LIVING THE MOTHER'S PATH

by MSS and Roy Posner

In this compendium of thoughts, we cover a number of the key issues in following the path of the Mother. This information is mainly for those who are followers and devotees of Sri Aurobindo and The Mother, though anyone can benefit. 

(We would like to thank the Mother's Service Society (marked MSS), especially Sri Karmayogi and Garry Jacobs for providing much of the following material.) 

Accept What Life, Mother Gives
Normally we like to do what we want, see people we want to see, do the work we want to work on. In a life dedicated to Mother and the Divine, we need to reverse this and do and accept what life presents us.

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Mother's way is to rise above likes and dislikes. It is to relate to the work that is given. It is to express your duty to what is given over the needs of one's self and personality. In fact if we were to observe even normal life we see that people who continuously rise in their lives have this ability to put away their personal preference and instead relate to work on hand. That is the way of progress. 

It is also the Mother's, the Divine way or value to do the work without expecting results; i.e. do it without any attachment to the work itself, including its non-spiritual rewards.

The Children of The Mother
The future belongs to Spirituality, not religion, says The Mother. The time of religion is over according to Her. Religion is many following the inspiration of one enlightened person. Spirituality is each one seeking his own illumination. As Protestantism removed the priest between Man and God, Spirituality will enable each man to seek his own God, seated inside.

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The Mother was in Japan during the First World War. She recorded her Prayers and Meditations everyday, which was later published. As a preface to that publication, She wrote that there are those who give their souls to God, and others who give their work. Some give their wealth. A few others give their lives to the Divine. There are the rare few who give their souls, wealth, work and lives to the Divine. They alone are the true children of The Mother and all others are valueless ciphers for the Divine Work.

In Her scale of values, it may be impossible for us to become even valueless ciphers. Why? Is She a taskmaster and a disciplinarian? When China threatens the borders of India, the Indian leader needs nerves of iron and can no longer indulge in the luxury of non-alignment. Not all people can lead a nation in war. Divine Work embraces the universe where one has to organise new ways of life suited to the Higher Consciousness. For that, one cannot be attached to his work or life. Therefore, SHE laid down Her requirement but never persuaded anyone to take to it.

In Her Agenda She describes the yoga of the body She tried and said how horrible it was. She said She would NOT recommend this yoga to anyone. I ask people to invoke the Spirit for a better life, not for yoga. A life of utter Truthfulness brings one into the atmosphere of Her Force that is active on earth since 1956. She said that that Force had organised itself in the consciousness of a person. Yoga is for the evolutionary adult. A life of higher consciousness is for the aspirant of Truth in life, where he can express his own higher values. (Karmayogi)

Doing the Work in the Right Spirit
Work for Mother is a field of greater yogic effectiveness than meditation. Mother says one can make a greater progress in yoga by doing the work in the right spirit than by meditating. By right spirit Mother means taking interest in the work that comes to us instead of seeking to do the work one likes. It looks simple, but this is one of the most difficult disciplines in any yoga. A boy who loves cricket can agree to stop playing it during study period and sit at his table for hours preparing for the examination. He unbends himself from play and bends his energies to work. This is to do one's duty. This is admirable. By the above discipline Mother wants this boy to derive the same joy in doing his lessons as he derives from cricket playing. Normally that capacity is not within the reach of the boy. At least he can suppress his enthusiasm for cricket, disregard his dislike for study and do his duty. This way he gives his energies to duty. This is good and Mother approves of it. Now what She asks for is that the boy should enjoy his studies as much as he enjoys playing cricket. That is ordinarily beyond human capacity. (MSS)

Accept Mother as Center of Our Lives
The greatest attitude on the path is to accept The Mother, the Divine as the central focus, purpose, and meaning in our lives.

Normal Life vs. Mother-Oriented Life

Below is a table that compares how one normally lives (non-bold) in life compared to living Mother's Life/Path (bold).

Being Absorbed in the Trivial vs. Mother

People really don't know what matters to them most or what holds their interest most. To find that out correctly they have to see what crosses their minds the most.
That cannot be understood correctly when the person is doing their routine daily work. That can be verified only when we see where our attention and interest goes during our leisure ours when we are free and relaxed. If during our leisure time our thoughts go to money or to eating food, watching T.V or talking about cinema, sports or politics or chatting with friends or reading books about mother or doing meditation and if this happens regularly then one can come to some conclusion. If we examine over a month on what subject or area or issue does our mind focus the most then that obviously is our main area of interest. Theoretically thoughts about Mother should occupy our mind the most. But there is no guarantee that this is how it is with all devotees during their leisure hours. As I have mentioned above the subjects could range from money, food, TV serials, politics, gossiping with friends, engaging in one's favourite hobby, playing with pets, keeping company with one's spouse or with the children and a host of other things.

If we find out that Mother is the main subject our mind goes to when we are free and relaxed then we are indeed true devotees. If we find out that it is something else like money, ordering about and bossing over others, food, keeping company with friends or engaging in our favourite hobby like watching TV serials or talking about cinema and politics, dreaming about our future plans and unfulfilled ambitions or simply lying in the bed or relaxing on the sofa doing nothing then we have to decide if that is all right with us or should we try to move onto something more worthwhile. As for me it definitely does not go towards Mother but mostly goes towards those aspirations and interests of mine that remain unfulfilled as of today. That is fine with me as of today. As I have understood mysellf, it will be useful to others also if they take some time and see where their minds go to and what draws their interest when they are free. It will be a self-revelation that can help the person upgrade himself if he or she wants to or if he or she is satisfied with whatever their interest be, that also tells them something about themselves for better or worse. Whatever be the outcome, there is nothing wrong in trying it. It will be a exercise in self-awareness and therefore it is welcome. (N. Ashokan, MSS)

Motive of Service, Benefit to Others that Attract

Let's say we were to list out the motives behind a work we are doing. We might discover we are doing it to pass the time, to engage in something that utilizes our skill which energizes and fulfills us, to make a living, to have social interaction with others, and to vaguely sense we are benefitting the client or other workers in the organization. Now let's say we shifted completely to the latter motive, and see the work as a means of giving others benefit, forgetting all of the rest. (We can further consider the very specific ways it would help the beneficiary, while also aspiring for their total success in those areas of common association.) That would have the effect of not only bringing deep satisfaction to one’s own self, but generate life response results for all involved.

In this way, we can take inventory of our psychological motives, and reprioritize them. It can e.g. become a New Year’s resolution or a sincere pledge to a New Beginning. The level of commitment to and sustaining this new orientation and effort will make all the difference.

There can be a further step, which is to elevate our inner commitment of service to others through our association with Mother. We can constantly offer our new motive of Service and Life Benefit for Others to Her to establish the very best conditions and elicit powerful, positive outcomes for all parties.

That can in turn become a bridge to a further stage of Service to Her alone and in total. I.e. offer ourselves fully to the Divine Will and become an instrument of Her divine Intention. From that poise, we can elicit universal response that affects the collective, bringing intense psychological and material benefit to an ever-widening circle of individuals.

[Comment: What Roy describes so graphically here is what Karmayogi means by reorganizing our life with Mother as the center. (MSS)]

Doing Work for the Sake of The Mother, the Divine
When a man takes to yoga, accepts Mother, adores Her, loves to do Her bidding, feels the privilege of working for the Divine Mother and sees his reading as something he does for the sake of Mother, joy begins to issue from reading. Within the limits of this act, this is a process of divinisation, transformation, a process of raising man from sensual pleasure to psychic joy. To know that we are doing the work in right spirit, Mother gives an index. After completing a work if one feels joy, he has done it in the right spirit. If one feels tired after a work, he has done it in the old human way. Almost as a rule when a man joins the Ashram the work that falls to his lot is one that he has detested all his life. He has to learn to transform his dislike into enjoyment. That is one aspect of sadhana. (MSS)

What Service is to Mother

Skill in Work
A man derives joy from a work when he has great skill in it. He who has high skill in a work can be seen taking pride in it and enjoying it. Several such aspects in the physical, mental expression of a work help one enjoy it. An attempt is made to explain these aspects below.

Values in Work
Values are lifelines. They have great power. In business one value everyone appreciates is the quality of the product. Every businessman as well as every customer knows fully well the value of quality. If you look at any company and find it is making steady progress, certainly it will be adhering to values. If two companies in the same industry are making small and great progress, surely the latter company will be following higher values. Even one great value fully followed can give extraordinary results. Some of the values that are meaningful to business are: safety, security of job, family feeling, constant progress, reliability, honesty, efficient after-sales service, maximum use-value of product, courtesy, friendliness, ideals in work, trustworthiness, quality product and loyalty.

-Punctuality, regularity, orderliness, cleanliness, etc. are essential disciplines to accomplish a work. We can say that if the value of punctuality alone is acquired by Indians to the level of European punctuality, it can transform the nation from a poor to a rich one. All of us know its value. It is enjoyable when we possess it. It is very productive. Regularity and other qualities in the list above are more valuable. In 1920 Mother started teaching sadhaks how to keep books in an orderly way.

-Maximum utilisation of energy, materials, money, water, electricity, etc. is a cardinal principle. In other words, elimination of waste of every description is a value. A company in USA went bankrupt. It was a small company with Rs.5 crore sales. Another man bought it. The first thing he did was to apply a scale of utilisation values he had evolved in his own business. He worked out the percentage of expenditure on every item such as electricity, advertisement, etc. He applied those norms here and found the electric bill was 2.5 times higher than it should have been. He took action to bring down all expenses to within his norms. In three months, the new acquisition became an economically viable one, even profitable. Mother followed all these principles, which would be understood as economy in Ashram life. She used to re-use envelopes by turning them inside out.

-To approach a work from another man's point of view is a powerful principle for success in life and work. To approach it from our own point of view only will generate conflicts and produce low results. To approach the same from another man's point of view is generative of harmony, producing maximum results. I shall give one example.

A contractor of sugar mill waste known as pressmud was in business for 17 years and was  fairly successful. But over the years his business accumulated outstanding from the farmers to whom he supplied on credit. He had a thick bundle of 200 promissory notes due to him for the last 17 years, periodically renewed. Each year he supplied more, collected a little, lent more and so on. The outstanding remained.

-An attitude of "work first, anything next" must be the guiding line.

-To have a good control of speech is a yogic discipline but will yield great results for anyone in any walk of life. The total amount of talking must be brought down to the minimum necessary level. The tone must come down to an audible whisper. These two efforts are very difficult. In business low voice produces great profits.

When an industrialist with Rs.10 lakhs annual sales came to Mother, he mentioned his one major industrial problem was a harassing manager who irritated him beyond measure by his umpteen repetitions, which occupied all his time. Among many ideas, he practised low voice and was relieved of the harassment from the manager in one day. His sales rose to Rs.50 lakhs in three years.

The voice comes from our life centre and therefore carries a life-power. Conserving the energy through low voice will have desirable results in life. In business, it first of all makes the entrepreneur effective and happy. He functions in a relaxed way. If anyone follows this in business, he will discover that there is no better way to make money. Voice lowered is money conserved.

-Systems for every individual item of work are essential.

-Mother was great as an organiser. Whatever She did, she functioned through a system.

-Personal power must be replaced by the impersonal authority of a system.

Ordinarily man carries the weight of his work on his nerves and it gives tension, making people look older than their years. Often we hear, "There are a million details. If I forget one thing, it is not done. I feel like going mad."  This is so because this man does not resort to systems. Once you create a system, the work is done well and your nerves are free. A system does the work of 10 or 100 or 1,000 men. That is the value of a system.

-If systems are valuable, coordination of systems is powerful. Suppose there are 25 systems in a company with a minimum of coordination and they are all coordinated to a maximum extent, the same staff can accomplish twice or thrice more. To give a simple example, in a college if the timetable of the dozen departments is not coordinated, i.e. if each department has its own time table, the two year course will extend to five years and twice as many classrooms must be built.

We can see one expression of this at home when there are three cycles for use and five of us are using them. Without coordination, two more cycles must be bought and with coordination, one or two cycles can serve the purpose instead of three.

When individual power is exercised, accomplishment is low. If impersonal authority is used through systems, the same man can manage twice the amount of work. (MSS, somewhat modified)
 

Attention to People, Things
Everything in life responds positively to attention.  People, objects, stocks of inventory, and money are but a few examples. For example, the best way to give attention to money is to account for it very accurately and promptly. Keeping accurate and up-to-date accounts of money is a powerful mechanism for attracting more of it from life.

There are endless examples we have witnessed demonstrating this power. Here's one:

One small business owner decided to give attention to his accounts, balanced eight months of back bank statements, and miraculously received $5000 from nowhere the next day.

