Patience, Perseverance and Firm Faith Are Needed Qualities on the Long Road of Yoga

The seeker gets glimpses of spiritual opening, experiences of a vastness and a deep silence when the mind falls utterly still. He may get a vision of forces and powers that act in the world and in himself. He may get the sense that he is crossing a threshold into a space where he no longer exists as a distinct individual, but as a part of something infinitely larger and more complex than his own individuality can encompass. He may experience a power that is entering his being and he may feel the electricity of that force coursing through his entire being. He may have the experience of entering other worlds or planes of existence, meet beings and experience powers that operate outside the limitations of the exte
al reality to which he is accustomed. He may get a sudden sense of devotion or consecration, or feel a deep aspiration. All of these experiences, and many others, help the seeker to define his spiritual quest and firm up his faith in the path and his destiny.

Whatever experiences the seeker may have along the way, eventually he may come to the realisation that chasing after experiences is not the objective, and that in many cases, the desire for such experiences is actually contrary to the larger purpose, as that desire actually may tend to reinforce the ego rather than loosen its hold.

Eventually, the initial experiences and the excitement that comes with them recede and the seeker is left with the real work to be done. Inspiration and vision need to be converted into the work of inner exploration and the rewiring of the being in all its ways of thinking, feeling, and responding to circumstances, in the mind, in the heart, in the vital being and in the physical body.

The seeker runs into all of the limitations within his being, indeed, within human and animal nature as developed thus far in the evolutionary cycle. He also meets with embedded drives and responses, as well as cultivated ambitions desires and needs. When the experiences withdraw, the seeker frequently bemoans the ‘dark night of the soul’. This is, however, something of a misnomer. It is the ‘dark night of the ego-ambition’ that has been frustrated by the withdrawal of the vitally-attractive visions and experiences, including the sense of closeness to the Divine, but it is not a reflection on the soul. If the soul is true, it remains focused on its aspiration, retains its consecration, and works through the tamasic rebound that occurs with the frustration of the rajasic desire. The soul understands, intuitively and directly, that the work goes on and that it will take time. Sri Aurobindo encapsulates this sense when he writes in Savitri: A Legend and a Symbol: “A moment sees, the ages toil to express.”

Sri Aurobindo observes: “There are always difficulties and a hampered progress in the early stages and a delay in the opening of the inner doors until the being is ready. If you feel whenever you meditate the quiescence and the flashes of the inner Light and if the inward urge is growing so strong that the exte
al hold is decreasing and the vital disturbances are losing their force, that is already a great progress. The road of Yoga is long, every inch of ground has to be won against much resistance and no quality is more needed by the sadhak than patience and single-minded perseverance with a faith that remains firm through all difficulties, delays and apparent failures.”

Sri Aurobindo, Bases of Yoga, Chapter 3, In Difficulty, pg. 39