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Addressing Obstacles, Difficulties and Resistances That Arise for the Spiritual Seeker · Sri Aurobindo Studies

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  Traditionally, spiritual paths have developed guidelines and
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  practices that are applied to everyone as set practices.
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  Thus, some people wind up learning particular forms of
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  meditation or concentration, devotion or dedicated work, or
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  they practice specific forms of Hatha yoga, pranayam, or other
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  specialized approaches to gaining mastery over the various
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  aspects of their being. The body, the life energy, the
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  mind, while developing the soul entity, the psychic being, and
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  coming into contact with the higher planes of existence
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  beyond the mind. While as a general protocol this
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  may yield success, the process does not take into account the
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  variations that can occur between individuals as to their
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  nature, temperament, habits, cultural background, variations
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  due to the constant fluctuations of the gunas, and even prior
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  life developments that impact the current incarnation.
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  They also do not take into account the need to focus on
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  different aspects of the being and different issues, obstacles
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  or resistances that occur at various times in one
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  individual's spiritual development.
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  All of these factors lead to a wide divergent in terms of the
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  way any individual needs to respond over time to
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  difficulties and obstacles that arise.
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  Srioro Bindo and the Mother take a more granular view of the
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  matter and work to have the seeker understand the various
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  sources of the resistance they are facing and then have them
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  apply appropriate methods to resolve those issues at their
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  source. This means that the same
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  individual, at various times of their spiritual practice, may
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  undertake A strict meditation form, may at another time move
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  into a devotional practice, and may take up one or another of
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  the yogic forms that are the hallmark of one path or another
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  for a period of time and for a specific intention and purpose.
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  In this way they will systematically address both the
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  needs of their own nature and the promptings of the spiritual
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  aspiration within them with insight, flexibility and
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  dedication. The transformation of human
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  nature is not an objective to be taken up lightly.
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  It is not something that occurs overnight, but requires patient,
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  persistent and dedicated effort over time.
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  The physical nature, the vital nature, the mental nature, all
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  have their own habitual patterns, grooves of response
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  that need to be addressed if any true and lasting change is to
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  take place. Trying to change human nature
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  has been likened to trying to straighten out a dog's tail.
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  It seems to always go back to its natural condition.
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  This however is a short sighted view rooted in the ego
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  personality. Over a span of what we may call
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  evolutionary time, Human nature can and does change.
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  Just as we can see mutations occur from one generation to
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  another in the physical being. The human individual today is
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  not quite the same as the human being 10,000 years ago.
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  We can expect further transformative change to
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  actually speed up now that many people are putting a conscious
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  focus and effort into that process.
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  What might otherwise take millennia may now be looked at
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  in terms of centuries beyond an individual lifetime.
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  Yes, but that does not mean that each individual should not
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  become part of the process and the change, and it does not mean
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  that all of the effort is without interim progress that
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  can become noticeable even within a single lifetime,
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  Fiorabindo writes. Quote.
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  There cannot be any high endeavour, least of all in the
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  spiritual field, which does not raise or encounter grave
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  obstacles of a very persistent character.
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  These are both internal and external, and although in the
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  large they are fundamentally the same for all, there may be a
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  great difference in the distribution of their stress or
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  the outward form they take. Yoga has always its
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  difficulties, whatever yoga it may be.
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  Moreover, it acts in a different way on different seekers.
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  Some have to overcome the difficulties of their nature
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  first before they get any experiences to speak of.
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  Others get a splendid beginning and all the difficulties
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  afterwards. Others go on for a long time,
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  having alternate risings to the top of the wave, and then a
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  descent into the gulfs, and so on till the difficulty is worked
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  out. Others have a smooth path, which
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  does not mean that they have no difficulties.
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  They have plenty, but they do not care a straw for them
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  because they feel that the Divine will help them to the
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  goal or that He is with them even when they do not feel Him.
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  Their faith makes them imperturbable.
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  End Quote. Reference Srioro Bindu and the
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  Mother Looking from Within, Chapter 4, Ordeals and
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  Difficulties, page 73.