Latest / Sri Aurobindo Studies / The True Attitude of Sadhana

Transcript

The True Attitude of Sadhana · Sri Aurobindo Studies

• 0:00
  Most people act under the impulsion of their vital
• 0:03
  desires, physical wants and mental opinions, which are
• 0:08
  coloured by the society within which an individual lives and
• 0:12
  its established norms and expectations.
• 0:16
  When an individual takes up the spiritual life and attempts to
• 0:19
  live according to the Divine will, he is faced with the
• 0:23
  sometimes subtle and difficult question of how to distinguish
• 0:27
  between what we are moved to do by the make up of our ego
• 0:30
  personality, including the mental, vital and physical
• 0:34
  impulses that are the drives that propel most human activity
• 0:38
  in the world and the actual promptings of the Divine.
• 0:44
  Not every voice we hear in our minds represents the Divine
• 0:47
  will, nor does every impulsion we feel represent the true
• 0:52
  guidance we seek. As we deepen our inner sense of
• 0:56
  quietude and peace, we can begin to actually observe these
• 1:00
  impulsions or drives. We can identify the source,
• 1:05
  whether they come from one of the lower energy centers that
• 1:08
  Channel the physical and vital forces, or by pressure from
• 1:12
  outside being exerted on one of these centers.
• 1:15
  These are a clear sign of ego intervening in the process.
• 1:21
  There are useful practices that can help us to ferret out the
• 1:24
  source and energy behind any impulsion that comes, namely
• 1:29
  when resists the impulsion and uses the resultant build up of
• 1:33
  energy to identify the location and source.
• 1:38
  This can also be done as a thought experiment to look at
• 1:41
  the driving force of what we are seeking and ask ourselves does
• 1:46
  it satisfy some desire, some deeply hidden impulsion or fear?
• 1:51
  Does it further some ambition or seeking for any form of self
• 1:56
  aggrandizement, whether for the body, the life force or the
• 2:00
  mind? Does withholding the fulfilment
• 2:03
  of that force bring about frustration, anger, impatience,
• 2:08
  hatred, or any extremely aggressive state of mind,
• 2:12
  emotion or life force? In order to escape the the
• 2:18
  slavery of the desire soul, the seeker eventually must align
• 2:22
  with the psychic being, the true soul that is directly and
• 2:26
  completely turned toward the Divine.
• 2:29
  The promptings of the soul are generally quiet, do not bring
• 2:33
  disturbance, and take on the form of aspiration, receptivity,
• 2:39
  gratitude, and consecration. The psychic being has trust in
• 2:45
  the divine process and recognizes that human judgement
• 2:49
  and time frames are not the same as divine judgement and time
• 2:54
  frames. Sri Aurobindo notes quote not to
• 2:59
  impose one's mind and vital will on the Divine, but to receive
• 3:04
  the Divine's will and follow It is the true attitude of Sadhna.
• 3:09
  Not to say this is my right, want, claim, need, requirement.
• 3:14
  Why do I not get it? But to give oneself to surrender
• 3:20
  and to receive with joy whatever the Divine gives, not grieving
• 3:24
  or revolting is the better way. Then what you receive will be
• 3:31
  the right thing for you. End Quote Reference Sri
• 3:36
  Aurobindo Faces of Yoga, Chapter 2 Faith, Aspiration, Surrender
• 3:42
  page 23.