The Practice of the Integral Yoga

XIX

Equality in the integral Yoga

To maintain an attitude of unruffled equanimity at all times and under all circumstances is absolutely essential in the case of a sadhaka of the Integral Yoga. In the paths of sadhana followed by ascetic renunciatory spirituality, equality is not so much stressed, for the sadhakas there solve the problems by segregating them selves from the objects and occasions liable to disturb their sang-froid: there the quality cardinally called for is Vairagya or 'Dispassion'. But in the practice of the Integral Yoga which aims at the transformation of the total human nature, the sadhaka has to boldly confront all the vagaries and vicissitudes of life, carry the relentless spiritual battle into the lion's den itself and score victory there. And this hazardous procedure cannot but necessitate the acquisition of samatā or equality as the most basic armour of the sadhaka. Without this indispensable attainment the seeker is likely to be bruised and battered at every second step of the Way and may even be completely pushed out from the chosen Path of his sadhana. Hence are the following recommendatory words of Sri Aurobindo:

"The very first necessity for spiritual perfection is a perfect equality." (The Synthesis of Yoga, p. 671)

"Equality is the chief support of the true spiritual consciousness..." (Letters on Yoga, p. 661)

Lord Krishna, the great proponent of spiritual synthesis, went so far as to define 'Yoga' as the 'attainment of equality', 'samatvam yoga ucyate'. According to him the consciousness of a true yogi is always established in equality, sāmye sthitam, and a spiritual per-son worth the name lives always and everywhere and in all situations in a serene mood of unity, ekatvam āsthitah.

It is not accidental that we have mentioned the twin attributes of unity and equality almost in the same breath: they are very closely, almost indissolubly, linked and related. For the equality

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we have been speaking of and which is absolutely essential for the establishment of a genuine spiritual life is not just the harsh power of endurance of the Stoic nor the disappointed resignation of someone for whom the 'grapes are sour' and are therefore of no interest! Nor is it the apparent equality of a dull-witted person who remains unperturbed in many situations simply because for him 'ignorance is bliss'. Also, the so-called 'equality' shown by some men who are hardened in their feelings by the lack of sufficient sensitivity. is not judged as such in spiritual parlance.

In fact, true equality is an elevated status of the being, very much positive and dynamic, surcharged with great power, but absolutely calm and quiet in every way. This equality is the reflection in the consciousness of the siddha-yogi, of the eternal and infinite Oneness of the supreme Reality, samam brahma. One can expect to possess this supernal equality only when one arrives at the concrete experience of the Presence of the 'One-without-sec-ond', ekam eva advitīyam, in and behind everything in this world of manifestation. It is impossible to attain it in any other way.

Sri Aurobindo has lucidly spelt out the nature of this realisation of samam brahma on pages 211-13 of The Synthesis of Yoga. Here is an abridged and adapted version of what he has written there:

'... the worship of the Master... demands a clear recognition and glad acknowledgement of him in ourselves, in all things and in all happenings. Equality is the sign of this adoration.... The Lord is there equally in all beings, we have to make no essential distinctions between ourselves and others, the wise and the ignorant, friend and enemy, man and animal, the saint and the sinner.... in all we have to see the One disguised or manifested at his pleasure. He is a little revealed in one or more revealed in another or concealed and wholly distorted in others according to his will and his know-edge of what is best for that which he intends to become in form in them.... All is our self, one self that has taken many shapes.... Even what we have to destroy, we must not abhor or fail to recognise as a disguised and temporary movement of the Eternal.

'And since all things are the one Self in its manifestation, we

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shall have equality of soul towards the ugly and the beautiful, the maimed and the perfect, the noble and the vulgar, the pleasant and the unpleasant the good and the evil... .

' ... behind the variation we shall always see the Complete and the Immutable who dwells within it and we shall feel, know or at least, if it is hidden from us, trust in the wise purpose and divine necessity of the particular manifestation....

