Latest / Sri Aurobindo Studies / The Divine Must Always Come First for the Spiritual Seeker

Transcript

The Divine Must Always Come First for the Spiritual Seeker · Sri Aurobindo Studies

• 0:01
  From the time of our birth, we are directed and focused on the
• 0:05
  external reality of the material world.
• 0:08
  We are trained to pay attention to that existence, to develop
• 0:12
  opportunities, and to find ways to survive and thrive.
• 0:18
  Along the way, we get successes and failures, meet with positive
• 0:23
  results and with setbacks. We also get involved in
• 0:28
  interpersonal relationships and experience both the praise and
• 0:31
  the blame, the goodwill and the bad will, and experience all of
• 0:36
  the emotions and vital energies that arise in response to the
• 0:40
  circumstances we meet. When an individual takes up the
• 0:45
  spiritual life, he eventually needs to adopt A standpoint that
• 0:50
  refocuses his attention on the divine.
• 0:53
  This involves shifting from the external outward view to an
• 0:58
  inward and upward view. Once that begins to occur, he
• 1:03
  can recognize that all of the circumstances, all of the
• 1:07
  events, all of the good things and bad things that occur are
• 1:12
  just part of the normal life of the world, and they cannot and
• 1:16
  should not distract his attention elsewhere, Sri
• 1:21
  Aurobindo wrote, quote, live within, be not shaken by outward
• 1:27
  happenings. End Quote.
• 1:31
  An individual related his experience with this message at
• 1:35
  the time of the Mother's Maha Samadhi in November 1973.
• 1:40
  He was residing at the Srioro Bindu Ashram and was given the
• 1:43
  message the morning of the 17th of November.
• 1:46
  Coincident with receiving birthday blessings from the
• 1:49
  Mother, he fell into a deep inward state for the entire day
• 1:55
  and into the night. The next morning when he went to
• 1:58
  the ashram building, he saw all the lights on, people milling
• 2:03
  around everywhere, and learned then that the Mother had
• 2:07
  departed her physical body overnight.
• 2:11
  He remained in his deep inward state and recalled the message.
• 2:16
  Live within, be not shaken by outward happenings as something
• 2:21
  of a mantra working in him. For the next several days, he
• 2:25
  remained in that abstracted state and experienced the deep
• 2:28
  peace he had been granted rather than the grief that so many
• 2:34
  people came with when they gathered at the ashram after the
• 2:38
  mother's passing. Life always brings challenges,
• 2:44
  difficulties, oppositions and opportunities.
• 2:48
  Sri Aurobindo and the Mother had to face innumerable
• 2:51
  difficulties, including the pressure of the British Empire
• 2:55
  trying to suppress Sri Aurobindo in the days before he reached
• 2:59
  Pondicherry, the First and Second World Wars, and serious
• 3:05
  pressures to meet the financial needs of a growing community and
• 3:09
  the families while remaining focused on the spiritual work
• 3:13
  they were there to do. They provide us a clear example
• 3:17
  of how to engage with the world without being distracted or
• 3:21
  disturbed by the world. Sri Orobindo notes quote.
• 3:27
  Do not allow yourself to be shaken or troubled by these
• 3:30
  things. The one thing to do always is to
• 3:34
  remain firm in your aspiration to the Divine and to face with
• 3:38
  equanimity and detachment all difficulties and all
• 3:43
  oppositions. For those who wish to lead the
• 3:47
  spiritual life, the Divine must always come first.
• 3:51
  Everything else must be secondary.
• 3:56
  Keep yourself detached and look at these things from the calm
• 4:00
  inner vision of one who is inwardly dedicated to the
• 4:04
  Divine. End Quote.
• 4:07
  Reference Srioro Bindo, Bases of Yoga, Chapter 1, column Peace
• 4:13
  and Equality, pages 12 to 13.