BANDE MATARAM

 

SRI AUROBINDO

 

Contents

 

PRE CONTENT

 India Renascent

1890-92

New Lamps For Old

1893-94

Unity-An Open Letter

 

Bhawani Mandir

 

An Organisation

 

The Proposed Reconstruction Of Bengal- Partition Or Annihilation?

 

Bandemataram

 A Note On  "Bande Mataram"

 

The Doctrine Of Passive Resistance

 

 I. Introduction

11-04-1907

 II. Its Objects 

12-04-1907

III.Its Necessity

13-04-1907

IV. Its Methods 

17-04-1907

V. Its Obligations 

18/19-04-1907

VI. Its Limits

20-04-1907

VII.  Conclusions

23-04-1907

The Morality Of Boycott 

 

 

  

Bandemataram

Daily

Darkness In "Light"

20-08-1906

Our Rip Van Winkles

  20-08-1906

Indian Abroad

20-08-1906

Officials On The Fall Of  Fuller

20-08-1906

Cow - Killing

20-08-1906

National Education And The Congress

22-08-1906

A Pusillanimous Proposal

25-08-1906

By The Way

27-08-1906

The "Mirror" And Mr. Tilak

28-08-1906

Leaders In Council

28-08-1906

By The Way

30-08-1906

Lessons At  Jamalpur

1-9-1906

By The Way

1-9-1906

By The Way

3-9-1906

English Enterprise And  Swadeshi

4-9-1906

Jamalpur

4-9-1906

By The Way

4-9-1906

The Times On Congress Reforms

8-9-1906

By The Way

8-9-1906

The "Sanjibani" On Mr. Tilak

10-9-1906

Secret Tactics

10-9-1906

By The Way

10-9-1906

The Question Of  The Hour

11-9-1906

A Criticism

11-9-1906

The Old Policy And The New

12-9-1906

 

Is A Conflict Necessary?

12-9-1906

The Charge Of  Vilification

12-9-1906

Autocratic Trickery

12-9-1906

The Bhagalpur Meeting

12-9-1906

By The Way

12-9-1906

Strange Speculations

13-9-1906

The "Statesman" Under Inspiration

13-9-1906

A Disingenuous Defence

14-9-1906

The Friend Found Out

17-9-1906

Stopgap Won't Do

17-9-1906

By The Way

17-9-1906

Is Mendicancy Successful?

18-9-1906

By The Way

18-9-1906

Mischievous Writings

20-9-1906

A Luminous Line

20-9-1906

By The Way

20-9-1906

By The Way

1-10-1906

By The Way

10-10-1906

By The Way

11-10-1906

The Coming Congress

13-10-1906

Statesman's Sympathy Brand

29-10-1906

By The Way : News From Nowhere

29-10-1906

 

The Man Of The Past And The Man Of The  Future

26-12-1906

The Results Of  The Congress

31-12-1906

Yet There Is Method In It

25-2-1906

Mr  Gokhale's  Disloyalty

28-2-1906

The  Comilla Incident

15-3-1907

British Protection Or Self-Protection

18-3-1907

By The Way

21-3-1907

The Berhampur  Conference

29-3-1907

The President Of The Berhampur  Conference

2-4-1907

Peace And The Autocrats

3-4-1907

Many Delusions

5-4-1907

Omissions And Commissions At Berhampur

6-4-1907

The Writing On The Wall

8-4-1907

A Nil- Admirari  Admirer

9-4-1907

Pherozshahi  At  Surat

10-4-1907

The Situation In East Bengal

11-4-1907

The Proverbial Offspring

12-4-1907

By The Way

12-4-1907

By The Way

13-4-1907

The Old Year

16-4-1907

A Vilifier On Vilification

17-4-1907

By The Way: A Mouse In A Flutter

17-4-1907

Simple, Not Rigorous

18-4-1907

British Interests And British Conscience

18-4-1907

A Recommendation

18-4-1907

An Ineffectual Sedition Clause

19-4-1907

The "Englishman" As A Statesman

19-4-1907

The Gospel According to Surendranath

22-4-1907

A Man Of  Second Sight

23-4-1907

Passive Resistance In The Punjab

23-4-1907

By The Way

24-4-1907

Bureaucracy At  Jamalpur

25-4-1907

Is This Your Lion Of  Bengal?

