{"id":1662,"date":"2013-07-13T01:36:21","date_gmt":"2013-07-13T01:36:21","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/localhost\/?p=1662"},"modified":"2013-07-13T01:36:21","modified_gmt":"2013-07-13T01:36:21","slug":"50-sadhana-in-the-ashram-contd-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\/50-sadhana-in-the-ashram-contd-vol-35-letters-on-himself-and-the-ashram","title":{"rendered":"-50_Sadhana in the Ashram -Contd.htm"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n\n\n
\n

\n

\n\t\t\tSadhana in the Ashram <\/font><\/b>
\n\t\t\t<\/span><\/p>\n

\n\t\t\tContd…<\/b><\/font><\/span><\/p>\n

\n

\n\t\t\tI for my part am not prepared to bear any part of the burden of transformation of the hostile forces.
\n\t\t\t<\/span> <\/p>\n

\n 
\n <\/span> <\/p>\n

\n\tSo much the better. I am not asking anybody to transform the Asuras \u2014  I am only asking them to reject them.
\n\t\t\t<\/span> <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n\t\t\tI spoke of having seen and heard someone who showed me how he had organised, in the being of every sadhak here, a
\n“dark being” veiling his “divine being”. <\/span> <\/p>\n

\n\t\t\t 
\n <\/span> <\/p>\n

\n\tI do not know what you mean by this someone. The existence
\nof a double being is a preexistent fact, it has not been organised by anyone here.
\n\t<\/span> <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n\t\t\tI am not aware that the condition of anyone in the Asrama was or is as difficult as mine since I have come to this house.
\n\t\t\t<\/span> <\/p>\n

\n 
\n <\/span> <\/p>\n

\n\tThat is your ignorance. There were many others. <\/span> <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n\t\t\tBy my observation I have found it was not so.
\n\t\t\t<\/span> <\/p>\n

\n 
\n <\/span> <\/p>\n

\n\tYour observation is incorrect. <\/span> <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n\t\t\tAnd it is my conviction that the sort of attack I have under
\ngone cannot last when a man is with others and is busy with collective work.
\n\t\t\t<\/span> <\/p>\n

\n 
\n <\/span> <\/p>\n

\n\tI do not accept your idea of the origin of the attacks on you as correct.
\n\t\t\t<\/span> <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n\t\t\tI am neither for delay nor for incurring more danger for the sake of the dogma that we have to accept everything that is in
\nthe creation . . . <\/span> <\/p>\n

\n\t\t\t 
\n <\/span> <\/p>\n

\n\tIt is a practical fact, not a dogma \u2014  we have to proceed from
\nwhat it is, not from what we would like it to have been. <\/span> <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n\t\t\tand in the way chalked out by another.
\n<\/span> <\/p>\n

\n 
\n <\/span> <\/p>\n

\n\tWho is this other?   <\/span> <\/p>\n

\n <\/p>\n

\n
\nPage \u2013 <\/font>647<\/font><\/span><\/p>\n

\n

\n

\nMy greatest urge is to go up and see the truth in its own home.
\n<\/span> <\/p>\n

\n\t\t\t 
\n <\/span> <\/p>\n

\n\tThere is no objection to that, but it is not so easily done
\n\u2014  at
\nleast to my experience. Those who have tried it in a rush have not had very good results.
\n\t\t\t<\/span> <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n\t\t\tThis I can best do by your grace, and by your answering my questions.
\n\t\t\t<\/span> <\/p>\n

\n 
\n <\/span> <\/p>\n

\n\tI don’t see how my answers can do that \u2014  since you stick to your own view of the matter.
\n\t\t\t<\/span> <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n\t\t\tYou once said that the ascension to the supermind and individual transformation must precede the manifestation of the
\nSangha. But why did you allow the Sangha to manifest before this condition was fulfilled?
\n\t\t\t<\/span> <\/p>\n

\n 
\n <\/span> <\/p>\n

\n\tWhich Sangha? I have never called this Asram the Sangha. The Asram is a field of growth, not a manifestation of perfection.
\n\t\t\t<\/span> <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n\t\t\tIs there no possibility of an individual rising up to the Supramental separately, and then turning down towards
\nmanifestation with a fuller light, knowledge, power and joy, individually?
\n\t\t\t<\/span> <\/p>\n

