As we continue with our year-long-theme of the Twelve Attributes of the Mother, we dedicate the present issue of our monthly e-journal, Renaissance to Perseverance.
We all have our favourite lines and passages from the Mother’s and Sri Aurobindo’s vast writings and conversations to which we keep going again and again whenever we seek renewed assurance and hope, a fresh dose of energy whenever we feel drawn down by the vicissitudes of life. I recall one of my many such favourite passages from the Mother:
It is the last part of this passage that is most assuring — Her help is always with us, if we only learn how to use it, if we could only rely on it rather than our own insufficient and imperfect resources. For everything we need Her help.
Before writing down this editorial for the Perseverance issue, as I prayed to Her for guidance, a particular morning from several years back came to mind. That day I had learned an important lesson in endurance. With the Mother’s help, of course. I begin by recollecting that ordinary morning when a simple phrase — Wash, Rinse, Repeat — had somehow caught my attention.
I use the word ‘ordinary’ to describe the morning because it had started off like any other morning. Only what happened later made it extraordinary for me, in terms of what I learned. And I use the word ‘simple’ for the phrase because ‘Wash, Rinse, Repeat’ is quite a commonly seen phrase on shampoo and liquid soap bottles as an advice for thorough cleaning. During these pandemic times, this phrase has indeed gained a greater significance!
That morning somehow, out of the blue, these three words – wash, rinse, repeat – seemed to me as just the right formula for a constant, conscious and regular practice for purification of one’s mind and heart. As I generally do when such an idea flashes in my mind, that morning also I took out my laptop and started writing down the different strands of thoughts that kept shaping up in my mind. One thought led to another as I kept writing. But it was only later that afternoon when I was reading something from the vast writings of the Mother, I realised the significance of the phrase much more deeply.
READ MORE OF THE EDITORIAL BY BELOO MEHRA AT: Needed: A Great Patience and Steadfastness
Highlights (clickable links):
- Needed: A Great Patience and Steadfastness (Editorial)
- A Yoga like this Needs Patience (Guiding Light)
- Siddhi Day: The Descent of the Overmind God
- Let Endurance be Your Watchword
- The Long Road to Transforming the Vital
- Krishna’s Butter: Taking Wisdom of Bhagavad Gita to Children and Youth (Video)
- What Makes a Nation Immortal?
- Of Ceramics, Sannyasa and More: Tales of Perseverance as Told by the Mother
- Sādhanā: One Who Perseveres is Sure to Triumph
- The Little Clock Calendula, Herb of the Sun
- Yogic Initiation and Aptitude – No Free Pass
- Stick to the Practice and Let the Gratitude Flow
- Book Excerpts – Rhythm of the Veda: Know Your Devas
- Sri Aurobindo on Isha Upanishad – 5
- सर्वे सन्तु निरामयाः – May All be Free from Illness – 6
To access the journal: https://journal.aurobharati.in/