'And so too we shall have the same equality of mind and soul towards all happenings, painful or pleasurable, defeat and success, honour and disgrace, good repute and ill-repute, good fortune and evil fortune . For in all happenings we shall see the will of the Master of all works and results and a step in the evolving expression of the Divine... .

'Thus supremely balanced we shall continue steadily on our way meeting all things with an equal calm...' (The Synthesis of Yoga, pp. 211-13)

But surely one cannot reach in a short time this elevated status of spiritual equality which is the result of an uninterrupted vision of the One in the Many in spite of all disconcerting variations and differences on the surface. In order to be samatā-siddha, perfect in equality. the aspirant has to do some serious sadhana stretching over a long period of time. This sadhana for equality has many stages. many a step in the stair of ascension. And in each of these stages or steps the concept 'equality' will change its purpose and significance. We have to be vigilant so that we may not inadvertently halt our journey in the middle of our enterprise, taking an intermediate stage of equality to be the final siddhi.

Thus in a relatively earlier part of the sadhana the immature, not so well -informed sadhaka may mistake as real equality what Sri Aurobindo has termed as "an attitude of equal recoil" and "equality of equal acceptance".

Be that as it may. the very first task the sadhaka of the Integral Yoga has to attend to in his sadhana is to maintain an attitude of perfect calm and equanimity under all circumstances. The Mother was once asked: "Is there any sign which indicates that one is ready for the path, especially if one has no spiritual teacher?" This is

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how the Mother answered this very important question:

"Yes, the most important indication is a perfect equality of sou in all circumstances. It is an absolutely indispensable basis; something very calm, qui et , peaceful, the fee ling of a great force. Not the quietness that comes from inertia but the sensation of a concentrated power which keeps you always steady, whatever happens, even in circumstances which may appear to you most terrible in your life. That is the first sign." (M C W, Vol. 4, p. 97)

So what is most important for the sadhaka of the Integral Yoga is to grow, even in the preparatory period of his sadhana, into the following attitude and way of action and reaction vis-à-vis all object s and per sons and events of one's daily life. This sadhana- procedure has been adapted from Sri Aurobindo 's writings as we find them in his Letters on Yoga, pp . 661-62:

"The sadhaka should not allow any vita l movement to carry him away in feeling or speech or action. He must develop a qui et and unmoved mind and heart which mean s in actual practice not to be touched or disturbed by things that happen or things said or done to the sadhaka. He must look at them with a straight look ,free from the distortion s created by personal feelings . He should try to understand what is behind them, why they happen, what is to be learnt from them, what is it in oneself which they are cast against and what inner profit or progress one ca n make out of them. The sadhaka must establish total self-mastery over all vita l movements such as anger and fear. sensitiveness and pride, desires andimpulses and the rest. He should never let them get hold of his emotional being and disturb the inner peace. He should never speak and act in the rush and impulsion of any of these things. All his speech and action should follow from out of a ca lm inner poise of the spirit. At the same time the sadhaka should develop an equal view of men and their nature and their acts and the forces that move them. He should try to see the truth about them by pushingaway all prejudiced personal feeling in one's seeing and judgment. What is always needed on the part of the sadhaka is a strong and

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large and equal attitude towards men and things and events and situations."

Yes, an equal attitude towards men and things and events and situations: as a firm achievement this is surely a sine qua non of true spirituality. But how is it then that most of us, in our daily conduct of life affairs, almost always miserably fail to maintain this laudable attitude of impartial equality ? What is the root-cause of this failure? Unless we discover this root-cause and remove it, it will be vain to expect that we shall be able to progress in establishing samatā or equality in our daily functioning consciousness.

Why inequality — A clairvoyant analysis of the manifestation of any type of inequality on our part under any provocative situation will make it manifest to us that it is in every case the separative sense of 'ego' and its protean progeny 'desire' which pull the strings from behind and make the sadhaka lose his balance and stumble on the path. This is how it all happens: the sequence of cause and effect follows somewhat the pattern indicated below:

The sadhaka' s 'ego', being basically separative in nature, makes him forget that he is in reality one with the supreme Divine. His self-oblivion brings about an acute sense of impotence and limitation. And wherever there is limitation, there cannot but arise a deep sense of lacking and dissatisfaction. This feeling of lacking and want gives rise to the sprouting of a thousand desires.

