Stages of the Non-Reactive State of Being

Most people do not reflect on the state of their inner being. They tend to live on the surface and respond or react to whatever happens to come their way. They become happy or unhappy based on how circumstances impact them. They are essentially under the control of external events or happenings and are blown about like leaves in the wind.

The spiritual seeker takes a different standpoint. For the seeker, the status of his inner being is of great significance, as it shows the readiness and preparedness of the being to be receptive to new forces and states of consciousness, as well as provides a marker along the way for the progress in this type of development. Sri Aurobindo and the Mother therefore define states of being that are important stages in the development of true peace and the power of equanimity.

Sri Aurobindo defines four states here that provide a successive development from an outward quietude to a complete inward silence. Each stage reaches deeper into the being and becomes a power of being that is less and less under the control of outward happenings and more and more directed by the spiritual consciousness that awakens in the inner being.

There is a well-known phrase in the modern world about how we become upset or angry when someone insults us or otherwise attempts to disturb us, namely, we are letting that individual ‘live rent free in our head.’ This is an example of a lack of the calm or peace that is the basis of spiritual strength, and it also exemplifies the control that we give to outer events to dominate our lives.

True strength comes when one can receive the forces and pressures of the world and not react to them, but direct one’s response and actions from an inner status of balance, harmony, peace and wideness. Sri Aurobindo has advised: “Live within; be not shaken by outward happenings.”

The Mother writes: “The quieter you are, the stronger you become. The firm basis of all spiritual power is equanimity.”

Sri Aurobindo observes: “Quiet is a condition in which there is no restlessness or disturbance. … Calm is a still unmoved condition which no disturbance can affect — it is a less negative condition than quiet. … Peace is a still more positive condition; it carries with it a sense of settled and harmonious rest and deliverance. … Silence is a state in which either there is no movement of the mind or vital or else a great stillness which no surface movement can pierce or alter.”

Sri Aurobindo and the Mother, Powers Within, Chapter XV Quiet, Calm, Peace, Silence, pg. 120