Experiences and Realisations(20th January 2013) Experiences and Realisations EXPERIENCE is a word that covers almost all the happenings in yoga; only when something gets settled, then it is no longer an experience but part of the siddhi; e.g. peace when it comes and goes is an experience – when it is settled and goes no more it is a siddhi. Realisation is different – it is when something for which you are aspiring becomes real to you; e.g. you have the idea of the Divine in all, but it is only an idea, a belief; when you feel or see the Divine in all, it becomes a realisation. All this is to make unnecessary distinctions. An experience of a truth in the substance of mind, in the vital or the ph

Get Rid of All Fear (23-10-13) It should take long for self-cure to replace medicine, because of the fear, self-distrust and unnatural physical reliance on drugs which Medical Science has taught to our minds & bodies & made our second nature. Sri Aurobindo (Thoughts and Aphorisms – 402) Get Rid of All Fear Once you enter the path of Yoga you must get rid of all fears – the fears of your mind, the fears of your vital, the fears of your body which are lodged in its very cells. One of the uses of the blows and knocks you receive on the path of Yoga is to rid you of all fear. The causes of your fears leap on you again and again, until you can stand before them free and indifferent, untouc

If Anyone Sneers At You (21-08-13) There are times when God seems to be sternly on the side of the past; then what has been and is, sits firm as on a throne and clothes itself with an irrevocable "I shall be." Then persevere, though thou seem to be fighting the Master of all; for this is His sharpest trial. Sri Aurobindo (Thoughts and Aphorisms - 269) If Anyone Sneers At You If you are worried, grieved or even discouraged by the malicious stupidities that men say about you, you will not advance far on the way. And such things come to you, not because you are unlucky or because your lot is not a happy one, but because, on the contrary, the divine Consciousness and the divine Grace take your

Abandon All Mental Conceptions (12-06-13) This is the wonder of the way of works that even enmity to God can be made an agency of salvation. Sometimes God draws and attaches us most swiftly to Him by wrestling with us as our fierce, invincible & irreconcilable enemy. (Thoughts and Aphorisms - 372) Abandon All Mental Conceptions When you come to the Divine, you must abandon all mental conceptions; but, instead of doing that, you throw your conceptions upon the Divine and want the Divine to obey them. The only true attitude for a Yogi is to be plastic and ready to obey the Divine Command whatever it may be; nothing must be indispensable to him, nothing a burden. Often the first impulse of t

The Foundation of Sadhana (15-09-13) The Foundation of Sadhana   It is not possible to make a foundation in yoga if the mind is restless. The first thing needed is quiet in the mind. Also to merge the personal consciousness is not the first aim of the yoga: the first aim is to open it to a higher spiritual consciousness and for this also a quiet mind is the first need. The first thing to do in the sadhana is to get a settled peace and silence in the mind. Otherwise you may have experiences, but nothing will be permanent. It is in the silent mind that the true consciousness can be built. A quiet mind does not mean that there will be no thoughts or mental movements at all, but that the

Realising the Divine Work (25.12.2013) Christ came into the world to purify, not to fulfil. He himself knew foreknew the failure of his mission and the necessity of his return with the sword of God into a world that had rejected him.   Sri Aurobindo   (Thoughts and Aphorisms – 169)   Realising the Divine Work   Who thinks that all this Force that is here, that is infinitely greater, infinitely more precious than all money–forces, this Force which is here and is given consciously, constantly, with an endless perseverance and patience, only for one sole purpose, that o

The Mother's Presence (07-04-13) The Mother’s Presence She Is Always Present Why do I sometimes feel myself far from the Mother? I want to be able to feel her constantly with me. The Mother is always there with you. You have only to throw away the forces of Ignorance to feel her with you always. * You have said: “Always behave as if the Mother was looking at you; because she is, indeed, always present.” Does this mean that the Mother knows all our insignificant thoughts at all times, or only when she concentrates? It is said that the Mother is always present and looking at you. That does not mean that in her physical mind she is thinking of you always and seeing your thoughts. The

To observe the law we have imposed on ourselves rather than the law of others is what is meant by liberty in our unregenerate condition. Only in God & by the supremacy of the spirit can we enjoy a perfect freedom. Sri Aurobindo (Thoughts and Aphorisms - 165) To Fall Back Into Error To fall back into an error which one knows to be an error, to make a mistake once again which one knows to be a mistake, this seems to me fantastic! It is a long time – well, at least relatively, by human reckoning – it is a long time I have been on earth, and I have yet not been able to understand that. It seems to me – it seems to me impossible. Wrong thoughts, wrong im

Widening One’s Thought (20.12.2013) This is not according to my Shastra or my Science, say the men of rule, formalists. Fool! is God then only a book that there should be nothing true & good except what is written?   Sri Aurobindo   (Thoughts and Aphorisms – 363)   Widening One’s Thought   You tell yourself: "Wait a little, I am going to try and see why he said that to me. Yes, why did he tell me that?" And you concentrate: "Why, why, why?" You stand there, just like that, trying. The other person continues speaking, doesn't he? -  and is very happy too, f

Others are a Mirror of Yourself- I (14.08.13) In my ignorance I thought anger could be noble and vengeance grandiose; but now when I watch Achilles in his epic fury, I see a very fine baby in a very fine rage and I am pleased and amused. Sri Aurobindo - Thoughts and Aphorisms - 209 Power is noble, when it overtops anger; destruction is grandiose, but it loses caste when it proceeds from vengeance. Leave these things, for they belong to a lower humanity. Sri Aurobindo - Thoughts and Aphorisms – 210 Others are a Mirror of Yourself- I When something in a person seems to you completely unacceptable or ridiculous- “What! He is like that, he behaves like that, he says things like that, h