{"id":1651,"date":"2013-07-13T01:36:15","date_gmt":"2013-07-13T01:36:15","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/localhost\/?p=1651"},"modified":"2013-07-13T01:36:15","modified_gmt":"2013-07-13T01:36:15","slug":"29-general-remarks-on-the-sadhana-of-the-1930s-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\/29-general-remarks-on-the-sadhana-of-the-1930s-vol-35-letters-on-himself-and-the-ashram","title":{"rendered":"-29_General Remarks on the Sadhana of the 1930s.htm"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n\n\n
\n

\n\t
\n\tGeneral Remarks <\/font><\/b>
\n\t<\/span> <\/p>\n

\n
\non the Sadhana of the 1930s <\/font><\/b>
\n<\/span> <\/p>\n

\n
\n 
\n<\/b>
\n<\/span> <\/p>\n

\n“A Far Greater Truth”
\n<\/b>
\n\t\t\t<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n\tIn a letter dated November 1928, you speak of “a far greater
\nTruth than any yet realised on the earth”. Does this mean that the realisation of the Divine which this world is witnessing at
\npresent in the person of Sri Aurobindo eclipses the Light of all the previous Divine Descents of which humanity is aware?
\nOr, is it to be construed as meaning that Sri Aurobindo does not call himself the Avatar but the Divine, having realised the
\nDivine on earth? <\/span> <\/p>\n

\n\t 
\n <\/span> <\/p>\n

\n\t“A far greater Truth” has nothing to do with Avatarhood or
\nanything of the kind. I meant by it the descent of the supramental Consciousness upon earth; all truths below the supramental
\n(even that of the highest spiritual on the mental plane, which is the highest that has yet manifested) are either partial or relative
\nor otherwise deficient and unable to transform the earthly life, they can only at most modify and influence it. The supermind
\nis the last Truth-consciousness of which the ancient seers spoke; there have been glimpses of it till now, sometimes an indirect
\ninfluence or pressure, but it has not been brought down into the consciousness of the earth and fixed there. To bring it down is
\nthe aim of our Yoga. <\/span> <\/p>\n

\n
\n25 April 1930
\n<\/font>
\n<\/span> <\/p>\n

\n\t <\/p>\n

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

\n\t  <\/span> <\/p>\n

\n\tIn spite of his very deep respect for Sri Aurobindo, X <\/i>holds the
\nview that the earth did previously attain to the Supramental Consciousness. We reject any such suggestion.
\n\t<\/span> <\/p>\n

\n 
\n <\/span> <\/p>\n

\n\tWrite to them that it is better not to enter into sterile intellectual discussions. The intellectual mind cannot even realise what the
\nsupermind is; what use, then, can there be in allowing it to discuss what it does not know? It is not by reasoning, but by
\nconstant experience, growth of consciousness and widening into   <\/span> <\/p>\n

\n <\/p>\n

\n
\nPage \u2013 <\/font>277<\/font><\/span><\/p>\n

\n

\n

\nthe Light that one can reach those higher levels of consciousness above the intellect from which one can begin to look up to the
\nDivine Gnosis. These levels are not yet the supermind, but they can receive something of its knowledge.
\n<\/span> <\/p>\n

\nAs to X<\/i>‘s statement I do not catch what he means by previously<\/i>, unless he means that the Vedic Rishis attained to the
\nsupermind for the Earth. But that is precisely what they failed to do or perhaps did not even attempt. They tried to rise individually to the supramental plane, but they did not bring it down and make it a permanent part of the earth consciousness. Even
\nthere are verses of the Upanishad in which it is hinted that it is impossible to pass through the gates of the Sun (the symbol of
\nSupermind) and yet retain an earthly body. It was because of this failure that the spiritual effort of India culminated in Mayavada.
\nOur Yoga is a double movement of ascent and descent; one rises to higher and higher levels of consciousness, but at the same
\ntime one brings down their power not only into mind and life, but in the end even into the body. And the highest of these levels,
\nthe one at which it aims is the supermind. Only when that can be brought down is a divine transformation possible in the earth
\nconsciousness. <\/span> <\/p>\n

\n
\n5 May 1930
\n<\/font>
\n<\/span> <\/p>\n

\n 
\n<\/span> <\/p>\n

\nSadhana for the Earth Consciousness
\n<\/b>
\n\t\t\t<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n\tDoes not the “earth consciousness” include all humanity? And
\nalso animals, the vegetable and mineral kingdoms, etc.? Will the higher consciousness be established only in a few people?
\n\t\t\t<\/span> <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n\tYes, all that is the earth consciousness \u2014  mineral = matter, vegetable = the vital-physical creation, animal = the vital creation,
\nman = the mental creation. Into the earth consciousness so limited to mind, vital, matter has to come the supramental creation.
\nNecessarily at first <\/i>it cannot be in a great number \u2014  but even if it is only in a few at first, that does not mean that it will have
\nno effect on the rest or will not change the whole balance of the earth-nature.
\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 <\/p>\n

\n
\nPage \u2013 <\/font>278<\/font><\/span><\/p>\n

\n

\n

\n\tWhat is the earth consciousness? Is it Cosmic Matter? Or only this globe?
\n\t<\/span> <\/p>\n

\n 
\n <\/span> <\/p>\n

\n\tThe consciousness of this Earth alone. There is a separate global consciousness of the earth (as of other worlds) which evolves
\nwith the evolution of life on the planet. <\/span> <\/p>\n

\n
\n29 July 1933
\n<\/font>
\n<\/span> <\/p>\n

\n\t <\/p>\n

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

\n\t  <\/span> <\/p>\n

\n\tIs the establishment of the supramental activity in the earth
\nconsciousness a separate process from its establishment in individuals?
\n<\/span> <\/p>\n

\n 
\n <\/span> <\/p>\n

\n\tIt is first through the individual that it becomes part of the earth consciousness and afterwards it spreads from the first centres
\nand takes up more and more of the global consciousness till it becomes an established force there.
\n\t<\/span> <\/p>\n

\n
\n29 July 1933 <\/font> <\/span> <\/p>\n

\n\t <\/p>\n

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

\n\t  <\/span> <\/p>\n

\n\tThe spiritual work of Krishna, Ramakrishna, Vivekananda and others achieved nothing permanent.
\n\t<\/span> <\/p>\n

