Our difficulties and obstacles are our great aids; they can always be utilised as stepping stones in our upward march, and they are often intended to be such by our Divine Friend and Guide, by the kind and graceful Mother.
At the Feet of The Mother
Meditations by Anilbaran
The Mother made this selection from Anilbaran’s prayers offered to her. She termed the collection a “Spiritual Dictionary”. They were published as part of the book “Songs from the Soul” (Pondicherry, 1939, reprinted in 1946 and 1966).
The following quotation from “The Mother” by Sri Aurobindo was chosen by Anilbaran to open the book:
“Follow your soul and not your mind, your soul that answers to the Truth, not your mind that leaps at appearances; trust the Divine Power and she will free the godlike elements in you and shape all into an expression of Divine Nature.”
Yoga is not merely thinking of Thee, Mother, with the mind, or bowing the head at Thy feet; these are certainly great aids and starting-points, but in themselves they cannot take us very far. We must fill our whole being with Thy living presence, we must constantly live in active and integral union with Thee — that will be Yoga in the real sense of the term.
We cannot ourselves change the nature of the different parts of our being, but we can make them consent to be changed... We cannot ourselves conquer the hostile forces, but we can resolutely refuse to invite them or tolerate them... When we shall fulfil these conditions, the highest Divine Grace will descend and conquering all our defects and obstacles will raise us to the life divine.
Aspiration is our only tapasya, aspiration is the only fire we are to keep burning in our heart at all times and under all circumstances. We need light no other fire, we need no other askesis or austerity.