The sadhaka strains after the fulfilment of a particular desire. First, there is in him tension of inequality in the period of straining. After the object of desire is attained, there is momentary satisfaction but not for long. For by its very nature the object gained loses its previous charm after some time and shows its inadequacy in many ways.

The frustrated desire of the sadhaka then moves away from that object of first love and strains to gain a second object under the mistaken impression that this second object will surely give him that satisfaction which he failed to receive from the first object. But the hope is belied very soon and the same sense of acute frustration disturbs the poise of the sadhaka without fail.

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Then the search is initiated for a third object of desire and the same cycle of tension-laden seeking, momentary seizing and satisfaction, and subsequent disenchantment follows ad infinitum.

Also, 'ego' being separative in its very character, cannot but institute a constant comparison and contrast with the supposed attainments and possessions of other egos around oneself, which, the first ego feels, have somehow eluded his grasp. This gives rise to a continual sense of deprivation and injustice. And this cannot but engender in the person a mood of incessant irritation and inequality.

Thus, with ego and its progeny, desires, lurking below the ground of consciousness with their roots struck deep down, peace and equanimity will always remain beyond the reach of the sadhaka, śāntim apnoti na kāmakāmī (Gita II. 70). According to the prescription suggested by Lord Krishna, the only way to the attainment of perfect peace and equality is the uprooting of ego and desires, nisprhah nirmamo nirahankārah śāntim adhigacchati (ibid., II. 71).

But this is easier said than done. To be completely free from all trace of "I-ness" and "My-ness" and from the invasion of all attendant desires is not a task that can be achieved even by many advanced yogis, not to speak of those who are only novices. And it is an indubitable fact that without the possession of equality a sadhaka cannot progress on the path of sadhana. For "a perfect equality of our spirit and nature is a means by which we can move back from the troubled and ignorant outer consciousness into the inner kingdom of heaven...." (The Synthesis of Yoga, p. 672) So the sadhaka is faced ^!with a dilemma: Without attaining equality, one cannot acquire perfect spiritual equality; but at the same time; without achieving equality, one cannot proceed to the successful elimination of the ego-sense. How to solve the riddle? How to come out of the impasse?

The answer is simple. It is not that only when one phase of sadhana is entirely completed, the other phase may at all begin. Both the phases must march together helping each other all the time. For they are in some intimate way interdependent.

Thus even when we remain on the whole ego-bound creatures

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harassed by a multitude of desires, we have to undertake the sadhana of equality although in an imperfect way and, may be, under some fictitious garbs. But something is surely better than nothing: though initially imperfect, our sincere practice will progressively lead us to perfection.

Thus our sadhana may have to pass through many imitation stages of equality, which have to be temporarily adopted and exploited for the benefit they may offer us, and then overpassed and rejected in favour of a higher variant of samatā.

Thus the sadhaka of the Integral Yoga may have to successively or simultaneously pass through the following forms of equality which are at best some happy simulacra of samatā:

(i) The equality of disappointed resignation; (ii) the equality of pride; (iii) the equality of hardness and indifference; (iv) equality arising out of a desire's satiated recoil from itself; etc.

When the sadhaka has proceeded further on the path of sadhana, he may encounter a few other types of pseudo-samatā, based on the three modes or Gunas of Nature-Force, viz., Tamas, Rajas and Sattwa. Let us recall that Tamas is the mode of inertia, fixed habits and conservatism; Rajas that of elan for newness, possession and adventure; and, finally, Sattwa is the mode of harmony and balance and light.

Now, the dominance of any one of these three modes of Nature may lead to a particular type of reposeful quiet which may deceitfully take the appearance of 'equality'. These phoney samatās may be recognised by the following signs:

(i)Tamasic samatā: The blind torpor of the physical nature and the heavy inertia of the vital being may lead to a temporary numbness of the reacting consciousness, which, in its turn, may create in the sadhaka a distaste for the joys of life and an ossified insensibility.

