{"id":413,"date":"2013-07-13T01:27:51","date_gmt":"2013-07-13T01:27:51","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/localhost\/?p=413"},"modified":"2013-07-13T01:27:51","modified_gmt":"2013-07-13T01:27:51","slug":"138-the-need-of-the-moment-vol-01-bande-mataram-volume-01","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/worksofthemotherandsriaurobindo.org\/index.php\/01-works-of-sri-aurobindo\/01-sabcl\/01-bande-mataram-volume-01\/138-the-need-of-the-moment-vol-01-bande-mataram-volume-01","title":{"rendered":"-138_The Need of the Moment.htm"},"content":{"rendered":"\n\n
\n

\nThe Need of the Moment<\/b><\/font><\/p>\n

\n <\/p>\n

\n                       
\n<\/font>
\n<\/span>A<\/font><\/span>LL<\/font><\/b>
\nthat we do and attempt proceeds from faith,
\nand if we are deficient in faith nothing can be accomplished. <\/span>When
\nwe are deficient in faith our work begins to flag and failure is frequent; but
\nif we have faith things are done for us. No great work has ever been done
\nwithout this essential courage. Misled by egoism, we believe that we are
\nworking, that the results of what we do are our creation, and when anything has
\nto be done
\nwe ask ourselves whether we have the strength, the means, the requisite
\nqualities, but in reality all work is done by the will of God and when faith in
\nHim is the mainspring of our actions, success is inevitable. Sometimes we wish a
\nthing very intensely and our wish is accomplished. The wish was in fact a
\nprayer, and all sincere prayer receives its answer. It need not be consciously
\naddressed to God, because prayer is not a form of words but an aspiration. If we
\naspire, we pray. But the aspiration must be absolutely unselfish, not alloyed by
\nthe thought of petty advantages or lower aims if it is to succeed. When we
\nmingle self with our aspirations, we weaken to that extent the strength of the
\nprayer and the success is proportionately less.<\/font><\/p>\n


\n           
\n<\/font>
\n<\/span>Whoever believes in God, rises above his lower self; for God is the true
\nSelf of the Universe and of everything within the Universe. When we rely upon
\nour lower self, we are left to that lower self, and succeed or fail according to
\nour strength of body or intellect under the law of our past life and actions.
\nThere is one law for the lower self and another for the higher. The lower self
\nis in bondage to its past; the higher is lord of the past, the present and the
\nfuture. So the will of the lower self is born of ahankā<\/font>ra <\/i>and limited by
\nahankā<\/font>ra<\/i>, <\/i>but the will of the higher self is beyond ahankā<\/font>ra <\/i>and
\ncannot be limited by it. It is omnipotent. But so long as it works through the
\nbody, it works under the laws of time, space and causality and we have to wait
\nfor its fulfilment till the time is ready, the environment prepared, the
\nimmediate causes brought about. The will once at work infallibly brings about
\nthe<\/font><\/p>\n

\n <\/p>\n

\nPage-764<\/font><\/span><\/p>\n

\n

\nnecessary
\nconditions; all we have to do is to allow it to work.<\/font><\/p>\n


\n           
\n<\/font>
\n<\/span>Apply this great psychological law to what is happening in India. The
\naspiration towards freedom has for some time been working in some hearts, but
\nthey relied on their own strength for the creation of the necessary conditions
\nand they failed. Of those who worked, some gave up the work, others persisted, a
\nfew resorted to tapasyā<\/font><\/i>, <\/i>the effort to awake in themselves a higher
\nPower to which they might call for help. The tapasyā<\/font> <\/i>of those last had
\nits effect unknown to themselves, for they were pouring out a selfless
\naspiration into the world, and the necessary conditions began to be created.
\nWhen these conditions were far advanced, the second class who worked on began to
\nthink that it was the result of their efforts, but the secret springs were
\nhidden from them. They were merely the instruments through which the purer
\naspiration of their old friends fulfilled itself.<\/font><\/p>\n


