Perseverance Summary

Read more about Perseverance from the works of the Mother and Sri Aurobindo.

What is Perseverance?

Perseverance is the decision to go to the very end. It is patience in action, breaking down all the obstacles. With perseverance, what one cannot do today one will be able to do tomorrow. Its source is in the psychic being, which works with perseverance and ardour, but never complains and knows how to wait for the hour of realisation to come. It is always the vital being which protests and complains. The source of sincerity, of will, of perseverance is in the psychic being.

Why is Perseverance Important?

Without perseverance one never attains anything. One must know that if a strong urge, a very strong urge to do something comes to them, that means this work has something to do with them and they are capable of doing it. But one can have powers which are so well hidden that one has to dig long before finding them, it’s important not to get discouraged at the first setback. How can one know whether one is capable of doing it or not? By trying. That's the best thing ...for usually when you begin searching for these things the mind comes to give a hundred and one favourable explanations for your not needing to search. It tells you, "Why no, it is not at all your fault; it is this, it is that, it is the circumstances, it is the people, these are things received from outside—all kinds of excellent excuses, which, unless you are very firm in your resolution, make you let go, and then it’s finished—you have to start again from the beginning till the day you decide to perform the operation. When the operation is done it is over, one is free.

For a happy and effective life, the essentials are sincerity, humility, perseverance and an insatiable thirst for progress. Above all, one must be convinced of a limitless possibility of progress. Progress is youth; at a hundred years of age one can be young. If one wants to take the trouble, one can enlarge his field considerably. But it asks for work, for perseverance, a kind of assiduous effort. You may not know at every moment what is the best thing to do or how to do it, but you can place your will at the disposal of the Divine to do the best possible, the best thing possible. You will see it will have marvelous results. Do this with consciousness, sincerity, and perseverance and you will find yourself getting along with gigantic strides. When you want to progress, the difficulty you want to conquer immediately increases tenfold in importance and intensity in your consciousness. There is but to Persevere, that's all. It will pass.

For Growth in Yoga

For all those who are destined to find their inner being, the truth of their being, there is always at least one moment in life when they were no longer the same, perhaps just like a lightning-flash—but that is enough. It indicates the road one should take, it is the door that opens on this path. And so one must go through the door, and with perseverance and an unfailing steadfastness seek to renew the state which will lead one to something more real and more total. It takes time, steadfast endeavour, long continued aspiration and a calm perseverance to get anywhere in Yoga; that time you do not give yourself because of these recurrent swingings away from the right attitude. Persevere in your concentration till you come to the point when you no longer lose the inner contact. To attain that concentration much effort is necessary; an immediate or even a quick result is rarely possible. But if the inner door has once been opened, you may be sure that it will open again if you know how to persevere. And if you Persevere, you will see that all of a sudden you are relieved of a mass of meanness and ugliness and obscurity which was preventing you from flowering in the light. The path of surrender is indeed difficult, but if one perseveres in it with sincerity, there is bound to be some success. It is not an impossible discipline but it is extremely long and requires an unshakable patience, for it is as if you wanted to build up in you a being, a body; and for that you require first of all the necessary knowledge, but also such a prolonged persistence and perseverance as would discourage many. But it is altogether indispensable if you want to take part in the knowledge of your higher being.

How to Cultivate Perseverance?

To work for your perfection, the first step is to become conscious of yourself, of the different parts of your being and their respective activities. You must learn to distinguish these different parts one from another, so that you may become clearly aware of the origin of the movements that occur in you, the many impulses, reactions and conflicting wills that drive you to action. The most important point (what everybody says but only a few do) is to put into practice what you know. With that you have a good chance of succeeding, and with perseverance you will certainly get there. Simply aspire with calm and perseverance for the light. The more one advances, the more vigilant must one become. And the most essential quality is perseverance, endurance, and a kind of inner good humour which helps one not to get discouraged, not to become sad, and to face all difficulties with a smile. If there are always forces around which are concerned to depress and discourage, there are always forces above and around us which we can draw upon,—draw into ourselves to restore, to fill up again with strength and faith and joy and the power that perseveres and conquers.

The habit of remembering and applying one's knowledge at the right moment comes only by a great patience and perseverance which refuses to be discouraged by frequent failure. If you make a mistake, quietly observe it and correct the tendency next time. Even if the mistake recurs often, one has only to persevere quietly—remembering that nature cannot be changed in a day. Whatever you do, never forget the goal which you have set before you. There is nothing great or small once you have set out on this great discovery; all things are equally important and can either hasten or delay its success. Thus before you eat, concentrate a few seconds in the aspiration that the food you are about to eat may bring your body the substance it needs to serve as a solid basis for your effort towards the great discovery, and give it the energy for persistence and perseverance in the effort.

There is only one thing that's important: that is a sincere and persistent will, for these things don't happen in a twinkling. So one must persevere. When someone feels that he is not advancing, he must not get discouraged; he must try to find out what it is in the nature that is opposing, and then make the necessary progress. And suddenly one goes forward. If the education of the vital is carried far enough, with perseverance and sincerity, there comes a time when, convinced of the greatness and beauty of the goal, the vital gives up petty and illusory sensorial satisfactions in order to win the divine delight.

Content curated by Sejal Thakur

Read more about Perseverance from the works of the Mother and Sri Aurobindo.