There are several ways to approach the question of consecration of one’s being and life to the Divine. As the Mother makes clear, the need to be an individualised being that can actually have something to offer to the Divine is both paramount, and requires substantial effort to both understand the complexity of the energetic interchanges that go to make up who and what we are, and to gain a measure of independence from the forces that toss us too and fro through these interchanges. Another method is to find a way to get in touch with the psychic being and let it lead the external being through self-giving. While this way looks to be ‘easier’, in fact, it has its own issues as the vital desire soul frequently substitutes its demands for the true psychic surrender, and the mental being and ego-personality frequently attain a measure of arrogance that denies the psychic guidance. Whether through the one method, or the other, however, as the soul gains in experience and gains a measure of distance from the surface being, eventually the process advances.
The Mother notes: “All this… it is not in order to swamp you that I tell you all this. It is only in order to tell you that before speaking of merging one’s ego in the Divine, one must first know a little what one is. The ego is there. Its necessity is that you become conscious, independent beings, individualised — I mean in the sense of independent — that you may not be the public square where every thing goes criss-cross! That you may exist in yourselves. That is why there is an ego. It is like that; that is why also there is a skin, like that… though truly, even physical forces pass through the skin. There is a vibration which goes a certain distance. But still, it’s the skin that prevents us from blending into one another. But everything else must be like that too.”
“(After a silence) And then, later, one offers all this to the Divine. Years of work are needed. You must not only … (silence) … become conscious of yourself, conscious in all details, but you must organise what you call ‘yourself’ around the psychic centre, the divine centre of your being, so that it would make a single, coherent, fully conscious being. And as this divine centre is itself already consecrated (Mother makes a gesture of offering) entirely to the Divine, if everything is organised harmoniously around it, everything is consecrated to the Divine. And so, when the Divine thinks it proper, when the time has come, when the work of individualisation is complete, then the Divine gives you permission to let your ego merge in Him, to live henceforward only for the Divine.”
“But it is the Divine who takes this decision. You must first have done all this work, become a conscious being, solely and exclusively centred around the Divine and governed by Him. And after all that, there is still an ego; because it is the ego which serves to make you an individual. But once this work is perfect, fully accomplished, then, at that moment, you may tell the Divine, ‘Here I am, I am ready. Do you want me?’ And the Divine usually says, ‘Yes.’ All is over, everything is accomplished. And you become a real instrument for the Divine’s work. But first the instrument must be constructed.”
Sri Aurobindo and the Mother, Our Many Selves: Practical Yogic Psychology, Chapter 3, Becoming an Individual, pp. 112-113
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 17 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.