Thread by @Auro_Mere

206.1)"(The talk is based upon #SriAurobindo's Bases of Yoga, Ch.5)

(—There is a Yoga-Shakti lying coiled or asleep in the inner body, not active.
When one does Yoga, this force uncoils itself and rises upward to meet the Divine Consciousness & Force that are waiting above us—)"

206.2)"(Q—Sweet Mother, How can this Yoga-Shakti be awakened?)
I think it awakens quite naturally the moment one takes the resolution to do the yoga.
If the resolution is sincere and one has an aspiration, it wakes up by itself.."

206.3)"..In fact, it is perhaps its awakening which gives the aspiration to do yoga.
It is possible that it is a result of the Grace…
Sometimes just a simple conversation with someone is enough or a passage one read.. well, it awakens this Yoga-Shakti & it..makes you do yoga.."

206.4)"..One is not aware of it at 1st—except that something has changed in our life, a new decision is taken, a turning.

(Q—What is it, this Yoga-Shakti?)
It's the energy of progress... which makes you do the yoga, precisely, makes you progress—consciously..
A conscious energy"

206.5)"(Q—Isn’t it more difficult to draw the divine forces from below?)
I think it's absolutely useless.
Some people think that there are more reserves of energy..in the earth, & that if they draw this energy into themselves they'll be able to do things; but it's always mixed.."

206.6)"..The divine Presence is everywhere, that’s well understood. And in fact, there is neither above nor below...
I think that is rather the expression of a degree of consciousness or a degree of materiality.. & so we say above & below for the facility of speech..."

206.7)"..But in fact, the idea is to draw from the energies of the earth which, when you are standing up, are under your feet, that is, below in relation to you.
But these energies are always mixed, and mostly they are terribly dark.."

206.8)"(—If you go down into your lower parts or ranges of nature, you must be always careful to keep a vigilant connection with the higher already regenerated levels of the consciousness & to bring down the Light & Purity via them into these nether still unregenerated regions—)"

206.9)"(Q—Sweet Mother, what does it mean exactly—“to go down into the lower parts or ranges of nature”?)
It is precisely to go down into the darkness, to go far away from the light/consciousness in order to draw nearer to the darkness/inconscience.."

206.10)"..One has in his consciousness the feeling of rising above what's obscure & ordinary & unconscious, of raising himself—b/c usually our head is on top & our head is more conscious than the rest of our body—& the impression that there is above him a greater consciousness.."

206.11)"..So when one makes an effort to progress, at the same time one makes an effort of ascent.
Sometimes one has even symbolically the impression of climbing a mountain to reach the summit..
& if one doesn’t take care, quite naturally one slips back into the ordinary consc.."

206.12)"..There is a very great power of attraction in low, obscure, ordinary things—the impression of being drawn by the feet into a deep mire… certain contacts/actions/movements of consciousness give you the impression that you are sliding into a dark & muddy hole..."

206.13)"..Often when one has made an effort and progressed, one has the feeling of rising above himself into a purer, clearer, truer light and consciousness.
But if one doesn’t keep this aspiration and is not definitively settled there, a very tiny thing is enough.."

206.14)"..A kind of physical disharmony, for example, or a meeting, a word exchanged or a movement made unconsciously, (that is enough) for one to feel that something is falling; and one can no longer get hold of that height where one was, that light.."

206.15)"..So one has to withdraw again, climb the slope, escape from the attraction from below.
One slides down very fast but usually climbs back with a certain difficulty.
It is as when one struggles physically by yogic means with a disease, it goes alternately..."

206.16)"..One can succeed in pulling himself out from the disease..& suddenly one emerges above this feeling of unease & confusion & realises that one is cured.
But sometimes it is enough even to remember.. a memory of what it was is enough for everything to be reversed.."

206.17)"..And they tell you, “Oh! One can’t be cured by occult means, the divine Force doesn’t cure you, it's better to take medicines”
So for these, it's better to go to the doctor b/c this means that they have no spiritual perseverance & only material means can convince them.."

206.18)"..When one wants to change something of the material life, whether the character or functioning of organs or habits, one must have an unfaltering perseverance, be ready to begin again a 100 times the same thing with the same intensity with which one did it the 1st time.."

206.19)"..People who are touchy cannot do this. But if one can’t do it, one can’t do yoga, in any case not the integral yoga, one can’t change one’s body.
To change one’s body one must be ready to do millions of times the same thing, because the body is a creature of habits.."

206.20)"(Q—Sweet Mother, the true self & the psychic are the same thing?)
No.
The true self is what is also called the truth of the being. It is the divine element which is your individual reality.
It is the divine element which makes you a separate individuality..."

206.21)"..And it is at the same time a fragment of the one Being and naturally the one Being itself; that is, while being a particular aspect which makes you an individual, it is an integral part of the One which makes you only an objectivisation of the One.."

206.22)"..Psychic being is a terrestrial formation.
It is human beings who have a psychic being which has been developed upon earth.. which is a projection of the divine Consciousness into Matter to awaken Matter out of its inertia so that it takes the path back to the Divine..."

206.23)"..But in certain cases the true self..dwells in the psychic being—but not always.
There is always a divine Presence in the psychic being, but it is the divine Presence which was at the origin of the psychic formation..
The true self..precedes the terrestrial formation..."

206.24)"(Q—Sweet Mother, when one has a difficulty in the day and it is not possible to see you or tell you about it, what should one do?)
If it is not at all possible, you must sit quite alone, try to become silent, call, call me as though I were there.."

206.25)"..And put the difficulty before me absolutely sincerely and objectively; and then remain very silent, very quiet and wait for the result.
And I think the result comes.
For it depends on the nature of the difficulty.."

206.26)"..If it's a problem that’s to be solved, then the solution comes;
if it's an inner movement, something that has gone wrong, then usually if one does this very sincerely, well, it's put back in its place;
& if it's a decision that’s to be taken.. it comes: “Yes” or “No”.."

206.27)"..Then here you must not discuss any more, the mind must not say, “But if…? and then…”, for then everything becomes foggy.
You must say, “Good!” and follow like this.
But for this you must be sincere, in the sense that you must have no preferences..."

206.28)"..If the difficulty comes from one part of the being wanting one thing & another part of the being knowing that one must not have it, then it becomes complicated because the part which wants can try to introduce its own will into the answer..."

206.29)"..So when one sits down, 1st one must begin by persuading it to make a little act of sincere surrender,
And it is here that one can make true progress, saying,
“Now I'm conscious that it is this that I desire, but I'm ready to give up my desire if that should be done”..."

206.30)"..Sometimes it's easier when you write it; you imagine I am there & then take a paper & write on it what you wanted to tell me.
Then just the very fact of formulating it clearly sometimes gives you the true picture of the situation & you can have the answer more easily.."

206.31)"..It depends, sometimes it is necessary, sometimes not, but if you are in a confusion, a kind of whirlwind, above all, if there is a vital upsurge, the fact of compelling yourself to put it on paper already quietens you, it begins the work of purification.."

206.32)"..In fact, one should always do this, when he feels that he is caught by an impulse of some kind or other, particularly impulses of anger.
If one takes as an absolute discipline, instead of acting or speaking (because speech is an action).."

206.33)"..Instead of acting under the impulse, if one withdraws and then does as I said, one sits down quietly, concentrates and then looks at his anger quietly, one writes it down, when one has finished writing, it is gone—in any case, most often."

(End)