Faithfulness

in Sadhana

A Compilation from the Works of

Sri Aurobindo and the Mother

Faithfulness

in Sadhana

© All writings of Sri Aurobindo and the Mother

are copyright of Sri Aurobindo Ashram Trust

and have been reproduced here with their kind permission.

©2019 AuroPublications, Sri Aurobindo Society, Puducherry

www.aurosociety.org

Year of Publication 2019

Compilation done by Jamshed M. Mavalwalla

Proof reading done by Archana Udaykumar, Puja Narula and Shivakumar

Cover done by Archana Udaykumar

Help in making e-book by Vivechana Saraf and Uttam Mondal

The photograph of the flower on the cover has been given the spiritual significance ‘Faithfulness’ by the Mother.

The botanical name of the flower is Quisqualis indica.

(The Spiritual Significance of Flowers Part I page 133)

Foreword

All over the world, there is a growing interest in Spirituality and Yoga.  There is a search for the true meaning and purpose of life, for deeper solutions to the problems which confront us all, and how we can contribute to the evolutionary change and progress.

In this search, more and more persons are turning to Sri Aurobindo and the Mother for guidance and enlightenment.  But in their voluminous literature, they do not know where to find the answers they are looking for.

In this regard the Mother has said,

“It is not by books that Sri Aurobindo ought to be studied but by subjects—what he has said on the Divine, on Unity, on religion, on evolution, on education, on self-perfection, on supermind, etc., etc.” (CWM 12: 206)

On another occasion she said:

“If you want to know what Sri Aurobindo has said on a given subject, you must at least read all he has written on that subject. You will then see that he seems to have said the most contradictory things. But when one has read everything and understood a little, one sees that all the contradictions complement one another and are organised and unified in an integral synthesis.” (CWM 16: 309-310)

While there are several compilations which are now available, many sincere spiritual seekers have felt the need of Comprehensive Compilations from Sri Aurobindo and the Mother on specific subjects, where the contents are further organised into sub-topics, so that one can get all that one is looking for at one place.

These books are an effort to fulfill this need and thus help spiritual seekers in their journey and sadhana.  We hope these compilations will help us to get a greater mental clarity about a subject so that we can channel our efforts in the right direction. For Sri Aurobindo has written:

“It is always better to make an effort in the right direction; even if one fails the effort bears some result and is never lost.” (CWSA 29: 87)

We will be glad to get suggestions and feedback from the readers.

Vijay

Preface

In the series of comprehensive compilations on the virtues and qualities as prescribed by Sri Aurobindo and the Mother necessary for doing Integral Yoga we present the sixth virtue in this book ‘FAITHFULNESS in SADHANA’.

The quotations in this compilation are taken from the volumes of the Complete Works of Sri Aurobindo (CWSA), and the Collected Works of The Mother (CWM), Second Edition. Each quotation is followed by the book title, volume number and the page number it has been taken from.

While the passages from Sri Aurobindo are in the original English, most of the passages from the Mother (selections from her talks and writings) are translations from the original French. We must also bear in mind that the excerpts have been taken out of their original context and that a compilation, in its very nature, is likely to have a personal and subjective approach. A sincere attempt, however, has been made to be faithful to the vision of Sri Aurobindo and the Mother. Those who would like to go through the fuller text are advised to go through the Complete Works of Sri Aurobindo (CWSA) and the Collected Works of the Mother (CWM), Second Edition.

The section headings, and sub headings have also been provided by the compiler to bring clarity on the selected subject. To give emphasis in certain quotations, the compiler has bold faced some words.

Jamshed M. Mavalwalla

Contents

I—Faithfulness Is …

II—True Faithfulness Is Faithfulness to the Divine

III—Faithfulness Is the Characteristic of the Psychic Being

IV—The Indispensable Virtue for the Ashramite Is Faithfulness

V—What Prevents Men from Being Faithful?

VI—Unfaithfulness to the Divine and His Work

VII—Faithfulness in Sadhana

VIII—Prayers on Faithfulness

IX—Other Quotations on Faithfulness

X—Short Summary

I—Faithfulness Is …

“This is faithfulness, to admit and to manifest no other movements but only the movements prompted and guided by the Divine.” (CWM 14: 156)

“Incorruptible faithfulness: nothing can turn you away from the duty you have chosen.” (CWM 14: 156)

“One form of endurance is faithfulness, faithfulness to one’s resolution—being faithful. One has taken a resolution, one is faithful to one’s resolution. This is endurance.” (CWM 8: 42)

II—True Faithfulness Is Faithfulness to the Divine

“What is commonly called faithfulness is a scrupulous compliance with the promises one has made. But the only true and binding faithfulness is faithfulness to the Divine—and that is the faithfulness we all ought to acquire through sincere and sustained effort.

When the whole being, in all its parts and all its activities, can say to the Divine in all sincerity:

‘Whatever You will, whatever You will’, then one is well on the way to the true faithfulness.” (CWM 16: 436)

“A good advice to all the ashramites in their dealings with visitors and foreigners (and even among themselves)

‘When you have nothing pleasant to say about something or somebody in the Ashram, keep silent.

‘You must know that this silence is faithfulness to the Divine’s work’.” (CWM 13: 145)

“Yes, all these false and idiotic rumours have come to me after turning round the Ashram. I attached no importance to them.

