Introduction

It is the hour and the moment when we need the guidance of the Supreme Master who having tested and experienced every step in evolution by His Yoga (tapasya), that silent actionless impersonal will which He has set here can at last be delivered to the aspiring and suffering humanity. No political leader, no demigod, no second-hand knowledge, no statesman or ascetic sannyasi or religious leader can bring about the true change. We are in the hands of the Supreme Power and are merely instruments of it, and nothing more.

Meanwhile man, half-conscious, god-fearing creature, has been pushed by Ignorance (Avidya), the play of the multiplicity. He has created far himself innumerable trappings and is being crushed by his own science. Over a hundred years ago, Sri Aurobindo foresaw that man will create machines, after machines, convenience after convenience, and comfort will become uncomfortable

Science, philosophy and criticism have established their usefulness for the mass of humanity by ministering to them luxury, comfort and convenience which all men desire and by arming them with justification for their misguided actions in the confused struggle of passions, interests, cravings and hankerings which are working with deadly corrosive effect throughout the world.

It is here that 'stress', a word commonly used in modern society, is perhaps one of humanity's most dangerous enemies for it is the beginning of a silent hostile invasion that has crept into the life of unconscious man and is ready to eat away his sanity and physical well-being if left unattended.

Many believe that stress is a psychological condition brought about by one's inability to cope with the demands of modern-day life. But actually, stress is a

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psycho-physical condition entering largely through the nervous system and the gaping holes present in man's crude and unruly nature.

The symptoms are all too familiar: increased mental and emotional anxiety, lack of ability to control the thoughts and hence its outcome, the loss of concentration.

This has been the experience of the Western world and yet medical science has failed miserably in its attempt to secure a solution. Why is it that material science stumbles every time it tries to prove things that are out of its domain? The reason lies in the simple fact that science has been unable to follow the workings of Nature beyond the realms of Matter. For the root of the problem of stress lies deep within the subtle and subliminal regions of our being and so it is evident that that which has no knowledge and is ignorant of the subtle powers which uphold life is at once at a loss to make a diagnosis and a cure of the malady.

Where science has failed, however, eternal Indian Wisdom triumphs. It is in the higher knowledge concealed in our Self that we are able to find an answer not only to the riddle of our existence but also to the hidden meaning behind the sufferings and innumerable difficulties that mankind has long been facing.

Kalu Sarkar

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