{"id":1119,"date":"2013-07-13T01:32:40","date_gmt":"2013-07-13T01:32:40","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/localhost\/?p=1119"},"modified":"2013-07-13T01:32:40","modified_gmt":"2013-07-13T01:32:40","slug":"11-sadhana-in-the-ashram-and-outside-vol-23-letters-on-yoga-volume-23","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/worksofthemotherandsriaurobindo.org\/index.php\/01-works-of-sri-aurobindo\/01-sabcl\/23-letters-on-yoga-volume-23\/11-sadhana-in-the-ashram-and-outside-vol-23-letters-on-yoga-volume-23","title":{"rendered":"-11_Sadhana in the Ashram and Outside.htm"},"content":{"rendered":"\n\n
\n
\n

S<\/font>ECTION<\/font>
\nN<\/font>INE<\/font><\/b> <\/font><\/p>\n

\n\t <\/font>Sadhana in the Ashram and
\nOutside<\/font><\/b> <\/font><\/p>\n

\n <\/font><\/p>\n

T<\/font><\/b>HIS<\/font>
\nAshram has been created with another object than that ordinarily common to such
\ninstitutions, not for the renunciation of the world but as a centre and a field
\nof practice for the evolution of another kind and form of life which would in
\nthe final end be moved by a higher spiritual consciousness and embody a greater
\nlife of the spirit. There is no general rule as to the stage at which one may
\nleave the ordinary life and enter here; in each case it depends on the personal
\nneed and impulsion and the possibility or the advisability for one to take the
\nstep. <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n⁂<\/font><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

This is not an Ashram like others
\n\u2013 the members are not Sannyasis; it is not mokşa<\/i><\/span> that is the sole aim
\nof the yoga here. What is being done here is a preparation for a work \u2013 a work
\nwhich will be founded on yogic consciousness and Yoga-Shakti, and can have no
\nother foundation. Meanwhile, every member here is expected to do some work in
\nthe Ashram as part of this spiritual preparation.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n⁂<\/font><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

The difficulty is that she seems
\nto have only vairāgya<\/i><\/span>
\nfor worldly life without any knowledge or special call for this yoga, and this
\nyoga and the life here are quite different things from ordinary yoga and
\nordinary Ashrams. It is not a life of meditative retirement as elsewhere.
\nMoreover, it would be impossible for us to demand anything without seeing her
\nand knowing at close hand what she is like. We are not just now for taking more
\ninmates into the Ashram except in a very few cases.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n⁂<\/font><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n\u201cDedication of life\u201d is quite possible for some without their staying<\/span>
\nhere.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\nPage \u2013 847<\/span><\/p>\n

\n
\n<\/div>\n

It is a question of inward attitude and of the total consecration of the
\nbeing to the Divine.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n⁂<\/font><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

We do not think it would be
\nadvisable at this stage [for X to come to stay at the Ashram]. By coming to the
\nAshram difficulties do not cease \u2013 they have to be faced and overcome wherever
\nyou are. For certain natures residence in the Ashram from the beginning is
\nhelpful \u2013 others have to prepare themselves outside.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n⁂<\/font><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

I have read and considered your
\nletter and have decided to give you the opportunity you ask for \u2013 you can
\nreside in the Ashram for two or three months to begin with and find out whether
\nthis is really the place and the path you were seeking and we also can by a
\ncloser observation of your spiritual possibilities discern how best we can help
\nyou and whether this yoga is the best for you. <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

This trial is
\nnecessary for many reasons, but especially because it is a difficult yoga to
\nfollow and not many can really meet the demands it makes on the nature. You have
\nwritten that you saw in me one who achieved through the perfection of the
\nintellect, its spiritualisation and divinisation; but in fact I arrived through
\nthe complete silence of the mind and whatever spiritualisation and divinisation
\nit attained was through the descent of a higher supra-intellectual knowledge
\ninto that silence. The book, Essays on the Gita, itself was written in that
\nsilence of the mind, without intellectual effort and by a free activity of this
\nknowledge from above. This is important because the principle of this yoga is
\nnot perfection of the human nature as it is but a psychic and spiritual
\ntransformation of all the parts of the being through the action of an inner
\nconsciousness and then of a higher consciousness which works on them, throws out
\ntheir old movements or changes them into the image of its own and so transmutes
\nlower into higher nature. It is not so much the perfection of the intellect as a
\ntranscendence of it, a transformation of the mind, the substitution of a larger
\ngreater principle of knowledge <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\nPage \u2013 848<\/span><\/p>\n

\n
\n<\/div>\n

\u2013 and so with all the rest
\nof the being. <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

This is a slow
\nand difficult process; the road is long and it is hard to establish even the
\nnecessary basis. The old existing nature resists and obstructs and difficulties
\nrise one after another and repeatedly till they are overcome. It is therefore necessary
\nto be sure that this is the path to which one is called before one finally
\ndecides to tread it. <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

If you wish, we
\nare ready to give you the trial you ask for. On receiving your answer the
\nMother will make the necessary arrangements for your residence in the Ashram.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n⁂<\/font><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

It is not helpful to abandon the
\nordinary life before the being is ready for the full spiritual life. To do so
\nmeans to precipitate a struggle between the different elements and exasperate
\nit to a point of intensity which the nature is not ready to bear. The vital
\nelements in you have partly to be met by the discipline and experience of life,
\nwhile keeping the spiritual aim in view and trying to govern life by it
\nprogressively in the spirit of Karmayoga. <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

It is for this
\nreason that we gave our approval to your marriage.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n⁂<\/font><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

No, it is not enough to be in the
\nAshram; one has to open to the Mother and put away the mind which one was
\nplaying with in the world.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n⁂<\/font><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

There is no formal initiation,
\nacceptance is sufficient, but I do not usually accept unless I have seen, or
\nthe Mother has seen the person or unless there is a clear sign that he is meant
\nfor this yoga. Sometimes those who desire to be disciples have seen me in dream
\nor vision before acceptance.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n⁂<\/font><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

What you say is right. This
\nattitude that the Divine has need of <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\nPage \u2013 849<\/span><\/p>\n

