{"id":941,"date":"2013-07-13T01:31:27","date_gmt":"2013-07-13T01:31:27","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/localhost\/?p=941"},"modified":"2013-07-13T01:31:27","modified_gmt":"2013-07-13T01:31:27","slug":"09-opposition-of-the-hostile-forces-vol-24-letters-on-yoga-volume-24","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/worksofthemotherandsriaurobindo.org\/index.php\/01-works-of-sri-aurobindo\/01-sabcl\/24-letters-on-yoga-volume-24\/09-opposition-of-the-hostile-forces-vol-24-letters-on-yoga-volume-24","title":{"rendered":"-09_Opposition of the Hostile Forces.htm"},"content":{"rendered":"\n\n
\n
\n

\nSECTION
\nSEVEN<\/font><\/b><\/span><\/p>\n


\nOpposition of the Hostile Forces<\/font><\/b> <\/font><\/p>\n


\n\u00a0<\/font><\/span><\/b><\/p>\n

I<\/font><\/b>T IS<\/font> a fact always known to
\nall yogis and occultists since the beginning of time, in Europe
\nand Africa as in India,
\nthat wherever yoga or Yajna is done, there the hostile Forces gather together
\nto stop it by any means. It is known that there is a lower nature and a higher
\nspiritual nature − it is known that they pull different ways and the
\nlower is strongest at first and the higher afterwards. It is known that the
\nhostile Forces take advantage of the movements of the lower nature and try to spoil
\nthrough them, smash or retard the siddhi. It has been said as long ago as the
\nUpanishads (hard is the path to tread, sharp like a razor’s edge); it was said
\nlater by Christ `hard is the way and narrow the gate by which one enters into
\nthe kingdom of heaven’ and also `many are called, few chosen’ − because of these
\ndifficulties. But it has also always been known that those who are sincere and
\nfaithful in heart and remain so and those who rely on the Divine will arrive in
\nspite of all difficulties, stumbles or falls.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n⁂<\/font><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Normal human defects are one
\nthing − they are the working of the lower nature of the Ignorance. The
\naction of the hostile forces is a special intervention creating violent inner
\nconflicts, abnormal depressions, thoughts and impulses of a kind which can be
\neasily recognised as suggestions e.g. leaving the Ashram, abandoning the yoga,
\nrevolt against the Divine, suggestions of calamity and catastrophe apparently
\nirresistible, irrational impulses and so on. It is a different order from the
\nusual human weaknesses.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n⁂<\/font><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

The normal resistance of the
\nlower Nature in human beings and the action of the Hostiles are two quite
\ndifferent things. The former is natural and occurs in everybody; the latter is
\nan <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\nPage ─ 1731<\/span><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n
\n

<\/span><\/div>\n

intervention from the non-human
\nworld. But this intervention can come in two forms. (1) They use and press on
\nthe lower Nature forces making them resist where they would otherwise be
\nquiescent, making the resistance strong or violent where it would be otherwise
\nslight or moderate, exaggerating its violence when it is violent. There is
\nbesides a malignant cleverness, a conscious plan and combination when the
\nHostiles act on these forces which is not evident in the normal resistance of
\nthe forces. (2) They sometimes invade with their own forces. When this happens
\nthere is often a temporary possession or at least an irresistible influence
\nwhich makes the thoughts, feelings, actions of the person abnormal\u2014a black
\nclouding of the brain, a whirl in the vital, all acts as if the person could
\nnot help himself and were drawn by an overmastering force. On the other hand
\ninstead of a possession there may be only a strong Influence; then the symptoms
\nare less marked, but it is easy for any one acquainted with the ways of these
\nforces to see what has happened. Finally it may be only an attack, not possession
\nor influence; the person then is separate, is not overcome, resists. <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

There are some
\nwho are never touched by the hostile forces.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n⁂<\/font><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

There is a natural movement of
\nthe ordinary human nature in the material consciousness which takes time to get
\nrid of. Of course we call them forces of the lower nature but one must not
\nregard them as hostile, only ordinary. They have to be changed but it usually
\ntakes time and it can be done quietly. One must be more occupied with the
\npositive side of the sadhana than with them. If one is always thinking of them
\nas hostile things, getting disturbed when they come, considering them as
\nhostile possessions, then it is not good. <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

The things that
\nare really hostile are few and must be distinguished from the ordinary
\nmovements of the nature. The first must be repelled, the second dealt with
\nquietly and without getting troubled or discouraged by their appearance. <\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n⁂<\/font><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\nPage ─ 1732<\/span><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n
\n

<\/span><\/div>\n

The defects of the nature are
\nnothing, they can be dealt with progressively. It is these outward attacks,
\nthese suggestions and throwing in of wrong forces to which the sadhak must shut
\nhimself altogether.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n⁂<\/font><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

The lower nature is ignorant and
\nundivine, not in itself hostile but shut to the Light and Truth. The hostile
\nforces are anti-divine, not merely undivine; they make use of the lower nature,
\npervert it, fill it with distorted movements and by that means influence man
\nand even try to enter and possess or at least entirely control him. <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Free yourself
\nfrom all exaggerated self-depreciation and the habit of getting depressed by
\nthe sense of sin, difficulty or failure. These feelings do not really help, on
\nthe contrary, they are an immense obstacle and hamper the progress. They belong
\nto the religious, not to the yogic mentality. The yogin should look on all the
\ndefects of the nature as movements of the lower Prakriti common to all and
\nreject them calmly, firmly and persistently with full confidence in the Divine Power\u2014without
\nweakness or depression or negligence and without excitement, impatience or
\nviolence.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n⁂<\/font><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

It [the vital ego] is part of the
\nordinary human nature, everybody has it. It has to be purified and transformed,
\nthe ego being replaced by the true vital being of which it is a distorted
\nshadow. The forces of the lower nature are often rebellious and resist
\ntransformation out of attachment to the familiar movements of the Ignorance,
\ndesire, vanity, pride, lust, self-will etc., but they are not in their nature
\nhostile. The hostile forces are those whose very raison d’\u00eatre<\/i> is revolt against the Divine, against the Light and Truth
\nand enmity to the Divine Work.
\n <\/span><\/p>\n

\n <\/p>\n

\n⁂<\/font><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\nPage − 1733<\/span><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n
\n

<\/span><\/div>\n

The forces of the Ignorance are a
\nperversion of the earth-nature and the adverse Powers make use of them. They do
\nnot give up their control of men without a struggle.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n⁂<\/font><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

The hostile forces have a certain
\nself-chosen function: it is to test the condition of the individual, of the
\nwork, of the earth itself and their readiness for the spiritual descent and
\nfulfilment. At every step of the journey, they are there attacking furiously,
\ncriticising, suggesting, imposing despondency or inciting to revolt, raising
\nunbelief, amassing difficulties. No doubt, they put a very exaggerated
\ninterpretation on the rights given them by their function, making mountains
\neven out of what seems to us a mole-hill. A little trifling false step or
\nmistake and they appear on the road and clap a whole Himalaya
\nas a barrier across it. But this opposition has been permitted from of old not
\nmerely as a test or ordeal, but as a compulsion on us to seek a greater
\nstrength, a more perfect self-\u00a0 <\/span>knowledge,
\nan intenser purity and force of aspiration, a faith that nothing can crush, a
\nmore powerful descent of the Divine Grace.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n⁂<\/font><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

About the contact with the world
\nand the hostile forces, that is of course always one of the sadhak’s chief
\ndifficulties, but to transform the world and the hostile forces is too big a
\ntask and the personal transformation cannot wait for it. What has to be done is
\nto come to live in the Power that these things, these disturbing elements
\ncannot penetrate, or, if they penetrate, cannot disturb, and to be so purified
\nand strengthened by it that there is in oneself no response to anything
\nhostile. If there is a protecting envelopment, an inner purifying descent and,
\nas a result, a settling of the higher consciousness in the inner being and
\nfinally, its substitution even in the most external outwardly active parts in
\nplace of the old ignorant consciousness, then the world and the hostile forces
\nwill no longer \u00a0<\/span>matter − for one’s
\nown soul at least; for there is a larger work not personal in which of course <\/span><\/p>\n

\n <\/p>\n

\nPage ─ 1734<\/span><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n
\n

<\/span><\/div>\n

they will have to be dealt with;
\nbut that need not be a main preoccupation at the present stage.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n⁂<\/font><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

There is always a pressure on the
\nforces of the lower nature to change − through that the pressure is felt
\nby the hostiles; but whether they change or are destroyed seems to be left very
\nmuch for them to choose.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n⁂<\/font><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

That is true. As things are the
\nvital falsehood seems to take a temporary advantage over the superior sattwic
\nnature.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n⁂<\/font><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

It is quite true that falsehood
\nreigns in this world, that is the reason why these difficulties manifest. But
\nyou have not to allow yourself to be shaken. You must remain calm and strong
\nand go straight, using the power of Truth and the Divine Force supporting you
\nto overcome the difficulties and set straight what has been made crooked by the
\nfalsehood.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n⁂<\/font><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

I suppose so. Whenever anything
\nhas to be done, there are always forces that want to interfere. I suppose they
\nwant to show that smooth walking and the \u201cwide unbarred and thornless path\u201d
\nbelong only to the Vedic rtam<\/i> satyam<\/i> brhat<\/i> and we must get up there − if we can.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n⁂<\/font><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Whatever point the adverse forces
\nchoose for attack, however small it may seem to the external human mind,
\nbecomes a crucial point and to yield it up may be to yield to them one of the
\nkeys of the fortress. Even if it is a small postern door, it is enough for them
\nif they can enter. <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

         Nothing is really small and unimportant in the Great Path. <\/span><\/p>\n

\n <\/p>\n

\nPage ─ 1735<\/span><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n
\n

<\/span><\/div>\n

Especially, when the struggle has
\ncome down to the physical level, these distinctions cease to have any value;
\nfor there \u201csmall\u201d things have a not easily calculable index value and are of
\ngreat importance. On that level to lose a small post may be to make certain the
\nloss of the big battle. <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