25-4-1907

Anglo-Indian Blunderers

25-4-1907

The Leverage Of Faith

25-4-1907

Graduated Boycott

26-4-1907

Instinctive Loyalty

26-4-1907

Nationalism Not Extremism

26-4-1907

Shall India Be Free?  The Loyalist Gospel

27-4-1907

The Mask  Is Off

27-4-1907

A Loyalist In A Panic

27-4-1907

Shall India Be Free? National Development And Foreign Rule

29-4-1907

Shall India Be Free?

30-4-1907

Moonshine For Bombay Consumption

1-5-1907

The "Reformer" On Moderation

1-5-1907

Shall India Be Free?  Unity And British Rule

2-5-1907

Extremism In The "Bengalee"

2-5-1907

Hare Or Another

3-5-1907

Look On This Picture, Then On That

3-5-1907

Curzonism For The University

8-5-1907

 

By The Way

9-5-1907

The Crisis

11-5-1907

In Praise Of The Government

13-5-1907

How To Meet The Ordinance

15-5-1907

The Latest Phase Of  Morleyism

15-5-1907

An Old Parrot Cry Repeated

15-5-1907

Mr Morley's Pronouncement

16-5-1907

What Does Mr.  Hare Mean

16-5-1907

The "Statesman" Unmasks

17-5-1907

Sui  Generis

17-5-1907

The "Statesman" On Mr. Mudholkar

20-5-1907

Silent Leaders

20-5-1907

The Government Plan Of Campaign

22-5-1907

And Still It Moves

23-5-1907

An Irish Example

24-5-1907

The East Bengal Disturbances

25-5-1907

Newmania

25-5-1907

Mr. Gokhale On Deportation

25-5-1907

The Gilded Sham Again

27-5-1907

National Volunteers

27-5-1907

Bande Mataram

Daily

Weekly

The True Meaning Of  The Risley Circular

28-5-1907

2-6-1097

The Effect Of  Petitionary Politics

29-5-1907

 

The Ordinance And After

30-5-1907

 

Common Sense In An Unexpected Quarter

30-5-1907

 

Drifting Away   

30-5-1907

 

The Question Of  The Hour

1-6-1907

2-6-1907

Regulated Independence

4-6-1907

9-6-1907

A Consistent "Patriot"

4-6-1907

 

Wanted, A Policy

5-6-1907

9-6-1907

Preparing The Explosion

5-6-1907

 

A Statement

6-6-1907

9-6-1907

Defying The Circular

7-6-1907

9-6-1907

By The Way:  When Shall We  Three Meet Again?

7-6-1907

9-6-1907

The Strength Of The Idea

8-6-1907

9-6-1907

Comic Opera Reforms

8-6-1907

9-6-1907

Paradoxical Advice

8-6-1907

9-6-1907

An Out Of Date Reformer

12-6-1907

16-6-1907

The Sphinx

14-6-1907

 

Slow But Sure

17-6-1907

 

The Rawalpindi Sufferers

18-6-1907

 

The Main Feeder Of  Patriotism

19-6-1907

23-6-1907

Concerted Action

20-6-1907

 

The Bengal Government's Letter

20-6-1907

23-6-1907

British Justice

21-6-1907

23-6-1907

 

The Moral  Of  The Coconada  Strike

21-6-1907

23-6-1907

The "Statesman" On Shooting

21-6-1907

23-6-1907

Mr. A. Chowdhury's Policy-

22-6-1907

23-6-1907

A Current Dodge

22-6-1907

 

More About British Justice

24-6-1907

30-6-1907

Morleyism Analysed

25-6-1907

30-6-1907

Political Or Non-Political

25-6-1907

30-6-1907

The "Statesman" On Mr. Chowdhuri

26-6-1907

 

"Legitimate Patriotism"

27-6-1907

 

Personal Rule And Freedom Of Speech And Writing

28-6-1907

30-6-1907

The Acclamation Of The House

2-7-1907

 

