{"id":1638,"date":"2013-07-13T01:36:10","date_gmt":"2013-07-13T01:36:10","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/localhost\/?p=1638"},"modified":"2013-07-13T01:36:10","modified_gmt":"2013-07-13T01:36:10","slug":"30-the-supramental-yoga-and-other-spiritual-paths-vol-35-letters-on-himself-and-the-ashram","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/worksofthemotherandsriaurobindo.org\/index.php\/01-works-of-sri-aurobindo\/03-cwsa\/35-letters-on-himself-and-the-ashram\/30-the-supramental-yoga-and-other-spiritual-paths-vol-35-letters-on-himself-and-the-ashram","title":{"rendered":"-30_The Supramental Yoga and Other Spiritual Paths.htm"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n\n\n
\n

\n\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t
\n\t\t\tThe Supramental Yoga <\/font><\/b>
\n\t\t\t<\/span> <\/p>\n

\n
\nand Other Spiritual Paths
\n<\/font><\/b>
\n<\/span> <\/p>\n

\n 
\n<\/span> <\/p>\n

\nIndian Systems and the Cabbala
\n<\/b>
\n\t<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n\t\t\tI do not think exact correlations can always be traced between
\none system of spiritual and occult knowledge and another. All deal with the same material, but there are differences of stand
\npoint, differences of view-range, a divergence in the mental idea of what is seen and experienced, disparate pragmatic purposes
\nand therefore a difference in the paths surveyed, cut out or followed; the systems vary, each constructs its own schema and
\ntechnique. I have looked at the diagrams you sent me; I do not know whether I have grasped them rightly and many of the
\ndetails are not clear to me. I suppose however that the three supernals are at the top, that the two below them (led to by
\nJustice and Prudence from the psychic centre) are mind-planes or mind-centres, that Tiphareth in the middle is the psychic, the
\nthree between it and the earth are vital planes. In the absence of precise information I cannot carry the correlation farther.
\n\t\t\t<\/span> <\/p>\n

\nNow as to the three Supernals. I do not quite understand L.O.E.’s sentence about them
\n\u2014  for she speaks of two only, the
\nreal and higher man and the separated man. Should I understand that these are the two on either side and that at the top
\nis the Divine? If not, which are they and what is the third? In the ancient Indian system there is only one triune supernal,
\nSachchidananda. Or if you speak of the upper hemisphere as the supernal, there are three, Sat plane, Chit plane and Ananda
\nplane. The Supermind could be added as a fourth, as it draws upon the other three and belongs to the upper hemisphere.
\nThe Indian systems did not distinguish between the Overmind and the Supermind, which is the reason why they got confused
\nabout Maya (Overmind-Force), took it for the supreme creative power and lost the secret of the transformation
\n\u2014  although the
\nVaishnava and Tantra Yogas groped to find it again and were   <\/span> <\/p>\n

\n <\/p>\n

\n
\nPage \u2013 <\/font>298<\/font><\/span><\/p>\n

\n

\nsometimes on the verge of success. For the rest, this, I think, has been the stumbling-block of all attempts at the discovery of the
\ndynamic divine Truth; I know of none that has not imagined, as soon as it felt the Overmind lustres descending, that this was the
\ntrue illumination, the gnosis \u2014  with the result that they either stopped short there and could get no farther, or else concluded
\nthat this too was only Maya or Lila and that the one thing to do was to get beyond it into the Supreme.
\n<\/span> <\/p>\n

\nAgain, what may be meant is rather the three fundamentals of the present manifestation. In the Indian system, these are
\nIshwara, Shakti and Jiva, or else Sachchidananda, Maya and Jiva. But in our system which seeks to go beyond the present
\nmanifestation, these could very well be taken for granted and, looked at from the point of view of the planes of consciousness,
\nthe three highest \u2014  Ananda (with Sat and Chit resting upon it), Supermind and Overmind might be called the three Supernals.
\nMy difficulty in correlating them with the three Cabbalistic supernals is twofold. First, white may very well be the symbolic
\nhue of Sachchidananda, but black and grey have no suitability for the two others; the symbol hue of Supermind is gold, and
\nOvermind, which is in contact with Supermind, has an iridescent brilliance which is anything but grey. Unless we are to under
\nstand it like the Christian mystics of the negative path (see the Christa Seva Sangha journal) to whom the Divine is a supreme
\nDarkness and the plane of consciousness through which he is reached a supreme Ignorance! Then again, here the Supermind
\nand Overmind would be parallel worlds (?), but in fact these two are one above, one below the other, and you have to pass through
\nand beyond Overmind, if you would reach Supermind, while still above and beyond Supermind are the worlds of Sachchidananda.
\n<\/span> <\/p>\n

\nTiphareth is certainly the psychic, not the emotional only. It is central, (in our system the psychic stands behind the others,
\nsupporting them from behind the heart-centre); it is also in direct connection with all except the earth-centre (in ours it is not quite
\nso, but still in the earth consciousness the psychic is so covered with the darkened vital that to get to it from the outer physical
\nconsciousness you have usually to make your way through the   <\/span> <\/p>\n

\n <\/p>\n

\n
\nPage \u2013 <\/font>299<\/font><\/span><\/p>\n

\n

\n

covering vital). All this makes it pretty clear that Tiphareth is either the psychic or else the psychic + the emotional plane or
\ncentre.
\n<\/span> <\/p>\n

\nYou speak of the flaming sword and the gulf below the
\nOvermind. But is there a gulf \u2014  or any other gulf than human unconsciousness? In all the series of the planes or grades of
\nconsciousness there is nowhere any real gulf, always there are connecting gradations and one can ascend from step to step.
\nBetween the Overmind and the human mind there are a number of more and more luminous gradations; but, as these are superconscient to human mind (except one or two of the lowest of which it gets some direct touches) it is apt to regard them as a
\nsuperior Inconscience. So one of the Upanishads speaks of the Ishwara consciousness as
\nsusupta<\/i>, deep Sleep, because it is only
\n in Samadhi that man usually enters into it, so long as he does
\nnot try to turn his waking consciousness into a higher state.
\n<\/span> <\/p>\n

\nFinally, I may observe that the Cabbala system seems to
\nlook at and describe the whole from a certain spiritual-mental or spiritual-psychic view from below the supernals. This is quite
\nnatural so long as we live in the human centres. There are two systems, one concentric with the psychic at the centre; another
\nvertical, an ascension and descent, like a flight of steps, a series of superimposed planes with the Supermind + Overmind
\nas the crucial nodus of the transition beyond the human into the Divine. In our system there are not multiple paths of inter
\nconnection, or rather there are, but these are a subsidiary and not the central knowledge. For us there is one way, one path;
\nfirst, a conversion inwards, a going within to find the inmost psychic being and bring it out to the front, disclosing at the
\nsame time the inner mind, inner vital, inner physical parts of the nature; next, an ascension, a series of conversions upwards and
\na turning down to convert the lower parts. When one has made the inward conversion, one psychicises the whole lower nature
\nso as to make it ready for the divine change. Going upwards, one passes beyond the human mind and at each stage of the
\nascent there is a conversion into a new consciousness and an infusion of this new consciousness into the whole of the nature.
\n   <\/span> <\/p>\n

