There are powers at work in the world that have a vested interest in maintaining the current status. They have control, they have power, they can exult in their predominance. They do not want to see their power or influence wane or disappear. On the contrary, they may seek further control and domination. Thus, they treat any progressive development as a threat to their situation and even, in some cases, their very existence. These powers act to hold back change and progress.
There are other vital powers that feed off of strong emotional reactions and they consciously act to provoke extreme reactions, whether for individuals in the form of provoking anger, lust, greed, fear, etc. or on a larger scale through promoting pain, suffering, fear through the advent of wars, pandemics, etc. These powers also have a vested interest in gaining and maintaining control over human beings in order to harvest the energies they are able to provoke.
These forces can be collectively termed as ‘hostile forces’. The human vital nature likes to attribute delays, obstacles, obstructions etc. to these hostile forces, but in most cases, they are actually simply dealing with the embedded habits and evolutionary stages that are common to all human life, and in many cases, to life in general as it has developed through time. Once we set aside the basic actions, drives, reactions that are part of the process of transformation for which the spiritual aspirant is dedicated, the actual intervention of truly hostile powers takes on a smaller, although not insignificant role. Particularly when there is a potential for enormous progress in the evolution of consciousness, the action of truly hostile forces can be seen, as they feel threatened and see their own interests put at risk. Sri Aurobindo and the Mother faced just such an uprising of hostile forces with the rise of Nazism and the world-wide conflagration known as World War II, which threatened to set back evolutionary progress for decades if not centuries.
The question then arises as to what the seeker can or should ‘do’ about the hostile forces. There is an occult truth that one attracts that upon which one focuses. This is known in certain circles as ‘the law of attraction’. A corollary to this ‘law of attraction’ is that fear attracts that which one fears. Thus, fixation of one’s attention on the hostile forces, and an attempt to engage and fight directly with them is likely to increase their action and the difficulties they bring with them. That does not imply simply leaving them to overwhelm the forces of progress and development, of course. A balance must be found that starts with the core focus on the positive developments that are in view. Aspiration, focus on the forces that aid the development, consecration to the larger purpose are steps toward focus on, and attracting, the powers of light and harmony that are then able to guide, protect and eventually defeat the powers of darkness. It is not within the purview of the individual seeker to fight with these vital forces and overcome them on the basis of his own effort. The focus on the forces of Light and their intervention provides a solution.
Along the way, the seeker gains a deeper understanding of how various forces try to impede the progress, and through the support of the higher spiritual powers, he is able to gain the power to withstand the pressures and the manipulation that are employed by forces hostile to the evolutionary progression.
Sri Aurobindo observes: “The hostile forces have a certain self-chosen function: it is to test the condition of the individual, of the work, of the earth itself and their readiness for the spiritual descent and fulfilment. At every step of the journey, they are there attacking furiously, criticising, suggesting, imposing despondency or inciting to revolt, raising unbelief, amassing difficulties. No doubt, they put a very exaggerated interpretation on the rights given them by their function, making mountains even out of what seems to us a mole-hill. A little trifling false step or mistake and they appear on the road and clap a whole Himalaya as a barrier across it. But this opposition has been permitted from of old not merely as a test or ordeal, but as a compulsion on us to seek a greater strength, a more perfect self-knowledge, an intenser purity and force of aspiration, a faith that nothing can crush, a more powerful descent of the Divine Grace.”
Sri Aurobindo, Bases of Yoga, Chapter 3, In Difficulty, pp. 55-56
Sri Aurobindo Studies 