{"id":455,"date":"2013-07-13T01:28:07","date_gmt":"2013-07-13T01:28:07","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/localhost\/?p=455"},"modified":"2013-07-13T01:28:07","modified_gmt":"2013-07-13T01:28:07","slug":"12-the-way-vol-17-the-hour-of-god-volume-17","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/worksofthemotherandsriaurobindo.org\/index.php\/01-works-of-sri-aurobindo\/01-sabcl\/17-the-hour-of-god-volume-17\/12-the-way-vol-17-the-hour-of-god-volume-17","title":{"rendered":"-12_The Way.htm"},"content":{"rendered":"\n\n
\n


\n
\nIII<\/font><\/span><\/p>\n


\nON
\nYOGA<\/b><\/font><\/span><\/p>\n


\n
\nThe
\n<\/span><\/font>
\nWay
\n<\/font><\/span><\/b><\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n


\n                        F<\/font><\/b>IRST<\/font> <\/b>
\nbe sure of the call and of thy soul\u2019s
\nanswer. <\/span>For if the call is not true, not the touch of God\u2019s powers or
\nthe <\/span>voice of his messengers, but the lure of thy ego, the end of
\nthe<\/span><\/font><\/span>
\nendeavour will be a poor spiritual fiasco or else a deep
\n disaster.<\/span><\/font><\/p>\n

    And
\nif
\nnot the soul\u2019s fervour, but only the mind\u2019s assent or interest replies
\nto the divine summons or only the lower life\u2019s desire clutches
\nat some side attraction of the fruits of Yoga-power<\/span><\/font> or<\/span><\/font>
\n<\/font><\/span><\/b>Yoga-pleasure
\nor only a transient emotion leaps like an unsteady <\/font><\/span><\/font>flame
\nmoved by the intensity of the Voice or its sweetness
\nor grandeur, then too there can be little surety for thee in the difficult path of
\nYoga.<\/font><\/span><\/p>\n

    Th<\/span>e
\nouter instruments of mortal man have no force to carry him trough the severe
\nardours of this spiritual journey and Titanic inner battle or to meet its terrible
\nor obstinate ordeals or nervė him to face and overcome its subtle and formidable
\ndangers. Only his spirit\u2019s august and steadfast will and the quenchless fire of
\nhis soul’s<\/span>
\ninvincible ardour are sufficient for this difficult transformation and this high
\nimprobable endeavour.<\/font><\/span><\/p>\n

    Imagine
\nnot the way is easy; the way is long, arduous, dangerous, difficult.
\nAt every step is an ambush, at every turn a pitfall. A
\nthousand seen or unseen enemies will start up against thee, terrible
\nin subtlety against thy ignorance, formidable in power against thy weakness. And
\nwhen with pain thou hast destroyed them, other thousands will surge up to take
\ntheir place. Hell will vomit its hordes to oppose and enring and wound and menace;
\nHeaven will meet thee with its pitiless tests and its cold lunminous denials.<\/font><\/span><\/p>\n

    Thou shalt find thyself alone in thy anguish, the demons furious<\/span><\/font><\/span>
\nin thy path, the Gods unwilling above thee. Ancient and powerful, cruel,
\nunvanquished and close and innumerable
\n are<\/span><\/font> the
\ndark and dreadful Powers that profit by the reign of
\n<\/span><\/font>Night
\n<\/font><\/span><\/b>and
\nIgnorance and would have no change and are hostile.<\/p>\n

<\/span><\/font><\/font><\/p>\n


\nPage
\n– 39<\/font><\/span><\/p>\n

\n

Aloof,
\nslow to arrive, far-off and few and brief in their visits are the Bright Ones
\nwho are willing or permitted to succour. Each step forward is a battle. There
\nare precipitous descents, there are unending ascensions and ever higher peaks
\nupon peaks to conquer. Each plateau climbed is but a stage on the way and
\nreveals endless heights beyond it. Each victory thou thinkest the last
\ntriumphant struggle proves to be but the prelude to a hundred fierce and
\nperilous battles….<\/font><\/span><\/p>\n

    But
\nthou sayst God\u2019s hand will be with me and the Divine Mother near with her
\ngracious smile of succour? And thou knowest not then that God\u2019s Grace is more
\ndifficult to have or to keep than the nectar of the Immortals or Kuvera\u2019s
\npriceless treasures? Ask of his chosen and they will tell thee how often the
\nEternal has covered his face from them, how often he has withdrawn from them
\nbehind his mysterious veil and they have found themselves alone in the grip of
\nHell, solitary in the horror of the darkness, naked and defenceless in the
\nanguish of the battle. And if his presence is felt behind the veil, yet is it
\nlike the winter sun behind clouds and saves not from the rain and snow and the
\ncalamitous storm and the harsh wind and the bitter cold and the atmosphere of a
\nsorrowful grey and the dun weary dullness. Doubtless the help is there even when
\nit seems to be withdrawn, but still is there the appearance of total night with
\nno sun to come and no star of hope to please in the darkness.<\/font><\/span><\/p>\n

    Beautiful
\nis the face of the Divine Mother, but she too can be hard and terrible. Nay,
\nthen, is immortality a plaything to be given lightly to a child, or the divine
\nlife a prize without effort or the crown for a weakling? Strive rightly and thou
\nshalt have; trust and thy trust shall in the end be justified; but the dread Law
\nof the Way is there and none can abrogate it.<\/p>\n

<\/font><\/span><\/p>\n


\nPage
\n– 40<\/font><\/span><\/p>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/table>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

III ON YOGA The Way                           FIRST be sure of the call and of thy soul\u2019s answer. For if the call is not true,…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-455","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-17-the-hour-of-god-volume-17","wpcat-9-id"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/worksofthemotherandsriaurobindo.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/455","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=455"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/worksofthemotherandsriaurobindo.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/455\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/worksofthemotherandsriaurobindo.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=455"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/worksofthemotherandsriaurobindo.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=455"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/worksofthemotherandsriaurobindo.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=455"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}