\n
\n<\/div>\n

the sadhak and not the sadhak of
\nthe Divine, is utterly wrong and absurd. When people are accepted here, they
\nare given a chance of a great Divine Grace, of being instruments of a great
\nwork. To suppose that the Divine cannot do his work without the help of this or
\nthat person is surely most arrogant and illogical. They ought to remember the
\nGita’s ŗte’pi<\/i><\/span> tvām<\/span><\/i> \u201ceven
\nwithout thee\u201d the work can be done and its nimittamātram<\/i><\/span> bhava<\/i>.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n⁂<\/font><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

I was thinking not of Pranam etc.
\nwhich have a living value, but of old forms which persist although they have no
\nlonger any value \u2013 e.g. śrāddha<\/i><\/span>
\nfor the dead. Also here forms which have no relation to this yoga \u2013 for
\ninstance Christians who cling to the Christian forms or Mahomedans<\/span>
\nto the Namaz<\/span> or Hindus to the Sandhyavandana<\/span>
\nin the old way might soon find them either falling off or else an obstacle to
\nthe free development of their sadhana.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\nII<\/b><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

What you write shows that you had
\na wrong idea of the work. The work in the Ashram was not meant as a service to humanity
\nor to a section of it called the sadhaks of the Ashram. It was not meant either
\nas an opportunity for a joyful social life and a flow of sentiments and
\nattachments between the sadhaks and an expression of the vital movements, a
\nfree vital interchange whether with some or with all. The work was meant as a
\nservice to the Divine and as a field for the inner opening to the Divine,
\nsurrender to the Divine alone, rejection of ego and all the ordinary vital
\nmovements and the training in a psychic elevation, selflessness, obedience,
\nrenunciation of all mental, vital or other self-assertion of the limited
\npersonality. Self-affirmation is not the aim, the formation of a collective
\nvital ego is also not the aim. The merging of the little ego in union with the
\nDivine, purification, surrender, the substitution of the Divine guidance for
\none’s own ignorant self-guidance based on one’s personal ideas and <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\nPage \u2013 850<\/span><\/p>\n

\n
\n<\/div>\n

personal feelings is the aim of
\nKarmayoga, the surrender of one’s own will to the Divine Will. <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

If one feels
\nhuman beings to be near and the Divine to be far and seeks the Divine through
\nservice of and love of human beings and not the direct service and love of the
\nDivine, then one is following a wrong principle \u2013 for that is the principle of
\nthe mental, vital and moral not the spiritual life.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n⁂<\/font><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

[\u201cThe love of the Divine in all
\nbeings and the constant perception and acceptance of its workings in all
\nthings.\u201d] That is all right in the ordinary Karmayoga which aims at union with
\nthe cosmic spirit and stops short at the Overmind \u2013 but here a special work has
\nto be done and a new realisation achieved for the earth and not for ourselves
\nalone. It is necessary to stand apart from the rest of the world so as to
\nseparate ourselves from the ordinary consciousness in order to bring down a new
\none. <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

It is not that
\nlove for all is not part of the sadhana, but it has not to translate itself at
\nonce into a mixing with all \u2013 it can only express itself in a general and when
\nneed be dynamic universal goodwill, but for the rest it must find vent in this
\nlabour of bringing down the higher consciousness with all its effect for the
\nearth. As for accepting the working of the Divine in all things that is
\nnecessary here too in the sense of seeing it even behind our struggles and
\ndifficulties, but not accepting the nature of man and the world as it is \u2013 our
\naim is to move towards a more divine working which will replace what now is by a
\ngreater and happier manifestation. That too is a labour of divine Love.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n⁂<\/font><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

As for our own position it is
\nthat ordinary life is Maya in this sense, not that it is an illusion, for it
\nexists and is very real, but that it is an Ignorance, a thing founded on what
\nis from the spiritual point of view a falsehood. So it is logical to avoid it
\nor rather we are obliged to have some touch with it but we minimise<\/span>
\nthat as much as possible except in so far as it is useful for <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\nPage \u2013 851<\/span><\/p>\n

\n
\n<\/div>\n

our purpose. We have to turn life
\nfrom falsehood into spiritual truth, from a life of Ignorance into a life of
\nspiritual knowledge. But until we have succeeded in doing that for ourselves,
\nit is better to keep apart from the life of Ignorance of the world \u2013 otherwise
\nour little slowly growing light is likely to be submerged in the seas of
\ndarkness all around it. Even as it is, the endeavour is difficult enough \u2013 it
\nwould be tenfold more difficult if there were no isolation.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n⁂<\/font><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Work here and work done in the
\nworld are of course not the same thing. The work there is not in any way a
\ndivine work in special \u2013 it is ordinary work in the world. But still one must
\ntake it as a training and do it in the spirit of Karmayoga \u2013 what matters there
\nis not the nature of the work in itself, but the spirit in which it is done. It
\nmust be in the spirit of the Gita, without desire, with detachment, without
\nrepulsion, but doing it as perfectly as possible, not for the sake of the
\nfamily or promotion or to please the superiors, but simply because it is the
\nthing that has been given in the hand to do. It is a field of inner training,
\nnothing else. One has to learn in it these things, equality, desirelessness<\/span>, dedication. It is not the work as a thing
\nfor its own sake, but one’s doing of it and one’s way of doing it that one has
\nto dedicate to the Divine. Done in that spirit, it does not matter what the
\nwork is. If one trains oneself spiritually like that, then one will be ready to
\ndo in the true way whatever special work directly for the Divine, (such as the
\nAshram work) one may any day be given to do.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n⁂<\/font><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Obviously the life here is not
\nthat of a place where the mind and vital can hope to be satisfied and fulfilled
\nor lead a lively life. It is only if one can live within that it becomes
\nsatisfactory…. But for one who has the assured inner life, there is no dullness.
\nRealisation within must be the first object; work for the Divine on the basis
\nof the true inner self and a new consciousness, not on <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\nPage \u2013 852<\/span><\/p>\n

