-06_Chapter 5.htm

110 Road to the Divine

110 Road to the Divine

Always long, apparently dry at times, but always abundant in its results. Drimiopsis kirkii. White

111 Perfect path

For each one it is the path that leads fastest to the Divine.

Coffi-a. White

This is what we mean by "Divine": all the knowledge we have to acquire, all the power we have to obtain, all the love we have to become, all the perfection we have to achieve, all the harmonious and progressive poise we have to make manifest in light and joy, all the new and unknown splendours we have to realise.

THE MOTHER

Whatever we see of this Divine and fix our concentrated effort on it, that we can become or grow into some kind of unity with it or at the lowest into tune and harmony with it. … Whatever of it we *see, we can create or reveal in our conscious nature and being and can grow into it….

SRI AUROBINDO

111 Perfect path

What do you want the Yoga for? To get power? To attain to peace and calm? To serve humanity?

None of these motives is sufficient to show that you are meant for the Path.

The question you are to answer is this: Do you want the Yoga for the sake of the Divine? Is the Divine the supreme fact of your life, so much so that it is simply impossible for you to do without it? Do you feel that your very raison d’etre is the Divine and without it there is no meaning in your existence? If so, then only can it be said that you have a call for the path.

THE MOTHER

"When you come to the Yoga, you must be ready to have all your mental buildings and all your vital scaffoldings shattered to pieces. You must be prepared to be suspended in the air with nothing to support you except your faith. You will have to forget your past self and its clingings altogether, to pluck it out of your consciousness and be born anew, free from every kind of bondage. Think not of what you were, but of what you aspire to be; be altogether in what you want to realise. Turn from your dead past and look straight towards the future.

THE MOTHER

HOPE

Our hopes are never too great for manifestation. We cannot conceive of anything that cannot be done.

THE MOTHER

Yes, you are right to have hope; it is hope that builds happy futures.

THE MOTHER

112 Hope

Paves life’s way

Jacquemontia pentantha. Violet blue

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112 Hope

113 Repentance

113 Repentance

The first step towards correcting  mistakes

Chloris barbaea. Reddish brown

114 Return

114 Return

The salvation of those who have gone astray .

Cordyline terminalis. pale mauve

115 Stages to the Supreme

115 Stages to the Supreme

We will go through as many stages as necessary, but we will arrive.

Lupinus. All colours

There must be an ascension of the whole being, an ascension of spirit chained here and trammelled by its instruments and its environment to sheer Spirit free above, an ascension of soul towards some blissful Super- soul, an ascension of mind towards some luminous Supermind, an ascension of life towards some vast Super-life, an ascension of our very physicality to join its origin in some pure and plastic spirit-substance. And this cannot be a single swift up soaring but, like the ascent of the sacrifice described in the Veda, a climbing from peak to peak in which from each summit one looks up to the much more that has still to be done.

SRI AUROBINDO

SOARING

A being free from all bondages, flying from height to height in a happy seeking for divine transformation.

 THE MOTHER

116 Ascension

116 Ascension

Stage by stage one climbs towards the Consciousness.

Leonotic nepetifolia. Orange

117 Soaring

117 Soaring

Take your flight towards the heights.

Dephinium. Severalcolours

118 Aspiration

118 Aspiration

Innumerable, obstinate, repeating itself tirelessly.

Nyctanthes arbor-tristis. White with orange

119 Elan of aspiration

Nothing is too high, nothing too far for its insatiable ardour. Cleome hasslerana. Pink

[Aspiration] is the call of the being for higher things – for the Divine, for all that belongs to the higher or Divine Consciousness.

SRI AUROBINDO

This taste for supreme adventure is aspiration – an aspiration that takes hold of you completely and flings you, without calculation and without reserve and without any possibility of withdrawal, into the great adventure of the divine discovery, the great adventure of the divine meeting, the yet greater adventure of the divine realisation. . . .

THE MOTHER

119 Elan of aspiration

Aspiration is like an arrow. … So you aspire, you want very earnestly to understand, to know, to enter into the Truth. Yes? And then with that aspiration you do this {gesture upwards). Your aspiration rises, rises, rises, rises straight up, very strong and then it strikes against a kind of— how to put it? — a lid which is there, hard like iron and extremely thick, and it does not pass through. And then you say, "See, what’s the use of aspiring? It brings nothing at all. I meet with something hard and cannot pass!" But you know about the drop of water which falls on the rock, it ends up by making a chasm: it cuts the rock from top to bottom. Your aspiration is a drop of water which, instead of falling, rises . . . and when it makes the hole suddenly it springs up out of this lid and enters an immensity of light.

THE MOTHER

120 Flame of aspiration

A flame that illumines but does not burn. Acer. Autumnal colourings   

120 Flame of aspiration

121 Aspiration for purity

121 Aspiration for purity

Purity is perfect sincerity and one can obtain it only when the being is entirely consecrated to the Divine. Spathiphyllum. Cream white to palegreen

122  Aspiration for integral immortality

122 Aspiration for integral immortality

An organised, tenacious and methodical development of the consciousness.

Aerva tomentosa. White

123 Aspiration for the Divine Consciousness

123 Aspiration for the Divine Consciousness Blossom, 0 precious flower, and never close again. Vernonia eleagnaefolia. Pale mauve

124 Triple aspiration

124 Triple aspiration

Love life and light, recognising their Master, respond to Sachchidananda.

Capparis brevispina. White with yellow

125 Power of collective aspiration

125 Power of collective aspiration

A harmonious collective aspiration can change the course of circumstances.

