Spiritual Progress: Personal Effort or Surrender to the Divine Grace

0:01 We see in the legends about great yogic practitioners and their struggles to achieve the spiritual results a variety of approaches. Two major approaches have been categorized as the baby monkey and the baby cat approach. The differentiation involves the way the individual participates in the process of spiritual growth and transformation. The baby monkey approach involves substantial personal effort. It is so named as observation of baby monkeys show that they have to hold on tightly to their mother in order to remain safe and get the support of the parent in any situation. Whereas the baby cat approach is characterized by the mother picking up the cat by the scruff of the neck and carrying it where it needs to go, without the kitten doing anything but surrendering to the mother's action. In each instance, the action of the divine grace symbolized by the mother monkey or mother cat is required. Particularly in modern society, people are very much accustomed to taking the initiative using their mental will, their vital force, their physical prowess to accomplish whatever they set their attention to.

1:21 We are very much oriented, therefore, to undertake the baby monkey approach. This approach, however, has its own drawbacks as it leads to a lot more struggle, effort, discouragement and time than if the individual could find a way to surrender to the Divine grace and let it to its work. Achieving the necessary quiet in the mind and vital parts of the being, developing the receptivity and ability to let the grace do its work are challenges for the active and energetic individual in today's world. The other approach, the baby cat approach, has its own drawbacks.

2:04 Particularly in today's world, people tend not to have the ability to distinguish between a true surrender to the divine or following a teacher or guru blindly under the guise of surrender and thereby potentially being misled. Surrender does not imply A temasek giving up of 1's native intelligence or abilities. It also does not imply that one can simply discontinue all effort and get carried along, unless the surrender is deep, all pervasive and true, such that the divine grace actually can do its work unobstructed.

2:46 In the modern world, we would frequently find that a balanced approach, incorporating elements of each at different times and under varying circumstances may turn out to be the most fruitful method, Triorobindo writes. Quote. There are two possibilities, one of purification by personal effort which takes a long time, another by a direct intervention of the divine grace, which is usually rapid in its action. For the latter there must be a complete surrender and self giving, and for that again usually it is necessary to have a mind that can remain quiet and allow the Divine force to act, supporting it with its complete adhesion at every step, but otherwise remaining still and quiet.

3:38 This last condition, which resembles the baby cat attitude spoken of by Ramakrishna, is difficult to have. Those who are accustomed to a very active movement of their thought and will in all they do, find it difficult to steal the activity and adopt the quietude of mental self giving. This does not mean that they cannot do the yoga or cannot arrive at self giving, only the purification and the self giving takes a long time to accomplish, and one must have the patience and steady perseverance and resolution to go through. End Quote. Reference.

4:20 Sri Aurobindo and the Mother, Looking from Within, Chapter 5. Attitudes on the Path, page 123.