\n 
\n <\/span> <\/p>\n

\n\tWhose work? So far as bringing in spiritual forces goes, I suppose their work was fairly successful.
\n\t<\/span> <\/p>\n

\nI am not aware that Ramakrishna or any other of those you speak of wanted to change the earth consciousness
\n\u2014  they were
\nconcerned to raise people out of it, not to bring down anything into it, except spiritual force for personal salvation.
\n\t\t\t<\/span> <\/p>\n

\n <\/p>\n

\n\tAre we to expect the same results for us \u2014  unsteadiness, fall and fiasco?
\n\t\t\t<\/span> <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n\tIt does not matter very much what you expect. It depends on whether the greater consciousness can be brought down and
\nfixed here (as mind fixed itself in the vital life of earth) or not. <\/span> <\/p>\n

\n
\n4 January 1934
\n<\/font>
\n<\/span> <\/p>\n

\n\t <\/p>\n

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

\n\t  <\/span> <\/p>\n

\n\tIt seems to me that the purpose of the supramental yoga is
\nto dissipate ignorance from the entire cosmos and remove the   <\/span> <\/p>\n

\n <\/p>\n

\n
\nPage \u2013 <\/font>279<\/font><\/span><\/p>\n

\n

\n

\n

\ndarkness of earthly nature, in order to make the divine life possible.
\n<\/span> <\/p>\n

\n 
\n <\/span> <\/p>\n

\n\tNot from the entire cosmos \u2014  from the earth consciousness, \u2014 because the earth is the place of evolution.
\n\t\t\t<\/span> <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n\tThrough the descent and manifestation of the supermind, a new race will be born
\n\u2014  a new creation. But what exactly will
\nthis new creation be? <\/span> <\/p>\n

\n\t 
\n <\/span> <\/p>\n

\n\tThe supramental being on earth, as man is the mental being, the
\nanimal the vital etc. <\/span> <\/p>\n

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

\n\t <\/p>\n

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

\n\t  <\/span> <\/p>\n

\n\tWhen I hear people talking about the supramental descent
\nit makes me somewhat sceptical. They expect that when the descent happens everything will soon be spiritualised and even
\nin the most outward political life all that is now wrong will immediately be set right. Such expectations create a great
\ncuriosity and flutter. <\/span> <\/p>\n

\n\t 
\n <\/span> <\/p>\n

\n\tAll that is absurd. The descent of the supramental means only
\nthat the Power will be there in the earth consciousness as a living force just as the thinking mental and the higher mental
\nare already there. But an animal cannot take advantage of the presence of the thinking mental Power or an undeveloped man of
\nthe presence of the higher mental Power \u2014  so too everybody will not be able to take advantage of the presence of the supramental
\nPower. I have also often enough said that it will be at first for the few, not for the whole earth,
\n\u2014  only there will be a growing
\ninfluence of it on the earth life. <\/span> <\/p>\n

\n
\n15 December 1934
\n<\/font>
\n<\/span> <\/p>\n

\n\t <\/p>\n

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

\n\t  <\/span> <\/p>\n

\n\tDo you seriously want me to swallow this mountainous
\nabsurdity that any man can be made a Krishna or a Sri Aurobindo, any woman a Mother, any
\nX <\/i>a Tyagaraj, any Y <\/i>a
\nTansen, any Z <\/i>a Shakespeare, any A <\/i>a Raphael, any B <\/i>a Vyasa or a Valmiki? . . .
\n\t<\/span> <\/p>\n

\n 
\n <\/span> <\/p>\n

\n\tI have never said any or all of these things. These egoistic terms  
\n\t<\/span> <\/p>\n

\n <\/p>\n

\n
\nPage \u2013 <\/font>280<\/font><\/span><\/p>\n

\n

\n

\n\tare not those in which I think any more than these egoistic ambitions are those in which my vital moves. It is a higher
\nTruth I seek, whether it makes men greater or not is not the question but whether it will give them truth and peace and light
\nto live in and make life something better than a struggle with ignorance and falsehood and pain and strife. Then even if they
\nare less great than the men of the past, my object will have been achieved. For me mental conceptions cannot be the end of all
\nthings. I know that the supermind is a truth.
\n\t\t\t<\/span> <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n\tYou really want me to swallow this even if I suffocate? Your
\nlogical proposition is “Everything is possible”, but this makes all human experience look so hopeless, so childish and so
\nfrightening. It is difficult to believe that any amount of the divine force will turn a
\nC <\/i>into a Sri Aurobindo or a D <\/i>into a
\nSri Mira. I am not joking. I mean it. <\/span> <\/p>\n

\n\t 
\n <\/span> <\/p>\n

\n\tYou do not seem to have followed the sense of my reasoning very well \u2014  perhaps because I clothe my arguments with E <\/i>in a tone of humour.1<\/font><\/sup> You have taken my humorous comment about Muthu with a portentous seriousness \u2014  if you really are not joking: but I suppose you are in spite of your
\ndisclaimer. <\/span> <\/p>\n

\nIt is not for personal greatness that I am seeking to bring
\ndown the supermind. I care nothing for greatness or littleness in the human sense. I am seeking to bring some principle of inner
\nTruth, Light, Harmony, Peace into the earth consciousness \u2014  I see it above and know what it is
\n\u2014  I feel it overgleaming my
\nconsciousness from above and I am seeking to make it possible for it to take up the whole being into its own native power,
\ninstead of the nature of man continuing to remain in half-light, half-darkness. I believe the descent of this Truth opening the
\nway to a development of divine consciousness here to be the final sense of the earth-evolution. If greater men than myself have not
\nhad this vision and this ideal before them, that is no reason why I should not follow my Truth-sense and Truth-vision. If human
\n<\/span> <\/p>\n

\n <\/p>\n

\n
\n1 See the letters of 9 and 10 February 1935 on pages 402 \u00ad 10. \u2014  Ed.<\/i>  
\n<\/font> <\/span> <\/p>\n

