The first limitation and the first solution

Man is Unaware of the Hidden & Occult Springs of Action

from Sri Aurobindo Studies 

There are 3 primary limitations that create problems for the mental and vital life in the world. First, we are aware primarily, or in some cases solely, of the surface being, not the hidden inner depths of existence. In fact, we are not even fully aware of the surface life, but just bits and pieces of it. All of the forces that compel and impel, that create unknown drives and responses, the “collective unconscious” as enunciated by Jung, the secret occult powers that occasionally appear on the surface and manifest some activity, are hidden and locked away. Because of this, while these hidden drives and forces move us and create responses or reactions in our lives, we remain virtually unable to master these forces as we neither see nor recognize them. We sometimes feel as if we are puppets to these forces, with no ability to control them, when we have upsurgings of compulsions or desires that we either give in to, or vainly struggle against.

It is only by exploring and opening to these hidden inner depths and forces and by deepening the consciousness and expanding its range of awareness and action, that we can begin to understand these forces and begin to master them. This is the first limitation and the first solution. reference: Sri Aurobindo, The Life Divine, Chapter 22, The Problem of Life

Re: Portraits, Relics and Medicaments—by Paola De Paolis

by auroman on Sun 27 Dec 2009 10:46 PM IST |  Profile |  Permanent Link
Perhaps relevant. From the agenda October 10, 1958

“Depending upon each one's nature and position and bias, and because human beings are very limited, very partial and incapable of a global vision, there are those who believe, who have faith, or to whom the eternal Mother is revealed through Grace, who have this kind of relationship with the eternal Mother - and there are those who themselves are plunged in sadhana, who have the consciousness of a developed sadhak, and thereby have the same relationship with me as one has with what they generally call a 'realized soul.' Such persons consider me the prototype of the Guru teaching a new way, but the others don't have this relationship of sadhak to Guru (I am taking the two extremes, but of course there are all the possibilities in between), they are only in contact with the eternal Mother and, in the simplicity of their hearts, they expect Her to do everything for them. If they were perfect in this attitude, the eternal Mother would do everything for them - as a matter of fact, She does do everything, but as they aren't perfect, they cannot receive it totally. 

But the two paths are very different, the two kinds of relationships are very different; and as we all live according to the law of external things, in a material body, there is a kind of annoyance, an almost irritated misunderstanding, between those who follow this path (not consciously and intentionally, but spontaneously), who have this relationship of the child to the Mother, and those who have this other relationship of the sadhak to the Guru. So it creates a whole play, with an infinite diversity of shades.” The Mother