If you bring your personal or business accounts fully and accurately up to date, you'll be able to watch the money flow to you!

Money is not the only thing that responds to attention. So do ordinary objects and things. Consider this example:

A businessperson was unable to make any substantial sales. He was told that he should give attention to and evaluate his remaining current stocks, and then make a full effort to sell them off.  After making an effort of selling but a few of the minimal stocks, an order arrived equal to six months of normal sales!

We have often seen this phenomenon where a business owner concerned by low sales or cash made the effort to sell off remaining unsold stocks, and life responded by bringing more sales. This is a powerful example of the power of attention to objects and things.

One way we give attention is by adopting the personal value of maximizing the way you use your current resources, such as money, materials, and time.

So all sorts of things respond to attention; animate and inanimate!

Finally, let's not forget to mention that people also, of course, respond to attention. Every person wants to be attended to and be the object of others attention. When you give deserving people attention, they can blossom in front of your eyes.

Education and Training
The required level of education for the work of every employee is essential.

Education expands the mental horizons. An educated person is better for his education. Each level of work requires a minimum education. Workers, supervisors, clerks, managers, accountants, etc. should have the education necessary for them. That makes the work enjoyable for them and productive for the company. The idea of accomplishing a higher work through a less educated person may be successful in the exception, but as a rule it hurts the work.

Full essential training for the work is important.

Education is the base, training is the top dressing. Regular systematic training, though costly in the beginning, pays rich dividends in the long run. Generally we let our workers be trained during work. We expect them to be trained by experience. As a rule this training is slow, partial and expensive. One bad result here is that they acquire a wrong training.

One company in Holland followed the first principle of recruiting people and expecting them to acquire training through service. Another recruited trained people. Though both were of comparable endowments in all respects, in five years the second company rose to the 3rd position in the industry while the first company was ranked 21.

Perfect skill is of permanent value.
Skill in works is yoga, says The Gita. To see that everyone in the company acquires perfect skill in what he does will raise any company from the bottom to the top. It is the duty of the owner of the company to constantly raise the skills of his workers. That makes the workers happy and labour relations smooth. A company with 50 workers had at least 25 labour problems in two years and was closed for five months. The proprietor agreed to take very special steps to give complete skill to all his workers. The situation reversed and the labour trouble disappeared.  (MSS)

Resourcefulness
Resourcefulness is always a great value. In business it pays rich dividends. Mother's devotees can find their minds becoming more and more resourceful as days pass. A determination to be resourceful helps it to flower. Simply described, resourcefulness means to find a use for every resource and to find a solution for given-up tangles.

A milk society was continuously losing money, and the co-operative department considered closing it. One low level officer expressed the opposite view. They asked him to try. In six months, he turned it into a profit-making society and even purchased a delivery van. Pleased by his resourcefulness, the department asked whether he could start a co-operative bank. He did. In the first three years, his performance record was top-most in India. He was a simple man who retired at a non-gazetted post. But he was resourceful. At the silver jubilee of the bank, they hunted out the man from his retirement and gave him an award. (MSS)

Endless Progress
To have constant endless progress as a goal enlivens a business organisation. 

When a sugar mill was founded, the owner sought Mother's blessings. She wrote "For endless progress". He registered 1,500 acres of cane for the first year crushing. The average per acre yield in the adjacent factory area was 28 tons. This factory fixed a high average of 45 tons an acre, since initial cultivation gives higher return. Mother's endless progress reached the fields too. The fields yielded 85 tons an acre, which even touched 110 tons in exceptional cases. The factory kept on crushing the first year's cane for two full years.

Mother herself blesses her devotees with endless progress. If endless progress is accepted as a conscious goal, the company does progress endlessly.

If a devotee starts a company, endeavours along these lines seriously and meets with a fair level of success, his company will have several characteristics that can be observed.

•  There will be an atmosphere of hope and joy in the work.  

• Public image will be one of admiration and approval.

• Individuals in the company will be sought after by everyone from everywhere.

• Expansion, not mere growth, will be endless.

•  No difficulty will ever arise  (MSS)

Courage
Courage in crisis is a great endowment. Intelligent risk in seeking opportunity brings reward.

To advise one in a crisis to have courage is easy, but to give him courage is not so practical. Granting that a company faces a crisis, the entrepreneur finds himself helpless and it leads to panic. But there are people who in a similar situation do not get panicky and who are courageous. About 15 years ago, a Rs.150 crore company faced a market situation in which it became clear to all that it was only a matter of time before the company would have to close. Employees at all levels were filled with terror. The situation was in nobody's hands. The proprietor was courageous and calm. He was the one who would lose the most but he did not lose courage. In a few weeks, there were several unexpected developments and the crisis blew away. Today the company's assets are worth Rs.1,000 crores. Anything could have happened. It is the courage of one man at the top that saved the situation.

Well, he was one endowed with courage. What about ordinary mortals who get panic-stricken?  Of what use is this advice to them?  Knowledge that courage is a saviour brings some courage. If one is a devotee and prays for courage, Mother grants plenty of it. (MSS)

Strength
Strength is one of the important determinants of a person's overall character and capacity for accomplishment in life. Just as one can admire another person's goodness and compassion, we can also admire their strength of character. A person of both great goodness and great strength can rise to unlimited heights of joy, happiness, and accomplishment in life.

One of the interesting ironies we have observed along the way is that we can often learn a lot from "bad" people. Many bad people have something that many of us lack -- strength. These individuals may nor be using their strength for a good cause, yet the fact is their strength advances their cause. On the other hand many "good" people lack strength in life, and could probably learn a great deal from anyone (good or bad) who has it in abundance.

One of the keys to personal growth is the taking of the initiative to increase one's strength in life. One particularly interesting phenomenon we have observed is that if a person who lacks strength makes the effort to increase and assert his strength at a level higher than he/she is used to, life outwardly can respond with great reward.

Strength At Various Levels
Strength can manifest as physical strength, vital strength, and mental strength. At the physical level one can of course be a physically strong person, though even a small person can have the physical strength of endurance or good health. It can even show itself as physical courage. At the vital level strength can show as determination, courage, perseverance, toughness, and willingness to confront life's difficulties head on. Mental strength can show up as the ability to maintain intense, keen interest in something, such as the details of policies or the formation of a logical argument.

We can take an individual, such as the character of the Count in the Count of Monte Cristo, and evaluate the person in terms of strength at these three levels. (MSS:) He had physical strength due to his life as a sailor and enduring hardship in prison. He had vital strength negatively born of suffering and the urge for revenge, positively due to the enormous wealth he acquired and the social position it gave him, and he had mental strength derived from the wonderful education given by Abbe Faria.

Similarly strength can show up at these three levels of physical, vital, and mental for social entities, such as teams, organizations, businesses, institutions, and nations. For example, Israel has shown great strength in its fortitude in the face of being surrounded by enemies. Similarly many poor countries show great resiliency and strength to exist despite their difficult realities. Or in the social arena such as sports we see how a team can show great strength, despite limited talent, and succeed far beyond their physical capacities. On the other hand, another team can have great talent but not succeed in the decisive games because there is not an inner toughness or strength.

Taking Responsibility
Throughout our lives we are confronted with external pressures that bear on us greatly. It is how we react to these pressures that determine to a large extent to what degree we accomplish in life. Those who take responsibility, see their own weakness as it relates to the problem, grow and accomplish. Those who blame others or ignore the pressures, stagnate and achieve less. For example, in the book Pride and Prejudice the main hero Darcy is confronted by great pressures in life, many of which he created in the first place. Fortunately, he responds positively to the pressures by taking personal responsibility for his actions. He does this by acknowledging his character flaws and misdeeds. This acknowledgment and acceptance causes him to solve a very difficult problem, which sets in motions a series of even more positive events for others and for himself. It also and enables him to grow as an individual, which leads to his ultimate achievement in the story, his marriage to Eliza.

We see how magnificently life responds to taking responsibility in life. On the other hand another individual confronted by the same great pressures of life fails to take responsibility, blames others, and doesn't grow or accomplish in life as a result.

When life bears down on us and exerts pressures we can respond positively or negatively. Those who respond positively, who take responsibility rather than blame others or be in different, grow as individuals, and set the stage for great positive responses from life, and great achievement and happiness.

Higher Attitudes
We are filled with attitudes that we acquire from our family, our friends, and our environment. They are also in the very fiber of our being, inherited through our genes. Many of these attitudes are quite good, while others are less than stellar. However, if we can identify a bad attitude, and make an effort to change it, we will find that life will suddenly respond and bring us good fortune.

There are three basic types of attitudes that we can identify; attitudes about ourselves, attitudes towards others and things around us, and attitudes towards life itself. Examples of attitudes about ourselves is having high or low self-esteem, or great or little self-confidence. Examples of attitudes about others are our ability to have goodwill or bad will or goodwill towards others; trust or mistrust of others, concern or indifference toward others, and so forth. Attitudes about life might be include the feeling that good things will always come our way, or a faith that difficult situations and circumstance will always turn out for the best. The opposite is that life always treats us bad, and we are doomed to difficulty and failure.

A positive attitude can overcome a negative situation, and enable positive circumstances to suddenly emerge, e.g. where objects like machines suddenly work better. We also see how people respond better to this shift in attitude, as in this case, where another individual is suddenly elevated to a new position in life. As a result of shifting one's attitude, life suddenly, abundantly, miraculously responds in kind; defying all of the normally accepted rules of logic, defying all of our normal perceptions of cause and effect, and space and time.

Negative Expressions Attracts Negative Responses
Whereas we see that positive improvements in attitudes attract positive responses from life, sudden negative attitudes attract the reverse. For example, if one speaks negatively about another person or about a situation or circumstance, it tends to suddenly attract negative things from life.

The best approach is to avoid all negative expressions towards others, things, and situations. Negative expressions are reflections of a wanting attitude, habit, or opinion, which has the tendency to suddenly attract negative responses from life. It can even destroy a work.

Inner-Outer Correspondence
The spiritual experience often leads to an awareness that the things that occur outside of ourselves and the things within us have a direct correlation and relationship. The mind says they are divided, are of two different worlds, and cannot possibly have a direct relationship. For example, how could changing an attitude possibly relate to a positive circumstance happening to you a few moments after be related in any way. Our minds suggest that such a relationship lies beyond the normal bounds of causality, space and time. Yet, that is precisely what occurs.

Our conclusion is that everything that is happening around you is a reflection of innermost thoughts, beliefs, and attitudes. If something is wrong on the outside, you find the corresponding negative inner perception, change it, and watch life respond positively in kind. This in turn leads us to the understanding that we can and should take responsibility for everything that is happening around us, and can make inner changes to effect the world around us.

Interestingly, we have witnessed that if people take this approach, they can bring about an instant outer response from life. For example an individual changes an attitude about someone at work, and instantly gets a call thereafter that a new project has been agreed upon that that person is to lead; or a man cleans something he was reluctant to clean before and instantly finds out that he has run into some expected money. This is called a Life Response.

If your attitudes and opinions are reflected by the circumstances around you, then we can make an effort to change the world on the outside by making a change on the inside; by changing our attitudes, opinions, and habits, or taking a specific action. Under certain circumstances life on the outside can instantly respond to your inner effort. If you can look at every positive and negative circumstance and match it to a corresponding attitude, value, or habit inside yourself, you will be well on your way to understanding the character of life, and gain the ability to master life. There is no faster way to change the world around us than by acting from a positive inner poise.

Life Response
Normally, we believe that taking an action on our part brings about a corresponding result in life. This is of course true. There is also a secret knowledge that certain special actions we take and certain attitudes we have can instantaneously evoke a positive response from life from seemingly out of nowhere. We call this dramatic phenomenon a "life response."

For example, let's talk about money. We are all aware of the importance of intelligence, hard work, social position, skill, organization, and other forms of strength and power to create wealth. There are, however, a few hidden strategies to creating an immediate response from life concerning money. For one, keeping accurate and up-to-date accounts of money is a powerful mechanism for attracting more of it from life. One small business owner decided to balance eight months of back statements in a weekend and received $5000 from out of nowhere the next day. This is an example of a life response. It is virtually instantaneous, and appears to come from seemingly out of nowhere; thus the moniker "instantaneous miraculousness."

There does not seem to be any obvious connection between the actions and the results, yet somehow life responds to the initiation of this person. That is the case because life is organized in ways far beyond our normal, i.e. outer perceptions of cause and effect. There are also inner laws of cause and effect that are in operations, which are mostly hidden from us, are subconscious or unconscious to us. The example of attention to money and how it generates a sudden, abundant, instant life response is but one example of this inner causality we have discovered over the years.

