The Practice of the Integral Yoga

VIII

How to Call and pray?

A complete purification, a total liberation and a perfect perfection constitute the triple objective of the Integral Yoga, and this implies an integral transformation of the whole being and nature.

To all appearances this goal may seem to be exceedingly difficult, almost impossible to attain, for the ascents of consciousness needed are too steep, the descents from above too precarious, and the path of the Integral Yoga too hard to tread. Indeed, left to one's own unaided Tapasya of will and aspiration, no human being however strong in spirit can ever expect to transform himself.

The sadhaka of the Integral Yoga should not therefore forget even for a moment that the Divine Mother's Shakti can always do more than one's personal effort; so the only thing for him to do is to get a settled quiet in his ādhāra and call the Shakti down or out to the front — for it is always there behind and above him whether he knows it or not. His only effort should be to keep himself open to the Mother's Force and to keep the whole being always on its side in its dealings with the forces of the lower nature.

The present essay deals with the preliminary stage of sadhana and with the problems of a sadhaka who has taken the central resolution to be the Divine Mother's child in the completest sense of the term, but who has not yet been able to establish in himself a conscious and direct contact with the Mother nor has he succeeded in effecting a conversion of all the elements of his being. And as a result at every step of his inner journey on the road of spiritual ascension he is bound to encounter in his consciousness and in the actions of his instrumental nature a host of pulls and orientations that are contrary to his cherished goal. And since in this preliminary stage of self-preparation he cannot too hastily claim to leave everything overtly and exclusively to the charge of the Divine Shakti, there must perforce be a stress on personal effort.

Now the personal effort demanded of the sadhaka has three limbs: an ever-mounting flame of aspiration, a ceaseless process of rejection of all that is inimical to sadhana, and of course an

Page 105

increasingly growing reality of surrender to the Mother-Power. If these three are forthcoming, the rest is bound to come by the Grace of the Mother and the working of her Force in the sadhaka.

Thus throughout this preliminary period of self-preparation, the sadhaka has to keep himself ever-awake and make at every step an uncompromising choice between the higher and the lower, between all that impels him to his goal and all that detracts him from his path or in the least impedes his forward journey. But the sadhaka should remember that there are always two ways of doing sadhana — "one to overcome the difficulty in its own field, the other to develop the inner realisation until it grows so strong that the roots... have no longer any soil to hold by and come out easily by a spontaneous psychic change." (Sri Aurobindo: On Yoga II, Tome Two, p. 755)

In our sadhana, aspiration should come before rejection: the sadhaka should have his look turned forward to the future, to the coming light and not to any immediate darkness.

But in spite of the main stress being laid on the positive side of the sadhana, the sadhaka cannot from the very outset altogether eliminate the necessity of dealing with the wrong turns and obscurities of his nature. For so long as the consciousness does not get integrally turned to the Divine Truth and the Divine Mother, so long as the nature remains divided, in however small a measure, between two opposing loyalties, the sadhaka cannot possibly expect that he would remain constantly in a state of ardent aspiration, perfect faith and love, and full and constant openness to the Divine Force.

It is thus clear that so long as the sadhaka does not get integrally consecrated to the Divine Mother, he has to meet and contend with the resistance in his mental being with its principal forms of doubt and denial, in his vital nature with its turmoils of desires and attachments, also in his physical consciousness with its characteristic stamp of fundamental inertia and obscurity.

If that is so, whenever dificulties and impediments to sadhana present themselves to the sadhaka of the Integral Yoga, what ideal attitude should he adopt? As we have already pointed out, he should not seek to master them relying on his own unaided effort alone.

Page 106

Rather, he should trust in the Divine Mother's Force and Light, call in her aid, open himself to her working and let her Shakti act on his nature. The one thing that really counts is at every step to establish a contact with the Mother and offer one's being and nature to her divine working. And, at least in the preliminary stages of sadhana, a simple and sincere prayer addressed in the right spirit to the Divine Mother is indeed one of the principal means of establishing this needed contact. In spiritual matters and in the seeking of spiritual gains, this conscious relation is a very great power; it is a far greater power than our own entirely self-reliant struggle and effort: it brings a fuller spiritual growth and experience.