Hoya carnosa. Pale pink

133 Vital prayer

130 Prayer

Self-giving is true prayer. 

Zephyranthes. Several colours

131 Psychic prayer

Spontaneous and fervent. 

Zephyranthes. Light pink

132 Mental prayer

Spontaneous in a mind that is aspiring for transformation.

Zephyranthes. Yellow

133 Vital prayer

The vital prays to be purified. 

Zephyranthes. Deep pink

134 Integral prayer

The whole being is concentrated in a single prayer to the Divine. 

Zephyranthes. White 

PRAYER     

135 Supramental invocation

135 Supramental invocation

The spontaneous attitude of the Supermind towards the Divine.

Sternbergia lutea. Golden yellow

Prayer is only a particular form given to … will, aspiration and faith. … Its power and sense is to put the will, aspiration and faith of man into touch with the divine Will as that of a conscious Being with whom we can enter into conscious and living relations. … In spiritual matters and in the seeking of spiritual gains, this conscious relation is a great power; it is a much greater power than our own entirely self-reliant struggle and effort and it brings a fuller spiritual growth and experience.

SRI AUROBINDO

Here is my constant prayer to our Lord:

"O my beloved Lord, let Thy Will be done. Thy Will alone, without any resistance or opposition. Thy Will is our happiness and our security."

THE MOTHER

RELIGIOUS THOUGHT

Religion’s real business is to prepare man’s mind, life and bodily 136  existence for the spiritual consciousness to take it up; it has to lead him to that point where the inner spiritual light begins fully to emerge. It is at this point that religion must learn to subordinate itself, not to insist on its outer characters, but give full scope to the inner spirit itself to develop its own truth and reality. In the meanwhile it has to take up as much of man’s mentality, vitality, physicality as it can and give all his activities a turn towards the spiritual direction, the revelation of a spiritual meaning in them, the imprint of a spiritual refinement, the beginning of a spiritual character.

SRI AUROBINDO

136 Religious thought

Can only be utilised when it is freed from the influence of religions.

Wrightia tinctoria. White

137 True worship

Total and constant, without demand or claim.

Leucas aspera. White

136 Religious thought

137 True worship

138 Adoration

Worship is only the first step on the path of devotion. Where external worship changes into the inner adoration, real Bhakti begins; that deepens into the intensity of divine love; that love leads to the joy of closeness in our relations with the Divine; the joy of closeness passes into the bliss of union.

SRI AUROBINDO

The aim of Yoga being union, its beginning must always be a seeking after the Divine, a longing after some kind of touch, closeness or possession. When this comes on us, … adoration becomes always primarily an inner worship; we begin to make ourselves a temple of the Divine, our thoughts and feelings a constant prayer of aspiration and seeking, our whole life an external service and worship.

SRI AUROBINDO

138 Adoration

Manifold , smiling, regular, it offers itself tirelessly.

Cordia sebestena. Orange

139 Devotional attitude

140 Devotion

141 Conquering fervour

142 Joy of union with the Divine

In love for the Divine or for one whom one feels to be divine, the Bhakta feels an intense reverence for the Lord, a sense of something of immense greatness, beauty or value and for himself a strong impression of his own comparative unworthiness and a passionate desire to grow into likeness with that which one adores.

SRI AUROBINDO

The final demand of the Bhakta is simply that his Bhakti may never cease nor diminish. He does not ask for heaven or for liberation from birth or for any other object, but only that his love may be eternal and absolute.

SRI AUROBINDO

139 Devotional attitude

Modest and self-effacing, it yields remarkable fruit.

Aegle marmelos. Greenish white

140 Devotion

Modest and fragrant, it gives itself without  asking anything in return.

Ocimum tenuiflorum. Pale greenish white

141 Conquering fervour

An ardour that fears no obstacles.

Ocimum americanum. White

142 Joy of union with the Divine

Abundantly scented, it fills the heart with joy. Ocimum basilicum. White

JOY OF UNION WITH THE DIVINE

To see nothing but the Divine, to be at every moment in union with him, to love him in all creatures and have the delight of him in all things is the whole condition of [the God lover's] existence. . . . The joy of heaven and the joy of earth are only a small shadow of his possessions; for as he grows into the Divine, the Divine too flows out upon him with all the light, power and joy of an infinite existence.

SRI AUROBINDO

SEEKING SUPPORT ONLY IN THE DIVINE

Never seek support elsewhere than in the Divine. Never seek satisfaction elsewhere than in the Divine. Never seek the satisfaction of your needs in anyone else than the Divine — never, for anything at all. All your needs can be satisfied only by the Divine. All your weaknesses can be borne and healed only by the Divine. He alone is capable of giving you what you need in everything, always.

THE MOTHER

143 Right use of the granted Grace

No deformation, no diminution, no exaggeration, a clear sincerity.

Saponaria officinalis. White or pink

144 Seeking for support only in the Divine

The Divine is the  only support that never fails

Solanum seaforthianum. Light lavender

143 Right use of the granted Grace

144 Seeking for support only in the Divine

154 Combined offering of two parts of the being

145 Offering

The only offering that truly enriches is one that is made to the Divine.

Alcea rosea. Several colours

146 Offering of all obscurities

Offer your obscurities sincerely to the Divine and you will be able to receive the Light.

Alcea rosea. Dark purple

147 Psychic offering

This is the spontaneous attitude of the psychic towards the Divine.

Alcea rosea. Light pink

148 Offering of the emotions

Emotions placed at the service of progress.

Alcea rosea. Lavender pink

149 Offering of the vital

The immediate result of conversion.