\n 
\n <\/span> <\/p>\n

\n\tThere is no possibility of shooting up suddenly to the Supermind \u2014  one has to go step by step
\n\u2014  though it may be done more or
\nless quickly \u2014  but not with any railway-train speed. Nor is it possible for the supramental to descend without a preparation
\nof the lower parts. <\/span> <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n\t\t\tHave you still the idea of transforming the hostile forces? If
\nso, how? <\/span> <\/p>\n

\n\t\t\t 
\n <\/span> <\/p>\n

\n\tI do not know what you mean by the transformation of the hostile forces. It is the lower nature that has to be transformed into the higher nature. The object of the Yoga is the transformation
\nof terrestrial beings, not of the Asuras.   <\/span> <\/p>\n

\n <\/p>\n

\n
\nPage \u2013 <\/font>648<\/font><\/span><\/p>\n

\n

\nIs it not possible again to begin the sadhana of ascension to the higher mind and supermind and work out the transformation
\nbelow just as you did for yourself<\/i>, keeping this outward and inward Sangha formation, if possible, though curtailing the
\noutward work to a minimum or for the greater need and purpose of the Truth giving it up temporarily?
\n<\/span> <\/p>\n

\n 
\n <\/span> <\/p>\n

\n\tThat is an ignorant and incorrect statement of our sadhana.
\n\t<\/span> <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n\t\t\tSince the Chandernagore [i.e. the Prabartak Sangha<\/i>] experience, it has always seemed to me that the best way of sadhana
\nwould be to rise to the vij\u00f1āna <\/i>individually, to transform oneself personally, and then, when all was perfect to create or
\nallow the Sangha to descend. <\/span> <\/p>\n

\n\t\t\t 
\n <\/span> <\/p>\n

\n\tI do not know what you mean by a Sangha descending
\n\u2014  it is
\nthe Supermind that has to descend.
\n<\/span> <\/p>\n

\nThis transformation cannot be done individually in a
\nsolitary way only \u2014  if it were possible we would not have undertaken the burden of maintaining this Asram.
\n<\/span> <\/p>\n

\nIt appears from all you have written that you do not accept my knowledge but have ideas and principles of sadhana of your
\nown. My knowledge and action are based on the actual facts of the universe and the relation of the higher Truth with these as I
\nhave found them. If you have a knowledge superior to mine and a greater way of action, there is no necessity for these questions.
\n<\/span> <\/p>\n

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

\n\t <\/p>\n

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

\n\t\t\t  <\/span> <\/p>\n

\n\t\t\tThe forces compelled Adam \u2014  who does not seem to have possessed a great knowledge about the wiles of the hostile
\nforces \u2014  to fall. <\/span> <\/p>\n

\n\t\t\t 
\n <\/span> <\/p>\n

\n\tIt means that he was ignorant and not merely innocent.
\n\t\t\t<\/span> <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n\t\t\tFrom your statement it is obvious that at a certain stage of the manifestation the hostile forces interfered but that up to that
\nstage the manifestation was perfect. <\/span> <\/p>\n

\n\t\t\t 
\n <\/span> <\/p>\n

\n\tNot at all. If it had been perfect, there would have been no need
\nof evolution.   <\/span> <\/p>\n

\n <\/p>\n

\n
\nPage \u2013 <\/font>649<\/font><\/span><\/p>\n

\n

\n

\nThis supports the idea that a perfect manifestation was intended from the very beginning.
\n<\/span> <\/p>\n

\n 
\n <\/span> <\/p>\n

\n\tAn unperverted manifestation is not necessarily a perfect manifestation \u2014  it may be unperverted but still imperfect.
\n\t<\/span> <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n\t\t\tYou have not taken exception to my statement that the exclusive
\n<\/i>Avidya is not present in the inner vital and mental.
\n<\/span> <\/p>\n