\n <\/p>\n

\n
\nPage \u2013 <\/font>300<\/font><\/span><\/p>\n

\n

\nThus rising beyond intellect through illuminated higher mind to the intuitive consciousness, we begin to look at everything not
\nfrom the intellect range or through intellect as an instrument, but from a greater intuitive height and through an intuitivised
\nwill, feeling, emotion, sensation and physical contact. So, proceeding from intuition to a greater overmind height, there is
\na new conversion and we look at and experience everything from the overmind consciousness and through a mind, heart,
\nvital and body surcharged with the overmind thought, sight, will, feeling, sensation, play of force and contact. And the last
\nconversion is the supramental, for once there, once the nature is supramentalised, we are beyond the Ignorance and conversion
\nof consciousness is no longer needed, though a farther divine progression is still possible.
\n<\/span> <\/p>\n

\n
\n15 April 1931 <\/font> <\/span> <\/p>\n

\n\t\t\t 
\n<\/span> <\/p>\n

\nThe Path of the Vedic Rishis
\n<\/b>
\n\t<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n\t\t\tIn an article written by a Swami on your book The Riddle of<\/i> This World<\/i>, he remarks that you have the boldness to say that
\nyou have done what the Vedic Rishis could not do. <\/span> <\/p>\n

\n\t\t\t 
\n <\/span> <\/p>\n

\n\tIt is not I only who have done what the Vedic Rishis did not do.
\nChaitanya and others developed an intensity of Bhakti which is absent in the Veda and many other instances can be given. Why
\nshould the past be the limit of spiritual experience? <\/span> <\/p>\n

\n
\n19 December 1934
\n<\/font>
\n<\/span> <\/p>\n

\n\t <\/p>\n

\n\t\t\t*<\/span><\/p>\n

\n\t\t\t  <\/span> <\/p>\n

\n\t\t\tIs it a fact that some ancient sages and Rishis have taken birth
\nhere in order to help your work? <\/span> <\/p>\n

\n\t\t\t 
\n <\/span> <\/p>\n

\n\tIf so, it is not a fact of much importance.
\n<\/span> <\/p>\n

\n
\n27 October 1935 <\/font> <\/span> <\/p>\n

\n\t\t\t 
\n<\/span> <\/p>\n

\nVedanta and Other Paths of Self-Realisation
\n<\/b>
\n\t<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n\t\t\tThe following doubt came to me: “Is not the realisation of the Self sufficient? Hearing about your yoga, a Vedantin who
\nsought the Self might say that it was only because you had   <\/span> <\/p>\n

\n <\/p>\n

\n
\nPage \u2013 <\/font>301<\/font><\/span><\/p>\n

\n

\n

\nnot reached the highest that you wanted to do something on earth by means of the divine power, but that this aim had to
\nbe rejected before one could reach the highest.” <\/span> <\/p>\n

\n\t\t\t 
\n <\/span> <\/p>\n

\n\tThese doubts come from the mind
\n\u2014  for which action is inferior
\nto thought and thought itself something that comes out from the Silence. It cannot understand the supramental view of things in
\nwhich there is no division or opposition between the Supreme Existence and the supreme Power that sees, thinks, acts and
\ncreates. <\/span> <\/p>\n

\n
\n7 December 1933
\n<\/font>
\n<\/span> <\/p>\n

\n\t <\/p>\n

\n\t\t\t*<\/span><\/p>\n

\n\t\t\t  <\/span> <\/p>\n

\n\t\t\tI was reading in Paul Brunton’s A Search in Secret India <\/i>about
\ncertain yogis that he met. I don’t find anything new in them. They just repeat the old yogas, and the old yogas stopped short
\nat self-realisation, which is not a very difficult stage. <\/span> <\/p>\n

\n\t\t\t 
\n <\/span> <\/p>\n

\n\tWonderful! The realisation of the Self which includes the liberation from ego, the consciousness of the One in all, the established and consummated transcendence out of the universal
\nIgnorance, the fixity of the consciousness in the union with the Highest, the Infinite and Eternal is not anything worth doing or
\nrecommending to anybody \u2014  is “not a very difficult stage”! <\/span> <\/p>\n

\nNothing new? Why should there be anything new? The object of spiritual seeking is to find out what is eternally true, not what is new in Time.
\n<\/span> <\/p>\n

\nFrom where did you get this singular attitude towards the old Yogas and Yogis? Is the wisdom of the Vedanta and Tantra
\na small and trifling thing? Have then the sadhaks of this Asram attained to self-realisation and are they liberated Jivan-muktas
\nfree from ego and ignorance? If not, why then do you say “it is not a very difficult stage” “their goal is not high” “Is it such a
\nlong process?” <\/span> <\/p>\n

\nI have said that this Yoga was “new” because it aims at a
\nchange in this world and not only beyond it and at a supramental realisation. But how does that justify a superior contempt for
\nthe spiritual realisation which is as much the aim of this Yoga as of any other?
\n  
\n<\/span> <\/p>\n

\n <\/p>\n

\n
\nPage \u2013 <\/font>302<\/font><\/span><\/p>\n

\n

\nWhat I fail to comprehend is how they spend their whole lives in the pursuit of self-realisation. Is it such a long process?
\n<\/span> <\/p>\n

\n 
\n <\/span> <\/p>\n

\n\tIt is not a long process? The whole life and several lives more are often not enough to achieve it. Ramakrishna’s guru took 30
\nyears to arrive and even then he was not satisfied that he had realised it.
\n\t<\/span> <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n\t\t\tI also read that some yogis like “the sage who never speaks” remain in samadhi day and night, coming out of it only occasionally for food. What do they do in such a long samadhi, since their goal is not so high?
\n\t\t\t<\/span> <\/p>\n

\n 
\n <\/span> <\/p>\n

\n\tDo? why should he want to do anything if he was in the eternal peace or Ananda or union with the Divine? If a man is spiritual
\nand has gone beyond the vital and mind, he does not need to be always “doing” something. The self or spirit has the joy of its
\nown existence. It is free to do nothing and free to do everything \u2014  but not because it is bound to action and unable to exist
\nwithout it.
\n\t<\/span> <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n\t\t\tStill harder is it to understand how a self-realised yogi can
\nhelp others. For self-realisation does not grant such powers. <\/span> <\/p>\n