I hope that those who are faithful and have common sense will not lose their time listening to all that.” (CWM 17: 240) (CWM 13: 97)

“In the present condition of the world an absolute faithfulness to the Divine has become an indispensable need.” (CWM 14: 156)

“Without faithfulness in one’s consecration to the Divine there can be no peace in the heart.” (CWM 14: 156)

“Be faithful to the Divine and you will enjoy a constant peace.” (CWM 14: 156)

“Lord, grant that I may be entirely and eternally faithful to Thee.” (CWM 15: 213)

III—Faithfulness Is the Characteristic of the Psychic Being

“The soft feeling [in the head and below] must be that of the psychic being spreading itself through the higher centres. Faithfulness is one of the first characteristics of the psychic being.” (CWSA 30: 367)

351 – Only the soul that is naked and unashamed can be pure and innocent, even as Adam was in the primal garden of humanity. (Thoughts and Aphorisms)

What is meant by ‘the soul that is naked and unashamed’?

Isn’t the soul always pure?

Yes, that is what Sri Aurobindo says. The soul does not wear any disguise, it shows itself as it is and cares nothing for men’s judgments, because it is the faithful servant of the Divine whose abode it is.” (CWM 10: 311–312)

“Q: Aren’t dogs more faithful than men?

A: Certainly! Because it is their nature to be faithful, and they have no mental complications.” (CWM 6: 182)

“There is something else. If the master is really a good one and the animal faithful, there is an exchange of psychic and vital forces, an exchange which becomes for the animal something wonderful, giving it an intense joy. When they like to be quite close to you in that way, when you hold them, it is that they vibrate internally. The force one gives them—the strength of affection, of tenderness, protection, all that—they feel it, and it creates a deep attachment in them.” (CWM 5: 239–240)

IV—The Indispensable Virtue for the Ashramite Is Faithfulness

“By definition the Ashramite has resolved to consecrate his life to the realisation and service of the Divine.

For this four virtues are indispensable, without which progress is uncertain and subject to interruptions and troublesome falls at the first opportunity:

Sincerity, faithfulness, modesty and gratitude.” (CWM 13: 113)

“Much more than any physical condition it is faithfulness to the ideal and consecration to the work that make the true disciple.” (CWM 13: 112)

“As for the disciple, I would tell him: ‘In all cases, be faithful to your guru whoever he is; he will lead you as far as you can go. But if you have the good fortune to have the Divine as your guru, there will be no limit to your realisation.” (CWM 12: 63)

“Complete surrender: one is now only a docile

instrument, a faithful servant before the Supreme Master. The Love is so complete that it causes a detachment from all that is not the Divine Absolute and perfect concentration on Him.” (CWM 2: 130)

V—What Prevents Men from Being Faithful?

“It is not in man’s nature to be faithful.” (CWM 15: 255)

“The mind labours through the centuries but human nature remains faithful to its imperfections and man's life amid its changes always the same.” (CWSA 12: 350)

“What prevents men from being faithful are their mental complications. Most men are not faithful because they fear being duped. You don’t know what it is to be duped? They fear being deceived, being exploited. They fear... Behind their faithfulness there is still a very big egoism which is more or less hidden, and there is always that bargaining, more or less conscious, of give-and-take: one gives oneself to someone but whether one tells oneself this or not, one expects something in exchange. You are faithful, but also want others to be faithful to you, that is, look after you, to be quite sweet to you, and, especially not to try to profit by your faithfulness. None of these complications are there in the dog, for its mind is very rudimentary. It does not have this marvellous capacity of reasoning that men have, a capacity which has made them commit so many stupidities.

Only one cannot turn and go back. One cannot become a dog again. So one must become a higher man and have the quality of the dog on a higher plane; that is, instead of its being a half-conscious fidelity, and in any case very instinctive, a sort of need that ties it down, it must be a willed, conscious fidelity, and especially above all egoism. There is a point where all the virtues are united: it is a point that goes beyond the ego. If we take this faithfulness, if we take devotion, take love, the meaning of service, all these things, when they are above the egoistic level, they meet, in the sense that they give themselves and do not expect anything in exchange. And if you climb one step higher, instead of its being done with the idea of duty and abnegation, it is done with an intense joy which carries within itself its own reward, which needs nothing in exchange, for it carries its joy in itself.” (CWM 6: 182–183)

“If an adverse Force comes, one has not to accept and welcome its suggestions, but to turn to the Mother and refuse to turn away from her. Whether one can open or not, one has to be loyal and faithful. Loyalty and fidelity are not qualities for which one has to do Yoga; they are very simple things which any man or woman who aspires to the Truth ought to be able to accomplish.