\n 
\n <\/span> <\/p>\n

\n\tIt depends on what you mean by Avidya. They are not inconscient like Matter, but until the higher knowledge comes, they
\nare in the Ignorance. <\/span> <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n\t\t\tI do not understand what you mean by “It has nothing to do
\nwith Darwin.” <\/span> <\/p>\n

\n\t\t\t 
\n <\/span> <\/p>\n

\n\tThe evolution I speak of is not the evolution of the Darwinian
\ntheory. <\/span> <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n\t\t\tI understand that the interference of the Avidya or the hostile
\nforces were the causes of man’s degeneration and delay in his evolution and that they were not helping forces as such, even
\nindirectly. <\/span> <\/p>\n

\n\t\t\t 
\n <\/span> <\/p>\n

\n\tThey did not intend to be helping forces, but they have been
\nobliged to help in certain ways. <\/span> <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n\t\t\tPsychic innocence is a great perfection by itself.
\n\t\t\t<\/span> <\/p>\n

\n 
\n <\/span> <\/p>\n

\n\tWhat is psychic innocence after all? <\/span> <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n\t\t\tYou have not taken exception to my statement about Vidya
\nand Avidya. <\/span> <\/p>\n

\n\t\t\t 
\n <\/span> <\/p>\n

\n\tThese are terms which one can use in different senses. There is no
\nAvidya in the highest planes, if by Avidya you mean Ignorance. <\/span> <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n\t\t\tYou have not taken exception to my statement about the great
\npain created in the universe by the interference of the hostile forces in the life of man.
\n  
\n<\/span> <\/p>\n

\n <\/p>\n

\n
\nPage \u2013 <\/font>650<\/font><\/span><\/p>\n

\n

\nI have not accepted it.
\n<\/span> <\/p>\n

\nOnce pain is in the world and a main part of its working
\nit cannot be got rid of arbitrarily by ignoring it or by a simple surgical operation of cutting out its source. It is the mind with
\nits summary conclusions that thinks the complex knot of things can be dealt with by a simple cut
\n\u2014  in fact it is not so.
\n\t\t\t<\/span> <\/p>\n

\n <\/p>\n

\n\t\t\tThe Mother has spoken many times of hostile forces that came here after the descent for transformation. In fact, she
\nhad transformed one hostile being who was present in the Asrama.
\n<\/span> <\/p>\n

\n 
\n <\/span> <\/p>\n

\n\tA transformed hostile being or one who wants to be transformed is no longer hostile. It is simply a power of the vital world which
\nplaces itself at the service of the Divine. Hostility consists in opposing the Divine Light and fighting against the transformation
\nof the earth consciousness.
\n<\/span> <\/p>\n

\nBut in any case the Mother never spoke of such transformation as the object of the sadhana or the Asrama.
\n<\/span> <\/p>\n

\n <\/p>\n

\n\t\t\tYou have not said anything about several of my questions and
\nstatements. <\/span> <\/p>\n

\n\t\t\t 
\n <\/span> <\/p>\n

\n\tThere are many things you have written about which I have not
\nsaid anything but which I do not endorse. It is impossible for me with my limited time to answer such a long series of questions
\nin detail. <\/span> <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n\t\t\tAfter the descent, the Mother spoke of the Asrama as the
\nspiritual cell (the word is mine) and Sangha. <\/span> <\/p>\n

\n\t\t\t 
\n <\/span> <\/p>\n

\n\tThe Mother was not in the habit of using the word sangha, I
\nthink. <\/span> <\/p>\n

\n
\n9 January 1934
\n<\/font>
\n<\/span> <\/p>\n

\n\t <\/p>\n

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

\n\t\t\t  <\/span> <\/p>\n

\n\t\t\tA natural unfolding of the consciousness in manifestation
\nfrom an involved state is quite a beautiful phenomenon.   <\/span> <\/p>\n

\n <\/p>\n

\n
\nPage \u2013 <\/font>651<\/font><\/span><\/p>\n

\n

\n

No doubt \u2014  but when the evolution had to express the possibilities of an emergence from the Inconscience, it was not easy
\nto materialise a flawless unfolding \u2014  since out of Inconscience came Ignorance and Ignorance is easily a field of deviation and
\nerror. <\/span> <\/p>\n

