The general concept of ‘immobility’ in the face of external pressures is actually not a new discovery. Stoicism encouraged people to develop ways to withstand the pressures of the external world and accept those pressures without wilting or breaking under them. For the most part, however, the stoics still struggle with the forces that assail them. They work to restrain their outer nature from reacting and with considerable practice, they gain a measure of resistance. This comes, however, with a corresponding of the deadening of the general responsiveness to all of life’s energies and activities.
Some people practice various forms of self-control of their physical, vital and mental impulses. They can achieve, in some cases, a remarkable ability to withstand conditions that most would find impossible to withstand. This includes all kinds of physical conditioning, anger management, and mental disciplines. These do not nullify the vibrations that come in, but modify the response given back to them. One can be disturbed inwardly, but not show it outwardly.
The Mother takes a more comprehensive view of ‘immobility’ which is based, not on artificially suppressing the external responses alone, but of actually nullifying the unwanted vibrations internally so that there is no inner reaction at all when one wishes to withstand a particular vibration or force being exerted upon one. She calls this complete stilling of the internal vibrational responses ‘integral immobility’.
People are frequently asking about psychic attacks, sorcery, malevolent and highly concentrated forces that attempt to overwhelm and destroy an individual. As one cultivates the power of integral immobility, the being sets up what may be considered to be a ‘psychic shield’. The alternative approach is to put oneself completely under the protection of a being who has the power to create such a shield.
The Mother writes: “There is a tremendous power in immobility: mental immobility, sensorial immobility, physical immobility. If you can remain like a wall, absolutely motionless, everything the other person sends you will immediately fall back upon him. And it has an immediate action. It can stop the arm of the assassin, you understand, it has that strength. Only, one must not just appear to be immobile and yet be boiling inside! That’s not what I mean. I mean an integral immobility.”
Sri Aurobindo and the Mother, Powers Within, Chapter XII Power of Immobility, pg. 100
Santosh has been studying Sri Aurobindo's writings since 1971 and has a daily blog at http://sriaurobindostudies.wordpress.com and podcast located at https://anchor.fm/santosh-krinsky
He is author of 20 books and is editor-in-chief at Lotus Press. He is president of Institute for Wholistic Education, a non-profit focused on integrating spirituality into daily life.
Video presentations, interviews and podcast episodes are all available on the YouTube Channel https://www.youtube.com/@santoshkrinsky871
More information about Sri Aurobindo can be found at www.aurobindo.net
The US editions and links to e-book editions of Sri Aurobindo’s writings can be found at Lotus Press www.lotuspress.com