Page 40 - NAMAH-Apr-2021

Namah Vol. 29, Issue 1, 24th April 2021

onto the surface. Normally we identify only society is not rejected but absorbed within
with the physical effort, not what is behind its transmuting embrace.
it. Even with mental work, our consciousness

gets habitually pulled through the narrow Nevertheless, the consecration demanded in
passageways of the brain. In work too, we Integral Yoga demands that the attachments
interact and every interaction has a way of of family life need to be completely excised.
pulling us onto the surface. These are the In the typical family of today, attachment
kinds of challenges that we face in this yoga. is a fact of life and it is attachment which
But the difficulties we confront are a portent suffocates all inner growth. It is attachment
to the vastness that we acquire if we actually which feeds the ego and brings everything
succeed. so much to the surface. There can be no
love in attachment, only a very pallid and
In karmayoga, there are no boundaries. Every unsatisfactory substitute.
action we make is work. We need to be in
authentic control of all our work and authentic This dichotomy presents a massive challenge
control only comes when the results of our for the aspiring soul. We may feel really
work are left to the Divine. Then the task stuck in the quagmire of the surface life.
ceases to be our possession. Something vaster Some may not be able to bear it and will
than our ego can then take charge. Everything look for a suitable escape. The path of
becomes an offering to the Supreme. It isolation and renunciation may beckon. In
is a never-ending process. We offer from the bosom of the family, we repeatedly find
inside and identify more and more with the our patterns and formations mirrored in
Supreme inside. It is this identity which keeps those around us. On the integral path, if one
our consciousness rooted inside: to the Truth. is sincere, one becomes conscious of more
and more knots and stains that need to
be offered to the Light. These attachments
should be offered too. The interchange of
the family life needs to be enhanced by a
state of conscious and loving acceptance.
This love needs to be drawn inward and
rarefied beyond the clutches of the ego.
Family life All this can be done. The forum provides
a tremendous opportunity for growth but
One other challenge we might face comes there are not many capable of advancing

from family-life. The vast majority of society in such an unyielding atmosphere. There
is part of these groupings. Only a few opt for are so many distractions and we have to
the seclusion of ashram life. Here, at the Sri constantly re-orient ourselves inside. It
Aurobindo Ashram, a way has been found to requires a herculean effort and there are no
integrate families within the larger collective. half-measures. Ultimately, we bring harmony
The integral path offers a unique synthesis of all around us. If one backs down from
the inner and outer life. The exterior façade is this, one heads for breakdown; one will
not shunned but offered for transformation; compromise and inexorably sink.

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