who reside in a monastery, cloister, or
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  ashram, or who have chosen to live isolated in the mountains
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  or the forests or the desert. Most people are living a life in
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  the world with family, friends, relations, societal needs,
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  employment, and all kinds of pressures from society.
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  These individuals may take an occasional time off through a
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  retreat, a workshop or a vacation of some sort which may
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  help to re center the energy if it has become distressed.
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  But the end result must eventually be that they carry
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  their spiritual atmosphere within themselves and can
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  proceed through all the potential distractions and
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  pressures without losing their inner balance or focus.
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  An individual can carry the spiritual atmosphere around with
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  him regardless of outer conditions.
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  In many instances, he can make conscious choices that help
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  create the optimum outer circumstances.
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  For instance, he can choose to remain home or go to a quiet
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  library rather than going out to a club or large noisy event of
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  some sort. Consciously determining,
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  whenever possible, where to be at any point in time can be an
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  aid without making this an actual determining factor for
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  creating one's own inner space of quiet aspiration and silent
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  spiritual focus. When such venue choices are not
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  possible, the individual should be able to continue on.
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  Nevertheless, with the sadhana Sri Orbindo notes quote, there
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  can be an intense but quiet aspiration which does not
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  disturb the harmony of the inner being.
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  Calm, discrimination, detachment but not indifference are all
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  very important, for their opposites impede very much the
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  transforming action. Intensity of aspiration should
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  be there, but it must go along with these.
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  No hurry, no inertia, neither rajasic overeagerness nor to
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  mausic discouragement, a steady and persistent but quiet call,
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  and working to remain quiet within, firm in the will to go
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  through, refusing to be disturbed or discouraged by
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  difficulties or fluctuations. That is one of the first things
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  to be learned in the Path. To do otherwise is to encourage
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  the instability of consciousness.
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  A spiritual atmosphere is more important than outer conditions.
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  If one can get that and also create one's own spiritual air
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  to breathe in and live in it, that is the true condition of
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  progress. You should realize that while
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  quiet surroundings are desirable, the true quiet is
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  within, and no other will give the condition you want.
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  End Quote. Reference Sri Aurobindo and the
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  Mother Looking from Within, Chapter 5, Attitudes on the
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  Path, pages 1:15 to 1:16.