The Synthesis of Yoga (2000-2001, Super school, Auroville) - Session 10 (11 January 2001)

All life is Yoga. Yesterday we said that, isn’t it? And we pointed out that this statement brings out what is entirely new in Sri Aurobindo and Mother’s works. I have made the statement but I have not yet shown you the details of this novelty. You should keep this with a question mark in your diary. I have not yet proved it to you because that will take us into more details. “All life is Yoga.”: this statement brings out what is new in Sri Aurobindo and the Mother, what was never present earlier. I only told you one sentence as a formula that in order that all life is yoga you have to dissolve four poison stings: falsehood, sorrow, darkness and death. These are the four stings and unless they are conquered and removed we cannot say that all life is being proved to be yoga. All life must be a manifestation of the Divine. In fact, the very book’s name is The Life Divine. Life becomes completely Divine and if it becomes really Divine there is no place for falsehood, sorrow, darkness and death. And I pointed out that this can be achieved only if the Supreme Consciousness can enter into the inconscient and can transform it, because these four stings arise out of the inconscient. So unless you deal with the inconscient you cannot deal with these four poisonous flowers of the inconscient. This I have told you only in the form of a formula, like a sutra. Next time I shall have to tell you in detail what is the Supreme consciousness, what is the inconscient, how the inconscient is capable of being transformed and what will be the process by which it can be transformed. Only then shall we have proved that “All life is Yoga.” So till that time you use it only as a formula to be worked out as yet — in fact the whole book The Life Divine is an explanation of this formula. And the whole book The Synthesis of Yoga is an exposition of the process by which the inconscient can be conquered, transformed, out of which the result will be the elimination of these four flowers of the inconscient. Having said this we shall now proceed further with the four aids.

By this Yoga we not only seek the Infinite, but we call upon the Infinite to unfold himself in human life.

It is the same statement as “All life is Yoga”. By this yoga we not only seek the Infinite, we not only reach the Supreme Consciousness but we call upon the infinite, the Supreme Consciousness to unfold itself in human life right to the inconscient.

Therefore the Shastra of our Yoga must provide for an infinite liberty in the receptive human soul. A free adaptability in the manner and the type of the individual’s acceptance of the Universal and Transcendent into himself is the right condition for the full spiritual life in man. Vivekananda, pointing out that the unity of all religions must necessarily express itself by an increasing richness of variety in its forms, said once that the perfect state of that essential unity would come when each man had his own religion, when not bound by sect or traditional form he followed the free self-adaptation of his nature in its relations with the Supreme. So also one may say that the perfection of the integral Yoga will come when each man is able to follow his own path of Yoga, pursuing the development of his own nature in its upsurging towards that which transcends the nature. For freedom is the final law and the last consummation.

There are three things that I would like to point out.

First is the statement of Vivekananada. This statement speaks of every man having his own religion, a religion different from the religion of another. The second is Integral yoga having such a possibility of adaptability that each one of us will have his own yoga. Not one fixed law, not one fixed system and process of yoga meant for all. Each one having his own process although each one of them will be integral. But each one will have his own process of development. And third is the question of freedom. There are three things which we need to attempt to understand in this paragraph.

So let us start first with the question of religion. The ordinary belief is that religion is a method, a process of relating oneself with the Divine or with that which is highest. Every universal religion such as Hinduism, Islam, Christianity, Judaism, Zoroastrianism, Buddhism claims that it is applicable to everyone in the world — one uniform religion applicable to all people in the world. And therefore it claims that other religions are either wrong, erroneous or subordinate whereas one’s own religion is the highest. This is the present condition of those who believe in religion and who are adherents of one religion or the other. A Christian believes that Christianity is the best religion and everyone in the world ultimately ought to embrace Christianity. One religion, one uniform religion which should be embraced by everyone in the world. Islam believes that it is the best religion and that everyone in the world should embrace Islam; that the way of meeting the highest is what is laid down in Koran. Christianity believes that the way of meeting the highest is laid down in the Bible. This is the mark of religion. Religion is a way of meeting the Highest, or the Divine, it is a method of meeting the Divine and that this method is universally applicable uniformly. It is a very important part of the definition of religion.

