Page 51 - NAMAH-Jan-2022
P. 51

Namah                                                         Insight





        It is by being present with it that we feel or
        witness its growth. Having experienced its
        presence once, we have to offer ourselves
        again and again to the flame.

        It is one of the first experiences one comes
        across in Integral Yoga. Do you recall when
        your life was ignited by the Mother? It was
        that moment. Suddenly we are summoned!
        Previously we had found ourselves armed
        with doubts and questions. Our existential   Initially, our aspiration is powered by personal
        foundation had been shaken and there was   effort. Each is dependent on the other and
        an aching disenchantment with the ordinary   the thirst for the Divine is what brings our
        life. Suddenly, in a glittering moment of   practice forward. In the beginning it is all we
        illumination, those clouds for a while   have. This yearning has to be nurtured and,
        disappeared. It was then we started looking   initially at least, ring-fenced from negative
        earnestly inside and the work began.
                                                 outside influences. There is so much that can
                                                 draw us to the surface and here there is only
        So the Fire represents the yearning for a better,   ignorance, clinging and grasping. The surface
        truer and nobler life. We have to separate   offers only a passport to misery.  We have
        ourselves from the pack. It is the aspiration   to completely orient our life inside and we
        for the Truth but we all live surrounded   succeed in this by realigning and reinforcing
        by falsehood, within and outside of us. It   this process.
        can be said that most people are in love
        with their impurity. For instance who can   As long as the ego is present we have to apply
        envisage living without desire? The thought   effort. So, at the beginning, we have to extract
        is almost inconceivable. We must really want   whatever is constructive in the ego to propel
        it. This purity must almost become our life-  ourselves forward.  The elements that yearn
        obsession. It is this aspiration which separates   need to be extracted from those that recoil,
        the false from the true and is the yardstick   because it is the yearning which gives our
        of our sincerity.
                                                 work a more tireless persistence. Gradually
                                                 we have to make this Fire the most important
        The Fire is what makes us conscious and as   thing in our life. As the sadhana unfolds, we
                                                                        a
                                                                             a
        our consciousness rises and expands, its flame   finally reach a stage where the ego has to
        rises higher. The most important component   surrender to the Fire itself.
        of our integral health is the development of our
        consciousness. We either grow and expand or   Every false movement and blemish we
        slide back and disintegrate; there are no in-  offer from inside gives fuel to the Fire and
        betweens. What propels us forward is always   propagates it. No progress in Integral Yoga
        this longing and this state releases us from   is possible without surrender, so we offer
        the victimhood of our conditioning.      everything within ourselves to the Fire.



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