The True Attitude of Sadhana

Most people act under the impulsion of their vital desires, physical wants, and mental opinions, which are colored by the society within which an individual lives and its established norms and expectations. When an individual takes up the spiritual life and attempts to live according to the Divine Will, he is faced with the sometimes subtle and difficult question of how to distinguish between what we are moved to do by the makeup of our ego-personality, including the mental, vital and physical impulses that are the drives that propel most human activity in the world, and the actual promptings of the Divine. Not every voice we hear in our minds represents the Divine Will; nor does every impulsion we feel represent the true guidance we seek.

As we deepen our inner sense of quietude and peace, we can begin to actually observe these impulsions or drives. We can identify the source, whether they come from one of the lower energy centers that channel the physical and vital forces, or by pressure from outside being exerted on one of these centers. These are a clear sign of ego intervening in the process.

There are useful practices that can help us ferret out the source and energy behind any impulsion that comes; namely, one resists the impulsion and uses the resultant build up of energy to identify the location and source. This can also be done as a thought experiment to look at the driving force of what we are seeking and ask ourselves does it satisfy some desire, some deeply hidden impulsion or fear, does it further some ambition or seeking for any form of self-aggrandisement, whether for the body, the life-force or the mind? Does withholding the fulfillment of that force bring about frustration, anger, impatience, hatred, or any extremely aggressive state of mind, emotion or life-force?

In order to escape from the slavery of the desire-soul, the seeker eventually must align with the psychic being, the true soul that is directly and completely turned toward the Divine. The promptings of the soul are generally quiet, do not bring disturbance and take on the form of aspiration, receptivity, gratitude and consecration. The psychic being has trust in the divine process, and recognises that human judgment and time-frames are not the same as divine judgment and time-frames.

Sri Aurobindo notes: “Not to impose one’s mind and vital will on the Divine but to receive the Divine’s will and follow it, is the true attitude of sadhana. Not to say, ‘This is my right, want, claim, need, requirement, why do I not get it?’ but to give oneself, to surrender and to receive with joy whatever the Divine gives, not grieving or revolting, is the better way. Then what you receive will be the right thing for you.”

Sri Aurobindo, Bases of Yoga, Chapter 2, Faith — Aspiration — Surrender, pg. 23