There are perhaps a dozen or so key human behaviors that can trigger such positive, instant, abundant life response. E.g. in addition to the power of attention to keeping accounts up to date to attract money, being as careful and prompt in paying debts as in collecting what is owed to you attracts money.

Attention to finances and taking care of financial debts are in essence forms of higher organization attracting money through the inner forces of cause and effect. Another example of this inner power of organization is cleanliness. For example, we have found that cleaning up and organizing an area around you brings about a very fast response from life.

Just as organizing money accounts and paying debts on time attracts money and fortunate circumstance to you, so does cleanliness and organizing things around you one level higher than they currently are. 

Sometimes physical things, such as stored away objects or stocks of inventory in a business are ignored or forgotten. If one makes an effort to give it a new level of attention life can miraculously respond.

You can also change life's circumstances by overcoming a limiting or negative attitude, habit, or opinion. This is perhaps the most powerful method of all!

Changing an attitude can make life respond. So can taking a positive decision, especially if it was something not taken before.

You can also make life respond by attempting to improve yourself, such as learning a new skill to improve your career.

Finally, you can make life respond by quietly wanting something (preferably something that is necessary!) from within yourself, without expressing it outwardly or demanding it. Some would call this "the power of mind over matter."

When we master the inner rules and laws of cause and effect, we gain an enormous power over life that we didn't have before. This knowledge is one of the great secrets of living one's life from our deepest self awareness.

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Moving the Collective
There are several approaches to affecting the collective. One Appa suggests is that of there is a problem around us we want to change, identify the corresponding element in ourselves, agree to change it, and offer it to Mother, the collective will move.

We can also affect the collective by taking a great interest in the subject, studying it and understanding it from all possible angles, and with great intensity offer it to Mother. Usually the collective will respond.

Moving Conditions for Yourself
When Mother does not respond to a personal situation even though one's thoughts about Her are 100% positive, it usually means she is waiting for a wanting aspect of our being to change first -- often a limiting attitude. If we recognize and change it, life will instantly move on our behalf.

Life Response and Divine Life
If life response becomes a universally known wisdom, Sri Aurobindo's 'Divine Life on Earth' will be well on its way to becoming a reality.

Consecration (i.e. Opening to the Force)
Perhaps the greatest secret that we reveal is a knowledge about a new power that exists on earth. It is the power that when utilized can create instant success and accomplishment in your life, solve any problem, enable infinite possibility, and enable an individual to evolve from his current consciousness to a higher status of awareness in life.

All one has to do is open to this power, this spiritual Force a moment before taking any action or commencing any activity. Thereafter, you will likely notice that everything goes right, circumstance turn your way, life cooperates, and a new feeling and energy comes into play. For example, just the right person will arrive when you are were seeking solutions from others to help you with an issue; or a phone call will come to you from out of nowhere solving a problem or providing a solution; or a sense of calm and peace will arise in the environment where there was previously agitation and stress.

Opening to this higher force before commencing an act has the power to evoke positive responses from life. Also actions are completed much better than expected, people respond more positively, events move more quickly, and life "cooperates."  

To experience this effect just once in one's life is to set one onto a new course in life.

This consecration of an event can also lead to what we consider spiritual results as well - such as a deep sense of peace and calm, a feeling of harmony and unity of purpose with others or things around one in the environment, or even an inner feeling of spiritual joy, delight, and bliss.

Different Approaches to Consecration
You can practice this technique of consecration, this opening to the spiritual Force, in different ways. Some are able to consecrate before a major event in their lives; some are able to do it regularly before a major activity or activities in a working day (such as a teacher consecrating before a class, a manager consecrating before writing a new report, or an individual visiting a relative). Some are even able to consecrate before the small activities of the day (such as before brushing one's teeth, or driving a car). At whatever level you practice this technique, you are sure to see real results.

We believe that this spiritual force and power that is accessed through the method of consecration has become more active in the world in the last fifty years; especially the last ten or twenty. It is now more accessible, and has a greater power of effectivity to bring about great results. Why this is so requires an explanation of the evolution of what this spiritual Force is, what is its changing nature that makes its so powerful now, and what is likely to make it even more powerful in the future. We have addressed some of these points in another article on the emergence of this Force in life. 

Spiritual Nature of the Force
Briefly, we can think of this Force as the active power of the highest consciousness; that is, of what we call God, the Divine, the Absolute, or Brahman as is known in the East. This power of the divine consciousness has the ability to create instant truth, knowledge, success, and joy in our lives. What normally would take a week, a month, or a lifetime to accomplish can happen in a few days, a few hours, or even instantly. What would normally take considerable effort, movement, and interaction on your part can take place right where you are. 

We can try to understand this phenomenon from the metaphysical perspective. We can say that the universe emerged from God, the Absolute, the original Omnipresent Divine Reality. The Absolute has always been there, is there now, and always will be there. In order to manifest the universe from the Divine reality, It extended itself through a new plane, which we call the Supramental plane. That plane was the intermediary between the Divine Reality and the universe that was created from out of the Divine reality. The Supramental plane served to coordinate various aspects between the Divine reality and the forms in the universe that would emerge from that Divine reality. In that way this Supramental plane was the ultimate force of creation, since is enabled the Divine to manifest into a universe of forms. That ultimate power which enabled creation is also available to us so that we too can manifest creative results in our own lives.

When the individual opens to, remembers this power before an event or an activity that is about to start, the Absolute transfers its infinite powers through this intermediary Force to the particular situation that the individual is about to engage in. 

Opening to the Force enables problems to be solved, solutions to appear out of nowhere, harmony to be created, success to flourish, perfection to come about, and joy to rise. As life responds abundantly, quickly, miraculously to our invocation of the power, we will see that our normally accepted notions of space and time, cause and effect are overcome and transcended. Even what we believe is possible, i.e. what we perceive is as finite is overcome, as the infinite potentials of life appear in what we formally perceived as finite possibility. These are the results of the infinite capacities of the Force, the same force that was/is the power that enabled the universe to emerge from the original Divine Reality.

The Force is the ultimate, dynamic power of creation in the universe; and that same power is available to the individual. If an individual opens to this Force at any moment, a connection is made that enables one or more of its attributes to directly enter the act or event.

This power solves problems, resolves conflicts, dissolves dead habits and unwanted traits, opens up new opportunities, generates freshness and enjoyment in everything we do, widens the personality, deepens our awareness, and reveals one's true inner self. 

This infinite, dynamic, creative power, sometimes referred to as "Truth Consciousness," was first discovered or perhaps we should say rediscovered by the Indian sage and seer Sri Aurobindo in the first half of the 20th century.

We ask you to try this method and approach, and see if you experience the extraordinary results. If you have the experience even once, it can change your outlook on reality, giving you a whole new perspective on the nature and powers that are available in life. Hundreds, perhaps thousands of individuals we know of have had the experience of connecting to the Force, with stunning results in terms of their accomplishment, success, and happiness in life.

Solving Current Problems
It is also possible to take consecration a few steps further. For example, you can also consecrate a current problem, and through consecration, overcome it; even turning it into an unexpected opportunity. Needless to say, such a change in fortune will bring about a profound joy in one's life.

So consecration, or perhaps we can call it "offering up the problem" to a higher power, to the Force, also solves problems. It solves them instantaneously, miraculously, and in creative ways not thought of before. It even reveals to us new unthought of opportunities. It has the power to overcome negativity and it has a creative power; giving us access to that same creative, dynamic power that enabled the universe to manifest from the Divine reality. It is the ultimate power in life at our disposal.

Opening to Power Matched by Changing Corresponding Weakness
So you can overcome any problem in life; a conflict with the boss, a physical ailment, a money problem, or confusion on a programming job. All of life is in play when we consecrate a problem. 

There are however instances where you consecrate an act, event, past problem, etc. and get no results. This can of course be disconcerting for those who have faith in the Force. There is a simple meaning to this outcome: It is that the Force cannot move unless a corresponding limitation or weakness in our own selves is also overcome. When one invokes he Force, there are various parts of our being that are at play. If there is no result from invoking the Force, then one or more of these aspects in one's self are limited or negative, are blocking the action of the Force, and need to be overcome or otherwise resolved for the power to move. Then, as soon as you change that part of your nature, you will see an abundant response from life to your earlier consecration.

For example, an individual opens to the Force concerning a difficult situation with his boss. He offers with great intensity, but there is no results. It is only when he overcomes his reluctance to meet with the boss and discuss the matter directly with his boss, is his problem resolved. Not only that, but a very painful neck problem that he had had for six months also simultaneously vanished. The combination of overcoming one's limitation --whether it be a bad attitude, or a false opinion, or a negative past action -- in tandem with the Force, will enable wonderful life response if an opening to the Force alone does not do the trick.

Overcoming Past Problems
In addition to consecrating an event that is about to take place, or a current problem, you can also use the Force to overcome problems of the past, including the effect of mistakes of the distant past on your current situation. In other words, one can also consecrate any past difficulties or problems to change one's fortune in the present.

You can consecrate past limitations and problems, which will dissolve them, resulting in positive, abundant, instantaneous opportunities and other changes in fortune in the present. This is possible because the Force is beyond any limitations of time; of past, present, and future. That's the case because the source power behind the Force, that which created the universe, is in touch with the timelessness of the Divine Reality.

Spiritual Results Too
Consecration not only brings great gross, material results, but it also brings spiritual results as well - such as a deep sense of calm and peace, a feeling of harmony and unity of purpose with others or things around one in the environment, a deep perception of knowledge and truth and wisdom, or even an inner feeling of spiritual joy, delight, and bliss. Let's return to our earlier example to show an example of this:

Intensity of Consecration
Normally, we make the connection with the spiritual domain through concentration or prayer; calling to a Divine source or the spirit within us. In these instances, we have usually withdrawn from the fervor of our emotions in order to make a connection with the higher power. However, we have seen that the more intense the consecration, the greater the results; i.e. the greater life responds.

By "intensity" we mean that our ardor for the Divine help through the consecration is intense, sincere, deep, and full. When one reaches this state, the intensity of the nagging problem or difficulty is transferred to the intensity of the offering of the situation or circumstance to the Divine. The transference of the intensity from the situation to the offering (or, better yet, intense consecration supported by a soft and simple mental clarity of thought of the situation) evokes great positive response from life.

Scale of Reference in Consecration
For the most part the consecration we have spoken consists of using the Higher Power to create positive gain in one's own life, for one's own sake and benefit. As one moves further on the path of personal growth, development, and evolution one comes to the point that one begins to focus not only on one's own interests, but the interests of others, of the community, of the society, and eventually the interests of the Divine Spirit itself.

There is thus an ascending scale of reference that extends from the very limiting self-interest of the individual, filled with his poor attitudes, selfishness, self-interest, etc., to a higher level where one is free of these limitations and can invoke a response to a consecration, to a higher level still where the scope broadens to the interests of others, and then on to the collective, and finally to the Divine's Will itself.

The higher we are o that scale of reference when we consecrate, the greater its effectivity, hence its results.

Say for example, you are a business person who wishes a great increase in sales for your retail business. We can perform the consecration at these various ascending levels of consciousness, each getting a corresponding higher and wider result. For instance, at level one I consecrate so that my day's sales will be great in order to make more money for myself. At a next higher level I consecrate to create great sales so that others can benefit, such as my staff; or the customer himself. (More customers can now have the product, including its benefit.) The same interest can apply to the community and society, who can have great benefit and delight either directly in using the products, or indirectly from other improvements that the product engenders. The result that comes will be commensurate with the reference of consecration. At a higher level still I once again consecrate to create greater sales, but this time I do it for the Divine's sake. I do it as an offering and surrender to a Higher Will that can use our products or the fact of greater sales for its own higher purpose. I again consecrate the need with great intensity and emotion, but now I defer to, surrender to the Higher Intention; to accept what the Divine wants for its own sake. Again, I may get a causal response that is stupendous; that moves the individual or the institution one is involved with to a new level of success. This is the ultimate form of consecration that leads to ultimate quantity and quality of results.

We should point out that as you move to the higher point of reference, i.e. higher purpose, you touch on the universal forces that are there just beyond our normal perceptions and levels of awareness. These universal forces and powers are themselves connected more directly to infinite realities, enabling infinite possibilities to enter into what we perceive as the finite at any moment in time.

To enable such vast possibilities, requires a fundamental change in one's nature. To reference universal forces and powers one must live one's life from a deeper poise and consciousness within; to come in contact with our Inner Being, culminating in connecting with our own personal evolving soul. This begins the process of transformation of the individual, which enables him to permanently connect to the universal forces, including the divine Force that is the object of our consecration. When one invokes the Force from these deepest levels of consciousness, its effectivity to create results is greatest. In that way one begins to have the ultimate power of creation in life. When one connects to the Force from the deepest regions within us, we gain the greatest powers of creation. We open the doors for infinite accomplishment and joy to enter our once perceived finite existence.

