{"id":1649,"date":"2013-07-13T01:36:14","date_gmt":"2013-07-13T01:36:14","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/localhost\/?p=1649"},"modified":"2013-07-13T01:36:14","modified_gmt":"2013-07-13T01:36:14","slug":"57-life-and-death-in-the-ashram-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\/57-life-and-death-in-the-ashram-vol-35-letters-on-himself-and-the-ashram","title":{"rendered":"-57_Life and Death in the Ashram.htm"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n\n\n
\n

\nLife and Death in the Ashram <\/font><\/b>
\n<\/span> <\/p>\n

\n 
\n<\/b>
\n<\/span> <\/p>\n

\nSelf-Control, Not Asceticism
\n<\/b><\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\nWhat should be the true necessities of a sadhak? Should he buy things from outside? With what idea is pocket money given to
\nus? <\/span> <\/p>\n

\n 
\n <\/span> <\/p>\n

\n\tThe idea, when the arrangement was made, was simply to see
\nhow and in what spirit the sadhaks dealt with money when they had any at their disposal.
\n\t<\/span> <\/p>\n

\nThe necessities <\/i>of a sadhak should be as few as possible; for there are only a very few things that are real necessities in
\nlife. The rest are either utilities or things decorative to life or luxuries. These a Yogi has a right to possess or enjoy only on
\none of two conditions \u2014
\n<\/span> <\/p>\n

\n(1) if he uses them during his sadhana solely to train himself
\nin possessing things without attachment or desire and learn to use them rightly, in harmony with the Divine Will, with a proper
\nhandling, a just organisation, arrangement and measure \u2014  or, <\/span> <\/p>\n

\n(2) if he has already attained a true freedom from desire and
\nattachment and is not in the least moved or affected in any way by loss or withholding or deprival. If he has any greed, desire,
\ndemand, claim for possession or enjoyment, any anxiety, grief, anger or vexation when denied or deprived, he is not free in
\nspirit and his use of the things he possesses is contrary to the spirit of sadhana. Even if he is free in spirit, he will not be fit for
\npossession if he has not learned to use things not for himself, but for the Divine Will, as an instrument, with the right knowledge
\nand action in the use for the proper equipment of a life lived not for oneself but for and in the Divine.
\n<\/span> <\/p>\n

\n
\n7 March 1932 <\/font> <\/span> <\/p>\n

\n\t <\/p>\n

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

\n  <\/span> <\/p>\n

\nI find it difficult to distinguish between true need and what might be called luxury. A part of me wants to have nice and
\n   <\/span> <\/p>\n

\n <\/p>\n

\n
\nPage \u2013 <\/font>759<\/font><\/span><\/p>\n

\n

\n

\ndecent things and to take pleasure in them. Another side tells me so many things are not needed. I would like to return to
\nthe ascetic life I followed before coming here. <\/span> <\/p>\n

\n 
\n <\/span> <\/p>\n

\n\tYou must be prepared to live in either condition, attached neither
\nto luxury nor to asceticism. It is good to be able to live with very few things, but you must also be able to live with nice and decent
\nthings and make right use of them. Never mind your true need, live with whatever the Mother has given you.
\n\t<\/span> <\/p>\n

\n
\n6 April 1932 <\/font> <\/span> <\/p>\n

\n\t <\/p>\n

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

\n  <\/span> <\/p>\n

\nAn aspiration towards detachment has come upon me and the will to avoid luxury or desire or habit of any kind.
\n<\/span> <\/p>\n

\n 
\n <\/span> <\/p>\n

\n\tIf that can be done (in a positive, not merely a negative way), then it would be an immense step forward.
\n\t<\/span> <\/p>\n

\n
\n18 November 1933 <\/font> <\/span> <\/p>\n

\n\t <\/p>\n

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

\n  <\/span> <\/p>\n

\nYou have written [in the preceding letter<\/i>] of detachment “in a positive, not merely a negative way”. Please explain this.
\n\t<\/span> <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\nBy negative I mean merely repressing the desires and wrong movements and egoism, by positive I mean the bringing down
\nof light and peace and purity in those parts from above. I do not mean that these movements are not to be rejected
\n\u2014  but all the
\nenergy should not be directed solely to rejection. It must also be directed to the positive replacement of them by the higher
\nconsciousness. The more this consciousness comes, the easier also will the rejection be.
\n<\/span> <\/p>\n

\n
\n19 November 1933 <\/font> <\/span> <\/p>\n

\n\t <\/p>\n

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

\n  <\/span> <\/p>\n

\nYour condemnation of asceticism is often taken by the vital as giving sanction to the continuation of desire and its fulfilment
\n\u2014  so at least I have noticed in some here. <\/span> <\/p>\n

\n 
\n <\/span> <\/p>\n

\n\tThat is a mistake many have made because the vital wanted to
\nmake it. Whether ascetic or non-ascetic, the Yogi, the sadhak must become free from vital desire and spiritually master of the
\nmovements of his nature \u2014  and for that he must be free from  
\n<\/span> <\/p>\n

\n <\/p>\n

\n
\nPage \u2013 <\/font>760<\/font><\/span><\/p>\n

\n

\n\tego and desire and duality. I have always made that quite clear \u2014  that indulgence of desire is no more part of this Yoga than
\nit is of Sannyasa. One must be able to use and handle physical things and physical life, but from the spiritual consciousness,
\nnot from the level of the vital ego. <\/span> <\/p>\n

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

\n\t <\/p>\n

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

\n    <\/span> <\/p>\n

\nIt is surprising that you should miss, that so many here should miss the point that to be so much troubled about a trifling want or inconvenience is quite contrary to the spirit of Yoga. To be
\nuntroubled and unmoved by such things is an elementary step in Yogic self-discipline. Transcendence is a far bigger matter; but
\nthis should be possible by self-control, for that there is no need of transcendence. In the life here extreme asceticism in the sense
\nof doing without everything but the barest needs is not enforced; but it is all the more necessary to be free within, to surmount
\ndesire and attachment, to be able to do without things in the sense of not hankering after things when they are not there,
\nnot being attached to them when they are there, not insisting on one’s own demands, desires, wants, comforts, conveniences,
\nbeing satisfied with what one is given. Sannyasa is not enforced,  <\/i>
\nbut the inner tyaga <\/i>of non-desire, non-demand, non-attachment is indispensable. A thing like this, an inconvenience that is not
\nremedied when one asks, should be welcomed as a test for this  <\/i>
\ninner tyaga<\/i>; all things of the kind should be welcome as such opportunities to the seeker after the inner perfection.
\n<\/span> <\/p>\n

\nI don’t know that wearing the Sannyasi dress would help for one can wear the dress and yet be full of desires. But I have no objection if it helps you as a symbol or a reminder.
\n<\/span> <\/p>\n

\n
\n7 March 1937
\n<\/font>
\n<\/span> <\/p>\n

\n 
\n<\/span> <\/p>\n

\nNo Demands <\/b> <\/span> <\/p>\n

\n 
\n <\/span> <\/p>\n

\n\tA sadhak should not have demands and ask for things for his
\npersonal use from people outside, but if they of their own accord and without any request or suggestion send them to him, he can
\nreceive them. The most important point is that he shall not indulge any spirit of greed or desire under any excuse or colour
\n  
\n<\/span> <\/p>\n

\n <\/p>\n

\n
\nPage \u2013 <\/font>761<\/font><\/span><\/p>\n

\n

\n

and should be unaffected in his vital being by the presence or absence of these things that satisfy desire.
\n<\/span> <\/p>\n

\n
\n5 March 1931 <\/font> <\/span> <\/p>\n

\n\t <\/p>\n

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

\n  <\/span> <\/p>\n

\nAll that is simply the unreasoning repetition of the old blindness. There can be no understanding if your mind insists on something
\nthat is radically untrue. This ignorant attitude assumes that you are here to be first, to be equal to any other in the Asram in the
\neyes of others, to enjoy position and privileges, to grab whatever you can for yourself, to have pleasure and enjoyment, to get
\neverything that anybody else may have. All that is utterly false for the spiritual life. These are the aims that selfish, worldly and
\nambitious men seek in the ordinary life. The spiritual life has nothing to do with these things. One is here only for two things,
\nto realise the Divine and to transform the consciousness and nature into the higher consciousness and nature. That is what
\nthe Power that works on you intends and nothing else. The influence upon you which struggles against it has to disappear
\nand no more be a part of your nature. <\/span> <\/p>\n

\n
\n8 June 1934
\n<\/font>
\n<\/span> <\/p>\n

\n\t <\/p>\n

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

\n  <\/span> <\/p>\n

\nI was told that when we have surrendered completely to God,
\nGod will take care of all our true needs. <\/span> <\/p>\n

\n 
\n <\/span> <\/p>\n

\n\tHe may give all that is truly needed
\n\u2014  but people usually interpret this idea in the sense that He gives all that they think or feel that they need. He may do that
\n\u2014  but also He may not. <\/span> <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\nIt is said that He supplies all our psychic needs. <\/span> <\/p>\n

\n 
\n <\/span> <\/p>\n

\n\tIn the end, yes; but here too people expect Him to supply them
\ninstantly, which does not always happen. <\/span> <\/p>\n

\n
\n30 January 1936
\n<\/font>
\n<\/span> <\/p>\n

\n\t <\/p>\n

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

\n    <\/span> <\/p>\n

\nIt is true that the sadhaks have turned the idea of a divine life
\ninto an excuse for an unbridled spirit of demand and desire and this is increasing to a perilous extent. The whole world is in a
\nfinancial and economic crisis; money difficult to get, prices rising  
\n<\/span> <\/p>\n

\n <\/p>\n

\n
\nPage \u2013 <\/font>762<\/font><\/span><\/p>\n

\n

\n\tfantastically, people everywhere cutting down their standard of life and their expenses: here in the Asram the standard of life is
\nrising and the expenditure on comforts increasing continually. At this rate it will not be long before a halt will have to come
\nand circumstances will force a reversion to a more abstemious way of life.
\n\t<\/span> <\/p>\n