\n
\n<\/div>\n

the basis of the old, is the
\nresult that can follow. Till then work and life can be only a means of sadhana,
\nnot a \u201cself-fulfilment\u201d or a brilliant and interesting vital life on the old
\nbasis.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n⁂<\/font><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Here there is nothing that ministers
\nto the human vital nature; the work is small, silent, shut off from the outside
\nworld and its circumstances, of value only as a field for spiritual
\nself-culture. If one is governed by the sole spiritual motive and has the spiritual
\nconsciousness, one can take joy and interest in this work. Or if, in spite of
\nhis human shortcomings, the worker is mainly bent on spiritual progress and
\nself-perfection, then also he can take interest in the work and both feel its
\nutility for the discovery and purification of his egoistic mental and vital and
\nphysical nature and take joy in it as a service of the Divine.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n⁂<\/font><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

It is not at all a question of
\nusefulness \u2013 although your work is very useful when you put yourself to it.
\nWork is part of the sadhana, and in sadhana the question of usefulness does not
\narise, that is an outward practical measure of things, \u2013 though even in the
\noutward ordinary life utility is not the only measure. The question is of
\naspiration to the Divine, whether that is your central aim in life, your inner
\nneed or not. Sadhana for oneself is another matter \u2013 one can take it up or
\nleave it. The real sadhana is for the Divine \u2013 it is the soul’s need and one
\ncannot give it up even if in moments of despondency one thinks one can.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n⁂<\/font><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

The work here is not intended for
\nshowing one’s capacity or having a position or as a means of physical nearness
\nto the Mother, but as a field and an opportunity for the Karmayoga part of the
\nintegral yoga, for learning to work in the true yogic way, dedication through
\nservice, practical selflessness, obedience, scrupulousness, discipline, setting
\nthe Divine and the <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\nPage \u2013 853<\/span><\/p>\n

\n
\n<\/div>\n

Divine’s work first and oneself
\nlast, harmony, patience, forbearance, etc. When the workers learn these things
\nand cease to be ego-centric, as most of you now are, then will come the time
\nfor work in which capacity can really be shown, although even then the showing
\nof capacity will be an incident and can never be the main consideration or the
\nobject of divine work.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n⁂<\/font><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

There is no necessity for
\neverybody to become artists or writers or do work of a public character. X and
\nY have their own capacities and it is sufficient for the present if they train
\nthemselves to make them useful for the Mother’s work. Others have great
\ncapacities which they are content to use in the small and obscure work of the
\nAshram without figuring before the public in something big. What is important
\nnow is to get the true consciousness from above, get rid of the ego (which nobody
\nhas yet done) and learn to be an instrument of the Divine Force. After that the
\nmanifestation can take place, not before.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n⁂<\/font><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

What is called politics is too
\nrajasic, unsound and muddled with all sorts of egoistic motives. Our way is the
\npressure of the Spirit upon the earth-consciousness to change.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n⁂<\/font><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

No, it [politics] is not given as
\na work to anybody. People go on with that because it is a mental interest or
\nhabit they do not like giving up, it is like the vital habit of tea-drinking or
\nanything else of the kind. Politics is not only not given as a work but the
\ndiscussion of politics is discouraged as much as possible.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n⁂<\/font><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

But surely politics is not the
\nonly activity possible for the vital \u2013 there are hundreds of others. Whenever
\nthere is something <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\nPage \u2013 854<\/span><\/p>\n

\n
\n<\/div>\n

to be produced, created,
\norganised, achieved, conquered, it is the vital that is indispensable.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n⁂<\/font><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

I have made it a rule not to
\nwrite anything about politics. Also the question of what to do in a body like
\nthe Assembly depends on circumstances, on the practical needs of the situation
\nwhich can change rapidly. In such a body the work is not of a spiritual
\ncharacter. All kinds of work can be done with the spiritual consciousness
\nbehind, but unless one has advanced very far, one must in the fact be guided by
\nthe necessities of the work itself and its characteristic nature. Since you
\nhave joined this party, its programme must be yours and what you have to do is
\nto bring to it all the conscientiousness, ability and selflessness which you
\ncan command. You are right in not taking office, as you have made the promise.
\nIn any case a sadhak entering politics should work not for himself but for the
\ncountry. If he takes office, it should be only when he can do something for the
\ncountry by it and not until he has proved his character and ability and fitness
\nfor position. You should walk by a high standard which will bring you the
\nrespect even of opponents and justify the choice of the electors.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n⁂<\/font><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

As for propaganda I have seen
\nthat it is perfectly useless for us \u2013 if there is any effect, it is a very
\ntrifling and paltry effect not worth the trouble. If the Truth has to spread
\nitself, it will do it of its own motion; these things are unnecessary.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n⁂<\/font><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Well-known or unknown has
\nabsolutely no importance from the spiritual point of view. It is simply the
\npropagandist spirit. We are not a party or a church or religion seeking
\nadherents or proselytes. One man who earnestly pursues the yoga is of more
\nvalue than a thousand well-known men. <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\nPage \u2013 855<\/span><\/p>\n

\n
\n<\/div>\n

Fear in these experiences is a
\nthing one must get rid of; if there is any danger, a call to the Mother is
\nsufficient, but in reality there is none \u2013 for the protection is there. <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

It is true that
\nthere is in most people here this running after those who come from outside
\nespecially if they are well-known or distinguished. It is a common weakness of
\nhuman nature and, like other weaknesses of human nature, the sadhaks seem not
\ninclined to get rid of it. It is because they do not live sufficiently within,
\nso the vital gets excited or attracted when something important or somebody
\nimportant (or considered so) comes in from outside.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n⁂<\/font><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

What X or others think or say
\ndoes not matter very much after all as we do not depend on them for our work
\nbut on the Divine Will only. So many have said and thought all sorts of things
\n(people outside) about and against us, that has never affected either us or our
\nwork in the least; it is of a very minor importance.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\nIII<\/b><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