\n

 <\/p>\n

\n\t\t\tProbably you spoke of a psychological evolution whereas
\nDarwin spoke of the evolution of the physical species. <\/span> <\/p>\n

\n\t\t\t 
\n <\/span> <\/p>\n

\n\tQuite so. Many centuries before Darwin Puranic and Tantric
\nwriters spoke very explicitly of an evolution of the soul’s birth through the vegetable and animal to man.
\n\t\t\t<\/span> <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n\t\t\tPsychic innocence is psychic existence in the eight planes of consciousness, manifestly.
\n\t\t\t<\/span> <\/p>\n

\n 
\n <\/span> <\/p>\n

\n\tInnocence has two meanings \u2014  sinlessness and ignorance. The psychic innocence is not an ignorant condition.
\n\t<\/span> <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n\t\t\tAn ordinary vital being or a hostile vital being driven into the Asrama atmosphere by some presence from above or other
\nwise may at any time open to its own world and source in its darker aspects and then become the cause of much disturbance
\nin the sadhana. <\/span> <\/p>\n

\n\t\t\t 
\n <\/span> <\/p>\n

\n\tThat does not apply to a converted Asura. The others are not
\ndriven \u2014  wherever sadhana is going on, they come to disturb it \u2014  a fact known to the Yogis and Rishis from early times.
\n\t\t\t<\/span> <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n\t\t\tForced opening by a vital or a hostile force means a forced opening and entering of the same force in our mental, vital,
\nphysical body. <\/span> <\/p>\n

\n\t\t\t 
\n <\/span> <\/p>\n

\n\tIf you mean an invasion of the consciousness by a hostile force,
\nthat happens \u2014  but it cannot succeed unless something in the sadhaka either welcomes the invasion or is somehow attracted
\nor won over or somehow responds. As for the ordinary attack not amounting to an opening, that nobody escapes.
\n  
\n<\/span> <\/p>\n

\n <\/p>\n

\n
\nPage \u2013 <\/font>652<\/font><\/span><\/p>\n

\n

\nIn your reply of 4 January, you wrote: “That is an ignorant and incorrect statement of our sadhana” [p. 649<\/i>] Could you
\nplease clarify this? <\/span> <\/p>\n

\n\t\t\t 
\n <\/span> <\/p>\n

\n\tI said that was an incorrect statement of my sadhana. I did not
\nstart by ascension to the supermind \u2014  I fought out the difficulties of the mind and vital first in such a way as to make it possible
\nfor not only the higher mind but the intuition and overmind to descend. The supermind comes last of all.
\n\t<\/span> <\/p>\n

\n
\n16 January 1934 <\/font> <\/span> <\/p>\n

\n\t <\/p>\n

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

\n\t\t\t  <\/span> <\/p>\n

\n\t\t\tInconscience is the involved state of the Sachchidananda. It is all-knowing, only the knowledge is involved. In Inconscience
\n <\/i> there need not be an exclusive avidyā<\/i>, neither is it necessary
\nfor involving the Supraconsciousness. <\/span> <\/p>\n

\n\t\t\t 
\n <\/span> <\/p>\n

\n\tIn that case there is no exclusive Avidya anywhere
\n\u2014  for wherever there is Ignorance, there is also the all-knowledge involved in it.
\n\t<\/span> <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n\t\t\tThe condition of innocence realised by Christian saints and mystics was a psychic state of perfect self-surrender to and
\noneness with God on every plane of consciousness. But that perfection is not a state of Ignorance. Achieved in its fullness, it
\nis as good as <\/i>a state of supramental perfection \u2014  the difference  <\/i>
\nbeing only in the basis, movement and aiśvarya<\/i>. <\/span> <\/p>\n

\n\t\t\t 
\n <\/span> <\/p>\n

\n\tNot at all. If it were then there would be no use of seeking for
\nthe descent of the supermind. A condition which one cannot retain by the inherent light and power of the Knowledge Will in
\nit is not the supermind as I know it. <\/span> <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n\t\t\tSri Krishna when asked by Arjuna after the destruction of the
\nYadavas to repeat the sacred lore of the Gita, replied that the teaching of the Gita came into him once but that it was no
\nmore and he could not repeat it. Can one who has attained to the supermind fall?
\n\t\t\t<\/span> <\/p>\n