(ii)Rajasic samatā: Not an equal passive recoil, which is the characteristic trait of Tamas, but an eager urge for equal acceptance, is the sign of Rajasic equality. For the principle of Rajas is a principle of battle and struggle, of a vehement impulsion to dominate and subdue everything equally. Therefore the tendency here is that the nature of the rajasic sadhaka is ever ready to accept

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equally the challenges of all experiences without exception, sweetor bitter, happy or sorrowful, pampering or dangerous, and try to come out victorious out of them all.

(iii) Sattvic samatā: This samatā comes out of the perception of the enlightened reason that everything in life is anityam asukham, transitory and doleful, and is therefore not worth hunting after. Hence, to be dispassionate towards everything is the only wise course of action and the only sane attitude to adopt.

But this Sattvic samatā cannot be the last siddhi we have been aiming at. For this equality too may break down under severe testsand stresses. Therefore the sadhaka has to proceed further, transcendthe action of all the three modes of Nature, including that of noble Sattva. In Sri Aurobindo' s words:

"Perfect security can only be had by resorting to something higher than the sattwic quality, something higher than the discerning mind , to the Self, - not the philosopher's intelligent self, but the divine sage's spiritual self which is beyond the three Gunas, All must be consummated by a divine birth into the higher spiritual nature." (Essays on the Gita, p. 189)

Yes, "a divine birth into the higher spiritual nature" is indeed the apposite solution. But that cannot be achieved soon. The sadhaka has to start from where he is now and proceed slowly towards the establishment of true spiritual equality in all the parts of the being. For that he may have to seek his point of support in either of three principles of his complex nature: (i) the principle of will-power; (ii) the principle of enlightened intelligence; and (iii) the principle of the heart's love and resignation.

These three ways of sadhana can be succinctly described as follows:

(i) Samatā through the Will-Power: The basic principle of this method of sadhana is: 'Endure, endure; endure by all means. Never be a slave to your nature's promptings. Establish perfect mastery over her. Whatever may be the churning within, never manifest in action the impulsion suggested by nature,'

This attitude, this discipline, persistently applied, brings out

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one by one three beneficial results very much conducive to the development in sadhana. In Sri Aurobindo' s words:

"First it is found that what was before unbearable, becomes easy to endure; the scale of the power that meets the impact rises in degrees;... Secondly, it is found that the conscious nature divides itself into two parts, one of the normal mental and emotional nature in which the customary reactions continue to take place; another of the higher will and reason which observes and is not troubled or affected by the passion of this lower nature,... This brings the third power and result, ...to get rid of the normal reactions [altogether]..." (The Synthesis of Yoga, p. 683)

(ii) Samatā through Impartial Indifference: This sadhana bases itself on the application of the discriminating intelligence of the sadhaka. In the formulation of the Mother, the principle of sadhana adopted here is: Step back and watch." The sadhaka learns by and by how to place every impact of life in the wider perspective of eternity of Time and infinity of Space. This sort of detached vision will reduce the value and importance of the impact to something relative and insignificant. And it is bound to lose all its power to disturb the poise and equanimity of the Sadhaka. Sri Aurobindo describes this sadhana-procedure in these words:

"The second way is an attitude of impartial indifference. Its method is to reject at once the attraction or the repulsion of things, to cultivate for them a luminous impassivity, an inhibiting rejection, a habit of dissociation and desuetude. This attitude reposes less on the will, though will is always necessary, than on the knowledge." (The Synthesis of Yoga, p. 684)

If the sadhaka continues in the sadhana of this method, with sincerity and persistence, he will soon be blessed with three beneficial results. First, he will come to realise that much of his sorrow and suffering and unease arising out of the adverse impacts of life, is self-imposed, voluntary and the inert continuation of the reactions of past habit. They are relative in nature and therefore

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remediable if only the soul boldly stands up and takes the resolution not to fall an easy prey to their suggestions. The second result will be, as in the case of the first method of equal endurance, a creation of a clear-cut division in the consciousness of the sadhaka with an inner part that remains free and immune and an outer superficial one which may continue for sometime to be still subservient to the old habitual touches of the invading impacts. But this too will end sooner or later with the advent of the third result which will spread the ambience of equanimity even on the outer part of the being.