\nBut the remedy is not asceticism; it is self-control, the elimination of desire and demand, the spirit which is easily satisfied
\nwith what it gets, makes the most of it, is careful of physical things and not subject to craving. The ideal of the Yoga is not
\nasceticism, but to do with things or without things in the same spirit of equality and non-attachment
\n\u2014  only in that spirit can
\none make a true and spiritual use of physical things and material life.
\n<\/span> <\/p>\n

\n
\n5 July 1937 <\/font> <\/span> <\/p>\n

\n\t <\/p>\n

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

\n  <\/span> <\/p>\n

\nYou must get a change of consciousness which makes these external things of no importance to you. A change of room will
\nnot bring it, on the contrary your stay in this room is the very opportunity that is given you for the inner change.
\n<\/span> <\/p>\n

\n\t <\/p>\n

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

\n  <\/span> <\/p>\n

\nI have the idea of giving up the cot I was offered because I
\ncould not get a cot to my taste. Should I keep whatever comes, or should I do without?
\n<\/span> <\/p>\n

\n 
\n <\/span> <\/p>\n

\n\tWhy keep up these vital desires, “a cot to my taste” etc.? I have always lain on any cot given to me, not asking whether it is to my
\n“taste” or not. It seems to me the proper attitude for a sadhak. <\/span> <\/p>\n

\n 
\n<\/span> <\/p>\n

\nCare of Material Things
\n<\/b>
\n<\/span> <\/p>\n

\n 
\n <\/span> <\/p>\n

\n\tWanton waste, careless spoiling of physical things in an incredibly short time, loose disorder, misuse of service and materials
\ndue either to vital grasping or to tamasic inertia are baneful to prosperity and tend to drive away or discourage the Wealth
\nPower. These things have long been rampant in the society and, if that continues, an increase in our means might well mean
\n   <\/span> <\/p>\n

\n <\/p>\n

\n
\nPage \u2013 <\/font>763<\/font><\/span><\/p>\n

\n

\n

a proportionate increase in the wastage and disorder and neutralise the material advantage. This must be remedied if there is
\nto be any sound progress.
\n<\/span> <\/p>\n

\nAsceticism for its own sake is not the ideal of this Yoga, but
\nself-control in the vital and right order in the material are a very important part of it
\n\u2014  and even an ascetic discipline is better for
\nour purpose than a loose absence of true control. Mastery of the material does not mean having plenty and profusely throwing it
\nout or spoiling it as fast as it comes or faster. Mastery implies in it the right and careful utilisation of things and also a self
\ncontrol in their use. <\/span> <\/p>\n

\n
\n5 January 1932
\n<\/font>
\n<\/span> <\/p>\n

\n\t <\/p>\n

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

\n    <\/span> <\/p>\n

\nI may say, generally, that in the present condition of things it
\nis becoming increasingly necessary to do the best we can with what we have and make things last as long as possible. There
\nare many kinds of things hitherto provided, for instance, which it will be impossible to renew once the present stock is over.
\nThe difficulty is that most people in the Asram have no training in handling physical things (except the simplest, hardest and
\nroughest), no propensity to take care of them, to give them their full use and time of survival. This is partly due to ignorance and
\ninexperience, but partly also to carelessness, rough, violent and unseeing handling, indifference; there is also in many a feeling
\nthat it does not matter if things are quickly spoilt, they will be replaced; one worker was even heard to say to another, “why
\ndo you care? it is not your money.” To take one instance only. Taps in Europe will last for many years
\n\u2014  here in a few months,
\nsometimes in a few weeks they are spoilt and call for repairs or replacement. People ask for new provisions before the old are
\nexhausted or even near exhaustion, not because they need them, but because they have a right (?) to a new supply; some have
\neven been known to throw away what remains with them in order to have a new stock. And so on, ad infinitum. All this is
\ntamas and the end of tamas is disintegration, dispersal of forces, failure of material. And in the end, as this is a collective affair, the
\nconsequences come upon everybody, the careful and the careless  
\n<\/span> <\/p>\n

\n <\/p>\n

\n
\nPage \u2013 <\/font>764<\/font><\/span><\/p>\n

\n

\ntogether. Our ideal was a large, not a restricted life, but
\nwell-organised, free from waste and tamas and disorder. Now there
\nhas to be a tightness, a period of retrenchment till people learn and things get better.
\n<\/span> <\/p>\n

\n
\n17 January 1932 <\/font> <\/span> <\/p>\n

\n\t <\/p>\n

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

\n  <\/span> <\/p>\n

\nIf things are constantly broken, X <\/i>is perfectly right in enforcing economy. Very few of the sadhaks have any sense of responsibility in this respect; most seem to think that they are entitled to waste, destroy, spoil, use freely as if the Mother’s sole business
\nwas to supply their wants and the Asram had unlimited resources. But it is not possible for the Asram to develop its
\nwealth so long as the sadhaks and workers are selfish, careless, undisciplined and irresponsible. Lakshmi does not continue to
\npour her gifts under such conditions. <\/span> <\/p>\n

\n
\n30 January 1933
\n<\/font>
\n<\/span> <\/p>\n

\n\t <\/p>\n

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

\n    <\/span> <\/p>\n

\nEach supervisor is responsible for the maintenance intact and
\nin good condition of the machinery, tools and apparatus in his charge. No one other than those in charge or using them for the
\nwork should touch or handle. <\/span> <\/p>\n

\n
\n1940s
\n<\/font>
\n<\/span> <\/p>\n

\n 
\n<\/span> <\/p>\n

\nConsciousness in the Body <\/b><\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\nSometimes during work, while issuing materials or counting
\nmoney, the required amount comes up in the hand at the first attempt. This happens more frequently when the mind is quiet
\nand at ease. Till now I thought it may be merely an accident. Is there anything in this?
\n<\/span> <\/p>\n

\n 
\n <\/span> <\/p>\n

\n\tThe correct counting is not an accident; there is a sort of intuitive consciousness that comes in the body and makes it know the
\nright thing or do the right thing. This growing of consciousness in the body is one of the most important results of Yoga turned to
\naction and is especially important in this Yoga. <\/span> <\/p>\n

\n
\n8 August 1932
\n  
\n<\/font> <\/span> <\/p>\n

\n <\/p>\n

\n
\nPage \u2013 <\/font>765<\/font><\/span><\/p>\n

\n
\n

\nFund-Raising <\/b><\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\nHow can I make myself fit for the Mother’s divine work?
\nShould I actively pull her power or open myself passively and wait for it to descend and work in and through me? What are
\nthe conditions that I must fulfil to allow the materialisation of this money power? If I have the capacity, as you had told me
\nthe last time, what shall I do to fulfil the capacity? <\/span> <\/p>\n

\n 
\n <\/span> <\/p>\n

\n\tIt is something in the inner being that has the power of which
\nthe Mother spoke, not the external human part. I think you are seeking the power in the external being, but that can only raise
\nup difficulties. Awaken the psychic in you, let the inner being come out and replace the ego, then the latent power also will
\nbecome effective. You can then do the work and the service to which you aspire.
\n\t<\/span> <\/p>\n

\n
\n23 February 1931 <\/font> <\/span> <\/p>\n

\n\t <\/p>\n

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

\n  <\/span> <\/p>\n

\nIf you say “you are unfit for the [fund-raising<\/i>] work that you propose”, that will suffice to break the existing deadlock.
\n<\/span> <\/p>\n

\n 
\n <\/span> <\/p>\n

\n\tIt is not a question of fitness or unfitness, primarily, \u2014  there are many other considerations, e.g. the practicability of any such
\nlarge collection under the present not very favourable circumstances, the conditions of your proposed attempt etc.
\n\t<\/span> <\/p>\n

\nBut if you are not sure of yourself (as to the persistence of your intention in the future), how can you be sure that it is
\nyour mission or a true inspiration and not the imagination or the strong impulse of a moment? In another letter you had said
\nyou could wait for years.
\n<\/span> <\/p>\n

\nAnyhow, I cannot give a decision on so important a matter
\nunless I see the way more clear than I see it now. <\/span> <\/p>\n

\n
\n26 June 1931
\n<\/font>
\n<\/span> <\/p>\n

\n\t <\/p>\n

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

\n  <\/span> <\/p>\n

\nI wrote to you before [in the preceding letter<\/i>] that I did not see
\nmy way clear in this matter. My main reason, or one of my main reasons, was that the time and present conditions are adverse
\nto success. All the information I have received since entirely  
\n<\/span> <\/p>\n

\n <\/p>\n

\n
\nPage \u2013 <\/font>766<\/font><\/span><\/p>\n

\n

\n\tconfirms it; most have suffered by the long prevailing depression and few are either in a mood or a position to give largely. In these
\ncircumstances the idea of a mission to collect lakhs of money must be abandoned or at least postponed to better times.
\n\t<\/span> <\/p>\n

\nThere were other difficulties I saw, but these need not be discussed at present, since the mission itself is barred by the lack
\nof all reasonable chance of success.
\n<\/span> <\/p>\n

\nAbout work here and what has been said by you on that
\nsubject, I shall write in another letter. <\/span> <\/p>\n

\n
\n26 August 1931
\n<\/font>
\n<\/span> <\/p>\n

\n\t <\/p>\n

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

\n  <\/span> <\/p>\n

\nI should like to know (1) whether I can stay here even if no
\nfinancial help comes forth. <\/span> <\/p>\n

\n 
\n <\/span> <\/p>\n

\n\tYes; since you are working for the Asram.
\n<\/span> <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n(2) whether it would be desirable to open up fresh correspondence with friends who may perhaps send something.
\n<\/span> <\/p>\n

\n 
\n <\/span> <\/p>\n

\n\tIf you can get some help from your friends, it would be much better. You can understand that with 100 members almost, most
\nof whom can contribute nothing to the expenses, the Asram needs all the help it can get for their and its maintenance.
\n\t<\/span> <\/p>\n