\n 
\n <\/span> <\/p>\n

\n\tSrikrishna did not say that he was in the supermind when he spoke the Gita to Arjuna
\n\u2014  he was in Yoga, but one can be in
\n   <\/span> <\/p>\n

\n <\/p>\n

\n
\nPage \u2013 <\/font>653<\/font><\/span><\/p>\n

\n

\n

Yoga without being in the Supermind. So this is not a point in instance.
\n\t\t\t<\/span> <\/p>\n

\n

 <\/p>\n

\n\t\t\tThe only way to avoid the “fall” is to preserve oneself by a supreme knowledge and strength that refuses submission even
\nto God if some part of His being should draw one down the path of darkness; and to correct this world-movement at its
\nvery source. <\/span> <\/p>\n

\n\t\t\t 
\n <\/span> <\/p>\n

\n\tI am not aware of any state of supreme knowledge in which the
\nseparative ego or the individual becomes greater in knowledge and will than the Divine or can by his own separate power
\novercome the Divine Will and correct the world movement.
\n<\/span> <\/p>\n

\nIn the supermind there is not this division of one part of
\nthe being of God willing something and some other part fighting against it. There all is viewed from an integral vision and
\nfounded on a harmony in the being \u2014  how this works out cannot be fixed by the mind, which lives and acts in division. If there is
\nno such integral supermind, then I have nothing to do here and will leave it to greater Minds to solve the problem in their own
\nway. <\/span> <\/p>\n

\n <\/p>\n

\n\t\t\tWhen did the hostile forces begin their work of perversion \u2014
\nat the time of mental, vital or physical manifestation? <\/span> <\/p>\n

\n\t\t\t 
\n <\/span> <\/p>\n

\n\tAs soon as Life was to appear, they intervened in it.
\n\t<\/span> <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n\t\t\tA converted Asura, i.e. one who has consented to be God’s ally and undergo transformation, may easily change colour
\nand become hostile. In fact, the Mother writes in her Prayers<\/i> of some Asuras who promised to be God’s servants, but did
\nnot keep their promise as they wanted to lord it over others.2<\/font><\/sup>
\n\t\t\t<\/span> <\/p>\n

\n\t\t\t 
\n <\/span> <\/p>\n

\n\tThe Mother was not speaking of any Asuras called into the As
\nram and imposed on some human being there who was to bear the burden of his transformation. She was speaking of certain
\n\t\t\t<\/span> <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n
\n2 The Mother, <\/i>Prayers and Meditations (Pondicherry: Sri Aurobindo Ashram, 2003),<\/i>
\np. 223.<\/i>
\n  
\n<\/font>
\n<\/span> <\/p>\n

\n <\/p>\n

\n
\nPage \u2013 <\/font>654<\/font><\/span><\/p>\n

\n

\nLords of the Vital who had taken birth in earthly bodies and tried to prepare the Divine Descent, but each imagining that
\nhe alone was the chosen instrument of the Force, spoiled the work they could have done. It was outside the Asram that this
\noriginally happened \u2014  only the Mother found the same mentality still persisting and interfering with the manifestation of
\nthe Force. But it had no reference to the converted Asura who tried to come here in his subtle Form of whom I spoke
\n\u2014  that
\nwas many years afterwards \u2014  and he did not change colour or become hostile. Any other case of Asuric intervention was due
\nto an affinity in the sadhak himself or a call from him \u2014  as in the case of
\nX <\/i>who was always calling Asuras into himself to convert
\nthem and although discouraged by us persisted thinking that he had himself a truer knowledge than we of what was wanted for
\nthe work. But again I have not known of any Asura who had accepted submission to the Divine becoming hostile. It is men
\nwho are under the influence of truly hostile beings who become like that.
\n\t\t\t<\/span> <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n\t\t\tThe hostile beings generally attack, then make some way in, lay siege and create conditions for invasion and ultimately lead
\nor compel the human being to fall. <\/span> <\/p>\n

