Surrendering to Shakti: how?

[Guest guest]

Dear friends,

I have long been searching for "ultimate truth" and have not despised

or rejected out of hand any school of thought or religion. At least I

study and reflect, and over the years have come to some conclusions

that up til now did not fit in any category (not that this is important

in itself). Recently I was led to read about the Ten Wisdom Goddesses,

and the teaching resonated in my thoughts, intuitions, and emotions.

It seemed to be a clarification and amplification of some vague ideas I

had, having already accepted the existence of super-conscious,

beneficent, sometimes frightful, beings who influenced or controlled

our lives in some ways. I was already focussing in on a Supreme

Goddess who is the Active Principle in creation, but did not have a

name for Her, but not only that, I was seeing Her as defined in terms

of various manifestations that presented as distinct divine persons,

and I was finding ways to relate to Her, as through meditation. The

call to surrender to Shakti was exactly what I needed to hear, and in

the different levels of my being, I have done so. I know who my

Goddess has been, whom I have been seeing from a distance. Now I could

use a little advice on how I should continue,since I have no experience

here. Thanks for any help, namaste, Richard.

[Guest guest]

Namaste,

 

There are many ways, but one of the ways is to let Her reveal the way

to you. Try it for a day.

 

blessings,

 

prainbow

 

, "ksnwcz" <ksnwcz wrote:

>

> Dear friends,

> I have long been searching for "ultimate truth" and have not despised

> or rejected out of hand any school of thought or religion. At least I

> study and reflect, and over the years have come to some conclusions

> that up til now did not fit in any category (not that this is important

> in itself). Recently I was led to read about the Ten Wisdom Goddesses,

> and the teaching resonated in my thoughts, intuitions, and emotions.

> It seemed to be a clarification and amplification of some vague ideas I

> had, having already accepted the existence of super-conscious,

> beneficent, sometimes frightful, beings who influenced or controlled

> our lives in some ways. I was already focussing in on a Supreme

> Goddess who is the Active Principle in creation, but did not have a

> name for Her, but not only that, I was seeing Her as defined in terms

> of various manifestations that presented as distinct divine persons,

> and I was finding ways to relate to Her, as through meditation. The

> call to surrender to Shakti was exactly what I needed to hear, and in

> the different levels of my being, I have done so. I know who my

> Goddess has been, whom I have been seeing from a distance. Now I could

> use a little advice on how I should continue,since I have no experience

> here. Thanks for any help, namaste, Richard.

>

[Guest guest]

I think one thing that you may find a helpful next step is to go to a Mandir for

darshan, if possible.

 

There is a Durga Temple near my home where I went one morning, and asked the

priest for some advice.

 

I told him this:

 

1. I want all obstacles removed that keeps me from knowing God.

2. I need strength to overcome my weaknesses and become a virtuous man.

3. I want to know the way to worship Devi in a manner most pleasing to her.

 

He seemed very heartfelt, and smiled. He then told me that all I needed only to

sit in Dhyana.

 

 

He then gave me some prasad.

 

 

 

That was it.

 

 

 

-- In , "ksnwcz" <ksnwcz wrote:

>

> Dear friends,

> I have long been searching for "ultimate truth" and have not despised

> or rejected out of hand any school of thought or religion. At least I

> study and reflect, and over the years have come to some conclusions

> that up til now did not fit in any category (not that this is important

> in itself). Recently I was led to read about the Ten Wisdom Goddesses,

> and the teaching resonated in my thoughts, intuitions, and emotions.

> It seemed to be a clarification and amplification of some vague ideas I

> had, having already accepted the existence of super-conscious,

> beneficent, sometimes frightful, beings who influenced or controlled

> our lives in some ways. I was already focussing in on a Supreme

> Goddess who is the Active Principle in creation, but did not have a

> name for Her, but not only that, I was seeing Her as defined in terms

> of various manifestations that presented as distinct divine persons,

> and I was finding ways to relate to Her, as through meditation. The

> call to surrender to Shakti was exactly what I needed to hear, and in

> the different levels of my being, I have done so. I know who my

> Goddess has been, whom I have been seeing from a distance. Now I could

> use a little advice on how I should continue,since I have no experience

> here. Thanks for any help, namaste, Richard.