\n
\n14 December 1931 <\/font> <\/span> <\/p>\n

\n\t <\/p>\n

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

\n  <\/span> <\/p>\n

\nX <\/span> <\/i>wants to approach rich people for money, but does not know how to do it. He says that if people are approached directly,
\nthere may not be any response. His plan is to somehow make them take interest in our work so that they may themselves
\noffer money without any asking. He asked me to take your advice in this matter.
\n<\/span> <\/p>\n

\n 
\n <\/span> <\/p>\n

\n\tIf it is done in that way, X <\/i>will have to wait for a result for years together. Even if they are interested, even if they are practising
\nYoga, people don’t think of giving money unless they are asked, except a few who have a generous vital nature. It is all right to
\ninterest people in the work and the Yoga \u2014  but of itself that will be rarely sufficient, they must know that money is needed and
\n   <\/span> <\/p>\n

\n <\/p>\n

\n
\nPage \u2013 <\/font>767<\/font><\/span><\/p>\n

\n

\n

the idea of giving must be put into them. <\/span> <\/p>\n

\n
\n13 March 1933
\n<\/font>
\n<\/span> <\/p>\n

\n\t <\/p>\n

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

\n  <\/span> <\/p>\n

\nI have an earnest desire to be of some help to the Ashram but
\nI don’t know how. I know several rich people in Calcutta but I fail to make them respond generously to my request for donating to the Ashram. Please enable me to influence these people.
\n<\/span> <\/p>\n

\n 
\n <\/span> <\/p>\n

\n\tThere are many men who are very pious, but they will give
\nonly to traditional institutions, temples, dharamshalas etc. Unless they are convinced, interested or somehow touched, they
\nmay not be so ready to give to the Asram. But the attempt can always be made.
\n\t<\/span> <\/p>\n

\n
\n13 March 1933 <\/font> <\/span> <\/p>\n

\n\t <\/p>\n

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

\n  <\/span> <\/p>\n

\nThe vital forces who hold the money power do not want to give or yield anything except for vital purposes, it is only under
\ncompulsion that they give for divine work. <\/span> <\/p>\n

\n
\n15 May 1933
\n<\/font>
\n<\/span> <\/p>\n

\n\t <\/p>\n

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

\n  <\/span> <\/p>\n

\nI am rather anxious to know the average monthly expenses of
\nthe Asram. <\/span> <\/p>\n

\n 
\n <\/span> <\/p>\n

\n\tOver Rs. 6000 a month \u2014  including the building expenses and
\nall other current expenditure. Of course buying of houses and such other non-current expenditure is not included. Each member of the Asram costs Rs. 50 a month, visitors about Rs. 40 (rent, electricity, food, servants etc. all included).
\n\t<\/span> <\/p>\n

\n
\n31 July 1933 <\/font> <\/span> <\/p>\n

\n\t <\/p>\n

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

\n  <\/span> <\/p>\n

\nMay I possibly know more about the financial condition of the Asram?
\n<\/span> <\/p>\n

\n 
\n <\/span> <\/p>\n

\n\tI think there is nothing more of importance, except that we need money for expansion and do not get it.
\n\t<\/span> <\/p>\n

\n
\n1 August 1933 <\/font> <\/span> <\/p>\n

\n\t <\/p>\n

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

\n  <\/span> <\/p>\n

\nThe expenses of each sadhak are reckoned as Rs. 50 a month \u2014 but it is not much use asking for that. The real need of money
\n  
\n<\/span> <\/p>\n

\n <\/p>\n

\n
\nPage \u2013 <\/font>768<\/font><\/span><\/p>\n

\n

\n\there is of a bigger kind \u2014  for development of institutions in the Asram, a place for art, for music, a school for children, a place
\nfor science etc. Even the maintenance of the Asram needs larger sums, e.g. for houses to be bought instead of renting them at a
\nheavy recurring expense. <\/span> <\/p>\n

\n 
\n<\/span> <\/p>\n

\nBusiness
\n<\/b>
\n<\/span> <\/p>\n

\n 
\n <\/span> <\/p>\n

\n\tAs usual you seem to have received some very fantastic and sensational reports about what you call the mill business. There
\nwas no “mill” in question, only X<\/i>‘s small foundry and Y<\/i>‘s equally small oil factory.
\nX <\/i>was in difficulties about her affair and came
\nto the Mother for advice and offered to sell; the Mother was prepared to buy on reasonable or even on generous terms on
\ncertain conditions and use it, not on capitalistic lines or for any profit, but for certain work necessary to the Ashram, just as
\nshe uses the Atelier or the Bakery or the Building Department. The Ashram badly needs a foundry and the idea was to use
\nY<\/i>‘s
\nmachinery for making the soap necessary for the Ashram. The Mother told X
\n<\/i>that she was sending for Z <\/i>and if he consented
\nto run these two affairs, she might buy but not otherwise as the Mother herself had no time to look after these things.
\nZ <\/i>came
\nbut found the whole thing too small and not sufficient for the purpose or for some larger work he wanted to do; so
\nX <\/i>had
\nto be told that nothing could be done. That is the whole affair. Where do you find anything here of capitalism and huge profits
\nand slums and all the rest?
\n<\/span> <\/p>\n

\nI may say however that I do not regard business as some
\nthing evil or tainted, any more than it was so regarded in ancient spiritual India. If I did, I would not be able to receive money
\nfrom A <\/i>or from those of our disciples who in Bombay trade with East Africa; nor could we then encourage them to go on
\nwith their work but would have to tell them to throw it up and attend to their spiritual progress alone. How are we to
\nreconcile A<\/i>‘s seeking after spiritual light and his mill? Ought I not to tell him to leave his mill to itself and to the devil
\nand go into some Ashram to meditate? Even if I myself had   <\/span> <\/p>\n

\n <\/p>\n

\n
\nPage \u2013 <\/font>769<\/font><\/span><\/p>\n

\n

\n

had the command to do business as I had the command to do politics I would have done it without the least spiritual or moral
\ncompunction. All depends on the spirit in which a thing is done, the principle on which it is built and use to which it is turned.
\nI have done politics and the most violent kind of revolutionary ˙<\/i>
\npolitics, ghoram karma<\/i>, and I have supported war and sent men to it, even though politics is not always or often a very clean
\noccupation nor can war be called a spiritual line of action. But Krishna calls upon Arjuna to carry on war of the most terrible
\nkind and by his example encourage men to do every kind of  .<\/i>
\nhuman work, sarvakarmāni. <\/i>Do you contend that Krishna was an unspiritual man and that his advice to Arjuna was mistaken
\nor wrong in principle? Krishna goes farther and declares that a man by doing in the right way and in the right spirit the
\nwork dictated to him by his fundamental nature, temperament and capacity and according to his and its dharma can move
\ntowards the Divine. He validates the function and dharma of the Vaishya as well as of the Brahmin and Kshatriya. It is in his
\nview quite possible for a man to do business and make money and earn profits and yet be a spiritual man, practise Yoga, have
\nan inner life. The Gita is constantly justifying works as a means of spiritual salvation and enjoining a Yoga of works as well as
\nof Bhakti and Knowledge. Krishna, however, superimposes a higher law also that work must be done without desire, without
\nattachment to any fruit or reward, without any egoistic attitude or motive, as an offering or sacrifice to the Divine. This is the
\ntraditional Indian attitude towards these things, that all work can be done if it is done according to the dharma and, if it is
\nrightly done, it does not prevent the approach to the Divine or the access to spiritual knowledge and the spiritual life.
\n<\/span> <\/p>\n

\nThere is of course also the ascetic ideal which is necessary for many and has its place in the spiritual order. I would
\nmyself say that no man can be spiritually complete if he cannot live ascetically or follow a life as bare as the barest anchorite’s.
\nObviously, greed for wealth and money-making has to be absent from his nature as much as greed for food or any other greed
\nand all attachment to these things must be renounced from his  
\n<\/span> <\/p>\n

\n <\/p>\n

\n
\nPage \u2013 <\/font>770<\/font><\/span><\/p>\n

\n

\nconsciousness. But I do not regard the ascetic way of living as indispensable to spiritual perfection or as identical with
\nit. There is the way of spiritual self-mastery and the way of spiritual self-giving and surrender to the Divine, abandoning
\nego and desire even in the midst of action or of any kind of work or all kinds of work demanded from us by the Divine.
\nIf it were not so, there would not have been great spiritual men like Janaka or Vidura in India and even there would have
\nbeen no Krishna or else Krishna would have been not the Lord of Brindavan and Mathura and Dwarka or a prince and
\nwarrior or the charioteer of Kurukshetra, but only one more great anchorite. The Indian scriptures and Indian tradition,
\nin the Mahabharata and elsewhere, make room both for the spirituality of the renunciation of life and for the spiritual life of
\naction. One cannot say that one only is the Indian tradition and  .<\/i>
\nthat the acceptance of life and works of all kinds, sarvakarmāni<\/i>, is un-Indian, European or Western and unspiritual.
\n <\/span> <\/p>\n

\n\t 
\n<\/span> <\/p>\n

\nFood
\n <\/b>
\n <\/span> <\/p>\n

\n\t 
\n <\/span> <\/p>\n

\n\tThe food given from the Dining Room has the Mother’s force
\nbehind it. It contains everything that is necessary to keep you in good health to do the sadhana. Keep that attitude and eat.
\nEverything will go well.1<\/font><\/sup> <\/span> <\/p>\n

\ncirca 1927
\n<\/span> <\/p>\n

\n\t <\/p>\n

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

\n    <\/span> <\/p>\n

\nIt is certainly not very Yogic to be so much harassed by the
\nimportunity of the palate. I notice that these petty desires, which plenty of people who are not Yogis at all nor aspirants for Yoga
\nknow how to put in their proper place, seem to take an inordinate importance
\nin the consciousness of the sadhaks here \u2014
\nnot all, certainly, but many. In this as in many other matters they do not seem to realise that, if you want to do Yoga, you
\nmust take more and more in all matters, small or great, the Yogic attitude. In our path that attitude is not one of forceful
\n<\/span> <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n
\n1 This message has hung in the dining room of the Ashram for many years. \u2014  Ed.<\/i>  
\n<\/font> <\/span> <\/p>\n