Europe And Asia

3-7-1907

7-7-1907

English Obduracy And Its Reason

11-7-1907

14-7-1907

Work And Speech

*12-7-1907

14-7-1907

From Phantom To Reality

13-7-1907

14-7-1907

Swadeshi In Education

13-7-1907

14-7-1907

Boycott And After

15-7-1907

21-7-1907

The Khulna Comedy

20-7-1907

21-7-1907

The Korean Crisis

22-7-1907

22-7-1907

One More For The Altar

25-7-1907

28-7-1907

The Issue

29-7-1907

4-8-1907

The 7th Of August

6-8-1907

11-8-1907

The "Indian Patriot" On Ourselves

6-8-1907

11-8-1907

To Organise

6-8-1907

11-8-1907

A Compliment And Some Misconceptions

12-8-1907

 

Pal On The Brain

12-8-1907

 

To Organise Boycott

14-8-1907

14-8-1907

The Foundations Of Nationality

14-8-1907

18-8-1907

Barbarities At Rawalpindi

*19-8-1907

25-8-1907

The High Court Miracles

*19-8-1907

25-8-1907

Justice Mitter And Swaraj

*19-8-1907

25-8-1907

Advice To National College Students(Speech)

25-8-1907

 

Sankharitola's Apologia

24-8-1907

25-8-1907

Our False Friends

26-8-1907

 

Repression And Unity

*27-8-1907

1-9-1907

The Three Unities Of  Sankharitola

*11-8-1907

1-9-1907

Eastern Renascence

3-9-1907

8-9-1907

The Martyrdom Of Bepin Chandra

12-9-1907

15-9-1907

The Unhindu Spirit Of Caste Rigidity

20-9-1907

22-9-1907

Caste And Democracy

22-9-1907

22-9-1907

Impartial Hospitality

23-9-1907

 

Free Speech

24-9-1907

29-9-1907

"Bande Mataram" Prosecution

25-9-1907

29-9-1907

The Chowringhee Pecksniff And Ourselves

26-9-1907

29-9-1907

The "Statesman" In Retreat

28-9-1907

6-10-1907

True Swadeshi

4-10-1907

 

Novel Ways To Peace

5-10-1907

6-10-1907

"Armenian Horrors"

5-10-1907

6-109-1907

The Vanity Of Reaction

7-10-1907

13-10-1907

The Price Of A Friend

7-10-1907

13-10-1907

A New Literary Departure

7-10-1907

13-10-1907

Mr. Keir Hardie And India

8-10-1907

8-10-1907

The Nagpur Affair And True Unity

23-10-1907

27-10-1907

The Nagpur Imbroglio

29-10-1907

3-11-1907

English Democracy Shown Up

31-10-1907

3-11-1907

How To Meet The Inevitable Repression

2-11-1907

 

Difficulties At Nagpur

4-11-1907

10-11-1907

Mr.  Tilak And The Presidentship

5-11-1907

10-11-1907

Nagpur And Loyalist Methods

16-11-1907

17-11-1907

The Life Of Nationalism

16-11-1907

17-11-1907

By The Way: In Praise Of Honest John

18-11-1907

24-11-1907

Bureaucratic Policy

19-11-1907

24-11-1907

The New Faith

30-11-1907

1-12-1907

About Unity

2-12-1907

8-12-1907

Personality Or Principle

3-12-1907

8-12-1907

Persian Democracy

3-12-1907

8-12-1907

More About Unity

4-12-1907

8-12-1907

By The Way

5-12-1907

8-12-1907

Caste And Representation

6-12-1907

8-12-1907

About Unmistakable Terms

12-12-1907

15-12-1907

The Surat Congress

13-12-1907

15-12-1907

Reasons Of  Secession

14-12-1907

15-12-1907

The Awakening Of Gujerat

17-12-1907

22-12-1907

"Capturing The Congress"

18-12-1907

22-12-1907

Lala Lajpat Rai's Refusal

18-12-1907

22-12-1907

The Delegates' Fund

18-12-1907

22-12-1907

The Present Situation (Speech)

19-1-1908

 

Bande Mataram (Speech)

29-1-1908

 

Revolutions And Leadership

6-2-1908

9-2-1908

 

