I have recently started reading Savitri and like most of them, it is actually very hard to understand what exactly it means.
My next question is as I am a family person, is it selfish to pray for your children especially in a situation where my daughter is pregnant and I pray that Mother will bless her and the new life to be an instrument of Divine and for my daughter to be protected by the Divine. Recently my relationship with my son is in a very damaged situation. I accept it as Divine’s will in a positive way as I see myself progressing in a spiritual way due to this incident as I do not let myself be in sorrow due to this but take it as a situation of progress and also Divine working on my son as well. So I pray for my family not asking anything materialistic but for Divine’s Grace upon the family. Is this considered a selfish prayer?
By Mother’s Grace, I always ask for Divine’s will and try as much as possible to be conscious of Divine in everything I do, I think.
My next question is, very recently, I have started not to respond to my husband or my mother in law when they try to say things that hurt my ego. I am consciously surrendering it to Mother and try not to take it personally. is that suppressing or is that the right way to go about it?
It is indeed Her Grace that we who have a common aspiration get connected.
As to your query, well Savitri is written in the style of a mantric poetry along the lines of the Veda. Being in English it is readable to the average reader unlike the Vedas which are in archaic Sanskrit. However the thought of Savitri is rich with thoughts and images that are not common. Being in the form of poetry in free verse it does create a difficulty in reading and following the thought. The poem moves through cosmic landscapes, not only of the material universe but of the subtle and complex forces that operate from behind along with their corresponding inner worlds. All this makes it a complex cosmic poem so to say.
However once one gets oriented to it, it is the most delightful work of Sri Aurobindo to enter into. You will find plenty of talks and writings on automaa to orient towards the poem.
There is absolutely nothing wrong in asking the Divine for anything, whether for children or for yourself. Whom else will one turn for help? In fact it forms a bond between us and the Divine. Later a time does come when we ask nothing from the Divine except to belong to Him. But this state has to come naturally. It should not be unnaturally forced upon oneself.
You can pray to the Divine for your son as well, to show him the right path, to help him find his true way and to have harmony with him. Asking these things are not contrary to spiritual life. What becomes an obstacle is if we get too much attached and if the thing we ask is not granted then we doubt the Grace. Asking is fine as it is one of the ways to build contact with the Divine. But it should be left entirely to the Divine to grant or not grant and when to grant it. A complete faith and living trust are always the backbone of spiritual life.
Yes, it is better to be detached from the family members whose contact is not helpful to inner life and if it rubs us wrongly. It is an inner defense and not an egoistic reaction. Hurt implies expection, and expectation implies attachment. Unless one works at the roots merely suppressing the outer reactions are not enough. Attachment goes when we turn it towards the Divine with love and devotion or else if we cultivate consciousdetachment knowing the limitations of people. Else it remains as a sore point within ready to disrupt anytime.
Affectionately,
Alok Da