Alcea rosea. Dark red

150 Integral offering of the vital

An important stage on the way to transformation.

Alcea rosea. White and lavender

151 Offering of the material vital

Indispensable for conversion.

Alcea rosea. Reddish violet

152 Offering of the most material vital

The first step towards transformation.

Alcea rosea. Very dark red

153 Offering of the physical

The proof of the resolution to liberate oneself from the ego. Let the physical offer itself sincerely to the Divine and it will be transformed. 

Alcea rosea. Red

154 Combined offering of two parts of the being

This heralds the progress and effectiveness of the being.

 Alcea rosea. Bicoloured

155 Integral offering

The surest way to realisation.

Alcea rosea. White

Yoga means union with the Divine, and the union is effected through offering — it is founded on the offering of yourself to the Divine. . . . You must feel at every step that you belong to the Divine; you must have the constant experience that, in whatever you think or do, it is always the Divine Consciousness that is acting through you. You have no longer anything that you can call your own; you feel everything as coming from the Divine, and you have to offer it back to its source. When you can realise that, then even the smallest thing to which you do not usually pay much attention or care, ceases to be trivial and insignificant; it becomes full of meaning and it opens up a vast horizon beyond.

THE MOTHER

ENTIRE SELF-GIVING

The Divine gives itself to those who give themselves without reserve and in all their pans to the Divine. For them the calm, the light, the power, the bliss, the freedom, the wideness, the heights of knowledge, the seas of Ananda.

SRI AUROBINDO

[The soul's inherent aspiration] is what comes up when there is the sheer self-giving, when "I seek you for this, I seek you for that" changes to a sheer "I seek you for you." It is that marvellous and ineffable absolute in the Divine that X means when he says, "Not knowledge nor this nor that, but Krishna." The pull of that is indeed a categorical imperative, the self in us drawn to the Divine because of the imperative call of the greater Self, the soul ineffably drawn towards the object of its adoration because it cannot be otherwise, because it is it and He is He. That is all about it.

SRI AUROBINDO

156 Unconditional integral offering

The joy of self-offering without asking anything in return.

Ipomoea tricolor ‘Pearly Gates’. White

157 Entire self-giving

Completely open, clear and pure.

Ipomoea alba. White

156 Unconditional integral offering

157 Entire self-giving

159 Constant remembrance of the Divine

 REMEMBRANCE

It is by the constant remembrance that the being is prepared for the full opening. By the opening of the heart the Mother’s presence begins to be felt and, by the opening to her Power above, the Force of the higher consciousness comes down into the body and works there to change the whole nature.

SRI AUROBINDO

REMEMBRANCE OF SRI AUROBINDO

Sri Aurobindo came to tell the world of the beauty of the future that must be realised. He came to give not a hope but a certitude of the splendour towards which the world moves. The world is not an unfortunate accident, it is a marvel which moves towards its expression. The world needs the certitude of the beauty of the future. And Sri Aurobindo has given that assurance.

THE MOTHER

158 Remembrance

Constant remembrance of the Divine is indispensable for transformation.  Lycianthes rantonnei. Mauve

159 Constant remembrance of the Divine

Spontaneous and joyful. The ideal condition. 

Lonicera japonica. Ivory white

160 Remembrance of Sri Aurobindo

Let us strive to realise the ideal of life he has set before us.

Lobelia erinus ‘Cambridge Blue’. Blue

161 Glad remembrance

In activity and in silence, in taking and in giving, always the glad remembrance of Thee.

Clarkia unguiculata ‘Rosea plena’. Several colours

162 Lasting remembrance 

162 Lasting remembrance

The remembrance of that which has helped the being to progress.

Myosotis sylvatica. Sky blue

163 Emotional remembrance

Only the  circumstances that have helped us in our search for the should be the object of this remembrance.

Dicentra spectabilis. Rose pink

164 Subconscient remembrance

Must be purified of all taat is useless.

Cyaoglossurn amabile. Sky blue

163 Emotional remembrance

164 Subconscient remembrance 

166 Mental opening

165 Opening

The help is constant in all domains. It is for us to know how to benefit from it.

Barleria. Many colours

166 Mental opening

The first step of the mind towards transformation.

Barleria prionitis. Golden yellow

167 Emotional opening

The progress of the emotions towards the Divine.

Barleria cristata. White and lavender

170 Integral opening of the being to the Divine

168 Opening of the emotional vital

One of the first steps on the way to transformation.

Barleria cristata. Pink

169 Vital opening to the Supramental Light

(No comment)

Barleria. Bluish purple

170 Integral opening of the being to the Divine

The first step of the ascent.

Barleria cristata. White

OPENING

Opening is a release of the consciousness by which it begins to admit into itself the working of the Divine Light and Power.

THE MOTHER

In this yoga the whole principle is to open oneself to the Divine Influence. It is there above you and, if you can once become conscious of it, you have then to call it down into you. It descends into the mind and into the body as Peace, as a Light, as a Force that works, as the Presence of the Divine with or without form, as Ananda.

SRI AUROBINDO

What you should do is to throw the doors of your being wide open to the Divine. The moment you conceal something, you step straight into Falsehood. The least suppression on your part pulls you immediately down into unconsciousness. If you want to be fully conscious, be always in front of the Truth – completely open yourself and try your utmost to let it see deep inside you, into every corner of your being. That alone will bring into you light and consciousness and all that is most true.

THE MOTHER

Widen yourself to the extreme limit of the universe . .and beyond. Always take upon yourself all the necessities of progress, and resolve them in the ecstasy of Unity. Then you will be divine.