But the whole question is the sincerity of this prayer and of the right spirit behind it. For prayers may be crude and childish, unholy and egoistic, addressed to a supposedly superior Power in the vain and perverse expectation of placating and propitiating the higher Will, with the hope of tilting the balance of divine Dispensation in one's favour. Such prayers are of no avail in the building up of a truly spiritual life. The Mother has assured us that "all sincere calls surely reach and receive an answer." Let us then make it clear to our consciousness what is meant by a truly sincere call.

A little introspection will make us realise that any sincere prayer addressed to the Divine Mother from the depths of our being is moulded as it were of seven elements: the Goal, the Insight, the Adhesion, the Presence, Faith, Supplication, and Resignation. Let us consider in their proper order how these elements or 'limbs' individually and collectively contribute to the essential sincerity of a call.

The First Limb: The Goal — The very first element, almost the foundation element, of a sincere prayer in sadhana is, on the part of the sadhaka, a never-failing awareness of his spiritual goal. Once he has entered the path of Yoga, there is only one thing for him to do: to grow progressively towards a state of total consecration and to fix himself in the resolution to go to the end whatever happens, whatever difficulties cross his path. Ekanisthā should be his one watchword and he should know that the word nisthā means "one-pointed, fixed and steady concentration, devotion and faith in the

Page 107

single aim — the Divine and the Divine Realisation". (Sri Aurobindo) Indeed, once on the path all the prayers of the sadhaka should well up as it were from this single source: 'the Goal of an integral dedication and openness to the Divine Mother'. The sadhaka should seek to keep alive at all moments in the background of his consciousness a profound conviction and a sure and unwavering feeling that except for the Divine, the Divine Truth and the Divine Life, there is nothing whatsoever in the world that is really worth cherishing or striving after. He should seek to remain firm in his awareness that the only object set before him is the complete abolition, although progressive, of all ego-sense, a relentless discouragement of all promptings from his as yet unregenerate lower nature, and a radical scorching out of every single root of all his desires and attachments. He must clairvoyantly see to it that his calls and prayers at all times cooperate with the aspiring and enlightened part of his being against all the gravitational pull of the downward turns of his nature.

A constant awareness of one's single goal: the Divine and the divine Realisation, and a consequent purity of the motive behind one's call, constitutes the first essential element of a sincere prayer.

The Second Limb: The Insight — Whenever crossed by any psychological difficulty or by any obstacle to the free flow of his sadhana, whatever may be its intensity or to whatever domain it may belong, the sadhaka should immediately try to clear the ground of his consciousness of all preferential leaning towards this particular weakness. Nirmohatā, absence of all fascination, is the watchword here, and the sadhaka must take his firm station on this ground of no illusion, and deliberately and consciously seek to see and feel that the impediment that has presently appeared is by no means conducive to the realisation of his Goal, nor is it really beneficial in his sadhana life in however minimal a way. He must seek to gather sufficient moral courage to look straight into the face of the difficulty, see it in its true complexion, and unreservedly comprehend with his mind's clear vision that this should and must definitely leave him for good.

On no account should he try to cherish or justify his difficulty

Page 108

or weakness even if he feels himself to be in his vital nature too weak to reject it, even if he finds the particular impediment having driven its roots deep down into his instrumental consciousness, so much so that in spite of his will to the contrary he cannot but succumb to its grip on his nature. He must sincerely try to withdraw his mind's assent to this difficulty and know it for what it is in its naked form, instead of seeking excuses and extenuating circumstances for its continued existence, or trying to give it a respectable look under the cover of gilded masks — thus creating resistance in the path of the Divine Shakti's working. The sadhaka must always live in the awakened part of his being and hold on firmly to the clear perception of the impediment's essential wrong-ness and of the absolute necessity for its radical elimination.

To see a difficulty or a weakness in its true colour, in its unvarnished reality, not to justify or rationalise it in however small a measure, to keep alive the resolution of getting free from it: this is what constitutes the second element of an effective prayer.

The Third Limb: The Adhesion — Next comes the third element, the fundamental element; for herein lies the true measure of the sincerity of a prayer. Indeed, the introduction of this single element makes all the difference between a sadhana based on self-reliant tapasya and one that is grounded in śaranāgati ('taking refuge in the Divine').

The central adhesion of the working will and the joyous consent of the vital for its change is what makes up this third element. For it is not sufficient for the sadhaka to know with his mind that something is wrong with his nature; he must at the same time want with all his heart that he should be freed from it. Just a bit of self-searching will very soon convince any sadhaka that we are for the most part full of vital insincerities, praying and pretending on the surface that something positive should really happen through the Mother's grace but sheltering all the while just below the threshold of our superficial consciousness a lurking desire that this should not actually happen so soon. In fact if it ever happens to come to be realised, our vital may get a severe jolt and demur or even revolt at its fruition.