It is necessary or rather
\ninevitable that in an Ashram which is a \u201claboratory\u201d, as X puts it, for a
\nspiritual and supramental yoga, humanity should be variously represented. For
\nthe problem of transformation has to deal with all sorts of elements favourable
\nand unfavourable. The same man indeed carries in him a mixture of these two
\nthings. If only sattwic and cultured men come for yoga, men without very much
\nof the vital difficulty in them, then, because the difficulty of the vital element
\nin terrestrial nature has not been faced and overcome, it might well be that
\nthe endeavour would fail. There might conceivably be under certain
\ncircumstances an overmental<\/span> layer superimposed on the
\nmental, vital and physical, and influencing them, but hardly anything
\nsupramental or a sovereign transmutation of the human being. Those in the
\nAshram come from all quarters and are of all kinds; it cannot be otherwise. <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\nPage \u2013 856<\/span><\/p>\n

\n
\n<\/div>\n

In the course of
\nthe yoga, collectively \u2013 though not for each one necessarily \u2013 as each plane is
\ndealt with, all its difficulties arise. That will explain much in the Ashram
\nthat people do not expect there. When the preliminary work is over in the
\n\u201claboratory\u201d, things must change. <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Also, much
\nstress has not been laid on human fellowship of the ordinary kind between the
\ninmates (though good feeling, consideration and courtesy should always be
\nthere,) because that is not the aim; it is unity in a new consciousness that is
\nthe aim, and the first thing is for each to do his sadhana, to arrive at that
\nnew consciousness and realise oneness there. <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Whatever faults
\nare there in the sadhaks must be removed by the Light from above \u2013 a sattwic
\nrule can only change natures predisposed to a sattwic rule.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n⁂<\/font><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

If his faith depends on the
\nperfection of the sadhaks, obviously, it must be a rather shaky thing! Sadhaks
\nand sadhikas are not supposed to be perfect. It is only siddhas<\/span>
\nfor whom one can claim perfection and even then not according to mental standards….\u00a0 <\/span>His faith seems to be more mental than
\notherwise, and mental faith can easily go. <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

To be by oneself
\nvery much needs a certain force of inner life. It may be better to vary
\nsolitude with some kind of its opposite. But each has its advantages and
\ndisadvantages and it is only by being vigilant and keeping an inner poise that
\none can avoid the latter.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n⁂<\/font><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

The general principle of
\nself-consecration and self-giving is the same for all in this yoga, but each
\nhas his own way of consecration and self-giving. The way that X takes is good
\nfor X, just as the way that you take is the right one for you, because it is in
\nconsonance with your nature. If there were not this plasticity and variety, if
\nall had to be cut in the same pattern, yoga would be a rigid mental machinery,
\nnot a living power. <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

When you can
\nsing out of your inner consciousness in which
\n <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\nPage \u2013 857<\/span><\/p>\n

\n
\n<\/div>\n

you feel the Mother moving all
\nyour actions, there is no reason why you should not do it. The development of
\ncapacities is not only permissible but right, when it can be made part of the
\nyoga; one can give not only one’s soul, but all one’s powers to the Divine.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n⁂<\/font><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

It is a little difficult for the
\nwider spiritual outlook to answer your question in the way you want and every
\nmental being wants, with a trenchant \u201cThou shalt\u201d or \u201cThou shalt not\u201d \u2013 especially
\nwhen the \u201cthou\u201d is meant to cover \u201call\u201d. For while there is an identity of
\nessential aim, while there are general broad lines of endeavour, yet there is
\nnot in detail one common set of rules in inner things that can apply to all
\nseekers. You ask: \u201cIs not such and such a thing harmful?\u201d But what is harmful
\nto one may be helpful to another, what is helpful at a certain stage may cease
\nto be helpful at another, what is harmful under certain conditions may be
\nhelpful under other conditions, what is done in a certain spirit may be
\ndisastrous, the same thing done in a quite different spirit would be innocuous
\nor even beneficial… there are so many things to be considered: the spirit,
\nthe circumstances, the person, the need and cast of the nature, the stage. That
\nis why it is said so often that the Guru must deal with each disciple according
\nto his separate nature and accordingly guide his sadhana; even if it is the
\nsame line of sadhana for all, yet at every point for each it differs. That also
\nis the reason why we say that the divine way cannot be understood by the mind,
\nbecause the mind acts according to hard and fast rules and standards, while the
\nspirit sees the truth of all and the truth of each and acts variously according
\nto its own comprehensive and complex vision. That also is why we say that no
\none can understand by his personal mental judgment the Mother’s actions and
\nreasons for action: it can only be understood by entering into the larger
\nconsciousness from which she sees things and acts upon them. That is baffling
\nto the mind because it uses its small measures, but that is the truth of the
\nmatter.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

So you will see
\nthat here there is no mental rule, but in each case the guidance is determined
\nby spiritual reasons which are of a flexible character. There is no other
\nconsideration, no rule.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\nPage \u2013 858<\/span><\/p>\n

\n
\n<\/div>\n

Music, painting, poetry and many
\nother activities which are of the mind and vital can be used as part of
\nspiritual development or of the work and for a spiritual purpose: it depends on
\nthe spirit in which they are done.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n⁂<\/font><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Why should the Mother be obliged
\nto treat everybody in the same way? It would be a most imbecile thing for her
\nto do that.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n⁂<\/font><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

It is not a fact that all I write
\nis meant equally for everybody. That assumes that everybody is alike and there
\nis no difference between sadhak and sadhak. If it were so everybody would
\nadvance alike and have the same experiences and take the same time to progress
\nby the same steps and stages. It is not so at all. In this case the general
\nrules were laid down for one who had made no progress \u2013 but everything depends
\non how the yoga comes to each person.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n⁂<\/font><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

It is not always safe to apply
\npractically to oneself what has been written for another. Each sadhak is a case
\nby himself and one cannot always or often take a mental rule and apply it rigidly
\nto all who are practising<\/span> the yoga. What I wrote to X
\nwas meant for X and fits his case, but supposing a sadhak with a different
\n(coarse) vital nature unlike X were in question, I might say to him something
\nthat might seem the very opposite, \u201cSit tight on your lower vital propensities,
\nthrow out your greed for food \u2013 it is standing as a serious obstacle in your
\nway; it would be better for you to be ascetic in your habits than vulgarly animal
\nin this part as you are now\u201d. To one who is not taking enough food or sleep and
\nrest in the eagerness of his spirit, I might say, \u201cEat more, sleep more, rest
\nmore, do not overstrain yourself or bring an ascetic spirit into your tapasya<\/span>\u201d. To another with the opposite excess I might speak
\na contrary language. Each sadhak has <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\nPage \u2013 859<\/span><\/p>\n

