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Second letter in "The Mother"
(Aspiration, Rejection, Surrender)
by Sri Aurobindo
In all that is done in the universe, the Divine through his Shakti is
behind all action but he is veiled by his Yoga Maya and works through
the ego of the Jiva in the lower nature.
In Yoga also it is the Divine who is the Sadhaka and the Sadhana; it is
his Shakti with her light, power, knowledge, consciousness, Ananda, acting
upon the Adhara and, when it is opened to her, pouring into it with these
divine forces that makes the Sadhana possible. But so long as the lower
nature is active the effort of the Sadhaka becomes necessary.
The personal effort required is a triple labour of aspiration,
rejection and surrender,
(1) an aspiration vigilant, constant, unceasing
- the mind's will, the hearts seeking, the assent of the vital being,
the will to open and make plastic the physical consciousness and nature;
(2) rejection of the movements of lower nature
- rejection of the mind's ideas, opinions, preferences, habits, constructions,
so that the true knowledge may find free room in a silent mind,
- rejection of the vital nature's desires, demands, cravings, sensations,
passions, selfishness, pride, arrogance, lust, greed, jealousy, envy,
hostility to Truth, so that the true power and joy may pour from above
into a calm, large, strong and consecrated vital being,
- rejection of the physical nature's stupidity, doubt, disbelief, obscurity,
obstinacy, pettiness, laziness, unwillingness to change, so that the true
stability of Light, Power, Ananda may establish itself in a body growing
always more divine;
(3) surrender of oneself and all one is and has and every plane
of the consciousness and every movement to the Divine Shakti.
In proportion as the surrender and self-consecration progress the Sadhaka
becomes conscious of the Divine Shakti doing the Sadhana, pouring into
him more and more of herself, founding in him the freedom and perfection
of the Divine Nature.
The more this conscious process replaces his own effort, the more rapid
and true becomes his progress.
But it cannot completely replace the necessity of personal effort until
the surrender and consecration are pure and complete from top to bottom.
Note that a tamasic surrender refusing to fulfill the conditions and calling
on the God to do everything and save one all the trouble and struggle
is a deception and does not lead to freedom and perfection.
Sri Aurobindo
In SABCL, volume 25, "The Mother and Letters
on the Mother" (pages 6-8)
The Mother has commented that text
on July 14, 1954
in CMW, vol. 6, "Questions and Answers - 1954",
pages 219-235
published by Sri
Aurobindo Ashram - Pondicherry
diffusion by SABDA
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