It is what everybody should realise. It is the psychic fidelity that brings the power to stand against the Asuras and enables the Protection to work.” (CWSA 31: 799) (CWSA 32: 160–161)

VI—Unfaithfulness to the Divine and His Work

“If you remain in meditation or contemplation without working, well, you don’t know if you have progressed or not. You may live in an illusion, the illusion of your progress; while if you begin to work, all the circumstances of your work, the contact with others, the material occupation, all this is a field of experience in order that you may become aware not only of the progress made but of all the progress that remains to be made. If you live closed up in yourself, without acting, you may live in a completely subjective illusion; the moment you externalise your action and enter into contact with others, with circumstances and the objects of life, you become aware absolutely objectively of whether you have made progress or not, whether you are more calm, more conscious, stronger, more unselfish, whether you no longer have any desire, any preference, any weakness, any unfaithfulness—you can become aware of all this by working. But if you remain enclosed in a meditation that’s altogether personal, you may enter into a total illusion and never come out of it, and believe that you have realised extraordinary things, while really you have only the impression, the illusion that you have done so.” (CWM 7: 287–288)

“It is obvious that your inner being is not very strong and does not have the power to counteract the pernicious influence of an environment full of sterile doubts, defeatist pessimism, egoism and unfaithfulness.

Our path is not easy, it demands great courage and untiring endurance. One must work hard and make a great effort with quiet stability to obtain results which at times are scarcely perceptible outwardly.” (CWM 13: 142)

“It is not a question of disobedience. I know nothing about your additions to the Life Sketch of the sources from which they were taken. My point of view is this, that anything written by a sadhak about Sri Aurobindo which brings him down to an ordinary level and admits the reader to a sort of gossiping familiarity with him is an unfaithfulness to Him and His work. Good intentions are not sufficient, it is necessary that this should be understood by everybody.” (CWM 13: 27)

“I think I have already told you the story of that Japanese who was an intimate friend of ours, and whom I helped to come into contact with his soul—and who ran away. He was in the countryside with us and I had put him in touch with his psychic being; he had the experience, a revelation, the contact, the dazzling inner contact. And the next morning, he was no longer there, he had taken flight! Later, when I saw him again in town after the holidays, I asked him, ‘But what happened to you, why did you go away?’—‘Oh! You understand, I discovered my soul and saw that my soul was more powerful than my faith in the country and the Mikado; I would have had to obey my soul and I would no longer have been a faithful subject of my emperor. I had to go away.’ There you are! All this is authentically true.” (CWM 4: 309)

“Suppose a child wants to remain faithful to the Mother and tries to remain faithful, but he sees he is not getting any response. Is it not an illusion for him to try to remain faithful when the Mother never shows him her sweet side? Finally the sadhak will become unfaithful.

If the sadhak becomes unfaithful to the Mother, it means he did not want the sadhana or the Mother, but the satisfaction of his desires and his ego. That is not Yoga.” (CWSA 32: 508)

“Not at the beginning, in the manifestation, but in the transmission of the return; that is to say, instead of being, as a faithful servant, an intermediary who brings back to Thee exactly what is Thy due—the forces sent forth in reply to Thy action,—there is a tendency in the personality to want to keep for itself a part of the forces, with this idea: ‘It is I who have done this or that, I who am thanked. ...’ Pernicious illusion, obscure falsehood, now are you discovered and unmasked. That is the maleficent canker corroding the fruit of the action, falsifying all its results.” (CWM 1: 126)

“Surely when unfaithfulness prevails all around, it is time to be truly faithful and to stand untouched and unmoved in the storm.” (CWM 14: 156)

VII—Faithfulness in Sadhana

(Message inscribed on the foundation-stone of New Horizon Sugar Mills)

“Faithfulness is the sure basis of success.” (CWM 15: 205)

“Faithfulness is a condition for peace and protection.” (CWM 14: 156)

“Be always faithful to your faith and you will feel no sorrow.” (CWM 14: 156)

“If you are faithful to your soul’s call there is no reason why you should not be able to do Yoga.” (CWSA 29: 33)

“But whatever way is followed, the one thing to be done is to be faithful and go to the end. You have so often taken that decision — stand by it, do not let the storms of the vital quench the aspiration of your soul.” (CWSA 29: 71)

“But I maintain my idea that if you remain faithful to the seeking for the Divine, the day of grace and opening will come.” (CWSA 29: 100)

“Be faithful and persevering, then, however long the way, you cannot fail to reach the goal.” (CWSA 31: 110)

“One has to go on in the confidence that in spite of all delays and difficulties, if one is faithful, then in the end, the goal will be reached and one will attain to the Divine.” (CWSA 31: 672)

“Whatever is difficult can indeed be made easy by truth in the heart and sincerity and faith in the endeavour, even what is impossible can become possible. It is often found too that after some amount of practice and faithful endeavour, there comes an intervention from within and what might have taken long is decisively and quickly done. Your prayer will surely be answered, for it is to that you are moving.” (CWSA 31: 697)

“It has been said as long ago as the Upanishads, ‘Hard is

this path to tread, sharp like a razor’s edge’; it was said later by Christ, ‘Hard is the way and narrow the gate by which one enters into the kingdom of heaven’ and also ‘Many are called, few chosen’ — because of these difficulties. But it has also always been known that those who are sincere and faithful in heart and remain so and those who rely on the Divine will arrive in spite of all difficulties, stumbles or falls.” (CWSA 31: 757)

“It is a fact that the lower forces always attack when they see that a sadhak is making too much progress for their taste. But they can do nothing against a clear and steady will and a faithful perseverance.” (CWSA 31: 770)