All have had to
\npass through the ordeal and test through which you are passing. We would have
\navoided it for you if it had been possible, but since it has come we look to
\nyou to persist and conquer. Patience, quiet endurance, calm resolution to go
\nthrough to the end and triumph, these are the qualities now required of you −
\nthe less spectacular but more substantial of the warrior virtues. <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Also,
\nperspicacity and vigilance. Do not shut your eyes to the difficulty in you or
\nturn away from it, but also let it not discourage you. Victory is certain if we
\npersevere, and what price of difficulty and endeavour can be too great for such
\na conquest?<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n⁂<\/font><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Yes, certainly. Men are being
\nconstantly invaded by the hostiles and there are great numbers of men who are
\npartly or entirely under their influence. Some are possessed by them, others (a
\nfew) are incarnations of hostile beings. At the present moment they are very
\nactive all over the earth. Of course in the outside world there is no
\nconsciousness, such as is developed in yoga, by which they can either become
\naware of or consciously repel the attacks − the struggle in them between
\nthe psychic and the hostile force goes on mostly behind the veil or so far as
\nit is on the surface is not understood by the mind.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n⁂<\/font><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

The first attempt of the
\npossessing entity is to separate the person from his psychic, and it is that
\nthat creates the struggle. All depends on the extent and persistence of the
\npossession − how much of the being it occupies and whether it is constant
\nor not. <\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n⁂<\/font><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\nPage ─ 1736<\/span><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n
\n

<\/span><\/div>\n

Do you not know the story of the
\nElephant Brahman? All is Brahman, but in action you have to treat the elephant
\nas the Elephant Brahman and the Asura as the Asura Brahman and neither as
\nmerely Brahman pure and simple. One has either to avoid the Rakshasa or
\novercome him; otherwise the Rakshasa may eat up the man, all Brahman though
\nboth be. The Brahman realisation is an inner static realisation, until one has
\nbecome the dynamic instrument of the Divine Consciousness and Force − then
\nthe problem of the elephant and the Rakshasa won’t arise, for the Divine
\nConsciousness will know and the Divine Force will execute what is to be done in
\neach case. There is no need to have vaira<\/i>
\ninside, but to be friendly with the Rakshasa is not prudent, as the Rakshasa is
\nimpervious to that kind of thing − he will take advantage of it to
\nfarther his own purpose.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n⁂<\/font><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

It is one thing to see things and
\nquite another to let them enter into you. One has to experience many things, to
\nsee and observe, to bring them into the field of the consciousness and know
\nwhat they are. But there is no reason why you should allow them to enter into
\nyou and possess you. It is only the Divine or what comes from the Divine that
\ncan be admitted to enter you. <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

To say that all
\nlight is good is as if you said that all water is good − or even that all
\nclear or transparent water is good: it would not be true. One must see what is
\nthe nature of the light or where it comes from or what is in it, before one can
\nsay that it is the true Light. False lights exist and misleading lustres, lower
\nlights too that belong to the being’s inferior reaches. One must therefore be
\non one’s guard and distinguish; the true discrimination has to come by growth
\nof the psychic feeling and a purified mind and experience.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n⁂<\/font><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

The mere intensity of the force
\ndoes not show that it is a bad power; the Divine Force often works with a great
\nintensity. Everything depends on the nature of the force and its working:
\n
\n <\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\nPage ─ 1737<\/span><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n
\n

<\/span><\/div>\n

what does it do, what seems to be
\nits purpose? If it works to purify or open the system, or brings with it light
\nor peace, or prepares the change of the thought, ideas, feelings, character in
\nthe sense of a turning towards a higher consciousness, then it is the right
\nforce. If it is dark or obscure or perturbs the being with rajasic or egoistic
\nsuggestions or excites the lower nature, then it is an adverse force. <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\nII<\/b> <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

I do not see how I could say that
\nyou were not for this yoga when you had and still get the experiences that are characteristic
\nof the yoga. The obstacles in the consciousness and the attacks are no proof
\nthat a man is not fit for yoga. There is no one practising yoga who does not
\nget them. Even those who have become great siddha yogis had them during their
\ntime of sadhana.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n⁂<\/font><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

It is not a fact that the
\nRajayogin or others are not attacked by environmental forces. Whether Moksha or
\ntransformation be the aim, all are attacked − because the vital forces
\nwant neither liberation nor transformation. Only the yogins speak of it in general
\nterms as Rakshasi Maya or the attacks of kāma<\/i>,
\nkrodha<\/i>, lobha<\/i>, − they don’t care to trace these things to their sources
\nor watch how they come in, − but the thing itself is known to all.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n⁂<\/font><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Hostile forces attack every
\nsadhak; some are conscious of it, others are not. Their object is either to
\ninfluence the person or to use him or to spoil his sadhana or the work or any
\nother motive of the kind. Their object is not to test, but their attack may be used
\nby the guiding power as a test. <\/span><\/p>\n

\n <\/p>\n

\n⁂<\/font><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\nPage ─ 1738<\/span><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n
\n

<\/span><\/div>\n

There is always this critical
\nhostile voice in everybody’s nature, questioning, reasoning, denying the
\nexperience itself, suggesting doubt of oneself and doubt of the Divine. One has
\nto recognise it as the voice of the Adversary trying to prevent the progress
\nand refuse credence to it altogether.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n⁂<\/font><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

There are no sadhaks who are
\nnever attacked by wrong forces − but if one has a complete faith and
\nself-consecration, one can throw off the attack without too much difficulty.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n⁂<\/font><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

If the faith and surrender are
\ncomplete in all parts of the being then there can be no attack. If there is a
\nstrong central faith and surrender at all times, there can be attacks but the
\nattacks will have no chance of success.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n⁂<\/font><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

There are two things that make it
\nimpossible for them [the hostile forces] to succeed even temporarily in any
\nattack on the mind or the vital − first, an entire love, devotion and
\nconfidence that nothing can shake, secondly, a calm and equality in the vital
\nas well as in the mind which has become the fundamental character of the inner
\nnature. Suggestions then may still come, things go wrong outside, but the being
\nremains invulnerable. Either of these two things is sufficient in itself
\n− and in proportion as they grow, even the existence of the hostile
\nforces becomes less and less of a phenomenon of the inner life − though
\nthey may still be there in the outer atmosphere.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n⁂<\/font><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

It is those who are of a highly
\nsattwic nature, especially if strongly surrendered to the Mother, who escape
\nthe invasion or attacks of the hostile Forces in the mind and vital. That does
\nnot mean <\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\nPage ─ 1739 <\/span><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n
\n

<\/span><\/div>\n

that they escape the difficulties
\nof the lower human nature or of the sadhana, but these are not complicated by
\nthe effective support given to them by the hostiles. It is not that there is no
\npoint in them that might be pressed upon by the hostiles but in actual fact
\nthey cannot get at these points because of the build of the nature which is
\nfortified against them owing to the large proportion of prakāśa<\/i> and sukha<\/i>
\n(see Gita) which the sattwic brings with it. But otherwise there is an internal
\nclarity, a balance, a happy composition in the being reflecting sunlight
\neasily, less amenable to the touch of cloud and tempest, which gives no handle
\nto the hostile forces. The nature refuses to be violently agitated or disturbed
\nor upset. At most it is the body that the hostiles can attack and there too
\nbecause the nervous being is calm and, it is only through the most material
\nthat it can be done.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n⁂<\/font><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Vital purity is very necessary,
\nbut it is not easy to make it immune from attack unless the wideness is there
\nalong with a solid spiritual<\/i> purity
\nand peace descending in the wideness. Of course, wideness by itself is not
\nsufficient.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n⁂<\/font><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

They [the hostile forces] come
\nbecause they were freely permitted in the past − so they want to renew
\nand continue their action. An entire rejection and a complete turning to the
\nDivine are the way to meet them.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n⁂<\/font><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Evil forces can always attack in
\nmoments of unconsciousness or half-consciousness or through the subconscient or
\nexternal physical − so long as all is not supramentally transformed. Only
\nif the force is there, they can at once be pushed back.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n⁂<\/font><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

The hostile forces do not need a
\ncause for attacking − they <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\nPage ─ 1740<\/span><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n
\n

<\/span><\/div>\n

 attack whenever and whoever they
\ncan. What one has to see is that nothing responds or admits them.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n⁂<\/font><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

You ask whether the adverse Force
\nis stronger than the Divine Force. The implication is that man has no
\nresponsibility for his action and whatever he does or however he errs and falls
\nin consequence, the Divine Force is to blame. It may be so, but in that case
\nthere is no need or utility in doing sadhana. One has only to sit still and let
\nthe adverse Force or the Divine Force do what they like! According to that
\ntheory the Devil was quite right in telling Christ, \u201cCast thyself down from
\nthis mountain and let His angels come and upbear thee,\u201d and Christ was quite
\nwrong in rejecting the suggestion and saying, \u201cIt is written `Thou shalt not
\ntempt (put to a test) the Lord thy God!’ \u201d He ought to have jumped and if he
\ngot smashed, it would only have proved that the adverse forces were greater
\nthan the Divine Force! <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

If an adverse
\nForce comes, one has not to accept and welcome its suggestions, but to turn to
\nthe Mother and refuse to turn away from her. Whether one can open or not, one
\nhas to be loyal and faithful. Loyalty and fidelity are not qualities for which
\none has to do yoga. They are very simple things which any man or woman who aspires
\nto the Truth ought to be able to accomplish. <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

It is what
\neverybody should realise. It is the psychic fidelity that brings the power to
\nstand against the Asuras and enables the Protection to work. <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\nIII<\/b> <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