\n <\/p>\n

\n
\nPage \u2013 771<\/font><\/font><\/span><\/p>\n

\n

\n

suppression, but of detachment and equality with regard to the objects of desire. Forceful suppression2<\/font><\/sup> stands on the same level
\nas free indulgence; in both cases, the desire remains; in the one it is fed by indulgence, in the other it lies latent and exasperated by
\nsuppression. It is only when one stands back, separates oneself from the lower vital, refusing to regard its desires and clamours
\nas one’s own, and cultivates an entire equality and equanimity in the consciousness with respect to them that the lower vital
\nitself becomes gradually purified and itself also calm and equal. Each wave of desire as it comes must be observed, as quietly
\nand with as much unmoved detachment as you would observe something going on outside you, and must be allowed to pass,
\nrejected from the consciousness, and the true movement, the true consciousness steadily put in its place.
\n<\/span> <\/p>\n

\nBut for that these things of eating and drinking must be put in their right place, which is a very small one. You say that
\nmany have left the Asram because they did not like the food. I do not know who are the many; certainly, those who came here
\nfor serious sadhana and left, went for much more grave reasons than that. But if any did go because of an offended palate, then
\ncertainly they were quite unfit for Yoga and this was not the place for them. For it means that a mutton chop or a tasty plate of fish
\nwas more important for them than the seeking of the Divine! It is not possible to do Yoga if values are so topsy-turvy in the consciousness. Apart from such extravagance, these things which ought to be only among the most minor values even in the human
\nlife, are promoted by many here to a rank they ought not to have. <\/span> <\/p>\n

\nAt the same time it is better, if it is possible, to have well
\ncooked rather than badly-cooked food. The idea that the Mother wants tasteless food to be served because tasty food is bad for
\nYoga, is one of the many absurdities that seem so profusely current among the sadhaks in this Asram about her ways and
\nmotives. The Mother is obliged to arrange for neutral (plain and simple), not
\ntasteless <\/i>food, for the reason that any other course
\nhas been proved to be impracticable. There are ninety people
\n<\/span> <\/p>\n

\n <\/p>\n

\n
\n2 Fasting comes under the head; it is of no use for this purpose. Abandon that idea
\naltogether.<\/font>  
\n<\/span> <\/p>\n

\n <\/p>\n

\n
\nPage \u2013 <\/font>772<\/font><\/span><\/p>\n

\n

\nhere, from different countries and provinces whose tastes are as the poles asunder. What is tasty food to the Gujarati is abomination to the Bengali and vice versa<\/i>. The European cannot stand an avalanche of tamarind or chillies; the Andhra accustomed to
\na fiery diet would find French dishes tasteless. Experiments have been tried before you came, but they were disastrous in their results; a few enjoyed, the majority starved, and bad stomachs began to be the rule. On the other hand, neutral food can be eaten
\nby all and does not injure the health, \u2014  that at least is what we have found,
\n\u2014  even if it does not give any ecstasy to the palate. <\/span> <\/p>\n

\nOnly, the food, if neutral, should not be tasteless. A certain amount of fluctuation is inevitable; no one can cook daily for
\n80 or 90 people and yet do always well. But if it is too much, a remedy is to be desired and the Mother is willing to consider
\nany practicable and effective suggestion. If any practicable suggestion is made, it will be considered,
\n\u2014  keeping always in view
\nthe difficulty I have pointed out of the ninety people and the three continents and half a dozen provinces that are represented
\nhere, apart from individual idiosyncracies and fancies, which, of course, it is absolutely impossible even to try to satisfy unless
\nwe want to land ourselves in chaos. <\/span> <\/p>\n

\nBut what if people were to remember that they were here for
\nYoga, make that the salt and savour of their existence and acquire samatā<\/font> <\/i>of the palate! My experience is that if they did that, all the trouble would disappear and even the kitchen difficulties
\nand the defects of the cooking would vanish. <\/span> <\/p>\n

\n
\n28 August 1930
\n<\/font>
\n<\/span> <\/p>\n

\n\t <\/p>\n

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

\n    <\/span> <\/p>\n

\nThe Mother and I do not take meat or fish and it is not allowed
\nto the members of the Asram. We cannot give the sanction you ask for. You should rise superior to passing ideas and desires; to
\nallow them to take hold of the mind and push towards action is not good for your sadhana.
\n<\/span> <\/p>\n

\n
\n15 November 1932 <\/font> <\/span> <\/p>\n

\n\t <\/p>\n

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

\n  <\/span> <\/p>\n

\nI was invited by friends to go to a restaurant and accepted. Later I learned that you were opposed to the idea. What should
\n   <\/span> <\/p>\n

\n <\/p>\n

\n
\nPage \u2013 <\/font>773<\/font><\/span><\/p>\n

\n

\n

\nwe \u2014  those of us who live outside the Ashram \u2014  do?
\n<\/span> <\/p>\n

\n 
\n <\/span> <\/p>\n

\n\tThe Mother has made an arrangement with a view to all the
\noccult forces and the best possible conditions for the protection of the sadhaks from certain forces of death and disease etc. It
\ncannot work perfectly because the sadhaks themselves have not the right attitude towards food and kindred vital-physical things.
\nBut still there is a protection. If however the sadhaks go outside her formation, it must be on their own responsibility
\n\u2014  the
\nMother does not and cannot sanction it. But this arrangement is for the Asram and not for those who are outside.
\n\t<\/span> <\/p>\n

\n
\n14 July 1933 <\/font> <\/span> <\/p>\n

\n\t <\/p>\n

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

\n  <\/span> <\/p>\n

\nVegetarian food is a rule for the Asram, it is not incumbent on anyone outside.
\n<\/span> <\/p>\n

\n
\n30 October 1933 <\/font> <\/span> <\/p>\n

\n\t <\/p>\n

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

\n  <\/span> <\/p>\n

\nI was speaking to X <\/i>about the dining hall, past and present.
\n  <\/i>
\n The rule upabhogena na śāmyati <\/i>seems to be more solid looking at our experience here.
\n<\/span> <\/p>\n

\n 
\n <\/span> <\/p>\n

\n\tMuch more solid. But people here do not seem to realise that desire consciousness and Yoga consciousness are two different
\nthings. They seem to want to make a happy amalgamation of the two.
\n<\/span> <\/p>\n

\n
\n1 June 1934 <\/font> <\/span> <\/p>\n

\n\t <\/p>\n

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

\n  <\/span> <\/p>\n

\nMother meant that wrong food and the poisons created by wrong assimilation were a great obstacle to the prolongation
\nof life. <\/span> <\/p>\n

\n
\n14 January 1935
\n<\/font>
\n<\/span> <\/p>\n

\n\t <\/p>\n

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

\n    <\/span> <\/p>\n

\nIf animal food (e.g. eggs or soup) is absolutely for health in
\n˙   <\/i>  convalescence, it can be taken. But it is samskara
\n<\/i>to suppose that
\nvegetarian food makes people weak \u2014  if the food is nourishing and of the right kind, one can be as strong on vegetable food as
\non meat. <\/span> <\/p>\n

\n
\n30 January 1935
\n<\/font>
\n<\/span> <\/p>\n

\n\t <\/p>\n

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

 <\/p>\n

\n
\nPage \u2013 <\/font>774<\/font><\/span><\/p>\n

\n

\nIf my physician asks me to take a diet of rice, meat, fish, eggs etc. (as I used to eat these before) and to cut off or dress my
\nhair etc., should I follow his instructions? <\/span> <\/p>\n

\n 
\n <\/span> <\/p>\n

\n\tYou [Sri Aurobindo’s secretary<\/i>] can tell him that to live on fruits
\nand milk, not to shave, not to take rice etc. is absolutely unnecessary for the sadhana. It does not depend on these things.
\nIn the Asram we take only milk and vegetarian diet, \u2014  but that rule is not imposed on those outside, it is left to their choice. If
\nit is thought necessary for his health to take fish, meat or eggs he can do it.
\n\t<\/span> <\/p>\n

\nSadhana also does not depend on the dressing of hair or
\nnon-dressing. Sadhana in this Yoga at least is a matter of the inner
\nconsciousness mainly. One has to get over greed of food but not abandon food, to get over tamas and inertia, but not abandon all
\nrest and sleep. To injure the body by excessive physical tapasya is forbidden in this Yoga.
\n<\/span> <\/p>\n

\n
\n29 October 1935 <\/font> <\/span> <\/p>\n

\n\t <\/p>\n

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

\n  <\/span> <\/p>\n

\nIt is not you but I who look on the Asram as a failure [in regard<\/i> to food<\/i>]. I was speaking not of you in person, but of the general
\nspirit of the sadhaks with regard to food which is as unYogic as possible. In regard not only to food, but to personal comforts
\nit differs in no way from that of ordinary men; it is an attitude of demand, claim and desire and of anger, vexation, grudging,
\ncomplaint if they do not get their desire. They justify their position by saying that this is not an ascetic Yoga. But neither is it
\na Yoga of the satisfaction of desire. In this Yoga quite as much as any other, one must be free from servitude to the mind, the
\nvital and the body. It is to be done by the growth of an inner consciousness free from demand and desire, not by the principle
\nof an outer suppression of the objects of desire. It is to be done by having a perfect equality with regard to food as to other
\nthings. But this very few seem to recognise. <\/span> <\/p>\n

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

\n\t <\/p>\n

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

\n    <\/span> <\/p>\n

\nI am afraid you have spoiled your stomach and made it nervous
\nby irregular eating. The food of the Asram is quite plain and   <\/span> <\/p>\n