The Slaying Of Congress (A Tragedy In Three Acts)

*11-15-2-1908

16-23-2-1908

Swaraj

18-2-1908

23-2-1908

The Future Of The Movement

19-2-1908

 

Work And Ideal

20-2-1908

23-2-1908

By The Way

20-2-1908

23-2-1908

The Latest Sedition Trial

21-2-1908

23-2-1908

The Soul And India's Mission

21-2-1908

1-3-1908

The Glory Of God In Man

22-2-1908

1-3-1908

A National University

24-2-1908

1-3-1908

A Misconception

24-2-1908

1-3-1908

Mustafa Kamil Pasha

3-3-1908

8-3-1908

A Great Opportunity

4-3-1908

8-3-1908

The Strike At Tuticorin

4-3-1908

8-3-1908

Swaraj And The Coming Anarchy

5-3-1908

8-3-1908

Back To The Land

6-3-1908

8-3-1908

The Village And The Nation

*8-3-1908

 

Welcome To The Prophet Of Nationalism

10-3-1908

 

The Voice Of  The Martyrs

11-3-1908

 

Constitution-Making

11-3-1908

 

What Committee?

11-3-1908

15-3-1908

A Great Message

12-3-1908

15-3-1908

The Tuticorin Victory

13-3-1908

15-3-1908

Perpetuate The Split!

14-3-1908

15-3-1908

Loyalty To Order

14-3-1908

15-3-1908

Asiatic Democracy

16-3-1908

22-3-1908

Charter Or No Charter

16-3-1908

 

The Warning From Madras

17-3-1908

22-3-1908

The Need Of The Moment

18-3-1908

22-3-1908

The Early Indian Polity

20-3-1908

22-3-1908

The Fund For  Sj. Pal

21-3-1908

22-3-1908

The Weapon Of Secession

23-3-1908

29-3-1908

Sleeping  Sirkar And Waking People

23-3-1908

29-3-1908

Anti- Swadeshi In Madras

23-3-1908

29-3-1908

Exclusion Or Unity?

24-3-1908

 

Biparita Buddhi

24-3-1908

 

Oligarchy Or Democracy?

25-3-1908

29-3-1908

Freedom Of  Speech

26-3-1908

29-3-1908

The Comedy Of Repression

26-3-1908

29-3-1908

Tomorrow's Meeting

27-3-1908

29-3-1908

Well Done, Chidambaram!

27-3-1908

29-3-1908

The Anti-Swadeshi Campaign

27-3-1908

29-3-1908

Spirituality And Nationalism

28-3-1908

29-3-1908

The Struggle In Madras

30-3-1908

 

A Misunderstanding

30-3-1908

 

The Next Step

31-3-1908

5-4-1908

A Strange Expectation

31-3-1908

5-4-1908

A Prayer

31-3-1908

 

India And The Mongolian

1-4-1908

 

Religion And The Bureaucracy

1-4-1908

 

The Milk Of  Putana

1-4-1908

 

Oligarchy Rampant

2-4-1908

 

The Question Of  The President

3-4-1908

5-4-1908

Convention And Conference

4-4-1908

5-4-1908

By The Way

4-4-1908

5-4-1908

The Constitution Of The Subjects Committee

6-4-1908

 

The New Ideal

7-4-1908

12-4-1908

The "Indu And The Dhulia Conference

8-4-1908

 

The Asiatic Role

9-4-1908

12-4-1908

Love Me Or Die

9-4-1908

 

The Work Before Us

10-4-1908

12-4-1908

Campbell-Bannerman Retires

10-4-1908

12-4-1908

United Congress (Speech)

10-4-1908

 

The Demand Of The Mother

11-4-1908

12-4-1908

Baruipur Speech

12-4-1908

 

Peace And Exclusion

13-4-1908

 

Indian Resurgence And Europe

14-4-1908

19-4-1908

Om Shantih

14-4-1908

19-4-1908

Conventionalist And Nationalists

18-4-1908

19-4-1908

The Future And The Nationalists

22-4-1908

26-4-1908

The Wheat And The Chaff

23-4-1908

26-4-1908

Party And The Country

24-4-1908

26-4-1908

The "Bengalee" Facing-Both-Ways

24-4-1908

26-4-1908

Providence And Perorations

24-4-1908

26-4-1908

The One Thing Needful

25-4-1908

26-4-1908

Palli Samiti (Speech)

26-4-1908

 

New Conditions

29-4-1908

3-5-1908

Whom To Believe?

