Integrality (07.07.13) Integrality The object of supramental Yoga combines all the others, but uplifts and transforms the smaller aims into a part of the completeness of the one supreme object. Not to lose oneself altogether in some ineffable featurelessness is its object, but to renounce ego for our true divine person one with the universal and infinite; not to abolish consciousness, but to exchange ignorance for a supreme and all-containing Knowledge, not to blot out joy but to renounce human pleasure for a divine griefless beatitude, not to give up but to transform all world-nature and world-existence into a power of the Truth of the Divine Existence. Asceticism is not the final condition o

Rebirth and Other Worlds; Karma, the Soul and Immortality (17.03.13) There are many profound truths which are like weapons dangerous to the unpractised wielder. Rightly handled, they are the most precious & potent in God’s armoury. Sri Aurobindo (Thoughts and Aphorisms - 536) Sit Down Quietly When you have a little time, whether it is one hour or a few minutes, tell yourself, “At last, I have some time to concentrate, to collect myself, to relive the purpose of my life, to offer myself to the True and the Eternal.” If you took care to do this each time you are not harassed by outer circumstances, you would find out that you were advancing very quickly on the path. Instead of wasting you

One’s Own Way of Thinking (20-11-13) All speech and action comes prepared out of the eternal Silence. Sri Aurobindo   (Thoughts and Aphorisms – 276)   One’s Own Way of Thinking   One needs years of very attentive, very careful, very reasonable, very coherent work, organisation, selection, construction, in order to succeed simply in forming, oh, simply this little thing, one's own way of thinking!   One believes he has his own way of thinking. Not at all. It depends totally upon the people one speaks with or the books he has read or on the mood he is in. It depends also on whether you have a g

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. Sri Aurobindo, SABCL vol. 23 (Letters on Yoga 2) page 635. 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 th

The Knot of the Ego - 2 (11-09-13) Family, nationality, humanity are Vishnu’s three strides from an isolated to a collective unity. The first has been fulfilled, we yet strive for the perfection of the second, towards the third we are reaching out our hands and the pioneer work is already attempted. Sri Aurobindo (Thoughts and Aphorisms - 334)   The Knot of the Ego - 2 You can do this work [of cutting the knot of the ego] from the psychological point of view, discovering all the elements constituting this knot, the whole set of resistances, habits, preferences, of all that holds you narrowly closed in. So when you grow aware of this, you can concentrate and call the divine Force a

Never Be Afraid (18-09-13) Poets make much of death and external afflictions; but the only tragedies are the soul’s failures and the only epic man’s triumphant ascent towards godhead. Sri Aurobindo (Thoughts and Aphorisms - 211)   Never Be Afraid Never be afraid, even if you see extremely ugly things – not only have no fear but no disgust and no repulsion, simply a perfect quietude – and try to be as pure and calm as possible. Then, whatever it may be, whether it be your own formation or it comes from others, whether it be an attack or a bad place – no matter what it is – everything will be alright. But above all, this: quiet, calm, naturally sheltered from every kind of possible f

One must burn one's bridges - 17.04.13 There are lesser & larger eternities, for eternity is a term of the soul & can exist in Time as well as exceeding it. When the Scriptures say “saswatih samah”, they mean for a long space & permanence of time or a hardly measurable aeon; only God Absolute has the absolute eternity. Yet when one goes within, one sees that all things are secretly eternal; there is no end, neither was there ever a beginning. (Thoughts and Aphorisms - 180) One must burn one’s bridges It sometimes takes very long but one must burn one’s bridges; otherwise you go in a round, progress bit by bit until the end of your life, and then, when the time to leave has come you suddenly

Violence and Anger - 2 (03.07.13) Not to have heard the voice of God and His angels is the world’s idea of sanity. (Thoughts and Aphorisms - 531)   Violence and Anger - 2 You may hear all the insults in the world, people may tell you all possible stupidities; if you are not weak, you may perhaps not smile outwardly, for it is not always good taste to smile, but deep within you, you are smiling, you let it pass, it does not touch you… Simply, if your mind has formed the habit of being quiet as it is recommended here, and you have the perception of truth within yourself, you can hear anything at all. It does not even produce the semblance of a vibration – everything remains absolutely immob

Integrality (07.07.13) Integrality The object of supramental Yoga combines all the others, but uplifts and transforms the smaller aims into a part of the completeness of the one supreme object. Not to lose oneself altogether in some ineffable featurelessness is its object, but to renounce ego for our true divine person one with the universal and infinite; not to abolish consciousness, but to exchange ignorance for a supreme and all-containing Knowledge, not to blot out joy but to renounce human pleasure for a divine griefless beatitude, not to give up but to transform all world-nature and world-existence into a power of the Truth of the Divine Existence. Asceticism is not the final condition o

The Hour of God (18-08-13) The Hour of God There are moments when the Spirit moves among men and the breath of the Lord is abroad upon the waters of our being; there are others when it retires and men are left to act in the strength or the weakness of their own egoism. The first are periods when even a little effort produces great results and changes destiny; the second are spaces of time when much labour goes to the making of a little result. It is true that the latter may prepare the former, may be the little smoke of sacrifice going up to heaven which calls down the rain of God’s bounty. Unhappy is the man or the nation which, when the divine moment arrives, is found sleeping or unprepared