\n
\n<\/div>\n

a nature or turn of nature of his
\nown and the movement of the yoga of two sadhaks, even where there are some resemblances
\nbetween them, is seldom exactly the same. <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Again, in
\napplying some truth that is laid down it is necessary to give it its precise
\nmeaning. It is quite true that \u201cin our path the attitude is not one of forceful
\nsuppression, nigraha<\/i><\/span>\u201d;
\nit is not coercion according to a mental rule or principle on an unpersuaded<\/span> vital being. But that does not mean either that
\nthe vital has to go its own way and do according to its fancy. It is not
\ncoercion that is the way, but an inner change in which the lower vital is led,
\nenlightened and transformed by a higher consciousness which is detached from
\nthe objects of vital desire. But in order to let this grow an attitude has to
\nbe taken in which a decreasing importance has to be attached to the
\nsatisfaction of the claims of the lower vital, a certain mastery, samyama<\/i><\/span>, being
\nabove any clamour<\/span> of these things, limiting such
\nthings as food to their proper place. The lower vital has its place, it is not
\nto be crushed or killed, but it has to be changed, \u201ccaught hold of by both
\nends\u201d, at the upper end a mastery and control, at the lower end a right use.
\nThe main thing is to get rid of attachment and desire; it is then that an
\nentirely right use becomes possible. By what actual steps, in what order,
\nthrough what processes this mastery of the lower vital shall come depends on
\nthe nature, the stress of development, the actual movement of the yoga. <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

It is not the
\neating or the not eating of something that is the important point; what is
\nimportant is how that or any of these food matters affects you, what is your
\ninner condition and how any such indulgence, cooking or eating, stands or does not
\nstand in the way of its progress and change, what is best for you as a yogic
\ndiscipline. One rule for you I can lay down, \u201cDo not do, say or think anything
\nwhich you would want to conceal from the Mother\u201d. And that answers the
\nobjections that rose within you \u2013 from your vital, is it not? \u2013 against
\nbringing \u201cthese petty things\u201d to the Mother’s notice. Why should you think that
\nthe Mother would be bothered by these things or regard them as petty? If all
\nthe life is to be yoga what is there that can be called petty or of no
\nimportance? Even if the Mother does not answer, to have <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\nPage \u2013 860<\/span><\/p>\n

\n
\n<\/div>\n

brought any matter of your action
\nand self-development before her in the right spirit means to have put it under
\nher protection, in the light of the Truth, under the rays of the Power that is
\nworking for the transformation \u2013 for immediately those rays begin to play and
\nto act on the thing brought to her notice. Anything within that advises not to
\ndo it when the spirit in you moves you to do it, may very well be a device of
\nthe vital to avoid the ray of the Light and the working of the Force.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n⁂<\/font><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

One must not treat human nature
\nlike a machine to be handled according to rigid mental rules \u2013 a great
\nplasticity is needed in dealing with its complex motives.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\nIV<\/b><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Yes, even in ordinary life there
\nmust be a control over the vital and the ego \u2013 otherwise life would be
\nimpossible. Even many animals, those who live in groups, have their strict
\nrules imposing a control on the play of the ego and those who disobey will have
\na bad time of it. The Europeans especially understand this and even though they
\nare full of ego, yet when there is a question of team work or group life, they
\nare adepts at keeping it in leash, even if it growls inside; it is the secret
\nof their success. But in yoga life of course it is a question not of
\ncontrolling ego but of getting rid of it and rising to a higher principle, so
\ndemand is much more strongly and insistently discouraged.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n⁂<\/font><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

A rule that can be varied by
\neveryone at his pleasure is no rule. In all countries in which organised work
\nis successfully done, (India
\nis not one of them), rules exist and nobody thinks of breaking them, for it is
\nrealised that work (or life either) without discipline would soon become a
\nconfusion and an anarchic failure. In the great days of India
\neverything was put under rule, even <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\nPage \u2013 861<\/span><\/p>\n

\n
\n<\/div>\n

art and poetry, even yoga. Here
\nin fact rules are much less rigid than in any European organisation. Personal
\ndiscretion can even in a frame of rules have plenty of play \u2013 but discretion
\nmust be discreetly used, otherwise it becomes something arbitrary or chaotic.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n⁂<\/font><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

The Mother puts her protection
\nround all the sadhaks, but if by their own act or attitude they go out of the
\ncircle of the protection there may be undesirable consequences.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n⁂<\/font><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

[Discipline:] To act according to
\na standard of Truth or a rule or law of action (dharma) or in obedience to a
\nsuperior authority or to the highest principles discovered by the reason and
\nintelligent will and not according to one’s own fancy, vital impulses and
\ndesires. In yoga obedience to the Guru or to the Divine and the law of the
\nTruth as declared by the Guru is the foundation of discipline.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n⁂<\/font><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

You are putting the cart before
\nthe horse. It is not the right way to make the condition that if you get what
\nyou want you will be obedient and cheerful. But be always obedient and cheerful
\nand then what you want will have a chance of coming to you.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n⁂<\/font><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Rules are indispensable for the
\norderly management of work; for without order and arrangement nothing can be
\nproperly done, all becomes clash, confusion and disorder. <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

In all such
\ndealings with others, you should see not only your own side of the question but
\nthe other side also. There should be no anger, vehement reproach or menace, for
\nthese things only raise anger and retort on the other side. I write this because
\nyou are trying to rise above yourself and dominate your vital and when one
\nwants to do that, one cannot be too strict <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\nPage \u2013 862<\/span><\/p>\n