THE MOTHER

171 Opening to Sri Aurobindo’s Force

174 Opening of the material vital to the Light

175 Integral opening to the Light

171 Opening to Sri Aurobindo’s Force

Sri Aurobindo’s help is constant. It is for us to know how to receive it.

Thunbergia kirkii. Lavender

172 Opening to the Light

Harmonises with all that can lead towards the Light.

Thunbergia erecta. Several colours

173 Opening of the higher vital to the Light

The vital existing only for the Divine. The vital knowing no other master than the Divine.

Thunbergia erecta. Lavender and white

174 Opening of the material vital to the Light

One of the essential conditions for peace.

Thunbergia erecta. Deep violet

175 Integral opening to the Light

The assurance of the coming peace and joy.

Thunbergia erecta ‘Alba’. White

RECEPTIVITY

184 Manifold receptivity

176 Receptivity

Conscious of the Divine Will and surrendered to it.

Gladiolus Xhortulanus. Many colours

177 Psychic receptivity

The psychic responds joyfully to the ascending force.

Gladiolus Xhortulanus. Pink or rose pink

178 Receptivity of the supramentalised psychic

This is what happens to the psychic that continues to progress.

Gladiolus Xhortulanus. Pink and orange

179 Mental receptivity

Always ready to learn. Gladiolus Xhortulanus. Yellow

180 Emotional receptivity

Emotions wanting to be divinised.

Gladiolus Xhortulanus. Lavender pink or mauve

181 Vital receptivity

Happens only when the vital understands that it must be transformed. The vital blossoms in aspiration for the Divine.

Gladiolus Xhortulanus. Dark red or deep violet

182 Physical receptivity

One should have it only towards the Divine.

Gladiolus Xhortulanus. Bright red

183 Integral receptivity

The whole being perceives the Divine Will and obeys it.

Gladiolus Xhortulanus. White

184 Manifold receptivity

Nothing resists the Light.

Gladiolus Xhortulanus. Multicoloured

185 Supramentalised receptivity

The receptivity of tomorrow.

Gladiolus Xhortulanus. Orange

186 Broadening of the being

186 Broadening of the being

All the parts of the being broaden in order to progress. Sinningia speciosa. Many colours

187 Organised emotional broadening

The broadening should not be the result of an instinctive impulse but of a conscious organisation.

Sinningia speciosa. White and purple

188 Broadening of the most material vital

The limitations of the ego begin to be shaken.

Sinningia speciosa. Purple

189 Blossoming

The result of trust and success.

 Tulipa. All colours

RECEPTIVITY

Receptivity – the power to receive the Divine Force and to feel its presence and the presence of the Mother in it and allow it to work, guiding one’s sight and will and action.

SRI AUROBINDO

BROADENING

When the consciousness is narrow and personal or shut in the body, it is difficult to receive from the Divine – the wider it expands, the more it can receive. A time comes when it feels as wide as the world and able to receive all the Divine into itself.

SRJ AUROBINDO

189 Blossoming

CONCENTRATION

190 Concentration

190 Concentration

Does not aim at effect, but is simple and persistent. Euphorbia milii. Bright red

It is well known that the value of a man is in proportion to his capacity of concentrated attention; the greater the concentration the more exceptional is the result, to the extent that a perfect and unfailing concentrated attention sets the stamp of genius on what is produced.

THE MOTHER

Concentration is a state one must be in continually, whatever the outer activity. By concentration I mean that all the energy, all the will, all the aspiration must be turned only towards the Divine and His integral realisation in our consciousness.

THE MOTHER

Our one objective must be the Divine himself to whom, knowingly or unknowingly, something always aspires in our secret nature. There must be a large, many-sided yet single concentration of the thought on the idea, the perception, the vision, the awakening touch, the soul’s realisation of the one Divine. There must be a flaming concentration of the heart on the All and Eternal and, when once we have found him, a deep plunging and immersion in the possession and ecstasy of the All- Beautiful. There must be a strong and immovable concentration of the will on the attainment and fulfilment of all that the Divine is and a free and plastic opening of it to all that he intends to manifest in us.

SRI AUROBINDO

TAPASYA

Tapasya is a strong concentration of the energies for a result – but usually concentration of them in the practice of some discipline for a spiritual result.

SRI AUROBINDO

Tapasya is the concentration of the will to get the results of sadhana and to conquer the lower nature.

SRI AUROBINDO

When the will and energy are concentrated and used to control the mind, vital and physical and change them or to bring down the higher consciousness or for any other yogic purpose or high purpose, that is called Tapasya.

SRI AUROBINDO

191 Tapasya

A discipline with the aim of realising the Divine.

Datura. White

192 Mental tapasya

The process leading to the goal.

Datura. Yellow

193 Vital tapasya

The vital undergoes a rigorous discipline in order to transform itself.

Datura. White tinged violet

194 Integral tapasya

The whole being lives only to know and serve the Divine.

Datura. White, double

194 Perfect tapasya

195 Perfect tapasya

That which will reach its goal.

Brugmansia suaveolens. White

196 Detachment from all that is not the Divine

196 Detachment from all that is not the Divine

A single occupation, a single aim, a single joy - the Divine. Ipomoea cairica. Light rose purple or light mauve

Detachment [from the imperfections and weaknesses of one's nature] means that one stands back from them, does not identify oneself with them or get upset or troubled because they are there, but rather looks on them as something foreign to one’s true consciousness and true self, rejects them and calls in the Mother’s force into these movements to eliminate them and bring the true consciousness and its movements there.

