To Become a Conscious Instrument of the Divine Action

In the Bhagavad Gita, Sri Krishna explains to Arjuna, at some length, the process of the universal manifestation and how individuals are essentially driven by their nature in relation to the larger forces of the manifestation itself to act in certain ways. For most of these individuals, the action takes place as a result of the forces of the external vital nature. They are essentially subject to the machinery of Nature through the operation of the three Gunas. At a certain stage, as the power of reflection and self-awareness develops, the individual begins to refine his action in closer alignment to the pressure of the divine Force, yet still very much without conscious awareness of his role and how the Force is working upon him. Sri Krishna reveals deeper truths to Arjuna so that Arjuna can become a willing, conscious and active instrument in the work that Sri Krishna puts before him. He points out that all of the warriors are already destined to die, regardless of Arjuna’s action, and he reveals to Arjuna a view of the universal being that is directing this action. He explains to Arjuna that now that he knows the truth of things, he should undertake to do what he feels is right. He thus solicits Arjuna’s conscious, willing adherence to the action, rather than simply pressing him into action unconsciously.
As the spiritual sadhana progresses, the seeker may go through various stages of increasing consciousness of the purpose of the universal creation and his role in that process. In his book The Mother, Sri Aurobindo outlines various relations that the seeker may successively gain as he becomes more conscious of his psychic being and his connection to the spiritual truth of his existence. Chapter five is dedicated to the question of a seeker becoming a “true doer of divine works”, with an ever-increasing inner awareness and consciousness.
The Mother notes: “It seems to me impossible to escape from this necessity [of organising the being around the central Presence] if one wants to be and is to be a conscious instrument of the divine Force. You may be moved, pushed into action and used as unconscious instruments by the divine Force, if you have a minimum of goodwill and sincerity. But to become a conscious instrument, capable of identification and conscious, willed movements, you must have this inner organisation; otherwise you will always be running into a chaos somewhere, a confusion somewhere or an obscurity, an unconsciousness somewhere. And naturally your action, even though guided exclusively by the Divine, will not have the perfection of expression it has when one has acquired a conscious organisation around this divine Centre.”
“It is an assiduous task, which may be done at any time and under any circumstances, for you carry within yourself all the elements of the problem. You don’t need anything from outside, no outer aid to do this work. But it requires great perseverance, a sort of tenacity, for very often it happens that there are bad ‘creases’ in the being, habits — which come from all sorts of causes, which may come from atavistic malformation or also from education or from the environment you have lived in or from many other causes. And these bad creases you try to smooth out, but they wrinkle up again. And then you must begin the work over again, often, many, many, many a time, without getting discouraged, before the final result is obtained. But nothing and nobody can prevent you from doing it, nor any circumstance. For you carry within yourself the problem and the solution.”
Sri Aurobindo and the Mother, Powers Within, Chapter XX The Psychic, pp. 156-157