Power of Visualizing the Mother

As we are physically not in a position to see Mother directly nowadays as She gave up her physical body a long time ago, Karmayogi has been recommending the power of visualisation to get in touch with Mother and receive Her Blessings.

I made a posting 2 days ago wherein I have recommended that indebted devotees can get relief from their debts by seeing that the Mother Herself repays their creditors in the presence of the concerned devotee and thereby eliminates all their debt burden. This same power of visualisation can be used to solve several other problems successfully.

1. Devotees can visualise getting from Mother Herself the kind of income they want every month as cash and cheque etc. As for the amount I leave it to the devotee's imagination and requirement levels.

2. Those who want to own a new flat or independent house can visualise Mother taking them to such a new flat or house and handing over the keys and relevant documents to them there itself.

3. Childless couples can visualise getting a new-born one day old baby( male or female as per the couple's wish) from the arms of Mother Herself.

4. Lovers who are facing opposition from parents can visualise exchanging garlands and receiving the wedding ring and mangalya sutra from Mother Herself and then becoming husbands and wives in Her Presence.

5. Students who want very good marks can imagine showing Mother an empty mark sheet where Mother writes the kind of marks that they want to obtain and puts her sign and blessings in the mark sheet itself.

6. People who want visas to go abroad can visualise showing their passport to Mother and see the Mother pasting the visa of the concerned country on their passport and putting her signature there as Her Blessing.

7. people who want to restore harmony with some one they have quarrelled with can imagine Mother restoring the peace between them by saying kind words to both the aggrieved parties and making them shake hands or display other signs of affections and friendliness.

8. People who have lost their valuables like cash, jewels, passport, ATM and credit cards, mobile phones etc can visualise The Mother returning these lost items personally and advising them to be careful hereafter.

9. People who are ill and need treatment can visualise Mother sending her curative force into their bodies by blessing them by putting her hands on their heads or by holding their hands for a few minutes and see the illness disappearing and energy coming back into their body.

10. People whose businesses are dull and whose factories are idle for want of orders can see Mother walking in with some valuable customers who give big orders and revive operations in the factory.

11. People who live in areas with badly maintained roads can see Mother coming along with road-laying crews and starting the road-laying process. Those without power supply can see Mother walking in to their house and power coming back immediately.

12. Those who are unhappy and sad for some reason can imagine sitting in Mother's lap like an one-year old baby and being comforted by Her just like a baby is comforted by her own mother and see joy coming back into their feelings.

Use of Mantra

Q: Mother made use of what she called the mantra of Life. Is the use of mantra necessary in Sri Aurobindo and the Mother’s teachings. E.g. mantra of calling Mother’s name constantly:

A: Every person can have his own individual way. Mother's use of the Mantra of Life was very necessary for her extreme concentration in making the cellular change to the new Species. It is a very special case. Whatever makes you more conscious can be used. One friend of mind holds a stone in his hand every waking minute of the day, and every time he turns it is a reminder for him of Mother.

I myself have no essential technique, except when I go for a walk I release myself and give my entire being to Her. I try to make connection with my Psychic Being which is the most powerful of all spiritual experiences. My mind seems to be open to intuitions of thought that comes from the comic plane of Mind. I have a penchant for wanting to understand the nature of the Reality. I am very curious. I open to Mother as much as I can; particularly before events, or for certain circumstance, etc.

There are a thousand methods. Any one you feel comfortable with is good. Satprem did Japa intensely through a guru of his even as he was with Mother; and then then gave it up. Mother encouraged him originally, then discouraged him later on when he was too attached to the form, and was not making the necessary progress. He needed to shed his pessimistic nature head on, which was a matter of him understanding his wanting nature and making the decision to try to overcome it.

The real question is “what do you want.” To change yourself? To come closer to Mother? To perceive the infinite Reality? To realize Sri Aurobindo’s and Karmayogi’s teachings? To have work and family success? etc. Also, which is the priority? And finally are you sincere in wanting to make the inner or outer effort to achieve any of them.

After that is clear, you can select the right methods or methods. There is a smorgasbord of approaches that you can pick and choose from. I myself have not come up with anything, other than remembering Mother before undertaking certain acts. A close friend opens to Mother every 15 minutes because Appa’s atmosphere compels him to do so. I also have practice visualizing Mother in certain work activities. I even do verbal OMs to connect to the entire universe on occasion. Lately I try to practice being more self-giving, non-complaining, making the greater effort, etc. Life always responds to these. That's because taking up these are a real growth for me. Where growth is for you is the real key. Once you know what you want, methods to make it happen can be found in abundance, including Japa, or Mantra. Just knowing and committing to what you really want can make the biggest difference, even without any methods. I.e. life will respond to it and reinforce it.

Grow by Giving
Perhaps the single most powerful way to succeed in life is to have more concern for our fellow human beings.  Normally, we are overwhelmingly concerned about ourselves, driven by our own personal motives and ambitions.  However, the happiest people literally lose themselves in the feelings, thoughts, and aspirations of others.

Are you ready to "forget yourself" and be genuinely interested in the welfare of others?  Are you willing to be tolerant and kind to others, listen attentively and silently to their words, and be non-judgmental and open to their opinions and points of view?  If you are, you're an excellent candidate for great success in life, not to mention an ever-increasing personal happiness and joy.

Try a little experiment. When you meet with others, immediately put yourself in their shoes. Think only of what they want. Listen carefully to their thoughts and feelings, and show genuine concern and empathy. Do this for the entire meeting. Now watch how the interaction goes. Watch how the energy level of the other person increases. The other individual becomes more animated and involved.

In addition, if you watch closely, you may notice some interesting things starting to happen. An unthought of point of view or perspective may be raised in the conversation. New ideas or fresh new insights are suddenly revealed. Or, a new interesting idea, project or event might suddenly come out of the discussion. This all happens because you have shifted your concern toward the other person.

But there's more. If you pay very close attention, you'll see that there might be an added "response from life." For example, during the conversation, someone might call in a great new project to you; or a dramatic new development might arise in some area of your work. This is life itself "responding" to your concern for another person. It is a hidden power that we have witnessed dozens of times in the past. 

Whenever you shift your perspective from yourself to others, your energy increases, conditions of accomplishment, success, and positive outcome reveal themselves, life responds suddenly, positively, and abundantly, and one feels a great joy. The more real and heartfelt the positive feeling toward the other person, the greater the energy, success, joy, and happiness.

Elimination of Ego
The essential reason we do what we want rather than what life gives; i.e. what The Mother, the Divine provides, is that we live from the poise of ego. The Mother ask us to give up ego in all aspects of our lives. When we live a life of ego we are focused on our own passions, concerns, and interests and we become oblivious to the opportunities we are handed, the truths that are emerging, the full knowledge availing to us at any moment, i.e. the direction we have been pointed towards on Her path.

Should one try for a life devoid of ego -- which leads to separateness, self-assertion, preference, attachment, ignorance, and false action -- we will soon discover how enjoyable and powerful life is.

So we must eliminate all egotistic movements including expectation, impatience, assertion, greed, irritation, vindictiveness, jealousy, disappointment, etc. Instead we must move toward positive feelings, such as feeling happy at a colleague's promotion and congratulate him, instead of feeling jealous about his advancement. Mother's Way is for is to become patient, tolerant, open, concerned, and giving.

Take disappointment. We are disappointed in life because we anticipate results. Instead we should do the work on hand and concentrate on it, and think less and less about the results. In that sense the aphorism "the journey is the reward" explains this. We would paraphrase it as "the Inner journey is the reward."

One must also develop a sense of calm and equality in all situations. If e.g. you are not promoted, if someone betrays you in work, one must not react. One must calmly accept what is and move on. One must see things not from the perspective of the ego and one's wishes and preferences, but from the perspective of the unfolding of life, that there is a Divine purpose and Will in that unfolding in your life. In that way we view the world  not from our ego-sense, but from our higher sense, the Divine's Will, the way of the Divine Mother. 

The best way to begin the journey towards non-ego is to move inward away from the surface of life into the deeper parts of our being. From the Silence that emerges there, from the detachment from the surface bubbling of life when stationed there, the self-assertiveness of the ego-sense is reduced, enabling one to interact with life through greater unity and connectedness rather than ego and separateness.

If the ideals set forth here seem too high and one feels he cannot attempt it, he can make a small but significant beginning that will lead to the goal in time.

In this light here are a few specifics we can follow:

1. As a first step, it must be possible to drop jealousy, hatred, offensiveness, selfishness, etc. One can make a full-throated effort, at least, with one of them.

2.  As a second step, try to take another man's point of view, train yourself to listen, be pleasant and try any such attitude.

3. At the physical level of action, punctuality, orderliness, regularity, etc. will help the efforts above.

4. At a higher level act on faith.

If you are not able to follow any of these with full significance, at least start following the external physical versions of them in behavior.  

Increase Gratitude
Gratitude is a very special quality in humans, a quality that can be said to border on the spiritual. Some have even suggested that gratitude is a new form of goodness it the world. If we look around us we can see that individuals with a "soft nature" have a natural way of expressing their gratitude. A person who shows gratitude is in essence recognizing the goodness and rightness of the flow of events in his life; perhaps even subtly recognizing a Divine hand in things. Gratitude is a quality that moves an individual from strife and bitterness to a higher emotion that borders on love of life.

We have noticed that those who are capable of gratitude normally lead a pleasant, smooth, and generally trouble-free life. Those whose sense of gratitude is weak or dull find all kinds of problems arising in their lives. Our conclusion then is that a very effective and powerful way to overcome a serious problem is to change our negative feelings toward the problem to corresponding positive feelings of gratitude to the people and circumstance related to the problem. See the goodness and benefit of the people and circumstance in your past and make your feelings positive with a sense of gratitude. This approach can solve a serious problem very quickly!

Aspiration
When we are first in touch with the spirit, we have a desire to keep close to this force in our lives. However, that aspiration usually wanes after our experience with the spirit recedes over time. To rekindle our relationship to the spirit and its benefits of peace, joy, light, truth, and infinite possibility, we need to make a continuous effort to bring the spirit back into our lives. This effort must be constant, unending, and should embrace all parts of our nature until a flame ignites and burns inside ourselves as a constant Aspiration for union with the divine. By having aspiration for the spirit, the divine in our lives, we make it the central part of our being, the light of our existence. 

-For transformation what is needed is aspiration, and the end of ego. To those who are sincere in this regard will receive the divine help. (Paraphrase of The Mother)

-How many of us are serious about breaking the shackles of ordinary human life to enable our true potential to shine through, to bringing the infinite into the finite, to bring Delight to our souls, instead of living lives of ego, ignorance, and unhappiness. Most of us just want to live ordinarily, compelled to live a bit more extraordinarily only when the chips are down. That's a negative approach to consciousness. We can do better. We can enable our personal growth through intense positive aspiration.

-The people who have the aspiration, the need to know, are the key in the evolution. (Paraphrase of The Mother)

Sincerity
At the beginning of each day we must ask ourselves if we are truly committed to taking a step forward today, or if we are resigned to accepting our current status, habits and preoccupations.

Spiritual Insincerity on the Mother's Path (by N. Ashokan of MSS)

Open courteous statement	Indirect Implication and real meaning
1.       I would like to serve Mother and is there any scope for it?	Is there any way in which I can  benefit more from Mother’s grace and if so please tell me.
2.       Mother! Let Thy Will be done.	Mother! Pl   accept my Will as yours and sanction it quickly.
3.       I have faith in Mother only .	When everything I believe in fails such as money, status and power and influence, then I will come to Mother.
4.       Money is no issue in Service matters.	Money is the only issue in service matters.
5.       Mother is always in my thoughts.	I think of Mother only when I need Her.
6.       I accept whatever comes to me as grace.	I am sorely disappointed when the  expected  result for my prayer did not come and something else came.
7.       In my Life Mother is first and anything is next only.	When all  my requirement have been fulfilled, then certainly Mother comes First.
8.       I buy every  M.S.S  publication as soon as it is out.	Though I buy right away, it is many months before I sit down to read any of them.
9.       Life divine and Savithri are great treasures for me.	I don’t understand much of what is there.
10.   I always enjoy meditation.	Only my eyes are closed and my body is sitting still, but my mind is on something else other than Mother.
11.   I follow all of Mother’s guidelines and don’t do one  thing  She disapproves of.	With all due respect, I follow Mother only where it is convenient for me and politely forget Her guidelines where it does not suit me.
12.    I never bargain with Mother.	I remember all the big   offerings I have made and when She does not sanction what I want, my enthusiasm to give offerings is seriously diminished.

