In India, in our spiritual tradition, the highest qualification we give to a person is when we call him ” simple ” , meaning without any complication whatsoever. This is the aim of yoga

To be simple, absolutely simple without any division, confusion or conflict in the being, when all our thoughts and emotions, our acts and sensations, all our existence inner and outer are unified around the Divine in us, moved, activated, sustained and transformed by the Divine. This too is the whole evolutionary effort.

The process of ordinary evolution may take very, very long to arrive at this simplicity, this unity. Through yoga one goes through the process in a short time. It is the soul who chooses to do the yoga but often the physical being is unhappy and disturbed by the choice of the soul. In most cases man tries to stiffle the urge of the soul. Our suffering comes mainly from the resistance we offer to the call and the demand and the aspiration of the soul. In the measure the various parts of our being learn to collaborate with the soul, are illumined by the inner light and begin to feel a deeper joy, a beauty and harmony, our sufferings diminishe, conflicts and confusions cease and there is a greater unity in the being, a greater peace . Gradually we enter in a new cvonsciousness which is far removed even from the most brilliant human consciousness.

The spiritual consciousness is irreal to ordinary human consciousness. The spiritual growth gradually takes us away from the human life, from the human race as such. Human things start having more and more a sense of illusion and we lose interest in them, prefering the exploration of the vast, luminous, illimitable life open to us. Then arrives the time in our development when the inner growth is so strong that our soul strongly rejects its bond with the human world. Once the fire has been lit , it cannot be extinguished any more. Once one has boarded the ship of the spiritual destiny the voyage shall continue.

We should consider ourselves fortunate for having chosen this path. We should not fix conditions for our growth and demand even to know where we are going. We have to leave more and more the direction of our life to the transforming power of the Grace. Only the love of truth, beauty , harmony and the Divine should be the highest and noblest guiding principle of our life. The Divine  in his infinite wisdom will create circumstances favorable to the growth of consciousness. Let us depend on Him alone with faith.

Niranjan Guha Roy