Patience, Perseverance and Firm Faith Are Needed Qualities on the Long Road of Yoga

0:00 The seeker gets glimpses of spiritual opening, experiences of a vastness and a deep silence. When the mind falls utterly still, he may get a vision of forces and powers that act in the world and in himself. He may get the sense that he is crossing a threshold into a space where he no longer exists as a distinct individual, but as a part of something infinitely larger and more complex than his own individuality can encompass. He may experience a power that is entering his being, and he may feel the electricity of that force coursing through his entire being.

0:43 He may have the experience of entering other worlds or planes of existence, meet beings, and experience powers that operate outside the limitations of the external reality to which he is accustomed. He may get a sudden sense of devotion or consecration or feel a deep aspiration. All of these experiences and many others help the seeker to define his spiritual quest and firm up his faith in the path and his destiny. Whatever experiences the seeker may have along the way, eventually he may come to the realization that chasing after experiences is not the objective, and that in many cases the desire for such experiences is actually contrary to the larger purpose, as that desire actually may tend to reinforce the ego rather than loosen its hold. Eventually the initial experiences and the excitement that comes with them recede and the seeker is left with the real work to be done.

1:55 Inspiration and vision need to be converted into the work of inner exploration and the rewiring of the being in all its ways of thinking, feeling and responding to circumstances in the mind, in the heart, in the vital being, and in the physical body. The seeker runs into all of the limitations within his being, indeed within human and animal nature as developed thus far in the evolutionary cycle. He also meets with embedded drives and responses as well as cultivated ambitions, desires and needs.

2:38 When the experiences withdraw, the seeker frequently bemoans the dark night of the soul. This is, however, something of a misnomer. It is the dark night of the ego ambition that has been frustrated by the withdrawal of the vitally attractive visions and experiences, including the sense of closeness to the divine. But it is not a reflection on the soul. If the soul is true, it remains focused on its aspiration, retains its consecration, and works through the temasek rebound that occurs with the frustration of the rajasic desire. The soul understands intuitively and directly that the work goes on and that it will take time.

3:28 Srioro Bindo encapsulates this sense when he writes in Savitri a legend and a symbol quote. A moment sees the ages toil to express. End Quote. Sri Robindo observes quote. There are always difficulties and a Hanford progress in the early stages and a delay in the opening of the inner doors until the being is ready. If you feel whenever you meditate, the quiescence and the flashes of the inner light, and if the inward urge is growing so strong that the external hold is decreasing and the vital disturbances are losing their force, that is already a great progress. The road of yoga is long, every inch of ground has to be won against much resistance and no quality is more needed by the Sadak than patience and single minded perseverance with a faith that remains firm through all difficulties, delays and apparent failures.

4:38 End Quote reference Shriya Robindo, Bases of Yoga, Chapter 3 in difficulty, page 39.