Dealing with Hostile Attacks

“It is certainly the force hostile to the Yoga and the divine realisation upon earth that is acting upon you at the present moment. It is the force (one force and not many) which is here in the Asram and has been going about from one to another. With some as with X, Y and Z it has succeeded; others have cast it from them and have been able to liberate the light of their soul; open in that light to the nearness and constant presence of the Mother, feel her working in them and move forward in a constant spiritual progress. Some are still struggling, but in spite of the bitterness of the struggle have been able to keep faithfully to the divine call that brought them here.” (CWSA 31: 784–785) (CWSA 35: 606)

“If you reject entirely the falsehood that this force casts upon the sadhaka, if you remain faithful to the Light that called you here, you conquer and, even if serious difficulties still remain, the final victory is sure and the divine triumph of the soul over the Ignorance and the darkness.” (CWSA 31: 785)

“One must have entire confidence in the Victory of the Divine — and this general Victory will include in itself the personal victory of all who will have remained faithful and confident.” (CWM 14: 82)

“Cast away from you these movements of doubt, depression and the rest which are no part of your true and higher nature. Reject these suggestions of inability, unfitness and all these irrational movements of an alien force. Remain faithful to the Light of your soul even when it is hidden by clouds. My help and the Mother’s will be there working behind even in the moments when you cannot feel it. The one need for you and for all is to be, even in the darkness of the powers of obscurity of the physical consciousness, stubbornly faithful to your soul and to the remembrance of the Divine Call.

Be faithful and you will conquer.” (CWSA 31: 787)

“A glad and strong and helpful submission is demanded to the working of the Divine Force, the obedience of the illumined disciple of the Truth, of the inner Warrior who fights against obscurity and falsehood, of the faithful servant of the Divine.” (CWSA 32: 5)

“For them the stay here in the atmosphere, the nearness are indispensable; to depart would be for them a renunciation of the opportunity given them, a turning of the back upon the spiritual destiny. Their difficulties are often in appearance greater than the struggle of those who remain outside because the demand and the pressure are greater; but so also is their opportunity greater and the power and influence for development poured upon them and that too which they can spiritually become and will become if they are faithful to the choice and the call.” (CWSA 35: 575–576)

“When I spoke of being faithful to the light of the soul and the divine Call, I was not referring to anything in the past or to any lapse on your part. I was simply affirming the great need in all crises and attacks, — to refuse to listen to any suggestions, impulses, lures and to oppose to them all the call of the Truth, the imperative beckoning of the Light. In all doubt and depression, to say ‘I belong to the Divine, I cannot fail’; to all suggestions of impurity and unfitness, to reply ‘I am a child of Immortality chosen by the Divine; I have but to be true to myself and to Him — the victory is sure; even if I fell, I would be sure to rise again’; to all impulses to depart and serve some smaller ideal, to reply ‘This is the greatest, this is the Truth that alone can satisfy the soul within me; I will endure through all tests and tribulations to the very end of the divine journey.’ This is what I mean by faithfulness to the Light and the Call.” (CWSA 29: 99) (CWSA 32: 104)

“This self-giving means not to ask for anything but the constant contact or union with the Divine Consciousness, to aspire for its peace, power, light and felicity, but to ask nothing else and in life and action to be its instrument only for whatever work it gives one to do in the world. If one can once open and feel the Divine Force, the Power of the Spirit working in the mind and heart and body, the rest is a matter of remaining faithful to It, calling for it always, allowing it to do its work when it comes and rejecting every other and inferior Force that belongs to the lower consciousness and the lower nature.” (CWSA 36: 441)

“This is thy work and the aim of thy being and that for which thou art here, to become the divine superman and a perfect vessel of the Godhead. ... If thou seek the Truth, this is the Truth. Place it before thee and in all things be faithful to it.” (CWSA 12: 150)

Uttarpara Speech

“Then He placed the Gita in my hands. His strength entered into me and I was able to do the sadhana of the Gita. I was not only to understand intellectually but to realise what Srikrishna demanded of Arjuna and what He demands of those who aspire to do His work, to be free from repulsion and desire, to do work for Him without the demand for fruit, to renounce self-will and become a passive and faithful instrument in His hands, to have an equal heart for high and low, friend and opponent, success and failure, yet not to do His work negligently.” (CWSA 8: 5–6)

“In an ardent faith lies salvation.

In the final analysis, it is the Supreme Lord who does all.

We must be faithful instruments.” (CWM 14: 90)

“So the people, the faithful, who always say, ‘By the grace of God, this has happened,’ are not so wrong.” (CWM 10: 190)

Young Man’s Boarding

“Be always faithful to your Ideal and sincere in your action.” (CWM 12: 128)

“Be faithful to your ideal and dedicate your work to the Divine.” (WM 14: 302)

“I add that all those to whom I have given responsibility in the work are expected to be faithful to this responsibility and, without allowing of any ‘hurt feeling’ to creep in, do their best to carry on successfully their duty.” (CWM 14: 310)

“But if one is sincere and faithful and has the right attitude and if the guru is a true guru, then, after whatever time, it [contacting the Divine through him, attaining to spiritual experiences, to spiritual realisation] will come.” (CWSA 29: 199)

“Open with faithfulness. That means to be open constantly and always; not to open one day and withdraw the next.” (CWSA 29: 108)

“I meant that I am sad because I am not able to become Your child and Your faithful servant, although that is why I am here.

