Integral Yoga
THEME/S
AN OFFERING
A Compilation from the writings of
Sri Aurobindo and the Mother
SRI AUROBINDO SOCIETY
Puducherry- 605 002
First Edition: 2007
ISBN: 81-7060-259-9
Writings and Photographs of
Sri Aurobindo and the Mother are copyright
Sri Aurobindo Ashram Trust, Puducherry
Published by Sri Aurobindo Society, Puducherry
Printed at All India Press, Puducherry
PRINTED IN INDIA
This compilation of the words of Sri Aurobindo and the Mother was first conceptualised as an Exhibition.
It is being presented here as a book because many who visited the exhibition felt that a handy volume would be a help in their life and sadhana.
The selections have been taken from the Centenary edition of the Collected works of the Mother and the Sri Aurobindo Birth Centenary Library edition.
The chapter headings, the titles for the quotations as well as a few linking sentences (in italics in the book) have been given by the compilers.
Nature has been at work for millions and millions of years, creating numberless forms, constantly trying out, constantly exceeding her previous results.
In man she has created a being endowed with a conscious will and having within him the potentiality to leap forward to the next step in evolution. In the words of Sri Aurobindo:*
"... all life, when we look behind its appearances, is a vast Yoga of Nature attempting to realise her perfection in an ever - increasing expression of her potentialities and to unite herself with her own divine reality. In man, her thinker, she for the first time upon this Earth devises self-conscious means and willed arrangements of activity by which this great purpose may be more swiftly and puissantly attained."
And in this endeavour, there is the help from above, but there is also the need for man to strive to exceed himself.
"This transfiguration is earth's due to heaven:
A mutual debt binds man to the Supreme:
His nature we must put on as he put ours;
We are sons of God and must be even as he:
His human portion, we must grow divine."
The time to act is now, for we are living in an exceptionally privileged moment in the Earth's history, "The Hour of God ", when 'the breath of the Lord is abroad upon the waters of being', and 'even a little effort produces great results and changes destiny'.
If such a great and grand ideal is our aim, what is the process which will lead us to that end?
"Yoga is the union of that which has become separated in the play of the universe with its own true self, origin and universality."
"And according to the point of contact that we choose will be the type of the Yoga that we practise."
"The triple Path of Works, of Love, and of Knowledge uses some part of the mental being, will, heart or intellect as a starting-point and seeks by its conversion to arrive at the liberating Truth, Beatitude and Infinity which are the nature of the spiritual life."
One starts on this adventure as a sadhak, a worker for the Divine, for the Mother:
"...you have to regard yourself as a soul and body created for her service, one who does all for her sake. Even if the idea of the separate worker is strong in you and you feel that it is you who do the act, yet it must be done for her."
The next stage will come when one feels oneself to be an instrument:
"But a time will come when you will feel more and more that you are the instrument and not the worker."
The final stage will be the Supreme consummation:
"The last stage of this perfection will come when you are completely identified with the Divine Mother and feel yourself to be no longer another and separate being, instrument, servant or worker but truly a child and eternal portion of her consciousness and force."
Keeping this goal before us, let us tread the path of work armoured with patience, perseverance and an unfailing receptivity to the Grace.
Yoga
through work
is the easiest
and most effective way
to enter
into the stream
of this sadhana
Sri Aurobindo
Yoga through work
Yoga through work is the easiest and most effective way to enter into the stream of this Sadhana.
The activity of each moment
It is in the activity of each moment that we must serve Thee and identify ourselves with Thee rather than in deep and silent contemplation or in meditation, written or unwritten.
The Mother
Daily activity is the anvil
...the daily activity is the anvil on which all the elements must pass and repass in order to be purified, refined, made supple and ripe for the illumination which contemplation gives to them.
Running away
It is not by running away from the world that you will change it. It is by working there, modestly, humbly but with a fire in the heart, something that burns like an offering.
Work as offering
Consciousness develops best through work done as an offering to the Divine.
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Work is yoga
I make no difference between work and yoga. Work itself is yoga if it is done in a spirit of dedication and surrender.
The body's best prayer
Let us work as we pray, for indeed work is the body's best prayer to the Divine.
Praying with the body
To work for the Divine is to pray with the body.
Progress through work
One can progress through meditation, but through work provided it is done in the right spirit one can progress ten times more.
The surest means
Disinterested work done for the Divine: the surest means of progressing.
Becoming more plastic
But through work the nature becomes less rigid, more plastic and supple.
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Existence is an action
Man embodied in the natural world cannot cease from action, not for a moment, not for a second; his very existence here is an action; the whole universe is an act of God, mere living even is His movement.
Integral yoga is best done in work .
The more I go, the more I know that it is in work that Sri Aurobindo's integral yoga is best done.
Working for the Divine
Your object is not only to practise yoga for your internal progress and protection but also to do a work for the Divine.
Work as a test
Yes, obviously, that is one great utility of work that it tests the nature and puts the sadhak in front of the defects of his outer being which might otherwise escape him
Become aware
If you live closed up in yourself, without acting, you may live in a completely subjective illusion; the moment you externalise your action and enter into contact with others, with circumstances and the objects of life, you become aware absolutely objectively of
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whether you have made progress or not, Whether you are more calm, more conscious, stronger, more unselfish, whether you no longer have any desire, any preference, any weakness, any unfaithfulness - you can become aware of all this by working.
A field of experience
If you don't do anything, you cannot have any experience. The Whole life is a field of experience. Each movement you make, each thought you have, each work you do, can be an experience, and must be an experience; and naturally work in particular is a field of experience where one must apply all the progress which one endeavours to make inwardly.
A school of experience
Work can be of two kinds - the work that is a field of experience used for the sadhana, for a progressive harmonisation and transformation of the being and its activities, and work that is a realised expression of the Divine. But the time for the latter can be only when the Realisation has been fully brought down into the earth-consciousness; till then all work must be a field of endeavour and a school of experience.
Walking, working or speaking
Meditation is only a means or device, the true movement
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Keeping up the balance
To keep up work helps to keep up the balance between the internal experience and the external development; otherwise one-sidedness and want of measure and balance may develop. Moreover, it is necessary to keep the sadhana of work for the Divine because in the end that enables the sadhak to bring out the inner progress into the external nature and life and helps the integrality of the sadhana.
Preparing the way
For centuries and centuries humanity has waited for this time. It is come. But it is difficult. I don't simply tell you we are here upon earth to rest and enjoy ourselves, now is not the time for that. We are here... to prepare the way for the new creation.
Work, bhakti and meditation
I have always said that work done as sadhana - done, that is to say, as an outflow of energy from the Divine and offered to the Divine or work done for the sake of the Divine or work done in a spirit of devotion is a powerful means of sadhana and that such work is especially necessary in this yoga. Work, bhakti and meditation are the three supports of yoga. One can do with all three or two or one.
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A physical work is as indispensable to the balance of the body as food.
Yoga in action
The object of the sadhana is opening of the consciousness to the Divine and the change of the nature. Meditation or contemplation is one means to this but only one means; bhakti is another; work is another. Chitta - shuddhi was preached by the yogins as a first means towards realisation and they got by it the saintliness of the saint and the quitetude of the sage but the transformation of the nature of which we speak is something more than that, and this transformation does not come by contemplation alone; works are necessary, yoga in action is indispensable.
Forgetting oneself
"What is the easiest way of forgetting oneself ? "
Naturally that depends on each one; everyone has his special way of forgetting himself, which is the best for him. But obviously there is a fairly general method which may be applied in various forms: to occupy oneself with something else. Instead of being occupied with oneself, one may be busy with someone else or with others or some work or an interesting activity requiring concentration.
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My help
is always with you
to help you
in your progress
and your work.
The Worker -Work in the Ashram
Yoga is communion with God for knowledge, for love or for work.
The object of the Ashram
This Ashram has been created with another object than that ordinarily common to such institutions, not for the renunciation of the world but as a centre and a field of practice for the evolution of another kind and form of life which would in the final end be moved by a higher spiritual consciousness and embody a greater life of the spirit.
Cradle of the new world
The Ashram has been founded and meant to be the cradle of the new world.
Ardent aspiration
It is ages of ardent aspiration that have brought us here to do the Divine's Work.
Unselfish work
Would it not be better to continue the work even if one feels lazy?
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That depends on the work; there we enter another domain.
If it is a work that you are doing for the collectivity and not for yourself personally, then you must do it, whatever happens. It is an elementary discipline. You have undertaken to do this work or have been given the work and have taken it up, therefore you have accepted it, and in that case you must do it. At all times, unless you are absolutely ill, ill in the last degree and unable to move, you must do it. Even if you are rather ill, you must do it. An unselfish work always cures you of your petty personal maladies.
