{"id":1646,"date":"2013-07-13T01:36:13","date_gmt":"2013-07-13T01:36:13","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/localhost\/?p=1646"},"modified":"2013-07-13T01:36:13","modified_gmt":"2013-07-13T01:36:13","slug":"01-his-life-and-attempts-to-write-about-it-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\/01-his-life-and-attempts-to-write-about-it-vol-35-letters-on-himself-and-the-ashram","title":{"rendered":"-01_His Life and Attempts to Write about It.html"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n\n\n
\n

\n
\nLetters on Himself and the Ashram<\/font><\/b>
\n\t\t\t<\/span> <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n 
\nSelected Letters on His Outer and Inner Life,<\/b>
\n\t\t\t<\/span> <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n 
\nHis Path of Yoga and the Practice of Yoga in His Ashram<\/b><\/span><\/p>\n

\n  
\n<\/span> <\/p>\n

\n

\n
\n
\n<\/span> <\/p>\n

\n 
\nSri Aurobindo in Pondicherry, c. 1915\u00ad1918<\/font>
\n<\/span> <\/p>\n

\n

\n
\nPart One<\/font><\/b>
\n\t\t\t<\/span> <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n Remarks on His Life and Works<\/font><\/b>
\n<\/span> <\/p>\n

\n
\nand on His Contemporaries<\/font><\/b>
\n<\/span> <\/p>\n

\n
\nand Contemporary Events<\/font><\/b>
\n<\/span> <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n

\n
\nSection One<\/font><\/b>
\n\t\t\t<\/span> <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n
\nReminiscences and Remarks<\/font><\/b>
\n<\/span> <\/p>\n

\n
\non Events in His Outer Life<\/font><\/b>
\n<\/span> <\/p>\n

\n 
\n<\/span> <\/p>\n

\n

\n
\nHis Life and <\/font><\/b><\/span><\/p>\n

\n
\nAttempts to Write about It<\/font><\/b><\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\nKnowing about Things in His Past<\/b><\/span><\/p>\n

\n 
\n <\/span> <\/p>\n

\n\tFor a long time I have wanted to hear something about the
\n early days in Pondicherry from those who lived with you then.
\n This morning I approached
\nX <\/i>and asked him. He agreed to
\n tell me and a few friends some stories and anecdotes. Do you
\n think it undesirable or objectionable in any way?
\n <\/span> <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\nI do not know whether it is of much utility. Besides, it would be
\n only myself who could speak of things in my past, giving them
\n their true form and significance. But as you have arranged it, it
\n can be done.
\n <\/span> <\/p>\n

\n\t
\n\t11 August 1933
\n <\/font>
\n\t<\/span><\/p>\n

\nOn Writing His Biography<\/b>
\n  
\n <\/span> <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\nThis [a proposed book in Telugu<\/i>] is not a publication for which
\n the Asram is responsible. If the outer facts of the life are corrected
\n there is no harm, but nothing should be said about the inner
\n things of the life here. It is not necessary to give the book so
\n much importance or try to make it an authoritative biography.
\n <\/span> <\/p>\n

\n\t
\n\t14 May 1933
\n <\/font>
\n \t<\/span> <\/p>\n

\n\t*
\n  
\n <\/span> <\/p>\n

\n\t[B. R. DHURANDHAR TO A. B. PURANI:] My friend and colleague Mr. P. B. Kulkarni is the author of several books in
\n Marathi, including a life of C. R. Das. He is now writing a
\n biography of Sri Aurobindo Ghose. He has been collecting
\n material for many years and has already written around 200
\n pages. As he wants the biography to be authentic he is trying
\n to approach persons who have come into contact with Sri AG.
\n Please be kind enough to extend your cooperation to him. <\/span> <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\nI am not interested in my own biography. Who is this Dhurandhar or this Kulkarni?
\n   <\/span> <\/p>\n

\n
\nPage \u2013 <\/font>5<\/font>
\n<\/span> <\/p>\n

\n

\n\tIs there any reply to be sent to this letter?
\n <\/span> <\/p>\n

\n\t <\/p>\n

\nI don’t think a reply is necessary. If I am to be murdered in
\n cold print, it had better be done without my disciples becoming
\n abettors of the crime.
\n <\/span> <\/p>\n