29-4-1908

3-5-1908

By The Way: The Parable Of Sati

29-4-1908

3-5-1908

Leaders And A Conscience

30-4-1908

3-5-1908

An Ostrich In Colootola

30-4-1908

3-5-1908

I Cannot Join

30-4-1908

3-5-1908

By The Way

30-4-1908

 

Ideals Face To Face

*1-5-1908

3-5-1908

The New Nationalism

 

 

 

Bibliographical Note

Contents arranged subjectwise

 

July 1, 1914

 

WE salute Thee, O Lord, with adoration and joy and we give ourselves to Thee in a gift constantly renewed, so that Thy will may be done on the earth and in all places in this world.

Turning towards Thee our thought is mute, but our heart exults, for Thou shinest in everything, and

Page - 149


the smallest grain of sand can be an occasion for adoration.

We bow down before Thee, we unite with Thee,

O Lord, in a love without limit and full of an ineffable beatitude.

O give to all this sovereign joy.

 

July 4, 1914

 

O SOVEREIGN Force, victorious Power, Purity, Beauty, Love supreme, allow the integrality of this being, the totality of this body to approach Thee solemnly and offer to Thee in a complete and humble surrender this means of manifestation perfectly given up to Thy will, if not perfectly ripe for this realisation.

With the calm and strong certitude that Thou wilt one day accomplish the expected miracle and fully manifest Thy sublime splendour, we turn towards

Thee in a profound ecstasy and silently implore Thee.

Immensity, Infinitude, Wonder... Thou alone art and shinest in all things. The hour of Thy fulfilment is near. All Nature solemnly retires into a calm concentration.

And Thou repliest to her ardent appeal!

Page - 150


July 5, 19l4

 

ALL that belongs to the outer and lower being which is still obscure, prostrates itself in a mute and fervent adoration, appealing with all its force to Thy purifying action which will make it fit to manifest Thee fully.

And in this adoration is found perfect silence and. perfect beatitude. Thou repliest mercifully to the appeal: "What has to be done shall be done. The necessary instruments shall be prepared. Make thy endeavour with calm, with certitude."

 

July 6, 1914

 

WHAT a plenitude in the perception! The whole individual being, modest, humble, surrendered, adoring, calm and smiling, feels one with all, can make no differences of value; it is in perfect solidarity with all and with that all it kneels in front of Thee; and at the same time the formidable omnipotence of Thy Force is there; ready for manifestation, waiting, it is building the propitious hour, the favourable opportunity: it is there, the incomparable splendour of Thy victorious sovereignty.

The Force is there. Rejoice, you who wait and hope: the new manifestation is sure; the new manifestation is near.

Page - 151


The Force is there. All nature exults and sings in joy, all nature is in holiday. The Force is there.

Arise and live; rise and be illuminated; .arise and battle for the transfiguration of all: the Force is there!

 

July 7, 1914

 

PEACE, peace over all earth.... Not the peace of an inconscient sleep or of a self-satisfied inertia, not the peace of a self-forgetful ignorance and an obscure and heavy indifference; but the peace of the omnipotent force, the peace of a perfect communion, the peace of an integral awakening, of the disappearance of all limitation and all darkness.

Why torment oneself and suffer; why this harsh struggle and this sorrowful revolt; why this vain violence; why this inconscient and heavy sleep? Wake up without fear, appease your conflicts, silence your disputes, open your eyes and your hearts: the Force is there; it is there divinely pure, luminous, powerful; it is there as a limitless love, as a sovereign power, as an undisputed reality, as an unmixed peace, as an uninterrupted beatitude, as the supreme Benediction; it is existence in itself, the boundless felicity of the infinite knowledge...and it is something more which cannot be said, but which is already

Page - 152


active in the higher worlds beyond thought, as the power of sovereign transfiguration, and also in the inconscient depths of Matter as the Irresistible Healer.