About the attacks and the action
\nof the cosmic forces − these attacks very ordinarily become violent when
\nthe progress is becoming rapid and on the way to be definite − especially
\nif they find they cannot carry out an effective aggression into the inner
\nbeing, they try to shake by outside assaults. One must take it as a trial of
\nstrength, a call for gathering all one’s capacities of calm and openness to the
\nLight and Power, so as to make oneself an <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\nPage ─ 1741<\/span><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n
\n

<\/span><\/div>\n

instrument for the victory of the
\nDivine over the undivine, of the Light over the darkness in the world-tangle.
\nIt is in this spirit that you must face these difficulties till the higher
\nthings are so confirmed in you that these forces can attack no longer.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n⁂<\/font><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

He is quite right in saying that
\nthe heaviness of these attacks was due to the fact that you had taken up the
\nsadhana in earnest and were approaching, as one might say, the gates of the
\nKingdom
\n of Light. That always makes these
\nforces rage and they strain every nerve and use or create every opportunity to
\nturn the sadhak back or, if possible, drive him out of the path altogether by
\ntheir suggestions, their violent influences and their exploitation of all kinds
\nof incidents that always crop up more and more when these conditions prevail,
\nso that he may not reach the gates. I have written to you more than once alluding
\nto these forces, but I did not press the point because I saw that like most
\npeople whose minds have been rationalised by a modern European education you
\nwere not inclined to believe in or at least to attach any importance to this knowledge.
\nPeople nowadays seek the explanation for everything in their ignorant reason,
\ntheir surface experience and in outside happenings. They do not see the hidden
\nforces and inner causes which were well-known and visualised in the traditional
\nIndian and yogic knowledge. Of course, these forces find their point<\/i> d’appui<\/i> in the sadhak himself, in the ignorant parts of his
\nconsciousness and its assent to their suggestions and influences; otherwise
\nthey could not act or at least could not act with any success. In your case the
\nchief points<\/i> d’appui<\/i> have been the extreme sensitiveness of the lower vital ego
\nand now also the physical consciousness with all its fixed or standing
\nopinions, prejudices, prejudgments, habitual reactions, personal preferences,
\nclinging to old ideas and associations, its obstinate doubts and its
\nmaintaining these things as a wall of obstruction and opposition to the larger
\nlight. This activity of the physical mind is what people call intellect and reason,
\nalthough it is only the turning of a machine in a circle of mental habits and
\nis very different from the true and free reason, <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\nPage ─ 1742<\/span><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n
\n

<\/span><\/div>\n

the higher Buddhi, which is
\ncapable of enlightenment and still more from the higher spiritual light or that
\ninsight and tact of the psychic consciousness which sees at once what is true
\nand right and distinguishes it from what is wrong and false. This insight you
\nhad very constantly whenever you were in a good condition and especially
\nwhenever Bhakti became strong in you. When the sadhak comes down into the
\nphysical consciousness, leaving the mental and higher vital ranges on which he had
\nfirst turned towards the Divine, these opposite things become very strong and
\nsticky and, as one’s more helpful states and experiences draw back behind the veil
\nand one can hardly realise that one ever had them, it becomes difficult to get
\nout of this condition. The only thing then, as X has told you and I also have
\ninsisted, is to stick it out. If once one can get and keep the resolution to
\nrefuse to accept the suggestions of these forces, however plausible they may
\nseem, then either quickly or gradually this condition can diminish and will be
\noverpassed and cease. To give up yoga is no solution.<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\n⁂<\/font><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

You are right. The hostile
\nforces, their attacks, their suggestions ought now to be superannuated, out of
\ndate, out of place here in this sadhana. If somebody would realise that and
\nfulfil it in his sadhana, the others might perhaps get strength to follow. At
\npresent these things are still here because the sadhaks open themselves to them
\nout of habit, out of desire, out of attraction for the drama of the vital, out
\nof fear, out of passive response and unresisting inertia. But there is no real
\nnecessity for them any longer or true justification for their presence here,
\n− the outer world is a different matter. The sadhana could very well go
\non and should go on as an unfolding, a natural falling away of defects and
\ndifficulties, a coming of greater and greater light and power and
\ntransformation.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n⁂<\/font><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

When I said \u201cno more necessary\u201d,
\nI did not mean that their action could not go on – I think I expressly said
\nthat if the <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\nPage ─ 1743<\/span><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n
\n

<\/span><\/div>\n

sadhaks persisted in opening
\nthemselves to it, it would continue. There is a difference between the action
\nof the hostile powers and the ordinary action of the lower nature. The latter
\nof course goes on until it is changed but there is no necessity for it to take
\nthe form of hostile attacks and upsettings; it can be treated as a machinery
\nthat has to be set right and with the aid of the higher Light and Power can be
\nset right. There are several who were once taken by hostile attacks who have now
\nreached the point where they can follow this method, others are approaching it −
\nsome of course have always followed and never were attacked, at least in their
\nmind and vital. But there are still many who are very far from it and so the
\naction of the Hostiles continues.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n⁂<\/font><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

I wrote because now there is a
\nsufficient descent of Light and Power, for one not to be subject to the ordeals
\nand tests which the Hostile Powers are permitted to put when one has only the
\nmental, or ordinary spiritual forces on the plane of mind to support one’s
\nprogress. If you look closely, you will see that when these Forces work now it
\nis in a perfectly irrational instinctive way, repeating always the same
\nmovements without any intellectual or higher vital power behind them. Theirs is
\nnow an irrational mechanical method which obscures more in the lowest physical
\nand subconscient than anything else. That means that their true justification
\nfor being there is gone.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n⁂<\/font><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

The things enumerated are not
\ncauses of the attacks, but they are the occasion, the weakness in the sadhaks
\nthat allows them when they could very well be dismissed. The hostile forces are
\nthere in the world to maintain the Ignorance − they were there in the
\nsadhana, because they had the right to test the sincerity of the sadhaks in
\ntheir power and will to cleave to the Divine and overcome all difficulties. But
\nthis is only so long as the higher Light has not descended into the physical;
\nnow it is descending, it is sufficiently there for anyone to receive it more
\nand more fully, <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\nPage − 1744<\/span><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n
\n

<\/span><\/div>\n

so that the way becomes smooth
\nand open, a progressive development and not a struggle.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n⁂<\/font><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

It is not the pressure from above
\nthat creates difficulties. There is a strong resistance to change in the lower
\nplanes and certain Forces take advantage of it to throw in vortices of
\ndisturbance and try to upset as many people as possible. The only action of the
\nPressure from above on these is to push them out from the atmosphere of the
\nperson touched or from the atmosphere generally. After a time they are pushed
\nout of the atmosphere of the person and can no longer work on him except from a
\ndistance with very slight effect. When that can be done generally\u2014so as to push
\nthem to a distance from the atmosphere of the Ashram, then all this trouble
\nwill cease.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n⁂<\/font><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

That [going away from the Ashram]
\nis not due to the pressure of yoga but to the pressure of something in them
\nthat negates the yoga. If one follows one’s psychic being and higher mental
\ncall, no amount of pressure of yoga can produce such results. People talk as if
\nthe yoga had some maleficent force in it which produces these results. It is on
\nthe contrary the resistance to yoga that does it. <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\nIV <\/b><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

A progress made often stirs the
\nadverse forces to activity, they want to diminish its effect as much as
\npossible. When you get a decisive experience of this kind, you should remain
\nconcentrated and assimilate it − avoiding self-dispersion and all externalising
\nof the consciousness.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n⁂<\/font><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

It is very often after a good
\nexperience or a decisive progress <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\nPage ─ 1745<\/span><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n
\n

<\/span><\/div>\n

that the beings of the vital
\nworld try to attack and threaten….\u00a0
\n<\/span>They have always the hope that they can turn back the sadhak from his
\npath by attacks and menaces.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n⁂<\/font><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

It often happens like that. When
\na progress has been made (here it is the opening of the inner vision) the
\nhostiles attack in a fury. You must be especially on your guard when you are
\nmaking a progress − so as to check the attack before it can get in.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n⁂<\/font><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

That is right. The rest is the
\nremnant of the attack − such an attack, sudden and violent, as sometimes
\nindeed often comes when one is making full progress to the straight and open
\nway. It cannot permanently deflect the progress and, when it disappears, there
\nis usually a chance of going on more firmly and swiftly towards the goal. That
\nis what we must do now.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n⁂<\/font><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Naturally, the hostile forces are
\nalways on the watch to rob what they can of the things received by the sadhak, −
\nnot that they profit by them but they prevent them from being used to build up
\nthe Divine in life.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n⁂<\/font><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

There is always a struggle going
\non between the forces of Light and the opposing forces − when there is a
\ntrue movement and progress the latter try to throw a wrong movement across to
\nstop or delay the progress. Sometimes they do this by raising up old movements
\nin yourself that have still the power to recur; sometimes they use movements or
\nthoughts in the atmosphere, things said by others to disturb the consciousness.
\nWhen a settled peace and working of the Power and self-giving of the being can
\nbe fixed in the physical, then there comes a secure basis − there <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\nPage ─ 1746<\/span><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n
\n

<\/span><\/div>\n

are no more fluctuations of this
\nkind, though superficial difficulties may continue.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n⁂<\/font><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Either the higher consciousness
\nhas to descend into the vital and physical or else by the psychic consciousness
\ncoming forward one has to detect whatever imperfection is in the vital and
\nreject it. <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

There are
\nalways hostile forces that try to stop or break the experience. If they come
\nin, it is a sign that there is something in the being − vital or physical
\n− that either responds or is too inert to oppose.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n⁂<\/font><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Your description is too vague.
\nFrom what you write it may just as well be the reaction that frequently follows
\nan experience; the adverse force coming in with a contrary movement. Tests come
\nsometimes from the hostile forces, sometimes in the course of Nature. I suppose
\nthey must be necessary, since they always come in sadhana.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n⁂<\/font><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