\n\t
\n\t24 June 1933
\n <\/font>
\n \t<\/span> <\/p>\n

\n\t*
\n  
\n <\/span> <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\nThis idea of a “Life” going into details and personalities is itself
\n an error. I wrote the brief life given to Dilip as containing all
\n that I wanted to be said about me for the present.1<\/font><\/sup> The general
\n public can know about my philosophy and Yoga and general
\n character of my work, it has no claim to know anything about
\n the personal side of my life or of that of the Asram either.
\n <\/span> <\/p>\n

\n\t
\n\t30 October 1935
\n <\/font>
\n \t<\/span> <\/p>\n

\n\t*
\n  
\n <\/span> <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\nFirst of all what matters in a spiritual man’s life is not what he
\n did or what he was outside to the view of the men of his time
\n (that is what historicity or biography comes to, does it not?) but
\n what he was and did within; it is only that that gives any value
\n to his outer life at all. It is the inner life that gives to the outer
\n any power it may have, and the inner life of a spiritual man
\n is something vast and full and, at least in the great figures, so
\n crowded and teeming with significant things that no biographer
\n or historian could ever hope to seize it all or tell it.
\n <\/span> <\/p>\n

\n\t
\n\t9 February 1936
\n <\/font>
\n \t<\/span> <\/p>\n

\n\t*
\n  
\n <\/span> <\/p>\n

\n\tHere is a tempting offer. A publisher writes to me: “We are
\n beginning a series of biographies. . . . We propose that you
\n take up Sri Aurobindo’s biography. We shall give you very
\n good terms, as you are well qualified for the task.” If I decline
\n<\/span> <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n
\n1 The “brief life” referred to here is “Sri Aurobindo: A Life Sketch”, reproduced<\/i> <\/p>\n

on pages 5 \u00ad 10 of <\/i>Autobiographical Notes and Other Writings of Historical Interest,<\/i> <\/p>\n

volume 36 of <\/i>THE COMPLETE WORKS OF SRI AUROBINDO<\/font>. See also Sri Aurobindo’s<\/font><\/i> <\/p>\n

letters to Dilip Kumar Roy about the “Life Sketch” and about biography in general on<\/i> <\/p>\n

pages 11 \u00ad 13 of the same volume. Ed.<\/i>
\n  
\n  
\n<\/font>
\n<\/span> <\/p>\n

\n
\nPage \u2013 <\/font>6<\/font>
\n<\/span> <\/p>\n

\n

\n\tI am sure they will just get it done by someone else. What do
\n you say?
\n <\/span> <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\nThere is no one who can write my biography nor is this the
\n time to do it, supposing it has to be done at all. If the outward
\n facts of the life are meant, anybody can do that and it has no
\n importance the best thing is to have some outsider to do that
\n mess, if mess there must be. <\/p>\n

<\/span> <\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\nComments on the Work of a Biographer<\/span><\/b>
\n  
\n<\/span> <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\nGirija’s writings are of no importance.2 I don’t think there is
\n anything on which we can call upon them to stop his articles.
\n He will claim the right to personal judgment and interpretation
\n of facts, as regards the mask of spirituality over the secret society
\n and the “ruthless murders” and there is nothing else on which
\n objection can be based. Let him go his way unnoticed.
\n<\/span> <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n2 Girijashankar Raychaudhuri was the author of a Bengali study of Sri Aurobindo’s<\/i> <\/p>\n

early life. See <\/i>Autobiographical Notes and Other Writings of Historical Interest, pp. 88<\/i> <\/p>\n

and 562. Ed.<\/i>
\n  
\n\t\t\t<\/span> <\/p>\n

\n <\/p>\n

\n
\nPage \u2013 <\/font>7<\/font><\/span><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/table>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Letters on Himself and the Ashram     Selected Letters on His Outer and Inner Life,     His Path of Yoga and the Practice…<\/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-1646","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\/1646","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=1646"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/worksofthemotherandsriaurobindo.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1646\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/worksofthemotherandsriaurobindo.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1646"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/worksofthemotherandsriaurobindo.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1646"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/worksofthemotherandsriaurobindo.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1646"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}