\n\t\t\t 
\n <\/span> <\/p>\n

\n\tDo you think that self-realisation is a tamasic state
\n\u2014  a complete
\nincapacity and inertia? <\/span> <\/p>\n

\n
\n13 April 1936
\n<\/font>
\n<\/span> <\/p>\n

\n\t <\/p>\n

\n\t\t\t*<\/span><\/p>\n

\n\t\t\t  <\/span> <\/p>\n

\n\t\t\tDo you think then that Yogis can attain a full self-realisation
\nwithout the help of the supramental planes? <\/span> <\/p>\n

\n\t\t\t 
\n <\/span> <\/p>\n

\n\tCertainly they can realise the self. It is not at all necessary to go
\nto the supramental planes for that.
\n\t<\/span> <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n\t\t\tI see now that I had some fundamentally wrong ideas about
\nthe old Yogas and Yogins. They were actually not my own but borrowed from some sadhaks. Still I am not quite clear about
\nthe old Yogas. <\/span> <\/p>\n

\n\t\t\t 
\n <\/span> <\/p>\n

\n\tI have heard that people from outside often find the sadhaks
\n   <\/span> <\/p>\n

\n <\/p>\n

\n
\nPage \u2013 <\/font>303<\/font><\/span><\/p>\n

\n

\n

here full of an insufferable pride and arrogance, looking on all others outside as far below them! If it is so, it is a most foolish
\nand comically ridiculous attitude.
\n<\/span> <\/p>\n

\nAs for the depreciation of all the old Yogas as something
\nquite easy, unimportant and worthless, and the consequent depreciation of Buddha and Yajnavalkya and other great spiritual
\nfigures of the past, is it not evidently absurd on the face of it?
\n\t<\/span> <\/p>\n

\n <\/p>\n

\n\t\t\tWhen I asked, “What do they do?”, I did not mean physical or mental action. Rather I wanted to know if by merely remaining in a samadhi of eternal Peace and Ananda, it is
\npossible to liberate oneself completely from the ego. Would that bring about other necessary changes like purification and
\ntransformation? <\/span> <\/p>\n

\n\t\t\t 
\n <\/span> <\/p>\n

\n\tWithout purification it is not possible to live always in the Brahman consciousness. While living in that Brahman consciousness one is free from the sense of a separative ego. As for the trans
\nformation of the nature, that is not their object. <\/span> <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n\t\t\tMy question was this: How can one bring down the higher
\nforce and apply it to one’s nature if one remains in the impersonal Peace or Ananda?
\n\t\t\t<\/span> <\/p>\n

\n 
\n <\/span> <\/p>\n

\n\tAll that is not necessary for those who seek only liberation.
\n\t<\/span> <\/p>\n

\n
\n14 April 1936
\n<\/font>
\n<\/span> <\/p>\n

\n\t <\/p>\n

\n\t\t\t*<\/span><\/p>\n

\n\t\t\t  <\/span> <\/p>\n

\n\t\t\tWhen you write, “Certainly they can realise the self. It is not
\nat all necessary to go to the supramental planes for that” [p.<\/i> 303<\/i>], I suppose what you mean is that in such cases it is the
\nmind that realises the self; it is not an integral realisation. But when the mind alone realises the self, the vital and physical
\nwill constantly disturb it. A separation will become necessary. But can they be separated without the help of the supramental
\nplanes? <\/span> <\/p>\n

\n\t\t\t 
\n <\/span> <\/p>\n

\n\tThere are many planes above man’s mind \u2014  the supramental is
\nnot the only one, and on all of them the self can be realised, \u2014 for they are all spiritual planes.
\n  
\n<\/span> <\/p>\n

\n <\/p>\n

\n
\nPage \u2013 <\/font>304<\/font><\/span><\/p>\n

\n

\nMind, vital and physical are inextricably mixed together only in the surface consciousness
\n\u2014  the inner mind, inner vital,
\ninner physical are separate from each other. Those who seek the self by the old Yogas separate themselves from mind, life
\nand body and realise the self apart from these things. It is perfectly easy to separate mind, vital and physical from each other
\nwithout the need of supermind. It is done by the ordinary Yogas.
\n<\/span> <\/p>\n

\nThe difference between this and the old Yogas is not that
\nthey are incompetent and cannot do these things \u2014  they can do them perfectly well
\n\u2014  but that they proceed from realisation of
\nself to Nirvana or some Heaven and abandon life, while this does not abandon life. The supramental is necessary for the
\ntransformation of terrestrial life and being, not for reaching the self. One must realise self first
\n\u2014  only afterwards can one realise
\nthe supermind.
\n\t<\/span> <\/p>\n

\n <\/p>\n

\n\t\t\tIf any Yogi can bring about this separation without the supra
\nmental, that is really something. For here we are helped by the supramental planes, sometimes there is even a direct action,
\nbut still we find it difficult to detach our mind from the life and body.
\n<\/span> <\/p>\n

\n 
\n <\/span> <\/p>\n

\n\tWho here has a direct action from the Supermind? It is the first news I have of it. Even indirect action from the supramental
\nis rare. Whatever comes to most comes from the intermediate planes.
\n<\/span> <\/p>\n

\n
\n16 April 1936 <\/font> <\/span> <\/p>\n

\n\t <\/p>\n

\n\t\t\t*<\/span><\/p>\n

\n\t\t\t  <\/span> <\/p>\n

\n\t\t\tWith your help I have been able to make this progress: whatever my state, I can rise into the higher consciousness and,
\nso long as I am inactive, remain there undisturbed by revolt, resistance, impulses or desire.
\n\t\t\t<\/span> <\/p>\n

\n 
\n <\/span> <\/p>\n

\n\tThe men who live in the Self are always there at all times. Nothing in the outer nature can affect that.
\n\t<\/span> <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n\t\t\tYou write, “Those who seek the self by the old Yogas separate themselves from mind, life and body and realise the self
\n   <\/span> <\/p>\n

\n <\/p>\n

\n
\nPage \u2013 <\/font>305<\/font><\/span><\/p>\n

\n

\n

\napart from these things.” How do they manage to separate themselves from mind, life and body so easily? Will not these
\nthings interfere with their realisation? In allowing them to do this, will not the mind, vital and physical have to withdraw
\nfrom their ordinary movements of tamas, rajas and sattwa? <\/span> <\/p>\n