There is no use of testing at all
\n− whatever test is needed, comes of itself in the ordinary way in the
\nvery use of the capacity and in the very steps of the progress − no other
\nis needed. Beyond that the tests that come are from the hostile forces − but
\ntheir way of testing is to take advantage of any point of weakness and push
\nwith all their force at that point to break down the sadhana or else to hurl
\nall the adverse forces on the consciousness while it is still in process of
\ntransition and not yet mature so as to shatter all that has been done. It is
\nnot a true test but mere destruction replacing the constructive method. By
\nunnecessary \u201ctesting\u201d one dangerously invites this hostile pressure and raises
\nup things which one has to banish. To be conscious is necessary, but quiet
\nself-examination is sufficient for that − raising up difficulties under
\nplan of testing is quite the wrong method. <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n⁂<\/font><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\nPage ─ 1747<\/span><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n
\n

<\/span><\/div>\n

The method of the Divine
\nManifestation is through calm and harmony, not through a catastrophic upheaval.
\nThe latter is the sign of a struggle, generally of conflicting vital forces,
\nbut at any rate a struggle on the inferior plane. <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

You think too
\nmuch of the adverse forces. That kind of preoccupation causes much unnecessary
\nstruggle. Fix your mind on the positive side. Open to the Mother’s power,
\nconcentrate on her protection, call for light, calm and peace and purity and
\ngrowth into the divine consciousness and knowledge. <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

The idea of
\ntests also is not a healthy idea and ought not to be pushed too far. Tests are
\napplied not by the Divine but by the forces of the lower planes − mental,
\nvital, physical − and allowed by the Divine because that is part of the
\nsoul’s training and helps it to know itself, its powers and the limitations it
\nhas to outgrow. The Mother is not testing you at every moment, but rather
\nhelping you at every moment to rise beyond the necessity of tests and
\ndifficulties which belong to the inferior consciousness. To be always conscious
\nof that help will be your best safeguard against all attacks whether of adverse
\npowers or of your own lower nature.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n⁂<\/font><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

If one knows how to profit by
\nexperience, even the Hostile Forces and their attacks can be useful; − although
\nof course that does not mean that the attacks should be invited. What they do
\nis to press with all their force upon some weak point of our nature and if we
\nare vigilant, we can see and throw away that weakness. Only the attack method
\nof these Forces is too violent and upheaving and endangers the good things in
\none also, faith and peace etc. − so one has to be careful to keep these
\nagainst all attacks.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n⁂<\/font><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

The hostiles when they cannot
\nbreak the yoga by positive means, by positive temptations or vital outbreaks,
\nare quite willing to do it negatively; first by depression, then by refusal at
\nonce of ordinary life and of sadhana. <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n⁂<\/font><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\nPage ─ 1748<\/span><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n
\n

<\/span><\/div>\n

Indirect attacks are not of this
\nkind, a violent rush and covering by hostile forces −\u00a0 <\/span>they are done through covert suggestions, half-truth,
\nhalf-falsehood, attempts to represent the falsehood in the garb of the Divine
\nTruth or to mix the lower consciousness cleverly with the higher. Their attempt
\nis to mislead by guile rather than to conquer by force.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n⁂<\/font><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

When the vital forces or beings
\nthrow an influence, they give it certain forms of thought, action and put them
\nin the minds and vital of people so that they feel, think, act and speak in a
\nparticular way. Whoever opens to their influence acts according to this
\nformation, perhaps with variations due to his own vital temperament.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n⁂<\/font><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

There is no particular number
\n− but sometimes there are particular vital beings that attach themselves
\nto a man if he accepts them.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

V<\/b><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Attacks are always going about
\nand it is a period when they have fallen on many. But with a strong faith
\nfounded in the Mother and a whole-hearted aspiration, no attack can leave any
\nlasting result.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n⁂<\/font><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Either to reject by dynamic means
\nor to remain unaffected and let it pass are the two usual ways of dealing with
\nthe attacks.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n⁂<\/font><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

This state which tries to come
\nupon you and seize is not part of your true self, but a foreign influence. To
\nyield to it and to express it would therefore be not sincerity, but the expression
\nof <\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\nPage ─ 1749<\/span><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n
\n

<\/span><\/div>\n

something false to your true
\nbeing, something that will grow more and more foreign to you as you progress.
\nAlways reject it, when it comes, even if you feel strongly its touch; open in
\nyour mind and soul to the Mother, keep your will and faith and you will find it
\nreceding. Even if it returns obstinately, be equally and more obstinate against
\nit, firm in rejection − that will discourage and wear it out and finally
\nit will grow weak, a shadow of itself and disappear. <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Be true to your
\ntrue self always − that is the real sincerity. Persist and conquer.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n⁂<\/font><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

They [the lower forces] hope by
\npersistence to tire you out or to get in by sheer obstinacy − or at least
\nto delay the realisation by their attacks. That is always their method. If they
\ncan shake the faith, the peace and samatā<\/i>,
\nthey think themselves richly recompensed.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n⁂<\/font><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

The one thing wrong would be to
\nallow yourself to be overcome by them [the adverse forces]. If you remain
\nsteady in yourself, you can repel the attack or else it will exhaust itself and
\npass. In such circumstances you have to be like a cliff attacked by a stormy
\nsea but never submerged by it.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n⁂<\/font><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

It is not sincerity to express
\nonly what the adverse forces suggest or what you feel when you are in a bad condition,
\nfull of obscurity and a wrong outlook. When you are in the Truth, you feel
\nquite the opposite and it is not insincerity to cling to that and recall it. It
\nis only by bringing it back that the Truth can grow in you. <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

The trouble in
\nyour chest comes only from a vital resistance and it continues because you
\nidentify yourself with that resistance. It is only by quietude and opening to
\nthe Mother that these things can disappear. There is no other way to progress. <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\nPage ─ 1750<\/span><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n
\n

<\/span><\/div>\n

If you have not
\ngot quietude, you can always aspire first and a sincere aspiration will bring
\nit back.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n⁂<\/font><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

I do not see what reasons can be
\nso subtle as to justify or even appear to justify something that opposes and
\ntries to destroy the sadhana. Whatever stands in the way of spiritual progress,
\nmust be a falsehood whatever reasons it gives in its own favour. The best thing
\nis not to listen to its reasons.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n⁂<\/font><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

From your last letter it is clear
\nthat it is not your own will that pushes you to go but something that has taken
\nhold of your mind, a clutch of some Force which is using an old movement of the
\noutward mind and vital to drive the action. All the more reason to reject this
\naction as contrary to the soul’s and heart’s true feeling. The pride that says:
\n\u201cI am one of those who can break but will not bend\u201d, is a poor thing and
\nconceals the fact that one is bending before forces and impulses that are ignorant
\nand obscure. Its result is, as you yourself have seen at the end of your
\nletter, that one bends to the lower forces of nature but refuses to bend to the
\nDivine. <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

If sadhana is a
\nstruggle between the higher Will and the old forces of nature bringing
\nsuffering and inner torment, we do not want you to do that kind of sadhana.
\nThat is not the spirit of our yoga. What we want you to do is to recover your quietude
\nand go on in that. To have the basis of quietude and allow the Divine Force to
\nwork in you firmly and quietly is always the best method − it is not
\nnecessary to proceed through a big personal effort, disturbance and struggle.
\nCome back to this − open yourself once more as you did before − then
\nyou got back sleep or health in a day or two and were growing inwardly without
\nexcessive trouble − and let the Mother’s Power and Grace lead you. <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

I shall do all
\nto help you and pull you out, but that which has closed itself in you must open
\nfor the help to work quickly <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\nPage ─ 1751<\/span><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n
\n

<\/span><\/div>\n

as it did before. Otherwise too
\nit can pull you out, but if there is this strong obstruction that has to be
\nundone, time is needed. A central change of attitude in your mind would, I
\nbelieve, make all the difference − it has done before.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n⁂<\/font><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

You ought to realise that these
\nthings are attacks which come on you from an adverse Force to which your nature
\nwas responsive because of vital desire and the vital ego − what you call
\nselfishness. When it comes, you have to realise that it is an attack and refuse
\ninstead of accepting it − and in order to be able to do that you must
\nalways discourage desire and selfishness in you and all that comes from them
\nsuch as jealousy, claim, anger etc. It is no use alleging that there are good reasons
\nfor their rising − even if all the alleged reasons were true, they would
\nnot justify your indulging them, for in a sadhak nothing can justify that.
\nThere is no need to understand − for there is only one thing that is
\nnecessary to understand − that, reason or no reason, desire, selfishness,
\njealousy, demand, anger have no place in the spiritual life. <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

If you keep to
\nwhat you have resolved, then all will be right − and the right knowledge
\nwill come not from the mind and its reasonings but from the soul and its true
\nvision of things.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n⁂<\/font><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Yes, the difficulty is always
\nthat something in the nature gives a hold to the attack. It either still
\nindulges it or likes it or even, if wanting to be free, is too accustomed to
\nreceive and respond to the old feelings, thoughts, suggestions and does not yet
\nknow how not to respond. The first thing is for the mental being to stand back,
\nrefuse to accept, say \u201cThis is no longer mine.\u201d Then, even if the vital being
\nresponds to the attack, one part of the nature can be free and observe and
\ndiscourage it. The next thing is for this free part to impose the same will of
\ndetachment on the vital so that after a time this also when the attack comes
\nfeels that it is something foreign, not its own, − as if a stranger had <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\nPage ─ 1752<\/span><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n
\n

<\/span><\/div>\n

come into the room and was trying
\nto impose his ideas or his will on the inmates. After that it becomes more easy
\nto get rid of it altogether. Of course, there is the Mother’s Force working,
\nbut this kind of assent from the mind and vital makes the result quick and easy
\n− otherwise it takes time and more labour and struggle.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n⁂<\/font><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

When there is an attack or
\nobstruction, the call or the thinking of the Mother may not succeed at once,
\neven the will to get rid of the attack or obstruction may not succeed at once,
\nbut one must persevere till the result comes, and if one perseveres the result
\nis bound to come. <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