>

 

 

 

 

[Guest guest]

Devi is everywhere.

If only you look around you.

SHE is always near you.

If only you are able to feel her.

 

Temple or mandir is just a physical representation.

What you really need to do is to look within you

That is where DEVI resides.

Nor you need a priest or a third person

to talk to DEVI

 

Sometime we do think :

This is what I have done for you

and as such, this is what I expect from you

as this is what I rightly deserve.

This is my surrender. IS IT?

 

If only we remove this "I" from our ego

and let DEVI decides for herself

what you really deserve

it may help in your journey

to really understand

DEVI herself.

[Guest guest]

Hi Richard,

 

People often say "Don't ask for anything, just surrender and accept

whatever She gives you and dissolve your ego" and other things of this

sort. This is great, but if someone could already do this, then they

would have done so - so its not very useful as an instruction.

 

In general declarations of surrender tend to remain verbal and not

practical. My understanding of the process is that we do what we can

and avoid doing what we cannot do.

 

Devi is, among other things, the Whole so we have to relate to the

Whole is the appropriate manner. As body-mind complexes we are parts

of many different wholes (family, neighborhood, country, etc...) How

can we relate to the Total Whole if we cannot first relate with the

wholes that we feel closer to and more attached to. So the first step

in surrendering, in my understanding, is to do do our duties - that is

do our part and act out of gratitude to all those parties that to whom

we are grateful. Since we are acting out of gratitude, we should not

be acting for results - if we are simply doing our part because we are

grateful, why should we think about personal gain? Of course, we have

to remind ourselves of this and slowly build up the ability to act

truly out of gratefulness and not for our own ends. In this way, we

connect with all the sub-wholes which are a part of.

 

In addition to the sub-wholes, being devotees of the entire Whole, we

can try to relate to the Total Whole more directly as well. It seems

that a natural way of doing this is remembering Devi for at least a

few minutes in the day. Now to just sit down and remain in constant

remembrance is a bit difficult, so we can use an aid to remember. The

common ones would be a mantra or a visualized image. Keep in mind that

there is no particular reason to do this, we just do it because it

seems like a natural thing to do. As we get more interested, we can

start start using more specialized and "professionally designed"

methods of remembering Devi. The point is not different, but method

have been desgined to make this remembrance more intense so we should

be open to using such methods.

 

In addition to this, people who I consider wise have said that we have

to understand Devi in another way as well. We talk about part/Whole

but in reality, She is partless and indivisible. Any apparent part, is

infact the Totality. This means that, we, the individuals are in fact

none other than Devi. When this idea rings true to one, it seems

natural that one should try to eventually come to this understanding

in a direct and certain fashion. To start approaching this idea to

later get this Knowledge, one can study the appropriate texts and

start looking for a teacher. Until then, we can follow some advice

that seems to be quite universal in scope - try to get submerged in

Silence.

 

So we have to follow a three-fold course of action. Relate to

individual sub-wholes by acting out of gratitude, remember the Whole

for at least some time every day, and try to appreciate the true,

indivisible, partless and changeless nature of Devi. Where does

surrender come in? If we do this to the best of our abilities, then we

have done absolutely everything we can at this point in time. Since we

have done what we can, there is nothing else we can do. At this point,

we can let Devi do everything else - in fact we have to let Her do

everything else, but we have already done everything we can personally

do.

 

In this way, according to my understanding - which is very limited -

we can avoid laziness and inactivity in the name of surrender.

 

This message helped me organize my ideas and put them down in writing

so thank you for asking the wonderful question,

 

Regards,

 

Rishi.

[Guest guest]

>People often say "Don't ask for anything, just surrender and accept

>whatever She gives you and dissolve your ego" and other things of

>this sort. This is great, but if someone could already do this, then

>they would have done so

 

This is a logical fallacy. They don't necessarily not do it because

they are unable, but all too often, because they are unwilling. They

don't necessarily want to! Sure, they want enlightenment, but in the

crunch of any given moment of indulging cravings, egotism,

attachment, torpor and what not, people make choices that conflict

with attaining that goal. Making the effort, continually, without

excess, following subtle perception and discrimination while

maintaining deep intention: it's not so easy.

