If we observe how we tend to respond to provocations from outside, things, events or people who impact our lives, either mentally, emotionally, vitally or physically, we see that the first tendency is to internalize the provocation with a pattern of vibration at one or another level of our being. We respond with thoughts, emotions, nervous reactions, or physical symptoms. As long as we live primarily in the external being, we participate in this constant action-reaction pattern and do not find any solution. Sri Aurobindo provides a solution which takes us out of the framework of the external being and thereby puts us in a psychological position that is non-reactive, and which can infuse peace, calm and equality into the mind-life-body complex. The result is a new sense of quietude that overrules the normal vibration. This can work, not only for mental impulsions or emotional reactions, but even for physical illnesses, if the body’s cells can become receptive and if the calm is allowed to penetrate and maintain the body’s poise in the face of the physical disturbance.
Those who achieve this state of peace also report the descent of a palpable force into the being which brings with it many times a solid sense of immutable peace, and a power that fills the being.
Sri Aurobindo observes: “The way in which the pains went shows you how to deal with the whole nature, — for it is the same with the mental and vital as with the physical causes of ill-ease and disturbance. To remain quiet within, to hold on to the faith and experience that to be quiet and open and let the Force work is the one way.”
“The peace and spontaneous knowledge are in the psychic being and from there they spread to mind and vital and physical. It is in the outer physical consciousness that the difficulty still tries to persist and brings the restlessness sometimes into the physical mind, sometimes into the nerves, sometimes in the shape of bodily trouble into the body. But all these things can and must go. Even the illnesses can go entirely with the growth of peace and power in the nerves and physical cells — stomach pains, weakness of the eyes and everything else.”
Sri Aurobindo and The Mother, Living Within: The Yoga Approach to Psychological Health and Growth, General Methods and Principles, The One Way — Quiet, Calm, Peace, pp. 1-2
Santosh has been studying Sri Aurobindo's writings since 1971 and has a daily blog at http://sriaurobindostudies.wordpress.com and podcast at https://anchor.fm/santosh-krinsky He is author of 16 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.