Vivekananda travelled all over the world and his main message was this: Let religions not quarrel among themselves; let no religion claim that it is the best religion. He pointed out that actually everyone should have his own religion. There is no religion as such which is supreme. For each individual there can be one special religion and in that sense the present number of religions are not enough. There are only five or eight, at most ten religions. He pointed out that everyone should be able to develop his own religion, his own method of meeting the Highest. For each one his religion is the method by which he can rise. For him his religion is better than others but it is not that for everyone it is better than others. This is the way in which he tried to show how the conflict of religion can be overcome. Even among Christians there can be as many Christian religions as individuals. Or one may even transcend what is Christianity. The reason behind this proposition was that his own teacher Sri Ramakrishna made a tremendous experiment in the life of religions.

One day when you have time, take the biography of Ramakrishna and read the experiments he made. He practiced several universal religions. He was born Hindu, he was a great worshiper of Kali and realised Kali so that he could be in constant touch with Her. He could talk to Her, seek Her advice and act according to Her advice. This was his first realisation. Kali is real, more real than the things that we see in the world — that was his conclusion, his experience. Then he practiced many other forms of Hinduism. Kali is only one form of Hindu religion. Hinduism itself is like a banyan tree in which there are so many branches. He also realised what is called Advaita (Advaita means non–dualism. Dvaita means two, A means not). You realise Oneness. When you realise Kali there is a realisation of Kali being separate from you; there is a relationship between the two. But when you have Advaita there is no relationship between one and the other. There is a realisation of identity — Oneness. That is Advaita. Within a few days of practicing Advaita he realised Advaita. Then he practiced Christianity. He began to go to the church, he especially observed Sunday because it is a part of Christian religion, he practiced everything that is prescribed in Christianity and realised that Jesus is real. Just as he realised that Kali is real he realised that Jesus is real. He is not an imagination, he really lives. He is an embodiment of love: he helps, cures your sorrow, uplifts you, he can give salvation. This was Ramakrishna’s conclusion by experience. He practiced Islam. He began to go to the mosque. He practiced Friday particularly because it is the Muslim holiday. And he came to the conclusion that the message of Prophet Mohammed is valid, is true. He practiced so, even the consciousness of Hanuman for example. Have you heard of Hanuman? Hanuman was one of the chiefs of the army by whose help Rama conquered Lanka and could rescue Sita. This Hanuman is supposed to be the most devoted servant of Sri Rama. Ramakrishna in his practice of Yoga realised that Hanuman is real, that he is not a fiction. And his identity with Hanuman was so great that he claimed that a tail began to grow! Even that experience he began to have so much of identity did he experience. If you become the devotee of Hanuman it is as valid as if you become the devotee of Jesus — just as Jesus is real Hanuman is also real. He practiced even Radha’s Consciousness. He used to wear sari although he was male he used to put on the female dress! People used to call Ramakrishna a mad man but his madness was Divine. Wherever was the Divine he wanted to experiment whether it is real or not. It is like a scientist and a scientist must completely fulfil the conditions of the experiment. He experimented to see if Radha is real or not and he realised that Radha is real.

Thus he declared that as far as all the existing religions are concerned the basic claims are valid, they are not wrong. But if anybody says that one is better than the other — that he denied. He said everyone leads you to the right path and takes you to the highest which is claimed. This was his experimental conclusion. Not by belief, not by intellectually trying to reconcile the religions. No! He experimented and found that Jesus is real, Krishna is real, Rama is real, Hanuman is real, Radha is real, Prophet Mohammed is real. About Rama and Krishna he said that both are manifested in himself. He emphasised their reality by saying “I am myself Rama and Krishna”, that is why he took a new name: Ramakrishna. He said that both are incarnated in him. Instead of doubting he experienced and realised that he himself embodied Rama and Krishna.

