The mechanical thoughts that play in my mind do no more belong to me than the roaring of the sea. Both are movements in the Universal, both enter into my consciousness from the outside. Yet in my egoistic ignorance I identify myself with those thoughts; thus, my consciousness becomes clouded, and I am cut off from the higher Light.
So with the movements in the vital and the physical; they come from the outside, and through my identification with them obstruct the descent of the higher Power and Joy. There is something in me which still takes an interest in these movements; there is still such obscurity in me as identifies me with these movements; there is still much inertia and weakness in me, and I cannot always watch, discriminate and reject these movements of the lower Nature.
But as Thy ananda descends into me, the lower play diminishes in interest. Remove this ignorance and this weakness completely from me, Mother; give me more and more of Thy Light and Joy, and keep me occupied with Thy service, so that I may rise completely out of this lower life, and Thy divine rule may be established in me.
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The outward-going habit of the mind makes us liable to all sorts of disturbances; if only we can keep our mind always turned inwards to Thee, Mother, and habituate ourselves to receive all our ideas and inspirations from Thee, we shall be firmly established in calm and peace, which is the indispensable condition of all progress.
The outward running of the senses opens the door to the hostile forces, and constantly makes us liable to attack from the outside; if we can draw our senses inward and turn them to Thee, Mother, we shall taste the immortal joy which will enable us to conquer all temptations in the world.
The blind inertia of our physical nature makes us yield to influences of all kinds from the outside, and thus places us at the mercy of the evil forces; if we can open our will to Thee, Mother, and keep it alert with Thy light and power, nothing will be able to move us, except an impulse coming directly from Thee.
To open our whole nature to Thee, Mother, to check all outward tendencies in us, to constantly aspire to the higher life in Thee, to resolutely reject everything that is impure and undivine, undisturbed by all failure, undaunted by all difficulties however great or serious, — that is our sadhana which will steadily advance us towards the Life Divine.
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To rise above all human imperfections is the most difficult task that has ever been set before man. It is only under Thy direct guidance and protection, Mother, only by Thy special Grace that we can hope to attain that great achievement.
It is not sufficient that we have the right intention to reject all falsehood and accept only the Truth; we must strenuously carry it out in every detail at every moment of our life. Few men deliberately intend to be bad but hell, it is said, is paved with good intentions.
It is not sufficient that we refuse to invite the evil or even be unwilling to tolerate it; but there must not be any slackness in us to reject it integrally. Evils often come to us unasked and uninvited, and humbly seek a little shelter in some obscure corner, promising absolutely to do no harm. But if suffered thus to remain, they will grow in silence and obscurity, and one day rob us of all our treasure. We must resolutely prevent anything untrue or undivine even from approaching us. But how many can do this? Only those who have Thy special protection can hope to achieve this victory, great Mother.
Thou wilt show up whatever is untrue or undivine in us; Thou wilt give strength to our will to reject it integrally and persistently; Thou wilt support us with Thy infinite forbearance and love; only then can we hope to conquer all our imperfections and rise to the divine life, which is our destiny.
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It is no use worrying over the old movements that still persist in us; they will continue until our nature is fully transformed. We should calmly watch them as a part of a universal movement, persistently reject them as they occur in us, and wait in silence and perfect faith for the Grace of the Mother to conquer them completely.
But we must always remember that these old ignorant movements in the mental, the vital, and the physical, make us liable to the attack of the forces of falsehood. We should have sufficient strength of will always to deny them and resist their hostile suggestions; we should never allow ourselves to be careless or indolent as long as the rule of the Mother is not fully established in us.
We cannot altogether give up our thoughts and feelings and works; Nature will have her way. The best course is to connect all our movements, all our life with the Divine Mother. When we think, we should pray for her light to illumine our mind; when we work, we should pray for inspiration from her. At all times we should be able to turn towards the Mother. This must be our ideal, in whatever we do or think or feel we should try to keep in touch with the Mother.
Thus, we shall grow in faith and surrender, in peace and purity, and the Mother gradually descending into us will take up all our activities, all our life, and we shall attain the highest transmutation.
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Let my aspiration ceaselessly rise towards Thee, Mother; let me resolutely turn away from the lower life.
I will not tolerate indolence or laziness in me; on the other hand, I will not allow myself to be carried away by the restless craving for work. Always alert for Thy service, I will look up to Thee for inspiration, and whatever work Thou givest me I will do as Thy instrument regardless of consequence.
I will not tolerate any obscurity or darkness in me but I will not allow the restless activity of the doubting, reasoning mind to make my confusion worse. I will always keep myself open to Thy light and call it to illumine every obscure comer in me.
I will not discourage the yearning of my soul for beauty and love and joy; but I will firmly withhold the outward running of the senses. Freed from all egoistic hankering. I will peacefully accept whatever joy comes to me through Thy Grace; all the joys in the world that come to my lot, I will accept as a divine gift from Thee. Thus I will resolutely turn away from the lower nature and ceaselessly aspire to the divine life that Thou hast promised to me in Thy boundless love.