\n
\n<\/div>\n

with oneself in these things. It
\nis best even to be severe with one’s own mistakes and charitable to the
\nmistakes of others. <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n⁂<\/font><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Yes, quite right. It is a
\ndeficiency of psychic perception and spiritual discrimination that makes people
\nspeak like that and ignore the importance of obedience. It is the mind wanting
\nto follow its own way of thinking and the vital seeking freedom for its desires
\nwhich argue in this manner. If you do not follow the rules laid down by the
\nspiritual guide or obey one who is leading you to the Divine, then what or whom
\nare you to follow? Only the ideas of the individual mind and the desires of the
\nvital: but these things never lead to siddhi in yoga. The rules are laid down
\nin order to guard against certain influences and their dangers and to keep a
\nright atmosphere in the Ashram favourable to spiritual development; the
\nobedience is necessary so as to get away from one’s own mind and vital and
\nlearn to follow the Truth.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n⁂<\/font><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Rules like these are intended to
\nhelp the vital and physical to come under the discipline of sadhana and not get
\ndispersed in fancies, impulses, self-indulgences; but they must be done simply,
\nnot with any sense of superiority or ascetic pride, but as a mere matter of
\ncourse. It is true also that they can be made the occasion of a too great
\nmental rigidity \u2013 as if they were things of supreme importance in themselves
\nand not only a means. Put in their right place and done in the right spirit,
\nthey can be very helpful for their purpose.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n⁂<\/font><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

What most want is that things
\nshould be done according to their desire without check or reference. The talk
\nof perfection is humbug. Perfection does not consist in everybody being a law
\nto himself. Perfection comes by renunciation of desires and surrender to a
\nhigher Will. <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n⁂<\/font><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\nPage \u2013 863<\/span><\/p>\n

\n
\n<\/div>\n

If I said things that human
\nnature finds easy and natural, that would certainly be very comfortable for the
\ndisciples, but there would be no room for spiritual aim or endeavour. Spiritual
\naims and methods are not easy or natural (e.g. as quarrelling, sex indulgence,
\ngreed, indolence, acquiescence in all imperfections are easy and natural) and
\nif people become disciples, they are supposed to follow spiritual aims and endeavours<\/span>, however hard and above ordinary nature and not
\nthe things that are easy and natural.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n⁂<\/font><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

In the outside world there is a
\nmental and social control and also the absorption in other things. Here you are
\nleft alone with your own consciousness and have to replace the mental and
\noutward control by an inner self-control of the spirit.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n⁂<\/font><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

It is no question of fault or
\npunishment \u2013 if we have to condemn and punish people for their faults and deal
\nwith the sadhaks like a tribunal of justice, no sadhana could be possible. I do
\nnot see how your reproach against us is justifiable. Our sole duty to the
\nsadhaks is to take them towards their spiritual realisation \u2013 we cannot behave
\nlike the head of a family intervening in domestic quarrels, supporting one,
\nputting our weight against the other! However often X may stumble, we have to
\ntake him by the hand, lift him up again and get him to move once more towards
\nthe Divine. We have always done the same with you. But we could not support any
\ndemand of yours upon him. We have always treated it as something between him
\nand the Divine. For you, the one thing we have insisted on and that with your
\nfull consent and with your prayers to us to be helped in doing it, is to cut
\nthe vital relation with him altogether and to base nothing upon it any more.
\nYet now you write to us that because we have not approved of your action of
\nwhat you said to Y, no matter what that might be, \u2013 you renounce us forever. <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

I must ask you
\nto return to your better self and your true consciousness and throw off these
\nmoods of vital passion which <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\nPage \u2013 864<\/span><\/p>\n

\n
\n<\/div>\n

are unworthy of your soul. You
\nhave repeatedly written of your love for the Mother, the Ananda which you
\nreceived from her and the number of spiritual experiences. Remember that and
\nremember that that is your true way and your true being and nothing else
\nmatters. Get back your poise and throw off the lower nature and its darkness
\nand ignorance. <\/p>\n

\nV<\/b><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

No one in fact is kept here when
\nhis will or decision is to go \u2013 although the principle of the spiritual life is
\nagainst any return to the old one even for a time especially if the deeper urge
\nis there and striving towards a firm foundation of the new consciousness \u2013 for
\nthe return to the ordinary atmosphere and surroundings and motives disturbs the
\nwork and throws back the progress.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n⁂<\/font><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

When there is so sharp a
\ndifference between the inner and the outer being, it is always the sadhak who
\nhas to make his choice. As for coming back, many who have gone out have come
\nback, others have not \u2013 for in going out there is always the danger of entering
\ninto a current of forces that make return impossible. Whatever decision you
\nmake should be clear and deliberate \u2013 otherwise you may go out and as soon as
\nyou are there want to come back and after coming here again want to go; that
\nwould be inadmissible.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n⁂<\/font><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

It is well understood that the
\npermission given [to go away from the Ashram] does not exclude the possibility
\nof the experiment ending badly. But the experiment becomes necessary if the
\npull of the ego or outer being and that of the soul have become too acute for
\nsolution otherwise or if the outer being insists on having its experience.  <\/p>\n

\n <\/p>\n

\n⁂<\/font><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\nPage \u2013 865<\/span><\/p>\n

\n
\n<\/div>\n

It is especially when the outer
\nbeing rejects the Truth and insists on living its life and refuses the rule of
\nthe spiritual life that the experiment [of going away from the Ashram] becomes
\ninevitable. I have never said that it is recommendable.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n⁂<\/font><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

In some it [the push to go away
\nfrom the Ashram] is too strong; they have to go and see for themselves. That
\ndoes not mean that everyone has to go whenever he feels a difficulty. These are
\nexceptional cases.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n⁂<\/font><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

There is no such impossibility of
\nyour victory over the harder parts of your nature as you imagine. There is only
\nneeded the perseverance to go on till this resistance breaks down and the
\npsychic which is not absent nor unmanifest is able to dominate the others. That
\nhas to be done whether you stay here or not and to go is likely only to
\nincrease the difficulty and imperil the final result \u2013 it cannot help you. It
\nis here that the struggle however acute has, because of the immediate presence
\nof the Mother, the best chance and certitude of a solution and successful
\nending.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n⁂<\/font><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