That is exactly what I understood — and I repeat that nothing (except your own will) can prevent you from being my child and becoming my faithful servant.” (17: 114)

“The Divine can give protection only to those who

are whole-heartedly faithful to the Divine, who live truly in the spirit of sadhana and keep their consciousness and preoccupation fixed upon the Divine and the service of the Divine.” (CWM 13: 121)

“Human incapacity is necessarily behind all that men do. Only he who has become conscious of the Divine and become His faithful instrument can avoid error, if he is careful to act only at the divine command and to add nothing personal to it.

It must be said that this is not easy. Only he who no longer has any ego can do it correctly.

Blessings.” (CWM 16: 404)

“In reality, the Divine gives to each individual exactly what he expects of Him. If you believe that the Divine is far away and cruel, He will be far away and cruel, because it will be necessary for your ultimate good that you feel the wrath of God; He will be Kali for the worshippers of Kali and Beatitude for the Bhakta. And He will be the All-knowledge of the seeker of Knowledge, the transcendent Impersonal of the illusionist; He will be atheist with the atheist and the love of the lover. He will be brotherly and close, a friend always faithful, always ready to succour, for those who feel Him as the inner guide of each movement, at every moment. And if you believe that He can wipe away everything, He will wipe away all your faults, all your errors, tirelessly, and at every moment you can feel His infinite Grace. The Divine is indeed what you expect of Him in your deepest aspiration.” (CWM 13: 75)

VIII—Prayers on Faithfulness

November 3, 1912

“Let Thy Light be in me like a Fire that makes all alive; let Thy divine Love penetrate me. I aspire with all my being for Thy reign as sovereign and master of my mind and heart and body; let them be Thy docile instruments and Thy faithful servitors.” (CWM 1: 3)

November 22, 1913

“A few minutes passed in silence before Thee are worth centuries of felicity. . . .

Grant, O Lord, that all shadows may be dispelled and that I may be more and more Thy faithful servant in constancy and serenity. Before Thee may my heart be pure as a pure crystal, so that wholly it may reflect Thee.

Oh! the sweetness of abiding in silence before Thee....” (CWM 1: 34)

“Grant that I may become Thy faithful servitor.” (CWM 1: 53)

February 5, 1914

“What could be said that is not always the very same aspiration: the law of divine love, the purest expression of what we can conceive of Thee, must be realised more and more upon earth and triumph over all ignorant egoism; we must become more and more perfectly the faithful servitors of that power of love and light, we must live in it, by it; that alone must live and act in us.” (CWM 1: 66)

“Grant, O Lord, that this consciousness and peace may constantly grow within us, so that we may be more and more the faithful intermediaries of Thy divine and absolute law.” (CWM 1: 100)

“O my sweet Master, my divine Lord, tear out from my heart this illusion so that Thy servant may become pure and faithful and faithfully and integrally bring back to Thee all that is Thy due. In silence let me contemplate and understand this supreme ignorance and dispel it for ever. Chase the shadow from my heart, and let Thy light reign in it, its uncontested sovereign.” (CWM 1: 127)

“But I have learnt to look at everything with a smile and a tranquil heart. I ask only this of Thee, O my divine Master, not to let me make any mistakes; even if the instrument is still condemned for a time to unconsciousness, grant that it may let itself be guided faithfully and docilely by Thy divine law.” (CWM 1: 130)

“ ‘O Love, Divine Love, in a fecund silence I bow to Thee’

I open myself to Thee and I would obey Thee with an absolute faithfulness.” (CWM 16: 20)

NEW YEAR MESSAGE

1936

“O Lord! Grant that this year may be the year of Thy Victory. We aspire for a perfect faithfulness which would make us worthy of it.” (CWM 15: 166)

“Lord, let consciousness and peace increase in us so that more and more we may be the faithful intermediaries of Thy one divine law.” (CWM 15: 216)

“Grant that we may be faithful to Thee utterly and for

ever.” (CWM 1: 382)

“We want to be true servitors of the Divine.

‘Supreme Lord, Perfect Consciousness, You alone know truly what we are, what we can do, what progress we must make to be capable and worthy of serving You as we would. Make us conscious of our possibilities, but also of our difficulties so that we may overcome them in order to serve You faithfully.’

The supreme happiness is to be true servitors of the Divine.” (CWM 16: 435)

Replies to Prayers of the Physical Education Groups

GROUP B

“Sweet Mother, we want to be Thy faithful soldiers to fight for Thy final victory.

Victory to Sweet Mother.

Call to Victory

I salute you, my brave little soldiers, I give you my call to the rendezvous with Victory.” (CWM 12: 269)

GROUP C

“Lord, free from all ignorance Thy supreme workers and guide their standard of purity by the shortest way towards the Realisation.

May Thy will be done and not ours.

The Lord will name ‘supreme’ only those of his workers who will have wholly surmounted and over passed in them all animality. Let us be at the outset his faithful and sincere workers and when this more modest programme is accomplished we shall prepare ourselves for greater realisations.” (CWM 12: 270)

GROUP DG

“Sweet Mother, we are Thy little children aspiring for Thy all-powerful Light. And Thou, Sweet Mother, hast given us the assurance of the final Victory; it is Thy will that we should be Thy faithful, sincere, brave and disciplined soldiers.