In the history of spiritual life in the world, Ramakrishna stands as it were at the gate of harmony. How to harmonise all the religions not by debate or controversy or comparing one dogma with the other dogma but directly by experiencing, by experimenting and realising in his own life. Now what conclusion therefore do you derive from it? That every religion is valid but no religion is superior to the other religion and that further, if it is appropriate for you to be Radha then for you that path is better than any other path. If it is good for you to be Rama then the path of devotion to Rama is better for you but not for all. So Vivekananda came to the conclusion as a direct disciple of Sri Ramakrishna, and gave this message to the world: Why are you quarrelling saying my religion is better than the other? Why do you want to convert people from one religion to the other? If people are happy with their religion since this religion is valid, let them move with that religion. If this religion satisfies you you move on with this religion and realise your own goal. Why do you quarrel? He went farther and he said: Even these religions which are now available are not enough and as you move forward your own religion will be another religion. Everyone can have his own religion, so that, in this world, there can be as many religions as every human being. This is one of his highest messages that he gave to mankind. That is why Vivekananda and Ramakrishna are the reconcilers. They brought about a great synthesis. But still they spoke the language of religion.

Now what is that characteristic by which religion is called religion, you might say the differentia of religion which is common in all religions? All religions have specific rituals, ceremonies and mechanical acts. And both Ramakrishna and Vivekananda allowed even rituals and ceremonies to be promoted. It is here that there is a distinction between religions and yoga. Yoga also is a method to attain to the highest but not by the method of rituals, ceremonies, dogmas and prescribed acts. This is the speciality of yoga. There are no ceremonies, no rituals, no prescribed acts. In other words true spirituality transcends the limits of religion. It does not condemn ceremonies and rituals. If it is good for you it is alright. But there is another way in which rituals and ceremonies can be all dispensed. Yoga is an explosion of consciousness. There is nothing mechanical or dogmatic in it. There is nothing to do with ceremonies. You take any yoga in which there are no rituals and ceremonies except when as a preliminary method it is admitted to some extent. But when that religious ceremony is over then you are fit for a higher step where ceremonies are no more necessary. But then again in the field of yoga — there are several of them: Karma Yoga, Hatha Yoga, Raja Yoga, Bhakti Yoga, etc… — and there again there is a quarrel. Just as among religions there is a quarrel saying this religion is better than the others, even in yoga there is this malady, this sickness, this illness. The Raja yogi says that Raja Yoga is the best method, jnani says that Jnana Yoga is the best method, bhakta claims that Bhakti Yoga is the best method, even though there are no rituals and ceremonies. But still they maintain that their method is better than the others method and that everyone should do this method. Sri Aurobindo points out that even this is a falsity. You practice every yoga and you arrive at a conclusion and actually you require all the conclusions. It is not as if the realisation of Karma Yoga is enough, you should strive to have the conclusions of all the yogas.

The very condition of the Integral Yoga is acceptance of all the paths of yoga without claiming that this is superior to the other. But when you do that you find that every individual has his own method of integrating. You should integralize but there is no uniform method by which you integralise. Every one grows where one is and integrates all according to his or her own line of development. There is no fixed proposition that everyone should follow so many steps. That is why Mother said: “It is impossible to make a religion out of Sri Aurobindo’s teaching.” Impossible because to make a religion you must have ceremonies and rituals, prescribed acts and you should claim that your method is the best method while according to Sri Aurobindo there is no particular method which is the best one. Every individual has his own method, that can’t be any uniformity about it. You cannot say here there is Integral Yoga you apply this first step, or second step and third step like marching — you cannot give marching orders in Integral Yoga. There is a complete freedom. Every individual is free to arrive at the explosion of consciousness which is the central thing. Discovery of higher and higher levels of consciousness through expansion of consciousness is the method. You arrive at higher levels of consciousness and what is the method: you break the limits of consciousness. Each one has his own limitations therefore each one has his own method for crossing his limitations. Therefore Sri Aurobindo says in the Integral Yoga every one has his own yoga to be freely chosen by each one. So there can’t be any process of converting somebody saying: “Look I have followed this method now you follow that method only and only through that method you will succeed.” This is a false message. Every individual is free and according to his nature, according to the lines of his development he will be able to integrate all. The shastra of Integral Yoga therefore is to be quite different. It is not one straight line given to everybody saying now you will follow this path. It is a shastra, it is a science but it is a different kind of shastra. If you read The Synthesis of Yoga you will find a new way of approaching yoga. It is a new kind of science, a science which can be adapted to each individual differently. These are the three points that we wanted to make in regard to this paragraph.