One sees the
\nnegative side only during the attacks, because the first thing the attack or
\nobstruction does is to try to cloud the mind’s intelligence. If it cannot do
\nthat it is difficult for it to prevail altogether for the time being. For if
\nthe mind remains alert and clings to the truth, then the attack can only
\nupheave the vital and, though this may be painful enough, yet the right
\nattitude of the mind acts as a corrective and makes it easier to recover the
\nbalance and the true condition of the vital comes back more quickly. If the
\nvital keeps its balance, then the attack touches the physical consciousness
\nonly with its suggestions and is much more superficial or even it can do no
\nmore than create a temporary restlessness, uneasiness or ill-health in the body
\n− the rest of the consciousness remaining unaffected. It is therefore
\nvery important to accustom oneself to keep the right mental attitude even in
\nthe midst of an attack, however strong it is. To keep faith is the best help
\nfor that − the faith that the Divine is always there and I shall pass to
\nhim through whatever trials. That helps to look at other things also in the
\ntrue light. <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

By tamasic ego
\nis meant the ego of weakness, self-depreciation, despondency, unbelief. The
\nrajasic ego is puffed up with pride and self-esteem or stubbornly asserts
\nitself at every step or else wherever it can; the tamasic ego, on the contrary,
\nis always feeling \u201cI am weak, I am miserable, I have no capacity, I am not
\nloved or chosen by the Divine, I am so bad and incapable − what can the
\nDivine do for me?\u201d Or else \u201cI am especially <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\nPage ─ 1753<\/span><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n
\n

<\/span><\/div>\n

chosen out for misfortune and
\nsuffering, all are preferred to me, all are progressing, I only am left behind,
\nall abandons me, I have nothing before me but flight, death or disaster,\u201d etc.,
\netc., or something or all of these things mixed together. Sometimes the rajasic
\nand tamasic Ahankar mix together and subtly support each other. In both cases
\nit is the \u201cI\u201d that is making a row about itself and clouding the true vision.
\nThe true spiritual or psychic vision is this: \u201cWhatever I may be, my soul is a
\nchild of the Divine and must reach the Divine sooner or later. I am imperfect,
\nbut seek after the perfection of the Divine in me and that not I but the Divine
\nGrace will bring about; if I keep to that, the Divine Grace itself will do
\nall.\u201d The \u201cI\u201d has to take its proper place here as a small portion and
\ninstrument of the Divine, something that is nothing without the Divine but with
\nthe Grace can be everything that the Divine wishes it to be. <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

The Mother’s
\nhelp is always there but you are not conscious of it except when the psychic is
\nactive and the consciousness not clouded. The coming of suggestions is not a
\nproof that the help is not there. Suggestions come to all, even to the greatest
\nsadhaks or to the Avatars − as they came to Buddha or Christ. Obstacles
\nare there − they are part of Nature and they have to be overcome. What
\nhas to be attained is not to accept the suggestions, not to admit them as the
\ntruth or as one’s own thoughts, to see them for what they are and keep oneself
\nseparate. Obstacles have to be looked at as something wrong in the machinery of
\nhuman nature which has to be changed − they should not be regarded as
\nsins or wrong-doings which make one despair of oneself and of the sadhana.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n⁂<\/font><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

But when the suggestions come,
\nsurely it is possible to know from their very character what they are and that
\nitself shows that they must come from wrong vital Forces. The only thing is
\nthat they must be at once rejected and the entry into your own mind and vital
\nrefused to them − i.e. they must not be accepted or allowed to influence.
\nVery few have the direct occult perception of the Forces behind the suggestion
\n− at least until the cosmic <\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\nPage ─ 1754<\/span><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n
\n

<\/span><\/div>\n

consciousness fully opens, for
\nthen direct perception becomes more easily possible, − but the mental
\nunderstanding can be used with good effect.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n⁂<\/font><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Do not allow these suggestions to
\nprevail. Each time these powers attack, if you hold them at bay, you gain an
\nadded force for progress. They attack and suggest to you a wrong understanding
\nin the hope that, if you accept, their power to return on you will last a
\nlittle longer. Do not allow them to prevail for however short a time.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n⁂<\/font><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

It is sufficient if you can keep
\nin touch with the Force and reject any strong attack of the confusion. The rest
\nwill be done by the Force itself − for none is really strong enough to
\nchange himself, it is the Divine Force called down that does it.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n⁂<\/font><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Yes, the Power with its help and
\ninner working is always there with you and always will be. In the strongest
\nattacks and darkest hours it was covered up and hidden, but it was never absent
\nor withdrawn and never will be.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n⁂<\/font><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

All naturally in these
\ndifficulties has its original roots in the vital and its expectations of all
\nkinds. When one wants to get rid of them, the vital resists and is unwilling to
\npart with them, but this by itself would not be anything more than a work of change,
\nadjustment, re-arrangement which might take time but not cause serious
\nconflicts and upheavals. For once the mind and inner will are settled to be rid
\nof these movements, the will of the higher vital would also come into line and
\nthe rest which is more obstinate against change because it is a thing of
\nhabitual movements, supported on the subconscient and not governed by <\/span><\/p>\n

\n <\/p>\n

\nPage ─ 1755<\/span><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n
\n

<\/span><\/div>\n

reason or knowledge, would yet be
\nunable to resist permanently or vehemently the pressure from the higher will of
\nthe being. Its force of resistance would diminish and the habitual reactions
\nwear out or fall away. But the prolongation of the difficulty and its acuteness
\ncome from the fact that there are Forces in Nature, not personal or individual
\nbut universal, which live upon these movements and through them have long
\ncontrolled the individual nature. These do not want to lose their rule and so
\nwhen these movements are thrown out, they throw them back on the sadhak in
\nstrong waves or with great violence. Or they create in the vital a great
\ndepression, discouragement, despair − that is their favourite weapon
\n− because it is losing its former field of desires and has not yet in any
\ncertainty something that would replace it, the assured continuous psychic or
\nspiritual condition or experience. To prevent that is the whole effort of these
\nForces. So they create these upheavals and the vital admits them because of its
\nown habit of response to the lower Forces. At the same time they put in suggestions
\nto the mind so as to make it also accept the disturbance, discouragement and
\ndepression. That is what I meant by saying that these are attacks from outside
\nand must be rejected. If they cannot be rejected altogether, yet one must try
\nto keep a part of the mind conscious which will refuse to admit the suggestions
\nor share in the depression and the trouble, v which will say firmly \u201cI know
\nwhat this is and I know that it will pass and I can resume my way to the goal
\nwhich nothing can prevent me from reaching, since my soul’s will is and will
\nalways be for that.\u201d You have to reach the point where you can do that always;
\nthen the power of the Forces to disturb will begin to diminish and fall away.
\nOur Force is there with you and will not fail to support and strengthen you.
\nThe suggestion that we are indifferent is obviously nothing but a suggestion
\nintended to help and fortify the depression. As such you should regard it and
\nnot accept it as true or as your own thought; for it could not possibly be
\ntrue. Your success in reaching peace and light is as much our concern as yours
\nand even more so. <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n⁂<\/font><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\nPage ─ 1756<\/span><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n
\n

<\/span><\/div>\n

There are almost always some
\nparts of the being that are either unwilling or feel an incapacity for the
\neffort demanded of them. It is the psychic and the mind and the higher vital
\nusually that join together for the yoga − for if these three do not join,
\nit is difficult to do any yoga at all beyond getting a few experiences from
\ntime to time. But in the lower vital there is almost always something
\nrecalcitrant and there is much of the physical that is too obscure. If the
\nsadhak were left to himself this could be remedied without much difficulty, but
\nit is here that the hostility in the universal (lower) forces comes in − they
\nwant to keep their reign over the being. The result is an exacerbation of the
\nresistance of the lower vital and an exaggeration of the obstruction (inertia,
\npassive resistance) in the physical which then admit these suggestions of self-destruction,
\ndepression or despair. <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\nVI <\/b><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

They [the hostile attacks on the
\nouter being] are felt as suggestions, or a touch on the surface mind, vital,
\nphysical or as movements in the atmosphere (the personal or the general
\nenvironmental consciousness) − but for the inner being it is like gusts
\nor storms outside. If they penetrate by chance into the house, they are
\nimmediately ejected and the doors and windows banged on them − there is
\nnothing that accepts them or tolerates them inside.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n⁂<\/font><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

It must have been an indication
\nof the source and location of the suggestion or influence. Either thoughts or
\nvibrations or some pressure of wrong force can be felt being thrown or sent in
\na very concrete way when the consciousness is open. When it is not, they come
\nin without being noticed, only the result is felt.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n⁂<\/font><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

From the higher mind upwards, all
\nis free from the action of the hostile forces. For they all belong to the
\nspiritual consciousness <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\nPage ─ 1757<\/span><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n
\n

<\/span><\/div>\n

though with varying degrees of
\nlight and power and completeness.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n⁂<\/font><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Vital forces can attack the mind
\nand do. Many receive suggestions from them through the brain, so it is quite
\npossible that it may be felt as coming in through the head from above. That
\ndoes not mean that it came from regions above the mind (higher Mind, intuition
\nor overmind). Correct reasoning means no more than coherent argument from a
\ncertain standpoint and does not validate a fit of anger or indicate for it a
\nnon-adverse source.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n⁂<\/font><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

You were getting the true
\nconsciousness down into the vital but as the old difficulty rose again in the
\nphysical, there is again the vital attack. The sign of complete liberation will
\nbe when your vital can face this attack always without being upset or crying
\nout, repelling its force by a calm rejecting force from within.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n⁂<\/font><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

