In
all that is done in the universe, the Divine through
his Shakti is behind all action but he is veiled by
his Yoga Maya and works through the ego of the Jiva
in the lower nature.
In Yoga also
it is the Divine who is the Sadhaka and the Sadhana;
it is his Shakti with her light, power, knowledge, consciousness,
Ananda, acting upon the Adhara and, when it is opened
to her, pouring into it with these divine forces that
makes the Sadhana possible. But so long as the lower
nature is active the personal effort of the Sadhaka
remains necessary.
The personal
effort required is a triple labour of aspiration, rejection
and surrender, —
an aspiration
vigilant, constant, unceasing — the mind's will,
the heart's seeking, the assent of the vital being,
the will to open and make plastic the physical consciousness
and nature;
rejection of
the movements of the lower nature — rejection of
the mind's ideas, opinions, preferences, habits, constructions,
so that the true knowledge may find free room in a silent
mind, — rejection of the vital nature's desires,
demands, cravings, sensations, passions, selfishness,
pride, arrogance, lust, greed, jealousy, envy, hostility
to the Truth, so that the true power and joy may pour
from above into a calm, large, strong and consecrated
vital being, — rejection of the physical nature's
stupidity, doubt, disbelief, obscurity, obstinacy, pettiness,
laziness, unwillingness to change, Tamas, so that the
true stability of Light, Power, Ananda may establish
itself in a body growing always more divine;
surrender of
oneself and all one is and has and every plane of the
consciousness and every movement to the Divine and the
Shakti. In proportion as the surrender and self-consciousness
progress the Sadhaka becomes conscious of the Divine
Shakti doing the Sadhana, pouring into him more and
more of herself, founding in him the freedom and perfection
of the Divine Nature. The more this conscious process
replaces his own effort, the more rapid and true becomes
his progress. But it cannot completely replace the necessity
of personal effort until the surrender and consecration
are pure and complete from top to bottom.
Note
that a tamasic surrender refusing to fulfil the conditions
and calling on God to do everything and save one all
the trouble and struggle is a deception and does not
lead to freedom and perfection.
-
Sri Aurobindo