It usually happens like that \u2013 when
\none comes out of the world, the forces that govern the world do all they can to
\npull you back into their own unquiet movement.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n⁂<\/font><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

It is certainly strange. Most
\npeople after the atmosphere here cannot tolerate the ordinary atmosphere. If
\nthey go outside, they are restless until they return. Even X’s aunt who was
\nhere only for a few months writes in the same way. But probably when people get
\ninto the control of a falsehood as Y and Z did, they are projected into the
\nunregenerated vital nature<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\nPage \u2013 866<\/span><\/p>\n

\n
\n<\/div>\n

and no longer feel the difference
\nof the atmosphere.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n⁂<\/font><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

All yoga is difficult, because the
\naim in every yoga is to reach the Divine, to turn entirely towards the Divine
\nand that means to turn away from the ordinary movements of the nature to
\nsomething beyond it. But when one aspires with sincerity the strength is given
\nthat ends by surmounting the difficulties and reaching the goal. <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

The Mother was
\nspeaking of sadhaks who had entered into the life and atmosphere of the Ashram
\nand felt the touch on the psychic of what is here. It does not apply to those
\nwho have come here from the outside world but still belong to the outside. All
\nthe ties of X’s nature were still with the outside life; her vital was quite unadapted<\/span> to the Ashram life and recoiled from the idea of
\nliving it always. She gave her psychic no time to make that connection and
\nabsorb that influence which would have fixed in it the feeling of this as its
\ntrue home. People can come here like that and stay for a time and go without
\nany difficulty as many have done. The feeling of difficulty or uneasiness in
\ngoing is on the other hand a sign that the soul has taken root here and finds
\nit painful to uproot itself. There are some who are like that and have had to
\ngo but do not feel at ease and are always thinking of how to come back as soon
\nas possible. <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

To help others
\nwithout egoism or attachment or leaving the spiritual surroundings and
\nspiritual life is one thing, to be pulled away by personal attachment or the
\nneed of helping others to the outside life is different.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n⁂<\/font><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

The
\ninability to go [from the Ashram] can come from the psychic which refuses, when
\nit comes to the point, to allow the other parts to budge, or it can come from
\nthe vital which has no longer any pull towards the ordinary life and knows that
\nit will never be satisfied there. It is usually the higher parts of the vital
\nthat act like that. What still is capable of turning outwards is probably<\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\n <\/p>\n

\nPage \u2013 867<\/span><\/p>\n

\n
\n<\/div>\n

the physical vital in which the old tendencies have not been extinguished.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n⁂<\/font><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

You ought to be able to see…
\nthat the cause of the unrest is in yourself and not in the outward
\ncircumstances. It is your vital attachment to family ties and the ordinary
\nsocial ideas and feelings that has risen in you and creates the difficulty. If
\nyou want to practise yoga, you must be able to live in the world, so long as
\nyou are there, with a mind set upon the Divine and not bound by the
\nenvironment. One who does this, can help those around him a hundred times more
\nthan one who is bound and attached to the world. <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

It is not
\npossible for the Mother to tell you to remain, if you are yourself in your mind
\nand vital eager to go. It is from within yourself that there must come the
\nclear will on one side or the other.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n⁂<\/font><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

It is easier to feel the presence
\nin the atmosphere of the Ashram than outside it. But that is only an initial
\ndifficulty which one can overcome by a steadiness in the call and a constant
\nopening of oneself to the influence.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n⁂<\/font><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

The force is there in the
\natmosphere, but you must receive it in the right way \u2013 in the spirit of
\nself-giving, openness, confidence. All the rest depends on that.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n⁂<\/font><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

What is true is that there is a
\nstrong force going out from here and it is naturally strongest at the centre.
\nBut how it affects there, depends on how one receives it. If it is received
\nwith simple trust, faith, openness, confidence, then it works as a complete
\nprotection. But it can so work too at a distance. It is not the house, it is
\nthe inner nearness that matters. <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\nPage \u2013 868<\/span><\/p>\n

\n
\n<\/div>\n

VI<\/b><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

The best way to prepare oneself
\nfor the spiritual life when one has to live in the ordinary occupations and
\nsurroundings is to cultivate an entire equality and detachment and the samatā<\/i> of the Gita with the faith
\nthat the Divine is there and the Divine Will at work in all things even though
\nat present under the conditions of a world of Ignorance. Beyond this are the
\nLight and Ananda towards which life is working, but the best way for their
\nadvent and foundation in the individual being and nature is to grow in this
\nspiritual equality. That would also solve your difficulty about things unpleasant
\nand disagreeable. All unpleasantness should be faced with this spirit of samatā<\/i>.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n⁂<\/font><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

When one is living in the world,
\none cannot do as in an Ashram \u2013 one has to mix with others and keep up
\noutwardly at least ordinary relations with others. The important thing is to
\nkeep the inner consciousness open to the Divine and grow in it. As one does
\nthat, more or less rapidly according to the inner intensity of the sadhana, the
\nattitude towards others will change. All will be seen more and more in the
\nDivine and the feelings, actions, etc. will more and more be determined, not by
\nthe old external reactions, but by the growing consciousness within you.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n⁂<\/font><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

The difficulty which you
\nexperience from relatives and others is always one that intervenes as an
\nobstacle when one has to practise the sadhana in ordinary or unfavourable surroundings.
\nThe only way to escape from it is to be able to live in oneself in one’s inner
\nbeing \u2013 which becomes possible when the responsiveness and luminosity of which
\nyou speak in your letter increase and become normal, for then you are
\nconstantly aware of your inner being and even live in it \u2013 the outer becomes an
\ninstrument, a means of communication and action in the outer world. It is then
\npossible to make the relations with people outside free<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\nPage \u2013 869<\/span><\/p>\n

\n
\n<\/div>\n

from tie or necessary reaction \u2013 one
\ncan determine from within one’s own reaction or absence of reaction: there is a
\nfundamental liberation from the external nexuses \u2013 of course, if one wills it
\nto be so.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n⁂<\/font><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