\n <\/p>\n

\n
\nPage \u2013 <\/font>775<\/font><\/span><\/p>\n

\n

\n

healthy and unless one eats too much it ought not to give indigestion.
\n<\/span> <\/p>\n

\n 
\n<\/span> <\/p>\n

\nExercise and Sports <\/b><\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\nDoes exercise help to overcome inertia or physical tamas?
\n<\/span> <\/p>\n

\n 
\n <\/span> <\/p>\n

\n\tIt is quite true that physical exercise is very necessary to keep off the tamas. I am glad you have begun it and I trust you will
\nkeep it up. <\/span> <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\nWhat should I do when I descend into physical tamas or when
\nthere is an attack of inertia? <\/span> <\/p>\n

\n 
\n <\/span> <\/p>\n

\n\tPhysical tamas in its roots can be removed only by the descent
\nand the transformation, but physical exercise and regular activity of the body can always prevent a tamasic condition from
\nprevailing in the body. <\/span> <\/p>\n

\n
\n28 May 1934
\n<\/font>
\n<\/span> <\/p>\n

\n\t <\/p>\n

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

\n  <\/span> <\/p>\n

\nI suppose walking is one of the best forms of exercise. Can I
\ntake it up with profit? Kindly let me know how many miles a day and with what speed I should do it.
\n<\/span> <\/p>\n

\n 
\n <\/span> <\/p>\n

\n\tYes, certainly, it is very good. The amount and speed depend on your capacity and time. A brisk long walk is always very
\nhealthful. <\/span> <\/p>\n

\n
\n23 October 1934
\n<\/font>
\n<\/span> <\/p>\n

\n\t <\/p>\n

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

\n    <\/span> <\/p>\n

\nCertainly, Mother does not want only sportsmen in the Ashram:
\nthat would make it not an Ashram but a playground. The sports and physical exercises are primarily for the children of
\nthe school and they also do not play only but have to attend to their studies: incidentally, they have improved immensely in
\nhealth and in discipline and conduct as one very valuable result. Secondarily, the younger sadhaks are allowed, not enjoined or
\neven recommended, to join in these sports, but certainly they are not supposed to be sportsmen only: they have other and more
\nimportant things to do. To be a sportsman must necessarily be  
\n<\/span> <\/p>\n

\n <\/p>\n

\n
\nPage \u2013 <\/font>776<\/font><\/span><\/p>\n

\n

\n\ta voluntary choice and depends on one having the taste and inclination. There are plenty of people around the Mother her
\nself, X <\/i>for instance, who would never dream of frequenting the playground or engaging in sports and the Mother also would
\nnever think of asking them to do it. So equally she could not think of being displeased with you for shunning these delights.
\nSome, of course, might ask why any sports at all in an Ashram which ought to be concerned only with meditation and inner
\nexperiences and the escape from life into the Brahman; but that applies only to the ordinary kind of Ashram to which we have
\ngot accustomed and this is not that orthodox kind of Ashram. It includes life in Yoga, and once we admit life, we can include
\nanything that we find useful for life’s ultimate and immediate purpose and not inconsistent with the works of the Spirit. After
\nall, the orthodox Ashram came into being only after Brahman began to shun all connection with the world and the shadow
\nof Buddhism stalked over all the land and Ashrams turned into monasteries. The old Ashrams were not entirely like that; the
\nboys and young men who were brought up in them were trained in many things belonging to life; the son of Pururavas and Urvasie practised archery in the Ashram of a Rishi and became an expert bowman, and Karna became disciple of a great sage
\nin order to acquire from him the use of powerful weapons. So there is no a priori
\n<\/i>ground why sports should be excluded from
\nthe life of an Ashram like ours where we are trying to equate life with the Spirit. Even table-tennis or football need not be
\nrigorously excluded. But, putting all persiflage aside, my point is that to play or not to play is a matter of choice and inclination,
\nand it would be absurd for Mother to be displeased with you any more than with
\nX <\/i>for not caring to be a sportsman. So you
\nneed not have any apprehension on this score; that the Mother should be displeased with you for that is quite impossible. So the
\nidea that the Mother wanted to punish you for anything done or not done or that she wished to draw far away from you or
\nto be cold and distant was a misinterpretation without any real foundation since you have given no ground for it and there was
\nnothing farther from her mind. She has herself explained that it   <\/span> <\/p>\n

\n <\/p>\n

\n
\nPage \u2013 <\/font>777<\/font><\/span><\/p>\n

\n

\n

was just the contrary that has been in her mind for some time past and it was an increasing kindness that was her feeling and
\nintention. The only change she could expect from you was to grow in your psychic and spiritual endeavour and inner progress
\nand in this you have not failed, quite the contrary. Apart from that, the notion that she could be displeased because you did not
\nchange according to this or that pattern and that we could ever dream of sending you away on any such account is a wild idea;
\nit would be most arbitrary and unreasonable. <\/span> <\/p>\n

\n10 July 1948
\n<\/span> <\/p>\n

\n\t <\/p>\n

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

\n    <\/span> <\/p>\n

\nAs to your idea about the sports, your idea that the Mother looks
\non you coldly because you are not capable of taking delight in sports, that is entirely without foundation. I must have told you
\nalready more than once that the Mother does not want anybody to take up the sports if he has no inclination or natural bent for
\nthem; to join or not to join must be quite voluntary and those who do not join are not cold-shouldered or looked down upon
\nby her for that reason. It would be absurd for her to take that attitude: there are those who do her faithful service which she
\ndeeply appreciates and whom she regards with affection and confidence but who never go to the playground either because
\nthey have no turn for it or no time, \u2014  can you imagine that for that reason she will turn away from them and regard them with
\ncoldness? The Mother could never intend that sports should be the sole or the chief preoccupation of the inmates of the Ashram;
\neven the children of the school for whose physical development these sports and athletic exercises are important and for whom
\nthey were originally instituted, have other things to do, their work, their studies and other occupations and amusements in
\nwhich they are as interested as in these athletics. The idea that you should “throw up the sponge” because you do not succeed
\nin sports or like them, is surely an extravagant imagination: there are other things more important, there are Yoga, spiritual
\nprogress, bhakti, devotion, service. . . .
\n<\/span> <\/p>\n

\nI do not understand what you mean by my giving time to
\nsport; I am not giving any time to it except that I have written at  
\n<\/span> <\/p>\n

\n <\/p>\n

\n
\nPage \u2013 <\/font>778<\/font><\/span><\/p>\n

\n

\n\tthe Mother’s request an article for the first number of the Bulletin<\/i> and another for the forthcoming number.3<\/font><\/sup> It is the Mother who
\nis doing all the rest of the work for the organisation of the sports and the
\nBulletin <\/i>and that she must do, obviously, till it
\nis sufficiently organised to go on of itself with only a general supervision from above and her actual presence once in the day.
\nI put out my force to support her as in all the other work of the Ashram, but otherwise I am not giving any time for the sports.
\n\t<\/span> <\/p>\n

\n4 March 1949 <\/span> <\/p>\n

\n\t <\/p>\n

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

\n  <\/span> <\/p>\n

\nAs for the rest, I think I need only repeat emphatically that there is no need for anyone to take up sports as indispensable for
\nYoga or for enjoying the Mother’s affection and kindness. Yoga is its own object and has its own means and conditions; sport
\nis something quite different as the Mother herself indicated to you through X
\n<\/i>when she said that the concentration practised
\non the playground was not meditation and was used for efficacy in the movements of the body and not for any purpose of Yoga.
\n<\/span> <\/p>\n

\n
\n14 March 1949 <\/font> <\/span> <\/p>\n

\n\t <\/p>\n

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

\n  <\/span> <\/p>\n

\nMuch less than half the Ashram, the majority of them boys and girls and children, have taken up sports; the rest have not been
\npressed to do so and there is no earthly reason why any pressure should be put upon you. The Mother has never intended to put
\nany such pressure on you and if anybody has said that, there is no foundation whatever for what they have told you.
\n<\/span> <\/p>\n

\nIt is also not a fact that either the Mother or I are turning away from Yoga and intend to interest ourselves only in sport;
\nwe have no intention whatever of altering the fundamental character of the Ashram and replacing it by a sportive association. If
\nwe did that it would be a most idiotic act and if anybody should have told you anything like that, he must be off his head or in a
\ntemporary crisis of delirious enthusiasm for a very upside-down
\n<\/span> <\/p>\n

\n <\/p>\n

\n
\n3 See “Message” and “Perfection of the Body” in
\n<\/i>Essays in Philosophy and Yoga,<\/i>
\nvolume 13 of <\/i>T<\/font>HE<\/font> C<\/font>OMPLETE<\/font> W<\/font>ORKS OF<\/font> S<\/font>RI<\/font> A<\/font>UROBINDO<\/font>, pp. 517 \u00ad 35. \u2014  Ed.<\/i>  
\n<\/font> <\/span> <\/p>\n

\n <\/p>\n

\n
\nPage \u2013 <\/font>3<\/font><\/span><\/p>\n

\n

\n

idea. The Mother told you very clearly once through X <\/i>that what was being done in the playground was not meditation or a
\nconcentration for Yoga but only an ordinary concentration for the physical exercises alone. If she is busy with the organisation
\nof these things \u2014  and it is not true that she is busy with that alone \u2014  it is in order to get finished with that as soon as possible after
\nwhich it will go on of itself without her being at all engrossed or specially occupied by it, as is the case with other works of
\nthe Ashram. As for myself, it is surely absurd to think that I am neglecting meditation and Yoga and interested only in running,
\njumping and marching! There seem to have been strange misunderstandings about my second message in the
\nBulletin. <\/i>In the
\nfirst, I wrote about sports and their utility just as I have written on politics or social development or any other matter. In the
\nsecond, I took up the question incidentally because people were expressing ignorance as to why the Ashram should concern itself
\nwith sports at all. I explained why it had been done and dealt with the more general question of how this and other human activities could be part of a search for a total perfection of all parts of the being including the body and more especially what would
\nbe the nature of the perfection of the body. I indicated clearly that only by Yoga could there come a supreme and total perfection of
\nall the instruments of the Spirit and the ascent of the whole being to the highest level and a divine life on earth and the assumption
\nof a divine body. I made it clear that by human and physical means such as sports only a limited and precarious human perfection could come. In all this there is nothing to justify the idea that sport could be a means for jumping into the Supermind or
\nthat the Supermind was going to descend into the playground and nowhere else and only those who are there will receive it;
\nthat would be a bad look-out for me as I would have no chance! <\/span> <\/p>\n