\n <\/p>\n

\n
\nPage \u2013 <\/font>281<\/font><\/span><\/p>\n

\n

\n\treason regards me as a fool for trying to do what Krishna did not try, I do not in the least care. There is no question of
\nC <\/i>or D<\/i>
\nor anybody else in that. It is a question between the Divine and myself \u2014  whether it is the Divine Will or not, whether I am sent
\nto bring that down or open the way for its descent or at least make it more possible or not. Let all men jeer at me if they will
\nor all Hell fall upon me if it will for my presumption, \u2014  I go on till I conquer or perish. This is the spirit in which I seek the
\nsupermind, no hunting for greatness for myself or others. (This is not to be circulated.)
\n\t<\/span> <\/p>\n

\n
\n10 February 1935 <\/font> <\/span> <\/p>\n

\n\t <\/p>\n

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

\n\t  <\/span> <\/p>\n

\n\tYour “superman” reminds me of an interesting debate we had. Some people ridicule us for our aspiration after super
\nmanhood. They say it is not a sober aspiration. We don’t even have the divine realisation, and we want the supramental! I
\nreplied that it is Sri Aurobindo who wants the supermind for us.
\n<\/span> <\/p>\n

\n 
\n <\/span> <\/p>\n

\n\tBy divine realisation is meant the spiritual realisation \u2014  the realisation of Self, Bhagavan or Brahman on the mental-spiritual
\nor else the overmental plane. That is a thing (at any rate the mental-spiritual) which thousands have done. So it is obviously
\neasier to do than the supramental. Also nobody can have the supramental realisation who has not had the spiritual. So far
\nyour opponent is right. <\/span> <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n\tThey say that one must see what one is aspiring for. When
\nour movements and consciousness are as externalised as they are, what is the point of aspiring for the Supermind? But I
\ndon’t see why I shouldn’t aspire for the highest, in spite of my weaknesses. We rely on the Divine Grace. It is the central
\nsincerity that is needed. <\/span> <\/p>\n

\n\t 
\n <\/span> <\/p>\n

\n\tIt is true that neither can be got in any effective way unless the
\nwhole being is turned towards it \u2014  unless there is a real and very serious spirit and dynamic reality of sadhana. So far you
\nare right and the opponent also is right.
\n<\/span> <\/p>\n

\nIt is true that I want the supramental not for myself but for
\n  
\n<\/span> <\/p>\n

\n <\/p>\n

\n
\nPage \u2013 <\/font>282<\/font><\/span><\/p>\n

\n

\n\tthe earth and souls born on the earth, and certainly therefore I cannot object if anybody wants the supramental. But there are
\nthe conditions. He must want the Divine Will first and the soul’s surrender and the spiritual realisation (through works, bhakti,
\nknowledge, self-perfection) on the way. So there everybody is right.
\n\t\t\t<\/span> <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n\tAny flaws in my argument? <\/span> <\/p>\n

\n\t 
\n <\/span> <\/p>\n

\n\tThe central sincerity is the first thing and sufficient for an aspiration to be entertained, \u2014  a total sincerity is needed for the aspiration to be fulfilled. Amen!
\n\t<\/span> <\/p>\n

\n
\n15 April 1935 <\/font> <\/span> <\/p>\n

\n\t <\/p>\n

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

\n\t  <\/span> <\/p>\n

\n\tIf it is reasonable for those who follow other gurus to expect divine realisation
\n\u2014  that is, union with the spiritual conscious
\nness \u2014  is it not reasonable for us here to expect something beyond that
\n\u2014  assuming you intend to give it and we truly
\nfollow your lead? The answer to this depends, I believe, on whether it is your intention to give the supramental for others
\nafter achieving it yourself. <\/span> <\/p>\n

\n\t 
\n <\/span> <\/p>\n

\n\tI have no intention of achieving the supramental for myself only
\n\u2014  I am not doing anything for myself, as I have no personal need of anything, neither of salvation (Moksha) nor supramentalisation. If I am seeking after supramentalisation, it is because it is a thing that has to be done for the earth consciousness
\nand if it is not done in myself, it cannot be done in others. My supramentalisation is only a key for opening the gates of the
\nsupramental to the earth consciousness; done for its own sake, it would be perfectly futile. But it does not follow either that if or
\nwhen I become supramental, everybody will become supramental. Others can so become who are ready for it, when they are
\nready for it \u2014  though of course the achievement in myself will be to them a great help towards it. It is therefore quite legitimate to
\nhave the aspiration for it \u2014  provided (1) one does not make too personal or egoistic an affair of it turning it into a Nietzschean
\nor other ambition to be a superman, (2) one is ready to undergo   <\/span> <\/p>\n

\n <\/p>\n

\n
\nPage \u2013 <\/font>283<\/font><\/span><\/p>\n

\n

\n

\nthe conditions and stages needed for the achievement, (3) one is sincere and regards it as part of the seeking for the Divine and
\na consequent culmination of the divine Will in one and insists on no more than the fulfilment of that Will whatever it may be,
\npsychisation, spiritualisation or supramentalisation. It should be regarded as the fulfilment of God’s working in the world, not as
\na personal chance or achievement. <\/span> <\/p>\n

\n
\n20 April 1935
\n<\/font>
\n<\/span> <\/p>\n

\n\t <\/p>\n

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

\n\t  <\/span> <\/p>\n

\n\tI have been pondering over your letter [pp. 346 \u00ad 47<\/i>]. I trust I
\nhave grown wiser, not less so as a result of the irony in your letter in regard to us mental beings. But you have expressed
\nyourself, willy-nilly, in the language which the mental has invented after all. So you are in no less of a fix than I.
\n\t<\/span> <\/p>\n

\n 
\n <\/span> <\/p>\n

\n\tWhy should I be in a fix for that? I use the language of the mind because there is no other which human beings can understand,
\n\u2014  even though most of them understand it badly. If I were to use a supramental language like Joyce, you would not even have the
\nillusion of understanding it; so, not being an Irishman, I don’t make the attempt. But of course anyone who wants to change
\nearth-nature must first accept it in order to change it. To quote from an unpublished poem of my own:
\n\t\t\t<\/span> <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\nHe who would bring the heavens here<\/span><\/p>\n