There has been progress in all
\nthese parts, but they seem to be subject still to a response to the suggestions
\nof the hostile forces. Everybody gets these suggestions, but they ought not to
\nbe allowed to enter inside, especially in the heart, or to be accepted by the
\nvital. Evidently, they enter through the physical mind (from the throat upwards
\nmeant that) and affect the surface vital and emotional being. You must get the
\npower to reject them from there by a constant and steady denial and refusal of
\ntheir suggestions. So long as anything in you says \u201cyes\u201d or accepts, there is
\nalways the possibility of a return.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n⁂<\/font><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

As I have said, the response of
\nthe physical mind or vital to these forces is a habit. You get upset as soon as
\nthey touch either and lose control over yourself. The concentration in the
\nheart is the <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\nPage ─ 1758<\/span><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n
\n

<\/span><\/div>\n

way to get rid of them, but there
\nmust also be a detachment of the consciousness so that it can stand back from
\nthe attack and feel separate from it.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n⁂<\/font><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

If the attacks of the hostile
\nforces have been made less strong by concentrating in the heart (or if they
\nhave become less frequent) you must continue that concentration until you are
\nable to join the head and the heart, the psychic and the higher consciousness.
\nIt all depends on that. The psychic must be strong enough to compel the vital
\nand physical to give themselves to the Divine − or the higher
\nconsciousness must so descend and occupy everything that the old movements can
\nonly at most move on the surface without being able to enter in or touch the
\ninner calm − or the two together, psychic and higher consciousness must
\noccupy the whole being. These are the three ways in which the yoga moves. If
\nthe concentration in the heart which means the awakening of the psychic is most
\neffective against the attacks, then it is that you must follow.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n⁂<\/font><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

If you can feel even in these
\nattacks that part in you in which there is constant Peace even amidst the pains
\nand darkness, and if you can keep it always, that is an immense gain. The
\nsomething in you which does not always feel it, which remains half way,
\nundecided, must also now take the step of complete surrender. It is only a part
\nof your physical mind that does not understand, that receives back the old
\nideas − that must be converted. It does not matter about the weakness and
\nincapacities − when the full peace and Power is there in the physical,
\nthey will be removed. The new birth in you is certain to come − the first
\ntouch of it is already there in the awakened psychic − the rest cannot
\nfail to come.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n⁂<\/font><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

It is more the lack of sleep that
\nis responsible, I think; also the <\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\nPage ─1759<\/span><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n
\n

<\/span><\/div>\n

excess of struggle which the
\nconstant pressure of the vital disturbances and the physical tamas bring in and
\nby that weaken the nerves. <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Like the vital
\ndisturbance the physical inertia with all its symptoms is an attack of the
\nhostile forces intended to cut short and prevent the higher opening. The ideas
\nthat arise to justify it are of no value − it is not true that physical
\nwork is of an inferior value to mental culture, it is the arrogance of the
\nintellect that makes the claim. All work done for the Divine is equally divine,
\nmanual labour done for the Divine is more divine than mental culture done for
\none’s own development, fame or mental satisfaction. <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

This inertia,
\nnumbness, pain should be thrown off with the same resolution as the vital
\ndisturbances. The only peculiarity of it in your case is the persistent
\nviolence of the attack as in the case of the vital − otherwise, it is
\nwhat others get also; but each time they reject, call on the Mother and get
\nfree, after a little time if the attack is violent, at once if it is of a
\nlesser character. <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

If there is
\ntemporary physical inability, one can take rest, but solely for the purpose of
\nrecovering the physical energy. The idea of giving up physical work for mental
\nself-development is a creation of the mental ego.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n⁂<\/font><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

The inertia gives room and power
\nfor the hostile forces to act.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n⁂<\/font><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

The attacks you speak of can come
\nanywhere. It is an attack of the nervous centres and on the nervous being by
\ncontrary vital forces. The fact that it was not allowing you to come here and
\nthat it began to go when you steeped yourself in the atmosphere and ideas of The<\/i> Yoga<\/i>
\nand its Objects<\/i> is significant of its
\norigin. As for the other symptoms they were amassing to a height of the
\nrestlessness of the nervous being and are quite familiar in such cases. The
\ndesire to run away somewhere is a very usual symptom. Hysteria is also an
\nattack by similar forces, but it is only <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\nPage ─ 1760<\/span><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n
\n

<\/span><\/div>\n

one form; the attack need not
\ntake the appearance of any illness. The Doctors usually consider it as a type
\nof what they call neurasthenia, nerve-weakness; but that simply locates the
\nthing without explaining its real nature and cause. In both cases, here and
\nthere, it was an attempt to come across your spiritual life by creating a
\ndisability and state of disturbance in the vital-physical part of the being.
\nAnyhow the fact that you could not go from here and that the whole thing could
\nbe removed by us at once as soon as you opened somewhere by this feeling of
\nsorrow at going shows that the spiritual life is stronger and deeper within
\nyou, even when covered over, than the opposite forces at their height. That is
\nthe main thing.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n⁂<\/font><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

What is there in you is the
\ncapacity for response to these suggestions that still remains owing to the
\nstamp of the past habit on the physical, especially the subconscient physical.
\nI have explained to you what happens\u2014that these things when rejected by the
\nmind and vital descend into the subconscient or else go out into the
\nenvironmental consciousness and from there they can return when pushed by the
\nhostile forces. It is in these two ways that the hostiles try to recover their
\nhold. But the rising from the subconscient is not so important except for its
\nlong persistence − it comes up in dream or it is, in the waking
\nconsciousness, fragmentary. But when it comes from the environmental
\nconsciousness then it can be a strong attack and it is evidently that which is
\ntaking place now. <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

I think what
\nlends force to these attacks and tends to upset you, is a feeling of impatience
\nsomewhere that things are not going forward, progress of a definite kind is not
\nbeing made and that these things are not done with already forever. A period of
\napparent halt is not necessarily an adverse thing, it can be a preparation for
\na fresh progress of a more decisive character − that often happens in the
\nsadhana − but you have to keep vigilantly the advance gained in spite of
\nattacks. The next progress ought to be the descent of the full spiritual calm
\nand peace from above − an opening of the consciousness into wideness.
\nTill it comes, <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\nPage ─ 1761<\/span><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n
\n

<\/span><\/div>\n

keep yourself firm and do not
\nallow these attacks to shake your basis.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n⁂<\/font><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

The exterior consciousness can be
\ninvaded by what rises up from the subconscient or comes in from outside and
\nowing to a renewed vibration of the past habit can respond − but that
\ndoes not mean that the will of the vital or of the physical mind is for these
\nthings. If there was anything in them normally on the side of sex or violence,
\nthen you could say the impurities were there. But if it were so, there would be
\nmore than these attacks, there would be a daily struggle with anger and desire.\n<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

If one had to
\nwait for an absolute purity free from all possibility of these attacks before
\nbeginning to realise the Divine, nobody would ever be able to realise. It is as
\nthe realisation progresses, that the fundamental transformation takes place.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n⁂<\/font><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

These attacks should not
\ndiscourage you. There are always moments − so long as there is not the
\ncomplete basis in the physical when old movements seem to revive. But so long
\nas it is only a rush of an outside force churning up the subconscient and it
\ndoes not last, it does not at all mean that the progress is not there. We have
\nto deal with all the complexity of the human consciousness in its hidden parts
\nas well as on its surface − and there are layers and layers of the consciousness
\nin which something may lurk of the old reactions, but each conquest makes the
\ncontrol stronger and brings the full purification nearer.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n⁂<\/font><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

You need not be upset about the
\nmatter; it is sufficient if you note movements like these and are vigilant that
\nthey should find no ground in you again. The cause is probably to be found in
\nthe contact with the outside world renewing some possibilities of the old Adam
\nin you. When there is some lowering or diminution of the consciousness or some
\nimpairing <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\nPage ─ 1762<\/span><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n
\n

<\/span><\/div>\n

of it at one place or another,
\nthe Adversary − or the Censor − who is always on the watch presses
\nwith all his might wherever there is a weak point lying covered from your own
\nview, and suddenly a wrong movement leaps up with unexpected force. Become
\nconscious and cast out the possibility of its renewal, that is all that is to
\nbe done.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n⁂<\/font><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

These [forces of dullness,
\ndepression, etc.] are things that wander about in the atmosphere and jump upon
\none without notice. It is often difficult to see where precisely they come from
\nand often there is no reason at all or any inviting cause in oneself. They have
\nsimply to be thrown off as when something falls on the body.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n⁂<\/font><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

It happens so with everybody so
\nlong as there is not the positive siddhi of transformation by which it becomes
\ncontrary to the very nature of the instrument to respond to these vibrations
\n− because they have become foreign to it. Till then all depends on the
\nvigilance of the consciousness and its will. The repetition of the response
\ndoes not increase the difficulty − it only retards the clearing out of
\nthe invading forces.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n⁂<\/font><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

The response-giving mechanism is
\nlike that in everybody. It is not by something shocking but by something
\nenlarging and uplifting that it can get out of its rut of habit.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n⁂<\/font><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

It is better not to trouble about
\nthe hostile forces. Keep your aspiration strong and sincere and call in the
\nDivine in each thing and at each moment for support and in all that you feel
\nkeep yourself open to us. That is the easiest way to the Divine. <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\nPage ─ 1763<\/span><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n
\n

<\/span><\/div>\n

If you begin to concern yourself
\nabout the hostile forces, you will only make the path more difficult.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n⁂<\/font><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

It is so that they [the hostile
\nsuggestions] must be regarded − without interest, with indifference. That
\nremoves the necessity for constant struggle which is itself a form of interest,
\nand it is as discouraging and more to these suggestions.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n⁂<\/font><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

It is quite true. To talk of
\none’s experiences to others tends to diminish the power of the experience. Also
\nto think too much of the hostile Powers is to bring in their atmosphere. One
\nhas to recognise them when they come and repel them, but to think much about
\nthem, to fear, to be expecting or looking out for them is a mistake.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n⁂<\/font><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