\n\t\t\t 
\n <\/span> <\/p>\n

\n\tOf course they will
\n\u2014  it can only be prevented by the lower
\nmovements if you assent to the lower movements; one who refuses to accept them as his real being, can always withdraw
\nfrom them to the self. The movements of Nature become for them an outer thing not belonging to their true being and having
\nno power to pull them down from it.
\n\t<\/span> <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n\t\t\tIs there any difference between our way of seeking the self and
\nthat of the old Yogas? <\/span> <\/p>\n

\n\t\t\t 
\n <\/span> <\/p>\n

\n\tOnly that they often sought it by one line alone, the line varying
\nin different Yogas, while in ours it may come in several ways. <\/span> <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n\t\t\tI suppose that one who wants to realise the self can only do it
\nby separating himself from mind, life and body.
\n\t<\/span> <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n\t\t\tNaturally.
\n\t<\/span> <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n\t\t\tYou write, “It is perfectly easy to separate mind, vital and physical from each other without the need of supermind” [p.<\/i>
\n305<\/i>]. But you should have seen that by “supramental planes” I did not mean supermind, but any of the spiritual planes above
\nthe mind. Is there no need of the higher spiritual planes for separating the mind, vital and physical from one another?
\n\t\t\t<\/span> <\/p>\n

\n 
\n <\/span> <\/p>\n

\n\tSpiritual and supramental are not the same thing. The spiritual planes from higher mind to Overmind are accessible to the old
\nsadhanas so there is no difficulty about that. If they were not accessible there would have been no Yoga at all and no Yogis in
\nthe past in India. <\/span> <\/p>\n

\n
\n17 April 1936
\n<\/font>
\n<\/span> <\/p>\n

\n\t <\/p>\n

\n\t\t\t*<\/span><\/p>\n

\n\t\t\t    <\/span> <\/p>\n

\n\t\t\tIt is not always discreet to speak of all these things to the visitors who come here from abroad. X <\/i>is a man with a trained  
\n\t\t\t<\/span> <\/p>\n

\n <\/p>\n

\n
\nPage \u2013 <\/font>306<\/font><\/span><\/p>\n

\n

\nintellect; he must be left to see for himself and judge. He has a great respect for the Ramakrishna Mission as the creation of
\nVivekananda and the continuer of the work of Ramakrishna and for Europeans like him these metaphysical differences of opinion
\n\u2014  for so he would regard them \u2014  are of no importance, \u2014  it is the opportunity for a spiritual approach to the Divine Reality
\nthat they are looking for and all that opens the way commands their respect. So, to lay emphasis on a difference with regard to
\nthe doctrine or the exact course of the Path followed might in his idea be a sign of a sectarian spirit. All ways lead to the Divine;
\nthe importance for us of not subscribing to the Shankara idea is that we need freedom to move towards the dynamic realisation
\nof the Divine in the world and the idea of the Great Illusion bars the road to that. But for them the important thing is to reach the
\nDivine. It was therefore not at all useful to point the difference before him at this time.
\n<\/span> <\/p>\n

\n
\n18 January 1937 <\/font> <\/span> <\/p>\n

\n\t\t\t 
\n<\/span> <\/p>\n

\nTraditional Paths of Yoga
\n<\/b>
\n\t<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n\t\t\tHow is it that Patanjali has given such an unusual definition of
\nYoga: yogaścittavrttinirodhah <\/i>[Yoga Sutra <\/i>1.2]? Was “divine
\n union” not the aim of Yoga in those days?
\n<\/span> <\/p>\n

\n 
\n <\/span> <\/p>\n

\n\tDivine union, yes \u2014  but for the ascetic schools it was union with the featureless Brahman, the Unknowable beyond existence or,
\nif with the Ishwara, still it was the Ishwara in a supracosmic consciousness. From that point of view Patanjali’s aphorism is
\nsound enough. When he says Yoga, he means the process of Yoga, the object which has to be kept in view in the process \u2014  for by the cessation of
\n\tcittavrtti <\/i>one gets into samā<\/font>dhi
\n<\/i>and
\nsamā<\/font>dhi <\/i>is the only way of uniting solely and completely with the Brahman beyond existence.
\n\t<\/span> <\/p>\n

\n
\n3 May 1933 <\/font> <\/span> <\/p>\n

\n\t <\/p>\n

\n\t\t\t*<\/span><\/p>\n

\n\t\t\t  <\/span> <\/p>\n

\nThere is a Sutra in Patanjali, prātibhādvā sarvam <\/i>[Yoga Sutra<\/i> 3.34], on which Vivekananda comments: “Everything comes
\nto him [to a man with Pratibha] naturally without making   <\/span> <\/p>\n

\n <\/p>\n

\n
\nPage \u2013 <\/font>307<\/font><\/span><\/p>\n

\n

\n

\nSamyama.”1<\/font><\/sup> Is it that he brings the highest knowledge down into the outer consciousness rather than being compelled to
\ngo into Samadhi? But in that case he is probably aware of the supermind.
\n<\/span> <\/p>\n

\n 
\n <\/span> <\/p>\n

\n\tIt has nothing to do with the supermind, for nobody can be aware of the supermind without opening the higher reaches
\nin him first \u2014  the supermind is superconscient to the human consciousness. The man in question is in touch with the higher
\nconsciousness, so he has not to put any kind of inner pressure on himself to oblige the mind and other parts to admit the higher
\nstate or movements \u2014  it needs only a turning of himself upward or a slight movement of opening to set the higher consciousness
\nin motion and get results. This statement is of course true only up to a certain point and within limits. If the same man wanted
\nto reach the supermind or transform his body it would not be possible for that to come to him naturally.
\n\t<\/span> <\/p>\n

\n
\n4 June 1933 <\/font> <\/span> <\/p>\n

\n\t <\/p>\n

\n\t\t\t*<\/span><\/p>\n

\n\t\t\t  <\/span> <\/p>\n

\n\t\t\tIn the Sutra bhuvanaj\u00f1ānam sūrye samyamāt <\/i>[Yoga Sutra<\/i>
\n3.27], where does the knowledge of the worlds by Samyama come from, and what has Surya to do with it?
\nSurya is the symbol of the Divine Light, the Divine Truth, ultimately of the Supermind. Samyama is a process of pressure
\non the consciousness by which the secret Truth, the involved intuition is released
\n\u2014  so by a constant pressure on the consciousness by which the Divine Truth is liberated the Knowledge of the worlds can come.
\n\t\t\t<\/span> <\/p>\n

