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Humility and Self-Confidence · Sri Aurobindo Studies

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  The play of the three gunas is active at all times in the life
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  we live. Here we may believe that the
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  aspiration or an act of consecration overcomes this
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  play. But if we examine closely, we
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  can see that in actuality even the quality of our sadhana, our
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  spiritual effort, is very much controlled and governed by
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  whichever guna is predominant at a particular time.
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  And they continue to fluctuate, moving us from one mood to
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  another. Along with these fluctuations,
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  it is thus a somewhat frequent occurrence that spiritual
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  aspirants shift from a mood of exuberance to one of depression
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  as they go from a powerful spiritual experience to a dry
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  period where everything seems to be going wrong and all the
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  weaknesses of the lower nature are asserting themselves.
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  When Rajas is in the ascendant, the seeker may feel that he is
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  highly advanced and a powerful sadak.
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  When Thomas takes over, he may feel overwhelmed and worried
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  about a lack of progress and capacity for the practice of the
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  yoga. The balanced approach comes
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  along with the rise of Satwa. The sadak then, may not become
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  overly confident nor overly depressed, but recognize rather
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  that both of these states are the result of the play of the
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  Gunas. This provides an opportunity for
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  the sodic to not waste energy in either puffing himself up nor
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  falling into a gloomy state of mental or vital paralysis.
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  In reality, all of this is taking place in the external
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  nature and the soul. The true self is not affected by
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  either. When the sodic can disentangle
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  himself from this play, take the standpoint of the witness
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  consciousness, and refocus his view on the spiritual path, he
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  finds that the higher force actually is at work all the time
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  to transform his consciousness. And these transitory changes due
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  to the play of the gunas have little or no essential meaning
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  and thus can be set aside so that the awareness is tuned to
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  the divine consciousness. Sriorobindo observes quote.
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  Humility is needful, but constant self depreciation does
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  not help. Excessive self esteem and self
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  depreciation are both wrong attitudes.
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  To recognize any defects without exaggerating them is useful, but
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  once recognized, it is no good dwelling on them always.
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  You must have the confidence that the divine Force can change
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  everything, and you must let the force work.
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  In Quote reference. Shrioro Bindu and the Mother,
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  Looking from Within, Chapter 2. Looking at Oneself and Others,
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  page 40.