\nI write all this in the hope of clearing away all the strange
\nmisconceptions with which the air seems to have become thick and by some of which you may have been affected.
\n<\/span> <\/p>\n

\n
\n27 April 1949 <\/font> <\/span> <\/p>\n

\n\t <\/p>\n

\n* 
\n<\/span> <\/p>\n

\n <\/p>\n

\n
\nPage \u2013 <\/font>780<\/font><\/span><\/p>\n

\n

\nI continue my letter.
\n<\/span> <\/p>\n

\nI hope I have been able to persuade you that all these ideas
\nabout sport and the Yoga are misconceptions and that those who suggest them are wholly mistaken; certainly, we are not
\nputting Yoga away or in the background and turning to sport as a substitute, such an idea is absurdly impossible. I hope also that
\nyou will accept from me and the Mother our firm asseveration that our love and affection for you are undiminished and that
\nthere has been no coldness on the Mother’s part and no least diminution in my constant inner relation with you.
\n<\/span> <\/p>\n

\nIn view of what I have written, you ought to be able to see that your idea of our insistence on you to take up sport or to
\nlike it and accept it in any way has no foundation; you can be as averse to it as you choose, we do not mind that. I myself have
\nnever been a sportsman or, apart from a spectator’s interest in cricket in England or a non-player member of the Baroda
\ncricket club, taken up any physical games or athletics except some exercises learnt from Madrasi wrestlers in Baroda such
\nas dan<\/i>d-baithak<\/i>, and those I took up only to put some strength
\n..<\/i>
\n and vigour into a frail and weak though not unhealthy body, but
\nI never attached any other importance or significance to these things and dropped the exercises when I thought they were no
\nlonger necessary. Certainly, neither the abstinence from athletics and physical games nor the taking up of those physical exercises
\nhave for me any relevance to Yoga. Neither your aversion to sport nor the liking of others for it makes either you or them
\nmore fit or more unfit for sadhana. So there is absolutely no reason why we should insist on your taking it up or why you
\nshould trouble your mind with the supposition that we want you to do it. You are surely quite free, as everybody is quite free,
\nto take your own way in such matters. <\/span> <\/p>\n

\n
\n28 April 1949
\n<\/font>
\n<\/span> <\/p>\n

\n\t <\/p>\n

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

\n    <\/span> <\/p>\n

\nI then come to the main point, namely that the intention attributed to the Mother of concentrating permanently on sports and withdrawing from other things pertinent to sadhana and
\nour spiritual endeavour is a legend and a myth and has no truth   <\/span> <\/p>\n

\n <\/p>\n

\n
\nPage \u2013 <\/font>781<\/font><\/span><\/p>\n

\n

\n

in it. Except for the time given to her own physical exercise and, ordinarily, two hours or sometimes three in the evening on
\nthe playground, the Mother’s whole day from early morning and a large part of the night also has always been devoted
\nto her other occupations connected with her work and with the sadhana \u2014  not her own but that of the sadhaks, pranam,
\nblessings, meditation and receiving the sadhaks on the staircase or elsewhere, sometimes for two hours at a time, and listening
\nto what they have to say, questions about the sadhana, reports of their work or other matters, complaints, disputes, quarrels,
\nall kinds of conferences about this or that to be decided or done, there is no end to the list: for the rest she had to attend to
\ntheir letters, to reports about the material work of the Ashram and all its many departments, decisions on a hundred matters,
\ncorrespondence and all sorts of things connected with contacts with the outside world including often serious troubles and difficulties and the settlement of matters of great importance. All this has certainly nothing to do with sports and she had little
\noccasion to think of it at all apart from the short time in the evening. There was here no ground for the idea that she was
\nneglecting the sadhaks or the sadhana or thinking of turning her mind solely or predominantly to sport and still less for imputing the same preoccupation to me. Only during the period before the first and second December this year the Mother had
\nto give a great deal of time and concentration to the preparation of the events of those two days because she had decided on a
\nbig cultural programme, her own play “<\/span>Vers l’Avenir<\/span>“, dances, recitation from
\nSavitri <\/i>and from the Prayers and Meditations<\/i>
\nfor the 1st December and also a big and ambitious programme for the 2nd of sportive items and events. This meant a good
\ndeal more time for these purposes but not any interruption of her other occupations except for one or two of them just at the
\nend of this period. There was surely no sufficient ground here either for drawing the conclusion that this was to be for the
\nfuture a normal feature of her action or a permanent change in it or in the life of the Ashram ending in a complete withdrawal
\nfrom spiritual life and an apotheosis of the deity of Sport. Those  
\n<\/span> <\/p>\n

\n <\/p>\n

\n
\nPage \u2013 <\/font>782<\/font><\/span><\/p>\n

\n

\n\twho voiced this idea or declared that sport would henceforth be obligatory on all were indulging in fantasies that have no claim
\nto credibility. As a matter of fact the period of tension is over and after the second December things have returned to normal
\nor even to subnormal in the activities of the playground and as for the future you may recall the proverb that “once is not for
\never”.
\n<\/span> <\/p>\n

\nBut there seems to be still a survival of the groundless idea
\nthat sportsmanship is obligatory henceforth on every sadhak and without it there is no chance of having the Mother’s attention or favour. It is therefore necessary for me to repeat with the utmost emphasis the statement I made long ago when this
\nfable became current for a time along, I think, with the rumour that the Supermind was to descend on the playground and the
\npeople who happen to be there at the time and nowhere else and on nobody else
\n\u2014  which would have meant that I for one
\nwould never have it!! I must repeat what I said then, that the Mother has never imposed or has any idea of imposing any such
\nobligation and had no reason for doing so. The Mother does not want you or anybody else to take to sports if there is no
\ninclination or turn towards it. There are any number of people who enjoy her highest favour, among them some of her best and
\nmost valued workers, some most near to her and cherished by her who do not even set foot on the playground. Nobody then
\ncould possibly lose her favour or her affection by refusing to take up sport or by a dislike of sport or a strong disinclination
\ntowards it: these things are a matter of idiosyncrasy and nothing else. The idea, whether advanced or not by someone claiming
\nto have authority to voice the Mother’s intentions, that sport is now the most important thing with her and obligatory for
\nsadhana is absurd in the extreme. Again, how could you ever imagine that the Mother or myself would turn you away or ask
\nyou to leave us for any reason, least of all for such a fantastic one as this? All this is indeed a maze of fantasies and you should
\ndrive them from your mind altogether. Your place in our hearts is permanent and your place near us must be that also; you
\nshould not allow anything to cloud that truth in your mind or   <\/span> <\/p>\n

\n <\/p>\n

\n
\nPage \u2013 <\/font>783<\/font><\/span><\/p>\n

\n

\n

lend credence to anything or anyone telling you otherwise.
\n<\/span> <\/p>\n

\n
\n7 December 1949
\n<\/font>
\n<\/span> <\/p>\n

\n\t <\/p>\n

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

\n    <\/span> <\/p>\n

\nThe realisation of the Divine is the one thing needful and the
\nrest is desirable only in so far as it helps or leads towards that or when it is realised, extends and manifests the realisation.
\nManifestation and organisation of the whole life for the divine work, \u2014  first, the sadhana personal and collective necessary for
\nthe realisation and a common life of God-realised men, secondly, for help to the world to move towards that, and to live in the
\nLight \u2014  is the whole meaning and purpose of my Yoga. But the realisation is the first need and it is that round which all the rest
\nmoves, for apart from it all the rest would have no meaning. Neither the Mother nor myself ever dreamed or could dream of
\nputting anything else in its place or neglecting it for anything else. Most of the Mother’s day is in fact given to helping the
\nsadhaks in one way or another towards that end, most of the rest is occupied with work for the Ashram which cannot be
\nneglected or allowed to collapse, for this too is work for the Divine. As for the gymnasium, the playground and the rest of it,
\nthe Mother has made it plain from the beginning what place she assigned to these things; she has never done anything so imbecile
\nas to replace essential things by these accessories. <\/span> <\/p>\n

\n
\n4 April 1950
\n<\/font>
\n<\/span> <\/p>\n

\n 
\n<\/span> <\/p>\n

\nMedical Treatment <\/b> <\/span> <\/p>\n

\n 
\n <\/span> <\/p>\n

\n\tThe Mother’s advice to X <\/i>was given more for his period of stay
\nin the Asram than as an absolute rule for the future. If a sadhak can call down the force to cure him without need of medical
\ntreatment, that is always the best, but it is not always possible, so long as the whole consciousness mental, vital, physical down
\nto the most subconscient is not opened and awake. There is no harm in a Doctor who is a sadhak carrying on his profession
\nand using his medical knowledge; but he should do it in reliance on the Divine Grace and the Divine Will; if he can get true
\ninspirations to aid his science, so much the better. No doctor  
\n<\/span> <\/p>\n

\n <\/p>\n

\n
\nPage \u2013 <\/font>784<\/font><\/span><\/p>\n

\n

\n\tcan cure all cases; he has to do his best with the best result he can.
\n\t<\/span> <\/p>\n

\n
\n18 October 1932 <\/font> <\/span> <\/p>\n

\n\t <\/p>\n

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

\n  <\/span> <\/p>\n

\nI am afraid wherever you go there will be difficulties with your state of health
\n\u2014  and nerves. There can be no proper provision
\nfor chronic illness in an asram. <\/span> <\/p>\n