\n
\n4 June 1933 <\/font> <\/span> <\/p>\n

\n\t <\/p>\n

\n\t\t\t*<\/span><\/p>\n

\n\t\t\t  <\/span> <\/p>\n

\n\t\t\tI suppose if some yogis outside the Asram heard about the Supermind and the higher realms they would think that they
\nhad passed these worlds or left them behind as a side-issue. They might regard the idea of a divine manifestation as a
\ndesire for Karma. Do you think there are any who have
\n\t<\/span> <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n
\n1 Swami Vivekananda,
\n<\/i>Raja-Yoga, in <\/i>The Complete Works of Swami Vivekananda,<\/i>
\nvol. 1 (Calcutta: Advaita Ashrama, 1989), p. 280.<\/i>  
\n<\/font>
\n<\/span> <\/p>\n

\n <\/p>\n

\n
\nPage \u2013 <\/font>308<\/font><\/span><\/p>\n

\n

\nenough plasticity to be prepared, at least theoretically, to accept Supermind and the possibility of its manifestation on
\nearth? <\/span> <\/p>\n

\n\t\t\t 
\n <\/span> <\/p>\n

\n\tI doubt if there are many \u2014  they would give the answers you
\nsuggest. As for Overmind and Intuition, there are some who are in contact with these planes, I suppose. Those who live in them
\nmust be very rare. <\/span> <\/p>\n

\n
\n20 March 1934
\n<\/font>
\n<\/span> <\/p>\n

\n\t <\/p>\n

\n\t\t\t*<\/span><\/p>\n

\n\t\t\t  <\/span> <\/p>\n

\n\t\t\tThere appears to be so much self-concentration in the people
\nof the world that hardly a few would think of doing this yoga. Perhaps a larger number would go (and are going) for the
\nold Hathayoga and Rajayoga, which may bring some small immediately satisfying result. Even of those who are sincere
\ntruth-seekers, not many would be able to see the truth of our yoga of transformation.
\n\t\t\t<\/span> <\/p>\n

\n 
\n <\/span> <\/p>\n

\n\tI suppose they are not intended to take it up \u2014  only an opening can be given for those who want to rise into a somewhat higher
\n\tconsciousness than they have now. <\/font> <\/span> <\/p>\n

\n5 April 1934
\n<\/span> <\/p>\n

\n 
\n<\/span> <\/p>\n

\nBuddhism and Other Religions
\n<\/b>
\n\t<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n\t\t\tI find it difficult to emerge from the peace I found in meditation. How difficult it must be to come out of the peace of Nirvana or Samadhi! I think that is why Yoga could not be
\nmade dynamic up till now. <\/span> <\/p>\n

\n\t\t\t 
\n <\/span> <\/p>\n

\n\tIt is only because they make the peace an end, not, as we aim at
\ndoing, a basis for the divine consciousness and all its dynamisms. <\/span> <\/p>\n

\n
\n25 May 1933 <\/font>
\n<\/span> <\/p>\n

\n\t <\/p>\n

\n\t\t\t*<\/span><\/p>\n

\n\t\t\t  <\/span> <\/p>\n

\n\t\t\tIt seems to me that there would hardly be any difference between the consciousness of peace, light, bliss and wideness in Nirvana and in the transformed supramental status, except
\nperhaps in detail. <\/span> <\/p>\n

\n\t\t\t 
\n <\/span> <\/p>\n

\n\tThere is a great difference in consciousness, because Nirvana
\nmeans absorption into a static Brahman on the level of spiritual   <\/span> <\/p>\n

\n <\/p>\n

\n
\nPage \u2013 <\/font>310<\/font><\/span><\/p>\n

\n

\n

mind \u2014  the other would mean identification with the integral Divine in the much higher Truth of Supermind.
\n\t<\/span> <\/p>\n

\n

 <\/p>\n

\n\t\t\tIt seems to me that the number of people in the world accepting our Yoga of transformation would not be as large as those who
\naccepted Buddhism, Vedanta or Christianity. <\/span> <\/p>\n

\n\t\t\t 
\n <\/span> <\/p>\n

\n\tNothing depends on the numbers. The numbers of Buddhism
\nand Christianity were so great because the majority professed it as a creed without its making the least difference to their external
\nlife. If the new consciousness were satisfied with that, it could also and much more easily command homage and acceptance
\nby the whole earth. It is because it is a greater consciousness, the Truth-consciousness, that it will insist on a real change.
\n\t<\/span> <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n\t\t\tSince the spread of the Yoga throughout the world will proceed slowly, its creations in art, literature, architecture, etc., may be
\ninferior to those of Buddhist, Christian and Muslim creators. <\/span> <\/p>\n

\n\t\t\t 
\n <\/span> <\/p>\n

\n\tYour argument assumes that the greater consciousness will be
\nin its creations inferior to the inferior consciousness.
\n\t<\/span> <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n\t\t\tOrdinary people may obtain more immediate results from the
\ntraditional systems than from our Yoga. Many may feel they have benefited from the “miracles” these systems offer. In our
\nYoga they would find the way closed for that. Naturally they would shrink from it.
\n\t\t\t<\/span> <\/p>\n

\n 
\n <\/span> <\/p>\n

\n\tIt would on the contrary be impossible for them not to feel that a greater Light and Power had come on the earth.
\n\t<\/span> <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n\t\t\tThus on the whole there would seem to be scope for very few people in our Yoga, and the world would hardly interest itself
\nin it. <\/span> <\/p>\n

\n\t\t\t 
\n <\/span> <\/p>\n

\n\tHow do you know that it will have no effect on the ordinary
\npeople? It will inevitably increase their possibilities and even though all cannot rise to the highest, that will mean a great
\nchange for the earth. <\/span> <\/p>\n

\n
\n29 April 1934
\n  
\n<\/font>
\n<\/span> <\/p>\n

\n <\/p>\n

\n
\nPage \u2013 <\/font>310<\/font><\/span><\/p>\n

\n

\nTibetan Yoga
\n<\/b>
\n\t<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n\t\t\tThe other day I read the book Tibetan Yoga and Secret Doc-<\/i>
\ntrines <\/i>by W. Y. Evans-Wentz. . . . The following is an interesting statement of his
\n\u2014  not a text, but probably his own
\nunderstanding of the Mahayana: “So long as there is one being, even the lowliest, immersed in suffering and sorrow,
\nor in Ignorance, there remains one note of disharmony which cannot but affect all beings, since all beings are the One; and
\nuntil all are Liberated there cannot possibly be true Bliss for any.”2<\/font><\/sup> The ideal is excellent, but I find it hard to swallow
\nthe whole of this altruism. It looks like an exaggeration to me because (1) it would not be possible to eliminate suffering
\nfrom, say, animals or men who have just begun their human evolution and (2) true bliss cannot depend on the suffering or
\nliberation of others. . . . <\/span> <\/p>\n

\n\t\t\t 
\n <\/span> <\/p>\n

\n\tYour objections are sound. It is the usual overstatement by which
\nthe human mind tries to give an added and superlative force and value to its ideas and tenets, but only succeeds in making them
\nvulnerable.
\n<\/span> <\/p>\n

