What I Have Learnt From The Mother

Our Yoga - The Perpetual Battle

I think about this Ashram of ours where so many people have come attracted by Sri Aurobindo and the Mother's Yoga-sadhana. Some have become old, some are no more, some have lost their head. Some after staying here for some time have left. Some have got married and settled down to a worldly life. About these we normally say that they have deviated from the path of Yoga, that they are failures.

However, I feel this is not the right way of looking at things. This Sadhana is a war. That is why we talk about the battles in Sadhana. Those who are drawn to the path of Sadhana are inevitably attracted by an inner pull of the soul. They are different from ordinary, average persons. They are exceptional. Nobody can come to the path of Sadhana without hearing the call of God. They are all like soldiers in a war. Some retreat, some advance, but all of them according to their capacity and rank take up a position in this necessary battle. If some of them get injured in this battle, or some fall or die, does that mean they were worthless, unsuccessful? They, in fact, blaze the way for those who are following behind. With their self dedication, or whatever little fruit they have got from Sadhana they advance the course of the collective Sadhana. Everyone contributes in some way. Some more, some perhaps less. It is not right to despise or belittle anybody. In the victory over Lanka you cannot play down the contribution even of an ordinary squirrel. We all do whatever we are capable of to advance on the path of Yoga.

I also think that in each epoch everybody, people, yogis and sadhakas and all their unsuccessful attempts and deviations only go to facilitate the sadhana of those who will follow. They make the realisation of future generations easier. This is why we see that sometimes on some front of the Sadhana we might win a very quick victory whereas some very simple obstacle we are unable to overcome. Often a very difficult thing is achieved with great ease and for achieving a very simple result we have to labour very hard. Who can say how much of what we have won is the contribution of those who preceded us in the Sadhana, those who have risen and fallen so many times?

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Someone remarked: 'In the Veda there was a rishi called Yajna. He has said: 'I saw in my mind's eye the glorious praise of all the sacrifices and Sadhana of our predecessors'. The Sadhana of the Vedas was called 'sadhanpantha' by the rishis, 'purveshang pantha' - Sadhana is walking on a path. This is why the ris his never claim any of their achievements or realisations as their own. They believe that our ancestors, since eternity, have created in the tradition of Sadhana a structure for Sadhana. We have to see that this tradition of meditation and Sadhana is not broken - ma chhedi vayato dhiyam.

I feel the same way. With those who have accepted the Mother and Sri Aurobindo's Sadhana, it is not important to judge who has achieve how much because all of them have contributed to help us become successful. This is why we bow before everybody.

I have read in the Gita that when Arjuna, overwhelmed and confused by Krishna's explanation of the difficult moments of Yoga, asked Him: 'He who takes to Yoga with faith but then for lack of attentiveness, falls off the path, cannot he realise anything? He who could achieve anything in this life or in spiritual life either, what will become of him? Having failed on both sides will he be dissolved by the wind like a little cloud?'

Sri Krishna answered Arjun: 'One who has deviated from Yoga is destroyed neither in this world nor in the world beyond. That man who does good suffers no misfortune anywhere.'

Look at our Ashram itself. All those boys and girls who after their studies go out, none of them is bad in any way. They are all in a very good situation, with a good job and position. The people outside are quite astonished by their success and prosperity. Not one of them is in a bad condition. I would say that this is the result of all that the tradition of sadhana carries on the course of Yoga. This is why our Yoga is called collective Yoga. And this is why all those who came before us, or are with us today or will come in the future, all their combined successes and failures, qualities and shortcomings have traced the path and will continue to do so. And we should always remain grateful to each one of them for our future victory as well. I bow before them all.

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