“Meanwhile certain general lines have to be formed which may help to guide the thought and practice of the sadhaka.”

Although each one has his own method there are certain general lines which can be formed. For example, Integral Yoga, you might say, has three steps: Psychic transformation, Spiritual transformation and Supramental transformation. These three lines of development in general will be common to all the sadhakas who follow Integral Yoga. But these three processes are of such a nature that they can’t be uniform. The way in which you will come to psychic transformation will be quite different from the way in which I will come to psychic transformation. The way in which you will arrive at spiritual transformation will be quite different from the other ones, and similarly for the supramental transformation. General lines can be laid down. What is psychic transformation can be laid down, what is spiritual and supramental transformation can be laid down, in general. But what steps you will take, how you will grow that cannot be laid down. Therefore Integral Yoga is always an open book where nothing is closed. In fact Integral Yoga develops with each one, it is an ever fresh yoga. Nobody’s yoga can be duplicated in the other one. So how many varieties of Integral Yoga will there be — Millions and millions of openings, each one having his own way. This is an example of showing what is the meaning of general lines of development and yet a unique line for everyone. Both the propositions have been made by Sri Aurobindo: Integral Yoga is one in which each one has his own method, even though there are general lines of development. Normally you will not be able to arrive at spiritual transformation without psychic transformation, but even this statement is not true. Some will arrive at spiritual transformation earlier than the psychic transformation. Some may even begin supramental transformation, in some respect, even when one is still in psychic transformation in regard to some other elements of his being. But normally psychic transformation should occupy a lot of your time then will come spiritual transformation, then supramental transformation. But they are general lines without forcing each individual to fall in line.

Meanwhile certain general lines have to be formed which may help to guide the thought and practice of the sadhaka. But these must take as much as possible the form of general truths, general statements of principle, the most powerful broad directions of effort and development rather than a fixed system which has to be followed as a routine. All Shastra is the outcome of past experience and a help to future experience. It is an aid and a partial guide. It puts up signposts, gives the names of the main roads and the already explored directions, so that the traveller may know whither and by what paths he is proceeding. The rest depends on personal effort and experience and upon the power of the Guide.

This is the complete statement of the shastra of the Integral Yoga.

We have got four statements so far. One is that the shastra of Integral Yoga is in the heart of every individual who is thinking and living. You remember the first sentence about the shastra of Integral Yoga: it is the eternal Veda which is in the heart of each and every individual. So that even if there is nobody in the world to tell you about it, even if no book exists in the world, even then as you move forward and you refer to your inner heart the Integral Yoga will manifest on its own. You don’t need anything: no book, no teacher. You don’t need anything because it is already in your heart. The second statement is that many people require a word — sabda, the word, the revelation. It may be an oral word or a written word. This is the second way of shastra: a written shastra or an oral shastra. Of the written shastra there are two: the scriptures which are revealed by the Divine Himself and the others not revealed but scientifically codified. We already made a distinction between the Veda on the one hand and the Sutra of Patanjali. Veda is a revealed scripture whereas Pantanjali’s Yoga Sutra is a scientific code. Shastras can be of two kinds oral or written and both of them can be scriptures or scientific codes. Lastly, there is a need of a word coming from a living teacher. There may be an oral tradition or a written tradition but apart from that it may also come to you through the teaching of a teacher. A teacher reveals… as you move forward a teacher comes and at every stage says you have reached here you now move forward there. That is also shastra — shastra coming out of the teacher as you move forward. This is what we have been told.

