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The Radiating Power of an Inner Transformative Force · Sri Aurobindo Studies

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  There are many methods that have been tried to shift ideas,
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  thoughts, motives, and actions in the world.
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  Some of these methods involve subtle or not so subtle use of
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  various forms of propagandizing, proselytizing, sermonizing, or
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  dominating others through use of covert or overt force, including
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  brute physical force, vital force, economic force, or mental
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  force. There are also those who harness
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  what we may call a religious force or a patriotic force, or a
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  force of belonging to a particular group.
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  At a broader level, all of these methods utilize external means
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  to cajole, convince, or bully others into accepting A
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  preferred way of thinking or acting.
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  The individual who chooses a different path may be
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  ostracized, bullied, harmed, tortured, denied opportunities,
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  or eliminated. It is interesting to note that
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  none of these forces have succeeded in the long history of
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  humanity, throughout the entire world and across numerous
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  cultures in preventing individual growth, progress and
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  development, which then eventually fed into the society
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  and brought about changes in the social order.
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  The trajectory of the evolution of consciousness has always
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  overcome and outlasted the short lived outer pressures of the
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  more external methods. Many of those who have employed
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  these external methods had good intentions and motivations to
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  create a better society, but along the way they chose a path
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  of coercion in one form or another as a means toward the
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  realization of their goals, adopting the sense that the end
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  justifies the means. There are other, quieter and
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  less visible ways to help others, and the world we live in
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  develop in ways that can benefit without oppression or violence.
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  We can see thinkers, artists, writers who have had a positive
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  influence through millennia simply by the expression of
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  their art, their music, their feelings and their ideas which
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  captured the imagination and understanding of people by
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  virtue of the value of those concepts.
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  We have seen great religious leaders who not only expressed
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  new ideas, but work to live out those ideals and create a core
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  group of individuals who tried to adopt them in their own
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  lives. Ideas such as non violence,
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  equality, freedom, harmony and goodwill have spread through
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  such means. In some cases we see individuals
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  whose ideas are not new, but who in their own being radiate the
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  joy, the simplicity, the empathy and harmony that others speak
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  about, and we are drawn to those individuals to simply bask in
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  the radiance of their aura. These individuals can in some
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  cases creates such a powerful atmosphere around them that
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  normally aggressive animals can coexist in peace.
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  There are legends of ancient Rishis who had lions or tigers
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  in their forest retreat who did not attack anyone or anything
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  while in that place. Individuals who came there felt
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  the sacred and deeply peaceful nature of the ashram and gained
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  a measure of peace themselves. The influence of radiating A
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  transformative energy cannot be directly measured, but as we see
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  with artists, philosophers, poets and musicians, the energy
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  carries itself out through time. In one of his aphorisms, Sri
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  Orobindo indicated that the French Revolution took place
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  because a Yogi living in a cave in the Himalayan Mountains
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  dreamed of freedom. The question of whether an
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  influence can circulate around the globe and through a span of
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  time is 1 which is occupied thoughtful individuals.
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  It becomes clear that when humanity is ready, ideas and
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  forces that have been in preparation, perhaps received,
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  experienced and transmitted by lonesome individuals, are able
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  to burst forth and bring about extraordinary opportunities for
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  human growth and development. The real issues that have
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  plagued humanity are not to be solved by physical, vital or
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  mental solutions. As a transitional being, man is
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  imperfect and the limitations of the currently evolved
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  instruments are visible. We have limited capacity for
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  seeing and understanding the complete picture of the
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  universal manifestation. We have imperfect vital
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  reactions that lead to the failures of all our systems with
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  expressions of greed, lust, vanity, pride, anger, and
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  hatred, et cetera. We have limited physical
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  capacities. It is by the evolution of the
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  next stage of the expression of consciousness that we can shift
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  our standpoint away from these limitations and find the
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  harmonizing factor that can unite them and resolve the
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  weaknesses. And it is thus that the seeker
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  can truly work to advance humanity and help to overcome
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  the darkness and ignorance that has contributed so much pain and
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  suffering on our developmental path.
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  The mother notes quote. If one sincerely wants to help
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  others and the world, the best thing one can do is to be
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  oneself, what one wants others to be, not only as an example,
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  but because one becomes a center of radiating power which, by the
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  very fact that it exists, compels the rest of the world to
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  transform itself. End Quote.
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  Reference Sri Aurobindo and the Mother.
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  Looking from Within, Chapter 2. Looking at Oneself and Others,
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  page 54.