Sri Aurobindo. The Hour of God // SABCL.- Vol 17

Sri Aurobindo

The Hour of God

and other writings

IV. Thoughts and Aphorisms

Words of The Master [4]

These are phrases from some letters and notes that were arranged as if they were a solid text. For this end many phrases were fery freely distorted. This is a one of the most disgusting editorials' treatment of original texts.

Ours is an integral mission, essentially religious and spiritual, but whose field for application is the whole of life. Our aim of aims is to change the whole normal human being into its divine type.

Our Sadhana stands upon Karmayoga with Jnana and Bhakti.¹

We have to get rid of the past Karma in ourselves and others which stands in our way and helps the forces of kaliyuga to baffle our efforts.²

Success must not elate our minds nor failure discourage us³.

We are working for a general renovation of the world, by which the present European civilisation shall be replaced by a spiritual civilisation.⁴

In that change, the resurrection of the Asiatic races and specially of India is an essential point.⁵

It is only by a wide Vedantic movement... that the work of regeneration can be done.⁶

A strong spiritual foundation is necessary.

What we are within, our karmas and kriyas will be without.⁷

The Mother demands a pure ādhāra for her works.⁸

Let us not try to hurry her by rājasika impatience; that will only delay the success instead of hastening it.⁹

Try to see God in all and the Self in all.¹⁰

Every ascetic movement since the time of Buddha has left India weaker and for a very obvious reason. Renunciation of life is one thing, to make life itself, national, individual, world-life greater and more divine is another. You cannot enforce one ideal on the country without weakening the other. You cannot take away the best souls from life and yet leave life stronger and greater. Renunciation of ego, acceptance of God in life is the teaching of our Yoga — no other renunciation.¹¹

Put faith in God and act.¹²

The first and supreme object now is to put forward the Adhyatma Yoga for practice in life. The spread of the idea is not sufficient; we must have real Yogins.¹³

A collective Yoga is not like a solitary one; it has a collective soul.¹⁴

The first discipline necessary is self-discipline, ātma-samyama. The first element in that is obedience to the law of the Yoga. All difficulties can be conquered, but only on condition of fidelity to the Way. There is no obligation on anyone to take it; but once taken, it must be followed or there can be no progress or success. Difficult and trying is the Path — it is the way for heroes and strong souls, not for weaklings. Remember the true basis of the Yoga. It is not founded upon the vehement emotionalism of the current bhakti-mārga — though it has a different kind of bhakti, but it is established on samata and ātma-samarpana. Obedience to the divine Will, not assertion of self-will is the very first mantra. There can be no complete utsarga, if there is any kind of revolt or vehement impatience¹⁵.

Revolt and impatience means always that there is a part of the being or something in the being which does not submit, has not given itself to God, but insists on God going out of His way to obey it. All that may be very well in the ordinary bhakti-mārga, but it will not do in the adhyātma yoga. The revolt and impatience may come and will come in the heart or the Prana, when these are still subject to imperfection and impurity; but it is then for the Will and the Faith in the buddhi to reject them, not to act upon them. If the Will consents, approves and supports them, it means that you are siding with the inner enemy; and every time it is done, the enemy is strengthened and the Shuddhi postponed. This is a difficult lesson to learn, but every Yogin must learn it, thoroughly. It is hard, very hard indeed to know even the principle well enough; it is a hundred times harder still to master the lower nature in this respect. Only do not associate yourself with the enemy 'Desire'!¹⁶

Only consciously and fully assist the Master in the work of purification.

These are the keywords of our Yoga.

Shuddhi is the most difficult part of the whole Yoga; it is the condition of all the rest. If that is once conquered, the real conquest is accomplished. The rest becomes a comparatively easy building on an assured basis, — it may take longer or shorter time, but it can be done tranquilly and steadily. To prevent the śuddhi the lower nature in you and around you, will exhaust all its efforts, and even when it cannot prevent, it will try to retard. And its strong weapon then is, when you think you have got it, suddenly to break in on you and convince you that you have not got it, that it is far away, and so arouse disappointment, grief, loss of faith, discouragement, depression and revolt, the whole army of troubles that wait upon impure Desire. When you have once found calm, peace of mind, firm faith, equality and been able to live in it for some time, then and only then, you may be sure that śuddhi is founded; but you must not think it will not be disturbed. It will be, so long as your heart and Prana are still capable of responding to the old movements, have still any memory and habit of vibrating to the old chords. The one thing necessary when the renewed trouble comes, is to stand back in your mind and will from it, refuse it the sanction of your higher being, even when it is raging in the lower nature. As that habit of refusal forces itself — at first that may not be successfully done, the Buddhi may be lost in the storm- gradually it will be found that the aśuddhi, even though it still returns becomes less violent, more and more external, until it ceases to be anything more than a faint and short-lived touch from outside and finally comes no more. Thus have the pioneers to hew their way through the jungle of the lower Prakriti¹⁷.