Impossibilities into realisations
Each one here represents an impossibility to be resolved, but as for Your Divine Grace all things are possible. Your work will be, in the detail as in the ensemble, the accomplishment of all the impossibilities transformed into divine realisations.
Laziness
It is not that there is a dearth of people without work in the Ashram; but those who are without work are certainly so because they do not like to work; and for that disease it is very difficult to find a remedy - it is called laziness...
Better to do than to speak
"I beg of you, don't speak so much about what we
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are doing: do it." That is all.
It is always better to do than to speak, and in the least details also.
Lazy people
I am afraid that the Grace has no effect on lazy people.
Every work a representation
Here every work represents something of the universe. When a new work is started here, new problems of the world come in. That is why I do not invite new problems, but if they come I do not avoid them. I have to bring down the highest consciousness; for that I must organise below and tackle all the problems.
A special reason
Mother, if for instance in the long jump one makes an effort to jump a greater and greater distance, how does one do the divine work?
Eh? Excuse me, it is not for the pleasure of doing the long jump, it is to make your body more perfect in its functioning, and, therefore, a more suitable instrument for receiving the divine forces and manifesting them.
Why, everything, everything one does in this place must be done in this spirit, otherwise you do not even profit by the opportunity given to you, the circumstances given to you. I explained to you the other day, didn't I ? that the Consciousness is here, penetrating
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all things and trying to manifest in all movements? But if you, on your side, tell yourself that the effort you are making, the progress you are making, you make in order to become more capable of receiving this Consciousness and of manifesting it, the work will naturally be much better and much quicker. And this seems to me even quite elementary, to tell you the truth; I am surprised that it could be otherwise! Because your presence in an Ashram organised as it is organised would have no meaning if it were not that! Of what use would it be? There are any number of universities, schools in the world which are very well organised!
But if you are here, it is for a special reason! It is because here there is a possibility of absorbing consciousness and progress which is not found elsewhere. And if you don't prepare yourselves to receive this, well, you will lose the chance that's given to you!
The opportunity
It is the moment when great things are done. One must not miss the opportunity.
Dedicating the work
Be faithful to your ideal and dedicate your work to the Divine.
Strength and Grace
Here, for each work given, the full strength and Grace
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are always given at the same time to do the work as it has to be done. If you do not feel the strength and the Grace, it proves that there is some mistake in your attitude. The faith is lacking or you have fallen back on old tracks and old creeds and thus you lose all receptivity.
An ineffable joy
Work for the Divine and you will feel an ineffable joy filling your being.
Self-discipline
No life can be successful without self-discipline.
Discipline
Discipline is indispensable to be a man. Without discipline one is nothing but an animal.
Strict discipline
Without discipline it is impossible to realise anything on the physical plane. If your heart were not willing to submit to the strict discipline of beating regularly and constantly, you would not be able to live upon earth.
Mastering one's lower nature
To be a man, discipline is indispensable.
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Without discipline one is only an animal.
One begins to be a man only when one aspires to a higher and truer life and when one accepts a discipline of transformation. For this one must start by mastering one's lower nature and its desires.
A field for the inner opening
The work in the Ashram was not meant as a service to humanity or to a section of it called the sadhaks of the Ashram. It was not meant either as an opportunity for a joyful social life and a flow of sentiments and attachments between the sadhaks and an expression of the vital movements, a free vital interchange whether with some or with all. The work was meant as a service to the Divine and as a field for the inner opening to the Divine, surrender to the Divine alone, rejection of ego and all the ordinary vital movements and the training in a psychic elevation, selflessness, obedience, renunciation of all mental, vital or other self-assertion of the limited personality. Self-affirmation is not the aim, the formation of a collective Vital ego is also not the aim. The merging of the little ego in union with the Divine, purification, surrender, the substitution of the Divine guidance for one's own ignorant self-guidance based on one's personal ideas and personal feelings is the aim of Karmayoga, the surrender of one's own will to the Divine Will.
The true yogic way
The work here is not intended for showing one's
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capacity or having a position or as a means of physical nearness to the Mother, but as a field and an opportunity for the Karmayoga part of the integral yoga, for learning to work in the true yogic way, dedication through service, practical selflessness, obedience, scrupulousness, discipline, setting the Divine and the Divine's work first and oneself last, harmony, patience, forbearance, etc. When the workers learn these things and cease to be ego-centric, as most of you now are, then will come the time for work in which capacity can really be shown, although even then the showing of capacity Will be an incident and can never be the main consideration or the object of divine work.
All is the Mother's work
In work there must be a rule and discipline and as much punctuality as possible in regard to time.
What is good work and what is bad or less good work?
All is the Mother's work and equal in the Mother's eyes.
Being here is not enough
No, it is not enough to be in the Ashram; one has to open to the Mother and put away the mind which one was playing with in the world.
The spirit of Karmayoga
Work here and work done in the world are of course
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not the same thing. The work there is not in any way a divine work in special - it is ordinary work in the world. But still one must take it as a training and do it in the spirit of Karmayoga -what matters there is not the nature of the work in itself, but the spirit in which it is done. It must be in the spirit of the Gita, without desire, with detachment, without repulsion, but doing it as perfectly as possible, not for the sake of the family or promotion or to please the superiors, but simply because it is the thing that has been given in the hand to do. It is a field of inner training, nothing else. One has to learn in it these things, equality, desirelessness, dedication. It is not the work as a thing for its own sake, but one's doing of it and one's way of doing it that one has to dedicate to the Divine. Done in that spirit, it does not matter what the work is. If one trains oneself spiritually like that, then one will be ready to do in the true way whatever special work directly for the Divine, (such as the Ashram work) one may any day be given to do.
Being wholly objective
It may happen that the very nature of your occupation makes it your duty to report what is taking place in a particular department, undertaking or communal work. But then the report should be confined to the work alone and not touch upon private matters. And as an absolute rule, it must be wholly objective. You should not allow any personal reaction, any preference, any like or dislike to creep in. And above all, never introduce your own petty personal grudges
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into the work that is assigned to you.
Living examples
Now, all depends on your will and your sincerity. If you have the will no more to belong to ordinary humanity, no more to be merely evolved animals; if your will is to become men of the new race realising Sri Aurobindo's supramental ideal, living a new and higher life upon a new earth, you will find here all the necessary help to achieve your purpose; you will profit fully by your stay in the Ashram and eventually become living examples for the world.
To find the Divine
We are not here to lead an easy and comfortable life.
We are here to find the Divine, to become divine, to manifest the Divine.
What happens to us is the Divine's affair, not ours.
Working eight to nine hours
If you worked regularly eight to nine hours a day, you would be hungry and you would eat well and sleep peacefully, and you would have no time to wonder whether you are in a good or a bad mood.
Freedom and the inner liberty
Freedom is far from meaning disorder and confusion.
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It is the inner liberty that one must have, and if you have it nobody can take it away from you.
An austere truth
The freedom of which I speak is the freedom to follow the soul's will and not that of mental and vital whims and fancies.
The freedom of which I speak is an austere truth which tends to surmount all the weaknesses and desires of the lower, ignorant being.
The freedom of which I speak is the freedom to consecrate oneself entirely and without reserve to one's highest, noblest and most divine aspiration.
Who amongst you follows sincerely that path? It is easy to judge, but it is more difficult to understand and still much more difficult to realise.
Working together with Sri Aurobindo's help
We are here in the Ashram to do this work together with the help of Sri Aurobindo's knowledge and force, in an attempt to realise a community that is more harmonious, more united, and consequently much more effective in life.
Young people here
All you young people here have had a very easy life, and instead of taking advantage of it to concentrate your efforts on spiritual progress, you have amused
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yourselves as much as you could, without creating too much scandal, and so your vigilance has been lulled.
Guidance and help
Be sure that I am always present among you to guide and help you in your work and your sadhana.
My help is with you
My help is always with you to help you in your progress and your work.
The difficulties you cannot overcome today will be overcome tomorrow or later on.
The cradle of the new world
I know that from the external point of View we are below many of the present achievements in this world, but our aim is not a perfection in accordance with the human standards. We are endeavouring for something else which belongs to the future.
The Ashram has been founded and is meant to be the cradle of the new world.
The inspiration is from above, the guiding force is from above, the creative power is from above, at work for the descent of the new realisation.
It is only by its shortcomings, its deficiencies and its failures that the Ashram belongs to the present world.
None of the present achievements of humanity have
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the power to pull the Ashram out of its difficulties.
It is only a total conversion of all its members and an integral opening to the descending Light of Truth that can help it to realise itself.