Sweet Mother, here is our pledge. We are determined to be so, and above all, to place ourselves, without reserve, in Thy hands. Give us the power to do it.

I accept your pledge and you can rely upon my help to realise it. Age exists only for those who choose to become old.

Forward, ever forward, without fear and without hesitation.” (CWM 12: 270–271)

GROUP DK

“Mother Divine, here is our prayer:

Grant that we may always be Thy obedient and sincere soldiers, may Thy force enable us to fight the hostile powers and win Thy victory.

Victory to the Mother!

Be always faithful and persevering and you will have your share of the realisation.” (CWM 12: 271)

IX—Other Quotations on Faithfulness

“As in science, so here [in Yoga] you have to accumulate experience on experience following faithfully the methods laid down by the Guru or by the systems of the past, you have to develop an intuitive discrimination which compares the experiences, see what they mean, how far and in what field each is valid, what is the place of each in the whole, how it can be reconciled or related with others that at first sight seem to contradict it, etc. etc. until you can move with a secure knowledge in the vast field of spiritual phenomena. That is the only way to test spiritual experience.” (CWSA 28: 383) (CWSA 35: 254)

“What I have said is that you should not expect or insist on it at once or within an early time. It can come early or it can come late, but come it will if one is faithful in one’s call — for one has not only to be sincere but to be faithful through all. If I deprecate insistence, it is because I have always found it creates difficulties and delays — owing to a strain and restlessness which is created in the nature and despondencies and revolts of the vital when the insistence is not satisfied.” (CWSA 29: 173174) (CWSA 35: 619)

“The more one gives of oneself in all ways, the better for the sadhana. But all cannot do it to the same extent, with the same rapidity, in the same way. How others do it or fail to do it should not be one’s concern — how to do it faithfully oneself is the one thing important.” (CWSA 29: 214)

“Purification from egoistic movements and from personal desire and the faithful following of the best light one has are a preliminary training for this path, and so far as he has followed these things he has been on the right way, but to ask for strength and light in one’s action must not be regarded as an egoistic movement, for they are necessary in one’s inner development.” (CWSA 29: 235)

“What you have now to do is to allow the realisation to grow and develop. The necessary movements will probably come of themselves as these have come — provided you keep your will single and faithful towards this Light and Truth. Already it has brought you the guidance towards the next step, cessation of the flow of thought, the inner mind’s silence. Once that is won, there is likely to come a settled peace, liberation,

wideness.” (CWSA 30: 14)

“The vision you saw was a symbol of the outward physical consciousness obscured by the ordinary movements (clouds), but with the spirituality (the moon) still spreading its light everywhere from behind the ordinary human ignorance. The dog indicates something in the physical (the part that is faithful, obedient etc.) waiting confidently for the Light to come.” (CWSA 30: 139)

“There are many voices, and all are not divine; this may be only a voice of desire. All that keeps one faithful to the Truth and insists on peace, purity, devotion, sincerity, a spiritual change of the nature can be listened to with profit; the rest must be observed with discrimination and not followed blindly. Keep the fire of aspiration burning, but avoid all impatient haste.” (CWSA 30: 308)

“For that reason friendship is or rather can oftenest be the most durable of the human affections because there there is less interference of the vital and even though a flame of the ego it can be a quiet and pure fire giving always its warmth and light. Nevertheless reliable friendship is almost always with a very few; to have a horde of loving, unselfishly faithful friends is a phenomenon so rare that it can be safely taken as an illusion.” (CWSA 31: 296)

“Your inner vital being seems from the dream experiences that you have related to be very strong, faithful, clear-minded, resolute, able to deal with the hostile forces and their activities in the right way and do the right thing.” (CWSA 31: 465)

“The strength is always with you to be always faithful to the Divine Will.” (CWM 14: 156)

“Be simple, sincere and faithful in front of the Grace which is constantly with you.” (CWM 14: 157)

“I saw that whatever concentrated force there was in the church depended exclusively upon the faithful, the faith of the devotees.” (CWM 6: 194)

“These things should never be touched unless one has at

least the first elements of occult knowledge.

Unfortunately, in religions — all religions, not only here but everywhere — knowledge is never given to the faithful. Sometimes the priests have it (I don’t say always), but when they have it they take good care not to give it to the faithful, for that would deprive them of their authority and power, and that really is the evil behind all religious institutions.” (CWM 4: 397)

“Well, call down the Light, open yourselves to the power of Transformation. Innumerable times the divine peace has been given to you and as often you have lost it — because something in you refuses to surrender its petty egoistic routine. If you are not always vigilant, your nature will return to its old unregenerate habits even after it has been filled with the descending Truth. It is the struggle between the old and the new that forms the crux of the Yoga; but if you are bent on being faithful to the supreme Law and Order revealed to you, the parts of your being belonging to the domain of chance will, however slowly, be converted and divinised.” (CWM 3: 164)

“Sri Aurobindo is always with us, enlightening, guiding,

protecting. We must answer to his grace by a perfect faithfulness.” (CWM 13: 13)

“That which is speaking to you now, is a faithful servant of the Divine. From all time, since the beginning of the earth, as a faithful servant of the Divine, it has spoken in the name of its Master. And as long as earth and men exist, it will be there in a body to preach the divine word.