And Sri Aurobindo says that Integral Yoga has a speciality which is not available anywhere and that is to declare, “All life is Yoga” meaning thereby that whatever is the result of inconscient can be eliminated from life and the entire life can become divinised. It is a speciality of the Integral Yoga: the entire life is concerned. Life is always integral, whenever you do any little thing which is living you will find that all the elements of your being are present. Life is always many–sided, multi–sided, all–sided. There are basically three sides of our life: the cognitive side (cognitive means that which is concerned with knowledge), the affective side (which is concerned with affection, feeling, emotion), and the conative side (conation means inclination to act). All the three elements are present in every activity of life. It is by artificiality that you may divide one from the other. But in life all the three are present all the time, it is integral always. Therefore the natural method where life is the instrument of yoga is that it has to be integral. And then finally Sri Aurobindo says the Integral Yoga even though it has general lines of development still every individual individualises it in his own manner. Right. This is the summary of the entire chapter so far on what we have done about shastra.

Now we come to the next. This is regarding utsaha, the role of the sadhaka himself.

You may have knowledge of the shastra but if you don’t have aspiration then the shastra is a dead letter. There must be enthusiasm in the individual to pursue the goal of Integral Yoga. Therefore, what is the role of the individual himself?

In ancient India there was a very important system. The pupil was required to search out a teacher. Not like the present system where a teacher is appointed first and then waits for the pupils to come. Pupils don’t have to make a big effort to find out teachers, they are available in the schools. But such was not the case in ancient India, the very system was such that a pupil had to find out and had to move onwards and onwards in search of a teacher. So the starting point was not the teacher but the pupil. Apart from shastra the starting point of yoga is the pupil himself. The pupil has to lift his hand in a manner of call then the teacher may come from above and may lift him up. The role of the teacher is only uplifting, not lifting. Lifting has to be done by the pupil himself. He lifts himself above, calls out, aspires, then the teacher also answers. Uplifting the effort of the pupil is the instruction, example and influence of the teacher. This is the relationship between the pupil and the teacher. If the pupil has no enthusiasm then the pupil will find that the teacher does not come forth. So, Sri Aurobindo now tells us what is the role of the pupil, what is the role of effort, what is the role of aspiration.

The development of the experience in its rapidity, its amplitude, the intensity and power of its results, depends primarily, in the beginning of the path and long after, on the aspiration and personal effort of the sadhaka.

How far you will move in the yoga, what kind of results, what fullness of experiences you will get, what will be the results will depend — in the beginning at least and even after beginning for a long time after — upon the pupil. This is a very good warning to every student: do not blame; make an effort on your side, be sure the teacher will always be there. Such an example you will find in The Mahabharata. Arjuna came to a crisis and simply declared: “I will not fight.” And Sri Krishna simply smiled and rebuked him as a friend, not as a teacher. Then when it really became critical of his mind, he asked, made an aspiration, lifted his hand and said: “Please, tell me what is the right thing to do?” And then he suddenly found that the one with whom he was standing was himself the teacher. The moment you aspire you will find the teacher always standing near you. This is the promise of God to man that he has arranged the world in such a way that when you are really in crisis, when you really want a teacher the teacher will come, he is available. But on your part you should be aspiring, you must aspire and say: “Oh! I want to know.” The teacher is always there. In this process of yoga the individual aspires, he makes a personal effort.