\nWhat the compassionate Bodhisattwa ought to do is to be
\ncome a superscientist and find some way of releasing atoms in such style that the whole earth would be blown to smithereens
\n\u2014  this would release all beings on it from their sufferings. But unfortunately the force of karma would, I suppose, create a new
\nearth and bring them all back there to suffer. So no release that way either. Still it would give a respite during which he might
\ngo to Nirvana and come back again when needed to repeat his compassionate action.
\n\t<\/span> <\/p>\n

\n <\/p>\n

\n\t\t\t“Until all are Liberated” implies that not a worm will remain unliberated and then only will there be bliss. A grave difficulty
\npresents itself here \u2014  or rather a new idea never conceived of by all the Upanishads
\n\u2014  liberation for animals before they
\nreach a human incarnation. Would that liberation be the same
\n\t<\/span> <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n
\n2 W. Y. Evans-Wentz, ed.,
\n<\/i>Tibetan Yoga and Secret Doctrines, or Seven Books of
\nWisdom of the Great Path, according to the Late Lama Kazi Dawa-Samdup’s English Rendering
\n(London: Oxford University Press, 1935), p. 11.<\/i>
\n  
\n<\/font> <\/span> <\/p>\n

\n <\/p>\n

\n
\nPage \u2013 <\/font>311<\/font><\/span><\/p>\n

\n

\n

\nas for humans or have a different set of codes? Will they get
\nliberation gratis by a free distribution from the Bodhisattwa?  <\/span><\/p>\n

\nNext, “since all beings are the One”. Is there any “the One” in Buddhism? Do they admit any such thing? The author
\nseems to have got his information from authoritative sources and texts, but he does not make it clear whether this “One”
\nis to be understood in the sense of a Cosmic Divine or a Supracosmic.
\n<\/span> <\/p>\n

\n 
\n <\/span> <\/p>\n

\n\tOf course the animal difficulty is insuperable, because animals must enter the human stage first before liberation
\n\u2014  unless of
\ncourse either animals become humanised and begin talking and thinking in philosophical terms (perhaps it will not be necessary
\nfor them to write poetry and paint pictures or make music), or else animals disappear altogether being no longer necessary to
\nthe evolution.
\n<\/span> <\/p>\n

\nAbout the One there are different versions. I just read some
\nwhere that the Buddhist One is a Superbuddha from whom all Buddhas come \u2014  but it seemed to me a rehash of Buddhism
\nin Vedantic terms born of a modern mind. The Permanent of Buddhism has always been supposed to be Supracosmic and
\nIneffable \u2014  that is why Buddha never tried to explain what it was; for, logically, how can one talk about the Ineffable? It
\nhas really nothing to do with the Cosmos which is a thing of sanskaras and Karma.
\n\t<\/span> <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n\t\t\t*<\/span><\/p>\n

\n\t\t\t  <\/span> <\/p>\n

\n\t\t\tEvans-Wentz writes: “According to the Buddha, the belief
\n\t\t\tthat the soul (Skt. ātmā<\/i>), as an eternally individualized, un
\nchanging, and indissoluble spiritual essence, is immortal, even though its preexistence logically be admitted, mentally fetters
\nman and keeps him enslaved to the incessant round of births and deaths. Not until man transcends this belief, in virtue of
\nRight Knowledge, can there come Liberation” [p. 4<\/i>]. If belief in the soul fetters man, what about the idea that the world is
\nfull of misery and that karma bandhana <\/i>keeps man bound to the idea of misery and pain?
\n\t\t\t<\/span> <\/p>\n

\n 
\n <\/span> <\/p>\n

\n\tAccording to both Buddha and Shankara liberation means laya<\/i> of the individual in some transcendent Permanence that is not
\n  
\n<\/span> <\/p>\n

\n <\/p>\n

\n
\nPage \u2013 <\/font>312<\/font><\/span><\/p>\n

\n

\nindividualised \u2014  so logically a belief in the individual soul must prevent liberation while the sense of misery in the world leads
\nto the attempt to escape.
\n\t<\/span> <\/p>\n

\n  <\/p>\n

\n\t\t\tThis implies that those who believed in “Soul” never achieved
\nliberation. Was there no liberation before Buddha? <\/span> <\/p>\n

\n\t\t\t 
\n <\/span> <\/p>\n

\n\tBuddha said he was repeating an ancient knowledge that had
\nexisted before him and restoring its true form, so he evades this objection.
\n\t<\/span> <\/p>\n

\n\t <\/p>\n

\n\t\t\t*<\/span><\/p>\n

\n\t\t\t  <\/span> <\/p>\n

\n\t\t\tAt the same time, despite Buddha’s idea that belief in soul
\nfetters man, Buddhists are in some way compelled to believe something like it. Evans-Wentz writes: “But the impersonal
\nconsciousness-principle is not to be in any way identified with the personality represented by a name, a bodily form, or a
\n\t\t\tsangsāric <\/i>mind; these are but its illusory creations. It is in itself
\n\t\t\tnon-sangsāric<\/i>, being uncreated, unborn, unshaped, beyond
\nhuman concept or definition; and, therefore, transcending time and space, which have only relative and not absolute
\nexistence, it is beginningless and endless” [p. 5<\/i>]. Whether by pressure of arguments against the non-acceptance of soul,
\nor through modernisation, they have to accept some such principle. The last sentence quoted above hardly differs from
\nthe description of “soul”. <\/span> <\/p>\n

\n\t\t\t 
\n <\/span> <\/p>\n

\n\tThere is no difference between such a description and what is
\nmeant by soul, except that it is called “impersonal” \u2014  but evidently here impersonal is used as opposed to the thing dependent
\non name, body and form, which is called personality. Europeans especially, but also people without philosophic ideas would easily mistake this outward personality for the soul and then they would deny the name of soul to the unborn and endless entity. Do they then consider it as spirit or self \u2014  atman<\/i>? But the difficulty
\n\tis that the old Buddhists rejected the conception of atman <\/i>also.
\nSo we are left entirely at sea. The Nihilistic Buddhistic teaching is plain and comprehensible that there is no soul, only a bundle of
\nSanskaras continuing or a stream of them renewing themselves   <\/span> <\/p>\n

