Periods of Apparent Emptiness or Dryness in the Spiritual Practice

In the exte
al life we are trained to desire visible signs of forward movement, progress, constant development. We believe if we are not moving forward, then we must be retrogressing. We value action over quiet times. When we are relieved from action, such as during a vacation, or at the stage of retirement from the working life, we frequently find that there is a complete cessation from involvement in almost any form of activity. The statement that “I do not want to do any work — I worked my whole life” is a frequent accompaniment to this state of affairs, illustrating the state of mind of the individual.

We tend to carry over these attitudes into the spiritual sadhana, until such time as we gain the understanding that spiritual growth is not always visible and not always dynamically active on the surface. Sri Aurobindo describes a process of ‘ascent and integration’. The spiritual power shifts us into a higher vibratory pattern, but it still needs to work itself out through the mind, the vital being and the physical body. Each of these successively more dense aspects of our being need to both imbibe the new energy and adjust their functioning to accommodate the new force at work. Much of this process goes on behind the scenes. We may not see the work going on, but it continues nevertheless.

The real issue, then, comes down to the reaction the seeker has to these periods of assimilation. As long as he is carrying the habitual pattern of the exte
al life and its set of expectations, he becomes distressed and conce
ed about the lack of visible forward movement and he can either fall into a state of depression or a state evidencing a lack of faith in the process. This can create a lot of unnecessary tension and self-doubt which simply disrupts the energetic flow and slows it down. A balance needs to be found that provides the seeker with understanding, patience, perseverance and ongoing aspiration. A focusing of the mind and heart on the inner psychic being and its natural link to the Divine, if possible during these periods, is of immense value.

Sri Aurobindo notes: “… the interval periods when all is quiet and nothing being done on the surface… come to all and cannot be avoided. You must not cherish the suggestion that it is because of your want of aspiration or any other unfitness that it is so and, if you had the constant ardent aspiration, then there would be no such periods and there would be an uninterrupted stream of experiences. It is not so. Even if the aspiration were there, the interval periods would come. If even in them one can aspire, so much the better — but the main thing is to meet them with quietude and not become restless, depressed or despondent. A constant fire can be there only when a certain stage has been reached, that is when one is always inside consciously living in the psychic being, but for that all this preparation of the mind, vital, physical is necessary. For this fire belongs to the psychic and one cannot command it always merely by the mind’s effort.”

“Naturally, the more one-pointed the aspiration the swifter the progress. The difficulty comes when either the vital with its desires or the physical with its past habitual movements comes in — as they do with almost everyone. It is then that the dryness and difficulty of spontaneous aspiration come. This dryness is a well-known obstacle in all sadhana. But one has to persist and not be discouraged. If one keeps the will fixed even in these barren periods, they pass and after their passage a greater force of aspiraiton and experience becomes possible.”

Sri Aurobindo and the Mother, Looking from Within, Chapter 4, Ordeals and Difficulties, pp..103-104