Focusing on the Dedicated Action, Not the Immediately Visible Results

In the Bhagavad Gita, Sri Krishna teaches Arjuna that he has the right to action, but not to attachment to the fruits of the action, i.e. the results. In our world today we are fixated on the destination, not the ‘journey’ and we measure everything by the immediate results we obtain. This process is bound to develop frustration, dissatisfaction and impatience as the type of change we seek in yoga is not something that can be measured in tangible way from day to day.

The other issue, not frequently appreciated, is that in some cases, changes take place below the level of perception and do not become visible until a certain quanta of change has taken place, at which point it may appear to be a ‘sudden’ change, when in fact, it has been developing in the background for quite some time. This is similar to the threshold of light photons required to ‘fire’ the eyes to see something. Until sufficient photons are active, everything is dark.

A disciple asks: “When we make an effort to do better but don’t see any progress, we feel discouraged. What is the best thing to do?”

The Mother responds: “Not to be discouraged! Despondency leads nowhere. … To begin with, the first thing to tell yourself is that you are almost entirely incapable of knowing whether you are making progress or not, for very often what seems to us to be a state of stagnation is a long — sometimes long, but in any case not endless — preparation for a leap forward. We sometimes seem to be marking time for weeks or months, and then suddenly something that was being prepared makes its appearance, and we see that there is quite a considerable change and on several points at a time.”

“As with everything in yoga, the effort for progress must be made for the love of the effort for progress. The joy of effort, the aspiration for progress must be enough in themselves, quite independent of the result. Everything one does in yoga must be done for the joy of doing it, and not in view of the result one wants to obtain…. Indeed, in life, always, in all things, the result does not belong to us. And if we want to keep the right attitude, we must act, feel, think, strive spontaneously, for that is what we must do, and not in view of the result to be obtained.”

“As soon as we think of the result we begin to bargain and that takes away all sincerity from the effort. You make an effort to progress because you feel within you the need, the imperative need to make an effort and progress; and this effort is the gift you offer to the Divine Consciousness in you, the Divine Consciousness in the Universe, it is your way of expressing your gratitude, offering your self; and whether this results in progress or not is of no importance. You will progress when it is decided that the time has come to progress and not because you desire it.”

Sri Aurobindo and the Mother, Growing Within: The Psychology of Inner Development, Chapter III Growth of Consciousness Basic Requisites, pp. 59-60