Faith
-The ultimate skill of the spirit is perhaps the acknowledgement that there is something beyond any skills, beyond our knowledge, beyond even our spiritual emotions that we can have ultimate trust in. That is faith. Faith is the mind's intuition of higher spiritual truth. Faith is the knowledge of the soul within us of truths we have not yet discovered.

We can have faith on occasion, when circumstances are difficult, or on an ongoing basis. Ongoing faith in the spirit, the divine  is an indication that spirit has become the foundation of our lives. From that poise anything we come to believe that anything is possible for us. It opens us up to the infinite possibilities in life, and it brings us into a closer relationship with the Divine spirit.

-Faith is the knowledge and experience of the soul. Therefore, when you discover your personal evolving soul at some point along the path, faith will be ever-present and ever-lasting.

-Faith in the Divine comes as knowledge of one's soul. When we connect to our personal evolving soul (the psychic being), faith increases. In that way we come to faith in Joy, instead of coming to it by being tested through the despair of serious problems.
We must learn to move from faith in life's institutions; e.g. law if we are involved in a law case, medicines if we are sick, etc.; even to the miraculousness of life response itself for faith in the working of the divine Force, the divine Mother. This is the true faith.

----

Negative vs. Positive Faith in Mother (as expressed in a situation of someone's chronic illness)

"In our [Indian] tradition, illness is understood to be the result of past karma. A lady was suffering from asthma for over a decade. In an affectionate family, illness is an occasion for attention. People overcome their resistances and offer unusual help. In other families, where no one feels any emotion for another, it becomes an occasion for the patient to develop immeasurable endurance. Occasionally, someone at home will attribute motives to the sufferer. This lady was one of extraordinary politeness and was so independent that she would seek no help from anyone except her children.

Hospitalisation was an annual phenomenon. It sometimes prolonged for weeks or months. To her, the physical suffocation was unendurable. During one such visit to the hospital, the doctors found it a hopeless case and refused to attend on the patient. The faith the patient had in the divine Mother that SHE would save her life and spare her the pain gave way. She could no longer pray to save her life. She shifted in her mind. She thought of praying that she should no longer suffer. She sent for her children, removed the IV tubes, and refused further medication. To the children she made a profound declaration, ''I can't live anymore. Mother will protect you both. Have faith in The Mother.'' They broke out in a wail. A weight was off her mind. She fell asleep.

When she woke up, there was no suffocation. Her face was bright. Her voice was clear. To the nurse attending on her it was a wonder. The nurse ran to the doctors and reported. They were unbelieving, and rushed to the patient offering to revive the treatment. The lady preferred to go home. In the next fifteen years hospitalisation was rare and far between. This is negative FAITH. She prayed to die. Mother gave her health and life. A positive faith, though it sees no response, will imply one. It takes the attitude, ''I have done my best. The pain is unrelenting. No prayer to Mother will be in vain, even if the results are NOT visible. My duty is to exhaust my prayer of faith and not despair. The best will happen to me.'' Such a faith will give the same results but in a higher fashion. No recurrence will ever be there.

A positive Faith brings the positive opportunities of health and the society. A negative Faith wards off the existing problems. One who relates to the Spirit has a greater chance of developing a positive FAITH." (Karmayogi)

Connecting with the Psychic Within  (One's Personal Evolving Soul)
What is the soul? A commonly accepted definition is that the soul is a portion of, a "spark" of the Divine that each person has within him at birth. This soul is in the noblest person, as well as the most wretched. In one sense we can say that the very reason we are born is because we have manifest a spark of the universal spirit within us. Just as the universe exists as an extension of a Divine reality, so too we each exist because we have a soul spark of this Divine reality within us.

Now consider the fact that each of us actually has two souls! As an individual begins to live a life of progress, or lives an inner life, or connects to the spiritual Divine reality, something interesting starts to occur deep within. The spark of the Divine, this soul within us, starts taking on a new companion aspect that has an individualized, personal character. The Indian sage and seer Sri Aurobindo calls this personalized soul the "Psychic Being." (Not to be confused with having "psychic experiences.") When we grow as individuals, when we touch the inner consciousness in the depths of our being, when we connect to the Divine reality in our lives, we begin to manifest a new personalized soul space, the Psychic Being.

Next to the unchanging soul spark of the Divine, the personal evolving soul, the Psychic Being is dynamic. It is dynamic because it reflects each person's individuality, including changes in growth and development of the individual; whereas the "first" soul, the universal soul, the soul spark of the Divine is the same in essence in everyone; a part of, an eddy of the changeless, infinite, timeless, spaceless, unfathomable Divine. The Psychic Being is also dynamic because it is an evolving entity. It evolves through the accumulated positive experiences of the individual it inhabits. This individualized personal soul at any point has a certain level of spiritual substance, essence, and Wisdom; and seeks to enhance these through the growth and progress of the individual human it inhabits. As the individual in the course of his life grows, develops, and evolves his capacities, attitudes, habits, opinions, sentiments, values, and other aspects of his being, the Psychic Being absorbs those essences from the individual's experiences and realizations that are useful for its own further evolution. In other words, when you evolve, it can evolve!

If the individual stops growing relative to the needs of an evolving Psychic Being, It will begin to withdraw from that person, searching for new opportunities for greater sustenance for its further development. It normally withdraws by leaving the individual, and merging with the higher realms of consciousness not of this world. If the right vehicle is found, the Psychic Being then enters that new individual in its quest for further nourishment of consciousness, i.e. to further evolve. This is what we mean by the term "rebirth."

If we are able to help the Psychic Being evolve, how can it help us? If we learn to connect with the Psychic Being that is there in the depths of our being within, then life will move in a decidedly different direction for us. The first major effect that the evolving personal soul can have on us is that it helps us live our lives in the best possible way. It does this by "watching over us," insuring that we act in the right way, do the right things, and take the right actions in life. For example, when we do certain things or take certain actions, it subtlely lets us know if it is the right or wrong thing to do. It also watches over the movements of our emotions, reactions, thoughts, habits, attitudes; and subtly suggests, intimates which movements are good and which are deleterious and harmful to us, to be avoided in the future. In this way our personal evolving soul, this Psychic Being becomes our Inner Guide in life.

A second result of our connection to our evolving soul is that we start experiencing everything around us from a very different perspective. By living in the deepest depths we start to move away from and are less influenced by the surface activities around us. We are no longer overwhelmed by the input of the surface life, absorbed through our five senses, which deleteriously affects our feelings, our thinking processes, and our actions. As we withdraw from the surface of life, we are less likely to act from our ego-sense, from our intense and over-wrought individuality and separateness. As a result we see all of life around us in a new light. We open to the greater possibilities that are always there in the atmosphere around us. We open to wider the influences and possibilities that are emerging at every moment. We withdraw our own will and needs and desires in favor of the will and needs and requirements of others. We sense what the truth of the moment is; what is right, what is the correct action to take (or not to take). In this way we enable a greater harmony, unity, and oneness of purpose with all and everything around us.

Also, as our field of awareness, insight, and consciousness expands beyond our own selves, we begin to sense that we are not only an individual self, but that we are also a universal self and being. We begin to sense that the universe and its forces and powers are really an extension of our own individual self. We sense that the consciousness of the universe is intimately connected to our own consciousness. At that point we begin to develop a cosmic consciousness within us, as we sense that all the forces, powers, and subtleties of the universe are there at our disposal.

Then there is the effect of touching the Psychic Being on one's knowledge in life. Normally we know things through our senses, mixed with the thinking faculties of mind. When we want to know something we might need to undertake an investigation, or learn something new, or find it out from others, or simply think deeply on it. The process is long-winding and time consuming. However, there are greater powers of mind higher that one can utilize in one's life; where answers come directly and instantly, without having to go through a long process of investigation, learning, or even thinking. In this way knowledge simply comes, descends into our minds as sudden flashes of light or illumination, as visions or revelations, or as great descents of the object of knowledge and inquiry, complete, in toto, into our minds as intuitions. As a result of our connection to the universal consciousness and mind through our association with the Psychic Being, these experiences of light, illumination, vision, and intuition begin to happen more frequently.

This descent from the universal is greatest when we have descents of complete intuitions of knowledge. If, for example, we wanted to know the solution to a difficult problem that would normally take weeks if not months of inquiry, it would simply descend into our minds, without any thought, giving us future knowledge today; e.g. abridging months of hard fought mental inquiry into literally a few moment of time. Needless to say this can totally change our effectivity and efficiency in life. We become the masters of time and space; we bring the infinite future into the finite present.

As we touch the evolving soul within we not only develop experience illuminations and intuitions of future knowledge in the present, but we also start developing a most astounding new perception of the world; a unitarian consciousness. What does that mean? Well normally we perceive the world in terms of conflicting opposites; good and evil, pleasure and pain, and other divisions, dualities, and opposites of life. In the unitarian consciousness we no longer view these conflicting opposites, but as necessary complements to one another needed in order for life to progress. The good cannot get better without the bad; I cannot improve myself except through my rival or the conflicts, challenges that life presents to me; the nation cannot progress except through its conflict with others. In this unitarian consciousness, we begin to perceive that the contradictory and conflicting parties are necessary to one another to enable higher harmonies to emerge. Pairs of opposites is Nature's way of progress. Moreover, as we see the complementary nature of opposites that need one another for each to progress to a higher harmony, we actually become instruments and enablers of that higher harmony. By seeing the complementary nature of related conflicting pairs, we sense where they are moving towards, and thus have a glimpse of their future direction. From that point we can develop strategies that help them get there without conflict! Connecting with the evolving personal soul enables us to extend out to have a glimpse of this unitarian truth consciousness.

Perhaps most rewarding in connecting to the Psychic Being within is when we experience the Delight of existence; the joy of being and living in life. Perhaps the single great reason this universe emerged from a Divine Reality was so that we who dwell here could experience the delight of the Divine spirit. The divine created the universe for delight, and when we touch our evolving soul being, our Psychic Being, we uncover that hidden delight in creation. In the Psychic Being of the individual is buried the great hidden Delight that emerged from the Creator in creation.

When we connect to the Psychic Being we experience our inner personal guide, experience great awareness of the environment around us, open the doorway to the universal consciousness and its forces and powers, open to descents of light, vision, and intuitions of complete knowledge and integral knowledge, experience the oneness, purpose, and emerging harmonies of life beyond the dualities and conflicts of existence that we see on the surface, and enter the pathway of bliss and delight. To experience the Psychic being even  once in our life is one of the greatest experiences a human being can have. To make it a permanent realization is to open the portal to the infinite potentials and delight of existence.

Surrender
-The roadmap to our evolutionary destiny passes through these milestones. We begin by offering acts and activities and problems of life to the Divine Force; which in turn enables us to make a link our inner being within, which guides us to our truer nature and behavior, opens us to the descents of intuition and revelation, and connects us to universal force and powers; which leads us deeper within to our True Self, our personal evolving soul; which leads to a realization that we should now live our lives completely dedicated to the Divine Will and Purpose, which is a life of surrender; which opens the portals to infinite possibilities in life, and establishes the foundation for the ultimate transformations to our supra-human functioning.

-Concentration is a movement away from living on the surface of life, where the senses dominate, to a focus within. Consecration is to defer all action in life to a higher consciousness [i.e. the Force] rather than our self of ego. Surrender is the willed decision to move one's entire life in a whole different direction; that direction being a never-ending life of self-giving and surrender to the Divine Will.

The psychic [the personal evolving soul] is engaged when there is consecration. It begins to flower when surrender begins, and its is in full bloom as surrender unfolds.

-Surrender of one's self to the Divine enables the spirit Being to enter the life Becoming, which enables the infinite potentials of life to rush into the present as miraculous sudden, abundant, responses from life.

-Surrender seems less to do with acts, events, problems, but a general or overall movement of giving ones self to the Divine's Will, not personal will. The personal self begins to be left behind; though it enables the real Self.

-No surrender is possible without the psychic emerging. Surrender is done through the psychic. (We consecrate so that we reach the psychic.)

-Once one has discovered the personal evolving soul, the method of Surrender to the divine will emerges as a possibility.

-Consecration, though not easy is for the beginner devotee; while surrender is for those whose very lives are committed to progress and spiritual evolution.