\n\t\t\t 
\n <\/span> <\/p>\n

\n\tI am quite aware of the way in which the unconverted hostile
\nbeings, who have a hostile intention, get inside \u2014  there have been plenty of cases like that, and their method besides has been
\nknown by occultists and Yogins all through the ages. As for attacks, they can attack anybody. Christ and Buddha too had
\nto bear the assaults of the Asura. But invasion in a man is only possible if there is something in him that gives a response and
\nopens the gate. <\/span> <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n\t\t\tWhat I would like to know is whether all this can be done
\nindividually. <\/span> <\/p>\n

\n\t\t\t 
\n <\/span> <\/p>\n

\n\tI do not seize the significance of the question. It has to be done in
\neach individual \u2014  otherwise it cannot be done in the collective at all. But there can be a general descent of the Force by which
\n   <\/span> <\/p>\n

\n <\/p>\n

\n
\nPage \u2013 <\/font>655<\/font><\/span><\/p>\n

\n

\n

each can profit to have it done in him if he is ready or when he is ready.
\n<\/span> <\/p>\n

\n
\n25 January 1934 <\/font> <\/span> <\/p>\n

\n\t <\/p>\n

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

\n\t\t\t  <\/span> <\/p>\n

\n\t\t\tSumming up, I understand you to say: <\/span> <\/p>\n

\n\t\t\t(1) That the hostile forces were permitted by God to pervert
\nthis creation at the time of the evolution of the human type. <\/span> <\/p>\n

\n\t\t\t 
\n <\/span> <\/p>\n

\n\tNo, I said “when life began to appear”, that is before the human
\nevolution. <\/span> <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n\t\t\t(2) That when the supermind comes down and manifests itself
\nin the transformed earth consciousness they will go away or be driven out as there would be no need of their presence in
\nthis creation or Asrama, <\/span> <\/p>\n

\n\t\t\t 
\n <\/span> <\/p>\n

\n\tNo possibility either, if the supermind is once dominant.
\n\t\t\t<\/span> <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n\t\t\t(3) for here they serve some purpose (which I have not quite understood).
\n\t\t\t<\/span> <\/p>\n

\n 
\n <\/span> <\/p>\n

\n\tThe purpose they serve in the world <\/i>is to give a full chance to the possibilities of the Inconscience and Ignorance
\n\u2014  for this world
\nwas meant to be a working out of these possibilities with the supramental harmonisation as its eventual outcome. The life,
\nthe work developing here in the Asram has to deal with the world problem and had therefore to meet, it could not avoid,
\nthe conflict with the working of the hostile Powers in the human being.
\n\t\t\t<\/span> <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n\t\t\t(4) That you did not allow any hostile being in the Asrama, except one converted Asura, and that no Asura owing allegiance
\nto you had turned hostile. <\/span> <\/p>\n

\n\t\t\t 
\n <\/span> <\/p>\n

\n\tWe did not call any. The converted one too came but did not
\nremain, so he too does not count. <\/span> <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n\t\t\t(5) Outside the Asrama some Lords of the vital world took
\nbirth on this earth, saying that they would serve God, but in  
\n<\/span> <\/p>\n

\n <\/p>\n

\n
\nPage \u2013 <\/font>656<\/font><\/span><\/p>\n

\n

\nfact lorded it over others. But these were not Asuric forces though they were so called in the book.3<\/font><\/sup>
\n<\/span> <\/p>\n

\n 
\n <\/span> <\/p>\n

\n\tI said nothing about their not being Asuras. I said those to whom the Mother referred were not Asuras who had manifested in
\nthe Asram, but outside the Asram and before it was formed \u2014 as human beings who wanted to help and prepare the Divine
\nAdvent but spoiled their work, not by hostility, but by egoism \u2014  just as human beings with an Asuric temperament often do.
\n\t\t\t<\/span> <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n\t\t\t(6) The transformation of hostile beings is no part of the Yogin’s work \u2014  though Mother transformed one. No such thing
\nhad been done in the Asrama or will be done. <\/span> <\/p>\n