\nMust descend himself into clay
\n<\/span> <\/p>\n

\nAnd the burden of earthly nature bear<\/span><\/p>\n

\nAnd tread the dolorous way.2<\/font><\/sup>
\n<\/span> <\/p>\n

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

\n\t <\/p>\n

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

\n\t  <\/span> <\/p>\n

\n\tWould you say something in brief about how the Supermind works on the earth consciousness in order to transform it?
\n\t<\/span> <\/p>\n

\n 
\n <\/span> <\/p>\n

\n\tNo. I have never written on that except in Arya <\/i>and do not propose to start now. It would be mere words to the mind which
\nwould be likely to make its own wrong constructions about it.
\n<\/span> <\/p>\n

\n <\/p>\n

\n
\n2 Lines from “A God’s Labour”, in
\n<\/i>Collected Poems, volume 2 of <\/i>T<\/font>HE<\/font> C<\/font>OMPLETE<\/font>
\nW<\/font>ORKS OF<\/font> S<\/font>RI<\/font> A<\/font>UROBINDO<\/font>, p. 534. \u2014  Ed.<\/i>  
\n<\/font>
\n<\/span> <\/p>\n

\n <\/p>\n

\n
\nPage \u2013 <\/font>284<\/font><\/span><\/p>\n

\n

\n\tThe sadhak should first get the higher consciousness down and know something by experience of the higher planes before trying
\nto know what is the Supermind. <\/span> <\/p>\n

\n
\n10 January 1936
\n<\/font>
\n<\/span> <\/p>\n

\n\t <\/p>\n

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

\n\t  <\/span> <\/p>\n

\n\tSomewhere you said that it would be sufficient for most sadhaks to become psychicised. This would mean that only a very few will be able to reach the Intuition and fewer still the
\nOvermind. If this is so, who will be able to reach the Supermind and how will it be established in the earth consciousness?
\n\t<\/span> <\/p>\n

\n 
\n <\/span> <\/p>\n

\n\tWell, what I meant is that taking in view their present nature the psychisation would be a big change that is quite enough
\nfor them to concentrate on. To aim at the Intuition plane or Overmind now would be useless. But the result of psychisation
\nof the whole nature is not small; it can bring about or embrace most of what have been celebrated as the great spiritual realisations. Only these are got by a sort of reflection in the human consciousness (mind, life, body), not by a
\npermanent <\/i>ascension
\nof the consciousness to the highest planes or a permanent <\/i>descent from above. There are upgoings and downflowings from there
\nonly. If that much is gained one may think of the rest afterwards. On the other hand there are others in whom there is the clear
\npossibility of rising above after a sufficient psychisation (when completed) of the being and then these two things go on together
\n\u2014  psychisation and spiritualisation of the being, the latter process opening up the highest planes entirely.
\n\t<\/span> <\/p>\n

\n
\n29 September 1936 <\/font> <\/span> <\/p>\n

\n\t <\/p>\n

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

\n\t  <\/span> <\/p>\n

\n\tIf the preparatory work for the supramental descent into the earth consciousness goes on so slowly, will it not be years
\nbefore the earth consciousness is wholly transformed? <\/span> <\/p>\n

\n\t 
\n <\/span> <\/p>\n

\n\tThere is no proposal to transform the whole earth consciousness
\n\u2014  it is simply to introduce the supramental principle there which will transform those who can receive and embody it.
\n\t<\/span> <\/p>\n

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

\n <\/p>\n

\n
\nPage \u2013 <\/font>285<\/font><\/span><\/p>\n

\n

\n

\n\t
\n\tDescent and the Supramental Yoga <\/b>
\n\t\t\t<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n\tWas there not anything like descents of peace in Ramakrishna
\nor Chaitanya? It seems like they had intense realisations and visions and depths of Samadhi, but we do not read of their
\nhaving descents of peace. Perhaps their realisations brought with them the peace and Light during Samadhi or intense
\nemotional moments, so that it was not particularly noted \u2014 and for supporting and stabilising all that, there must have
\nbeen a basis of calm and peace. <\/span> <\/p>\n

\n\t 
\n <\/span> <\/p>\n

\n\tIt happens that people may get the descent without noticing
\nthat it is a descent because they feel the result only. The ordinary Yoga does not go beyond the spiritual mind
\n\u2014  people feel at
\nthe top of the head the joining with the Brahman, but they are not aware of a consciousness above the head. In the same
\nway in the ordinary Yoga one feels the ascent of the awakened inner consciousness (Kundalini) to the
\nbrahmarandhra <\/i>where
\nthe Prakriti joins the Brahman-consciousness, but they do not feel the descent. Some may have had these things, but I don’t
\nknow that they understood their nature, principle or place in a complete sadhana. At least I never heard of these things from
\nothers before I found them out in my own experience. The reason is that the old Yogins when they went above the spiritual mind
\npassed into samadhi, which means that they did not attempt to be conscious in these higher planes
\n\u2014  their aim being to pass
\naway into the Superconscient and not to bring the Superconscient into the waking consciousness, which is that of my Yoga.
\n\t<\/span> <\/p>\n

\n
\n26 July 1935 <\/font> <\/span> <\/p>\n

\n\t <\/p>\n

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

\n\t  <\/span> <\/p>\n

\n\tWe do not find the process of descent elsewhere \u2014  not in Patanjali or Sankhya or Hathayoga, not even in the Upanishads that I have read. In the Tantras there is the rising of the Kundalini but not the descent of peace or force. Why then do
\npeople not recognise the newness of your Yoga? <\/span> <\/p>\n

\n\t 
\n <\/span> <\/p>\n

\n\tThey will perhaps say that there are “equivalents” in the old
\nthings or if the descent is not spoken of as descent it still happens
\n\t\t\t<\/span><\/p>\n

\n <\/p>\n

\n
\nPage \u2013 <\/font>286<\/font><\/span><\/p>\n

\n

\n\tin the old Yogas.
\n<\/span> <\/p>\n

\n
\n21 March 1936 <\/font> <\/span> <\/p>\n

\n\t <\/p>\n

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

\n\t  <\/span> <\/p>\n

\n\tIn other Yogas does the silence descend <\/i>or is it rather the mind that goes into the silence? It does not seem that there
\nis anything like a process of descent in Rajayoga or Vedantic Jnanayoga. Moreover, in Rajayoga there is nowhere any
\nmention of silence in the waking consciousness \u2014  always it is a question of going into Samadhi. In Jnanayoga, however, it
\ndoes seem as though the waking state becomes illumined and
\nfull of peace and brahmānanda<\/i>. <\/span> <\/p>\n

