PROGRESS

Why care when she is there

Editorial

The Call Beyond
15 Jul 2020

How shall I describe that utter relief, that delightful lightness which comes when one is free from all anxiety for oneself, for one’s life and health and satisfaction, and even one’s progress?

— The Mother (‘Prayers & Meditations’, prayer dated 17 August 1913)

To celebrate the hundredth anniversary of the Mother in Pondicherry on 24 April 1920, in ‘The Call Beyond’ this year we are concentrating on the twelve petals in the outermost circle in the Mother’s symbol, one petal at a time. This month we enter, in a way, a new phase with the seventh petal. The petals discussed in the previous issue – sincerity, humility, gratitude, perseverance, aspiration and receptivity – were different aspects of the personal effort required on the path of integral yoga. What the seeker expects from the personal effort is progress on the path. Effort is the process; progress is the product. While aspiring for progress is natural and even desirable, and there are ways in which one may monitor progress, anxiety and preoccupation with progress are neither desirable nor helpful. Progress means being better today than one was yesterday. So, the person is competing only with himself or herself. In a journey that goes on throughout life, and life after life, perceptible change may not be always visible in a day. Further, while there may be days when one has a ‘lifechanging experience’ and has a feeling of remarkable progress, there may also be days of sliding down, when instead of going further, one has done something indicating an unbecomingly low consciousness. But the person should be able to feel an overall change over a period of five or ten years. By looking back, if the person sincerely feels that now she is more loving, has greater equanimity, can handle uncertainty better, and has less fear of death than was the case five or ten years ago, she can conclude that she has made some progress. But perhaps the best indicator is that the more progress a person makes, the less she is thinking about it! The person just enjoys serving the Divine. As the Mother wrote to the founder of Sri Aurobindo Ashram – Delhi Branch on his birthday 50 years ago, “No joy can be greater than that of serving the Divine.” One who has experienced that joy is in no hurry to progress. She is eager to serve the Divine for a thousand lives without thinking about how much progress she has made. As in a game, if one plays well, the score board takes care of itself.

PETAL OF THE MONTH: Progress