So, wherever I am asked to speak, I do my best, as a servant of the Divine.

But to speak in the name of a particular doctrine or of a man, however great he may be, that I cannot do!

The Eternal Transcendent forbids me.” (CWM 2: 77) (CWM 13: 37)

“During the depression I prayed, ‘How unfaithful the vital is! Mother does so much for me, but still it rebels. O Sweet Mother, grant that the vital may no longer rebel and come to believe in the Divine alone.’ Who observes this movement?

It is the part of the mind that is converted; it detaches itself from the rest, observes. judges and regrets the behaviour of the ordinary mind and the unregenerate vital.” (CWM 17: 27)

“Sweet Mother,

I ardently pray to You to pull me out of this condition of bad health and make me progress integrally. You know that my soul’s only aspiration is to love You and serve You. Make me physically active in Your service.

You have been and still remain a faithful servitor. Do not worry: if your body is no longer fit for physical work, take advantage of all the time at your disposal to develop your inner consciousness and unite more and more consciously with the Divine.

Reading, meditation, contemplation, self-giving, in silence and concentration, to the Divine who is always present to hear you and guide you.

Blessings.” (CWM 17: 349)

“We want to be faithful workers for the Great Victory.” (CWM 16: 29)

“Friendship with the Divine: delicate, attentive and faithful, ever ready to respond to the smallest appeal.” (CWM 14: 20)

“Be perfectly faithful and sincere towards your true Self.

Allow no deception to creep into your consecration to the Divine.” (CWM 14: 67)

“We must all be the faithful army of the Truth.” (CWM 14: 192)

“In the silence of a simple and faithful heart one can understand the mystery of incarnation.” (CWM 14: 350)

“A simple and faithful heart is a great boon.” (CWM 14: 350)

“Sri Aurobindo is always present.

Be sincere and faithful.

This is the first condition.

Blessings.” (CWM 13: 15)

“Faithfulness: we can count on you. You never fail us when we need you.” (CWM 14: 155)

X—Short Summary

I—Faithfulness Is …

1.      Faithfulness is to admit and to manifest no other movements but only the movements prompted and guided by the Divine

2.      Incorruptible faithfulness is when nothing can turn you away from the duty you have chosen

3.      One form of endurance is faithfulness

II—True Faithfulness Is Faithfulness to the Divine

1.      The only true and binding faithfulness is faithfulness to the Divine

2.      Faithfulness to the Divine is the faithfulness we all ought to acquire through sincere and sustained effort

3.      When the whole being, in all its parts and all its activities, can accept the Divine’s will then one is well on the way to the true faithfulness

4.      To keep silence when you have nothing pleasant to say about something or somebody in the Ashram

5.      This silence is faithfulness to the Divine’s work

6.      In the present condition of the world an absolute faithfulness to the Divine has become an indispensable need

7.      Without faithfulness in one’s consecration to the

Divine there can be no peace in the heart

8.      Lord, grant that I may be entirely and eternally faithful to Thee

III—Faithfulness is the Characteristic of the Psychic Being

1.      Faithfulness is one of the first characteristics of the psychic being

2.      The soul is the faithful servant of the Divine

3.      If the master is really good and the animal faithful, there is an exchange of psychic forces, giving the animal intense joy

IV—The Indispensable Virtue for the Ashramite is Faithfulness

1.      The four indispensable virtues for the Ashramite are sincerity, faithfulness, modesty and gratitude

2.      Without these virtues progress is uncertain and subject to interruptions and troublesome falls at the first opportunity

3.      Faithfulness to the ideal and consecration to the work make a true disciple

4.      A disciple must be faithful to one’s guru

5.      Complete surrender means to be a faithful servant before the Supreme Master

V—What Prevents Men from Being Faithful?

1.      It is not in man’s nature to be faithful

2.      The human nature remains faithful to its imperfections

3.      What prevent men from being faithful are their mental complications

4.      Most men are not faithful because they fear being duped, deceived, exploited

5.      Behind men’s faithfulness there is a very big egoism which is hidden, and there is bargaining

6.      You are faithful, but also want others to be faithful to you

7.      Men must become a higher man and have faithfulness quality of the dog on a higher plane

8.      Instead of man having half-conscious fidelity, it must have a willed, conscious fidelity, and above all egoism

9.      When this faithfulness is above the egoistic level, they give themselves and do not expect anything in exchange

10.      If you climb one step higher, and done with the idea of duty and abnegation then it is done with an intense joy which carries within itself its own reward

11.      Loyalty and fidelity are very simple things which any man or woman who aspires to the Truth ought to be able to accomplish

12.      It is the psychic fidelity that brings the power to stand against the Asuras and enables the Protection to work

VI—Unfaithfulness to the Divine and His Work

1.      If you remain in meditation without working, you don’t know if you have progressed or not

2.      You can become aware of any unfaithfulness in you by working

3.      If the inner being is not very strong then one does not have the power to counteract the pernicious influence of an environment full of unfaithfulness

4.      Anything written by a sadhak about Sri Aurobindo which brings him down to an ordinary level and admits the reader to a sort of gossiping familiarity with him is an unfaithfulness to Him and His work

5.      Example of a person who discovered his soul and realised that he no longer can be a faithful subject of his emperor so ran away