Preparing for a Divine life
People who feel miserable here and find that they have not the comfort they require ought not to stay. We are not in a position to do more than we do, and after all our aim is not to give to people a comfortable life, but to prepare them for a Divine Life which is quite a different affair.
A true child of the Ashram
What qualities are necessary for one to be called "a true child of the Ashram"?
Sincerity, courage, discipline, endurance, absolute faith in the Divine work and unassailable trust in the Divine Grace. All this must be accompanied by a sustained, ardent and persevering aspiration, and by a limitless patience.
Being a sadhaka
What is the use of being a sadhak if, as soon as we act, we act like the ignorant ordinary man?
An example
We are expected to give to the world an example of
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better life but surely not of misbehaviour.
To do sadhana a control is indispensable
Most of the people who live in the Ashram forget too easily that they are not here to live a quiet and pleasant life, but to do sadhana. And for doing sadhana a certain control upon one's inner movements is indispensable.
Rising to the height
To do properly the work of the Ashram one must be strong and plastic enough to know how to utilise the inexhaustible Energy which is backing you all.
I expect everybody here to rise to the height of the needs.
If we are not able to do even that much, how can we hope to be ready for the descent of the Light of Truth when it will come to manifest upon earth?...
The best means
When I give work to someone it is not only for the sake of the work but also as the best means to advance on the path of Yoga. When I gave you this work, I was quite aware of your difficulties and short-comings, but at the same time I knew that if you opened yourself to my help and force you would be able to surmount these obstacles and at the same time to increase your consciousness and open your-self to the Divine's Grace.
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Equal opportunity
I do not give positions to the sadhaks - I give them work; and to all I give an equal opportunity. It is those who prove to be most capable and most sincere, honest and faithful that have the biggest amount of work and the greatest responsibility.
Whatever the external circumstances, they are, without exception, the objective projection of what is inside yourself. When in your work you find something giving trouble outside, look within and you will find in yourself the corresponding difficulty.
Change yourself and the circumstances will change.
Honesty and capacity
There are honest people but they do not have the capacity to work. There are capable people but they are not honest in their work. When I find someone both honest and capable he becomes very precious.
Negligence
In the Ashram, negligence in work is treachery.
The collective work
...the collective work should not suffer because of personal work.
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Entire consecration to the Divine
You seem to forget that by the fact that you are living in the Ashram, it is neither for yourself nor for a boss that you are working, but for the Divine. Your life must be entirely consecrated to the Divine Work and cannot be governed by petty human considerations.
Divine Love, Grace and Care
The reason for people to come and settle here is surely not to find comfort and luxury - this can be found anywhere if one is lucky enough. But what one can get here, that is not got in any other place: it is the Divine Love, Grace and Care. It is when this is forgotten or disregarded that people begin to feel miserable here. Indeed whenever somebody feels unhappy and discontented, it can be taken as a sure sign that he is turning his back on what the Divine is always giving and that he has gone astray in pursuit of worldly satisfaction.
One single aim
Whatever is done here, must be done in a spirit of complete collaboration with one single aim in View - the service of the Divine.
Never forget where you are
Sweet Mother, How can one make use of every moment of this unique
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privilege of living here in the Ashram?
Never forget where you are.
Never forget where you are living and the true aim of life. Remember this at every moment and in all circumstances. In this way you will make the best use of your existence.
Judgment
Sweet Mother, When department heads or superiors make mistakes or commit an injustice towards their subordinates, what should be the attitude of those affected by these errors? Should one keep silent and say, "It is none of my business", or should one try to point out the mistake to them?
Neither the one nor the other.
First and always, we must ask ourselves what our instrument of judgment is. One must ask, "What is my judgment based on? Do I have perfect knowledge? What in me is judging? Do I have the divine consciousness? Am I completely disinterested in this matter? Am I free of all desire and all ego?"
And since the answer to all these questions will be the same, namely, "NO", the honest and sincere conclusion must be: "I cannot judge, I do not have the - elements needed for a true judgment; therefore I will not judge, I will keep quiet."
Reading Sri Aurobindo's books
It seems to me that apart from the work at the Building
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Service, if you feel like studying, it would be better to read Sri Aurobindo's books seriously and carefully, without hurrying. This Will help you more than anything else for your sadhana.
To be turned only to the Mother
I see no reason therefore why you should care so much if anybody is not behaving well with you. I have told you already that people in the Ashram - it is true even of those who have inner experiences and some opening - are not yet free in their outer selves from ego and wrong ideas and wrong movements. It is no use getting distressed or depressed by that. What you must do is to be turned only to the Mother and relying on her go forward quietly with your work and Sadhana until the time when the Sadhaks are sufficiently awakened and changed to feel the need of greater harmony and union with each other. Let only your spiritual change and progress matter for you and for that trust wholly in the Mother's force and her grace which is with you - do not let things or people disturb you, - for compared with the truth and the journey to the full Light of the Mother's Consciousness these things have no importance.
No independent work
Independent work does not exist in the Ashram. All is organised and interrelated, neither the heads of departments nor the workers are independent. To learn subordination and co-operation is necessary for
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all collective work; without it there will be chaos.
Difficulties do not cease
By coming to the Ashram difficulties do not cease - they have to be faced and overcome wherever you are. For certain natures residence in the Ashram from the beginning is helpful - others have to prepare themselves outside.
Perfect perfection
There must be order and harmony in work. Even What is apparently the most insignificant thing must be done with perfect perfection, with a sense of cleanliness, beauty, harmony and order.
Preparing for the transformation of the earth
Nobody comes here for his own salvation because Sri Aurobindo does not believe in salvation; for us salvation is a meaningless work. We are here to prepare the transformation of the earth and men so that the new creation may take place, and if we make individual efforts to progress, it is because this progress is indispensable for the accomplishment of the work.
Work and solitude
If someone comes and says, "Well, here I am, I feel that I should consecrate myself to the divine Work, I
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am ready to do any work at all that you give me", then I say, "Good, that's all right. If you have good-will, endurance, and some capacity, it is all right. But to find the solitude necessary for your inner development it is better to go somewhere else, anywhere else, but not here."
Doing everything with care
Everything one does with care necessarily becomes interesting.
Divine help
You must be sincere in your perseverance; then the things you cannot do today, you will one day be able to do, after regular and persistent efforts.
Give yourself to the Divine absolutely, and the Divine Help will always be with you.
Serving the Divine
The only thing worth living for is to serve the Divine.
Changing the consciousness
People are here to change their consciousness. Unless they become, all of them, true to their aim, nothing true can be done.
Correcting one's own faults
If each one were more concerned with correcting his
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own faults than with criticising those of others, the work would go more quickly.
The inner contact
Now that you are here, the only thing to do is to forget the past and to concentrate on your work here. It is true that for the moment I cannot see you regularly, but you must learn to get the inner contact (it is one of the chief reasons of my retirement) and then you will know that I am always with you to guide you and to help you and that you can have no better conditions than here to do properly your sadhana.
An outside view
An outside view may find many things to criticise and criticise much, but from the inner view what has been done has been done well. In an outside view, you come with all kinds of mental, intellectual formations and find there is nothing uncommon in what is done here. But thereby you miss what is behind: the Sadhana. A deeper consciousness would see the march towards a realisation that surpasses all. The outside view does not see the spiritual life; it judges by its own smallness.
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Collaboration
and reciprocal goodwill
are indispensible
for good work.
Sympathy and help
Only those who sympathise can help - surely also one should be able to see the faults of others without hatred. Hatred injures both parties, it helps none.
To grow in the spirit
To grow in the spirit is the greatest help one can give to others, for then something flows out naturally to those around that helps them.
So bear this in mind: no collaboration, no right working.
Point of harmony
It is only in harmonious collaboration that effective work can be done.
The important thing is to find the point on which you can all agree - and after this is firmly established, each one must be ready to yield his personal will in order to keep intact this point of harmony.
Quarrels
You must never forget that I disapprove of quarrels
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and always consider that both sides are equally wrong. To surmount one's feelings, preferences, dislikes and impulses, is an indispensable discipline here.
Combined and patient effort
It is by combined and patient effort that all good work is done.
Not to intervene
As a general rule it is better not to intervene in things that do not fall within one's own work.
Goodwill
Collaboration and reciprocal goodwill are indispensable for good work.
Things that unite
We must give importance to the things that unite and ignore, as much as possible, those that separate.
Generous understanding
With our own perfection grows in us a generous understanding of others.
Do not worry
Do not worry about the reactions of people, however
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unpleasant they may be - the vital is everywhere and in everybody full of impurities and the physical full of unconsciousness. These two imperfections have to be cured, however long it may take, and we have only to work at it patiently and courageously.