SRI AUROBINDO

You must always step back into yourself— learn to go deep within – step back and you will be safe. Do not lend yourself to the superficial forces which move in the outside world. Even if you are in a hurry to do something, step back for a while and you will discover to your surprise how much sooner and with what greater success your work can be done. If someone is angry with you, do not be caught in his vibrations but simply step back and his anger, finding no support or response, will vanish. Always keep your peace, resist all temptation to lose it. Never decide anything without stepping back, never speak a word without stepping back, never throw yourself into action without stepping back. All that belongs to the ordinary world is impermanent and fugitive, so there is nothing in it worth getting upset about. What is lasting, eternal, immortal and infinite — that indeed is worth having, worth conquering, worth possessing. It is Divine Light, Divine Love, Divine Life — it is also Supreme Peace, Perfect Joy and All-Mastery upon earth….

THE MOTHER

RENUNCIATION OF DESIRES

Our renunciation must obviously be an inward renunciation; especially and above all, a renunciation of attachment and the craving of desire in the senses and the heart, of self-will in the thought and action and of egoism in the centre of the consciousness. For these things are the three knots by which we are bound to our lower nature and if we can renounce these utterly, there is nothing else that can bind us.

SRI AUROBINDO    

197 Renunciation of desires

197 Renunciation of desires

197 Renunciation of desires

The essential condition for realisation. T

ectona grandis. Cream white

198 Renunciation of emotional desires

198 Renunciation of emotional desires

Indispensable for transformation.

Angelonia salicariifolia. White with purple

199 Renunciation of vital desires

It has understood the futility of desires.

Angelonia salicariifolia. Purple

199 Renunciation of vital desires

200 Integral renunciation of vital desires

An indispensable condition for true progress. Angelonia salicariifolia. White

201 Absence of desire

Luminous and fragrant, it expresses both peace and joy.

Atalantia monophylla. White

There is a sovereign royalty in taking no thought for oneself. To have needs is to assert a weakness; to claim something proves that we lack what we claim. To desire is to be impotent; it is to re- cognise our limitations and confess our incapacity to overcome them. If only from the point of view of a legitimate pride, man should be noble enough to renounce desire.

THE MOTHER

All renunciation is for a greater joy yet ungrasped. Some renounce for the joy of duty done, some for the joy of peace, some for the joy of God and some for the joy of self-torture, but renounce rather as a passage to the freedom and untroubled rapture beyond.

SRI AUROBINDO

201 Absence of desire

ABOLITION OF THE EGO

What we call oneself is only the ego. Our true self is the Divine.

THE MOTHER

Human nature is shot through in all its stuff with the thread of the ego; even when one tries to get away from it, it is in front or could be behind all the thoughts and actions like a shadow. To see that is the first step, to discern the falsity and absurdity of the ego-movements is the second, to discourage and refuse it at each step is the third, – but it goes entirely only when one sees, experiences and lives the One in everything and equally everywhere.

SRI AUROBINDO

Our ego, boasting of freedom, is at every moment the slave, toy and puppet of countless beings, powers, forces, influences in universal Nature. The self-abnegation of the ego in the Divine is its self-fulfilment; its surrender to that which transcends it is its liberation from bonds and limits and its perfect freedom.

SRI AUROBINDO

There is no happiness in smallness of the being, says the Scripture, it is with the large being that happiness comes. The ego is by its nature a smallness of being; it brings con- traction of the consciousness and with the contraction limitation of knowledge, disabling ignorance. … To recover what is lost we must break out of the worlds of ego.

SRI AUROBINDO

202 Unselfishness

Deeply open so as not to refuse anything.

Beaumontiajerdoniana. White

203 Abolition of the ego

One exists only by the Divine and for the Divine.

Eucalyptus. Cream white

UNSELFISHNESS-

202 Unselfishness

203 Abolition of the ego

204 Chastity

204 Chastity

A little austere and proud, it is very reserved.

Citrus limon. White

205 Continence

Control over oneself.

Citrus maxima. White

CONTINENCE

To be continent is to allow no other movements in the being (mental, vital and physical) than those strictly indispensable to manifest the Divine’s Will.

THE MOTHER

205 Continence

CONTROL

First learn to know yourself perfectly and then to control yourself perfectly. You will be able to do it by aspiring at every moment. It is never too early to begin, never too late to continue.

THE MOTHER

You may be sure that becoming conscious of the Divine Presence in oneself considerably changes one’s whole way of being and gives an exceptional control over all activities, mental, vital and physical. And this control is infinitely more powerful and luminous than anything one can obtain through external means.

THE MOTHER

206 Control

Control over the lower impulses is the first step towards realisation.

Pitcaimia museosa. Bright red

206 Control

DISCIPLINE.

Without character, without some kind of high or strong discipline, there is no enduring power of life.

SRI AUROBINDO

Discipline is indispensable to progress. It is only when one imposes a rigorous and enlightened discipline on oneself that one can be free from the discipline of others. The supreme discipline is integral surrender to the Divine and to allow nothing else either in one’s feelings or one’s activities. Nothing should ever be omitted from this surrender – this is the supreme and most rigorous discipline.

THE MOTHER

It can be said that any discipline whatsoever, if it is followed strictly, sincerely, deliberately, is of considerable help, for it makes the earthly life reach its goal more rapidly and prepares it to receive the new life. To discipline oneself is to hasten the arrival of this new life and the contact with the supramental reality.

THE MOTHER

207 Exclusivism

The inability to do several things at the same time.

Nerine sarniensis. Bright red

208 Discipline

Sets the example and hopes to be followed.

Ocimum basilicum. White

209 Determination

Knows what it wants and does it.

