It’s not understanding the Text and its superficial meaning, but सह्रुदय भावा with Sri Aurobindo. Only then is this yoga walkable(to me), I think…
It’s a question about my present condition. Because I didn’t come to Sri Aurobindo, seeking Perfection or Transformation. I came for something else, but met Sri Aurobindo through His books. So till now I don’t know what I want and don’t know if it’s my Path.
If it is a personal question, I think it is very much possible for you to open and walk the path. The base, as you yourself say, is already there, thanks to your guru and your study and delving into the Bhagawatam, Ramayanam, and other Vedantic scriptures. The problem comes when we attach ourselves to the outer form in which these things are presented to us. The physical mind gets easily attached to these outer forms, which become its comfort zones. It is this that creates resistance to any New Idea or way of life. For example, the average Hindu feels a sense of familiarity with going to a temple and offering poojas through certain prescribed rituals. But if you tell him that God dwells within and the human heart is His main temple where the incense of aspiration and flowers of faith must be offered day and night with the prayer of longing in your being, he somehow resists it or finds it too intangible. He needs concrete and familiar images, concrete outer things to do. The inner psychological processes elude his grasp, though, if we read the Scriptures properly and see them in the light of the Vedas, then this is what they are saying to us. Agni is clearly the flame of aspiration, Vayu the life force, Indra the illumined mind and so on and so forth. But the priest and the average katha vachak are happy reciting and explaining all outwardly. The mind accustomed to these outer things finds it somewhat difficult to connect with the inner spirit, the inner truth these stories and symbols contain. What better example than the story of Savitri, in which Sri Aurobindo has poured God knowledge and world knowledge and all else in one book.
The soul intuitively recognises this inner truth and hence is drawn. But the outer mind is attached to the past forms and hence resists.
Affectionately,
Alok Da
