The Most Helpful Attitude for Spiritual Progress

The vital nature, in particular, is addicted to ‘drama’. It seeks attention and excitement. An added complication is that in modern society, with our fixation on all types of electronic stimulation, internet, mobile phones, radio, television, cinema, along with neon signs, blaring ads and loudspeakers, etc., we find that the nervous being and the vital nature are kept in a constant state of agitation. This type of energetic status makes it hard, if not virtually impossible, to open and be receptive to the higher forces that are trying to manifest. The optimal state of awareness is one of quietude and serene receptivity. The more we cater to the vital’s call for struggle, suffering and disruptive efforts, the less we maintain the readiness to both receive and accept the higher forces and let them work in the being.
How, then, can we undertake any form of spiritual practice in the modern world? As long as we remain absorbed in the exte
al life and live on the surface of our being, we are subject to reacting to every impulse that comes our way, to the point that our spiritual focus can become obscured by the ‘noise’ of the outer world as it impinges upon us, as well as our internal reaction to that noise. The ‘signal’ that represents the focused energy and consciousness of the higher force that tries to manifest is obscured by this noise.
Swami Vivekananda, in his lectures on Raja Yoga, describes the state of agitation of the nervous pathways and the mind-stuff. He provides various ways to calm the being to a state of clear receptivity. There are in fact any number of methods, dependent upon where the seeker is in his sadhana at the time.
Sri Aurobindo and the Mother do not ask us to rely on a specific ‘technique’, although we can use these tools if need be and if appropriate to the situation. Rather, they focus on the larger attitudinal poise of the being. This provides the framework for all other actions to support the spiritual effort. The primary ‘method’ is the shift of the consciousness away from the ego-personality and its daily ‘drama’ to either the higher Self, the Atman, or to the Psychic Being, the soul-entity, spark of the Divine, deep within. The psychic being naturally maintains an attitude of aspiration, consecration and receptivity that represents the ideal state of awareness for the spiritual seeker.
The Mother writes: “To live within in a constant aspiration for the Divine enables us to look at life with a smile and to remain peaceful whatever the outer circumstances may be.”
Sri Aurobindo observes: “Always seek to progress in quietude, happiness and confidence, that is the most helpful attitude. Do not listen to contrary suggestions from outside.”
Sri Aurobindo and the Mother, Looking from Within, Chapter 5, Attitudes on the Path, pg. 113rnâ