Spiritual Progress: Personal Effort or Surrender to the Divine Grace

1
00:00:01,080 --> 00:00:04,480
We see in the legends about
great yogic practitioners and

2
00:00:04,480 --> 00:00:08,920
their struggles to achieve the
spiritual results a variety of

3
00:00:09,080 --> 00:00:12,400
approaches.
Two major approaches have been

4
00:00:12,400 --> 00:00:17,520
categorized as the baby monkey
and the baby cat approach.

5
00:00:18,560 --> 00:00:22,360
The differentiation involves the
way the individual participates

6
00:00:22,360 --> 00:00:25,320
in the process of spiritual
growth and transformation.

7
00:00:26,320 --> 00:00:30,000
The baby monkey approach
involves substantial personal

8
00:00:30,000 --> 00:00:33,680
effort.
It is so named as observation of

9
00:00:33,680 --> 00:00:37,040
baby monkeys show that they have
to hold on tightly to their

10
00:00:37,040 --> 00:00:40,760
mother in order to remain safe
and get the support of the

11
00:00:40,760 --> 00:00:45,880
parent in any situation.
Whereas the baby cat approach is

12
00:00:45,880 --> 00:00:49,880
characterized by the mother
picking up the cat by the scruff

13
00:00:49,880 --> 00:00:53,960
of the neck and carrying it
where it needs to go, without

14
00:00:53,960 --> 00:00:56,800
the kitten doing anything but
surrendering to the mother's

15
00:00:56,800 --> 00:01:00,520
action.
In each instance, the action of

16
00:01:00,520 --> 00:01:04,920
the divine grace symbolized by
the mother monkey or mother cat

17
00:01:05,319 --> 00:01:09,200
is required.
Particularly in modern society,

18
00:01:09,200 --> 00:01:12,960
people are very much accustomed
to taking the initiative using

19
00:01:12,960 --> 00:01:17,600
their mental will, their vital
force, their physical prowess to

20
00:01:17,600 --> 00:01:20,120
accomplish whatever they set
their attention to.

21
00:01:21,040 --> 00:01:24,840
We are very much oriented,
therefore, to undertake the baby

22
00:01:24,840 --> 00:01:28,240
monkey approach.
This approach, however, has its

23
00:01:28,240 --> 00:01:32,760
own drawbacks as it leads to a
lot more struggle, effort,

24
00:01:33,080 --> 00:01:37,480
discouragement and time than if
the individual could find a way

25
00:01:37,480 --> 00:01:42,000
to surrender to the Divine grace
and let it to its work.

26
00:01:42,720 --> 00:01:46,360
Achieving the necessary quiet in
the mind and vital parts of the

27
00:01:46,360 --> 00:01:50,280
being, developing the
receptivity and ability to let

28
00:01:50,280 --> 00:01:54,880
the grace do its work are
challenges for the active and

29
00:01:54,880 --> 00:01:58,040
energetic individual in today's
world.

30
00:01:59,440 --> 00:02:03,840
The other approach, the baby cat
approach, has its own drawbacks.

31
00:02:04,120 --> 00:02:08,160
Particularly in today's world,
people tend not to have the

32
00:02:08,160 --> 00:02:13,840
ability to distinguish between a
true surrender to the divine or

33
00:02:13,920 --> 00:02:17,320
following a teacher or guru
blindly under the guise of

34
00:02:17,320 --> 00:02:21,280
surrender and thereby
potentially being misled.

35
00:02:22,120 --> 00:02:25,880
Surrender does not imply A
temasek giving up of 1's native

36
00:02:25,880 --> 00:02:30,640
intelligence or abilities.
It also does not imply that one

37
00:02:30,640 --> 00:02:34,320
can simply discontinue all
effort and get carried along,

38
00:02:34,800 --> 00:02:40,560
unless the surrender is deep,
all pervasive and true, such

39
00:02:40,560 --> 00:02:45,080
that the divine grace actually
can do its work unobstructed.

40
00:02:46,480 --> 00:02:49,800
In the modern world, we would
frequently find that a balanced

41
00:02:49,800 --> 00:02:54,160
approach, incorporating elements
of each at different times and

42
00:02:54,160 --> 00:02:59,160
under varying circumstances may
turn out to be the most fruitful

43
00:02:59,160 --> 00:03:02,920
method, Triorobindo writes.
Quote.

44
00:03:03,760 --> 00:03:08,280
There are two possibilities, one
of purification by personal

45
00:03:08,280 --> 00:03:13,200
effort which takes a long time,
another by a direct intervention

46
00:03:13,200 --> 00:03:16,560
of the divine grace, which is
usually rapid in its action.

47
00:03:17,400 --> 00:03:20,920
For the latter there must be a
complete surrender and self

48
00:03:20,920 --> 00:03:24,920
giving, and for that again
usually it is necessary to have

49
00:03:24,920 --> 00:03:30,440
a mind that can remain quiet and
allow the Divine force to act,

50
00:03:30,440 --> 00:03:34,800
supporting it with its complete
adhesion at every step, but

51
00:03:34,800 --> 00:03:37,400
otherwise remaining still and
quiet.

52
00:03:38,160 --> 00:03:41,800
This last condition, which
resembles the baby cat attitude

53
00:03:41,800 --> 00:03:45,600
spoken of by Ramakrishna, is
difficult to have.

54
00:03:46,360 --> 00:03:49,280
Those who are accustomed to a
very active movement of their

55
00:03:49,280 --> 00:03:53,480
thought and will in all they do,
find it difficult to steal the

56
00:03:53,480 --> 00:03:57,440
activity and adopt the quietude
of mental self giving.

57
00:03:58,280 --> 00:04:02,480
This does not mean that they
cannot do the yoga or cannot

58
00:04:02,480 --> 00:04:07,640
arrive at self giving, only the
purification and the self giving

59
00:04:08,040 --> 00:04:12,560
takes a long time to accomplish,
and one must have the patience

60
00:04:12,560 --> 00:04:16,920
and steady perseverance and
resolution to go through.

61
00:04:17,920 --> 00:04:20,160
End Quote.
Reference.

62
00:04:20,560 --> 00:04:25,040
Sri Aurobindo and the Mother,
Looking from Within, Chapter 5.

63
00:04:25,360 --> 00:04:28,760
Attitudes on the Path, page 123.