High Earning through Mother's Force for Devotees that can Change India’s Course

Let us take Appa Shri Karmayogi’s advice and guidance and bring about in our personal career and work the kind of prosperity that he says is possible for every Mother’s devotee (minimum 10 lakhs income per month or a maximum of 12 crores per year) by applying the power of spiritual principles in the field of work and achieve that result. If even a 100 disciples and devotees of Appa take this up as a challenge and succeed in this attempt in the next 5 or 10 years, even this token success will have a great impact on the overall economic performance of the country and what the Tapas of one Mighty Rishi can do for the country in 20 years, a group of 100 devotees of Mother and disciples of Shri. Karmayogi can do in as little as 10 years. Similarly if 100 disciples of Appa practice total harmony among themselves for a few years it can bring down terrorist violence in this country in a big way. This is not just a flight of my Imagination but very much a possibility. There are a few disciples and devotees of Appa already on the way to becoming a success in this manner in 5 or 10 years. But more such people need to join and thereby increase the group total to a hundred. (N. Ashokan)

Truth
-We need to move our center of consciousness from what we call the sense-based mind to a higher status of mind, where we are using the more logical, rational part of mind. From that higher rational, conceptual status of mind we are more objective, more likely to see the varied sides of a truth, which enable us to get at most of the facts that lead to insight.

-To go against the falsehood that lies in the family, to stand aloof from the falsehood inherent in society, and to overcome the falsehood that is surely there in ourselves, is the adventure of the seeking of Truth, i.e. of Spirit in life. (Paraphrase of MSS)

-We must give up our morality, our ethics, our social conventions, our worshiping, our rituals, our faith in limited material, scientific knowledge of the surface, and aspire for one great thing -- Truth. Only this will rapidly bring the future into the present.

Mental Bent
On the other hand for many these approaches may not be suitable. For those with a more mental bent, there are solutions as well. For example, one can simply try to analyze the problem in a wider context so as to arrive at a fuller understanding of the problem. This can reveal solutions not perceived before.

A Calm and Equal Basis
Whichever approach you use it is important that you remain calm and equal throughout the situation. The first rule in dealing with any problem is that you need to be still and not overwrought by the problem. In an atmosphere of anger, fear, and worry, the problems only get exacerbated, and the power of these techniques are reduced. In addition, having a general positive faith that one way or the other the problem will be overcome is also very helpful. That includes accepting that what comes as a result of utilizing the above methods is for the best, even if it is not what one expected or even likes.

There are some instances where one simply needs to completely forget the problem to solve the problem. For example a person who is completely overcome by a situation may need to completely forget the problem before taking any action. Sometimes just by ignoring the problem, the problem will ease. 

If you are sincere in using any of the techniques suggested here, you will be able to solve any problems in your life. Furthermore, you might find that dissolving the knot of the problem also opened new doors for you and propelled you to new levels of happiness and success in life.

Equality
-A great foundation for growth and accomplishment in life is endless patience (a quality of soul), perfect Equality (i.e. indifference of reaction to what appears enjoyable or unenjoyable, good or bad; a quality of infinity), and a decided and constant cheerfulness.

-Patience is the attitude of equality. Equality is the consciousness of infinity.

-The spiritual way is to be the detached beholder of life, which enables many sided knowledge, truth, and right action. Our normal lives are the opposite of this.

-A great foundation for growth and accomplishment in life is Equality. Equality is the indifference of reaction to what appears enjoyable or unenjoyable, good or bad, fortune or problematic. It is quite powerfully demonstrated in this incident. It is a spiritual quality of the Infinite.
 

Peace
Another way force acts is as Peace. Peace is a state of utter calm and stillness from which all successful outcomes in life must begin. 

One of the first steps on the journey is to establish Peace in our physical nature. We must quiet the body and the nerves to seek that which is beyond our surface being. Spiritual peace comes by self-discipline and calling down the higher vibration into the body, whose nature vacillates between dullness an action. This is an essential first step in any spiritual path. Once physical Peace is established we must learn to free ourselves from the influence of our mind whose lower nature is one of analysis and division and establish the abiding mental Peace to augment the physical Peace.

Calling Peace -- Here's one technique: Take any situation in which there is turmoil, confusion, or other negative circumstance. Try to find a point within yourself where there is calm and peace. If you are unable to find that point call peace into the situation. When you feel you are at the point of calm and peace resume your activities. Our research indicates that by calling peace you can calm your thoughts, decrease pain, and attract positive circumstances around you. You can even help stop a negative incident around, such as a riot.

Calling peace into yourself is also a way to reduce physical pain. When a pain occurs, quiet your mind, and don't let it give sanction to the pain (i.e. don't give in to such thoughts and feelings as "Oh no not again" or "Now I have to go to the doctor"). Then call in Peace into yourself for a few moments. Relax. Then watch the pain ease or even disappear. This is also a great technique for reducing stress.

Notes: Calling down Peace disperses a quarreling crowd, as well as calms down a nation troubled by war.

Silence
Mind is a great instrument, the greatest instrument we are endowed with. Mind becomes destructive when it acts on its own. Mind becomes an instrument of creation, a great instrument at that when it subordinates itself to its ORIGIN, the Spirit. Relying on the Mind, insisting on our ideas, on our capacity to plan is our undoing. Mind's ideas are powerful, its planning is effective when they are sanctioned by the inner Spirit and fully endorsed in its validity.

It is NOT Reason that achieves, but Spirit through inner Silence. Cease to Reason, you will end in Spirit. Ceasing to Reason, you are ushered into Silence, which is the atmosphere of the Inner Spirit. Spirit is the seat of true everlasting Power. (Karmayogi)

Perfection
Mother devotees are not often aware that even small perfection can bring great results because Mother is there in the background. A small softdrink company competing for the franchise of a big corporation secured that franchise due to the neatly typed and folded letter that the consultant for the company sent to that corporation. He himself was amazed when the head of that corporation told him that it was the neatness and perfection of that letter that convinced him to allot that franchise to this small company overlooking giants in the field.

The car driver of a past chief minister of Karnataka provided Indira Gandhi with some interesting information about the then C.M which pleased her so much that she gave him a ticket to contest an M.P election. He won the election and went on the become a cabinet minister.

Big corporate deals are sometimes finalised not on the strength of the product offered but on the fineness of the hospitality shown to the visiting clients.

If this is true the reverse is also true. If a businessman spills coffee on his shirt while negotiating a contract worth crores of rupees, that simple coffee spill may cost him 20 or 30 lakhs when the other party suddenly reverses and bargains stiffly for a hefty reduction because he has noticed the coffee spill and that tells him something about the seller's personality.

Only a few people are allowed to enter my father's floor. These few people including myself have to be very careful when we are there. If in opening the door to the inner hall where my father sits if we cause a little noise by letting the door close fast he says his work for the whole day has been cancelled because of that noise. It is difficult for us to believe that a little noise can cancel an important work of his. But for him that is real because the atmosphere in his floor is very sensitive. Similarly a single grace flower we receive from him can bring us a luck out of all proportion to that single flower because the consciousness in his floor is very powerful and it magnifies the result of the single grace flower to a great extent.

So let us devotees not forget that when we are moving in Mother's sensitive atmosphere great accomplishments can come due to nice little small perfections in details which in ordinary life would scarcely matter. (N. Asokan, MSS)

Yoga (Evolution as a way of life)
When we dedicate our lives to self-improvement, we are, in essence, making evolution a way of life. Evolution as a way of life becomes our on-going, life long attempt to elevate all aspects of our being, resulting in higher levels of consciousness, awareness, capacity, and character for ourselves. That in turn leads to greater levels of success, accomplishment, achievement, happiness, and joy.

There are many techniques and approaches we can use as we make evolution a way of life. For example, we can learn to -- 

• increase our level of personal organization in our life

•  increase our skills and knowledge in our life

• shed our negative attitudes, habits, and opinions in our life

• become aware of and implement our deepest personal values in our life

 increase our energy and vitality in life

In addition, we can practice evolution as a way of life by continually being aware, observing, and utilizing the hidden forces and phenomenon of life that defy our normal perceptions of space and time. These include - 

• understanding the relationship between the world outside us and our inner consciousness, i.e. how the outer life reflects our inner attitudes and perception. (inner-outer correspondence).

• understanding how we can trigger instant positive life responses through changes in our attitudes, actions, and thoughts. (life response)

• getting in touch with the inner forces of life that can release infinite possibility in life. (infinite potential of life)

If we practice evolution as a way of life, i.e. we utilize all of these approaches on an on-going basis, then we are sure to grow, develop, and evolve as a person. That in turn can only lead to unimagined levels of success, accomplishment, happiness, and joy in our lives. 

Beyond these approaches we can also make evolution a way of life by making a spiritual effort. 

• Connect to Soul/inner Being -- We can come in contact with the spirit within us, i.e. our souls. At this level we are not caught up in the surface of life; we live in the depths of our being. In this way our consciousness is withdrawn from the surface action of the mental, vital, and physical realm. We can see our limitations at these planes, and understand how we can make improvements in those areas we are lacking in.

• Aspiration for Higher Power -- We can also aspire to connect with the great effectuating force of the universe, the Truth Consciousness or Supramental force, which is the dynamic power of the Divine. 

• Calling Higher Power to Overcome Limitations -- We can also call in the force into our being to help us overcome our mental, vital, and physical limitations. 

• Consecration and Other Spiritual Techniques -- We can connect to this force through various techniques, such as prayer, meditation, calling, aspiration, and consecration. 

By utilizing these approaches we begin to not only overcome our limiting capacities but we bring in the peace, force, power, and bliss of the divine spirit in our lives. Furthermore, by coming in touch with the force we gain the positive cooperation and sanction of life -- in the events, circumstances, and situations we participate in, and we begin to unleash the infinite potential and possibilities in life. We become the masters of life, opening us up to infinite accomplishment, success, and joy. 

When we have reached an even more advanced stage, we come to perceive and feel that it is the spirit itself that provides the central meaning in his life. We perceive that is the spirit's own purpose that is working its will though our lives. We become instruments of the divine unfolding and intention in the universe. At that point we become a spiritualized, evolutionary individual, a harbinger of a new species and a divine life on earth.

Physical Fitness in the Context of Our Growth

[A reader says, "Apart from all the wonderful knowledge sharing by His Holiness Karmayogi do we have any guidance from MSS to keep our physique/body fit and fine? ... sometimes I feel a lack with MSS where nothing about physical fitness is emphasised."]

We know that the Mother certainly believed in physical fitness. She practiced tennis into her 80s. Also in the SA Ashram there was a great emphasis on physical fitness. The body should be the perfect temple to house the spirit. We have also seen how poor diet, lack of exercise, et al has led to certain tragedies.

Any techniques like pranayama, yoga, etc. are welcome in Karmayogi’s teachings. Whatever improves the health (inner and outer) is useful. I personally take long walks every day. A number of Karmayogi’s devotees do rigorous exercise.

There are infinite methods. All are welcome. None are required. There are endless paths. Each individual takes his own as he sees fit; as Life has seen fit for him.

Or to put it another way, we each have our own context, and therefore our own specific way forward – mentally, vitally, and physically.

Sometimes we believe the approach we have taken is the only right one for ourselves; even that it is necessary for others. It is based partly on truth, part on Ego. It can simply be a Habit; when in fact something even Greater awaits us.

From another perspective, what brought us here has served a purpose, even as it may now be holding us back for even Greater Progress.

It all depends on the karma, context, and needs of the soul of that individual.

In The Agenda, Mother had this conversation with Satprem in the early years as he worked his way through certain disciplines. From one perspective, he did not need them, but Mother was patient and let him be. From another, she saw it was necessary. He finally broke through and gave himself to Her more fully.

The outer shell of the body is critical. And yet here in the US it is all they think about. The inner life is a blank. We Americans need to develop the inner life more; climb mountains and bungee-jump less.

Obviously there are higher forms of exercise that can bring about higher life. Even in America some are able to see beyond the Yoga postures, viewing it as a means of higher consciousness.

Karmayogi indicates that a specific technique can pigeonhole one into a limited part. He offers the ultimate technique of opening to the spiritual Force, the Divine Mother, the Supramental Power (all the same thing) because it includes all others. I.e. it produces any effect at whatever plane of being -- physical, vital, and mental -- one aspires improvement in. E.g. if want better physical condition, open to Her, and all diseases will pass over you, never touch you. You will also live longer. The same for vital, psychological, mental, and spiritual well-being.

Specifically, Karmayogi indicates that Pranayama [an interest of the reader referred to at the outset of this article] is regulation of the breath that puts the body in touch with the universal energies that flow into it, making it glow.

And yet he goes on to say-

Asana is the exercise of the body, one of the three parts of the being. Purifying the body emphasises the body, thus excluding other parts. Pranayama concentrates on the breath of the vital. Naturally, mind and body are relegated. The emphasis laid on thought may prepare the mind, not the other parts of the being. If thought is of the mind, and breath is of the vital, what instrument is there for one to choose when the being is his field?

