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Faithfulness to the Light and the Divine Call · Sri Aurobindo Studies

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  People have an inner commentary and soundtrack going on
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  virtually constantly in their heads.
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  The soundtrack may be a piece of music they heard which keeps
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  repeating in their minds what is colloquially called an earworm.
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  It may also be something of far less enjoyment, such as a
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  constant ringing in the ears, tinnitus that can drive people
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  eventually to distraction, disrupt sleep and rest, and make
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  the individual tired and irritable.
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  With respect to the inner commentary or dialogue, there is
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  an evaluation process that goes on for everything that occurs
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  around 1:00. There are judgments, reactions
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  of anger or jealousy, which are not necessarily expressed
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  outwardly, but which are nevertheless sending thought
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  currents through the brain, perceptible to the mind.
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  Sometimes these thought currents begin to make suggestions for
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  how one should act or what one should do.
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  In some cases, the individual actually begins to listen to
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  these suggestions and to act upon them.
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  In other cases, the individual is able to recognize them as
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  essentially reactive traffic, responsive to the impressions
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  that the senses send to the brain, triggered due to these
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  sensations, and can thus be dismissed as just the running of
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  the brain. For those who have taken up a
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  spiritual sadhna, there's generally a time when they'd
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  learn meditation or practice concentration, mindfulness or
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  creation of Zen mind, which is quiet, aware, receptive but non
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  reactive. They are encouraged to observe
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  these thoughts, but not to let them carry one's attention off.
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  This is a difficult process at first, made easier with regular
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  practice. The sodic is not thereby immune
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  to such thoughts or feelings running through his mind.
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  Ideally, he is able to distance himself from them and observe
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  them without attachment or involvement.
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  However, when there is some obstacle, weakness or failure,
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  the thoughts come, whether in the form of self doubt or a form
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  of skepticism about the path or one's ability to follow it, or
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  in the divine aid. Just as with any other of these
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  various processes, the Sadak is asked to distance himself from
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  them. Sri Robindo adds another method
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  to the tools available to the Sadak in the form of
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  substitution. When thoughts of failure or
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  weakness arise, the sodak is asked to replace them with
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  thoughts of the longer term trajectory and the support of
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  the Divine. One can recall Sri Aurobindo's
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  dictum that he who chooses the infinite has been chosen by the
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  infinite. When we remove the ego
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  personality from the center of this equation, we see that we
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  need simply accept that the Divine has found a readiness in
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  the individual and has chosen him for this path.
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  Thus, the success or failure is not in the individual's hands
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  but in the grip of the Divine. This leads to an attitude of
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  patience, perseverance based on aspiration, and a sense of
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  grateful receptivity. Shiro Bindu observes.
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  Quote the great need in all crises and attacks to refuse to
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  listen to any suggestions, impulses, lures, and to oppose
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  to them all the call of the truth, the imperative beckoning
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  of the light in all doubts and depressions, to say I belong to
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  the Divine. I cannot fail to all suggestions
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  of impurity and unfitness to reply.
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  I am a child of immortality chosen by the Divine.
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  I have but to be true to myself and to Him the victory is sure.
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  Even if I fell, I would rise again to all impulses to serve
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  some smaller ideal to reply. This is the greatest, this is
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  the truth that alone can satisfy the soul within me.
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  I will endure through all tests and tribulations to the very end
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  of the Divine journey. This is what I mean by
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  faithfulness to the Light and the Call.
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  End Quote. Reference.
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  Sri Robindo and the Mother, Looking from Within, Chapter 4,
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  Ordeals and Difficulties, pages 97 to 98.