Concentration of Conscious Force Through Work Can Bring Deeper Realisations

In the Taittiriya Upanishad, Sri Aurobindo translates the term tapasya variously as ‘concentration in thought’ or ‘concentration of force’. Elsewhere he aligns the terms chit-shakti as ‘consciousness-force’, co-equal with the principles of sat, existence and ananda, bliss as the supreme existence, Sat-Chit-Ananda. The Upanishad equates this concentration of conscious force, tapasya, as the Eternal.

The paths of yoga recognise the role of tapasya in achieving realisation. In some cases it comes down to staring at the flame of a candle until the consciousness breaks through to the ‘other side’ into a timeless, infinite existence. In other cases it is the concentration of the mental force on some object to the exclusion of all others, or, as in the case of samadhi, an unmoving concentration without any specific external object involved.

It is thus relatively easy to understand that when one takes up any work, and turns it into a form of concentration and one-pointed focus, that it can become the means of realisation, and thus, can engage the attention and interest of the seeker.

Working with careful attention to detail, keeping the focus on the work in front of one, without the mental chatter or vital desire-nature intervening, creates an atmosphere that is conducive to the yogic realisation. At the same time, the external personality also finds a sense of accomplishment in carrying out an action with precision and successful implementation.

Sri Aurobindo writes: “It depends on a certain extension and intensifying of the consciousness by which all activity becomes interesting not for itself but because of the consciousness put into it and, through the intensity of the energy, there is a pleasure in the exercise of the energy, and in the perfect doing of the work, whatever the work may be.”

Sri Aurobindo and the Mother, Looking from Within, Chapter 3, Action and Work, pg. 64