Understanding the Masks, False Fronts and Deceptive Appearances We Present to the World and to Ourselves

1
00:00:00,920 --> 00:00:04,360
It is relatively easy to
recognize that we are putting up

2
00:00:04,520 --> 00:00:07,280
a false front in our dealings
with society.

3
00:00:08,200 --> 00:00:12,320
We greet people with a smile
while in our minds we may be

4
00:00:12,320 --> 00:00:14,720
having an opposite feeling about
the person.

5
00:00:15,400 --> 00:00:19,040
We flatter people to get ahead
in society knowing that the

6
00:00:19,040 --> 00:00:23,240
flattery is not based on reality
but is meant to gain a certain

7
00:00:23,240 --> 00:00:28,200
position or end result.
Similarly, we mask our own

8
00:00:28,200 --> 00:00:32,640
feelings, intentions and
thoughts in order to appear more

9
00:00:32,640 --> 00:00:37,120
successful, more important and
more powerful than we really

10
00:00:37,120 --> 00:00:39,680
are.
Many people put on the

11
00:00:39,680 --> 00:00:44,520
appearance of wealth with luxury
cars and clothes or homes when

12
00:00:44,520 --> 00:00:48,360
they are masking what may be
dire financial straits with

13
00:00:48,360 --> 00:00:52,160
heavy loads of debt.
We may want to appear more

14
00:00:52,160 --> 00:00:56,720
learned and wiser than we really
are, or we may want to put on an

15
00:00:56,720 --> 00:01:01,320
outward show of appearances
while inwardly we are struggling

16
00:01:01,320 --> 00:01:04,920
or suffering.
This is the way of the world we

17
00:01:04,920 --> 00:01:08,640
live in for the most part, and
the vast majority of people

18
00:01:08,640 --> 00:01:12,480
simply accept this as the way
things are and the way things

19
00:01:12,520 --> 00:01:16,240
need to be.
They do not question, and indeed

20
00:01:16,240 --> 00:01:20,400
in many cases they do not even
recognize that this is taking

21
00:01:20,400 --> 00:01:23,840
place.
We come then to the position of

22
00:01:23,840 --> 00:01:28,440
the spiritual seeker, aspiring
for truth and yet faced with an

23
00:01:28,440 --> 00:01:32,920
external nature that continually
expresses various degrees of

24
00:01:32,920 --> 00:01:35,560
falsehood in our social
settings.

25
00:01:36,560 --> 00:01:39,920
These things happen so
automatically and are so

26
00:01:39,920 --> 00:01:43,840
embedded in our socialization,
upbringing and in the

27
00:01:43,840 --> 00:01:48,240
expectations of the society that
we do not even generally

28
00:01:48,240 --> 00:01:53,200
recognize the situation.
The issue is further complicated

29
00:01:53,200 --> 00:01:56,320
by the emphasis we place on
mental knowledge in today's

30
00:01:56,320 --> 00:01:59,760
world.
We think something, and we thus

31
00:01:59,760 --> 00:02:01,600
believe that we have become
that.

32
00:02:02,200 --> 00:02:06,440
We accept certain spiritual
principles in our minds, and we

33
00:02:06,440 --> 00:02:10,120
thus count ourselves as having
realized the truths of that

34
00:02:10,120 --> 00:02:13,400
teaching.
We do not generally recognize

35
00:02:13,640 --> 00:02:17,080
that there are different parts
of our being which each have

36
00:02:17,080 --> 00:02:21,760
their own drive for fulfilment
and expression, and which are

37
00:02:21,760 --> 00:02:24,680
not all organized around a
single principle.

38
00:02:25,280 --> 00:02:29,960
Thus, in our psychic being, we
may feel devotional, but the

39
00:02:29,960 --> 00:02:33,600
mind may be guiding us to do
things that actually contradict

40
00:02:33,600 --> 00:02:37,920
that devotion.
Similarly, the vital nature may

41
00:02:37,920 --> 00:02:42,880
have its own desires, needs,
wishes that it tries to fulfil

42
00:02:43,720 --> 00:02:47,640
and it is very good at getting
its way by convincing the mind

43
00:02:47,640 --> 00:02:52,200
that it is doing the right thing
and needful thing to actually

44
00:02:52,200 --> 00:02:57,160
carry out the mandate of the
aspiring soul, when in fact it

45
00:02:57,160 --> 00:02:59,920
is carrying out its vital human
desires.

