Latest / Sri Aurobindo Studies / Consecrating Oneself Entirely to the Divine Life Represents the Way Forward for the Seeker Against All Doubt, Opposition and Negativity

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Consecrating Oneself Entirely to the Divine Life Represents the Way Forward for the Seeker Against All Doubt, Opposition and Negativity · Sri Aurobindo Studies

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  The spiritual path tends to breed considerable opposition
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  from friends, family and associates because it takes the
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  seeker along an entirely different line of development
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  that does not necessarily meet the expectations of those
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  people. It is a path less travelled.
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  It is not infrequent that appeals are made to the seeker
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  to accept the normal mode of life of the society.
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  Get a career, earn money, start a family, relate to friends and
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  family on the normal superficial level that focuses on
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  entertainment, distraction, socializing, gossip, and
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  comparing oneself on external factors to others.
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  With appeals to following the family traditions and supporting
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  the family. The seeker is berated for
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  declining in favor of spiritual development.
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  In many cases, they are treated as mentally imbalanced and
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  subjected to pressure for psychological review and
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  counselling. In the more general society,
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  spiritual seekers are frequently treated as odd, out of sync with
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  the society and its objectives, and maligned for the life
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  choices they make. There can be instances of
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  bullying, social shaming, et cetera, for their failure to
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  make something of themselves. If the seeker pays attention to
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  all of this negativity, he may continually experience episodes
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  of self doubt, depression, or concern that somehow they are
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  not doing what they should be doing.
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  The seeker's vital nature, seeking for excuses to obtain
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  positive affirmation from the social world around them or for
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  gratification of various desires, may accentuate these
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  doubts to disrupt the continuity, focus and intensity
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  of the efforts. When a seeker is called to the
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  spiritual path, he needs therefore to become impervious
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  to the negative comments and pressure and remain focused and
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  fixed on the spiritual objective.
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  Mixing spirituality with any other mental, vital or physical
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  motive or purpose creates the opening for these doubts and
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  distractions to take hold, the Dhammapada states Quote.
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  As the elephant on the battlefield endures the arrow
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  shot from the bow, so also shall I patiently bear insult.
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  For truly there are many of evil mind in the world.
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  End Quote. The mother notes quote the verse
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  gives some very wise advice. The war elephant who has been
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  well trained does not start running away as soon as he
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  receives an arrow. He continues to advance and
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  bears the pain with no change in his attitude of heroic
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  resistance. Those who wish to follow the
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  true path will naturally be exposed to the attacks of all
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  forms of bad will, which not only do not understand, but
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  generally hate what they do not understand.
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  If you are worried, grieved or even discouraged by the
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  malicious stupidities that men say about you, you will not
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  advance far on the way. And such things come to you not
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  because you are unlucky or because your lot is not a happy
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  one, but because, On the contrary, the Divine
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  consciousness and the Divine grace take your resolution
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  seriously and allow the circumstances to become a
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  touchstone on your way to see whether your resolution is
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  sincere and whether you are strong enough to face the
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  difficulties. Therefore, if anyone sneers at
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  you or says something that is not very charitable, the first
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  thing you should do is look within yourself for whatever
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  weakness or imperfection has allowed such a thing to happen,
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  and not to be disconsolate, indignant, or aggrieved because
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  people do not appreciate you at what you think to be your true
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  value. On the contrary, you must be
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  thankful to the Divine grace for having pointed out to you the
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  weakness or imperfection or deformation that you must
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  correct. Therefore, instead of being
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  unhappy, you should be fully satisfied and derive advantage,
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  a great advantage, from the harm that was intended against you.
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  Besides, if you truly want to follow the path and practice
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  yoga, you must not do it for appreciation or honour.
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  You must do it because it is an imperative need of your being,
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  because you cannot be happy in any other way.
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  Whether people appreciate you or do not appreciate you, it is of
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  absolutely no importance. You may tell yourself beforehand
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  that the further you are from ordinary men, foreign to the
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  ordinary mode of being, the less people will appreciate you quite
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  naturally, because they will not understand you.
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  And I repeat, it has absolutely no importance.
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  True sincerity consists in advancing on the way, because
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  you cannot do otherwise to consecrate yourself to the
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  Divine life, because you cannot do otherwise, to seek
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  transformation of your being and come out into the light, because
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  you cannot do otherwise, because it is the purpose of your life.
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  When it is like that, you may be sure that you are on the right
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  path. End Quote Reference Srioro Bindu
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  and the Mother Looking from Within, Chapter 5, Attitudes on
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  the Path, pages 170 to 172.