Not to judge
Do not trouble yourselves with what others do, I can- not repeat it to you too often. Do not judge, do not criticise, do not compare. That is not your lookout.
Be severe to yourself
Be severe to yourself before being severe to others.
The right spirit
It [disciplining the subordinates] has to be done in the right spirit and the subordinates must be able to feel that it is so - that they are being dealt with in all uprightness and by a man who has sympathy and in- sight and not only severity and energy. It is a question of vital tact and a strong and large vital finding always the right way to deal with the others.
The other's point of view
There is another practice which can be very helpful to the progress of the consciousness. Whenever there is
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a disagreement on any matter, such as a decision to be taken, or an action to be carried out, one must never remain closed up in one's own conception or point of view. On the contrary, one must make an effort to understand the other's point of View, to put oneself in his place and, instead of quarrelling or even fighting, find the solution which can reasonably satisfy both parties; there always is one for men of goodwill.
A true leader
To forget oneself, one's own likings and preferences, is indispensable in order to be a true leader.
Remaining perfectly calm
Never get excited, nervous or agitated. Remain perfectly calm in the face of all circumstances.
What others do
Unless you are responsible for certain people, as a guardian, a teacher or a departmental head, what others do or do not do is no concern of yours and you must refrain from talking about them, from giving your opinion about them and what they do, and from repeating what others may think or say about them.
Outer silence
If you are not alone and live with others, cultivate the
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habit of not externalising yourself constantly by speaking aloud, and you will notice that little by little an inner understanding is established between yourself and others; you will then be able to communicate among yourselves with a minimum of words or even without any words at all. This outer silence is most favourable to inner peace, and with goodwill and a steadfast aspiration, you will be able to create a harmonious atmosphere which is very conducive to progress.
Changing yourself first
You can do nothing for others unless you are able to do it for yourself. You can never give a good advice to anyone unless you are able to give it to yourself first, and to follow it. And if you see a difficulty somewhere, the best way of changing this difficulty is to change it in yourself first. If you see a defect in anyone, you may be sure it is in you, and you begin to change it in yourself. And when you will have changed it in yourself, you will be strong enough to change it in others.
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You are rich
only by the money
that you give to the
Divine Cause.
A good trustee
In your personal use of money look on all you have or get or bring as the Mother's. Make no demand but accept what you receive from her and use it for the purposes for which it is given to you. Be entirely selfless, entirely scrupulous, exact, careful in detail, a good trustee; always consider that it is her possessions and not your own that you are handling. On the other hand, What you receive for her, lay religiously before her; turn nothing to your own or anybody else's purpose.
The ideal Sadhaka
The ideal Sadhaka in this kind is one who if required to live poorly can so live and no sense of want will affect him or interfere with the full inner play of the divine consciousness, and if he is required to live richly, can so live and never for a moment fall into desire or attachment to his wealth or to the things that he uses or servitude to self-indulgence or a weak bondage to the habits that the possession of riches creates. The divine Will is all for him and the divine Ananda.
Money for the divine work
How can one know if one's way of using money is in accordance with the divine Will?
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One must first know what the divine Will is. But there is a surer way - to surrender money for the divine work, if one is not sure oneself. "Divinely" means at the service of the Divine - it means not to use money for one's own satisfaction but to place it at the Divine's service.
Right attitude
When you are rich and have a lot of money to spend, generally you spend it on things you find pleasant, and you become habituated to these things, attached to these things, and if one day the money is gone, you miss it, you are unhappy, you are miserable and feel all lost because you no longer have what you were in the habit of having. It is a bondage, a weak attachment. He who is quite detached, when he lives in the midst of these things, it is well with him; when these things are gone, it is well also; he is totally indifferent to both. That is the right attitude: when it is there he uses it, when it is not he does without it. And for his inner consciousness this makes no difference. That surprises you, but it is like that.
Reconquering money for the Mother
How can money be reconquered for the Mother?
Ah!... There is a hint here. Three things are interdependent (Sri Aurobindo says here): power, money and sex. I believe the three are interdependent and that all three have to be conquered to be sure of having any one - when you want to conquer one
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you must have the other two. Unless one has mastered these three things, desire for power, desire for money and desire for sex, one cannot truly possess any of them firmly and surely.
A state of calamity
The more money one has the more one is in a state of calamity, my child. Yes, it is a calamity.
It is a catastrophe to have money. It makes you stupid, it makes you miserly, it makes you wicked. It is one of the greatest calamities in the world. Money is something one ought not to have until one no longer has desires.
Wealth is a force
Wealth is a force - I have already told you this once - a force of Nature; and it should be a means of circulation, a power in movement, as flowing water is a power in movement. It is something which can serve to produce, to organise. It is a convenient means, because in fact it is only a means of making things circulate fully and freely.
True wealth
True wealth is that which one offers to the Divine.
To prepare for the advent
Those who believe in the yoga of Sri Aurobindo must
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understand that money is not meant to bring money but to help the earth to prepare for the advent of the new creation.
Being rich
You are rich only by the money that you give to the Divine Cause.
Greed
Greed for money: the surest way to decrease one's conscience and to narrow one's nature.
Let Him choose
So many strive after competence or riches, the few embrace poverty as a bride; but, for thyself, strive after and embrace God only. Let Him choose for thee a king's palace or the bowl of the beggar.
Not possessors but trustees
All wealth belongs to the Divine and those who hold it are trustees, not possessors. It is with them today, tomorrow it may be elsewhere. All depends on the way they discharge their trust while it is with them, in what spirit, with what consciousness in their use of it, to what purpose.
Greed for wealth
Obviously, greed for wealth and money - making has to
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be absent from his nature as much as greed for food or any other greed and all attachment to these things must be renounced from his consciousness. But I do not regard the ascetic way of living as indispensable to spiritual perfection or as identical with it. There is the way of spiritual self-mastery and the way of spiritual self-giving and surrender to the Divine, abandoning ego and desire even in the midst of action or of any kind of work or all kinds of work demanded from us by the Divine.
A power to be won back
You must neither turn with an ascetic shrinking from the money power, the means it gives and the objects it brings, nor cherish a rajasic attachment to them or a spirit of enslaving self-indulgence in their gratifications. Regard wealth simply as a power to be won back for the Mother and placed at her service.
Use of the money
So the first thing to do when one has money is to give it. But as it is said that it should not be given without discernment, don't go and give it like those who practise philanthropy, because that fills them with a sense of their own goodness, their generosity and their own importance. You must act in a sattwic way, that is, make the best possible use of it. And so, each one must find in his highest consciousness what the best possible use of the money he has can be.
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Skilful hands,
precise care,
a sustained
attention
and one compels
Matter to obey
the Spirit.
Rules
In the most physical things you have to fix a programme in order to deal with them, otherwise all becomes a sea of confusion and haphazard. Fixed rules have also to be made for the management of material things so long as people are not sufficiently developed to deal with them in the right way without rules.
Waste
Wanton waste, careless spoiling of physical things in an incredibly short time, loose disorder, misuse of service and materials due either to vital grasping or to tamasic inertia are baneful to prosperity and tend to drive away or discourage the Wealth-Power. These things have long been rampant in the society and, if that continues, an increase in our means might well mean a proportionate increase in the wastage and dis- order and neutralise the material advantage. This must be remedied if there is to be any sound progress.
Not to be despised
Material things are not to be despised - without them there can be no manifestation in the material world.
consciousness in physical things
There is a consciousness in each physical thing with
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which one can communicate. Everything has an individuality of a certain kind, houses, cars, furniture etc. The ancient peoples knew that and so they saw a spirit or "genius" in every physical thing.
Learn to be careful
It is very true that physical things have a consciousness within them which feels and responds to care and is sensitive to careless touch and rough handling. To know or feel that and learn to be careful of them is a great progress of consciousness.
Misuse of physical things
The rough handling and careless breaking or waste and misuse of physical things is a denial of the yogic consciousness and a great hindrance to the bringing down of the Divine Truth to the material plane.
The best possible use
Many a time I say, "No, use what you have. Try to make the best possible use of it. Don't throw away things uselessly, don't ask uselessly. Try to do with what you have, putting into it all the care, all the order, all the necessary method, and avoiding confusion."
Making Matter obey the Spirit
Skilful hands, precise care, a sustained attention and one compels Matter to obey the Spirit.
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. . . the true dignity
is to be very courteous.
True dignity
You should be very polite with those who depend upon you for their living. If you ill-treat them, they feel very much but cannot reply to you as man to man for fear of losing their job.
There may be some dignity in being rough with your superiors, but with those who depend on you, the true dignity is to be very courteous.
The way one is treated
I am sure that servants behave according to the way they are treated.
Proper supervision
If you are sure that the servants are robbing, it proves that they are not properly supervised and you will have to look to it more carefully.