Listen, listen, O thou who wouldst know. Look, thou who wouldst see, contemplate and live: the Force is there!

 

July 8, 1914

 

O FORCE divine, supreme illuminator, listen to our prayer, do not go far from us, do not withdraw, help us to fight the good fight, fortify our strength for the struggle, give us the power for victory!

O my sweet Master, Thou whom I adore without being able to know Thee, Thou who I am without being able to realise Thee, all my conscious individuality prostrates itself before Thee and implores, in the name of the workers in their struggle, of the earth in its agony, of humanity in its suffering and of Nature in her endeavour, O my sweet Master, marvellous Unknowable, Dispenser of all boons, Thou who bringest light to birth out of darkness and force out of weakness, support our efforts, guide our steps, lead us to victory.

Page - 153


July 10, 1914

 

O THOU who eternally and immutably art and who givest Thy consent to Thy becoming in this world that Thou mayst bring to it a new Illumination, a new Impulsion, Thou art there, manifest Thyself more completely and more perfectly; the instrument has given itself and gives itself to Thee in an enthusiastic surrender, a total self-abandonment, Thou canst reduce it to dust or transform it into a sun, it will resist nothing that is Thy will; and in this surrender lies its true power, its beatitude.

But why dost Thou spare the animality of the body? Is it because time must be given to it to adapt itself to the marvellous complexity and the potent infinity of Thy Force? Is it Thy will that wishes to be gentle and patient, and not to precipitate anything but leave to the elements the leisure to adapt themselves?...! mean to say : is it better so or is it impossible otherwise? Is it a special incapacity which is magnanimously tolerated by Thee, or is it a general law which is an inevitable part of all that is to be transformed?

However, since it is so, it matters little, what we think of it. The attitude alone is important: must we struggle against it, or must we accept it? And, it is Thou who dictates! the attitude, it is Thy Will which determines it at every moment. Why foresee and combine when it is enough to verify and fully adhere?

Page - 154


The working in the constitution of the physical cells is perceptible: penetrated by a considerable amount of force, they seem to expand and become lighter. But the brain is still heavy and asleep...! unite myself with this body, O divine Master, and I cry to Thee: "Do not spare me, act with Thy sovereign omnipotence; into me Thou hast put the for a total transfiguration.

 

July 11, 1914

 

THE whole physical being would wish to be dissolved and reconstituted in an adoration without limit. O Lord, Thou who hast come to touch Matter as the Messenger of the Supreme Power and Supreme Beatitude, Thou bringest to birth the conception of what the total realisation can be. And when the being has believed that it has been definitively invested with Thy sublime mandate. Thou withdrawest, giving it to understand that it was only a promise, an assurance of what can be. Alas, how Teat is the imperfection of this Matter that we cannot retain Thee! O Lord, use Thy omnipotence, accomplish the miracle of Thy permanent Presence...Why spare us so much? We must either triumph or perish I The Victory, the victory, the victory! We demand he victory of Transfiguration!

Page - 155


July 12, 1914

 

IN all the states of being, in all the modes of activity, in all things, in all worlds, one can meet Thee and be united with Thee, for Thou art every-where and ever present. He who has met Thee in one activity of his being or in one world in the universe, says: "I have found Him" and seeks no more for anything else, he thinks he has arrived at the summit of human possibility. What a mistake! It is in all states, in all modes, in all things, in all worlds, in all elements that we have to discover Thee and be united with Thee, and if we leave out one element, however small it may be, the communion cannot be perfect, the realisation cannot be accomplished.

And that is why to find Thee is only the first step in an ascent that is infinite.

O sweet Master, sovereign Transfigurator, let all negligence and all lazy indolence cease, gather up all our energies in a sheaf and make of them a will, indomitable, irresistible.

O Light, Love, ineffable Force, all atoms cry to Thee that Thou mayst penetrate and transfigure them.

Give to all the supreme happiness of the communion!

Page - 156


July 13, l914

 

PATIENCE, force, courage, calm and indomitable energy.

May the mind learn to be silent and not to want to profit immediately by the forces which come to us from Thee for the integral manifestation.

