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Elaborationg further on perfection, Sri Aurobindo emphasizes that there are three parts of the perfection of our instrumental nature including perfection of intelligence, heart, vital consciousness and body, perfection of the surrender of our instruments and action to the divine Shakti, etc.  And he says that they depend at every moment of their progression on a fourth power that is covertly and overtly the pivot of all endeavour and action ie. shraddha or faith. This perfect faith he describes as an assent of the whole being to the truth seen by it or offered to its acceptance. According to him, its central working is a faith of the atman in its own will to be, attain and become; its idea of self and things and its knowledge, of which the belief of the intellect, the heart’s consent and the desire of the life mind to possess and realise are the outward figures. This faith, he says, in some form of itself, is indispensable to the action of the being. Because, without it, man cannot move a single pace in life, much less take any step forward to a yet unrealised perfection.  

Elaborationg further on perfection, Sri Aurobindo emphasizes that there are three parts of the perfection of our instrumental nature including perfection of intelligence, heart, vital consciousness and body, perfection of the surrender of our instruments and action to the divine Shakti, etc.  And he says that they depend at every moment of their progression on a fourth power that is covertly and overtly the pivot of all endeavour and action ie. shraddha or faith. This perfect faith he describes as an assent of the whole being to the truth seen by it or offered to its acceptance. According to him, its central working is a faith of the atman in its own will to be, attain and become; its idea of self and things and its knowledge, of which the belief of the intellect, the heart’s consent and the desire of the life mind to possess and realise are the outward figures. This faith, he says, in some form of itself, is indispensable to the action of the being. Because, without it, man cannot move a single pace in life, much less take any step forward to a yet unrealised perfection.  

Specifying the character of shraddha needed for the integral Yoga, Sri Aurobindo says, a great and wide spiritual and intelligent faith, intelligent with the intelligence of that larger reason which assents to high possibilities, is the character of the shraddha needed for the integral Yoga. He says, this shraddha is in reality an influence from the supreme Spirit and its light a message from our supramental being which is calling the lower nature to rise out of its petty present to a great self-becoming and self-exceeding. And that which receives this influence and answers to the call is not so much the intellect, the heart or the life mind, but the inner atman which better knows the truth of its own destiny and mission.

* '''Character and the Need of Shraddha'''

He also mentions that the English word faith is inadequate to express the connotations of the concept of shraddha.

The progress of Yoga is explained by Sri Aurobindo as a procession from the mental ignorance through imperfect formations to a perfect foundation and increasing of knowledge and in its more satisfyingly positive parts a movement from light to greater light, and it cannot cease till we have the greatest light of the supramental knowledge. Therefore, the motions of the mind in its progress must necessarily be mixed with a greater or lesser proportion of error and hence, he says that faith of the heart and the life mind, like that of the intelligence, must be capable of a constant correction, enlarging and transformation. So that is prepared to change and enlarge its understanding of spiritual experiences, to correct mistaken or half-true ideas about them and receive more enlightening interpretations, to replace insufficient by more sufficient intuitions, and to merge experiences that seemed at the time to be final and satisfying in more satisfying combinations with new experience and greater largenesses and transcendences.

Because the intellect, the heart, or the desires of the life mind may take a prominent place in the circumstances that provoke our first entry into the path; but if these are all, then there can be no surety of our fidelity to the call and our enduring perseverance in the Yoga. For, the intellect may abandon the idea that attracted it, the heart weary may fail us, the desire of the life mind may turn to other objectives. But if it is the spirit that has been touched, the inward atman that has received the call, shraddha will remain firm and resist all attempts to defeat or slay it. (Need for shraddha)

 

Because the intellect, the heart, or the desires of the life mind may take a prominent place in the circumstances that provoke our first entry into the path; but if these are all, then there can be no surety of our fidelity to the call and our enduring perseverance in the Yoga. For, the intellect may abandon the idea that attracted it, the heart weary may fail us, the desire of the life mind may turn to other objectives. But if it is the spirit that has been touched, the inward atman that has received the call, shraddha will remain firm and resist all attempts to defeat or slay it.  