\n\t 
\n <\/span> <\/p>\n

\n\tI never heard of silence descending in other Yogas
\n\u2014  the mind
\ngoes into silence. Since however I have been writing of ascent and descent, I have been told from several quarters that there is
\nnothing new in this Yoga \u2014  so I am wondering whether people were not getting ascents and descents without knowing it! or at
\nleast without noticing the process. It is like the rising above the head and taking the station there
\n\u2014  which I and others have experienced in this Yoga. When I spoke of it first, people stared and thought I was talking nonsense. Wideness must have been felt in
\nthe old Yogas because otherwise one could not feel the universe in oneself or be free from the body consciousness or unite with
\nthe Anantam Brahman. But generally as in Tantrik Yoga one spoke of the consciousness rising to the Brahmarandhra, top
\nof the head, as the summit. Rajayoga of course lays stress on Samadhi as the means of the highest experience. But obviously
\nif one has not the Brahmi sthiti in the waking state, there is no completeness in the realisation. The Gita distinctly speaks of being
\n\tsamāhita <\/i>(which is equivalent to being in samadhi) and
\nthe Brahmi sthiti as a waking state in which one lives and does all actions.
\n\t<\/span> <\/p>\n

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

\n\t <\/p>\n

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

\n\t  <\/span> <\/p>\n

\n\tSuch a concrete process of ascent and descent could not have escaped notice if other Yogis had it. They do mention a rising
\nof Kundalini to the Brahmarandhra. Why then do they not  <\/i>
\nmention a coming down of, say, a current of brahmānanda<\/i>   <\/span> <\/p>\n

\n <\/p>\n

\n
\nPage \u2013 <\/font>287<\/font><\/span><\/p>\n

\n

\n

\nor of light from the Brahmarandhra into the Kundalini to the Muladhara? If we suppose they did not mention it because it
\nwas a secret, then how could they mention the rising up of the Kundalini? If there is nothing new in this Yoga, those who
\nbelieve so should quote something which is similar to descent \u2014  either in Patanjali or the
\nHathayoga Pradipika <\/i>or in the
\nPanchadashi <\/i>and other Vedantic books wherein experiences are mentioned.
\n<\/span> <\/p>\n

\n 
\n <\/span> <\/p>\n

\n\tSo I have always thought. I explain this absence of the descent experiences myself by the old Yogas having been mainly confined
\nto the psycho-spiritual-occult range of experience \u2014  in which the higher experiences come into the still mind or the concentrated heart by a sort of filtration or reflection \u2014  the field of this experience being from the Brahmarandhra downward. People
\nwent above this only in samadhi or in a condition of static mukti without any dynamic descent. All that was dynamic took place
\nin the region of the spiritualised mental and vital-physical consciousness. In this Yoga the consciousness (after the lower field
\nhas been prepared by a certain amount of psycho-spiritual-occult experience) is drawn upwards above the Brahmarandhra to
\nranges above belonging to the spiritual consciousness proper and instead of merely receiving from there has to live there and from
\nthere change the lower consciousness altogether. For there is a dynamism proper to the spiritual consciousness whose nature is
\nLight, Power, Ananda, Peace, Knowledge, infinite Wideness and that must be possessed and descend into the whole being. Otherwise one can get mukti but not perfection or transformation (except a relative psycho-spiritual change). But if I say that, there
\nwill be a general howl against the unpardonable presumption of claiming to have a knowledge not possessed by the ancient saints
\nand sages and pretending to transcend them. In that connection I may say that in the Upanishads (notably the Taittiriya) there are
\nsome indications of these higher planes and their nature and the possibility of gathering up the whole consciousness and rising
\ninto them. But this was forgotten afterwards and people spoke only of the buddhi as the highest thing with the Purusha or Self
\njust above, but there was no clear idea of these higher planes.   <\/span> <\/p>\n

\n <\/p>\n

\n
\nPage \u2013 <\/font>288<\/font><\/span><\/p>\n

\n

\n Ergo, ascent possibly to unknown and ineffable heavenly regions in samadhi, but no descent possible
\n\u2014  therefore no resource, no
\npossibility of transformation here, only escape from life and mukti in Goloka, Brahmaloka, Shivaloka or the Absolute.
\n\t<\/span> <\/p>\n

\n 
\n <\/span> <\/p>\n

\n\t
\n\t11 June 1936 <\/font> <\/span> <\/p>\n

\n\t <\/p>\n

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

\n\t  <\/span> <\/p>\n

\n\tWhat good is the dynamic descent if it needs years and years merely to touch the heart centre? What exactly is this descent?
\n\t<\/span> <\/p>\n

\n 
\n <\/span> <\/p>\n

\n\tIt is a thing which is new and has to be worked out by this Yoga.
\n\t<\/span> <\/p>\n

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

\n\t 
\n<\/span> <\/p>\n

\nThe Supramental Yoga and Humanity
\n<\/b>
\n<\/span> <\/p>\n

\n 
\n <\/span> <\/p>\n

\n\tI can say little about the method he [Krishnaprem<\/i>] speaks of for getting rid of dead concepts. Each mind has its own way of moving. My own has been a sort of readjustment or rectification of positions and I should rather call it discrimination accompanied
\nby a rearrangement of intuitions. At one time I had given much too big a place to “humanity” in my scheme of things with a
\nnumber of ideas attached to that exaggeration which needed to be put right. But the change did not come by doubt about what
\nI had conceived before, but by a new light on things in which “humanity” automatically stepped down and got into its right
\nplace and all the rest rearranged itself in consequence. But all that is probably because I am constitutionally lazy (in spite of
\nmy present feats of correspondence) and prefer the easiest and most automatic method possible. I have a suspicion however
\nthat Krishnaprem’s method is essentially the same as mine, only he does it in a more diligent and conscientious spirit. For his
\nremark about the concepts as flags and not the means of advance seems to indicate that.
\n\t<\/span> <\/p>\n