\n           
\n<\/font>
\n<\/span>If the conditions of success are to be yet more rapidly brought about, it
\nmust be by yet more of the lovers of freedom withdrawing themselves from the
\neffort to work through the lower self. The aspiration of these strong souls
\npurified from self will create fresh workers in the field, infuse the great
\ndesire for freedom in the heart of the nation and hasten the growth of the
\nnecessary material strength.<\/font><\/p>\n


\n           
\n<\/font>
\n<\/span>What is needed now is a band of spiritual workers whose tapasyā<\/font> <\/i>will
\nbe devoted to the liberation of India for the service of humanity. The few
\nassociations already started have taken another turn and devoted themselves to
\nspecial and fragmentary work. We need an institution in which under the guidance
\nof highly spiritual men workers will be trained for every field, workers for
\nself-defence, workers for arbitration, for sanitation, for famine relief, for
\nevery species of work which is needed to bring about the necessary conditions
\nfor the organisation of Swaraj. If the country is to be free, it must first
\norganise itself so as to be able to maintain its freedom. The winning of freedom
\nis an easy task, the keeping of it is less easy. The first needs only one
\ntremendous effort in which all the energies of the country must be concentrated;
\nthe second requires a united, organised and settled strength. If these two
\nconditions are satisfied, nothing more is needed, for all else is detail and
\nwill inevitably follow.<\/font><\/p>\n

\n <\/p>\n

\nPage-765<\/font><\/span><\/p>\n

\n

\nFor
\nthe first condition the requisite is a mighty selfless faith and aspiration
\nfilling the hearts of men as in the day of Mazzini. For the second, India, which
\nhas no Piedmont to work out her salvation, requires to organise her scattered
\nstrengths into a single and irresistible whole.<\/font><\/p>\n


\n           
\n<\/font>
\n<\/span>For both these ends an institution of the kind we have named is
\nessential. The force of a great stream of aspiration must be poured over the
\ncountry, which will sweep away as in a flood the hesitations, the selfishnesses,
\nthe fears, the self-distrust, the want of fervour and the want of faith which
\nstand in the way of the spread of the great national awakening of 1905. A
\nmightier fountain of the spirit must be prepared from which this stream of
\naspiration can be poured to fertilise the heart of the nation. When this is
\ndone, the aspiration towards liberty will become universal and India be ready
\nfor the great effort.<\/font><\/p>\n


\n           
\n<\/font>
\n<\/span>The organisation of Swaraj can only be effected by a host of selfless
\nworkers who will make it their sole life-work. It cannot be done by men whose
\nbest energies and time are given up to the work of earning their daily bread and
\nonly the feeble remnant to their country. The work is enormous, the time is
\nshort, but the workers are few. One institution is required which will train and
\nsupport men to help those who are now labouring under great disadvantages to
\norganise education, to build up the life of the villages, to spread the habit of
\narbitration, to help the people in time of famine and sickness, to preach
\nSwadeshi. These workers must be selfless, free from the desire to lead or shine,
\ndevoted to the work for the country’s sake, absolutely obedient yet full of
\nenergy. They must breathe the strength of the spirit, of selfless faith and
\naspiration derived from the spiritual guides of the institution. The material is
\nready and even plentiful, but the factory which will make use of the material
\nhas yet to be set on foot. When the man comes, who is commissioned by God to do
\nit, we must be ready to recognise him.<\/font><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n


\nBande
\nMataram<\/i>,
\n<\/i> <\/font> March 18, 1908<\/font><\/p>\n

\n <\/p>\n

\nPage-766<\/font><\/p>\n<\/tr>\n<\/table>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The Need of the Moment                           ALL that we do and attempt proceeds from faith, and if we are deficient in faith nothing can…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-413","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-01-bande-mataram-volume-01","wpcat-8-id"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/worksofthemotherandsriaurobindo.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/413","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/worksofthemotherandsriaurobindo.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/worksofthemotherandsriaurobindo.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/worksofthemotherandsriaurobindo.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/worksofthemotherandsriaurobindo.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=413"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/worksofthemotherandsriaurobindo.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/413\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/worksofthemotherandsriaurobindo.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=413"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/worksofthemotherandsriaurobindo.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=413"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/worksofthemotherandsriaurobindo.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=413"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}