The Qualities of Sincerity and Surrender in Integral Yoga

Sri Aurobindo’s statement on the qualities of sincerity and surrender is direct and to the point: “Let your sincerity and surrender be genuine and entire. When you give yourself, give completely, without demand, without condition, without reservation so that all in you shall belong to the Divine Mother and nothing be left to the ego or given to any other power.”

This type of complete one-pointed focus of the entire being and all of the disparate parts of the being on the Divine Force will have the effect of eliminating the role of the ego and transforming the individual into a nexus of Divine Action. Such an individual does not evaluate or respond to events as would someone rooted in the ego-consciousness.

Sri Aurobindo makes a point that the sincerity and surrender must be genuine. The vital nature and mental being in particular have the ability to justify thoughts and actions while masking the true impulsion. The hidden motives behind the outer appearance must be recognised and rooted out. Altruism, for instance, is frequently used to mask the aggrandisement of the ego. Sexual gratification is frequently justified by the idea that it is part of a yogic path. Seeking after power and money are justified by the “good” that can be done, essentially with the idea that the proposed end justifies whatever means. The third reich was justified to some degree on the basis that humanity was being improved through the systematic development of a master race of stronger, healthier, more powerful people. Religious zealots frequently justify the use of extremist violence and intolerant rhetoric on the basis of defending the “true faith”.

All of these justifications detract from the genuineness and completeness of the sincerity and the surrender. The process must be detailed, painstaking and thorough in its review of the hidden wellsprings of the thoughts, feelings and actions that drive us, without simply accepting the surface justification put forward.

Sri Aurobindo, The Mother, Chapter Three, pg. 13

About these ads

Tags: Integral Yoga, Sri Aurobindo