"Ego Was the Helper, Ego Is the Bar"

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Sri Robinda's famous aphorism
Ego was the helper.

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Ego is the bar cited in the
headline above, describes the

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issue that spiritual aspirants
have to resolve as they take up

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the practice of yoga.
Human individuality was

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developed to create an
apparently independent Nexus of

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observation and action, thus
providing a platform for

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development and progress through
the individual that eventually

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communicates itself to humanity
as a whole.

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Once this individual standpoint
has been developed and fleshed

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out, however, it reaches a point
where it starts to become an

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obstacle to further progress as
it forms a wall or enclosure, so

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to speak, that limits the action
of the greater force that is

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waiting to manifest at the stage
beyond our mental being.

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Past practices of yoga have
generally focused on the ego

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personality by setting forth
specific practices, goals, and

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objectives primarily for the
individual to escape the

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illusory existence of the
external life and achieve some

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kind of individual Nirvana or
experience of samadhi and become

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liberated.
In this viewpoint, the ego

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personality can help drive the
process forward until the seeker

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reaches a point where it simply
falls away as the entire

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external life dissolves into the
experience of the Supreme.

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There is no focus here on
tackling the limitations of the

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external body, life and mind, or
actually bringing about an

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uplifting and transformation of
either for oneself or as part of

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the collective evolution of
humanity, the Integral Yoga.

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However, while it starts from
the individual ego personality,

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it cannot end there.
Part of the transformation

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process, indeed the central
aspect of it, is the systematic

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widening and transformation of
the individual ego consciousness

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into a pure Nexus for the
reception and transmission of

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the higher spiritual force that
is in the process of evolving,

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taking humanity eventually
beyond the limits of body, life,

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mind, and bringing forth a new
power of consciousness that can

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resolve the limits, obstacles
and resistances of the external

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nature.
The individual cannot possibly

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either fully comprehend nor
carry out the intensity or the

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complexity of this task by his
own unaided effort.

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Even those who have long
practice and experience in

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spiritual pursuits eventually
find that the greatest strength

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and intelligence of a human
individual are a mere fraction

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of the energy and insight
required to accomplish the

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complete task of the
transformation of consciousness.

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In the Titiria Upanishad there
is a striking chapter frequently

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called the Calculus of Bliss.
It starts from the measure of

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bliss of one human individual
blessed with all powers of

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intelligence, accomplishment,
and all the benefits that human

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life can provide.
The Upanishad takes us through

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some ten additional higher
stages of bliss that represent

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the bliss of beings with
accomplishments far beyond to a

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measure of 100 and 100 fold of
the prior level.

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This chapter reminds us of the
limits of the human

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accomplishment and can be
applied equally well to the

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limits of potential yogic
achievement by one fully

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accomplished human being.
Srioro Bindu observes quote.

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However hard the fight, the only
thing is to fight it out now and

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here to the end.
The trouble is that you have

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never fully faced and conquered
the real obstacle.

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There is in a very fundamental
part of your nature, a strong

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formation of ego individuality
which is mixed in your spiritual

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aspiration, A clinging element
of pride and spiritual ambition.

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This formation has never
consented to be broken up in

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order to give place to something
more true and divine.

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Therefore, when the Mother has
put Her force upon you, or when

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you yourself have pulled the
force upon you, this in you has

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always prevented it from doing
its work in its own way.

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It has begun itself building
according to the ideas of the

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mind or some demand of the ego,
trying to make its own creation

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in its own way, by its own
strength, its own sadhna, its

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own tapasya.
There has never been here any

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real surrender, any giving up of
yourself freely and simply into

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the hands of the Divine Mother.
And yet that is the only way to

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succeed in the Super mental
yoga.

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To be a Yogi, A sanyasi, a
tapasthi, is not the object

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here.
The object is transformation.

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And the transformation can only
be done by a force infinitely

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greater than your own.
It can only be done by being

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truly like a child in the hands
of the Divine Mother.

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End Quote reference Sri
Aurobindo, Basis of Yoga,

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Chapter 3 in difficulty, pages
5051.