He concludes that constant opening to the supramental Power (i.e. consecration) is the integrative answer.

Relief from Debts in the Mother's Way

So many people are afflicted with debts that they are unable to repay. Here is one simple method they can use to get rid of their debts. They can visualise that they are standing in front of Mother along with those others to whom they owe money.

They can visualise Mother asking the creditors how much does the devotee owe them by way of principal and interest. The creditors give a figure and then Mother herself pays the amount either as cash or cheque and they thank the Mother and go away with the money thereby relieving the devotee of his debt problem.
Those who have pawned jewels either with banks or pawn brokers can also use this same method. They can visualise Mother paying either the bank official or the pawn broker the amount the devotee owes and then they can see the pawnbroker or bank official returning their pledged jewels to Mother directly. They can then visualise Mother receiving the jewels and then handing them over to the devotee.

If the visualisation is done with enough intensity and if the feelings of the devotee are sufficiently moved, then he or she can see funds moving towards them with remarkable speed which they can use for settlement of their debts.

What matters here is how real and powerful is the imagination of the indebted devotee in visualising such a scene and not the actual amount. Even if the amount looks forbidding that is a problem for the devotee only but not for the Mother. This method will work whether it is a mere 1000 rupees debt or a 10,00,000 ( 10 lakhs) or even an one crore (1,00,00,000) debt burden. The Mother can mobilise one crore as easily as she can mobilise one thousand. It is our mind that is intimidated by huge amounts but that is not a problem for Her Grace.

The effectivity of this type of prayer will be in proportion to how much the devotee disregards the amount and focuses on the power of his visualisation. I wish indebted devotees get quick relief in this way and recover their peace of mind. (N. Ashokan for MSS)

Measuring Up Our Consciousness at Each Plane
The following list describes the planes of life we come in contact with and an indicator of a high relation to that plane. Thus it can serve to help us determine where each of are at each of these planes

Physical - how orderly the things we use- are kept.
Vital - how self-restrained are we in not interrupting another person's talk.
Mental - how mercenary are we in having an opinion that decides.
Spiritual - how prone are we in expressing or not expressing.
Drishti - how careful we are in taking note of visions and
realizing what they indicate..
Intuition - how much we honour our inner promptings.
Overmind - how strong we are in preventing the interference of ignorance.
Supermind - how much we are able to see the other man's point of view.
Consciousness - how united our will is with our knowledge (Consciousness-Force)
Being -- how much we are above being conscious. (MSS, with additional intro)

The Present Human Condition vs. What Mother is Offering: (MSS)

How Mother Comes Towards us

	Area of Life	How Mother Comes to us
1.	Life & Yoga	-- Progress and Transformation
2.	Income	-- Unlimited growth.
3.	Job	-- Accomplishment and Fulfillment.
4.	Work	-- Perfect execution.
5.	Family Life	-- Love and Affection.
6.	Marriage	-- Romantic Fulfillment.
7.	Education	-- Knowledge improvement
8.	Physical fitness	-- Perfect Health
9.	Human relationships	-- Harmony.
10.	Problems	-- Solutions.
11.	Travel	-- Protection.
12.	Disputes	-- Justice.
13.	Employment	-- Security
14.	Soul	-- Love, Joy, Light, Sweetness.
15.	Mind	-- Creativity, Understanding.
16.	Heart	-- Love, Affection, Self -giving.
17.	Body	-- Energy, Health
18.	Form and Appearance	-- Beauty
19.	Sleep	-- Good Rest
20.	Help	-- Instantaneous Support  (MSS)

1. It grants all sincere prayers. It gives more than asked for. It gives us what we do not know exists. A person who tried to buy one acre ended up with three hundred acres.
2. When you see the results exceed your prayer, you can be sure it is this Force that is at work. Excess is its stamp.
3. One man getting a boon from this Force enables all such men to receive the same. One man receiving electric connection thus leads to all getting it. Such a sphere of influence goes on widening endlessly.
4. If the present laws stand in the way of our getting justice, the Force changes the law.
5. An unemployed devotee was unjustly arrested under an act related to the Press. He intensely prayed for release. The act itself was rescinded and all those arrested under it were released.
6. The Force mostly acts through a method so far not known. A company analysing space utilisation came to Mother. It got an enormous boon in another field of technology.
7. The Force acts best when it acts through new channels. It acts through the existing channels because it honours our beliefs.
8. Devotees often see that when they seek help, they find the Force already in readiness to help. It plants a friend as the sanctioning officer, a favourable law in existence but not in vogue, etc. Prayers are often granted before they are voiced in the sense Mother makes Life ready to grant it.
9. Pray for a benefit, the Force grants the very source of it. One who needed a good rented house got his own house. One who was furiously working to get a dealership became a director in that company.
10. An attack on the devotee changes into an opportunity. A senior officer in the public sector was falsely charged with corruption. Without the knowledge of the concerned officer, an inquiry was set up. It proved him to be the only incorruptible officer. The Ministry made him the chairman of the company overlooking a dozen persons.
11. Cheerfulness is the sensation of this Force.
12. A devotee has everything to receive from this Force. Conscientious officers will inevitably rise to the top post of the organisation.
13. Ask for a part, get the whole on easy terms is one more characteristic of this Force.
14. The Force dissolves your karma.

Guidelines for Safeguarding our Alignment with Mother

1.  His Faith in Mother must be total and he should believe that Grace can solve his problems more effectively than human initiatives and human factors like money, power and influence etc.

2.   His natural impulse should be to handle problems through prayer and consecration rather than through human initiatives and agencies.

3.   He should believe in the truth of life response and accept that what comes to him from life is in response to what he is inside.

4.   If he wants to correct the situation outside he must come forward to make the corresponding changes inside and thus be able to control the outside from the inside.

5.  He must want the flowering of his soul more than anything else. He must accept the goal of integral transformation as the main aim of his life.

6.   He must know how to apply spiritual principles in the conduct of ordinary life and by integrating spirit and ordinary life he must turn his life into a synthesis which can be called yogic life.

7.   He must come forward to surrender his ego and let the spirit take control of his life and govern his activities.

8.  He must aspire for unceasing progress and never rest satisfied with what he has achieved.  Physically he must be willing to work for a minimum of 8 hours a day and believe that work is the way the body offers worship to the divine.

9.   He must resist the temptation to act on an impulse and remember to always step back and reconsider before responding to any outside stimulus or provocation.

10.  He must take great efforts to achieve psychological equality so that he is not excited or disturbed by what will affect  a normal man.

11.  He must allot enough time and effort to read the major works of Sri Aurobindo and Mother so that he is well-versed in their teachings and principles.

12.  He  must not let his mind interfere with the working of grace by demanding that the actions of grace be compatible with the laws of reason, science and nature.

13.  He must be strong and brave enough to resist social opposition if society blocks his attempts to do what he thinks will bring him closer to Mother.

14.  He must keep his surroundings very clean and orderly. He must keep his personality also clean and fit for Mother’s habitation by removing impurities such as fear, greed, sex and anger and jealousy etc.

15.  He must wean himself from lifeless and deadening rituals and conventions that keep one bound to the past and waste our energies and lower our consciousness.

16.  Whenever his ego receives a blow he must recognize that it is good for his soul and take the blow as a blessing in disguise.

17.  He must accept all that goes wrong with his body as indications of psychological imperfections and come forward to cure physical maladies with psychological corrections.

18.  Whenever he is afflicted with a problem or affected by danger his first thought should be to remember Mother and call for Her grace to act.

19.  Whenever he takes a major initiative he must come forward to refer the initiative to Mother inside and get her clearance before starting to act. If that is too difficult he must at least refer the initiative to his guru if there is one and get his clearance before acting.

20.  He must wean himself from the clutches of habits and routine as much as possible and be able to act in a fresh and spontaneous manner.

21.  He must come forward to do his best and maximum even if it is difficult and painful. He must constantly fill his life with challenges which he should take step to conquer.

22.  If troubles arise in the lives of those he deals with and if problems arise in those places where he goes to he must be humble enough to accept that he has  a part in their problems and must come forward to remove his contribution.

23.  By following the Mother’s principle that the divine is there wherever a smile is there he must try to be always cheerful and smiling.

24.  He must come forward to give his love and help  to others without expecting anything in return just as The Mother gives her love and grace to us without expecting anything in return.

25.  He must strive for harmony with others around as much as possible and must know that quarrelling, abusing and slandering will take him far away from her circle of protection.

26.  He must not take her protection for granted and must be sensible and careful not to do anything that takes him out of her circle of protection.

27.  He must achieve a steady prosperity and be free of debts and liabilities and take his prosperity level as a sign of the extent of his alignment with Her Grace.

28.  If he needs help he should make life come to him with offers of help by exercising the power of Silent Will rather than by openly asking others for help.

29.  He should value Mother and his relationship with Her more than his earnings, career and family and friends etc and see to it that these do not weaken his relationship with Her in anyway.

30.  He should welcome rains and actively pray for rains to come and should in no way take rains as inconveniencing his movements or functioning.

31.  If he gives offerings he should immediately forget them no matter how big the amount is and be always aware of only what he gets from Her grace and not what he gives to Her by way of money or physical service.

32.  He must always take the way life treats him as the way he relates to Her and if the way life responds to him is very unsatisfactory he must understand that he is to that extent estranged from Her.

33.  If devotees come to his house as visitors he must feel it a blessing to offer them food and refreshments.

34.  He must not waste his time, money or materials as waste of any kind is abhorrent to Her and he should certainly be in no way responsible for wasting other’s time, money or materials.

35.  He must adapt himself to the requirements of the work or service that comes to him rather than try to make the work or service suit his convenience.

36.  He must cultivate his relationships only with those who are aligned with Mother and not enjoy the company of those who are inimical to his relationship with Mother and who have an obvious false dimension to their personality.

37.  If something goes wrong he must take steps to correct himself as a way of correcting the situation rather than going about blaming others and asking them to correct themselves.

38.  He should never force others to come into Mother’s fold if they do not show an inclination in this direction. His life should be such that it automatically inspires those around him to take to Mother on their own after seeing how She has changed and improved his life.

39.  He should always be aware that She is there all the time looking at him and watching his movements so that he should not do anything that She won’t approve of.

40.  He should always be alert and conscious enough to keep progressing and moving forward without life having to put pressure on him through difficulties and ordeals that serve to wake him up.

41.  He should make use of flowers that foster spiritual vibrations and  also use such things as incense and camphor to keep the household atmosphere pure and uplifted.

42.  If there is a pooja room in the house it should be used for meditation and reading only and its spiritual atmosphere should be safeguarded as much as possible by not allowing non-spiritual activities like sleeping or eating or chatting there.

43.  He must believe that spirit can have an impact on matter and that spiritual power can make him achieve in life  what is not possible for others who do not believe in the power of the spirit.

44.  He must believe that if he is fully open to Mother he can achieve instantly what others take years to achieve in terms of income and career accomplishment.

45.  He must know that since Mother’s grace is supramental in nature it is beyond the control of space, time and form and that these are no impediments for grace to act and deliver results.

46.  Once he has surrendered a problem to Mother he should not worry about the problem anymore and instead of worry he must start feeling happy and cheerful that the solution is definitely on the way.

47.  Whatever positive activities he initiates must grow and expand and thereby show that The Mother’s touch is there in his functioning.

48.  He must carry so much of Mother’s luck with him that all those who interact with him regularly in a positive manner must enjoy a rise in their prosperity level also.

49.  He must know that since all is in each and each is in all his doing the correct thing by correcting himself will correct the whole situation even if many others are involved.

50.  If his faith tells him one thing and his reason tells him something else he must lean towards his faith and not towards his reason. (compiled by N. Ashokan of MSS)

Comments:

The Mother’s Values vs. Ours/Society’s

Though we all claim to be devotees and followers of The Mother, there is a vast difference between her values and our own cherished values . Many things that we hold as valuable and precious and sacred, have no meaning at all for Her. And so where is the question of being in full alignment with her till these differences are cancelled. I give below some key areas where there is an unbridgeable gap between where we stand and where She stands :

1. MARRIAGE RITUALS -- To us, the institution of marriage, the ceremonies and rituals that go with it are very sacred. But the ceremonial and ritualistic part of marriage have no meaning for Her. Society looks down upon people living together without a formal marriage ceremony. But such living together is perfectly all right with Mother since She says that what matters is whether a man and woman love each other and not whether convention declares them to be husband and wife.

2. PRIVATE PROPERTY -- Humanity is passionately fond of private property and all that goes with it such as ownership records and inheritance rights etc. But She says that private property as an institution will disappear in the future.

