Works of Sri Aurobindo

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Sadhana and Life    

YOUR LIFE… 

 

      I am asking only for the sacrifice of ignorance, unconsciousness and the limits of the ego − but for what a marvellous and incomparable gain !

7 May 1937  

      Let your life be useful.

 

      Let your life be a constant search for the Truth and it will be worth living.

 

      Let all your life be entirely and exclusively governed by the Supreme.

 

      Let your highest aspiration organise your life.

 

      Keep your aspiration ardent and sincere and never forget that you are the child of the Divine; it will prevent you from doing anything unworthy of the Divine children.  

Page – 238


      All depends on the attitude of each one and on the sincerity of his approach.

 

      All depends on an inner attitude.

17 April 1947 

CHANGE 

 

      To rectify and to efface: both are possible, but in both cases, though in varying degrees, a transformation of the nature, of the character, is needed. What is wrongly done must be changed in oneself first, before one can hope to change the consequence of one’s action.

11 January 1951  

      It is only when people truly want their consciousness to be changed that their actions also can be changed.

 

      A change of consciousness and when our consciousness will change we will know what the change is.

 

      Change…

      1. Hatred into harmony 

      2. Jealousy into generosity 

      3. Ignorance into knowledge  

Page – 239


      4. Darkness into light 

      5. Falsehood into truth 

      6. Wickedness into goodness

      7. War into peace 

      8. Fear into fearlessness 

      9. Uncertainty into certainty 

      10. Doubt into faith 

11. Confusion into order    

12. Defeat into victory

9 October 1951  

      Liberty and order

      Fraternity and independence

      Equality and hierarchy

      Unity and diversity

      Abundance and scarcity

      Effort and repose

      Power and compassion

      Discernment and benevolence

      Generosity and economy

      Wastage and avarice

 

      Conversion: the starting-point of realisation.

 

      Conversion: the turning of all the movements of the being towards the Divine.  

Page – 240


      Resurrection: the falling off of the old consciousness, followed by the awakening of the true being out of it.

 

      New birth: birth of the true consciousness, that of the Divine Presence in us.

 

      Realisation: the goal of our efforts.

 

      Realisation − that is what we aspire for and for which we shall strive unceasingly however long it may take.

 

      Power of realisation: with the realisation all obstacles will be overcome.

 

DO THE RIGHT THING 

      If you want to be respected, always be respectable.

 

      Do you wish for kindness? Be kind.

      Do you ask for Truth? Be true.  

Page – 241


      Try to do the good and never forget that God sees you everywhere.

 

      A good deed is sweeter to the heart than a sweet in the mouth.

      A day spent without doing a good deed is a day without a soul.

16 October 1951

      Do good for the love of good and not in hope of a reward. Be good for the joy of being good and not for the gratefulness of others.

1952

      In nice there is pleasantness, but good is good and can be without pleasantness.

 

      There is only one way of being right, but there are many ways of being wrong.

 

      All will be all right when you are all right.

17 November 1952

      Let the consciousness work in you and through you and everything will become all right.

10 April 1954 

Page – 242


      Pray to the Divine Grace to make you do always the right thing in the right way.

 

      Always do what you know to be the best even if it is the most difficult thing to do.

2 May 1954

      Which is the easiest way to forget oneself? Always do the right thing in the right way and at the right moment.

 

      Every day, at each moment, we shall aspire to do the right thing in the right way, always.

22 June 1954

      It is only when we are not disturbed that we can always do the right thing at the right time and in the right way.

 

      It is always the right thing when it is done in the right spirit.

24 August 1957

      Whatever comes to you, if you take it in the right spirit, will turn for the best.

 

      Correct movement: all movements under the right inspiration.  

Page – 243


      Turning of wrong movements into right: an extreme goodwill always ready to be transformed.

 

      There is a moment when the right attitude comes spontaneously and without effort.

 

      Aspiration for the right attitude: energetic, willing, determined.

 

      Right attitude: simple and open, it is without any complications.  

Page – 244