 

I do agree with what you say about the vagueness of "surrender." The

difficulty is in communicating ultimate truth in words, when it is

Manovaacam-agocaraa, beyond mind and speech.

 

peace,

Max

--

Max Dashu

Suppressed Histories Archives

Global Women's History

http://www.suppressedhistories.net

 

 

[Guest guest]

Hi Max,

 

Thank you for your reply.

 

"This is a logical fallacy. "

 

Since because you bring in "logical fallacy," we have to be clear on

the context or else we will be applying formal logical standards on

informal arguments, which is very effective way of wasting time (among

other things).

 

This is a bit like Shankara's hairsplitting (but very revealing)

discussion about samanya prasna and visesa prasna in the Mundaka

Bhasyam on the verse kasmin bhagavo vijnate sarvam idam vijnatam

bhavati. As the question in the Mundaka Upanishad, the question "how

do we surrender to Shakti?" implies some knowledge beforehand - if

someone knew neither surrender nor Shakti in any way, the question

could not have been posed. So the first important thing here is to

understand that the context of the discussion is limited to people who

have come to developed at least some understanding and I would add,

some interest in the subject matter. So when someone is making an

argument in this context, we should be careful to make sure that what

may be percieved as a logical inference purely, does bring external

information into the points being made (even if it be just the

context).

 

"They don't necessarily want to! Sure, they want enlightenment, but in

the

crunch of any given moment of indulging cravings, egotism,

attachment, torpor and what not, people make choices that conflict

with attaining that goal."

 

Now you suggest that "they don't want to" but "they want

enlightenment". To clarify, if I understand you correctly, you are

saying that though they have it as a goal at some level, because of

desires, etc... they make choices that conflict with attaining the

goal. So the reason they don't get enlightenment is not because they

don't want enlightenment (you yourself say they want enlightenment),

but because there are obstacles in the way.

 

This means if they wanted to get enlightenment, and there were no

obstacles, they would get enlightened (note: this would be another

logical fallacy formally, but its not a pure inference in this

context).

 

The instructions of the type "surrender to Devi" or "dissolve the ego"

work in exactly the same way - if the person wanted to and there were

no obstacles (knowledge is also not an obstacle since the person

showed samanya jnana otherwise couldn't have asked the visesa prasna),

then the person would have done so.

 

The very asking of the question, implies that some system in addition

to what is already known and implied from the question that is needed.

As a result such instructions such as "Surrender everything to Devi,

or get your ego out of the way" are relatively useless.

 

"Making the effort, continually, without

excess, following subtle perception and discrimination while

maintaining deep intention: it's not so easy."

 

So here the instruction is "do so continuously". But the problem is

"how do I do so?" If I don't know how to program a computer and

someone tells me to continuously program a computer, that surely is of

very limited use. How do I program the computer? If we feel that the

answer is "beyond words", then we better remain quiet (no offence of

course),

 

Regards,

 

Rishi.

[Guest guest]

Hi Shamarsi,

>To clarify, if I understand you correctly, you are saying that

>though they have it as a goal at some level, because of desires,

>etc... they make choices that conflict with attaining the goal. So

>the reason they don't get enlightenment is not because they don't

>want enlightenment (you yourself say they want enlightenment), but

>because there are obstacles in the way.

 

Yes, not least of which is that they want other things more.

 

If you consider choices, priorities, and behavior, as obstacles, yes they are.

 

What I was saying was that they could, if they would, but they don't,

so at the moment they won't. That says nothing about what will

transpire in the far distant future, because they (we) have the power

deep within. These are mysteries... and certainly grace figures in

powerfully. But for it to operate, as Amritapuri Amma says, we have

to be open, and drop the load of stones, as Rumi counseled.

>If we feel that the answer is "beyond words", then we better remain

>quiet (no offence of course)

 

Beyond words, that is what the sages and mystics say. Still, their

teachings are still of great value. As for remaining quiet, I'm not

attempting to give "the answer," so can speak freely.