3. PHYSICAL PUNISHMENT -- Many parents and teachers believe in physical punishment as a way of keeping children under control. But She strictly disapproves of physical punishment. 

4. LOOKING UP TO POWER -- We all look up to the rich man, the man in power and the intellectuals etc. But as far Mother no matter how rich a person is, how powerful a person is, how creative he is, all these men are worthless ciphers for Her so long as their lives are not dedicated to the divine.

5. DEFERRING TO GODS -- We look up to the over mental gods as very powerful influences in our lives as well as in the scheme of creation. But in Her Agenda she dismisses them as mere show pieces.

6. RECOGNITION, PRIZES -- To us the Nobel prize is the ultimate achievement but when She was offered the Nobel peace prize for founding Auroville, She said that She was only carrying on Sri Aurobindo’s work and as such She did not need any separate recognition.

7. BROADCASTING OURSELVES -- Most people will like to broadcast their own importance and would like to have camp followers around them whose job is to sing the praise of their leader all the time. But in Agenda She has disclosed that in Her next birth She would like to be known as little as possible and do Her work in a totally undiscovered manner.

8. ILLUSION PHILOSOPHY -- Adi Sankara is a great authority in Indian philosophy and his theory of illusionism permeated Indian philosophical speculation till Sri Aurobindo arrived with his integral spirituality that busted the hold of the Mayavadin on the nation's spiritual thinking. But She has dismissed him as a man who has written some useless words, this in spite of Sri Aurobindo describing Sankara as a great mighty intellect.

9. SKIN COLOR PREFERENCE -- Most Indians are highly enamored of the fair skin of the Europeans so much so that girls with dark complexion have trouble getting married in this country. But according to Mother the brown shade of most Indians is actually more attractive than the light shade of the European but this is something we are totally oblivious of.

10. GANDHI AS PERFECT -- Mahatma Gandhiji is a highly venerated figure in Indian politics and he looms large over the national horizon even now. But when the news of his assassination was brought to Her what she said was” I am sorry but he had to go”.

All these above 10 points clearly show that there is a big difference between Her values and ours. It is a vain illusion if we believe that we can get close to Her while still holding on to such values and beliefs. Life may permit many compromises and dilutions, actually compromise may be the guiding principle of ordinary social life. But integral spirituality will not allow any such compromise between the purity of their teachings and our heavily diluted values. In one of Her new year messages or darshan day messages she wrote a very compact and brief message which read as follows “Men! countries! and continents! Truth or abyss”. Could anything else make more clear where she is and where we are than these two words "Truth or abyss"? So there we are. (N. Ashokan, MSS)

Supramental Freshness and Youthfulness.

The supramental consciousness of Mother is unique in the sense that it carries supramental freshness and spontaneity. That is why many mother's devotees look much younger than their actual age warrants. Here are a few tips to retain that youthful freshness.

1. Keep your surroundings always clean as that helps to energise the atmosphere.

2. Keep your outlook on life positive and optimistic. They will keep your energies on the higher side always.

3. Be always cheerful and self-confident.

 4. Seek out adventure and challenges in life instead of security and safety. Be worthy of the nobility of your soul. An adventurous spirit aligns you with Mother's majestic movements.

5. Do not organise routine in your life. Inject some spontaneity in even such routine acts as bathing, eating and doing yr daily work.

6. Try to learn something new every day and keep your spirit of curiosity alive by asking what, why and how every

time you come across something new.

7. Laugh at your troubles with the strength of your soul energising you from behind. They will melt away like dew under the touch of morning sun.

8. Free yourself from rituals and conventions that have a deadening effect and do things in a way that will win Mother's appreciation.

9. Seek the company of other adventurous and optimistic people and avoid the company of conservative and timid and security-oriented people.

10.  Look at your past mistakes and failures as learning lessons that equip you with knowledge instead of as something to be regretted and ashamed of.

11.  Move towards the future with a certitude that future potentials can be turned into actual accomplishments. It is your certitude that will keep you energised.

12.  Believe Truth is stronger than falsehood. The light of truth will shine on your face always and bend the circumstances to your will and thereby add to your joy and freshness. (MSS)

Results from Opening to Mother
Among the results that have witnessed when people open to The Mother/The Force are-

Other Points

• Mother's Consciousness is universal. Any act done in it spreads. That can be our understanding. Even to confirm that understanding one has to look at his life earlier.
  -- As a thought, it becomes public opinion.
  -- As an emotion, it stirs up the population.
  -- As an action, Govts. act accordingly.

• Mother's cells thirst for Truth. What do we thirst for? At what center?

• Whatever life has denied you, Mother's Life gives you at a higher level. Long for affection, get devotion. Hide VIPs from yourself; they come to you. Shut yourself away from samadhi. She comes.

• Mother's Protection follows even in these cases to a great extent. Only when the personal insistence overtakes the benevolent protection trouble arises.

• Calling down Mother's Peace disperses a quarreling crowd as well as calms down a nation troubled by war.

• Those who have once come to Mother, even those who abandoned HER, when they examine their life in its subtleties, will find HER at every landmark of their life. In the measure they have accepted Her, She will be there in their lives unfailingly.

• Attachment that is sweet is coarse in Mother.

• Yoga is conscious evolution. Even our faith in Mother is unconscious. It is worthwhile making it conscious.

• Man seeks the greatest enjoyment in each act. Seeking to enjoy Mother in each act is a yoga siddhi.

• Calling Mother: First move away from your personality traits and then call. It is full, rich, energizing and enjoyable. Calling Mother from the personality trait is exhausting, tiring and frustrating.

• As society advances, what only adventuring individuals can attempt becomes possible for other ordinary men. Society even fashions institutions for that purpose. MOTHER is an 'institutionalised' consciousness for ordinary men to accomplish the Supermind.

• When you move towards Mother, the world moves towards you.

• It is with Mother we start an activity. It is with Her we finish it.

• Calling in Mother into a problem brings in all the Divine energies required to solve it even as a repairman brings all the tools and skills needed to set right a broken machinery.

• The devotee reaches his maximum in LIFE when he integrates himself at his maximum with Mother's consciousness in LIFE.

• The devotee's maximum is the sadhak's minimum.

• The sadhak integrates with Mother for HER in Yoga as Life and not in life for individual purposes.

• The sadhak's maximum is Mother.

• While you are a devotee, only good things in life will come to you. When you take to yoga, all that happens to you must be received as good things by you.

• Mother offers to those who have faith in Her, the capacity to act from HER consciousness, i.e. the Supramental consciousness, if they call Her and concentrate on Her and deny their own impulses. It may last only a few seconds, but She makes it possible.

• Surrender to Mother is surrender to the values important for Her.

• Even as universe comes to us as values, Mother comes to us as values. Accepting Mother's values fully will give us Mother fully.

• To accept Mother it is not enough to outgrow the society one is born in but the evolutionary phase of one's birth must be outgrown at least in thinking.

• On scrutiny, it will be clear that all the problems one has had since coming to Mother are created by one's going insistently back to his own old habits that have to be given up.

• Surrender is an attitude of the SOUL and therefore more difficult to acquire. Once a little of it is acquired, ego begins to dissolve by the touch of Mother to whom our surrender is offered. Man's effort to dissolve his ego is egoistic.

• Mother's moments come to us on their own by our intense aspiration. In any field it takes us to the acme.

• It is always Mother who comes to us. She lies dormant inside and is periodically pushing towards us. Each time She stirs, life responds positively and pleasantly towards us. Instead of seeking Her who makes for us, we respond to the pleasant externals. What comes, stalls. Moving towards the external response is irresistible. The inexorable LAW acts.

• Just as we read only when we are interested, so we should read Mother's books only when there is aspiration.

• It is better to seek Mother inside instead of simply turning inward. Seeking Mother inwardly by the soul can be blissful; seeking Mother by the inner movements of the mental and physical parts will be delight.

• There is an evolutionary creation at any given moment. That movement is THE MOTHER for us.

• Mother's Grace is always available if only some deep sincerity is there in one form or another.

• Utilizing the Mother in Life -- An insane person unfortunately made a man his target and harassed him. The man was at his wit's end and complained to Mother. She advised him to call Her. By following Her instructions, the poor man was relieved of the attentions of the madman at the first call.
  
  She has also advised devotees to send 'Mother' to their work. A wife was in great tension when her husband was to tour India for 20 days in a month. She started sending Mother to all his destinations ahead of his visit.
  
  She was free; his work was smoother. The figure of the Mother imagined has all the spiritual faculties concentrated in it. One who goes for an interview can send HER to the interview. If you have a speech to deliver, try sending MOTHER to the speech in the head. It will flow out smoothly.
  
  If a child is naughty, send Mother to the child or better still to the temperament of the child continuously, and the child will cease to put up its nasty behaviour. The very best is to send Mother to yourself, your inmost Being. (Karmayogi)

• Before going to sleep, refer your anxiety to Mother in great detail. Mother entering anxiety changes the character of anxiety. Even the reference will lighten the heart. Pray for its transformation. If you continue to do so, one morning it will present itself as the First Waking Thought. From that day, it will disappear. (Karmayogi)

• Mother Overcomes One's Lacking Temperament
  -If we divide men into two categories of capacity and incapacity, capable men succeed and the incapable fail. [Taking to] Mother makes the incapable capable.
  
  -Capable men in life or business choosing a negative alternative meet with failure. Their work can never be revived unless they change their character to the positive. Indians call it one's rasi, psychologists call it temperament, philosophers name it negativity. Life offers no solution to them. When they come to Mother, in spite of their negative character, She offers the same boost as She gives others. She does so acting through any good characteristic in them. She can act thus even without that opening.
  
  Now, they must choose NOT to insist on their negative traits. If they do, they call back their failures. She waits till they change and offers them all they have missed in the interim period. She does NOT support the negative behaviour. When Mother gives a man what Life has refused [because of his lacking qualities/temperament], it is for him to change over to the right side.
  
  Instead, if he goes back to his old habits and destroys what came in, the only thing he can do is to maintain a regular habit of monthly offering and plead with his own inner personality to change for the better. Offering will do what he refuses to do. (MSS)

•  It is the experience of sadhaks and devotees that whatever he does consciously or unconsciously, spreads all over the world after a fashion, maybe after the fashion of his own personality.

• His working for his organisation to make it prosperous by ways of Truth will be a channel for the Force to descend on his country as Prosperity.

• The method is the conscious ways of an unconscious devotee.

In spite of our soul-unconsciousness, let us consciously choose Her ways of life -- Truthfulness.

Generally good people are more interested in being good than in Mother, even when they are devotees. (MSS)

Opening of the Being to its Depths
by Karmayogi

A devotee visited Balcony Darshan of The Mother at 6:15 am. At 8 am, he again had Her darshan, coming in a queue before Her with the sadhaks and visitors. At 5:30 pm the same day She was at the playground where again, sitting in the audience, he saw Her. He returned to his town. Work made him pass through Pondicherry the next day. He availed of this to be at the Balcony Darshan. On his return from work, he had to pass through Pondicherry again. For a third day he had the Darshan of The Divine Mother at the Balcony. His first visit was August 15th, a darshan day. It was a Sunday. People around him commented that there was a change in him since he had visited the Ashram. They noticed he spoke less than usual. He was quiet. There was a calm about him which was mistaken for dullness. On Friday, he too noticed the change in himself.

Standing before The Mother, his being was split open down to the body consciousness. He unconsciously received the Force She was pouring into him. His mind had gone blank during those days. It was unable to think, except for responding to questions. He was not aware of the response his being gave Her to Her touch. Nor was he conscious that at that moment, unconsciously, his being committed itself to Her fully. There was no question of any description in his mind or being. There was nothing to choose. There were no two options before him. His being went to Her without his knowledge or consent. The consent was automatic. In one sense, such a thing happens to all who come to Her sooner or later. Most of us are unaware of how our being leaps to the Divine at Her Touch. This was an impersonal response, though full.

To a personal call, the devotee responds with a speechless wonder. When the call strikes the ear, the faculty of hearing is robbed. The mind itself disappears. The touch goes down to the body consciousness evoking a sensation of sweetness that is the result of human gratitude from the substance of the body. Someone's business jumped fifteen-fold in seven months as a result of service and he lost it in the next one year because of insistent human behaviour. He decided to go within. There he saw seven blocks. He worked on them to remove them. In a matter of days, all that was lost came back and from there opened a further potential of ten-fold expansion. At such moments, the being of the devotee experiences an opening as the devotee at the Balcony Darshan felt. It is a moment of Spiritual Truth, an occasion when the ONE touches one of the Many. Opening, receptivity, sincerity, consecration, surrender, transformation, Being of the Becoming are key ideas in the yoga of Sri Aurobindo.