The process of Yoga is a turning of the human soul from the egoistic state of consciousness absorbed in the outward appearances and attractions of things to a higher state in which the Transcendent and Universal can pour itself into the individual mould and transform it. The first determining element of the siddhi is, therefore, the intensity of the turning, the force which directs the soul inward. The power of aspiration of the heart, the force of the will, the concentration of the mind, the perseverance and determination of the applied energy are the measure of that intensity. The ideal sadhaka should be able to say in the Biblical phrase, “My zeal for the Lord has eaten me up.” It is this zeal for the Lord,—utsāha, the zeal of the whole nature for its divine results, vyākulatā..

This is a great Sanskrit word. You should become restless. Without God you have no rest, no repose. That is the meaning of vyakulata.

It is this zeal for the Lord,—utsāha, the zeal of the whole nature for its divine results, vyākulatā, the heart’s eagerness for the attainment of the Divine,—that devours the ego and breaks up the limitations of its petty and narrow mould for the full and wide reception of that which it seeks, that which, being universal, exceeds and, being transcendent, surpasses even the largest and highest individual self and nature.

This is the measure of utsaha: “My zeal for the Lord has eaten me up.”

There is no rest for me until I meet the Divine. I will be consumed by fire. This is the utsaha, the aspiration. And Sri Aurobindo says: “One who wants God must want God and God only.” No other aim, no other lower thing. That is the sign that you are really a good pupil. The mark of a good pupil is one who wants the Divine and the Divine alone.

But this is only one side of the force that works for perfection. The process of the integral Yoga has three stages, not indeed sharply distinguished or separate, but in a certain measure successive. There must be, first, the effort towards at least an initial and enabling self-transcendence and contact with the Divine; next, the reception of that which transcends, that with which we have gained communion, into ourselves for the transformation of our whole conscious being; last, the utilisation of our transformed humanity as a divine centre in the world.

Let us stop here and take stock of these three steps.

There must be, first, the effort towards at least an initial and enabling self-transcendence and contact with the Divine; next, the reception of that which transcends, that with which we have gained communion, into ourselves for the transformation of our whole conscious being; last, the utilisation of our transformed humanity as a divine centre in the world.

You make such a tremendous effort you go out of yourself. When ego breaks down. Our limitations are transgressed. That which was unknown to us — the Divine was a stranger to us as He is now to us — with that Divine you make a contact. Here your effort has to be intense, it all depends on you, at least apparently because behind, the Divine’s hand is always present; He always inspires and helps you. But from your side you feel as if you have to make a tremendous effort to go beyond yourself. It is as if an effort to come out of yourself and have a contact with the Divine.

There must be, first, the effort towards at least an initial and enabling self-transcendence and contact with the Divine; next, the reception of that which transcends, that with which we have gained communion, into ourselves for the transformation of our whole conscious being; last, the utilisation of our transformed humanity as a divine centre in the world.

First you make a contact and the moment you make a contact you will find a fountain of knowledge, joy, everything and that fountain will pour itself into you. This is the second step in which you allow the pouring of the Divine into you. Here reception is necessary. In the first there was a great effort to come out of yourself and now comes the stage where the Divine pours Himself into you and transforms you. “… last, the utilisation of our transformed humanity as a divine centre in the world.” You receive the fountain from the Divine then you become a channel of the Divine force. In the third stage you yourself become a Divine center so that you can pour the Divine knowledge, the Divine love into the others. So there are three stages: your ascent towards the Divine, the descent of the Divine in you and third is the flow of the light of the Divine through your channel, you yourself become a center of the Divine action.

So long as the contact with the Divine is not in some considerable degree established, so long as there is not some measure of sustained identity, sāyujya, the element of personal effort must normally predominate.