Kopsia fruiticosa. Light pink

210 Resolution

211 Steadfastness

212 Application

210 Resolution

Nothing can stop its development.

Brunfelsia americana. White

211 Steadfastness

What it has chosen it keeps and does not like to change.

Psidium guajava. White

212 Application

Modest but harmonious.

Fittonia vershaffeltii. Pale yellow

213 Regularity

To be able tobe regular is a great forces, one becomes master of one’s  time and one’s movement

Sri Aurobindo

215 Regularity

222 Attempt towards continuity

221 Continuity

To know how to persist in one’s effort.

Acakyoha. Several colours

222 Attempt towards continuity

Vigorous and repeated, but not lasting

Acalypha wilkesiana ‘Godseffiana’. Pale green tinged red

223 Vital Continuity

Rich, aboudant persistent

Acalypha wilkesiana. Soft pink

224 Physical Continuity

Prolongs and Prolongs itself and never comes to an end.

Acalypha hispida. Red or purple

225 Material continuity

Powerful, enduraing, solid.

Acalypha godseffiana. Dull red

235 Endurance of the higher vital

226, Endurance

Going to the end of the effort without fatigue or relaxation.

Zinnia elegans. Many colours

227 Courageous endurance

Strong and energetic, never complains.

Zinnia. elegans. Royal purple

228 Victorious endurance

It will endure till the end of the battle.

Zinnia elegans. Orange

229 Spontaneous endurance

Natural, effortless, smiling. ‘

Zinnia elegans. Light green

230 Joyful endurance

Whatever happens, it keeps on smiling.

Zinnia elegans. Bright coral pink

238 Integral endurance

231 Ananda of endurance

To know how to bear and endure undoubtedly creates a strong and lasting joy.

Zinnia elegans. Cream with red

232 Supramentalised endurance

The attitude is such that difficulties lose their power to harrass.

Zinnia elegans. Golden yellow

233 Psychic endurance

It will smile at life whatever its difficulties

may be. Zinnia elegans. Pink

234 Mental endurance

The difficulty of the problems to be solved will never discourage it.

Zinnia elegans. Yellow

235 Endurance of the higher vital

Whatever the circumstances, it never fails.

Zinnia elegans. Pinkish mauve

236 Vital endurance

Whatever the obstacles, we shall always

go forward! Zinnia elegans. Violet red

237 Physical endurance

Knows neither fatigue nor exhaustion.

Zinnia elegans. Dark red

238 Integral endurance

It will go on unfailingly till the end of its task.

Zinnia elegans. White

239 Manifold endurance

Whatever the endurance needed, it is always there to do its duty.

Zinnia elegans. Multicoloured

240 Detailed endurance

Nothing is too small to be neglected; all circum- stances are met with the same care.

Zinnia angustifolia. Several colours

240 Detailed endurance

241 Power of perfect endurance

241 Power of perfect endurance

Manifests rarely, but is very precious.

Strobilanthes kunthianus. Bluish violet

ENDURANCE

Let endurance be your watchword: teach the life-force in you — your vital being – not to complain but to put up with all the conditions necessary for great achievement. The body is a very enduring servant, it bears the stress of circumstance tamely like a beast of burden. It is the vital being that is always grumbling and uneasy. The very essence of endurance is that the vital should learn to give up its capricious likes and dislikes and preserve an equanimity in the midst of the most trying conditions. Nothing great is ever accomplished without endurance.

THE MOTHER

PERSEVERANCE

The most essential quality is perseverance, endurance, and a — how to put it? — a kind of inner good mood that helps you not to get discouraged, not to become sad, and to face all difficulties with a smile. There is an English word which expresses this very well - cheerfulness. If you can keep this within you, you resist much better, you fight much better, in the Light, these bad influences which try to prevent you from progressing.

THE MOTHER

It is by persevering that one conquers difficulties, not by running away from them. One who perseveres is sure to triumph. Victory goes to the most enduring.

THE MOTHER

Perseverance is patience in action.

THE MOTHER

PATIENCE

Patience is the capacity to wait steadily for the realisation to come.

THE MOTHER

To know how to wait is to put Time on your side.

THE MOTHER

By having patience under all kinds of pressure you lay the founda- tions of peace.

SRI AUROBINDO

242 Perseverance

242 Perseverance

The decision to go to the very end.

Calendula officinalis. Yellow or orange

243 Detailed perseverance

One continues the work begun for as long as necessary.

Wedelia. Bright yellow

244 Patience

Indispensable for all realisation.

Mimusops elengi. Cream white

245 Accomplishment

Accomplishment is undoubtedly the fruit of patience.

Mimusops elengi. Yellow orange

243 Detailed perseverance

244 Patience

246 Service

SERVICE

You have to regard yourself as a soul and body created for [the Divine Mother's] service, one who does all for her sake. Even if the idea of the separate worker is strong in you and you feel that it is you who do the act, yet it must be done for her. . . . There must be no demand for fruit and no seeking for reward; the only fruit for you is the  pleasure of the Divine Mother and the fulfillment other work, your only reward a constant progression in divine consciousness and calm and strength and bliss. The joy of service and the joy of inner growth through works is the sufficient recompense of the selfless worker,

SRI AUROBINDO

There is no greater joy than to serve the Divine.

THE MOTHER

246 Service

To be at the service of the Divine is the surest way to attain realisation.

Peltophorum  pterocarpum. Yellow

WORK

To do the work that one does in all sincerity, as perfectly as one can, is certainly one of the best ways to serve the Divine.