Neither indulgent, nor severe
Don't be indulgent, don't be severe.
They should know that you see everything, but you should not scold them.
No scolding
It is very bad to constantly rebuke servants - the less
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you scold them, the better it is. When X asks you to scold them you must refuse to do so and tell him that I have forbidden you to do it.
As for your co-workers, each one must be left free to do according to his own feelings.
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All depends
on the attitude
with which
you do
the work.
The right attitude
He (Sri Aurobindo) has explained this before. The right attitude is the attitude of trust, the attitude of obedience, the attitude of consecration.
To be open to the Mother
Not only in your inward concentration, but in your outward acts and movements you must take the right attitude. If you do that and put everything under the Mother's guidance, you will find that difficulties begin to diminish or are much more easily got over and things become steadily smoother.
In your work and acts you must do the same as in your concentration. Open to the Mother, put them under her guidance, call in the peace, the supporting Power, the protection and, in order that they may work, reject all wrong influences that might come in their way by creating wrong, careless or unconscious movements.
Follow this principle and your Whole being will become one, under one rule, in the peace and sheltering Power and Light.
Coming closer to the Mother
All depends on the attitude with which you do the work. If done with the right attitude, it will surely bring you nearer to me.
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Inner and outer attitude
The progress in sadhana comes from the rectification of the inner and outer attitude, not from the nature of the work one does - any work, even the most humble, can lead to the Divine if it is done with the right attitude.
You must do the work as an offering to the Divine and take it as part of your Sadhana. In that spirit the nature of the work is of little importance and you can do any work without losing the contact with the inner presence.
Live to serve the Divine
Do not live to be happy, live to serve the Divine and the joy that you will experience will be beyond all expectations.
Bigness and smallness
Of course the idea of bigness and smallness is quite foreign to the spiritual truth... Spiritually there is nothing big or small. Such ideas are like those of the literary people who think writing a poem is a high work and making shoes or cooking the dinner is a small and low one. But all is equal in the eyes of the Spirit - and it is only the spirit within with which it is done that matters. It is the same with a particular
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kind of work, there is nothing big or small.
The ideal attitude
The ideal attitude is to belong only to the Divine, to work only for the Divine and above all to expect only from the Divine strength, peace and satisfaction. The Divine is all-merciful and gives us all that we need to lead us as quickly as possible to the goal.
The spirit in which one does
It is not what you do but the spirit in which you do it that is important for the integral Yoga.
Any work
Any work can be done as a field for the practice of the spirit of the Gita.
Damp logs
Of course, there is a kind of work which is done only for purely pecuniary and personal reasons, like the one - whatever it may be - which is done to earn a living. That attitude is exactly the one Sri Aurobindo compares with the damp logs of wood which are heaped so thick the flame cannot leap up. It has something dark and heavily dull about it.
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An inward consciousness
There are those who have done the lawyer's work with the Mother's force working in them and grown by it in inward consciousness. On the other hand religious work can be merely external and Vital in its nature or influence.
Cleaning the floor or dusting a room
You take up some work which is quite material, like cleaning the floor or dusting a room; well, it seems to me that this work can lead to a very deep consciousness if it is done with a certain feeling for perfection and progress; while other work considered of a higher kind as, for example, studies or literary and artistic work, if done with the idea of seeking fame or for the satisfaction of one's vanity or for some material gain, will not help you to progress. So this is already a kind of classification which depends more on the inner attitude than on the outer fact. But this classification can be applied to everything.
Fatigue
Yes. With the right consciousness always there, there would be no fatigue.
To give yourself
The yogic life does not depend on what one does but on how one does it; I mean it is not so much the action
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which counts as the attitude, the spirit in which one acts. To know how to give yourself entirely and without egoism while washing dishes or serving a meal brings you much nearer the Divine than doing what men call "great things" in a spirit of vanity and pride.
A mirror
And the best way to the true attitude is simply to say, "All those around me, all the Circumstances of my life, all the people near me, are a mirror held up to me by the Divine Consciousness to show me the progress I must make. Everything that shocks me in others means a work I have to do in myself."
The true spirit
Work done in the true spirit is meditation.
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"Remember and Offer. "
Constant aspiration
In the beginning of the Yoga you are apt to forget the Divine very often. But by constant aspiration you increase your remembrance and you diminish the forgetfulness. But this should not be done as a severe discipline or a duty; it must be a movement of love and joy. Then very soon a stage will come when, if you do not feel the presence of the Divine at every moment and whatever you are doing, you feel at once lonely and sad and miserable.
The psychic self-control
The psychic selfcontrol that is desirable in these surroundings and in the midst of discussion would mean among other things:
1. Not to allow the impulse of speech to assert itself too much or say anything without reflection, but to speak always with a conscious control and only what is necessary and helpful.
2. To avoid all debate, dispute or too animated discussion and simply say what has to be said and leave it there. There should also be no insistence that you are right and the others wrong, but what is said should be thrown in as contribution to the consideration of the truth of the matter.
3. To keep the tone of speech and the wording very quiet and calm and uninsistent.
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4. Not to mind at all if others are heated and dispute, but remain quiet and undisturbed and yourself speak only what can help things to be smooth again.
5. If there is gossip about others and harsh criticism (especially about sadhaks), not to join for these things are helpful in no way and only lower the consciousness from its higher level.
6. To avoid all that would hurt or wound others.
A prayer
Glory to Thee, O Lord, who triumphest over every obstacle.
Grant that nothing in us shall be an obstacle in Thy work.
How best to serve Thee
Every morning may our thought rise fervently towards Thee, asking Thee how we can manifest and serve Thee best.
Stepping back
Even if you are in a hurry to do something, step back for a while and you will discover to your surprise how much sooner and with what greater success your work can be done.
Cultivating the instrument
If you said to yourself, my children, "We want to be
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as perfect instruments as possible to express the divine Will in the world", then for this instrument to be perfect, it must be cultivated, educated, trained. It must not be left like a shapeless piece of stone. When you want to build with a stone you chisel it; when you want to make a formless block into a beautiful diamond, you chisel it. Well, it is the same thing. When with your brain and body you want to make a beautiful instrument for the Divine, you must cultivate it, sharpen it, refine it, complete what is missing, perfect what is there.
Gaining time
When you work, if you are able to concentrate, you can do absolutely in ten minutes what would otherwise take you one hour. If you want to gain time, learn to concentrate. It is through attention that one can do things quickly and one does them much better.
Everything becomes interesting
Can one study for the Divine and not for oneself, prepare oneself for the divine work?
Yes, if you study with the feeling that you must develop yourselves to become instruments. But truly, it is done in a very different spirit, isn't it? very different. To begin with, there are no longer subjects you like and those you don't, no longer any classes which bore you and those which don't, no longer any difficult things and things not difficult, no longer any
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teachers who are pleasant or any who are not all that disappears immediately. One enters a state in which, whatever happens one takes as an opportunity to learn to prepare oneself for the divine work, and everything becomes interesting. Naturally, if one is doing that, it is quite all right.
Sure means of progress
Let us offer our work to the Divine; this is the sure means of progressing.
Steps to follow
What are the steps to follow for ( 1) sadhana and (2) silence of the mind?
1. Do work as sadhana. You offer to the Divine the work you do to the best of your capacities and you leave the result to the Divine.
2. Try to become conscious first above your head, keeping the brain as silent as possible.
If you succeed and the work is done in that condition, then it will become perfect.
True joy
When you are interested in what you do, you enjoy doing it.
To be interested in what you do, you must try to do it better and better.
In progress lies true joy.
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Patient effort
Perfection in the work must be the aim, but it is only by a very patient effort that this can be obtained.
Offer
"Remember and Offer."
Open yourself
Open yourself more and more to the Divine's force and your work will progress steadily towards perfection.
Organisation
Organisation: indispensable for all good work.
Regularity
Regularity: indispensable for all serious accomplishment.
Doing things carefully
Whatever you do, do it always carefully.
Doing something well
It is better to do well than to do quickly. .
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The Divine's work
If people could stop speaking of the work as their work it would put an end to a lot of trouble. Here, all work is the Divine's.
Planning
Faultless planning of work cannot be obtained except with the consciousness of the Divine.
Boundless capacity for work
When the instruments of work - hands, eyes, etc.- become conscious and the attention is controlled, the capacity for work seems to have no bounds.
A work well done
Skilful hands, a clear vision, a concentrated attention, an untiring patience, and what one does is well done.
The present
For work the present is the most important thing: the past must not come in the way and the future must not pull you away.
Working, speaking, reading, writing
All should be done quietly from within - working,
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speaking, reading, writing as part of the real consciousness - not with the dispersed and unquiet movement of the ordinary consciousness.