\n <\/p>\n

\n
\nPage \u2013 <\/font>313<\/font><\/span><\/p>\n

\n

\n

without dissolution (Nirvana). But this Mahayanist affair seems a sort of loose and covert compromise with Vedanta.
\n\t<\/span> <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n\t\t\t*<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n\t\t\tEvans-Wentz writes: “There is . . . according to Mahayanic Buddhism . . . unending evolutionary progression; so that
\n\t\t\tNirvana <\/i>is to be regarded as a Spiritual Rest-House on the
\nHighway through Eternity” [p. 149<\/i>]. And also: “Man, then no longer man, will . . . help to fulfil the Law of the Higher
\n\t\t\tEvolution, of which Nirvana <\/i>is but the beginning” [p. 12<\/i>].
\nThe above indicate that Nirvana is not the final aim \u2014  but whether this is
\na compromise with Vedanta or with modern ideas is very doubtful. There is almost
\na contradiction with the following:
\n\t<\/span> <\/p>\n

\n“When the Ignorance which was to be overcome hath
\nbeen dispersed, the effort to overcome it ceaseth, and the Path cometh to an end
\nand the Journey is completed. <\/span> <\/p>\n

\n“The Journeying having ceased, there is no place beyond the ending of the Path to explore; and one obtaineth the
\nSupreme Boon of the Great Symbol, the Unabiding State of Nirvana<\/i>.”3<\/font><\/sup> 
\n<\/span> <\/p>\n

\n\t\t\t 
\n <\/span> <\/p>\n

\n\tThe two statements [i.e. the two sentences from Evans-Wentz’s<\/i>
\ncommentary and the two paragraphs from the Tibetan text<\/i>] are not only almost but absolutely contradictory. Nirvana cannot be
\nat once the ending of the Path with nothing beyond to explore and yet only a rest house or rather the beginning of the Higher
\nPath with everything still to explore. I think that different views of different Buddhist minds or schools must have been jumbled together without reconciliation. The reconciliation would be that it is the end of the lower Path through the lower Nature
\nand the beginning of the Higher Evolution. In that case it would accord exactly with the teaching of our Yoga.
\n\t<\/span> <\/p>\n

\n\t <\/p>\n

\n\t\t\t*<\/span><\/p>\n

\n\t\t\t  <\/span> <\/p>\n

\n\t\t\tIt would seem that such a reconciliation would be impossible
\nunless someone had overpassed Nirvana or seen something of
\n\t<\/span> <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n
\n3 These two paragraphs are from “The Epitome of the Great Symbol” as translated by<\/i>
\nLama Kazi Dawa-Samdup and Evans-Wentz and published in <\/i>Tibetan Yoga and Secret Doctrines, p. 149.
\n\u2014  Ed.<\/i>
\n  
\n<\/font>
\n<\/span> <\/p>\n

\n <\/p>\n

\n
\nPage \u2013 <\/font>314<\/font><\/span><\/p>\n

\n

\nthe Higher Evolution or Higher Nature. Perhaps the author had some sort of insight, otherwise he could not state that
\nNirvana is a spiritual rest-house and that there is a Higher Evolution. For he writes: “The Great Ones and the
\nBodhi-<\/i>
\nsattvas <\/i>. . . renounce their right to pass on to a still Higher Evolution and remain within the Cosmos for the good of all
\nsentient beings. It is these Bodhic <\/i>Forces, thus active in the Cosmos, which . . . lead mankind, step by step, towards a
\nperfected social order on Earth” [p. 149<\/i>]. This indicates that they come down or back from Nirvana to lead mankind up to
\nNirvana. Perhaps it would have been better if they had seen something of the Higher Evolution and then come back to
\nperfect society on earth. <\/span> <\/p>\n

\n\t\t\t 
\n <\/span> <\/p>\n

\n\tThe phrase “to pass on” shows that what is meant by them is
\nan evolution not on earth but somewhere beyond, God knows where. In that case Nirvana would be a place or world on the
\nway to other worlds and the soul evolves from one world to another \u2014  e.g. from earth to Nirvana and from Nirvana to some
\nBeyond-Nirvana. This is an entirely European idea and it is most unlikely that it was held by the Buddhists. The Indian idea was
\nthat the evolution is here and even the Gods if they want to go beyond their Godhead and get liberation have to come down on
\nearth for the purpose. It is the Western spiritualists and others who think that the birth on earth is a stage of progress from
\nsome place inferior to earth and after once being born on earth one does not return but goes to some other world and remains
\nthere till one can progress to some other better world and so on and on and on and up and up and up as Ramsay MacDonald
\nwould say. Again, this “perfected social order on Earth” is certainly not a
\nBuddhist idea, the Buddhas never dreamed of it \u2014
\ntheir preoccupation was with helping men towards Nirvana, not towards a perfected order here. All that is a sheer contradiction
\nof Buddhism and smells Europe from 3 miles off. <\/span> <\/p>\n

\n\t <\/p>\n

\n\t\t\t*<\/span><\/p>\n

\n\t\t\t  <\/span> <\/p>\n

\nEvans-Wentz writes: “Thus the Doctrine of the Shūnyatā<\/i>, underlying the whole of the
\nPraj\u00f1ā<\/font>-Pāramitā<\/i>, posits . . . an
\nAbsolute as inherent in phenomena; for the Absolute is the   <\/span> <\/p>\n

\n <\/p>\n

\n
\nPage \u2013 <\/font>315<\/font><\/span><\/p>\n

\n

\n

\nsource and support of phenomena; and, in the last analysis of things, by the
\nBodhi<\/i>-illuminated mind, freed of Ignorance,
\nduality vanishes, and there remains but the One in All, the All in One. . . . This supreme doctrine of Emancipation may be
\nsummarized by saying that all things are eternally immersed in Nirvā<\/font>n<\/font>a <\/i>. . .” [p. 351<\/i>]. But how does the doctrine of
\nShūnyatā
\nposit an Absolute as the source and support of phenomena and how does it allow a
\n"One in All" or "All in One"? <\/span> <\/p>\n

\nThe phrase “source and support of phenomena” sounds
\nlike your Overmind, which is the support of the Cosmos. Perhaps someone had some such perception while experiencing
\nthe silence leading to Nirvana. <\/span> <\/p>\n

\n\t\t\t 
\n <\/span> <\/p>\n

\n\tHow is this Absolute different from the Absolute of the Vedanta?
\nor this emancipation different from the Vedantic mukti? If it were so, there would never have been all this quarrel between
\nBuddhism and the Vedantic schools. It must be a new-fangled version of Buddhism or else it was a later development in which
\nBuddhism reduced itself back to Adwaita.  <\/span> <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n\t\t\tThe phrase "all things are eternally immersed in Nirvana<\/i>" seems to me at once bold and beautiful and gives an idea of the
\nSilence. From this it is clearer that the realisation of Nirvana, if put in your terminology, is just the realisation of the Silence
\nbehind the Cosmos \u2014  from which Overmind would be two or three steps. But by “renouncing their right to pass on to a still
\nHigher Evolution” they have managed to miss Overmind for two or three thousand years.
\n\t\t\t<\/span> <\/p>\n

