Spiritual Development Through Action of the Divine Force Rather Than Through Purely Personal Effort

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We are wrapped up in the ego
consciousness from the moment we

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take birth.
The entire societal structure as

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well as the weight of millennia
of evolutionary development to

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create an entity that could
develop the powers of the vital

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and mental.
Being as a self aware and

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seemingly independent being
works to build up the ego

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consciousness.
As we build our relationships

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with our family, our friends,
our coworkers, and as we undergo

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education and socialization, we
get tied ever tighter to the

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sense that we are a separate
being with free will and the

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ability to make our own
decisions about our life.

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If we examine this sense more
closely, we quickly find that

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much of what we consider to be
the action of free will is

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easily seen to be determined,
caused or manipulated through

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forces and beings working on us
and through us.

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Yet most people never take the
examination to this level and

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thus feel empowered as
independent beings.

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When a seeker takes up spiritual
sadhana, this well established

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ego consciousness does not
simply disappear.

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It continues as we believe we
can succeed in the spiritual

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practice by our own efforts and
overcome the limitations and

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difficulties similarly by
effort.

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Eventually the seeker begins to
understand that it is not so

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simple when the guna of rajas is
predominant.

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The seeker believes through the
exercise of strength of will and

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effort he will accomplish.
He may believe he is specially

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suited, has a background or
innate capacity for this, or

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that efforts in his past lives
have prepared him for the

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realization in the current life.
When this does not work out as

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anticipated, he may fall back
into the Guna of Thomas and feel

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despondent, depressed, or
otherwise incapable or a

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failure.
When the Gunausatwa is in front,

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he may begin to gain a
recognition of the

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interrelationships and long
evolutionary background he has

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to deal with.
Of course, the feeling of pride

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or vanity can enter into the
response of any of the gunas in

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the unique way that a particular
guna responds to situations.

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Eventually it becomes clear that
the ego consciousness is an

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illusory construct set up for a
particular evolutionary purpose

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but not suited to carry out the
next phase of the evolutionary

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process.
The seeker begins to appreciate

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that the fiction of a self-made
success cannot stand in front of

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millions of years of habitual
and instinctual behavior, or

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even just the social
construction of his personality

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in the present lifetime.
The evolution is not of the

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individual, but of the earth
consciousness, and it is the

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divine force that actually
carries out the development,

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working through the Nexus and
framework provided by the

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individual seeker, but not under
the separate control of that

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individual.
This shift of standpoint from

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the ego standpoint to the divine
standpoint implies that the

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individual should not focus his
efforts entirely on suppression

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or concern about defects which
abound in everyone born into the

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earth consciousness, But rather
he should work on tuning his

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consciousness to the spiritual
forces that are then capable of

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carrying out the spiritual
sadhna and effectuating the

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needed changes and
transformations.

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Whenever the focus drifts away
from the focus on higher forces,

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the seeker can gently but
persistently refocus and open

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his receptivity, Srioro Bindo
writes quote.

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It does not matter what defects
you may have in your nature, the

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one thing that matters is you're
keeping yourself open to the

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force.
Nobody can transform himself by

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his own unaided efforts.
It is only the divine Force that

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can transform him.
If you keep yourself open, all

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the rest will be done for you.
Hardly anyone is strong enough

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to overcome by his own unaided
aspiration and will.

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The forces of the lower nature,
even those who do it, get only a

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certain kind of control, but not
a complete mastery.

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Will and aspiration are needed
to bring down the aid of the

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divine force and to keep the
being on its side in its dealing

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with the lower powers.
The divine force fulfilling the

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spiritual will and the heart's
psychic aspiration can alone

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bring about the conquest.
End Quote Reference Sri

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Aurobindo Basis of Yoga Chapter
2 Faith, Aspiration Surrender

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page 25.