The life of samsāra<\/i><\/span> is in its nature a
\nfield of unrest \u2013 to go through it in the right way one has to offer one’s life
\nand actions to the Divine and pray for the peace of the Divine within. When the
\nmind becomes quiet, one can feel the Divine Mother supporting the life and put
\neverything into her hands.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n⁂<\/font><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Peace is never easy to get in the
\nlife of the world and never constant, unless one lives deep within and bears
\nthe external activities as only a surface front of being.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n⁂<\/font><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

In her condition the one thing by
\nwhich she can enter into the sadhana is to remember the Divine always, taking
\nher difficulties as ordeals to be passed through, to pray constantly and seek
\nthe Divine help and protection and ask for the opening of her heart and
\nconsciousness to the supporting Divine Presence.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n⁂<\/font><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

It is not possible for the Mother
\nto promise to give help in worldly matters. She intervenes only in special
\ncases. There are some of course, who by their openness and their faith get her
\nhelp in any worldly difficulty or trouble but that is a different thing. They
\nsimply remember and call the Mother and in due time some result comes.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n⁂<\/font><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

The tendency you speak of, to
\nleave the family and social life for the spiritual life, has been traditional
\nin India for
\nthe last <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\nPage \u2013 870<\/span><\/p>\n

\n
\n<\/div>\n

2000 years and more \u2013 chiefly
\namong men, it touches only a very small number of women. It must be remembered
\nthat Indian social life has subordinated almost entirely the individual to the
\nfamily. Men and women do not marry according to their free will; their
\nmarriages are mostly arranged for them while they are still children. Not only
\nso, but the mould of society has been long of an almost iron fixity putting
\neach individual in his place and expecting him to conform to it. You speak of
\nissues and a courageous solution, but in this life there are no problems and issues
\nand no call for a solution \u2013 a courageous solution is only possible where there
\nis freedom of the personal will; but where the only solution (if one remains in
\nthis life) is submission to the family will, there can be nothing of the kind.
\nIt is a secure life and can be happy if one accommodates oneself to it and has
\nno unusual aspirations beyond it or is fortunate in one’s environment; but it
\nhas no remedy for or escape from incompatibilities or any kind of individual
\nfrustration; it leaves little room for initiative or free movement or any
\nindividualism. The only outlet for the individual is his inner spiritual or
\nreligious life and the recognized escape is the abandonment of the samsāra<\/i><\/span>, the
\nfamily life, by some kind of Sannyasa. The Sannyasi, the Vaishnava Vairagi<\/span> or the Brahmachari are free; they are dead to the
\nfamily and can live according to the dictates of the inner spirit. Only if they
\nenter into an order or Ashram, they have to abide by the rules of the order,
\nbut that is their own choice. Society recognised<\/span> this
\ndoor of escape from itself; religion sanctioned the idea that distaste for the
\nsocial or worldly life was a legitimate ground for taking up that of the
\nrecluse or religious wanderer. But this was mainly for men; women, except in
\nold times among the Buddhists who had their convents and in later times among
\nthe Vaishnavas, had little chance of such an escape unless a very strong
\nspiritual impulse drove them which would take no denial. As for the wife and
\nchildren left behind by the Sannyasi, there was little difficulty, for the
\njoint family was there to take up or rather to continue their maintenance. <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

At present what
\nhas happened is that the old framework remains, but modern ideas have brought a
\ncondition of inadaptation<\/span>, of unrest, the old family
\nsystem is breaking up and women <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\nPage \u2013 871<\/span><\/p>\n

\n
\n<\/div>\n

are seeking in more numbers the
\nsame freedom of escape as men have always had in the past. That would account
\nfor the cases you have come across \u2013 but I don’t think the number of such cases
\ncan be as yet at all considerable, it is quite a new phenomenon; the admission
\nof women to Ashrams is itself a novelty. The extreme unhappiness of a mental
\nand vital growth which does not fit in with the surroundings, of marriages
\nimposed that are unsuitable and where there is no meeting-point between husband
\nand wife, of an environment hostile and intolerant of one’s inner life, and on
\nthe other hand the innate tendency of the Indian mind to seek a refuge in the
\nspiritual or religious escape will sufficiently account for the new development.
\nIf society wants to prevent it, it must itself change. As to individuals, each
\ncase must be judged on its own merits; there is too much complexity in the
\nproblem and too much variation of nature, position, motives for a general rule.\n<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

I have spoken of
\nthe social problem in general terms only. In the conduct of the Ashram, we have
\nhad many applications obviously dictated by an unwillingness to face the
\ndifficulties and responsibilities of life \u2013 naturally ignored or refused by us,
\nbut these have been mostly from men; there have been recently only one or two
\ncases of women. Otherwise women have not applied usually on the ground of an
\nunhappy marriage or difficult environment. Most of the married sadhikas have
\nfollowed or accompanied their husbands on the ground of having already begun to
\npractise yoga; others have come fulfilling sufficiently the responsibilities of
\nmarried life; in two or three cases there has been a separation from the husband
\nbut that was before their coming here. In some cases there have been no
\nchildren, in others the children have been left with the family. These cases do
\nnot really fall in the category of those you mention. Some of the sadhaks have
\nleft wife and family behind, but I do not think in any case the difficulties of
\nlife were the motive of their departure. It was rather the idea that they had
\nfelt the call and must leave all to follow it.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

END OF PART TWO <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\nPage \u2013 872<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/table>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

SECTION NINE   Sadhana in the Ashram and Outside    THIS Ashram has been created with another object than that ordinarily common to such institutions, not…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[24],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1119","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-23-letters-on-yoga-volume-23","wpcat-24-id"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/worksofthemotherandsriaurobindo.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1119","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/worksofthemotherandsriaurobindo.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/worksofthemotherandsriaurobindo.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/worksofthemotherandsriaurobindo.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/worksofthemotherandsriaurobindo.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1119"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/worksofthemotherandsriaurobindo.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1119\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/worksofthemotherandsriaurobindo.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1119"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/worksofthemotherandsriaurobindo.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1119"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/worksofthemotherandsriaurobindo.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1119"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}