Sustaining the Yogic Endeavour in the Unique Challenges Posed by the Integral Yoga

For those individuals called to take up the integral yoga, there is a unique opportunity and a unique set of conce
s that arise.

Those paths of yoga which aim at liberation have their own difficulties. It is not simple to escape the lures of the exte
al life, or even to undertake one-pointed concentration to the exclusion of anything else. Yet there are methods, and there are defined results, and at the end, with sufficient determination and practice, the seeker in the traditional paths of yoga can reach his objective.

The integral yoga, however, does not seek escape from the exte
al world, but rather, the integration of new powers of consciousness that are involved, but not yet expressed, in order to uplift and transform the outer existence. This implies that escape from that existence, avoidance of its various pressures, is not the method for this yoga.

When an individual chooses the solitary path of focusing on liberation from the world, he does not present a risk or challenge to the established order, the powers that be, in terms of the physical, vital and mental forces and their objectives at work in the world. Things go on as normal. When an individual accepts the idea that the entire current existence needs to be observed, changed and infused with a new force that will change the status quo, he is suddenly confronted with the opposition, internally and exte
ally, to everything he is attempting to do.

Even without active opposition, any attempt to address embedded instincts, habits and trained responses is a complex and extraordinarily difficult endeavour. When the conscious forces behind the existing orgnaisation of life are brought into the picture, they add active opposition to the issues. They raise up desires, they push to expose flaws, they raise up doubts about the objective, the path, the guidance and the individual’s own capacity. The integral yoga is thus one that requires an extraordinary measure of persistence, an incredible amount of patience, and an immovable faith and willingness to work for long periods of time without even, in many cases, any clear sign of forward movement, and a devotion to the long-term objective that will only be fully realized by humanity many generations in the future.

Sri Aurobindo observes: “Whatever method is used, persistence and perseverance are essential. For whatever method is used, the complexity of the natural resistance will be there to combat it.”

The difficulties have to be faced and the more cheerfully they are faced, the sooner they will be overcome. The one thing to do is to keep the mantra of success, the determination of victory, the fixed resolve, ‘Have it I must and have it I will.’ Impossible? There is no such thing as impossibility — there are difficulties and things of longue haleine, but no impossibilities. What one is determined fixedly to do will get done now or later — it becomes possible. Drive out dark despair and go bravely on with your yoga. As the darkness disappears, the inner doors will open.”

Sri Aurobindo and the Mother, Looking from Within, Chapter 5, Attitudes on the Path, pg. 137