 

Describing the journey of a seeker in the path of integral yoga, Sri Aurobindo says that a seeker's progress is an ascent from level to level and each new height brings in other vistas and revelations of the much that has still to be done, bhurikartvam, till the divine Shakti has at last taken up all his endeavour and he has only to assent and participate gladly by a consenting oneness in her luminous workings. And that which will support him through these changes, struggles, transformations which might otherwise dishearten and baffle is a firm faith in the Shakti that is at work and reliance on the guidance of the Master of the Yoga whose wisdom is not in haste and whose steps through all the perplexities of the mind are assured, just and sound, because they are founded on a perfectly comprehending transaction with the necessities of our nature.  

Describing the journey of a seeker in the path of integral yoga, Sri Aurobindo says that a seeker's progress is an ascent from level to level and each new height brings in other vistas and revelations of the much that has still to be done, bhurikartvam, till the divine Shakti has at last taken up all his endeavour and he has only to assent and participate gladly by a consenting oneness in her luminous workings. And that which will support him through these changes, struggles, transformations which might otherwise dishearten and baffle is a firm faith in the Shakti that is at work and reliance on the guidance of the Master of the Yoga whose wisdom is not in haste and whose steps through all the perplexities of the mind are assured, just and sound, because they are founded on a perfectly comprehending transaction with the necessities of our nature.  

He also explains that the progress of the Yoga is a procession from the mental ignorance through imperfect formations to a perfect foundation and increasing of knowledge and in its more satisfyingly positive parts a movement from light to greater light, and it cannot cease till we have the greatest light of the supramental knowledge. Therefore, the motions of the mind in its progress must necessarily be mixed with a greater or lesser proportion of error and hence he says that faith of the heart and the life mind, like that of the intelligence, must be capable of a constant correction, enlarging and transformation. So that is prepared to change and enlarge its understanding of spiritual experiences, to correct mistaken or half-true ideas about them and receive more enlightening interpretations, to replace insufficient by more sufficient intuitions, and to merge experiences that seemed at the time to be final and satisfying in more satisfying combinations with new experience and greater largenesses and transcendences.  

In short, one's faith must be an assent that receives all spiritual experience, but with a wide openness and readiness for always more light and truth, an absence of limiting attachment and no such clinging to forms as would interfere with the forward movement of the Shakti towards the integrality of the spiritual being, consciousness, knowledge, power, action and the wholeness of the one and the multiple Ananda.  

In short, one's faith must be an assent that receives all spiritual experience, but with a wide openness and readiness for always more light and truth, an absence of limiting attachment and no such clinging to forms as would interfere with the forward movement of the Shakti towards the integrality of the spiritual being, consciousness, knowledge, power, action and the wholeness of the one and the multiple Ananda.

Moreover, he emphasizes that faith in the Shakti must necessarily be preceded or at least accompanied by a firm and virile faith in our own spiritual will and energy and our power to move successfully towards unity and freedom and perfection. At the same time this faith in oneself must be purified from all touch of rajasic egoism and spiritual pride. The faith in the divine Shakti must be always at the back of our strength and when she becomes manifest, it must be or grow implicit and complete. The intimate feeling of her presence and her powers and the satisfied assent of all our being to her workings in and around it is the last perfection of faith in the Shakti. And behind her is the Ishwara and faith in him is the most central thing in the shraddha of the integral Yoga.  

Faith in the Shakti must necessarily be preceded or at least accompanied by a firm and virile faith in our own spiritual will and energy and our power to move successfully towards unity and freedom and perfection. At the same time this faith in oneself must be purified from all touch of rajasic egoism and spiritual pride. The faith in the divine Shakti must be always at the back of our strength and when she becomes manifest, it must be or grow implicit and complete. The intimate feeling of her presence and her powers and the satisfied assent of all our being to her workings in and around it is the last perfection of faith in the Shakti. And behind her is the Ishwara and faith in him is the most central thing in the shraddha of the integral Yoga.

He also mentions that the English word faith is inadequate to express the connotations of the concept of shraddha.  

Sri Aurobindo says that once faith is developed to perfection, as higher knowledge opens, it becomes more and more justified as we begin to see the great and small significances that escaped our limited mentality. And faith will pass into knowledge.   

Sri Aurobindo says that once faith is developed to perfection, as higher knowledge opens, it becomes more and more justified as we begin to see the great and small significances that escaped our limited mentality. And faith will pass into knowledge.