But why should the poorest, the most mediocre, the most imperfect element have been chosen for the expression of Thy will?

 

July 15, 1914

 

WHAT then, O Lord? Whatever Thou wiliest, whatever Thou wiliest. This instrument is weak and mediocre, Thou hast taught it that all activities were possible to it, that in. dl the potentialities of human action nothing was- fundamentally foreign to it; but it is in intensity and in perfection alone that the Divine begins, and up to now Thou hast accorded to it no exceptional intensity,, no true perfection...All is in a state of promise not yet individualised, but collective, and nothing is completely realised. Why, O Lord? Thou hast put in my heart this peace so total that it seems almost to be indifference, and says in an immensity of calm serenity:

Whatever Thou wiliest, whatever Thou wiliest.

Page - 157


July 16, 1914

 

SALUTATION of a silent and humble adoration.

I bow down before Thy glory, for it dominates, me with all its splendour. O let me dissolve at Thy feet, melt in Thee!

 

July 17, 1914

 

TERRESTRIAL realisations easily assume a great importance in our eyes, for they are proportioned to our external being, to this limited form which makes of us men. But what is a terrestrial realisation compared with Thee, in front of Thee? However perfect, however complete, however divine it may be, it is only an indiscernible moment in Thy eternity; and the results obtained by it, however powerful, however marvellous they may be, are but an imperceptible atom in the infinite advance towards Thee. It is this that Thy workers should never forget, otherwise they will -become unfit to serve Thee.

O my sweet Master, what a childishness it is to think oneself responsible for anything and to wish to individualise. Thy supreme and divine Will! Is it not enough to be united with Thy heart and live permanently in it? Then Thou takest all the responsibility?

Page - 158


and Thy will works even without there being any need for us to know it.. .Only a realisation independent of all outer circumstances and unconfined by any attachment or understanding, however high it may be, is a true realisation, a realisation of value. And the only one which fulfils these conditions is to unite with Thee in a union tight, integral, definitive. As for the care of Thy transient and momentary manifestation, in a fugitive existence and in a passing world, it is Thou who must be responsible for it and do what is necessary for it to be, if Thou deemest it good.

O my sweet Master, sovereign Lord, Thou hast taken all my cares and hast left me only the Beatitude, the supreme ecstasy of Thy divine Communion.

 

July 18, 1914

 

TWO things remain unshakable amidst all the winds of tempest, even the most violent: the will that all may be happy with the true happiness,— Thy happiness; and the ardent desire to be perfectly united and identified with Thee... all the rest is perhaps still the result of an effort or a pretension, this is spontaneous and unshakable; and at the moment when the very ground seems to give way under my feet and all is crumbling down, this appears luminous, pure and calm, piercing all clouds, dispelling all darkness, surging up greater and stronger from

Page - 159


all the ruin and carrying in itself Thy infinite Peace and Beatitude.

 

July 19, 1914

 

LORD, Thou art the omnipotent Master of Thy own manifestation; grant that these instruments may escape from their too narrow frames, too fixed and mediocre limits. All the riches of human possibilities are needed to translate an atom of Thy infinite Force...... Open the closed doors, set flowing the sealed fountains, and let Thy torrents of eloquence and beauty pour out over the world. Amplitude and majesty, nobility and grace, charm and grandeur, variety and puissance, all are needed, for it is the will of the Lord to manifest.

O my sweet Master, Thou art the sovereign Director of our destiny. Thou art the omnipotent Master of Thy own manifestation.

Thine are all this world, all these beings and all these atoms. Transfigure them and illumine.

 

July 21, 1914

 

THERE was no longer the body, no longer any sensation; there was only a column of light rising from the place where is ordinarily the base

Page - 160


of the body up to the place where is ordinarily the bead, to form there a disk of light like that of the moon; then from there the column went on rising up to very far above the head to break into an immense sun, dazzling and multi-coloured, from which fell a rain of golden light covering the whole earth.

Then slowly the column of light descended. forming an oval of living light, awakening and setting in motion, each in a particular way, according to l special mode of vibration, the centres which were above the head, at the place of the head, the throat, the heart, in the middle of the belly, at the base of the spine and still lower. At the height of the knees, the ascending and the descending currents joined together and the circulation thus became in a way uninterrupted, enveloping the whole being with an immense oval of living light.