THE MOTHER

Work is part of the Yoga and it gives the best opportunity for calling down the Presence, the Light and the Power into the vital and. its activities; it increases also the field and the opportunity of surrender.

SRI AUROBINDO

WORKS OF LOVE

The one true reward of the works of love is to grow ever in capacity and delight of love up to the ecstasy of the spirit’s all-seizing embrace and universal passion. … SRI AUROBINDO

247 Work

Let us offer our work to the Divine – this is the sure way to progress.

Acacia auriculiformis. Deep yellow

248 Works of love

The best condition for work.

Impatiens wallerana. Many colours

247 Work

248 Works of love

249 Cheerfulness in work for the divine

249 Cheerfulness in work for the divine

Work for the Devine and You will feel an ineffable joy filling your being.

Coreopsis tinctoria. Several colours

250 Disinterested work done for the Divine

The surest way to progress.

Crinum, White

251 Disinterested work done for the Divine in the vital

Calm and powerful, it reaches its goal.

Crinum, White with reddish purple

CHEERFULNESS IN WORK FOR THE DIVINE

Try in enjoy everything you do. When you are interested in what you do, you enjoy doing it. To be interested in what you do you must try to do it better and better In progress lies treat joy.

THE MOTHER

251 Disinterested work done for the Divine

DISINTERESTED WORK

All action must be in [the integral Yoga] part of the God-life, our acts of knowledge, our acts of power and production and creation, our acts of joy and beauty and the soul’s pleasure, our acts of will and endeavour and strength and not our acts only of love and beneficent service. Its way to do these things will be not outward and mental, but inward and spiritual, and to that end it will bring into all activities, whatever they are, the spirit of divine love, the spirit of adoration and worship, the spirit of happiness in the Divine and in the beauty of the Divine so as to make all life a sacrifice of the works of the soul’s love to the Divine, its cult of the Master of its existence.

SRI AUROBINDO

Disinterested work is work done with no other motive than that of doing as well as possible the Divine’s work.

THE MOTHER

252 Power aspiring to become an instrument for the divine work

Power, opening to a higher consciousness, awakens to the need of being at the service of the Divine. Passiflora vitifolia. Bright red

252 Power aspiring to become an instrument for the divine work

253 Mahasaraswati’s perfection in work

253 Mahasaraswati’s perfection in work

Is not satisfied with makeshift. Rondeletia odorata. Bright orange or deep pink

MAHASARASWATI

Mahasaraswati is the [supreme] Mother’s Power of Work and her spirit of perfection and order. . . . Of all the Mother’s powers she is the most long-suffering with men and his thousand imperfections. Kind, smiling, close and helpful, not easily turned away or discouraged, insistent even after repeated failure, her hand sustains our every step on condition that we are single in our will and straightforward and sincere; for a double mind she will not tolerate and her revealing irony is merciless to drama and histrionics and self- deceit and pretense. A mother to our wants, a friend in our difficulties, a persistent and tranquil counsellor and mentor, chasing away with her radiant smile the clouds of gloom and fretfulness and depression, reminding always of the ever- present help, pointing to the eternal sunshine, she is firm, quiet and persevering in the deep and continuous urge that drives us towards the integrality of the higher nature.

SRI AUROBINDO

For [Mahasaraswati] everything must be done down to the last detail, and done in an absolutely perfect way. And she wants, she insists that it should be done physically, totally, materially, that it should not remain in the air, you see, like a mental or vital action, but that it should be a physical realisation in all its details, and all the details should be perfect, that nothing should be neglected.

THE MOTHER

Mahasaraswati [is] the goddess of divine skill and of the works of the Spirit, and hers is the Yoga that is skill in • works, yogah karmasu kaushalam, and the utilities of divine knowledge and the self-application of the spirit to life and the happiness of its harmonies.

SRI AUROBINDO

254 Skill in work

SKILL IN WORK

Yoga, says the Gita, is skill in works, and by this phrase the ancient Scripture meant that the transformation of mind and being to which it gave the name of Yoga brought with it a perfect inner state and faculty out of which the right principle of action and the right spiritual and divine result of works emerged naturally like a tree out of its seed.

SRI AUROBINDO

254 Skill in work

Must be used consciously.

Phlox drummondii. Many colours

255 Skill in psychic work

Listen silently to the command that comes from the Supreme Lord and you will have the capacity to carry it out.

Phlox drummondii. Pink with white

255 Skill in psychic work

256 Skill in mental work

To know how to observe in silence is the source of skilfulness.

Phlox drummondii. Yellow

257 Emotional skill in work

When work becomes attractive and is done with joy, how much better it is done.

Phlox drummondii. White and mauve

258 Skill in vital work

The seat of all capacities and all skills, which have only to be disciplined in order to be realised.

Phlox drummondii. Purple

259 Physical skill in work

Skilful hands, a clear vision, concentrated attention, tireless patience, and what one does is done well. Phlox drummondii. Carmine red

263 Radiating skill in work

260 Skill in material work

Skilful hands, precise care, sustained attention, and one compels Matter to obey the Spirit. Phlox drummondii. Bright red

261 Skill in integral work

All that is done is done well, whatever the work

undertaken.

Phlox drummondii. White

262 Artistic work

All work at the service of beauty. Phlox drummondii. Very light pink

263 Radiating skill in work

When the instruments of work (hands, eyes etc.) become conscious and the attention is controlled, the capacity for work seems to be limitless. Phlox drummondii. Many colours

264 Order

ORDER

There must be order and harmony in work. Even what is apparently the most insignificant thing must be done with perfect perfection, with a sense of cleanliness, beauty, harmony and order.