6.      If the sadhak becomes unfaithful to the Mother, it means he did not want the sadhana or the Mother, but the satisfaction of his desires and his ego

7.      Instead of being a faithful servant, who brings back to Thee exactly what is Thy due; there is a tendency in the personality to want to keep for itself a part of the forces, with this idea: ‘It is I who have done this or that, I

who am thanked’

8.      When unfaithfulness prevails all around, it is time to be truly faithful and to stand untouched and unmoved in the storm

VII—Faithfulness in Sadhana

1.      Faithfulness is the sure basis of success

2.      Faithfulness is a condition for peace and protection

3.      Be always faithful to your faith and you will feel no sorrow

4.      If you are faithful to your soul’s call there is no reason why you should not be able to do Yoga

5.      Whatever way is followed, the one thing to be done is to be faithful and go to the end

6.      If you remain faithful to the seeking for the Divine, the day of grace and opening will come

7.      Be faithful and persevering, then, however long the way, you cannot fail to reach the goal

8.      If one is faithful, then in spite of all delays and difficulties in the end, the goal will be reached and one will attain to the Divine

9.      After some amount of faithful endeavour, there comes an intervention from within and what might have taken long is decisively and quickly done

10.      Those who are sincere and faithful will arrive in spite of all difficulties, stumbles or falls

11.      The lower forces always attack when they see that a sadhak is making too much progress

12.      But they can do nothing against a clear and steady will and a faithful perseverance

13.      In spite of the bitterness of the struggle due to hostile forces keep faithfully to the divine call

14.      If you remain faithful to the Light and even if serious difficulties still remain, the final victory is sure

15.      The Divine’s Victory includes the personal victory of all who have remained faithful

16.      Remain faithful to the Light of your soul even when it is hidden by clouds

17.      The one need for you is to be, even in the darkness of the powers of obscurity of the physical consciousness, stubbornly faithful to your soul

18.      Be faithful and you will conquer

19.      For the working of the Divine Force the obedience of the faithful servant of the Divine is demanded

20.      When one stays in the Ashram their opportunity to progress is greater and the power and influence for development is poured upon them and they can spiritually become if they are faithful to the call

21.      Faithfulness to the Light of the soul and the divine Call is a need in all crises and attacks

22.      Here faithfulness is to refuse to listen to any suggestions, impulses, lures which opposes the call of the Truth, the imperative beckoning of the Light

23.      If one can once open and feel the Divine Force, the rest is a matter of remaining faithful to It

24.      Remaining faithful to the Divine Force is calling it always, allowing it to do its work when it comes and rejecting every inferior Force of the lower consciousness and the lower nature

25.      Be faithful to the aim to become the divine superman and a perfect vessel of the Godhead

26.      One of the aspects of the sadhana of the Gita is to become a passive and faithful instrument in His hands

27.      The Supreme Lord does all and we must be faithful instruments

28.      The faithful, who always say, ‘By the grace of God, this has happened,’ are not wrong

29.      Be always faithful to your Ideal

30.      The responsibility given by the Mother in the work are expected to be faithful to this responsibility

31.      If one is sincere and faithful then, after whatever time, the contact the Divine will come

32.      Open with faithfulness means to be open constantly; not to open one day and withdraw the next

33.      Nothing except your own will can prevent you from becoming my faithful servant

34.      The Divine can give protection only to those who are whole-heartedly faithful to the Divine

35.      Only he who has become conscious of the Divine and become His faithful instrument can avoid error, if he is careful to act only at the divine command and to add nothing personal to it

36.      The Divine gives to each individual exactly what he expects of Him

37.      The Divine will be brotherly, a friend always faithful, always ready to succour, for those who feel Him as the inner guide of each movement

VIII—Prayers on Faithfulness

1.      Let my mind and heart and body be Thy docile instruments and Thy faithful servitors

2.      Grant, O Lord, that I may be more and more Thy faithful servant in constancy and serenity

3.      We must become more and more perfectly the faithful servitors of that power of love and light

4.      Grant, O Lord, that this consciousness and peace may constantly grow within us, so that we may be more and more the faithful intermediaries of Thy divine and absolute law

5.      O my sweet Master, tear out from my heart this illusion so that Thy servant may become pure and faithful

6.      O my divine Master, even if the instrument is still condemned for a time to unconsciousness, grant that it may let itself be guided faithfully by Thy divine law

7.      O Divine Love, I open myself to Thee and I would obey Thee with an absolute faithfulness

8.      We aspire for a perfect faithfulness which would make us worthy of Thy Victory

9.      Lord, let consciousness and peace increase in us so that more and more we may be the faithful intermediaries of Thy one divine law

10.      Grant that we may be faithful to Thee utterly and for ever

11.      In order to serve You faithfully make us conscious of our possibilities and our difficulties so that we may overcome them

12.      Sweet Mother, we want to be Thy faithful soldiers to fight for Thy final victory

13.      Let us be at the outset become Divine’s faithful and sincere workers

14.      It is Thy will that we should be Thy faithful, sincere, brave and disciplined soldiers

IX—Other Quotations on Faithfulness

1. We have to follow faithfully the methods laid down by the Guru

2. Those who are faithful will not lose their time listening to all false and idiotic rumours

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