Being sincere in the work
Be sincere in the work you have undertaken and the Grace will always be there to help you.
Concentrating on the work
Concentrate on your work it is that that gives you strength.
Speaking less
When there is some work to do, the less one speaks of it the better it is.
Talking or working
Talk as little as possible.
Work as much as you can.
Thought, heart and body
With your thought, give your thoughts.
With your heart, give your feelings.
With your body, give your work.
Words and action
Speak less, act more.
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Knowing and doing
Before acting, know what you have to do.
Knowledge
...the work is not the sole thing that matters; the knowledge in which we do works makes an immense spiritual difference.
Equanimity and joy
It is not that you have to do what you dislike, but that you have to cease to dislike. To do only what you like is to indulge the vital and maintain its domination over the nature - for that is the very principle of the untransformed nature, to be governed by its likes and dislikes. To be able to do anything with equanimity is the principle of Karmayoga and to do with joy because it is done for the Mother is the true psychic and vital condition in this yoga.
Welcoming criticism
But learn to welcome criticism and the pointing out of imperfections - the more you do so, the more rapidly you will advance.
A resolution
A resolution means the will to try to get a thing done by the given time. It is not a binding "promise" that
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the thing will be done by that time. Even if it is not, the endeavour will have to continue, just as if no date had been fixed.
Living in the world
When one is living in the world, one cannot do as in an Ashram - one has to mix with others and keep up outwardly at least ordinary relations with others. The important thing is to keep the inner consciousness open to the Divine and grow in it. As one does that, more or less rapidly according to the inner intensity of the sadhana, the attitude towards others will change. All will be seen more and more in the Divine and the feelings, actions, etc. will more and more be determined, not by the old external reactions, but by the growing consciousness within you.
To persevere
Work as if the ideal had to be fulfilled swiftly and in thy life-time; persevere as if thou knewest it not to be unless purchased by a thousand years yet of labour. That which thou darest not expect till the fifth millennium, may bloom out with tomorrow's dawning and that which thou hopest and lustest after now, may have been fixed for thee in thy hundredth advent.
Success and unsuccess
Go forward calmly and firmly, not attached to success,
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not disturbed by unsuccess; my divine help will then never fail you.
A little exercise
How can one know whether the surrender is total or not?
This does not seem to me difficult. One may try out a little exercise. One may say, "Let me see, I surrender to the Divine, I want Him to decide everything in my life." This is your starting point. A little exercise: the Divine is going to decide that such and such a thing happens, precisely something in contradiction with your feeling. Then one tells oneself, "Well, and if the Divine tells me, 'you are going to give that up'" - you will see quite easily, immediately, what the reaction is; if it causes a little prick like this, inside, you may tell yourself, "The surrender is not perfect" - it pricks, it pricks....
Vagabonding thoughts
That is why work is a good means of discipline, for if you want to do the work properly, you must become the work instead of being someone who works, otherwise you will never do it well. If you remain "someone who works" and, besides, if your thoughts go vagabonding, then you may be sure that if you are handling fragile things they will break, if you are cooking, you will burn something, or if you are playing a game, you will miss all the balls! It is here, in this, that work is a great discipline. For if truly you want
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to do it well, this is the only way of doing it.
Not duty but love for Him
That day will come when everything that is now done out of a sense of duty towards the Divine will be done out of love for Him.
The starting-point
When one is united with one's psychic being and conscious of the divine Presence, and receives the impulses for one's action from this divine Presence, and when the will has become a conscious collaborator with the divine Will - that is the starting-point.
Our effort of every day
Let our effort of every day and all time be to know You better and to serve You better.
Good taste
To do good work one must have good taste.
Taste can be educated by study and the help of those who have good taste.
To learn, it is necessary to feel first that one does not know.
Overcoming the ego
This work of overcoming the ego is long, slow and
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difficult; it demands constant alertness and sustained effort. This effort is easier for some and more difficult for others.
Developing the different parts of the being
To develop your intelligence read regularly and very attentively the teachings of Sri Aurobindo. To develop and master your vital, observe attentively your movements and reactions with the will to overcome desires, and aspire to find your psychic being and unite yourself with it. Physically, continue to do as you are doing, develop and control your body methodically, make yourself useful by working in the Playground and in the place you work, and try to do it in as selfless a way as possible.
Doing the right thing
Pray to the Divine Grace to make you do always the right thing in the right way.
Doing the best
Always do what you know to be the best even if it is the most difficult thing to do.
Good deed
A good deed is sweeter to the heart than a sweet in the mouth.
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A day spent without doing a good deed is a day without a soul.
To be yogis
The aim must be the Divine and the work can only be a means. The use of poetry etc. is to keep one in contact with one's inner being and that helps to prepare for the direct contact with the inmost, but one must not stop with that, one must go on to the real thing. If one thinks of being a literary man or a poet or a painter as things worthwhile for their own sake, then it is no longer the yogic spirit. That is why I have sometimes to say that our business is to be yogis, not merely poets, painters, etc.
A shoemaker or a king
There is nothing small in God's eyes; let there be nothing small in thine. He bestows as much labour of divine energy on the formation of a shell as on the building of an empire. For thyself it is greater to be a good shoemaker than a luxurious and incompetent king.
Joy of being good
Do good for the love of good and not in hope of a reward. Be good for the joy of being good and not for the gratefulness of others.
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Working silently
For the sake of sadhana and for the sake of work, it is always better to work silently.
Renunciation
The renunciation of attachment to the work and its fruit is the beginning of a wide movement towards an absolute equality in the mind and soul which must become allenveloping if we are to be perfect in the spirit. For the worship of the Master of works demands a clear recognition and glad acknowledgment of him in ourselves, in all things and in all happenings. Equality is the sign of this adoration; it is the soul's ground on which true sacrifice and worship can be done.
Man's greatness
Man's greatness is not in what he is, but in what he makes possible.
Thy Master is waiting for thee
Stride swiftly, for the goal is far; rest not unduly, for thy Master is waiting for thee at the end of thy journey.
Remembering the Divine
If you can't as yet remember the Divine all the time
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you are working, it does not greatly matter. To remember and dedicate at the beginning and give thanks at the end ought to be enough for the present. Or at the most to remember too when there is a pause.
Keeping in touch with the presence
Always keep in touch with the divine presence, try to bring it down and the very best will always take place.
Inner quietude
I said once that, to speak usefully for ten minutes, you should remain silent for ten days. I could add that, to act usefully for one day, you should keep quiet for a year! Of course, I am not speaking of the ordinary day-to-day acts that are needed for the common external life, but of those who have or believe that they have something to do for the world. And the silence I speak of is the inner quietude that those alone have who can act without being identified with their action, merged into it and blinded and deafened by the noise and form of their own movement. Stand back from your action and rise into an outlook above these temporal motions; enter into the consciousness of Eternity. Then only you will know what true action is.
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The difficulties are for the strong, and help
to make them
stronger.
Persevere and you will conquer.
Smallness
Generally, people are altogether blind to the ugliness of their own actions. They do wrong through ignorance, through unconsciousness, through smallness, through that sort of doubling back on oneself which comes from unconsciousness and ignorance, that obscure instinct of self-preservation which makes one ready to sacrifice the whole world for the sake of one's own well-being. And the smaller one is, the more natural appears the sacrifice offered to one's smallness.
Wrong action and good deed
Every wrong action produces on the consciousness the effect of a wind that withers, of a cold that freezes or of burning flames that consume.
Every good and kind deed brings light, restfulness, joy - the sunshine in which flowers bloom.
Not sincere
The moment you feel unhappy, you may write beneath it: "I am not sincere!"
These two sentences go together:
"I FEEL UNHAPPY."
"I AM NOT SINCERE."
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Absolute laziness
...when one doesn't want to make an effort to correct oneself, one says, "Oh, it is impossible, I can't do it, I don't have the strength, I am not made of that stuff, I don't have the necessary qualities, I could never do it." It is absolute laziness, it is in order to avoid the required effort. When you are asked to make progress: "Oh, it is beyond my capacity, I am a poor creature, I can do nothing!" That's all. It is almost ill-will. It is extreme laziness, a refusal to make any effort. One accepts all one's defects and incapacities in order not to have to make the necessary effort to overcome them. One says, "I am like that, I can't be otherwise!" It is a refusal to let the divine Grace work in you. It is a justification of your own ill-will.
Resistance
The resistance with which we meet in the accomplishment of our work is proportionate to its importance.
The difficulties are for the strong, and help to make them stronger.
Fear, work, courage
Fear is slavery, work is liberty, courage is Victory.