\n
\n26 October 1934
\n<\/font>
\n<\/span> <\/p>\n

\n\t <\/p>\n

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

\n\t 
\n <\/span> <\/p>\n

\n\tI certainly hope to bring down an effective power of the Truth which will replace eventually the Falsehood that has governed
\nthe minds and hearts of men for so long. The liberation of a few   <\/span> <\/p>\n

\n <\/p>\n

\n
\nPage \u2013 <\/font>289<\/font><\/span><\/p>\n

\n

\n

individuals is a thing that is always possible and has always been done \u2014  but, to my seeing, it cannot be the sole aim of existence.
\nWhatever the struggles and sufferings and blunders of humanity, there is still in it an urge towards the Light, an impulse towards
\na greater Truth not only of the soul but the life. If it has not been done yet, it is surely because those who reached the Light and the
\ngreater Truth, rested there and saw in it more a means of escape for the soul than a means of transformation for the life. The
\nliberation of the spirit is necessary, nothing can be done without it \u2014  but the transformation is also possible.
\n<\/span> <\/p>\n

\n
\n26 January 1935 <\/font> <\/span> <\/p>\n

\n\t <\/p>\n

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

\n\t  <\/span> <\/p>\n

\n\tI am disgusted with the world and would have preferred to go away from it to some subtler existence had it not been for
\nyour programme of changing the world and bringing some better things into it. But does the world want to change and
\nbuy your wares at the heavy cost of giving up all it is and has and does?
\n<\/span> <\/p>\n

\n 
\n <\/span> <\/p>\n

\n\tIt wants and it does not want something that it has not got. All that the supramental could give, the inner mind of the world
\nwould like to have, but its outer mind, its vital and physical do not like to pay the price. But after all I am not trying to change
\nthe world all at once but only to bring down centrally something into it it has not yet, a new consciousness and power.
\n\t<\/span> <\/p>\n

\n
\n31 July 1935 <\/font> <\/span> <\/p>\n

\n\t <\/p>\n

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

\n\t  <\/span> <\/p>\n

\n\tIt seems that wherever one turns one sees the same humanity \u2014  with all its ignorance and incapacity.
\n\t<\/span> <\/p>\n

\n 
\n <\/span> <\/p>\n

\n\tOf course. That’s what I have been telling you all along. It is not without reason that I am eager to see something better in this
\nwell-meaning but woe-begone planet. <\/span> <\/p>\n

\n
\n3 August 1935
\n<\/font>
\n<\/span> <\/p>\n

\n\t <\/p>\n

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

\n\t    <\/span> <\/p>\n

\n\tBut you are surely mistaken in thinking that I said that we work
\nspiritually for the relief of the poor. I have never done that. My work is not to intervene in social matters within the frame of the
\n  
\n<\/span> <\/p>\n

\n <\/p>\n

\n
\nPage \u2013 <\/font>290<\/font><\/span><\/p>\n

\n

\n present humanity but to bring down a higher spiritual light and power of a higher character which will make a radical change
\nin the earth consciousness. <\/span> <\/p>\n

\n
\n22 December 1936
\n<\/font>
\n<\/span> <\/p>\n

\n 
\n<\/span> <\/p>\n

\nPhysical Transformation
\n<\/b>
\n\t<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n\tYou have written that particular creations each have a beginning and an end. Will there be an end to this creation even after you manifest the Divine in the physical?
\n\t<\/span> <\/p>\n

\n 
\n <\/span> <\/p>\n

\n\tThat is not a question of any importance, since the earth has millions of years of life before it and, if the Divine creation
\nbegins, it will develop at that time and itself decide the question.
\n\t<\/span> <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n\tWill anyone leave his body even after manifesting the Divine
\nin his physical body? <\/span> <\/p>\n

\n\t 
\n <\/span> <\/p>\n

\n\tIt will depend upon the person whether he wants to leave it or
\nnot. <\/span> <\/p>\n

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

\n\t <\/p>\n

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

\n\t  <\/span> <\/p>\n

\n\tYou have said that the Overmind is not sufficient to deal with
\nthe physical.3<\/font><\/sup> Does this mean that the physical is not liberated or spiritualised even by the Overmind?
\n\t<\/span> <\/p>\n

\n 
\n <\/span> <\/p>\n

\n\tThere is an inner liberation and a strong spiritualisation of the mind and vital and a partial effect on the physical especially
\nthe physical mind, but mostly subjective. A mixture of the Ignorance, or at the very least a limitation of the active Knowledge,
\npower, Ananda etc. remains always. At the same time if one withdraws from the outward physical consciousness, one can
\nfeel always the wide spiritual liberation, peace, living in the silent Divine.
\n\t<\/span> <\/p>\n

\n
\n29 November 1933 <\/font> <\/span> <\/p>\n

\n\t <\/p>\n

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

\n\t  <\/span> <\/p>\n

\n\tSome say that Sri Aurobindo brought down the Supermind
\n\t<\/span> <\/p>\n

\n <\/p>\n

\n
\n3 See the letter of 20 November 1933 on pages 145 \u00ad 46.
\n\u2014  Ed.<\/i>
\n  
\n<\/font> <\/span> <\/p>\n

\n <\/p>\n

\n
\nPage \u2013 <\/font>291<\/font><\/span><\/p>\n

\n

\n

\neven into his physical cells and is only preparing others to manifest it in
\nthem.
\n\t<\/span> <\/p>\n

\nSome say it is not yet manifested in his physical cells but he is bringing it
\ndown and only after he gets it fully will he give it to others.<\/span><\/p>\n

\nSome say that since 1927 he has been describing how his
\nbody has been changing after the Supramental Light began to come down, and so we have to think that the Supermind
\nis not yet manifested fully in his body.
\n\t<\/span> <\/p>\n

\nSome say Sri Aurobindo normally lives in the Overmind
\nand whenever he wants he will go into the Supermind. . . .
\n\t<\/span> <\/p>\n

\n\t 
\n <\/span> <\/p>\n

\n\tThese are questions and statements which people idly make as
\na matter of talk. They do not even know what it means or what is the difference between Supermind and Overmind. It is better
\ntherefore to leave all such questionings alone at present. <\/span> <\/p>\n

\n
\ncirca 1935
\n<\/font>
\n<\/span> <\/p>\n

\n\t <\/p>\n

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

\n\t  <\/span> <\/p>\n

\n\tHave you written anywhere what would be the nature of the
\nphysical transformation? <\/span> <\/p>\n