Then slowly the consciousness descended again. from stage to stage, halting at every world, till the consciousness of the body came back. The resumption of the consciousness of the body was, if my memory is exact, the ninth stage. At this moment the body was still quite stiff and immobile.

 

July 22, 1914

 

THOU art all love, O Lord, and the light of Thy love is there deep down in all thought and.

Page - 161


in every heart. Achieve Thy work of transfiguration: illumine us. Open the doors still closed, widen the horizon, establish power, unify our beings and make us participators in Thy divine beatitude, so that we may help all to share in it. Let us conquer the last obstacles, inner and outer, and surmount the ultimate difficulties. An ardent and sincere prayer has never risen to Thee in vain, always in Thy munificence Thou respondest to every call and Thy mercy is infinite.

O Divine Master, let Thy light fall upon this chaos and a new world emerge from it. What is now preparing accomplish and let a new humanity be born which will be the perfect expression of Thy new sublime Law.

Nothing shall stop our elan; nothing shall tire our endeavour; resting upon Thee all our hopes and all our activities, strong in a complete submission to Thy supreme Will, we shall march to the conquest of Thy integral manifestation with the calm certitude of victory over all that would oppose it.

Salutation to Thee, O Master of the worlds, who triumphest over every obscurity.

 

July 23, 1914

 

O LORD, Thou art all-powerful: become the fighter and win the victory. May Thy love

Page - 162


dwell as the sovereign Master of our hearts and Thy Knowledge never leave our thoughts...Do not abandon us in impotence and darkness; shatter all limits, break all chains, dispel all illusions.

Our aspiration rises towards Thee as an ardent prayer.

 

July 25, 1914

 

AT daybreak, I sang the praise of this world where it is possible not only to desire Thee, at also to know Thee and even to become Thyself. and I felt astonishment that some so ardently aspire to leave this universe and enter into another and perfect world.

Thou hast put so much contentment in my heart that it has become impossible for me not to be satisfied in all circumstances inner or outer. And yet. something in my being aspires always towards more beauty, more light, more knowledge, more love, in short, towards a more conscious and constant relation with Thee... But that too depends on Thy will and it is when it is Thy will that Thou wilt accord to me the total transfiguration.

Page - 163


July 27, 1914

 

GENTLY, humbly my prayer rises towards Thee O Sweet Master, Thou who acceptest without debate or criticism all that offers itself to Thee; who givest and makest Thyself known to all without questioning whether they are worthy, and findest nothing too weak, too small, too modest, too insufficient to manifest Thee.

Let me lie down at Thy feet, merge into Thy heart disappear in Thee, be blotted out in Thy beatitude or rather be solely Thy servitor without pretending to anything else. I do not desire or aspire to anything more, I wish only to be Thy servitor.

 

July 31, 1914

 

IT seems to me that it is Thy will to make me pass successively through all the experiences that are generally put at the summit of a Yoga as its culmination and the proof of its perfect accomplishment. The experience is intense, complete, striking, carrying in it the knowledge of all its effects, all its consequences;

it is conscious and willed, it comes out of a methodical effort and not by an unexpected chance; and yet it is always unique, like the milestones placed along a path and separated from each other by a long ribbon of road; and, moreover, these milestones which stake

Page - 164


out the infinite ascent, are never alike; ever new, they appear to have no connection with one another...Will a moment come when Thou wilt make this being cable of synthesising all these innumerable experiences so as to draw out of them a realisation new, more complete, more beautiful than all those gone

though up to this day? I do not know. But Thou hast taught me not to regret the exceptional state after it has disappeared any more than I desired it before t came. I no longer see in it the sign of an instability in the progress made, but the proof of an advance which is pursued deliberately, without stopping any longer than is indispensable, for the diverse stages of the path. Every time Thou teachest me a little more that the means of manifestation is limited only because we think it to be so, and that it can effectively share in Thy infinitude; everytime something of Thy immensity is allied to the instrument which is its dwelling place, flinging wide the doors which open upon limitless horizons.

Page - 165


HOME