Strength and Courage Are Needed to Face the Difficulties of the Spiritual Path

When an individual withdraws from most exte
al activities to focus on spiritual sadhana, people tend to interpret this as a sign of weakness or failure in the outer life. They believe the seeker could not ‘make it’ in the competition in the exte
al world and therefore retreated from it so he did not have to face it. This view, however, is inaccurate. While it is true that some individuals retreat from the difficulties they face in the world, they soon find that spiritual practice requires far more strength than they could have imagined. The spiritual path is not for those weak in spirit or afraid of tackling the powers of life. A strong vital nature is essential when one enters the inner realms of consciousness.

In his epic poem Savitri: A Legend and a Symbol, Sri Aurobindo expresses the inner struggle in a number of passages, but perhaps none so poignantly as in Book VI, Canto 2: “Exempt and unafflicted by earth’s fate, How shall he cure the ills he never felt? He covers the world’s agony with his calm; But though to the outward eye no sign appears And peace is given to our torn human hearts, The struggle is there and paid the unseen price, The fire, the strife, the wrestle are within.He carries the suffering world in his own breast; Its sins weigh on his thoughts, its grief is his: Earth’s ancient load lies heavy on his soul; Night and its powers beleaguer his tardy steps, The titan adversary’s clutch he bears; His march is a battle and a pilgrimage. Life’s evil smites, he is stricken with the world’s pain: A million wounds gape in his secret heart. He jou
eys sleepless through an unending night; Antagonist forces crowd across his path; A siege, a combat is his inner life.Even worse may be the cost, direr the pain: His large identity and all-harbouring love Shall bring the cosmic anguish into his depths, The sorrow of all living things shall come And knock at his doors and live within his house; A dreadful cord of sympathy can tie All suffering into his single grief and maker
All agony in all the worlds his own.”

Sri Aurobindo notes: “One who has not the courage to face patiently and firmly life and its difficulties will never be able to go through the still greater inner difficulties of the sadhana. The very first lesson in this Yoga is to face life and its trials with a quiet mind, a firm courage and an entire reliance on the Divine Shakti.”

Sri Aurobindo, Bases of Yoga, Chapter 3, In Difficulty, pg. 57