\n\t 
\n <\/span> <\/p>\n

\n\tI have not, I carefully avoided that ticklish subject.
\n\t<\/span> <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n\tWhat would it be like? Change of pigment? Mongolian features into Aryo-Grecian? Bald head into luxuriant growth?
\nOld men into gods of eternal youth? <\/span> <\/p>\n

\n\t 
\n <\/span> <\/p>\n

\n\tWhy not seven tails with an eighth on the head
\n\u2014  everybody
\ndifferent colours, blue, magenta, indigo, green, scarlet, etc.; hair luxuriant but vermilion and flying erect skywards; other details
\nto match? Amen. <\/span> <\/p>\n

\n
\n15 September 1935
\n<\/font>
\n<\/span> <\/p>\n

\n\t <\/p>\n

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

\n\t  <\/span> <\/p>\n

\n\tI have been thinking about the physiological chemistry of
\ntransformation. It seems to me that there are two possibilities. (1) The chemical composition of the body would remain the
\nsame, but the chemicals would become more Peace-active, Light-active, Force-active (radio-active, as they say). (2) The
\n  
\n<\/span> <\/p>\n

\n <\/p>\n

\n
\nPage \u2013 <\/font>292<\/font><\/span><\/p>\n

\n

\n

\n\tchemical composition of the blood, glands, secretions, nervous materials would undergo a radical change, leading to a
\ncomplete, if gradual, transformation into a supramental body. <\/span> <\/p>\n

\n\t 
\n <\/span> <\/p>\n

\n\tIt has been the idea of many who have speculated on the subject
\nthat the body of the future race will be a luminous body (<\/span>corps<\/i> glorieux<\/i><\/span>) and that might mean radio-active. But also it has to
\nbe considered (1) that a supramental body must necessarily be one in which the consciousness determines even the physical
\naction and reaction to the most material and these therefore are not wholly dependent on material conditions or laws as now
\nknown, (2) that the subtle process will be more powerful than the gross, so that a subtle action of Agni will be able to do
\nthe action which would now need a physical change such as increased temperature.
\n\t<\/span> <\/p>\n

\n
\n18 November 1935 <\/font> <\/span> <\/p>\n

\n\t <\/p>\n

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

\n\t  <\/span> <\/p>\n

\n\tI agree that the action would not be “wholly dependent on material conditions or laws as now known”, but that it will
\nnecessarily change material conditions or laws. If this necessity was not there, it could act under present conditions and laws
\n\u2014  but it doesn’t. <\/span> <\/p>\n

\n\t 
\n <\/span> <\/p>\n

\n\tBut how is it going to change material conditions and laws
\nwithout acting on the body as it is?
\n\t<\/span> <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n\tWill the “subtle action of Agni” take place in our present
\nbodies? <\/span> <\/p>\n

\n\t 
\n <\/span> <\/p>\n

\n\tThe subtle action of Agni is part of the workings of the Yoga
\nshakti even now; only its action is at present for perfecting and transformatory.
\n\t<\/span> <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n\tCertainly it is understood that “the subtle process will be more powerful than the gross”, but will not the subtle process
\nchange the present character of the gross process? <\/span> <\/p>\n

\n\t 
\n <\/span> <\/p>\n

\n\tIf the consciousness cannot determine the physical action and
\nreaction in the present body, if it needs a different basis, then that  
\n\t<\/span> <\/p>\n

\n <\/p>\n

\n
\nPage \u2013 <\/font>293<\/font><\/span><\/p>\n

\n

\n

means this different basis must be prepared by different means. By what means? Physical? The old Yogis tried to do it by physical tapasya; others by seeking the elixir of life etc. According to this Yoga, the action of the higher Force and consciousness
\nwhich includes the subtle action of Agni has to open and prepare the body and make it more responsive to Consciousness-Force
\ninstead of being rigid in its present habits (called laws). But a different basis can only be created by the supramental action
\nitself. What else but the supermind can determine its own basis? <\/span> <\/p>\n

\n
\n20 November 1935
\n<\/font>
\n<\/span> <\/p>\n

\n\t <\/p>\n

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

\n\t  <\/span> <\/p>\n

\n\tEither I have not been clear or you have missed my point.
\nWhat I meant is this: how is it possible for the Supramental to act in the body with its present chemical and physiological
\nprocesses? A new composition and a new activity of various organs will be the proper basis for a Supramental action
\n\u2014  if
\nat all there is to be one. <\/span> <\/p>\n

\n\t 
\n <\/span> <\/p>\n

\n\tWhat I did not understand is why the Supramental Force should
\nnot act at all on the present basis of the body. That it cannot act fully without changing many things is obvious.
\n\t<\/span> <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n\tYou are evading the question of the physiological and chemical side of the thing when you say, “What else but the supermind
\ncan determine its own basis?” The real question is whether this “own basis” will have a different character, chemical composition, physiochemical activity, etc. Do you mean to say that the Supermind can work in ordinary bodies of ordinary people?
\n\t<\/span> <\/p>\n

\n 
\n <\/span> <\/p>\n

\n\tI did not intend to evade anything, except that in so far as I do not yet know what will be the chemical constitution of the
\nchanged body, I could not answer anything to that. That was why I said it needed investigation.
\n\t<\/span> <\/p>\n

\nI was simply putting my idea on the matter which has always been that it is the supramental which will create its own physical
\nbasis. If you mean that the supramental cannot fulfil itself <\/i>in the present body with its present processes that is true. The processes
\nwill obviously have to be altered. How far the constitution  
\n<\/span> <\/p>\n

\n <\/p>\n

\n
\nPage \u2013 <\/font>294<\/font><\/span><\/p>\n

\n

\nof the body will be changed and in what direction is another question. As I said it may become as you suggest radio-active:   Theon (Mother’s teacher in occultism) spoke of it as luminous,
\n<\/span>
\nle corps glorieux.<\/span> <\/span> <\/i>
\nBut all that does not make it impossible for the supramental to act in the present body for change. It is what
\nI am looking forward to at present.
\n<\/span><\/span> <\/p>\n