 

peace,

Max

 

--

Max Dashu

Suppressed Histories Archives

Global Women's History

http://www.suppressedhistories.net

 

 

[Guest guest]

Namaste:

To get back to the original question: "How does one surrender to Shakti?",

I will quote from the famous Sri Aurobindo, who was quite the devotee of The

Mother.

 

All of these are taken from http://intyoga.online.fr/lotm5.htm

I have edited these slightly to make them more readable, and removed some of

Sri Aurobindo's more complicated instructions. Some of his terminology is a

little tricky as well.

 

---

"Opening and Surrender to the Mother "

 

THE CENTRAL SECRET OF SADHANA

 

By remaining psychically open to the Mother, all that is necessary for work

or Sadhana develops progressively, that is one of the chief secrets, the

central secret of the Sadhana.

 

* * *

 

It is a mistake to exercise the mind about these things and try to arrange

them with the ordinary mind. It is by confidence in the Mother that the

opening needed will come when your consciousness is ready. There is no harm

in arranging your present work so that there will be time and energy for

some meditation, but it is not by meditation alone that what is needed will

come. It is by faith and openness to the Mother.

 

* * *

 

Keep yourself open to the Mother and in perfect union with her. Make

yourself entirely plastic to her touch and let her mould you swiftly towards

perfection.

 

* * *

 

You have only to aspire, to keep yourself open to the Mother, to reject all

that is contrary to her will and to let her work in you - doing also all

your work for her and in the faith that it is through her force that you can

do it. If you remain open in this way, the knowledge and realisation will

come to you in due course.

 

* * *

 

To practise Yoga implies the will to overcome all attachments and turn to

the Divine alone. The principal thing in the Yoga is to trust in the Divine

Grace at every step, to direct the thought continually to the Divine and to

offer oneself till the being opens and the Mother's force can be felt

working in the adhara.

 

* * *

 

All things are the Divine because the Divine is there, but hidden not

manifest; when the mind goes out to things, it is not with the sense of the

Divine in them, but for the appearances only which conceal the Divine. It is

necessary therefore for you as a Sadhak to turn entirely to the Mother in

whom the Divine is manifest and not run after the appearances, the desire of

which or the interest in which prevents you from meeting the Divine. Once

the being is consecrated, then it can see the Divine everywhere - and then

it can include all things in the one consciousness without a separate

interest or desire.

 

 

RIGHT WAY OF OPENING

 

Q: What is the meaning of opening?

A: It is the receptivity to the Mother's presence and her forces.

 

Q: What is the right and perfect way to get this opening?

A: Aspiration, quietude, widening of oneself to receive, rejection of all

that tries to shut you to the Divine.

 

Q: How to know that I am opening to the Mother and not to other forces?

A: You have to be vigilant and see that there is no movement of disturbance,

desire, ego.

 

Q: What are the indications of a real opening to the Mother?

A: That shows itself at once - when you feel the divine peace, equality,

wideness, light, Ananda, Knowledge, strength, when you are aware of the

Mother's nearness or presence or the working of her Force, etc., etc. If any

of these things are felt, it is the opening - the more are felt, the more

complete the opening.

April, 1933

 

* * *

 

Q: Opening - what does it mean? Is it: "not to keep anything secret from the

Mother"?

A: That is the first step towards opening.

 

* * *

 

Q: How to open to the Divine Mother?

A: By faith and surrender in a quiet mind.

 

OPENNESS TO THE MOTHER

 

To be open is simply to be so turned to the Mother that her Force can work

in you without anything refusing or obstructing her action. If the mind is

shut up in its own ideas and refuses to allow her to bring in the Light and

the Truth, if the vital clings to its desires and does not admit the true

initiative and impulsions that the Mother's power brings, if the physical is

shut up in its desires, habits and inertia and does not allow the Light and

Force to enter in it and work, then one is not open. It is not possible to

be entirely open all at once in all the movements, but there must be a

central opening in each part and a dominant aspiration or will in each part

(not in the mind alone) to admit only the Mother's "workings", the rest will

then be progressively done.

 

* * *

 

To remain open to the Mother is to remain always quiet and happy and

confident - not restless, not grieving or despondent, to let her force work

in you, guide you, give you knowledge, give you peace and Ananda. If you

cannot keep yourself open, then aspire constantly but quietly that you may

be open.