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Weakness
To feel hurt by what others do or think or say is always a sign of weakness and proof that the whole being is not exclusively turned towards the Divine, not under the divine influence alone.
Quarrel
When you start a quarrel it is as if you were declaring war on the Divine's work.
Defects of others
Do not dwell much on the defects of others. It is not helpful. Keep always quiet and peace in the attitude.
Wilful indulgence
Everybody knows this; those who do not want to change their way of doing things or their way of being always say, "Oh! what do you expect, it is human nature." This is what is called a "wilful indulgence". That is to say, instead of becoming conscious that these are weaknesses and difficulties on the way, one justifies these things, saying, "Oh! it can't be helped, it is human nature." One wants to continue to do what one is doing, without changing, one is full of a wilful indulgence of one's demands.
A crime
You must use everything for the purpose for which it
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is given, otherwise you commit a crime. I am not speaking merely of physical things. All the inner things that I am giving you all the time, all the strength, light, energy and life that are being poured into you all the time, are meant for the service of the Divine, for the sake of transforming you. If you use them for any other purpose, you are a robber and your crime is the worst possible.
To discover how to do the work and what is the best way of doing it is very useful. But to look at oneself doing it and admire or belittle oneself, that's not only useless but disastrous.
Inactivity
It is the same tiredness as that of the muscles when they do not work enough. Inactivity is just as tiring as over-activity. Not to work enough is just as bad as working too much.
Boasting
Those who accomplish the work are not in the habit of boasting. They keep their energy for the task and leave the glory of the results to the Eternal Lord.
Doing things in a hurry
What is done in a hurry is never done well.
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The perfection
of the work done
is much more
important
than its bulk
or the bigness
of its scope.
Perfection, not bulk or scope
The perfection of the work done is much more important than its bulk or the bigness of its scope.
Doing perfectly what one does
When one works for the Divine, it is much better to do perfectly what one does than to aim at a very big work.
Helping humanity
You may open millions of hospitals, that will not prevent people getting ill. On the contrary, they will have every facility and encouragement to fall ill. We are steeped in ideas of this kind. This puts your conscience at rest: "I have come to the world, I must help others." One tells oneself: "How disinterested I am! I am going to help humanity." All this is nothing but egoism.
Subtle ego
The idea of helping others is a subtle form of the ego. It is only the Divine Force that can help. One can be its instrument, but you should first learn to be a fit and egoless instrument.
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A delusion
The idea of helping others is a delusion of the ego. It is only when the Mother commissions and gives her force that one can help and even then only within limits.
Disadvantage of helping others
Of course it is the disadvantage of helping others that one comes into contact with their consciousness and their difficulties and also gets more externalised.
Nobody can really help
Do not be caught by the desire to "help" others - do and speak yourself the right thing from the inner poise and leave the help to come to them from the Divine. Nobody can really help - only the Divine Grace.
The prison
Altruism, duty, family, country, humanity are the prisons of the soul when they are not its instruments.
Charity
Fling not thy alms abroad everywhere in an ostentation of charity; understand and love where thou helpest. Let thy soul grow within thee.
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Help the poor while the poor are with thee; but study also and strive that there may be no poor for thy assistance.
Liberty and licence
I would like someone to tell me what he understands by "be absolutely free", for it is a very important question. I shall tell you why.
Most people confuse liberty with licence. For the ordinary mind, to be free is to have the chance of committing every stupidity that one likes, without anybody intervening. I say one must be "absolutely free", but it is a very dangerous advice unless one understands the meaning of the words. Free from what? - free from attachments, evidently.
Propaganda
Mother does not set much value on propaganda, but still work of that kind can be her work. Only it has to come from her impulsion, be done with quietude, with measure, in the way she wants it to be done. It is from the inner being that it should be done in union with the Mother's will, not from the Vital mind's eager impulse. To concentrate most on one's own spiritual growth and experience is the first necessity of the Sadhak - to be eager to help others draws away from the inner work. To grow in the spirit is the greatest help one can give to others, for then something flows out naturally to those around that helps them.
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There is
only one solution,
to find
your
psychic being...
Method, order, and care
With method, order, and care there is no difficulty that cannot be solved.
Gita's solution
To live inwardly calm, detached, silent in the silence of the impersonal and universal Self and yet do dynamically the works of dynamic Nature, and more largely, to be one with the Eternal within us and to do all the will of the Eternal in the world expressed through a sublimated force, a divine height of the personal nature uplifted, liberated, universalised, made one with God-nature, - this is the Gita's solution.
Blessings
Difficulties are always blessings if we know how to face them.
Pausing
Yes, it is very good to learn the habit of pausing a few seconds before acting in order to ask oneself whether the action is truly helpful from the standpoint of spiritual life.
The best help
To want unwaveringly the welfare of another both in
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the head and the heart, is the best help one can give.
Lack of control
Most of the difficulties that people have are due to a lack of control over their actions, and their reactions to the actions of others.
Power and need
Do not worry about anything: power comes with the need.
Find your psychic being
There is only one solution, to find your psychic being and once it is found to cling to it desperately, to let it guide you step by step whatever be the obstacle. That is the only solution.
What He decides
You might have, for example, worked very hard to do a certain thing, so that something might happen, you might have given much time, much of your energy, much of your will, and all that not for your own sake, but, say, for the divine work (that is the offering); now suppose that after having taken all this trouble, done all this work, made all these efforts, it all goes just the other way round, it does not succeed. If you are truly surrendered, you say: "It is good, it is all good, it is all right; I did what I could, as well as I
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could, now it is not my decision, it is the decision of the Divine, I accept entirely what He decides." On the other hand, if you do not have this deep and spontaneous surrender, you tell yourself: "How is it? I took so much trouble to do a thing which is not for a selfish purpose, which is for the Divine Work, and this is the result, it is not successful!" Ninety-nine times out of a hundred, it is like that.
Looking sincerely into oneself
If in the work you meet with some difficulties, look sincerely into yourself and there you will discover their origin.
Psychic gladness
Vital joy has to be replaced by a quiet settled psychic gladness with the mind and Vital very clear and very peaceful. When one works on this basis, then everything becomes glad and easy, in touch with the Mother's force and fatigue or depression do not come.
Developing a double consciousness
It is because the energy is put forward in the work. But as the peace and contact grow, a double consciousness can develop - one engaged in the work, an- other behind, silent and observing or turned towards the Divine - in this consciousness the aspiration can
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be maintained even while the external consciousness is turned towards the work.
Inner opening
All change must come from within with the felt or the secret support of the Divine Power; it is only by one's own inner opening to that that one can receive help, not by mental, vital or physical contact with others.
He alone
Never seek a support elsewhere than in the Divine. Never seek satisfaction elsewhere than in the Divine. Never seek the satisfaction of your needs in anyone else except the Divine - never, for anything at all. All your needs can be satisfied only by the Divine. All your weaknesses can be borne and healed only by the Divine. He alone is capable of giving you what you need in everything, always, and if you try to find any satisfaction or support or help or joy or... Heaven knows what, in anyone else, you will always fall on your nose one day, and that always hurts, sometimes even hurts very much.
Receptivity to the Light
But if, when you have to face anguish, suffering, revolt, pain or a feeling of helplessness - whatever it may be, all the things that come to you on the path and which precisely are your difficulties - if physically,
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that is to say, in your body-consciousness, you can have the feeling of widening yourself, one could say of unfolding yourself - you feel as it were all folded up, one fold on another like a piece of cloth which is folded and refolded and folded again - so if you have this feeling that what is holding and strangling you and making you suffer or paralysing your movement, is like a too closely, too tightly folded piece of cloth or like a parcel that is too well-tied, too well-packed, and that slowly, gradually, you undo all the folds and stretch yourself out exactly as one unfolds a piece of cloth or a sheet of paper and spreads it out flat, and you lie flat and make yourself very wide, as wide as possible, spreading yourself out as far as you can, opening yourself and stretching out in an attitude of complete passivity with what I could call "the face to the light": not curling back upon your difficulty, doubling up on it, shutting it in, so to say, into yourself, but, on the contrary, unfurling yourself as much as you can, as perfectly as you can, putting the difficulty before the Light - the Light which comes from above - if you do that in all the domains, and even if mentally you don't succeed in doing it - for it is sometimes difficult - if you can imagine yourself doing this physically, almost materially, well, when you have finished unfolding yourself and stretching yourself out, you will find that more than three-quarters of the difficulty is gone. And then just a little work of receptivity to the Light and the last quarter will disappear.
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A reversal of consciousness
Do not try to correct your faults one by one, to overcome your weaknesses one by one, it does not take you very far. The entire consciousness must be changed, a reversal of consciousness must be achieved, a springing up out of the state in which one is towards a higher state from which one dominates all the weaknesses one wants to heal, and from which one has a full vision of the work to be accomplished.
