December 9, 2009 – The central faith*

God leads man while man is misleading himself,
the higher nature watches over the stumblings of his lower mortality;
this is the tangle & contradiction out of which we have to escape into the
[?self-unity] to which alone is possible a clear knowledge & a faultless action.

Sri Aurobindo

(Thoughts and Aphorisms 205)

The central faith*

Even a faltering faith and a slow and partial surrender have their force and their result, otherwise only the rare few could do sadhana at all. What I mean by the central faith is a faith in the soul or the central being behind, a faith which is there even when the mind doubts and the vital despairs and the physical wants to collapse, and after the attack is over reappears and pushes on the path again. It may be strong and bright, it may be pale and in appearance weak, but if it persists each time in going on, it is the real thing. Fits of depression and darkness and despair are a tradition in the path of sadhana – in all yogas oriental or occidental they seem to have been the rule. I know all about them myself – but my experience has led me to the perception that they are an unnecessary tradition and could be dispensed with if one chose. That is why whenever they come in you or others I try to lift up before them the gospel of faith. If still they come, one has to get through them as soon as possible and get back into the sun

– Sri Aurobindo
SABCL Vol. 23, Pages, 575-76

*From “Living words compiled” by A.S.Dalal