\n\t\t\t 
\n <\/span> <\/p>\n

\n\tThe Mother’s transforming one Asura was an incident, not an
\nobject of the Yoga.
\n<\/span> <\/p>\n

\nI have not said either that it will not be done. If the Divine
\ndemands it, it will be done; if not, it won’t be; but in any case it is not an object of the Yoga.
\n\t\t\t<\/span> <\/p>\n

\n <\/p>\n

\n\t\t\t(7) That the Supermind can be attained individually though a force may descend by which men can profit according to the
\nself-preparation \u2014  though you once said that it could not be done individually.
\n\t\t\t<\/span> <\/p>\n

\n 
\n <\/span> <\/p>\n

\n\tYou have missed altogether the qualifying words which I put with great care and prominent emphasis
\n\u2014  if you don’t read
\ncarefully, you will necessarily misunderstand what I write. I said “This transformation
\n<\/i>cannot be done individually in a solitary way only<\/i>” [p. 649<\/i>]. No individual solitary transformation apart from the work for the earth (which means more than any
\nindividual transformation) would be either possible or useful. (Also no individual human being can by his own power alone
\nwork out the transformation, nor is it the object of the Yoga to create an individual superman here and there.) The object
\nof the Yoga is to bring down the supramental consciousness
\n\t\t\t<\/span> <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n
\n3 The “book” referred to here is apparently the Mother’s
\n<\/i>Prayers and Meditations. See<\/i>
\nfootnote 2 on page 654. \u2014  Ed.<\/i>  
\n<\/font> <\/span> <\/p>\n

\n <\/p>\n

\n
\nPage \u2013 <\/font>657<\/font><\/span><\/p>\n

\n

\n

on earth, to fix it there, to create a new race with the principle of the supramental consciousness governing the inner and
\nouter individual and collective life. Therefore the existence of the Asram, whatever difficulties it created for ourselves or for the
\nindividual, was inevitable. The method was the preparation of the earth consciousness in the human being as represented by the
\nmembers of the Asram and others (with also a certain working in the general earth consciousness) so as to make the descent
\nof the supramental Force possible. That Force accepted by individual after individual according to their preparation would
\nestablish the supramental consciousness in the physical world and so create a nucleus for its own expansion.
\n\t\t\t<\/span> <\/p>\n

\n

 <\/p>\n

\n\t\t\t(8) This world was originally intended to be an evolution out of ignorance in matter to knowledge through struggle and
\nduality. Thus there was no original divine creation in the image of Heaven, or an original Satya Yuga.
\n\t\t\t<\/span> <\/p>\n

\n 
\n <\/span> <\/p>\n

\n\tIt is quite possible that there have been periods of harmony on different levels, not supramental, which were afterwards disturbed \u2014  but those could only be a stage or resting place in a world of spiritual evolution out of the Ignorance.
\n\t<\/span> <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n\t\t\t(9) That a perfect manifestation is quite possible without need of evolution. But you have not said anything about whether
\nan unfolding of the Inconscience (involved Sat-Chit-Ananda) without ignorance is possible.
\n\t\t\t<\/span> <\/p>\n

\n 
\n <\/span> <\/p>\n

\n\tI don’t see how there can be, given the starting point of the Inconscience. An unfolding of anything involved must necessarily
\nbe an evolution. <\/span> <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n\t\t\t(10) As for Krishna, he was God, who is everything consciously not excluding the
\n\t\t\tVij\u00f1āna (the Supermind). <\/span> <\/p>\n

\n\t\t\t 
\n <\/span> <\/p>\n

\n\tI have said nothing about that.
\n<\/span> <\/p>\n

\n
\n31 January 1934 <\/font> <\/span> <\/p>\n

\n\t <\/p>\n

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

 <\/p>\n

\n
\nPage \u2013 <\/font>658<\/font><\/span><\/p>\n

\n

\nIn a letter of November 1933 [p. 639<\/i>], you wrote that the intervention of the hostile forces was no longer necessary. But
\nit seems that they have come full force this year and driven several people away. That suggests that the hostile forces will
\nremain for ever \u2014  or at least until the final transformation. <\/span> <\/p>\n