 

* * *

 

Q: Some dissatisfactions come and affect the heart which is opening to the

Mother.

A: Get rid of these dissatisfactions, they prevent the permanent psychic

opening.

 

* * *

 

Q: Perhaps it is because the psychic is just opening that it comes under the

influence of these dissatisfactions?

A: What the psychic always feels is "What the Mother does is for the best",

and accepts all with gladness. It is the vital part of the heart that is

easily touched by the suggestions.

 

 

THE CONDITION FOR PROGRESS

 

Q: If a Sadhak even after a long time cannot fully open himself to the

Mother owing to obstacles in his nature, does it mean that he will not be

accepted by the Mother?

A: There is no meaning in such a question. Those who follow the Yoga here

are accepted by the Mother - for "accepted" means "admitted into the Yoga,

accepted as disciples". But the progress in the Yoga and the siddhi in the

Yoga depend on the degree to which there is the opening.

 

SINCERITY, OPENNESS AND TRANSFORMATION

 

Q: X says that the Mother told him that if the sincerity is perfect there

would be transformation in a day. I do not understand how that could be

possible - a long process of change and conversion compressed in a single

day!

A: By sincerity Mother meant being open to no influence but the Divine's

only. Now, if the whole being is sincere in that sense even to every cell of

the body, what could prevent the most rapid transformation? People cannot be

like that, however much the enlightened part of them may want to, because of

the nature of the Ignorance out of which the ordinary prakriti has been

built - hence the necessity of a long and laborious working.

 

PROGRESSIVE OPENING

 

Openness is not always complete from the first - a part of the being opens,

other parts of the consciousness remain still closed or half open only - one

has to aspire till all is open. Even with the best and most powerful Sadhaks

the full opening takes time; nor is there anyone who has been able to

abandon everything at once without any struggle. There is no reason to feel

therefore that if you call you will not be heard - the Mother knows the

difficulties of human nature and will help you through. Persevere always,

call always and then after each difficulty there will be a progress.

 

 

THE INNER AND THE HIGHER OPENING

 

It is by the constant remembrance that the being is prepared for the full

opening. By the opening of the heart the Mother's presence begins to be felt

and, by the opening to her Power above, the Force of the higher

consciousness comes down into the body and works there to change the whole

nature.

 

* * *

 

There is no method in this Yoga except to concentrate, preferably in the

heart, and call the presence and power of the Mother to take up the being

and by the workings of her force transform the consciousness; one can

concentrate also in the head or between the eyebrows, but for many this is a

too difficult opening. When the mind falls quiet and the concentration

becomes strong and the aspiration intense, then there is a beginning of

experience. The more the faith, the more rapid the result is likely to be.

For the rest one must not depend on one's own efforts only, but succeed in

establishing a contact with the Divine and a receptivity to the Mother's

Power and Presence.

The direct opening of the psychic centre is easy only when the

ego-centricity is greatly diminished and also if there is a strong bhakti

for the Mother. A spiritual humility and sense of submission and dependence

is necessary.

 

* * *

 

The Mother's peace is above you by aspiration and quiet self-opening it

descends. When it takes hold of the vital and the body, then equanimity

becomes easy and in the end automatic.

 

 

OPENNESS TO THE MOTHER'S FORCE AND AVOIDANCE OF OTHER FORCES

 

Keep yourself open to the Mother's Force, but do not trust all forces. As

you go on, if you keep straight, you will come to a time when the psychic

becomes more predominantly active and the Light from above prevails more

purely and strongly so that the chance of mental constructions and vital

formations mixing with the true experience diminishes. As I have told you,

these are not and cannot be the supramental Forces; it is a work of

preparation which is only making things ready for a future YogaSiddhi.

 

 

Let the power of the Mother work in you, but be careful to avoid any mixture

or substitution, in its place, of either a magnified ego-working or a force

of Ignorance presenting itself as Truth. Aspire especially for the

elimination of all obscurity and unconsciousness in the nature.

 

LOYALTY AND FIDELITY TO THE MOTHER

 

 

If an adverse Force comes, one has not to accept and welcome its

suggestions, but to turn to the Mother and to refuse to turn away from her.

