Page 48 - NAMAH-Oct-2024

Namah Vol. 32, Issue 3, 15th October 2024

is a stability and impersonality to it which
eludes those currents of self-love. It is a
self-existent state which loves because one
is Love. Indeed, at the summit, there is no
need for even the purest Self-Love because
one has become it. One embodies it. Therefore,
to glibly declare that, ‘I love myself’ is a rank
delusion. That is only the ego talking. In this
instance, there is no union: only separation
and division. In fact, the self-love we enthrone
inside will prove to be our downfall unless
we address the imbalance.
The gradations of Love
The Mother says that, at this summit, when
But deep inside all of us is Love. It is what true love is present, it needs no object, “
secretly holds us together. Love has so many finally one loves purely and simply, without
gradations. The higher we climb its rungs the any need or Joy than that of Loving (6).”
more integrated we become. Our practice is Therefore, rather than directing the love
to keep climbing until we reach this summit. upon oneself, we can affirm its presence
In the meantime in Integral Yoga, we live inside. Affirmation is a very powerful tool; it
in a state of precarious balance: between a states a truth, latent inside each one of us. The
truer semblance of love and our own self- present reality may be very different but it is
interest. The self-love we hold inside will involved in us and only awaits manifestation.
reflect this. One side has to yield. We get One can help bring it forward by sincerely
through this uncomfortable stage through repeating only three words, ‘I am Love’.
aspiration and personal effort. We constantly
endeavour to exceed ourselves and expand Until we reach the supreme state of union,
within. That is our practice. Gradually, the (and surely beyond!) we have to practise.
love sublimates and grows and the scale of For our self-love to be truly constructive, we
self-love dissipates. We have to aim for the must purify our love. Indeed, the whole being
summit of our being. Truth and Love are the needs this purification. Until then, perhaps
essence of it all, the only reality. If we succeed it is better not to speak any more of our self-
in identifying with That, we love our self in love!
an authentic way. This is the solitary Truth
of Self-Love. References

We have to toil though layer after layer of 1. The Mother. The Collected Works of the Mother,
our nature to reach the limitless Source that Volume 14. 2 ed. Pondicherry: Sri Aurobindo
nd
lies inside. There is a true state of Self-Love Ashram Trust; 2004, pg. 121.
that takes a long time to attain. It is achieved
through a total surrender and consecration 2. The Mother. Collected Works, Volume 6; 2003,
inside, a complete self-identification. There pg. 266.

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