\n 
\n <\/span> <\/p>\n

\n\tYes. But is this Higher Evolution really a Buddhistic idea or only a European version of what Nirvana might be?
\n\t<\/span> <\/p>\n

\n\t <\/p>\n

\n\t\t\t*<\/span><\/p>\n

\n\t\t\t  <\/span> <\/p>\n

\n\t\t\t"Think not of the past. Think not of the future. Think not that thou art
\n\tactually engaged in meditation. Regard not the Void as being Nothingness.
\n\t\t\t<\/span> <\/p>\n

\n“At this stage do not attempt to analyse any of the impressions felt by the five senses, saying, `It is; it is not.’ But at
\nleast for a little while observe unbroken meditation, keeping the body as calm as that of a sleeping babe, and the mind in
\n  
\n<\/span> <\/p>\n

\n <\/p>\n

\n
\nPage \u2013 <\/font>316<\/font><\/span><\/p>\n

\n

\n its natural state [i.e. free of all thought-processes]." . . .
\n\t<\/span> <\/p>\n

\n“Whatever thoughts, or concepts, or obscuring [or disturbing] passions arise are neither to be abandoned nor allowed to control one;
\nthey are to be allowed to arise without one’s trying to direct [or shape] them.
\nIf one do no more than merely to recognize them as soon as they arise, and
\npersist in so doing, they will come to be realized [or to dawn] in their true
\n[or void] form through not being abandoned."4<\/font><\/sup>
\n\t<\/span> <\/p>\n

\n“The Clear Light . . . symbolizes the unconditioned pure  .<\/i>
\nNirvanic <\/i>Consciousness, the transcendent, Supramundane Consciousness of a Fully Awakened One. It is a Mystic
\n <\/i>  .<\/i>
\nRadiance of the Dharma-Kaya<\/i>, of the Nirvanic <\/i>Consciousness  <\/i>
\nfree of all sangsāric <\/i>or conditioned obscuration. It cannot be described; It can only be known; and to know It is to know
\nthe Thatness of all things. As being colourless, or without qualities, It is the Clear Light; as being without limitations, It
\nis All-Pervading Intelligence; as being unknowable in terms of  <\/i>
\nsangsāric <\/i>consciousness, and without form, It is the Formless Void.”5<\/font><\/sup>
\n<\/span> <\/p>\n

\n 
\n <\/span> <\/p>\n

\n\tThe extracts you have sent are very interesting and quite sound \u2014  the processes recommended can, if one can carry them out,
\nhelp greatly in the quieting of the mind.
\n<\/span> <\/p>\n

\nThe Tibetan Nirvana as described in the last extract is very
\nmuch like the Tao of Laotse. It is more and more said now that that is the real teaching of Buddha and of Buddhism.
\n<\/span> <\/p>\n

\n\t <\/p>\n

\n\t\t\t*<\/span><\/p>\n

\n\t\t\t  <\/span> <\/p>\n

\n\t\t\tPeople here became very enthusiastic about that book by
\nEvans-Wentz. But I think their reading of it may be a bit uncritical. They found many things in it that are similar to our
\n\t\t\t<\/span> <\/p>\n

\n <\/p>\n

\n
\n4 These are the first and second to last of fourteen extracts from “The Epitome of<\/i>
\nthe Great Symbol” as translated by Dawa-Samdup and Evans-Wentz and published<\/i>
\nin <\/i>Tibetan Yoga and Secret Doctrines, pp. 119 \u00ad 39, which were typed and sent to Sri<\/i>
\nAurobindo by a correspondent. \u2014  Ed.<\/i>
\n<\/font>
\n\t<\/span><\/p>\n

\n
\n5 This is the third of three extracts from Evans-Wentz’s commentary on texts published<\/i>
\nin <\/i>Tibetan Yoga and Secret Doctrines (p. 166). These were typed immediately after the<\/i>
\nextracts mentioned in footnote 4 and sent along with them to Sri Aurobindo. The<\/i>
\ncorrespondent did not mention that the first set of extracts were from the translation<\/i>
\nand the second set from the commentary. \u2014  Ed.<\/i>  
\n<\/font> <\/span> <\/p>\n

\n <\/p>\n

\n
\nPage \u2013 <\/font>317<\/font><\/span><\/p>\n

\n

\n

\nyoga, but they may be missing whatever defects or misrepresentations the book may contain.
\n<\/span> <\/p>\n

\n 
\n <\/span> <\/p>\n

\n\tSomebody sent me some extracts about ways of meditation which were good. There are elements in most Yogas which enter
\ninto this one, so it is not surprising if there is something in Buddhism also. But such notions as a Higher Evolution beyond
\nNirvana seem to me not genuinely Buddhistic, unless of course there is some offshoot of Buddhism which developed something
\nso interpreted by the author. I never heard of it as part of Buddha’s teachings
\n\u2014  he always spoke of Nirvana as the goal and
\nrefused to discuss metaphysically what it might be. <\/span> <\/p>\n

\n
\n12 July 1936
\n<\/font>
\n<\/span> <\/p>\n

\n 
\n<\/span> <\/p>\n

\nTheosophy
\n<\/b>
\n\t<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n\t\t\tI am reading Letters from the Masters of the Wisdom<\/i>, a Theosophical book. It seems like the principles are quite reasonable. Only there is too much of Buddhism, which they seem to want
\nto make into a world cult. <\/span> <\/p>\n

\n\t\t\t 
\n <\/span> <\/p>\n

\n\tIt is a movement that has taken from each previous movement
\nEuropean or Asiatic some of its knowledge and mixed it with much error and imagination of a rather vital character. It is that
\nmixture and the mental character of its knowledge that prevent it from being a sound thing. Many start with it, but have to leave
\nit if they want to get to real spiritual life and knowledge. <\/span> <\/p>\n

\n
\n4 November 1933
\n  
\n<\/font>
\n<\/span> <\/p>\n

\n 
\n\t<\/span> <\/p>\n

\n
\nPage \u2013 <\/font>318<\/font><\/span><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/table>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The Supramental Yoga and Other Spiritual Paths   Indian Systems and the Cabbala   I do not think exact correlations can always be traced between…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[37],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1638","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-35-letters-on-himself-and-the-ashram","wpcat-37-id"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/worksofthemotherandsriaurobindo.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1638","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=1638"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/worksofthemotherandsriaurobindo.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1638\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/worksofthemotherandsriaurobindo.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1638"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/worksofthemotherandsriaurobindo.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1638"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/worksofthemotherandsriaurobindo.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1638"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}