\n
\n9 May 1933
\n<\/font>
\n<\/span> <\/p>\n

\n\t <\/p>\n

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

\n  <\/span> <\/p>\n

\nX <\/span> <\/i>had some trouble with his ear for some months; it went
\naway only after a short “action” upon it. I do not believe in this action theory
\n\u2014  at least here in the Ashram. I believe
\nthat if one compiled statistics of those who took an active approach and those who believed in
\nlaissez faire<\/i>, there would
\nbe less disease and mortality in the latter group. It depends on the person and the circumstances. “Action” of
\n<\/span>
\n<\/p>\n

\n 
\n <\/span> <\/p>\n

\n\tX<\/span><\/i>‘s kind can be taken \u2014  only it often means a struggle with the contrary forces; if the action is sufficient, it is all right, otherwise
\nit takes time and trouble. What you say is also true. Not to be conscious about the body, not to be always thinking of it, just to
\nsay to one’s illness “Nonsense” and go about one’s business is often very effective. When we first had the Asram there was no
\nDoctor, no dispensary, no medicines, people hardly got ill and, if any did, he simply got well again. If at any time somebody
\ngot dysentery, he just swallowed a lot of rice and whey and got well again. If he had fever he lay in bed a day or two and got up
\nagain. There was no serious illness and no lasting illness. Now with doctors and dispensaries and cupboards full of medicines
\nillnesses gambol about like tigers in a jungle. But in those days people had a faith in the mind and even one might say in the
\nbody, “What is illness going to do to me here” and that attitude imposed its own result.
\n\tयो यच्छ्रद्धः  स एव सः
\n\t<\/span> <\/p>\n

\n
\n6 February 1935 <\/font> <\/span> <\/p>\n

\n\t <\/p>\n

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

\n  <\/span> <\/p>\n

\nI [a non-practising doctor<\/i>] have been going through some medical books. After all these years I find it rather interesting
\n\u2014  at least in terms of solid intellectual jugglery.   <\/span> <\/p>\n

\n <\/p>\n

\n
\nPage \u2013 <\/font>785<\/font><\/span><\/p>\n

\n

\n

Very interesting no doubt \u2014  and under present circumstances inevitable. The disadvantage is that it creates an illness atmosphere. When we had no dispensary and no doctors (at least no practising doctors) we had no illnesses or only slight ones which
\nwalked off at once because they were not hospitably attended to when they came!
\n<\/span> <\/p>\n

\n
\n23 March 1935 <\/font> <\/span> <\/p>\n

\n\t <\/p>\n

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

\n 
\n <\/span> <\/p>\n

\n\tX <\/span> <\/i>[a doctor<\/i>] has as yet written nothing; he is waiting, I suppose, for the urine examination he wants to make. We can say nothing
\nuntil he writes. We do not ourselves like anybody being under medical treatment except when it is necessary in moments of
\nemergency. It seems to me if you get back your sleep and are able to get quiet in the nerves, the rest would set themselves right by
\nthe descent of peace and strength in the body. <\/span> <\/p>\n

\n
\n5 April 1935
\n<\/font>
\n<\/span> <\/p>\n

\n\t <\/p>\n

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

\n  <\/span> <\/p>\n

\nWe cannot afford to turn the Asram into an institute for the care
\nof chronic invalids. As it is I do not think there is any Asram in India where people could get the standard of life, conveniences
\nand comforts they get here. Elsewhere X <\/i>would be expected to lead an ascetic life, whether sick or well, and medical care and
\nnursing would be conspicuous by their absence. However we are accustomed to people abusing us for what we do for them
\nand accusing us for what we do not and cannot do. <\/font> <\/span> <\/p>\n

\n29 November 1935
\n<\/span> <\/p>\n

\n\t <\/p>\n

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

\n  <\/span> <\/p>\n

\nWhen illness and attacks come to the body, does that mean
\nthat the work of purification in the mind and vital is finished and that the body is being worked on?
\n<\/span> <\/p>\n

\n 
\n <\/span> <\/p>\n

\n\tI don’t know whether it can be put like that. Illnesses and attacks on the body can come during the period of the vital purification.
\nBut it is true that when the mind and vital have progressed and the main action of the sadhana is in the physical, then
\nattacks fall more on the body. In the early days of the Asram when the working was on the mind, nobody got ill except for
\n\t\t\t<\/span> <\/p>\n

\n <\/p>\n

\n
\nPage \u2013 <\/font>786<\/font><\/span><\/p>\n

\n

\nslight touches that cured without medicine; as the working came
\nlower down, illness increased while now that the working is in the physical and subconscient, illness is almost constant in the
\nAsram and sometimes of a serious or violent kind. <\/span> <\/p>\n

\n
\n1 May 1936
\n<\/font>
\n<\/span> <\/p>\n

\n\t <\/p>\n

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

\n  <\/span> <\/p>\n

\nIf increase in the number of inmates stands in the way, if
\ndoctors and medicines shake the faith, well, it is very easy to solve both the problems, isn’t it?
\n<\/span> <\/p>\n

\n 
\n <\/span> <\/p>\n

\n\tIncrease of numbers brought in all sorts of influences that were not there in the smaller circle before. Doctors did not matter so
\nlong as faith was the main thing and a little treatment the help. But when faith went, illness increased and the doctor became
\nnot merely useful but indispensable. There was also the third cause, the descent into the physical consciousness with all its
\ndoubt, obscurity and resistance. To eliminate all that is no longer possible.
\n\t\t\t<\/span> <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\nWe have also an impression, considering the sudden wave of diseases, that it is due to some Force descending, so that
\nwherever there is resistance there will be a rushing up. <\/span> <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\nWhat Force? <\/span> <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\nSince the action is to go on in the subconscient physical at present with the Supramental descending, all sorts of physical
\ntroubles will be rampant now. <\/span> <\/p>\n

\n 
\n <\/span> <\/p>\n

\n\tRubbish! You repeat always this imbecile absurdity that the
\nSupramental is descending into the sadhaks \u2014  as X <\/i>thought it had descended into him! The sadhaks are miles away from
\nthe Supramental. What I spoke of was not the descent of the Supramental into the sadhaks but into the earth consciousness.
\nIf the Supramental had descended into the sadhaks, there would not be all sorts of troubles, but all sorts of helps and progresses.
\n\t<\/span> <\/p>\n

\n
\n9 October 1936 <\/font> <\/span> <\/p>\n

\n\t <\/p>\n

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

\n <\/p>\n

\n
\nPage \u2013 <\/font>787<\/font><\/span><\/p>\n

\n

\n

\nI dreamt that the Mother was building a very big hospital. Dream of a millennium in advance?
\n<\/span> <\/p>\n

\n 
\n <\/span> <\/p>\n

\n\tIt would be more of a millennium if there were no need of a hospital at all and the doctors turned their injective prodding
\ninstruments into fountain-pens \u2014  provided of course they didn’t make a misuse of the pens also.
\n\t<\/span> <\/p>\n

\n
\n19 July 1937 <\/font> <\/span> <\/p>\n

\n\t <\/p>\n

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

\n  <\/span> <\/p>\n

\nWhy furious about injective instruments, sir? They are supposed to be very effective.
\n<\/span> <\/p>\n

\n 
\n <\/span> <\/p>\n

\n\tThat doesn’t make an increase of hospitals, illnesses and injections the ideal of a millennium.
\n\t\t\t<\/span> <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\nBut why the deuce are those instruments to be replaced by fountain-pens?
\n<\/span> <\/p>\n

\n 
\n <\/span> <\/p>\n

\n\tI was simply adapting the saying of Isaiah the prophet, “the swords will be turned into ploughshares”, but the doctor’s instrument is not big enough for a ploughshare, so I substituted fountain-pens.
\n\t<\/span> <\/p>\n

\n
\n20 July 1937 <\/font> <\/span> <\/p>\n

\n 
\n<\/span> <\/p>\n

\nDeath
\n<\/b><\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\nI firmly believed that death was impossible here. Since the death of S4<\/font><\/sup> shows that it is possible, it means that hostile
\nforces have become victorious. <\/span> <\/p>\n

\n 
\n <\/span> <\/p>\n

\n\tThere have been three deaths since the Asram began
\n\u2014  one, of
\na child in a house that was not then part of the Asram and the other of a visitor. This is the first death in the Asram itself.
\n\t\t\t<\/span> <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\nYou have said, I hear, that you have conquered Death, not only personally but for others as well.
\n<\/span> <\/p>\n

\n 
\n <\/span> <\/p>\n

\n\tI am unaware of having made any such statement. To whom did I make it? I have not said even that personally I have conquered
\n\t\t\t<\/span> <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n
\n4 In this group of letters, “S” stands for a sadhak who died on 25 March 1935.
\n\u2014  Ed.<\/i>  
\n<\/font>
\n<\/span> <\/p>\n

\n <\/p>\n

\n
\nPage \u2013 <\/font>788<\/font><\/span><\/p>\n

\n

\nit. All these are the usual Asram legends.
\n<\/span> <\/p>\n

\nThe conquest of Death would mean the conquest of illness
\nand of the psychological and functional necessity of Death of the body \u2014  that is one of the ideals of the Yoga, but it can be accomplished only if and when the supramental has driven its roots into Matter. All that has been acting here up to now is an Over
\nmind force which is getting gradually supramentalised in parts \u2014  the utmost that it can do in this respect is to keep death at a
\ndistance and that is what has been done. The absence of death in the Asram for so many years has been due to that. But it is not
\nimpossible \u2014  especially when death is accepted. In S’s case there was a 5 percent chance of his survival on certain conditions,
\nbut he himself knew the difficulty in his case and had prepared himself for his departure from the body.
\n<\/span> <\/p>\n

\n
\n25 March 1935 <\/font> <\/span> <\/p>\n

\n\t <\/p>\n

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

\n  <\/span> <\/p>\n

\nThough you may say that death is possible because illness hasn’t been conquered, I take it as a principle.
\nX <\/i>and my
\nself firmly believe that those whom you have accepted are absolutely immune to death.
\n<\/span> <\/p>\n