Being frank and open
You must not regret. It is always better to be frank and open; that is the best way to correct one's mistakes.
Being modest
If you want to learn to work really well, you must be modest, become aware of your imperfections and always maintain the will to progress.
One does not progress through boasting.
Endurance
Nothing great is ever accomplished without endurance.
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If you could
make yourselves
entirely
pure instruments,
things would go
better.
The Master, the Worker and the Instrument
In thy works there are always these three, the Master, the Worker and the Instrument. To define them in oneself rightly and rightly possess them is the secret of works and of the delight of works.
Learn thou first to be the instrument of God and to accept thy Master. The instrument is this outward thing thou callest thyself; it is a mould of mind, a driving force of power, a machinery of form, a thing full of springs and cogs and clamps and devices. Call not this the Worker or the Master; it can never be the Worker or the Master. Accept thyself humbly, yet proudly, devotedly, submissively and joyfully as a divine instrument.
There is no greater pride and glory than to be a perfect instrument of the Master.256
An equal joy
The sword did not ask to be made, nor does it resist its user, nor lament when it is broken. There is a joy of being made and a joy of being used and a joy of being put aside and a joy too of being broken. That equal joy discover.256
A good instrument
"There is not a minute in life, there is not a circumstance
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in one's existence that cannot bring an opportunity for progress; what then is the progress that I am going to make today?... I offer all my little person to the Divine. I want it to be a good instrument for Him to express Himself, that I may be ready one day for the transformation."
A perfect instrument
Let us constantly aspire to be a perfect instrument for the Divine's work.
A true instrument
Let nothing short of perfection be your ideal in work and you are sure to become a true instrument of the Divine.
Psychic instrument
Care should be taken that there should be no ambitious or selfish misuse, no pride or vanity, no sense of superiority, no Claim or egoism of the instrument, only a simple and pure psychic instrumentation of the nature in any way in which it is fit for the service of the Divine.
Work done for the Mother
To observe whether it is really well done or not and feel the Ananda of work done for the Mother. Get rid of the "I". If it is well done, it is the Force that did it
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and your only part was to be a good or a bad instrument.
Orderly harmony and organisation
Orderly harmony and organisation in physical things is a necessary part of efficiency and perfection and makes the instrument fit for whatever work is given to it.
Entirely pure instruments
If you could make yourselves entirely pure instruments, things would go better. It
Refined instruments
But for us who want to realise almost the very opposite, that is, who, after having identified ourselves with the supreme Reality, want to make It descend into life and transform the world, if we offer to this Reality instruments which are refined, rich, developed, fully conscious, the work of transformation will be more effective.
Acting always from within
You must learn to act always from Within - from your inner being which is in contact with the Divine. The outer should be a mere instrument and should not be allowed at all to compel or dictate your speech, thought or action.
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Regard your life
as given you
only
for the divine work
and to help
in the divine
manifestation.
The liberated man
The liberated man has no personal hopes; he does not seize on things as his personal possessions; he receives what the divine Will brings in, covets nothing, is jealous of none: what comes to him he takes without repulsion and without attachment; what goes from him he allows to depart into the whirl of things without repining or grief or sense of loss.... His action is indeed of purely physical action, sariram kevalam karma; for all else comes from above, is not generated on the human plane, is only a reflection of the will, knowledge, joy of the divine Purushottama.
Action of the Force
The Force from above is the Force of the Higher Consciousness. That from behind works as a mental, vital or physical force according to need. When the being is open to it and there is a certain passivity to its working, it takes the place of the personal activity and the Person is a witness of its action.
The divine Will
But why do we do this divine Work? It is to make ourselves...
No, not at all! It is because that's the divine Will. It is not at all for a personal reason, it must not be that. It
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is because it's the divine Will and it's the divine Work.
Belonging totally to the Divine
That is why, rather than to serve, it is better to belong totally, absolutely to the Divine.
The aim
To exist only for the Divine.
To exist only through the Divine.
To exist only in the service of the Divine.
To exist only... by becoming the Divine.
Soulhood
The culmination of Karmayoga is a yet higher and deeper state that may perhaps be called "soulhood"- for the soul is greater than the man; a free soulhood spontaneously welling out in works of a supreme Truth and Love will replace human virtue.
Your first aim
If you want to be a true doer of divine works, your first aim must be to be totally free from all desire and self-regarding ego. All your life must be an offering and a sacrifice to the Supreme; your only object in action shall be to serve, to receive, to fulfil, to become a manifesting instrument of the Divine Shakti in her works.
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By the Divine and for the Divine
When I say, "If you are sincere, you are sure of victory", I mean true sincerity: to be constantly the true flame that burns like an offering. That intense joy of existing only by the Divine and for the Divine and feeling that without Him nothing exists, that life has no longer any meaning, nothing has any purpose, nothing has any value, nothing has any interest, unless it is this call, this aspiration, this opening to the supreme Truth, to all that we call the Divine (because you must use some word or other), the only reason for the existence of the universe.
Inner growth
The joy of service and the joy of inner growth through works is the sufficient recompense of the selfless worker.
Only for the divine work
Regard your life as given you only for the divine work and to help in the divine manifestation.
The heavens within
The heavens beyond are great and wonderful, but greater and more wonderful are the heavens within you. It is these Edens that await the divine worker.
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To serve
To give oneself, to serve. What is its spontaneous, immediate, inevitable movement? To serve. To serve in a joyous, complete, total self-giving.
I face earth's happenings with an equal soul;
In all are heard Thy steps: Thy unseen feet
Tread Destiny's pathways in my front. Life's whole
Tremendous theorem is Thou complete.
No danger can perturb my spirit's calm:
My acts are Thine; I do Thy works and pass;
Failure is cradled on Thy deathless arm,
Victory is Thy passage mirrored in Fortune's glass.
In this rude combat With the fate of man
Thy smile within my heart makes all my strength;
Thy Force in me labours at its grandiose plan,
Indifferent to the Time-snake's crawling length.
No power can slay my soul; it lives in Thee.
Thy presence is my immortality.
The qualities of the Divine Worker
He, the divine worker, is free from all preference and all attachment; he has broken down the limits of his ego and is now only a perfectly pure and impersonal, instrument of the supramental action upon earth.
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Sri Aurobindo's work
is a unique
earth-transformation.
Unique
Sri Aurobindo's work is a unique earth-transformation.
Successful Future
Do you know what the flower which we have called "Successful Future" signifies when given to you? It signifies the hope - nay, even the promise - that you will participate in the descent of the supramental world. For that descent will be the successful con- summation of our work, a descent of which the full glory has not yet been or else the whole face of life would have been different.
Spirit of perfection and order
Mahasaraswati is the Mother's Power of Work and her spirit of perfection and order.
God's final seal
...the perfecting of the body also should be the last triumph of the Spirit and to make the bodily life also divine must be God's final seal upon His work in the universe.
Faith in Sri Aurobindo
Live rather in the constant hope and conviction that
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what we are doing will prove a success. In other words, let your imagination be moulded by your faith in Sri Aurobindo; for, is not such faith the very hope and conviction that the will of Sri Aurobindo is bound to be done, that his work of transformation cannot but end in a supreme victory and that what he calls the supramental world will be brought down on earth and realised by us here and now?
To change the earthly life
...Savitri answered to the radiant God:
"... the one task for which our lives were born,
To raise the world to God in deathless Light,
To bring God down to the world on earth we came,
To change the earthly life to life divine.
I keep my will to save the world and man;
Even the charm of thy alluring voice,
O blissful Godhead, cannot seize and snare.
I sacrifice not earth to happier worlds.
Because there dwelt the Eternal's vast Idea
And his dynamic will in men and things,
So only could the enormous scene begin.
Whence came this profitless wilderness of stars,
This mighty barren wheeling of the suns?
Who made the soul of futile life in Time,
Planted a purpose and a hope in the heart, Set Nature to a huge and meaningless task
Or planned her million-aeoned effort's waste?
What force condemned to birth and death and tears
These conscious creatures crawling on the globe?
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If earth can look up to the light of heaven
And hear an answer to her lonely cry, Not vain their meeting, nor heaven's touch a snare. If thou and I are true, the world is true; Although thou hide thyself behind thy works, To be is not a senseless paradox; Since God has made earth, earth must make in her God; What hides within her breast she must reveal. I claim thee for the world that thou hast made. If man lives bound by his humanity, If he is tied for ever to his pain, Let a greater being then arise from man, The superhuman with the Eternal mate And the Immortal shine through earthly forms..."
Page 97
Work alone
is not
the object,-work
is a means
of sadhana.
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