Page 109

It is for this that the Mother's very first injunction to anyone seeking to get rid of a wrong movement is really to want it: 'Tout d'abord, il faut le vouloir'; for otherwise the whole thing gets vitiated even at its very start.

The Fourth Limb: The Presence — Once the sadhaka has grown aware of any wrong turn in his nature and has sincerely decided to get rid of it, he has but to invoke the divine aid of the Mahashakti and quietly open himself to the working of her Force and Light.

But while calling for this aid it is necessary for him not to regard the Divine Mother as someone too far and too remote from him, reigning on some unattainable summit of consciousness.

No doubt in her transcendent aspect the Mother is the Supreme Chitshakti, Consciousness and Power, even beyond the reach of the highest Gods. But that does not debar her from being nearer than the nearest, closer than the closest even to the insignificant part of her creation. For the efficacy of his prayer the sadhaka should be careful not to perplex himself with the questioning voices of his physical or philosophical mind; he should rather take his stand on the unassailable rock of faith and make his heart the altar of his supplication. He must seek to consciously grow in the living Presence of the Mother and feel it at all times to be concretely close and intimate to his consciousness.

Even if he is not directly aware of the Presence, the sadhaka must know it for certain that the Mother Mahashakti is always with him, around him and inside him, enveloping him with her boundless Grace and holding him in her embrace in weal and woe, in life and death, on all occasions and at all times. In the face of every bit of supposedly decisive evidence to the contrary, he must try to feel with a child's candour and straighforward trust that he is living before the very eyes of the Divine Mother who is looking down at him in her infinite love and boundless compassion, ever ready to bring to his soul the needed succour and healing touch whenever a sincere call rises from the depths of his heart.

This unshakable faith in the Presence and nearness of the Mother, even when the sadhaka is not actively aware of it, is the

Page 110

fourth essential element of an efficacious call.

The Fifth Limb: Faith in the Potency of Mahashakti — The faith in the Presence and the nearness of the Divine Mother must now be coupled with an equally unflinching faith in the supreme effectivity of her Force. For the sadhaka should not forget that she is not only Love and Grace, she is at the same time the Mahashakti of the Divine.

But it happens very often that whenever a sadhaka is beset with some difficulty or crossed on his path by some obstruction, he invariably sees the negative side of the picture, magnifies his difficulty out of all proportion and imagines in all seriousness that this time at least it is really insuperable. Thus his whole consciousness gets clouded and he loses faith in the working of the Mother. Although he may still continue to have faith in her Presence and solicitude, he may come to entertain serious doubts that after all the Mother has to work through certain conditions, and such being the case, since he has fallen into an irretrievable situation, since he is in his ādharā so full of twists and imperfections, and since he finds himself so much deficient in his opening to the Mother, how can he possibly expect that the Mahashakti may hear his call and, hearing, save him from his impossible impasse!

This sort of self-depreciation and inner trepidation, such a sense of doubt and uncertainty in the possible working power of the Mother's Shakti is indeed a dangerously black mood for the sadhaka and he must make all effort to throw it out at any cost and as soon as possible. If he ever calls the Mother and lifts up his prayer to her, he must arm himself with a total faith in the One Mahashakti who is infinitely greater than all his supposed imperfections, infinitely more powerful than all his imagined incapacities, and who can change his destiny and perfect his self and nature provided he prays in a way so that his prayers may be heard.

Therefore, whenever the sadhaka's consciousness tends to get clouded, whenever the black mood of doubt and depression threatens to overwhelm him, he should at once recall to his trepidant consciousness the following words of the Mother:

Page 111

"One must aspire, it is indispensable; but there are people who aspire yet with so much conflict within them, between faith and want of faith, trust and distrust, between optimism that is sure of victory and pessimism that is just waiting for the catastrophe to come, etc., etc. If such is the state of your being, you may aspire but nothing will come out of it. You say, 'I aspire but I get nothing'. That is because you are demolishing your aspiration all the while by your want of trust. But if truly you have the trust, things would be different.... When you aspire for the Force, or ask for the Divine's help, if you do it with an unshakable certitude that the thing will come, in that case, it is impossible for it not to come. In fact, as I say, such a conviction is in itself an inner opening.... He who has a happy confidence in him, does not question, does not ask if he will have the thing or not, whether the Divine will answer or not. For to him that is not the question at all; it is well understood and taken for granted: 'The thing I need I shall be given,' he says, 'If I pray my prayer will surely be granted. If I am in difficulty and ask for help, the help will come, it will not only come but settle everything' — I say, the person who has such a spontaneous, candid, unquestioning reliance gets the best conditions under which an effective descent of Grace can occur; its action then is marvellous." (Nolini Kanta Gupta: The Yoga of Sri Aurobindo, Part 8, pp. 104-05)

A firm faith in the efficacy of the Mother's working behind all appearances, leading to sure victory and to what is spiritually good for the sadhaka, is what constitutes the fifth element of a sincere call.

The Sixth Limb: The Supplication Proper — A sincere attendance to the first five limbs finally brings the sadhaka to the sixth element, the supplication proper. The function of the aforesaid elements is to prepare the sadhaka's consciousness and mould it in the most propitious manner so that his supplication may not be halting, superficial or weak in its core.

Now in this sixth limb, the sadhaka should inwardly place himself in the Presence of the Mother and open himself and his weak-

Page 112

ness unreservedly before her eyes. With a child's candour and the soul's sincerity he must lift up his heart to the Mother, put everything at her feet, call forth her aid and humbly pray that, if such be the Mother's Will, the difficulty may leave him for good and the roots of his weakness may be eliminated from his nature.

Here at this point let us recall the words of Sri Aurobindo as regards the necessity of call and supplication on the sadhaka's part in the building up of his sadhana life:

"If you cannot call the Mother in what you think the right way, call her in any way — if you can't call her, think of her with the will to be rid of these things. Don't worry yourself with the idea whether you have true aspiration or not — the psychic being wants and that is sufficient. The rest is for the Divine Grace on which one must steadfastly rely — one's own merit, virtue or capacity is not the thing that brings the realisation." (Sri Aurobindo on Himself and on the Mother, p. 742)

We consider now the seventh and last limb that deals with the spirit in which a prayer has to be tendered.

The Seventh Limb: The Resignation — Sri Aurobindo has warned the sadhakas that there is a great difference between "calling' and 'pulling' — one can and must always call for the Mother's help and the answer will be proportionate to the sadhaka's capacity of reception and assimilation. But pulling is a selfish movement that may bring clown forces quite disproportionate to one's capacities and therefore harmful.

Thus the sadhaka of the Integral Yoga should be ever on guard against all egoistic ardour of his heart and the violence of his will; for the human vital is, by nature, impatient and over-eager; it always hungers for a quick-yielding fruit of its labour, and if the fruit appears to be denied or long delayed, it gets fatigued and depressed, and loses its faith in the Guidance.

The sadhaka should guard himself against all such deplorable lapses and for that he should take care that his prayers may not get tainted by self-love and egoistic vehemence. He must acquire an

Page 113

unshakable patience and a single-minded perseverance; and happen what may, he must remain ever steadfast and joyful in humble submission to the Divine Mother's Will, and even if she delays to hear or seemingly rejects his prayer, he must go on calling still, and still hold fast to a faith in the Mother's aid, and this faith should remain firm through all difficulties, delays or even apparent failures.

For the sadhaka should not look upon his prayer as a mere slot-machine device nor should he pollute the purity of his call with the baneful spirit of commercial give-and-take. He must know at all times that even the spiritual progress that he seeks is not for his own sake but for the sake of the Divine; and when he prays, this should be his sole intention: 'To will always what the Mother wills', while in asking or in receiving. For a sincere sadhaka should never forget that the only motive behind all his prayers should be to unite his personal will to the Will of the Divine and not to pull His Will to be in alignment with his.

A total and joyous resignation to whatever the Divine Mother wills is what constitutes the seventh limb of a sincere call.

A sadhaka who relies at every step on the Divine Mother's working in his ādhāra and perfects his prayer and call in all its seven limbs is sure to make a quiet and steady progress and not a painful and tormented movement. For him the Way becomes smooth and open, a progressive development and not a struggle; and the sadhana goes on 'as an unfolding, a natural falling away of defects and difficulties, and a coming of greater and greater light and power and transformation.'

Page 114