As long as the contact has not been established, as long as you have not become in some degree one with the Divine (sayuja means that you are united, you become one with the Divine). Until some kind of identity, in some degree you should be identified with the Divine, until this point is reached personal effort is preponderant. You cannot say: “Let the Divine do everything.” From your side you have to make a constant effort. There are some people who believe that the Divine is always present, which is a fact, the Divine is always active, this is a fact, and they conclude: therefore if Divine wants me to realise he will make me realise. This is the idle man’s dream. One who does not want to make an effort he only dreams and he will never realise himself because he does not know the process. In the process, even though the Divine is present, his hand is coming down, but from your side until you lift your hand you will not be uplifted. On your side you must lift your hand. Therefore those who preach that God will do everything in His own time are teaching only idleness. Yoga is exactly the opposite of idleness. Yoga is a process of vigilance. It is a constant effort in which you go on transcending yourself; you exceed yourself at every moment. You go upward and upward and upward from your side. There should be no limit. Wherever there is a corner where your effort has not yet reached you make an effort. Every corner of your being should be like a fire; the tongues of fire should spread out in all parts of your being. That is the effort. Then you will find the next step when the pouring will come from above and personal effort will diminish.

But in proportion as this contact establishes itself, the sadhaka must become conscious that a force other than his own, a force transcending his egoistic endeavour and capacity, is at work in him and to this Power he learns progressively to submit himself and delivers up to it the charge of his Yoga.

Then you will find how easy the process of yoga is. Because you have now got the contact with the Divine who was already helping you and now you realise that He is helping you and there is a big difference between the two. The Divine helping you when you are not aware that He is helping you and the Divine helping you when you are aware that He is helping you makes all the difference. When you are aware that the Divine is helping you then you just tell Him: “Do this” and He will do it for you. You have not to make an effort then, the effort diminishes.

In the end his own will and force become one with the higher Power; he merges them in the divine Will and its transcendent and universal Force. He finds it thenceforward presiding over the necessary transformation of his mental, vital and physical being with an impartial wisdom and provident effectivity of which the eager and interested ego is not capable.

Even with your utmost effort what you can do is little but when you are in that context, when you submit to Him as Sri Aurobindo says: “Yoga is a process by which you make God do what you want to do.” It is a very beautiful expression. You don’t need to do anything. You just tell the Divine, pray to the Divine this is what is to be done and you will see it immediately happening. In the Divine action there is no delay. Delay is present as long as egoism is present, as long as there is an ego there is a time lag but once you reach the door of the Divine the boon is instant, you just ask the tathastu (tathastu means let it be, so be it). That is always the answer of the Divine when you really approach Him, as Sri Aurobindo says when you approach Him more and more you become His favourite. And to the favourite, Divine does not deny anything. If you approach Him more and more you become His favourite although He is impartial. The fire is impartial. It gives heat to everybody equally but if you are far from the fire the heat which is transmitted is lesser, if you are near the heat it is much greater. So if you are nearer the Divine, the grace which falls upon you is much greater. The nearer you come to the Divine the greater the favourite you become of the Divine and the greater the favourite you are, there is no denial from the Divine. All you ask for is given on the spot. Only then you have to be careful whether you can receive all that He gives or not.

It is when this identification and this self-merging are complete that the divine centre in the world is ready.

There is no difference between Him and you in every manner. Then you become a real channel. You can radiate the Divine through yourself. That is your destiny. Everybody’s destiny is this. The only question is the time by which one approaches. What will be your condition then—

Purified, liberated, plastic, illumined, it can begin to serve as a means for the direct action of a supreme Power in the larger Yoga of humanity or superhumanity, of the earth’s spiritual progression or its transformation.

The whole of humanity is then your field. The entire world is your field and you become a channel of the Divine action in the world.

“Always indeed it is the higher Power that acts.” Although personal effort is necessary from your side because you are egoistic, you are blind therefore you feel I must make an effort but the basic truth is always it is the Higher Power that acts. “Our sense of personal effort and aspiration comes from the attempt of the egoistic mind to identify itself in a wrong and imperfect way with the workings of the divine Force.” As long as we have egoism our sense of personal effort is tremendous. Always the Divine is acting and even your effort is His effort actually. It is He who is putting you into the mill so that you are constantly driven to make an effort.