The Dynamics of Spiritual Advancement
Spiritual advancement begins when there is a radical change in the outlook of the worldly person. The worldly individual lives mostly for the body; and even in those pursuits that do not seem to have a direct reference to the body, in the last analysis the ultimate motive power is to be found in the desires connected with the body. For example, he lives to eat; he does not eat to live. He has not yet discovered any purpose clearly transcending the body, so the body and its comforts become the center of all his pursuits. But when he discovers values in which the soul is predominant, the body is at once relegated to the background. The maintenance of the body then becomes for him merely instrumental for the realization of a higher purpose. His bod_, which had formerly been a hindrance to true spiritual life, becomes an instrument for the release of higher life. . . .
The very beginning of spiritual advancement is conditioned by the quest of that goal for which man lives
the goal for which he unconsciously loves and hates, and for which he goes through variegated joys and sufferings. Though he may be stirred by the pull of this incomprehensible and irresistible divine destiny, it may take a long time before he arrives at the mountain top of Truthrealization; and the path is constantly strewn with pitfalls and slippery precipices. . . .
Therefore the aspirant is never safe unless he has the advantage of the help and guidance of a Perfect Master, who knows the ins and outs of the: spiritual path, and who can not only safeguard the aspirant from a possible fall but lead him to the goal of Realization without unnecessary relapses. The aspirant who attempts to reach the goal carries with him all the sanskarashe has accumulated in the past. . . .
The path of spiritual advancement is often blocked by the obstacles of its own creation, and these can be removed only through the help of the Master.
The help of the Master is most effective when the aspirant surrenders his ego-life in favour of the unlimited life that the Master represents. Complete self-surrender is most difficult to achieve, and yet the most essential condition of spiritual advancement is the decreasing of egoism to its minimum.
Hence comesthe futility of rituals and ceremonies, acts of charity and good works, external renunciation and penances, when rooted in egoconsciousness.
. . . Thus he is caught up in a dilemma; if he stays inactive, he does nothing to break through the prison of his ego-life; and if he takes to a life of action, he is faced with the possibility of his ego being transferred to these new acts. . . . He who enters the path can neither remain where he is nor can he" afford to lose his balance. He is thus like one who attempts to walk on the sharp edge of a sword.
To aviod inaction on. the one hand and pride of action on the other, it is necessary for the aspirant to construct in the following manner a provisional and working ego that will be entirely subservient to the Master. Before beginning anything, the aspirant thinks that it is not he who is doing it but the Master who is getting it done through him. After doing the task he does not tarry to claim the result of action or enjoy them but becomes free of them by offering them to the Master.
The construction of a new ego entirely subservient to the Master is indispensable to the dynamics of spiritual advancement.
The distance between the limited life of the ego and the limitlessness of the egoless life has to be covered by gradual stages of ego-transformation--so that egoism is replaced by humility, surging desires are replaced by steadily growing contentment, and selfishness is replaced by selfless love.
The aspirant who enlists in the service of the Master may be compared to a broom with which the Master sweeps the world clean of its impurities. . . . Only through the active intervention of the Master can such spiritual disorders be cured.
If the aspirant is to be the recipient of this help, he must make a real effort to surrender himself to the divine will of the Master.
Spiritual advancement is a succession of one surrender after another until the goal of the final . Surrendrance of the separate ego-life is completely achieved. The last surrender is the only complete surrenderance.It is the counterpart of the final union in which the aspirant becomes one with the Master. Therefore, in a sense, the most complete surrender to the Master is equivalent to the attainment of the Truth, which is the ultimate goal of all spiritual advancement.