Whether one can open or not, one has to be loyal and faithful. Loyalty and

fidelity are not qualities for which one has to do Yoga. They are very

simple things which any man or woman who aspires to the Truth ought to be

able to accomplish.

 

THE ONLY WAY TO SUCCEED

 

There is in a very fundamental part of your nature a strong formation of

ego-individuality which has mixed in your spiritual aspiration a clinging

element of pride and spiritual ambition. This formation has never consented

to be broken up in order to give place to something more true and divine.

Therefore, when the Mother has put her force upon you, or when you yourself

have pulled the force upon you, this in you has always prevented it from

doing its work in its own way. It has begun itself building according to the

ideas of the mind or some demand of the ego, trying to make its own creation

in its "own way", by its own strength, its own Sadhana, its own Tapasya.

There has never been here any real surrender, any giving up of yourself

freely and simply into the hands of the Divine Mother. And yet that is the

only way to succeed in the supramental Yoga. To be a Yogi, a Sannyasi, a

Tapaswi is not the object here. The object is transformation, and the

transformation can only be done by a force infinitely greater than your own;

it can only be done by being truly like a child in the hands of the Divine

Mother.

 

* * *

 

Everyone who is turned to the Mother is doing my Yoga. It is a great mistake

to suppose that one can "do" the Purna Yoga -i.e. carry out and fulfil all

the sides of the Yoga by one's own effort. No human being can do that. What

one has to do is to put oneself in the Mother's hands and open oneself to

her by service, by Bhakti, by aspiration; then the Mother by her light and

force works in him so that the Sadhana is done. It is a mistake also to have

the ambition to be a big Purna Yogi or a supra-mental being and ask oneself

how far have I got towards that. The right attitude is to be devoted and

given to the Mother and to wish to be whatever she wants you to be. The rest

is for the Mother to decide and do in you.

 

NECESSITY OF SURRENDER TO THE MOTHER

 

There is not much spiritual meaning in keeping open to the Mother if you

withhold your surrender. Self-giving or surrender is demanded of those who

practise this Yoga, because without such a progressive surrender of the

being it is quite impossible to get anywhere near the goal. To keep open

means to call in her Force to work in you, and if you do not surrender to

it, it amounts to not allowing the Force to work in you at all or else only

on condition that it will work in the way you want and not in its own way

which is the way of the Divine Truth. A suggestion of this kind is usually

made by some adverse Power or by some egoistic element of mind or vital

which wants the Grace or the Force, but only in order to use it for its own

purpose, and is not willing to live for the Divine Purpose, - it is willing

to take from the Divine all it can get, but not to give itself to the

Divine. The soul, the true being, on the contrary, turns towards the Divine

and is not only willing but eager and happy to surrender.

In this Yoga one is supposed to go beyond every mental idealistic culture.

Ideas and Ideals belong to the mind and are half-truths only; the mind too

is, more often than not, satisfied with merely having an ideal, with the

pleasure of idealising, while life remains always the same, untransformed or

changed only a little and mostly in appearance. The spiritual seeker does

not turn aside from the pursuit of realisation to mere idealising; not to

idealise, but to realise the Divine Truth is always his aim, either beyond

or in life also - and in the latter case it is necessary to transform mind

and life which cannot be done without surrender to the action of the Divine

Force, the Mother.

To seek after the Impersonal is the way of those who want to withdraw from

life, but usually they try by their own effort, and not by an opening of

themselves to a superior Power or by the way of surrender; for the

Impersonal is not something that guides or helps, but something to be

attained and it leaves each man to attain it according to the way and

capacity of his nature. On the other hand, by an opening and surrender to

the Mother one can realise the Impersonal and every other aspect of Truth

also.

The surrender must necessarily be progressive. No one can make the complete

surrender from the beginning, so it is quite natural that when one looks

into oneself, one should find its absence. That is no reason why the

principle of surrender should not be accepted and carried out steadily from

stage to stage, from field to field, applying it successively to all the

parts of the nature.

 

 

REAL AND COMPLETE SUBMISSION

 

 

It is necessary if you want to progress in your Sadhana that you should make

the submission and surrender of which you speak sincere, real and complete.