The worst thing for sadhana is to
\nget into a morbid condition, always thinking of \u201clower forces, attacks.\u201d If the
\nsadhana has stopped for a time, then let it stop, remain quiet, do ordinary
\nthings, rest when rest is needed − wait till the physical consciousness
\nis ready. My own sadhana when it was far more advanced than yours used to stop
\nfor half a year together. I did not make a fuss about it, but remained quiet
\ntill the empty or dull period was over.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n⁂<\/font><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Yes, the adverse forces take
\nadvantage of any perturbation of that kind, for it opens, as it were, a passage
\nto their action. Fear is the one thing that one must never feel in face of
\nthem, for it makes them bold and aggressive. <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Moreover, fear,
\nas you justly say, calls the thing feared − it must therefore be thrown
\nout altogether. <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n⁂<\/font><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\nPage ─ 1764<\/span><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n
\n

<\/span><\/div>\n

That is very interesting − for
\nit agrees with the Mother’s constant insistence that to feel sympathy or any
\nemotion of the weak philanthropic kind with those possessed by vital forces is
\nmost dangerous as it may bring an attack upon oneself which may take any form.
\nOne must do what is to be done but abstain from all such weakness. <\/p>\n

\nVII<\/b> <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

There is no such thing as a mere
\naccident. There is some − perhaps a very slight unconsciousness in the
\nphysical and it is taken advantage of by these small beings of the vital
\nphysical plane − who are more mischievous than consciously hostile.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n⁂<\/font><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

It is not a bad shakti that gets
\ninside you and from there does these things; it is small forces from outside
\nthat amuse themselves by creating small accidents of that kind, taking
\nadvantage of some inattention or forgetfulness etc.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n⁂<\/font><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

You are right about the
\naccidents. It is chiefly the physical mind’s unconsciousness that makes these
\naccidents or interventions of mischievous forces easy.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n⁂<\/font><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

That is right. These accidents
\nhappen only to disturb you. You must not allow yourself to be disturbed. <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Yes − it
\nis because they [the hostile forces] know that Peace is the basis and if that
\nis there in full, all the rest will come. So they want anyhow to prevent it. <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n⁂<\/font><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\nPage ─ 1765<\/span><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n
\n

<\/span><\/div>\n

Yes, it was an attack − the
\nhostile forces often take the form of this or that person to get through the
\nphysical association a more concrete grip on the physical consciousness.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n⁂<\/font><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

It sometimes happens that by a
\ncarefully formed formation like this and through the instrumentality of a third
\nperson whose movements they control, the hostile forces get through the
\nconscious guard and bring about an accident like this. It is through the
\nsubconscient that they manage to do this, for the subconscient has not yet
\neither the mass of force descended from above which could have repelled the
\narriving cycle and turned its movement away or the instinctive sureness which would
\nhave felt beforehand what the cyclist was going to do and done just the thing
\nto avoid it. However when the protection is there such accidents even when
\ngrave in character are usually reduced to something minor in their results.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n⁂<\/font><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

It has often been seen that when
\nan accident takes place at a particular spot, there is a tendency for some time
\nfor other accidents to happen there. It was so with a place near Villianur some
\nyears ago. There is the same tendency with suicides at a particular place. It
\nis a sort of powerful formation that remains there with or without a vital
\nbeing (spirit) in charge of the formation. <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\nVIII <\/b><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

I must say however that it is not
\nthe push for union with the Divine nor is it the Divine Force that leads to
\nmadness − it is the way in which people themselves act with regard to
\ntheir claim for these things. To be more precise, I have never known a case of
\ncollapse in yoga as opposed to mere difficulty or negative failure, − a
\ncase of dramatic disaster in which there was not <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\nPage ─ 1766<\/span><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n
\n

<\/span><\/div>\n

one of three causes − or
\nmore than one of the three at work. First, some sexual aberration − I am
\nnot speaking of mere sexuality which can be very strong in the nature without
\nleading to collapse − or an attempt to sexualise spiritual experience on
\nan animal or gross material basis; second, an exaggerated ambition, pride or
\nvanity trying to seize on spiritual force or experience and turn it to one’s
\nown glorification ending in \u00a0<\/span>megalomania;
\nthird, an unbalanced vital and a weak nervous system apt to follow its own
\nimaginations and unruly impulses without any true mental will or strong mental
\nwill to steady or restrain it, and so at the mercy of the imaginations and
\nsuggestions of the adverse vital world when carried over the border into the
\nintermediate zone of which I spoke in a recent message.\u00b9 <\/span>All the causes of collapse have been due to these
\nthree causes − to the first two mostly. Only three or four of them have ended
\nin madness − and in these the sexual aberration was invariably present;
\nusually a violent fall from the way is the consequence. X is no exception to
\nthe rule. It is not because X pushed for union with the Divine that X went mad,
\nbut because X misused what came down for a mystic sexuality and the
\nsatisfaction of megalomaniac pride, in spite of my repeated and insistent
\nwarnings.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n⁂<\/font><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Usually there is some
\npredisposition behind, hereditary, natal (due to some circumstances of birth)
\nor founded in insufficient nervous balance. Often there is in the vital
\nexcessive ambition, lust or some other violent Ripu. But these though they
\nmight distort or break the sadhana by opening it to undesirable Forces could
\nnot bring madness (megalomania, erotic mania, or what is called religious
\nmania) − only if there is some taint or want of nervous balance. Anxiety
\nor excessive stress of meditation would not bring it either except by acting
\nupon some such predisposing weakness. In some cases possession by beings of the
\nvital worlds without any such predisposing cause may be possible, but that will
\nbe more easily curable. There are however<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u00b9<\/span>See Part
\nThree, pp. 1039-1046.<\/span> <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\nPage ─ 1767<\/span><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n
\n

<\/span><\/div>\n

cases of people who break down
\ntheir nervous balance by wrong practices − there the madness has nothing
\nreally to do with the sadhana.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n⁂<\/font><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

As to gratitude, it is a psychic
\nfeeling and all that is psychic helps the soul to flower. There is nothing
\nwrong from the spiritual point of view in emotion. The only thing is that it
\nshould not become a tie of bondage in the path. <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

It is quite
\nimpossible for the descent of the Divine Grace to produce nausea and
\nnervousness − to think so is self-contradictory. Sometimes when one has
\npulled or strained, there is a headache or a sensation as if of headache, or if
\none pulls down too much Force then there may be a giddiness, but one has only
\nto remain quiet and that sets itself right by an assimilation of what has come
\ndown or otherwise. There is never any adverse or troublesome after-consequence.\n<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

The idea that X
\nwas sent mad by a Divine Force is an absurdity and an irrational superstition.
\nPeople go mad because they have a physical predisposition due either to
\nheredity or to some kind of organic cause or secret illness like syphilis, the action
\nbeing often brought up by some psychological factor (ambition turning to
\nmegalomania, hypochondria, melancholia, etc.). All that happens in everyday
\nlife and not only in yoga: the same causes work here. The one thing is that
\nthere may be an invasion of an alien Force bringing about the upsetting, but it
\nis not the Divine Force, it is a vital Force that invades. The Divine Force
\ncannot by its descent be the cause of madness any more than it can be of
\napoplexy or any other physical illness. If there is no predisposition, one may
\nhave all kinds of attacks from vital or other forces or from one’s own movements
\nof the lower nature, as violent as possible, but there will be no madness.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n⁂<\/font><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

A descent cannot possibly produce
\nnausea and vomiting etc. There can, if one pulls down too much force, be
\nproduced a headache or giddiness; both of these go if one keeps quiet a <\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\nPage ─ 1768<\/span><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n
\n

<\/span><\/div>\n

little, ceases pulling and
\nassimilates. A descent cannot possibly produce blood pressure, madness or
\napoplexy or heart failure or any other illness. <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Illness does
\nnot rise up by the descent of the Force; nor hereditary taint nor madness. They
\ncome up of themselves, as in X’s case who never had even the smallest grain of
\na descent or a Force anywhere. It is only after he went off his centre that we
\nare putting Force (not as a descent, but as an agent) to keep him as straight
\nand as sound as possible.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n⁂<\/font><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

It is quite possible that if a
\ntoo intense Ananda is allowed before the purity and peace are in the nature, it
\nmay disturb the system − though I don’t know whether there is any
\ninstance of madness as a consequence. At any rate, it is a fact that normally
\nAnanda comes (in the natural course, I mean, if not pulled down) only
\noccasionally so long as the peace and purity are not there as a base. It is
\nprobably right that it should be so.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n⁂<\/font><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Those who fall into insanity have
\nlost the true touch and got into the wrong contact. It is due either to some
\nimpurity and unspiritual desire with which the seeker enters into the way or
\nsome insincerity, egoism and false attitude or to some weakness in the brain or
\nnervous system which cannot bear the Power it has called down into it. <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

The safest way
\nis to follow the guidance of someone who has himself attained to mastery in the
\npath. Only that guidance should be implicitly and sincerely followed; one’s own
\nmind and its ideas and fancies must not be allowed to interfere. It goes
\nwithout saying that it must be a true guidance, not the leading of a tyro or an
\nimpostor. <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n⁂<\/font><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\nPage ─ 1769<\/span><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n
\n

<\/span><\/div>\n

Epilepsy is not possession
\n− it is an attack or at most a temporary seizure. Insanity always
\nindicates possession. The hereditary conditions create a predisposition. It is
\nnot possible for a vital Force or Being to invade or take possession unless there
\nare doors open for it to enter. The door may be a vital consent or affinity or
\na physical defect in the being.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n⁂<\/font><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Epilepsy is itself a sign of
\nvital attack, even if there is a physical cause for it − the attacking
\nforce not being able to disturb the mental and vital (proper) falls on the body
\nand uses some physical cause (latent or growing) for the base of its action. For
\neverything manifested in the physical must have a physical support or means for
\nits expression.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n⁂<\/font><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Insanity is always due to a vital
\nattack, or rather possession although there is often a physical reason as well.
\nHysteria is due to a pressure from the vital world and there may be momentary
\npossessions also. The same thing cannot be said of ordinary delirium the cause
\nof which is physical only − except in so far as all illness is an attack
\nof lower forces of Nature, but these lower forces are not vital beings or what
\nwe call specifically hostile forces − they are simply performing their
\nrole in nature and of course there may be and probably is a being of some kind
\npresiding over each kind of illness − in Bengal they give a special name
\nto some of them and worship them as goddesses to avert the visitation. But as I
\nsay these are really Forces, not vital hostiles. <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

