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flowers
Their Spiritual significance
Photo Collection
Incorruptible faithfulness
Nothing can turn you away from the duty you have chosen.
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Carlina acaulis L. (Asteraceae [= Compositae])
Carline thistle
White or redish
When I spoke of being faithful to the light of the soul and the divine Call, I was not referring to anything in the past or to any lapse on your part. I was simply affirming the great need in all crises and attacks, - to refuse to listen to any suggestions, impulses, lures and to oppose to them all the call of the Truth, the imperative beckoning of the Light. In all doubt and depression, to say, "I belong to the Divine, I cannot fail"; to all suggestions of impurity and unfitness, to reply, "I am a child of Immortality chosen by the Divine; I have but to be true to myself and to Him - the victory is sure; even if I fell, I would rise again"; to all impulses to depart and serve some smaller ideal, to reply, "This is the greatest, this is the Truth that alone can satisfy the soul within me; I will endure through all tests and tribulations to the very end of the divine journey". This is what I mean by faithfulness to the Light and the Call.
Sri Aurobindo
Sri Aurobindo. Sri Aurobindo Birth Centenary Library in 30 Volumes. - Volume 24. - Letters on Yoga.-P.4
What is commonly called faithfulness is a scrupulous compliance with the promises one has made. But the only true and binding faithfulness is faithfulness to the Divine - and that is the faithfulness we all ought to acquire through sincere and sustained effort.
When the whole being, in all its parts and all its activities, can say to the Divine in all sincerity:
"Whatever You will, whatever You will", then one is well on the way to the true faithfulness.
The Mother
The Mother. Collected Works of the Mother.- Volume 16. - More answers from the Mother
I know that this cannot be done in a day. But the decision that it may be so should be taken in an unshakable manner. It is only on this condition that I can accept you for the spiritual life.
Much more than any physical condition it is faithfulness to the ideal and consecration to the work that make the true disciple.
The Mother
The Mother. Collected Works of the Mother.- Volume 13. - Words of the Mother
This is faithfulness, to admit and to manifest no other movements but only the movements prompted and guided by the Divine.
The Mother
The Mother. Collected Works of the Mother.- Volume 14. - Words of the Mother
The strength is always with you to be always faithful to the Divine Will.
The Mother
The Mother. Collected Works of the Mother.- Volume 14. - Words of the Mother
In the present condition of the world an absolute faithfulness to the Divine has become an indispensable need.
The Mother
The Mother. Collected Works of the Mother.- Volume 14. - Words of the Mother
Surely when unfaithfulness prevails all around, it is time to be truly faithful and to stand untouched and unmoved in the storm.
The Mother
The Mother. Collected Works of the Mother.- Volume 14. - Words of the Mother
Faithfulness is a condition for peace and protection.
The Mother
The Mother. Collected Works of the Mother.- Volume 14. - Words of the Mother
Without faithfulness in one's consecration to the Divine there can be no peace in the heart.
The Mother
The Mother. Collected Works of the Mother.- Volume 14. - Words of the Mother
Be faithful to the Divine and you will enjoy a constant peace.
The Mother
The Mother. Collected Works of the Mother.- Volume 14. - Words of the Mother
Be always faithful to your faith and you will feel no sorrow.
The Mother
The Mother. Collected Works of the Mother.- Volume 14. - Words of the Mother
Be simple, sincere and faithful in front of the Grace which is constantly with you.
The Mother
The Mother. Collected Works of the Mother.- Volume 14. - Words of the Mother
Askesis, tapasya, patience and faithfulness and rectitude of knowledge and will are the things required until a greater Power than our mental selves directly intervenes to effect a more easy and rapid transformation.
Sri Aurobindo
Sri Aurobindo. Sri Aurobindo Birth Centenary Library in 30 Volumes. - Volumes 20-21. - The Synthesis of Yoga
Faithfulness is the sure basis of success.
The Mother
The Mother. Collected Works of the Mother.- Volume 15. - Words of the Mother
If we take this faithfulness, if we take devotion, take love, the meaning of service, all these things, when they are above the egoistic level, they meet, in the see that they give themselves and do not expect anything in exchange. And if you climb one step higher, instead of its being done with the idea of duty and abnegation, it is done with an intense joy which carries within itself its own reward, which needs nothing in exchange, for it carries its joy in itself. But then, for that you must have climbed quite high and must no longer have that turning back upon yourself which, of all things, pulls you down lowest. That kind of... that sympathy, full of self-pity, wherein one cajoles and caresses oneself and says, "Poor me!" , that, indeed, is something terrible, and one does this so constantly, without being aware of it. This turning back upon oneself, a kind of degrading self-compassion, in which one tells oneself in a tone so full of pity, "Nobody understands me! No one loves me! No one cares for me as people should!" etc. , and one goes on and on... And now this is really terrible, it draws you down into a hole immediately.
One must have gone far beyond all that, left it very far behind oneself, in order to truly have the joy of faithfulness, the joy of self-giving, which does not care at all, no, indeed, not at all, in any way, whether it is properly received or gets the adequate response. Not to expect anything in exchange for what one does, not to expect anything, not through asceticism or a sense of sacrifice but because one has the joy of the consciousness one is in and that is enough; this is much better than all one can receive, from whomsoever it be.
The Mother
The Mother. Collected Works of the Mother.- Volume 6. - Questions And Answers (1954)
What prevents men from being faithful are their mental complications. Most men are not faithful because they fear being duped. You don't know what it is to be duped? They fear being deceived, being exploited. They fear... Behind their faithfulness there is still a very big egoism which is more or less hidden, and there is always that bargaining, more or less conscious, of give-and-take: one gives oneself to someone but whether one tells oneself this or not, one expects something in exchange. You are faithful, but also want others to be faithful to you, that is, look after you, to be quite sweet to you, and, especially not to try to profit by your faithfulness. None of these complications are there in the dog, for its mind is very rudimentary. It does not have this marvellous capacity of reasoning that men have, a capacity which has made them commit so many stupidities.
The Mother
The Mother. Collected Works of the Mother.- Volume 6. - Questions And Answers (1954)