THE MOTHER

ORGANISATION

A clear and precise vision of what is to be done and a steady, calm sindfirm will to have it done are the essential conditions for an organisation to be run properly.

THE MOTHER

It is necessary to organise one’s own affairs. . . . And those who can do this are usually people who can put their ideas in order and can also organise their character and finally can control their movements. . . . If one can take life in this way, it becomes truly interesting. If one lives in confusion, in disorder, in an inner and outer chaos in which everything is mixed up and one is conscious of nothing and still less in command of things, that is not living.

THE MOTHER

264 Order

To put each thing in its place gives it its true value. Randia speciosa. Cream white

265 Organisation

Indispensable for all good work. Pseuderanthemum. Several colours

266 Aspiration for organisation

Neat and methodical, order at the expense of

multiplicity.

Pseuderanthemum. White and reddish purple

267 Organisation in the vital

Indispensable for all realisation.

Pseuderanthemum. White and pink

268 Material organisation

Manifold and well-arranged in order to face  difficulties.

Pseuderanthemum. White and purplish red

269 Integral organisation

Preliminary necessity for transformation.

Pseuderanthemum. White

270 Organisation of details

Indispensable for all lasting accomplishment. Pseuderanthemum. White and reddish purple

271 Result of harmonious organisation

More effective than showy. An effective simplicity. Pseuderanthemum. White and maroon

266 Aspiration for organisation

270 Organisation in details

268 Material organisation

271 Result of harmonious organisation

273 Grouping

273 Grouping

Indispensable for collective action.

Clerodendrum Paniculatum. Reddish orange

272 Organised team-work

272 Organised team-work

Each one in his place and all together.

Averrhoa  carambola. Rose purple

274 Perfect Planning of work

One cannot help others to overcome their sorrows and sufferings unless one has overcome all this in oneself and is master of one’s feelings and reactions.

THE MOTHER

The best way of helping others is to transform oneself. Be perfect and you will be in a position to bring perfection to the world.

THE MOTHER

The best way to help the world is to transform own self by an integral and intensive yoga.

THE MOTHER

274 Perfect Planning of work

Can only be obtained with the consciousness of the Devine.

Clerodendrum inerm. White

275 Help

275 Help

You bring help to him who knows how to use you.

Cymbopogon citratus. Greenish purple

276 Collaboration

276 Collaboration

Always ready to help and knows how to do it.

Dianthus caryophyllus. Many colours

277 Obedience

To learn to obey is good; to obey only the Divine is better.

Dianthus chinensis. Several colours

278 Detailed obedience

The obedience to the Divine Will ought to be total.

Dianthus barbatus. Several colours

279 Perfect obedience

Without agitation or reserve, in every domain, joyous obedience

to the divine command.

Dianthus chinensis. Several colours, double

Collaboration and reciprocal goodwill are indispensable for good work.

THE MOTHER

It is only in harmonious collaboration that effective work can be done. The important thing is to find the point on which you can all agree — and after this is firmly established, each one must be ready to yield his personal will in order to keep intact this point of harmony.

THE MOTHER

OBEDIENCE

Obedience is necessary so as to get away from one’s own mind and vita and learn to follow the Truth.

SRI AUROBINDO

In yoga obedience to the Guru or to the Divine and the law of the Truth as declared by the Guru is the foundation of discipline.

SRI AUROBINDO

277 Obedience

280 Cheerful endeavour

282 Thirst to understand

280 Cheerful endeavour

The joy that one finds in the effort towards

the Divine.

Arctotis venusta. White

281 Thirst to understand

Very useful for transformation. Crossostephium artemisioides. Yellow

282 Thirst to learn

One of the qualities that facilitate integral

progress.

Ipomoea lobata. Bright red

283 Progress

This is why we are on earth.

Catharanthus roseus. Several colours

284 Uninterrupted but spasmodic progress

Now here, now there, apparently very

impulsive.

Catharanthus roseus. Rose violet with white

285 Vital progress

Organisation around the Divine Will and progressive surrender to that Will.

Catharanthus roseus. Light rose violet

286 Integral progress in the vital

The vital consents to be purified.

Catharanthus roseus. White with violet

287 Constant progress in Matter

The result of an ardent aspiration.

Catharanthus roseus. Light pink with red

PROGRESS

283 Progress

287 Constant progress in Matter

288 Integral progress in Matter

Matter awakens to consciousness.

Catharanthus roseus. White with red

289 Integral progress

Can only be satisfied by integrality. The best way to go fast.

Catharanthus roseus ‘Albus’. White

Give up ail personal seeking for comfort, satisfaction, enjoyment or happiness. Be only a burning fire for progress, take whatever comes to you as an aid to your progress and immediately make whatever progress is required.

THE MOTHER

It is especially the will for progress and self-purification that lights the fire. The will for progress. When those who have a strong will turn it towards spiritual progress and purification, they automatically light the fire within themselves.

THE MOTHER

The thirst for progress, the thirst to know, the thirst to transform yourself, and above all the thirst for Love and Truth – if you keep that, you go faster. Truly a thirst, a need, you know, a need. All the rest has no importance, what you need is that.

No more bonds – free, free, free, free! Always ready to change every- thing, except one thing: to aspire. That thirst. The "Something" we need, the Perfection we need, the Light we need, the Love we need, the Truth we need, the supreme Perfection we need – and that’s all. The formulas – the fewer the formulas, the better. A need, a need, a need . . . which only the Thing can satisfy, nothing else, no half measure. Only That. And then, move on, move on! Your path will be your path, it doesn’t matter; any path, any path whatever.

THE MOTHER