\n 
\n <\/span> <\/p>\n

\n\t[Underlining “accepted”:<\/i>] Too comfortable a doctrine. It brings in a very tamasic syllogism. “I am accepted by Sri Aurobindo. I
\nam sure of supramentality and immune from death. Therefore I need not do a damned thing. Supramentality will of itself grow
\nin me and I am already immortal, so I have all time and eternity before me for it to happen
\n\u2014  of itself.” Like that, does it sound
\ntrue? <\/span> <\/p>\n

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

\n\t <\/p>\n

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

\n  <\/span> <\/p>\n

\nHow is one to look at the death of D? Is it a defeat of the
\nhealing force or the absence of receptivity on her side? <\/span> <\/p>\n

\n 
\n <\/span> <\/p>\n

\n\tIt is a defeat of the healing force due to absence of receptivity in
\nthe body to the healing force. <\/span> <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\nI have heard that she had said she would not and could not give
\nup her attachment to X<\/i>. Perhaps her receptivity to Mother’s   <\/span> <\/p>\n

\n <\/p>\n

\n
\nPage \u2013 <\/font>789<\/font><\/span><\/p>\n

\n

\n

\nforce was very little because of this attachment. But whether that should be so little as to lead to the dissolution of the
\nphysical is a question. <\/span> <\/p>\n

\n 
\n <\/span> <\/p>\n

\n\tPerhaps the attachment to X <\/i>was only one side of the same thing
\nthat stood in the way of her receiving. <\/span> <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\nFour or five days ago I felt so strongly that she was to die that
\nI found it difficult to find arguments against it. <\/span> <\/p>\n

\n 
\n <\/span> <\/p>\n

\n\tYes, the chances were all along adverse and at the end it was a
\nfight against the inevitable. <\/span> <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\nToday I had a peculiar feeling \u2014  that nothing dies and that
\nthere is nothing like death; that death is an illusion. “She is” \u2014  that’s the only fact.
\n<\/span> <\/p>\n

\n 
\n <\/span> <\/p>\n

\n\tOf course, that is the real fact \u2014  death is only a shedding of the body, not a cessation of the personal existence. A man is
\nnot dead because he goes into another country and changes his clothes to suit that climate.
\n\t<\/span> <\/p>\n

\n
\n4 October 1936 <\/font> <\/span> <\/p>\n

\n\t <\/p>\n

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

\n  <\/span> <\/p>\n

\nWhat you said about the immunity from death was quite correct. Immunity from death by anything but one’s own will to leave the
\nbody, immunity from illness are things that can be achieved only by a complete change of consciousness which each man has to
\ndevelop in himself, \u2014  there can be no automatic immunity without that achievement. What had been established was a general
\nprotection and a defence against the entry of death while the sadhana was going on
\n\u2014  but this could not be absolute. There
\nhad been since I came here in 1910 and since people began to gather afterwards, only two deaths on the outskirts of the Asram
\n\u2014  one in X<\/i>‘s family (a baby) when they had not yet become resident sadhaks and one of
\nY<\/i>‘s mother who had come for a
\nvisit. But this comparative immunity was broken recently by S’s death and now by D’s. Formerly when there were only thirty
\nor forty sadhaks and there was a universal faith, then without medicines or doctors the Asram was free from illness except for
\n  
\n<\/span> <\/p>\n

\n <\/p>\n

\n
\nPage \u2013 <\/font>790<\/font><\/span><\/p>\n

\n

\npassing colic etc. cured in a day or merely brief fevers. If one had fever, one simply lay down for a day or two and got up
\nwell. Now, since the numbers increased and the struggle with old Nature is on the material plane, illness has increased in
\nfrequency and violence. But if there were the same solid mass of living faith, the old relative immunity might still return. But
\nabsolute immunity can be only by sadhana. <\/span> <\/p>\n

\n
\n5 October 1936
\n<\/font>
\n<\/span> <\/p>\n

\n\t <\/p>\n

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

\n  <\/span> <\/p>\n

\nI have seen your letters to X <\/i>and Y<\/i>. Comparing the latter5<\/font><\/sup>
\nto the one you wrote to me after the death of S,6<\/font><\/sup> I find a lot of difference. Your views have changed immensely. In your
\nletter to me there was a very optimistic, almost a certain tone regarding the conquest of death. Now you say that death is
\npossible because of the lack of “a solid mass of living faith”. <\/span> <\/p>\n

\n 
\n <\/span> <\/p>\n

\n\tIn what does this change of views consist? Did I say that nobody
\ncould die in the Asram? If so, I must have been intoxicated or passing through a temporary aberration.
\n\t<\/span> <\/p>\n

\nAs for the conquest of death, it is only one of the sequelae of supramentalisation
\n\u2014  and I am not aware that I have for
\nsworn my views about the supramental descent. But I never said or thought that the supramental descent would automatically
\nmake everybody immortal. The supramental descent can only make the best conditions for anybody who can open to it then
\nor thereafter attaining to the supramental consciousness and its consequences. But it would not dispense with the necessity of
\nsadhana. If it did, the logical consequence would be that the whole earth, men, dogs and worms, would suddenly wake up
\nto find themselves supramental. There would be no need of an Asram or of Yoga.
\n<\/span> <\/p>\n

\nBut my letters to X <\/i>and Y <\/i>had nothing to do with the conquest of death
\n\u2014  they had to do with the conditions of the
\nsadhana in the Asram. Surely I never wrote that death and illness could not happen in the Asram which was the point
\nY <\/i>was
\n\t\t\t<\/span> <\/p>\n

\n <\/p>\n

\n
\n5 The letter of 5 October 1936 on pages 790 \u00ad 91. \u2014  Ed.<\/i>
\n<\/font><\/span><\/p>\n

\n
\n6 The letter of 25 March 1935 on pages 788 \u00ad 89.
\n\u2014  Ed.<\/i>
\n  
\n<\/font> <\/span> <\/p>\n

\n <\/p>\n

\n
\nPage \u2013 <\/font>791<\/font><\/span><\/p>\n

\n

\n

refuting and on which I confirmed him. <\/span> <\/p>\n

\n

 <\/p>\n

\nA “solid mass of living faith” [p. 791<\/i>]! Surely that is a very
\nHimalayan condition you impose. Do you expect old tottering Z <\/i>to have that solid mass in his liquid body?
\n<\/span>
\n<\/p>\n

\n 
\n <\/span> <\/p>\n

\n\tZ <\/span> <\/i>was not old and tottering when he came and if he had kept the living faith he would not have been tottering now.
\n\t\t\t<\/span> <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\nOr do you hope that by his sadhana he will have the conquest?
\n<\/span> <\/p>\n

\n 
\n <\/span> <\/p>\n

\n\tThat depends on whether he is still alive and not quite liquefied
\nand able to open physically when the conditions change. <\/span> <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\nYour letter to Y
\n<\/i>has struck terror into many hearts, I am afraid,
\nand henceforth we shall look upon death as quite a possibility, though not as common as it is outside.
\n<\/span> <\/p>\n

\n 
\n <\/span> <\/p>\n

\n\tThe terror was there before. It came with the death of D and the madness of A
\n<\/i>and not as the result of my letter. It was rushing
\nat the Mother from most of the sadhaks at Pranam every day. <\/span> <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\nThe physical condition of many sadhaks and sadhikas is not
\ncheering in the least \u2014 <\/span> <\/p>\n

\n 
\n <\/span> <\/p>\n

\n\tFar from it.
\n\t\t\t<\/span> <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\nYou know best about the condition of their sadhana. <\/span> <\/p>\n

\n 
\n <\/span> <\/p>\n

\n\tVery shaky, many of them.
\n\t\t\t<\/span> <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\nHowever, it is my impression that you have changed your front.
\n<\/span> <\/p>\n

\n 
\n <\/span> <\/p>\n

\n\tIt is not mine. <\/span> <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\nFormerly I thought you said \u2014  faith or no faith, sadhana or no
\nsadhana, you were conquering death, disease, i.e. everything depended on your success; now it seems a lot depends on us
\npoor folks, in this vital matter.  
\n<\/span> <\/p>\n

\n <\/p>\n

\n
\nPage \u2013 <\/font>792<\/font><\/span><\/p>\n

\n

\n[Underlining “this vital matter”:<\/i>] Why vital? What is vital is the supramental change of consciousness
\n\u2014  conquest of death
\nis something minor and, as I have always said, the last physical result of it,
\nnot the first result of all or the most important \u2014
\na thing to be added to complete the whole, not the one thing needed and essential. To put it first is to reverse all spiritual
\nvalues \u2014  it would mean that the seeker was actuated not by any high spiritual aim but by a vital clinging to life or a selfish and
\ntimid seeking for the security of the body \u2014  such a spirit could not bring the supramental change.
\n<\/span> <\/p>\n

\nCertainly, everything depends on my success. The only thing that could prevent it, so far as I can see, would be my own death
\nor the Mother’s. But did you imagine that that [my success<\/i>] would mean the cessation of death on this planet, and that
\nsadhana would cease to be necessary for anybody? <\/span> <\/p>\n

\n
\n9 October 1936
\n<\/font>
\n<\/span> <\/p>\n

\n\t <\/p>\n

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

\n  <\/span> <\/p>\n

\nWhat is the difference between a death in the Ashram and
\na death outside? Does one get more benefit in the form of development of the mental, vital etc. on their own planes so
\nthat one may get a better new birth? <\/span> <\/p>\n

\n 
\n <\/span> <\/p>\n

\n\tI am not aware of any “development” of the mental etc. in their
\nplanes; the development takes place on earth. The mental and other planes are not evolutionary.
\n\t<\/span> <\/p>\n

\nThe one who dies here is assisted in his passage to the psychic world and helped in his future evolution towards the Divine.
\n<\/span> <\/p>\n

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

\n 
\n\t\t\t<\/span> <\/p>\n

\n
\nPage \u2013 <\/font>793<\/font><\/span><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/table>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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