\nOf course a certain preliminary transformation is necessary,
\njust as the psychic and spiritual transformation precedes the supramental. But this is a change of the physical consciousness
\ndown to the submerged consciousness of the cells so that they may respond to higher forces and admit them and to a certain
\nextent a change or at least a greater plasticity in the processes. The rules of food etc. are meant to help that by minimising obstacles. How far this involves a change of the chemical constitution of the body I cannot say. It seems to me still that whatever
\npreparatory changes there may be, it is only the action of the supramental Force that can confirm and complete them.
\n<\/span> <\/p>\n

\n
\n21 November 1935 <\/font> <\/span> <\/p>\n

\n\t 
\n<\/span> <\/p>\n

\nThe Conquest of Death
\n<\/b>
\n\t<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n\tIn one of your talks in the early days you seem to have acclaimed yourself
\nas immortal except under three conditions \u2014
\n\taccident, poison or icchā mrtyu<\/i>.
\n<\/span> <\/p>\n

\n 
\n <\/span> <\/p>\n

\n\tIt must have been a joke taken as a self-acclamation. Or perhaps what I said was that I have the power to overcome illness, but
\naccident and poison and the I.M. still remain as possible means of death. Of course, the Mother and myself have hundreds of
\ntimes thrown back the forces of illness and death by a slight concentration of force or even a use of will merely.
\n\t<\/span> <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n\tAnother conviction which all of us share is that you could never have any illness; but your eye problem, due to whatever
\ncause, has shattered it. <\/span> <\/p>\n

\n\t 
\n <\/span> <\/p>\n

\n\tIt is long since I have had anything but slight fragments of illness
\n\u2014 (e.g. sneezes, occasional twitches of rheumatism or neuralgia:   <\/span> <\/p>\n

\n <\/p>\n

\n
\nPage \u2013 <\/font>295<\/font><\/span><\/p>\n

\n

\n

but the last is mostly now outside the body and does not penetrate) \u2014  with the exception of the eye and the throat (only
\none kind of cough though, the others can’t come) which are still vulnerable points. Ah yes, there is also prickly-heat; but
\nthat has diminished to almost nothing these last years. There is sometimes an attempt at headache, but it remains above the
\nhead, tries to get in and then recedes. Giddiness also the same. I don’t just now remember anything else. Those are the facts
\nabout “having no illness”. As for the conclusion, well, you can make a medical one or a Yogic one according to your state of
\nknowledge. <\/span> <\/p>\n

\n
\n26 March 1935
\n<\/font>
\n<\/span> <\/p>\n

\n\t <\/p>\n

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

\n\t  <\/span> <\/p>\n

\n\tFrom whatever you have said in joke or in earnest, it logically
\nfollows that you are immortal. Because if you say that the Supramental can alone conquer death, one who has become
\nthat is evidently and consequently immortal. So if one is immortal or has conquered death, no poison or accident can
\naffect him. <\/span> <\/p>\n

\n\t 
\n <\/span> <\/p>\n

\n\tYour syllogism is:
\n\t<\/span> <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n\t“One who becomes supramental, can conquer death. Sri Aurobindo has become supramental.
\nSri Aurobindo has conquered death.” <\/span> <\/p>\n

\n\t 
\n <\/span> <\/p>\n

\n\t1st premiss right; second premiss premature; conclusion at least
\npremature and in any case excessive, for “can conquer” is turned into “has conquered” = is immortal. It is not easy, my dear doctor, to be a logician; the human reasoning animal is always making slight inaccuracies like that in his syllogisms which
\nvitiate the whole reasoning. This might be correct: <\/span> <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n\t“One who becomes wholly supramental conquers death.
\nSri Aurobindo is becoming supramental. Sri Aurobindo is conquering death.”
\n\t<\/span> <\/p>\n

\n 
\n <\/span> <\/p>\n

\n\tBut between “is conquering” and “has conquered” is a big difference. It is all the difference between present and future, logical
\npossibility and logical certitude.  
\n<\/span> <\/p>\n

\n <\/p>\n

\n
\nPage \u2013 <\/font>296<\/font><\/span><\/p>\n

\n

\nI hope I haven’t made a rigid mental conclusion. <\/span> <\/p>\n

\n\t 
\n <\/span> <\/p>\n

\n\tThe premiss is false. I have
\nnever said that I am supramental \u2014
\nI have always said that I have achieved the overmind and am bringing down the supramental. That is a process and until the
\nprocess is complete it cannot be said that “I am supramental”. Of course when I say “I”
\n\u2014  I mean the instrument \u2014  not the
\nConsciousness above or the Person behind which contain all things in them.
\n\t<\/span> <\/p>\n

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

\n\t <\/p>\n

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

\n\t  <\/span> <\/p>\n

\n\tMy logic again: Sri Aurobindo is bound to become wholly supramental and is being supramentalised in parts. If that is
\ntrue \u2014  and it is \u2014  well, he can’t die till he is supramental \u2014 and once he is so, he is immortal.
\n\t<\/span> <\/p>\n

\n 
\n <\/span> <\/p>\n

\n\tIt looks very much like a non sequitur. The first part and the last are all right
\n\u2014  but the link is fragile. How do you know I won’t
\ntake a fancy to die in between as a joke? <\/span> <\/p>\n

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

\n\t <\/p>\n

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

\n\t  <\/span> <\/p>\n

\n\tBy the way, none of those perverse “fancies” please. If at all
\nyou think of going, let us know beforehand, so that we may disappear before you!
\n\t<\/span> <\/p>\n

\n 
\n <\/span> <\/p>\n

\n\tWhere would be the fun if I told you beforehand? However, I have no bad intentions for the moment.
\n\t<\/span> <\/p>\n

\n
\n31 March 1935  
\n<\/font>
\n<\/span> <\/p>\n

\n 
\n\t<\/span> <\/p>\n

\n
\nPage \u2013 <\/font>297<\/font><\/span><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/table>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

General Remarks on the Sadhana of the 1930s   “A Far Greater Truth”   In a letter dated November 1928, you speak of “a far…<\/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-1651","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\/1651","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=1651"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/worksofthemotherandsriaurobindo.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1651\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/worksofthemotherandsriaurobindo.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1651"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/worksofthemotherandsriaurobindo.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1651"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/worksofthemotherandsriaurobindo.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1651"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}