True Peace Is a Psychic Quality, Not Ensuring the Circumstances of the External Life Are Without Challenges

There is a famous story of a man who publicly and vociferously took up the plight of the disenfranchised, the poor, the downtrodden of society, who stood up bravely to take on the vested interests of his time, who opposed exploitation and the use of laws and societal expectations to punish some people, while protecting others who were in charge of the machinery of the societal system. He was a man of peace, a man of compassion, a man dedicated to the uplifting of humanity. When he was tempted with temporal power and dominion, he turned it down. The societal powers rewarded his efforts with a panful crucifixion and death. His name was Jesus.

The evidence provided by his example is that his inner peace, his psychic qualities of good will, compassion, harmlessness, did not create for him a smooth outer life; rather, his standing for human dignity and for principles of peace, unity and oneness, his care for those who were suffering, from hunger, from illness, from being treated as outcasts or from being abused or dominated by powers wielded by those who had external force on their side, the force of wealth, the force of brute strength, the force of political and societal connections, led directly to his seizure, arrest, trial and the brutal penalty of being executed through crucifixion, a torturous and brutal, excruciatingly slow and painful death.

We frequently see that individuals who clearly have a connection to their psychic being are moved to take steps to express the higher qualities of the soul, and this very expression puts them in opposition to the vital powers of domination that take pride in their control, that amass great wealth and political power and societal status at the expense of everyone else, and use it to abuse and take advantage of people who do not have a similar power to resist.

History is filled with examples of individuals who have been incarcerated, beaten, abused, assassinated, maligned, simply because they chose to manifest the inner qualities of the psychic being in their lives, regardless of consequences. Their stories tell of the outer difficulties, and yet, upon closer examination we can observe the inner peace and harmony they carried, even under extreme provocation.

Such individuals even face opposition from the ordinary people who constitute the mass of society, as their very presence in society tends to upset the status quo. People find ways to live with oppression in many cases, and they are afraid that speaking up or acting on a nobler impulse will simply increase the oppression and the suffering. These people think they will pay for the actions of the brave soul who is willing to put his life and his safety on the line, and they are unwilling to pay that price. This fear is borne out when innocent people are harassed, persecuted or threatened by the dominant powers as a form of ‘blackmail’ and intimidation.

It is also not unusual for such people to be treated as ‘abnormal’ because they do not accept the definition of ‘normal’ when it involves cruelty, greed, and excuses for non-involvement, and thereby shunned, ridiculed or bullied, simply because their value set and life objectives differ from the mass of society.

Running away from these issues and difficulties does not provide a solution. The peace one obtains is artificial, as it is based in avoidance rather than taking steps to bring about positive changes that will benefit humanity in its evolutionary development over time. Eventually, the psychic being must be able to influence, and gain control over the outer nature, bringing the inner qualities of peace, caring, goodwill, compassion, sincerity, etc. into the day to day actions in the external world.

The Mother notes: “I think the more psychic one is, usually, the more difficulties he has. Only, one is armed to face the difficulties. But the more psychic one is, the more is he in contradiction with the present state of the world. So when one is in opposition with something, the result is difficulties. And I have noticed that most often those who have many difficulties are those who are in a more or less close contact with their psychic being. If you want to speak about outer circumstances — I am not speaking of the character, that’s quite different, but of outer circumstances — the people who have to struggle the most and would have most reason to suffer are those who have a very developed psychic being.”

“First, the development of the psychic being has a double result which is concomitant. That is, with the development of the psychic being, the sensitivity of the being grows. And with the growth of sensitivity there is also the growth of the capacity for suffering; but there is the counterpart, that is, to the extent to which one is in relation with the psychic being, one faces the circumstances of life in an altogether different way and with a kind of inner freedom which makes one capable of withdrawing from a circumstance and not feeling the shock in the ordinary way. You can face the difficulty or outer things with calm, peace, and a sufficient inner knowledge not to be troubled. So, on one side you are more sensitive and on the other you have more strength to deal with the sensitivity.”

reference: Sri Aurobindo and the Mother, The Psychic Being — Soul: Its Nature, Mission and Evolution, Section 6 More Lights on the Psychic Being, pg. 182