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Stepping Back

Most of you live on the surface of your being, exposed to the touch of external influences.
You live almost projected, as it were, outside your own body, and when you meet some
unpleasant being similarly projected you get upset. The whole trouble arises out of your
not being accustomed to stepping back. You must always step back into yourself — learn
to go deep within — step back and you will be safe. Do not lend yourself to the superficial
forces which move in the outside world. Even if you are in a hurry to do something, step
back for a while and you will discover to your surprise how much sooner and with what
greater success your work can be done. If someone is angry with you, do not be caught
in his vibrations but simply step back and his anger, finding no support or response, will
vanish. Always keep your peace, resist all temptation to lose it. Never decide anything
without stepping back, never speak a word without stepping back, never throw yourself
into action without stepping back. All that belongs to the ordinary world is impermanent
and fugitive, so there is nothing in it worth getting upset about. What is lasting, eternal,
immortal and infinite — that indeed is worth having, worth conquering, worth possessing.
It is Divine Light, Divine Love, Divine Life — it is also Supreme Peace, Perfect Joy and All-
Mastery upon earth with the Complete Manifestation as the crowning. When you get the
sense of the relativity of things, then whatever happens you can step back and look; you
can remain quiet and call on the Divine Force and wait for an answer. Then you will know
exactly what to do. Remember, therefore, that you cannot receive the answer before you
are very peaceful. Practise that inner peace, make at least a small beginning and go on in
your practice until it becomes a habit with you.

— The Mother *

*The Mother. Collected Works of the Mother, Volume 3. Cent ed. Pondicherry: Sri Aurobindo
Ashram Trust; 1977, p. 160.

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