True Strength Resides in Quietude

We tend to equate strength with outward expressions whether it be through physical power, emotional pressure, bullying, or the use of mental will force to achieve one’s intended results. We talk about “strong man” dictators who, in particular, use threats, bullying and police power to pressure people (and countries) to comply with their demands. The fact, however, that they have to use such outward manifestations of strength to convince others to carry out their wishes makes it clear that they are actually hiding their weaknesses, insecurities and fears. They know, deep down, that their direction and guidance cannot be justified in an open and balanced way, and thus, they resort to physical violence and threats to get what they want.

True strength need not ‘beat its chest’ in order to manifest. If we try, when provoked, to rein in our anger, and respond peacefully, both externally and internally, we will see that this is much more difficult and requires more strength than simply venting and letting our vital and emotional response simply have its way.

For the spiritual seeker, understanding the difference between true strength and true weakness, becomes essential. As new powers develop and begin to enter and express themselves in the being through the practice of the spiritual discipline, a foundation of peace and quiet strength becomes essential. Otherwise, the powers either get spilt, or they distort and potentially harm the physical, vital or mental levels of the being if they ‘overload the circuits’, so to speak. A basis of wideness and increasing ability to accept and tolerate more powerful forces impacting one, is the requirement for accumulating spiritual force through sadhana. This same basis manifests as the ability to remain calm under any form of external pressure and negative circumstance.

The Mother notes: “Quietude is a very positive state; there is a positive peace which is not the opposite of conflict — an active peace, contagious, powerful, which controls and calms, which puts everything in order, organises. It is of this I am speaking; when I tell someone, ‘Be calm’, I don’t mean to say ‘Go and sleep, be inert and passive, and don’t do anything’, far from it!… True quietude is a very great force, a very great strength. In fact one can say, looking at the problem from the other side, that all those who are really strong, powerful, are always very calm. It is only the weak who are agitated; as soon as one becomes truly strong, one is peaceful, calm, quiet, and one has the power of endurance to face the adverse waves which come rushing from outside in the hope of disturbing one. This true quietude is always a sign of force. Calmness belongs to the strong.”

“And this is true even in the physical field. I don’t know if you have observed animals like lions, tigers, elephants, but it is a fact that when they are not in action, they are always so perfectly still. A lion sitting and looking at you always seems to be telling you, ‘Oh, how fidgety you are!’ It looks at you with such a peaceful air of wisdom! And all its power, energy, physical strength are there, gathered, collected, concentrated and — without a shadow of agitation — ready for action when the order is given.”

“I have seen people, many people, who could not sit still for half an hour without fidgeting. They had to move a foot or a leg, or an arm or their head; they had to stir restlessly all the time, for they did not have the power or the strength to remain quiet.”

“This capacity to remain still when one wants to, to gather all one’s energies and spend them as one wishes, completely if one wants, or to apportion them as one wants in action, with a perfect calm even in action — that is always the sign of strength. It may be physical strength or vital strength or mental strength. But if you are in the least agitated, you may be sure there is a weakness somewhere; and if your restlessness is integral, it is an integral weakness.”

Sri Aurobindo and the Mother, Powers Within, Chapter XV Quiet, Calm, Peace, Silence, pp. 120-121