This cannot be as long as you mix up your desires with your spiritual

aspiration. It cannot be as long as you cherish vital attachment to family,

child or anything or anybody else. If you are to do this Yoga, you must have

only one desire and aspiration, to receive the spiritual Truth and manifest

it in all your thoughts, feelings, actions and nature. You must not hunger

after any relations with anyone. The relations of the Sadhak with others

must be created for him from within, when he has the true consciousness and

lives in the Light. They will be determined within him by the power and will

of the Divine Mother according to the supramental Truth for the divine life

and divine work; they must not be determined by his mind and his vital

desires. This is the thing you have to remember. Your psychic being is

capable of giving itself to the Mother and living and growing in the Truth;

but your lower vital being has been full of attachments and samskaras and an

impure movement of desire and your external physical thind was not able to

shake off its ignorant ideas and habits and open to the Truth. That was the

reason why you were unable to progress, because you were keeping up an

element and movements which could not be allowed to remain; for they were

the exact opposite of what has to be established in a divine life. The

Mother can only free you from these things, if you really want it, not only

in your psychic being, but in your physical mind and all your vital nature.

The sign will be that you no longer cherish or insist on your personal

notions, attachments or desires, and that whatever the distance and wherever

you may be, you will feel yourself open and the power and presence of the

Mother with you and working in you and will be contented, quiet, confident,

wanting nothing else, awaiting always the Mother's Will.

 

* * *

 

Put all before the Mother in your heart so that her Light may work on it for

the best.

 

* * *

 

The life of samsara is in its nature a field of unrest - to go through it in

the right way one has to offer one's life and actions to the Divine and pray

for the peace of the Divine within. When the mind becomes quiet, one can

feel the Divine Mother supporting the life and put everything into her

hands.

 

THE NECESSARY EFFORT

 

 

What you say of Sadhana is true. Sadhana is necessary and the Divine Force

cannot do things in the void but must lead each one according to his nature

to the point at which he can feel the Mother working within and doing all

for him. Till then the Sadhak's aspiration, self-consecration, assent and

support to the Mother's workings, his rejection of all that comes in the way

is very necessary - indispensable.

 

* * *

 

IN THE MOTHER'S LAP

 

Q: I find it very difficult to do the right kind of concentration. Since I

can't concentrate properly, would it not be best for me to imagine myself

lying eternally in the Mother's lap?

A: This is the best possible kind of concentration.

 

-S

"Aum Shanti Shanti Shantih."

 

 

 

[Guest guest]

, Santo Sengupta

<s.santo.sengupta wrote:

>

> Namaste:

> To get back to the original question:

> "How does one surrender to Shakti?",

> I will quote from the famous Sri Aurobindo,

> who was quite the devotee of The Mother.

>

> All of these are taken from http://intyoga.online.fr/lotm5.htm

> [....]

 

Thank you, Santo! This is terrific.

 

For those overwhelmed by the length of the posting, zoom down to the

bottom and read the last quote. ;-)

[Guest guest]

Santo's posting made me think of an earlier Aurobindo

discussion in this group. Yogaman, (perhaps) here's

a rather sparse answer to your question:

 

------

 

Yogaman's question:

 

/message/9214

 

"childofdevi" <childofdevi

Fri Mar 19, 2004 1:14 pm

Re: The mystery of Sri Aurobindo.

 

[....] I cannot recall [...] simple

intructions for practice anywhere. It is one thing to give a 10-

volume manual on a methodology, it is another thing to give a 5 page

instruction manual for practice. It is likely that in the I may have

missed out on valuable insights. Could you give me a 1-page

description of the practice of Integral Yoga (I am still somewhat

clueless as to what it is, though it was very nice reading)??

 

Regards

-yogaman

>From Santo Sengupta's quote collection:

 

There is no method in this Yoga except to concentrate,

preferably in the heart, and call the presence and

power of the Mother to take up the being and by the

workings of her force transform the consciousness;

[....] For the rest one must not depend on one's own

efforts only, but succeed in establishing a contact with the

Divine and a receptivity to the Mother's Power and Presence.