(iii) Samatā through Resigned Acquiescence: In this method of sadhana the loving heart of the sadhaka takes the lead and helpshim to take the following attitude :

'I know for certain with all my inner feeling that the Divine is All-Good always and everywhere. All that he does in my life is always for my greater future good even if I fail to recognise its true nature and significance at this moment when it has come to me in the appearance of a harsh misfortune. So my constant attitude before every single act of divine Providence should be: "Let Thy Will be done always and everywhere ." ,

It may be noted that as the first method of sadhana indicated above was a way of the will and the second one a way of knowledge and of the understanding reason, the third way is a way of temperament and intimately connected with the principle of Bhakti or loving devotion to the Divine. It is founded on submission to the will of God and on an unegoistic acceptance of things and happenings as a manifestation of the universal divine Will in time.

This sadhana too brings in time three good effects in the consciousness of the sadhaka: (i) the knots of "I-ness" and "My-ness" get loosened by and by; (ii) all personal desires and demands vanish in time leaving place for only one desire, how to align one's will always with the Will of the Divine; and (iii) an intense aspiration to be united with the Divine and to be the faithful and perfect Instrument of his manifestation.

As the sadhaka arrives at the culminating point of "this sadhana, "all within... [him becomes] the equal peace and bliss of that union, the one silent bliss that passes understanding, the peace that

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abides untouched by the solicitation of lower things in the depths of our spiritual existence." (The Synthesis of Yoga, p. 686)

While seriously pursuing the sadhana of equality the sadhaka may at times be troubled by two or three nagging questions: (i) Will the perfection of equality lead to a blindness of vision obliterating the perception of all variations? (ii) Will equality be tantamount to the killing of our emotional nature culminating in utter insensibility and indifference? (iii) Will not the seeking after equality mortify our urge for progress and perfection?

All these questions arise out of a misunderstanding of the whole affair. This is what Sri Aurobindo says in answer to these misplaced misgivings:

"Equality does not mean a fresh ignorance or blindness; it does not call for and need not initiate a greyness of vision and a blotting out of all hues. Difference is there, variation of expression is there and this variation we shall appreciate, — far more justly... But behind the variation we shall always see the Complete and Immutable who dwells within it... (The Synthesis of Yoga, p. 212)

"[Equality] is not a killing of the emotional nature but a trans-formation.... Love will be not destroyed, but perfected, enlarged to its widest capacity, deepened to its spiritual rapture..." (Ibid., p. 677)

"All indeed has to be changed, not ugliness accepted but divine beauty, not imperfection taken as our resting-place but perfection striven after, the supreme good made the universal aim and not evil. But what we do has to be done with a spiritual under-standing and knowledge, and it is a divine good, beauty, perfection, pleasure that has to be followed after, not the human standards of these things." (Ibid., p. 212)

Here ends the essay on the sadhana of equality. Whatever may be the case with other methods of Yoga or the goals sought after by the seekers of other spiritual paths, a perfect equality on the part of the sadhaka is absolutely necessary in the Integral Yoga of self-transformation. Let us close the chapter with an excerpt from Sri Aurobindo which is at once an instruction and an admonition:

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'T he test it lays down is an absolute equality of the mind and the heart to all results, to all reactions, to all happenings.... The tiniest reaction is a proof that the discipline is imperfect.... Our selfconquest is only partially accomplished ; it is still imperfect or unreal in some stretch or part or smallest spot of the ground of our nature. And that little pebble of imperfection may throw down the whole achievement of the Yoga!" (The Synthesis of Yoga, pp. 95-96)

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