As for the
\ninterest of vital beings in possessing men − beings of the vital world
\nare not constituted like men − they take a delight in struggle and
\nsuffering and disorder − it is their natural atmosphere. They want
\nbesides to get the taste of the physical world without being under the
\nobligation of taking on birth and developing the psychic being and evolving
\ntowards the Divine. They wish to remain what they are and yet amuse themselves <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\nPage ─ 1770<\/span><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n
\n

<\/span><\/div>\n

with the physical world and
\nphysical body.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n⁂<\/font><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

In these cases of hysteria usually
\nnothing is gained by humouring or indulgence − firmness generally pays
\nbetter, because most often there is something there that wants to be
\ninteresting and get sympathy and have a fuss made over the person. As for cure,
\nthat is a different matter, the subjective cause has to be got rid of and it is
\nnot easy.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n⁂<\/font><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Loss of balance produces disorder
\nin the consciousness and the adverse forces use that loss of balance for
\nattacking and wholly upsetting the system and doing their work. That is why people
\nbecome hysterical or mad or filled with the desire to die or go away.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n⁂<\/font><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

[Occurrence of loss of balance:]
\nMore easily in the women than in the men but in some of the latter also. What
\nproduces the loss of balance is an inability to control the vital movements by
\nthe reason and an instability of the vital itself so that it sways from one
\nfeeling to another, one impulse to another without harmony or order.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n⁂<\/font><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

I may observe that X does not
\nseem to me to be mad − there is no sign of a dislocation of the thinking
\nmind due to lesion or accident or illness. What there is is a fixed idea and
\nwhat is called folie<\/i> de<\/i> pers\u00e9cution<\/i>,
\nbut that is not due to insanity − people have it who have otherwise an
\nacute and perfectly well-ordered intelligence. X from his photograph appears to
\nhave had a mediumistic element in him and to have by some ill-chance entered
\ninto contact with powers of the vital plane which were able to put their
\nsuggestions in him − in that part of the consciousness which we call the
\nvital mind so that he is unable to ascertain things in their<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\nPage ─ 1771<\/span><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n
\n

<\/span><\/div>\n

proper light and is tormented by
\nthe suggestions that have driven their furrows there in the form of habitual
\nideas that tyrannise over him and which he is unable to embrace or refuse.
\nUnfortunately this is a malady of the consciousness, which it is very difficult
\nto cure because the patient himself gives no assistance, as he clings to his
\nfixed idea and even when the influence is taken away, calls it back upon him.
\nCertainly he could be told from here that he is not mad and is not cursed of God
\n− but that of itself might not be sufficient to cure him.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n⁂<\/font><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

I am writing today about your son
\nX and his illness if it can be called by that name. I shall state first in
\ngeneral terms the nature of the malady and its usual developments, that is to say,
\nthe normal course it takes when no psychic or spiritual force is brought in to
\nremove it. Afterwards I shall indicate the two possible means of cure. <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

I think it is
\nbest for me to state the case in its worst and not only in its best possible
\nterms because it is necessary that you should know the full truth and have the
\ncourage to face it. These cases are not those of a truly physical malady, but
\nof an attempt at possession from the vital world; and the fits and other
\nphysical symptoms are signs, not of the malady itself, but of the struggle of
\nthe natural being against the pressure of the hostile influence. Such a case in
\na child of this age indicates some kind of accumulation in the physical
\nheredity creating an opportunity or a predisposition of which the vital invasion
\ntakes advantage. It is especially the physical consciousness and physico-vital
\nwhich contain the germs or materials of this predisposition. The physical being
\nis always changing its constituents and in each period of seven years a complete
\nchange is effected. If the symptoms of this predisposition in the nature are
\ndetected and a wise influence and training used by the parents to eradicate
\nthem and this is done so effectively that in the first seven years no seeds of
\nmalady appear, then usually there is no further danger. If on the contrary they
\nmanifest by the seventh year, then the next period of seven years is the
\ncritical period and, ordinarily, the <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\nPage ─ 1772<\/span><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n
\n

<\/span><\/div>\n

case would be decided one way or
\nthe other by or before the fourteenth year. <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

There are
\nnormally three possible eventualities. The difficulty in dealing with the case
\nof so young a child is that the mind is not developed and can give no help towards
\nthe cure. But as the mind develops in the second seven years it will, if it is
\nnot abnormally weak which I think is not the case here, react more and more
\nagainst the influence. Aided by a good control and influence it may very well
\nsucceed in casting out the hostile intrusion and its pressure altogether. In
\nthat case the fits and other signs of the physical struggle pass away, the
\nstrange moral and vital tendencies fade out of the habits and the child becomes
\nmentally, morally and physically a healthy normal being. <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

The second
\npossibility is that the struggle between the natural being and the intruding
\nbeing may not be decisive in the psychic sense, that is to say, the intruder
\ncannot take full possession but also he cannot be thrown out entirely. In that
\ncase anything may happen, a shattered mind and health, the death of the body or
\na disturbed, divided and permanently abnormal nature. <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

The third and
\nthe worst possibility is that the intruding being may succeed and take entire
\npossession. In that case the fits and other violent symptoms will disappear,
\nthe child may seem to be physically cured and healthy, but he will be an abnormal
\nand most dangerous being incarnating an evil vital force with all its terrible
\npropensities and gifted with abnormal powers to satisfy them. <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

In X’s case
\nthere is not as yet possession in the full sense of the word, but a strong
\npressure and influence indicated by the strange habits of which you have
\nwritten. These are suggested and dictated by the intruding being and not proper
\nto the boy himself. The fearlessness and security with which he does these
\nthings is inspired from the same source. But the fits prove that there is as
\nyet no possession. There is a struggle indicated by them and a temporary hold
\nwhich passes out again. He is evidently in the earlier part of the critical
\nperiod. I have indicated the course normally taken by the illness, but it is
\nnot necessary to pass through it and take its risks. There are other means
\nwhich can come to his help and effect a complete cure. <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\nPage ─ 1773<\/span><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n
\n

<\/span><\/div>\n

\nThe first and
\neasiest is to cure by hypnotic suggestion. This if properly applied is an
\nabsolutely sure remedy. But in the first place it must be applied by someone
\nwho is not himself under the influence of evil powers, as some hypnotists are.
\nFor that obviously will make matters worse. Moreover, it must be done by
\nsomeone who has the proper training and knows thoroughly what he is about; for
\na mistake might be disastrous. The best conditions would be if someone like
\nyourself who has a natural relation and already an influence over the child
\ncould do it with the necessary training and knowledge. <\/p>\n

\n <\/p>\n

The other means
\nof cure is the use of spiritual power and influence. If certain
\npsycho-spiritual means could be used, this would be as sure and effective as
\nthe other. But this is not possible because there is no one there who has the
\nright knowledge. The spiritual influence by itself can do it but the working is
\nlikely to be slow. It must ordinarily be conveyed through someone on the spot
\nand you yourself are obviously the right instrument. What you have to do is to
\nkeep the idea that I am sending to you power for this object, to make yourself
\nreceptive to it and at the same time make your own will and natural influence
\non the child a direct channel for it. The will must be a quiet will, calm and
\nconfident and intent on its object, but without attachment and unshaken by any
\namount of resistance and unalarmed and undiscouraged by the manifestations of
\nthe illness. Your attitude to the child must be that of a calm and firm
\nprotecting affection free from emotional weakness and disturbance. The first
\nthing is to acquire such an influence as to be able to repel the attack when it
\ncomes and if it takes any hold to diminish steadily its force and the violence
\nof its manifestation. I understand from your letter that you have already been
\nable to establish the beginning of such an influence. But it must be able to
\nwork at a distance as well as in his presence. Further you must acquire the
\npower of leaving a protection around him when you are absent. Secondly, you
\nmust be able to convey to him a constant suggestion which will gradually
\ninhibit the strange undesirable habits of which you speak in your letter. This,
\nI may say, cannot be effectively done by any kind of external coercion. For
\nthat is likely to make these impulses more violent. It must be a will and <\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\nPage ─ 1774<\/span><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n
\n

<\/span><\/div>\n

suggestion and silent influence.
\nIf you find the control increasing and these habits diminishing, you can
\nunderstand that the work of cure has begun. Its completion may take some time
\nbecause these vital beings are very sticky and persistent and are always
\nreturning to the attack. The one thing which will make the cure rapid is if the
\nboy himself develops a will in his mind to change for that will take away the
\nground of the hostile influence. It is because something in him is amused and takes
\npleasure in the force which comes with the influence that these things are able
\nto recur and continue. This element in him calls the invading presence back
\neven when it has been centrally rejected. I shall of course try to act directly
\non him as well as through you, but the instrumentality of one on the spot
\ngreatly enforces and is sometimes indispensable to the action. <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

End of Part Four<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\nPage ─ 1775<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/table>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

SECTION SEVEN Opposition of the Hostile Forces  \u00a0 IT IS a fact always known to all yogis and occultists since the beginning of time, in…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[19],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-941","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-24-letters-on-yoga-volume-24","wpcat-19-id"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/worksofthemotherandsriaurobindo.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/941","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=941"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/worksofthemotherandsriaurobindo.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/941\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/worksofthemotherandsriaurobindo.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=941"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/worksofthemotherandsriaurobindo.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=941"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/worksofthemotherandsriaurobindo.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=941"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}