June 20, 2012 – It Is Not What One Does

Only those thoughts are true the opposite of which is also true
in its own time and application;
indisputable dogmas are the most dangerous kind of falsehoods.

Sri Aurobindo

(Thoughts and Aphorisms 45)

It Is Not What One Does

It is not what one does (what one does is very important, that’s evident) that is the most important thing but what one is.

Whatever the activity, it is not quite the way of doing it but the state of consciousness in which it is done that is important. You may work, do disinterested work without any idea of personal profit, work for the joy of working, but if you are not at the same time ready to leave this work, to change the work or change the way of working, if you cling to your own way of working, your surrender is not complete. You must come to a point when everything is done because you feel within, very clearly, in a more and more imperious way, that it is this which must be done and in this particular way, and that you do it only because of that. You do not do it because of any habit, attachment or preference, nor even any conception, even a preference for the idea that it is the best thing to do – else your surrender is not total

The Mother

The Great Adventure P 31