46
00:03:01,360 --> 00:03:04,720
For the spiritual seeker.
Then there is a need for careful

47
00:03:04,720 --> 00:03:08,760
scrutiny of the different parts
of the being, the mind, the

48
00:03:08,760 --> 00:03:13,840
emotions, the vital nature and
the physical body to see not

49
00:03:13,840 --> 00:03:17,520
what we deceive ourselves to
believe about their adherence to

50
00:03:17,520 --> 00:03:22,680
the soul's aspiration, but what
is actually taking place, what

51
00:03:22,680 --> 00:03:28,680
the actual thoughts, emotions,
feelings, drives are carrying

52
00:03:28,680 --> 00:03:31,360
out in these other aspects of
the being.

53
00:03:32,680 --> 00:03:36,320
To the extent there is lack of
unity in the aspiration and its

54
00:03:36,320 --> 00:03:41,440
expression through all elements
of the external nature, there is

55
00:03:41,440 --> 00:03:45,600
work to be done.
How many actually can look

56
00:03:45,600 --> 00:03:49,440
through the masks and false
fronts we present not just to

57
00:03:49,440 --> 00:03:53,880
the external world, but even to
ourselves, when we believe we

58
00:03:53,880 --> 00:03:58,920
are totally sincere, dedicated
and consecrated to the spiritual

59
00:03:58,920 --> 00:04:02,160
path?
As long as we remain within the

60
00:04:02,160 --> 00:04:06,880
framework of the mental vital
physical complex, we cannot see

61
00:04:06,880 --> 00:04:10,360
and identify its limitations and
weaknesses clearly.

62
00:04:11,320 --> 00:04:15,960
Only when we can step away from
that external being and observe

63
00:04:15,960 --> 00:04:20,560
it dispassionately can we begin
to understand the depth and

64
00:04:20,560 --> 00:04:24,840
complexity of the effort needed.
This is not a matter for

65
00:04:24,840 --> 00:04:29,400
despondency or depression, as it
is simply a recognition of the

66
00:04:29,400 --> 00:04:33,680
basics of human nature that have
been deeply embedded throughout

67
00:04:33,680 --> 00:04:38,240
human existence.
Rather, we can recognize this as

68
00:04:38,240 --> 00:04:42,360
an opportunity to address and
change some elements of human

69
00:04:42,360 --> 00:04:46,520
nature as we ascend the
evolutionary scale of

70
00:04:46,520 --> 00:04:50,560
consciousness.
At that point, we can call on

71
00:04:50,560 --> 00:04:55,360
the spiritual force and open
ourselves up to its action so

72
00:04:55,360 --> 00:04:59,480
that it can transform us down to
the very cells of the body.

73
00:05:01,160 --> 00:05:06,880
Shriora Bindo writes quote.
Men are always mixed, and there

74
00:05:06,880 --> 00:05:09,760
are qualities and defects
mingled together almost

75
00:05:09,760 --> 00:05:14,360
inextricably in their nature.
What a man wants to be or wants

76
00:05:14,360 --> 00:05:18,960
others to see in him, or what he
is sometime on one side of his

77
00:05:18,960 --> 00:05:23,720
nature or in some relations, can
be very different from what he

78
00:05:23,720 --> 00:05:28,520
is in the actual fact, or in
other relations, or on another

79
00:05:28,520 --> 00:05:32,640
side of his nature.
To be absolutely sincere,

80
00:05:33,080 --> 00:05:38,000
straightforward, open, is not an
easy achievement for human

81
00:05:38,000 --> 00:05:41,360
nature.
It is only by spiritual endeavor

82
00:05:41,360 --> 00:05:45,720
that one can realize it, and to
do it needs a severity of

83
00:05:45,720 --> 00:05:50,160
introspective self vision and
unsparing scrutiny of self

84
00:05:50,160 --> 00:05:54,560
observation, of which many
Sodaks and yogis even are not

85
00:05:54,560 --> 00:05:57,920
capable.
And it is only by an illumining

86
00:05:57,920 --> 00:06:02,520
grace that reveals the Sodak to
Himself and transform what is

87
00:06:02,520 --> 00:06:08,320
deficient in him that it can be
done, and even then only if He

88
00:06:08,320 --> 00:06:13,000
Himself consents and lends
Himself wholly to the divine

89
00:06:13,000 --> 00:06:15,280
working.
End Quote.

90
00:06:16,320 --> 00:06:20,680
Reference Sri Aurobindo and the
Mother, Looking from Within,

91
00:06:20,680 --> 00:06:25,600
Chapter 5.
Attitudes on the Path, pages 117

92
00:06:25,600 --> 00:06:26,440
to 118.