Thus, have they to prepare themselves, who dare share the spiritual burden of the Master and are chosen in any degree to lead, help and guide others on the same way.

These must not be cowards and shirkers who refuse the burden and c1amour for everything to be made quick and easy for them. The master demands strong men and not emotional children. The master demands endurance, firmness, heroism – true spiritual heroism; — demands manhood and then divine-man- hood too¹⁸.

Shraddha is necessary in two things: — śaktyam bhagavatī co, in the Lord and his Shakti. There must be faith in the love and wisdom of God, fulfilling Himself through us, fulfilling our life-work, working out all for our good even when it is apparently veiled in evil; and there must be faith in the power of the Shakti manifested by Him in this ādhāra to sustain, work out and fulfil the divine knowledge, power and joy in the Yoga and in the life. Without Shraddha, there is no Shakti; imperfect Shraddha means imperfect Shakti. Imperfection may be either in the force of the faith or in its illumination. It is sufficient at first to have full force of the faith, for we cannot from the beginning of the Yoga have full illumination. Then, however we err or stumble, our force of faith will sustain us. When we cannot see, we shall know that God with- holds the light, imposing on us error as a step towards knowledge, just as he imposes on us defeat as a step towards victory.¹⁹

There is no reason for. . . . I never nowadays act on reasons, but only as an automation in the hands of another; sometimes He lets me know the reasons of my action, sometimes He does not, but I have to act or refrain from action — all the same, according as He wills.²⁰

The light of reason always fails with me, or if it succeeds momentarily, brings some coarse result afterwards.²¹

It must be understood. that my mission is not to create maths, ascetics and Sannyasis; but to call back the souls of the strong to the Lila of Krishna and Kali.²²

The present struggle is to make the spirit prevail over matter and circumstances.²³

Our progress is like the advance of a modern regiment under fire in which we have to steal a few yards at a run and then lie down under cover and let the storm of bullets sweep by. Every forward step to be made is violently combated and obstinately obstructed.²⁴

The real difficulty is to bring force, sureness and rapidity into the application of power and knowledge to life, — specially sureness, for it is possible to bring the sureness and rapidity, but if not attended by unfailing sureness of working, they may lead to great errors in knowledge and great stumbles and disasters in action which counteract the successes.²⁵

On the other hand, there is only a slow preparation for further progress. It is so likely to be slow, if sureness has to be gained only by not stepping except where everything is sure. This is a dilemma which has to be solved.²⁶

How indeed should we think the nations of Europe could have carried their war to an end, if they had grown too impatient of the fatigue of the trenches, suffering, disturbance, scarcity continual postponement of the result and declared that either they must have victory in a given time or throw up the struggle? We must not expect the inner war with our lower selves, the personal habit of thousands of lives and the human inheritance of ages, to be less arduous or to be carried out by a rapid and easy miracle.²⁷

You cannot expect the śuddhi or any part of the siddhi to be simultaneous and complete at once in all of you. One may attain, others progress, others linger. You must not expect a sudden collective miracle.²⁸

I have not come here to accomplish miracles, but to show, lead the way, help, in the road to a great inner change of our human nature, — the outer change in the world is only possible if and when that inner transmutation is effected and extends itself. You must not expect to establish a perfect samgha all at once and by a single leap.²⁹

Go forward calmly and firmly, not attached to success, not disturbed by unsuccess; my divine help will then never fail you.³⁰

Outer work is bound to be much embarrassed by difficulties, it is at best only a preparatory thing, until we are inwardly and spiritually ready. That is no reason why it should not be done. Work done in the right spirit will itself become a means of the inner siddhi.³¹

Specially get rid of the aham kartā element, which usually disguises itself under the idea, "I am the chosen Yantra". Despise no one, see and feel God in all and the Self in all. The Shakti in you will then act better on your materials and environment.³²

If you could make yourselves entirely pure instruments, things would go better.³³

The work can only succeed if I find noble and worthy helpers, fitted for it by the same struggles and the same endurance.³⁴

¹ SABCL, vol 28, P.428