\n\t\t\t 
\n <\/span> <\/p>\n

\n\tWhen I said “no more necessary”, I did not mean that their action could not go on \u2014  I think I expressly said that if the sadhaks persisted in opening themselves to it, it would continue. There
\nis a difference between the action of the hostile powers and the ordinary action of the lower nature. The latter of course goes on
\nuntil it is changed but there is no necessity for it to take the form of hostile attacks and upsettings; it can be treated as a machinery
\nthat has to be set right and with the aid of the higher Light and Power can be set right. There are several who were once taken by
\nhostile attacks who have now reached the point where they can follow this method, others are approaching it
\n\u2014  some of course
\nhave always followed and never were attacked, at least in their mind and vital. But there are still many who are very far from it
\nand so the action of the Hostiles continues. <\/span> <\/p>\n

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

\n\t <\/p>\n

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

\n\t\t\t    <\/span> <\/p>\n

\n\t\t\tThere can be no question that it is a most desirable thing that
\nthe hostile forces should be destroyed or ejected from the Asram atmosphere and from all hold on the lower vital and physical of
\nthe sadhaks \u2014  the sooner the better. For the moment they are still able to resist and to keep up the disharmony in this part
\nof Nature. It is only when they do so no more that the capital difficulty in the general sadhana will be over.
\n\t\t\t<\/span> <\/p>\n

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

\n\t\t\t 
\n<\/span> <\/p>\n

\nRetirement and Progress in Yoga
\n<\/b><\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n\t\t\tWould not rejection of the problems of the lower vital be better done in retirement?
\n\t\t\t<\/span> <\/p>\n

\n 
\n <\/span> <\/p>\n

\n\tIt is very doubtful. Our experience is that, generally, it does not succeed very well. Sometimes there is a great improvement so
\nlong as the person remains sequestered but it does not stand the test of again coming out into contact with others. Sometimes it
\n   <\/span> <\/p>\n

\n <\/p>\n

\n
\nPage \u2013 <\/font>659<\/font><\/span><\/p>\n

\n

\n

has led to an exalted inner activity, occasionally sound but often too unsound, the sadhak in retirement losing in the latter case
\nthe power of discrimination between subjective formations and valid truths of fact (X
\n<\/i>and others). In other cases the result has
\nbeen a complete failure (Y, Z<\/i>). As a general rule we consider it safer at the very least to combine some activity of outer life with
\nretirement if any is made. <\/span> <\/p>\n

\n
\n2 December 1933
\n<\/font>
\n<\/span> <\/p>\n

\n\t <\/p>\n

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

\n\t\t\t    <\/span> <\/p>\n

\n\t\t\tMother does not at all approve of the idea of complete retirement. It does not bring the control, only an illusion of a control because the untoward causes are removed for a time. It is a
\ncontrol established while in contact with the outward things that is alone genuine. You must establish that from within by a
\nfixed resolution and practice. Too much mixing and too much talk should be avoided, but a complete retirement is not the
\nthing. It has not had the required result with anyone so far. <\/span> <\/p>\n

\n
\n27 November 1936
\n<\/font>
\n<\/span> <\/p>\n

\n 
\n<\/span> <\/p>\n

\nLack of Intensity in Sadhana <\/b><\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n\t\t\tI have been thinking again about the general sadhana in the
\nAshram, how the intenser attitude of sincerity in all would bring an earlier victory. Does such thinking about others bring
\nany difficulty in one’s sadhana? Is it better to stick to one’s own sadhana?
\n\t\t\t<\/span> <\/p>\n

\n 
\n <\/span> <\/p>\n

\n\tNo \u2014  it is very good \u2014  there are few who have that in any intensity
\n\u2014  if there were more, it might hasten things.
\n<\/span> <\/p>\n

\n
\n27 June 1933 <\/font> <\/span> <\/p>\n

\n\t <\/p>\n

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

\n\t\t\t  <\/span> <\/p>\n

\n\t\t\tHow is it that there is so little intensity of devotion here? Is it because there is more insistence on controlling emotions or
\nbecause of constant Sadhana and the integral movement? <\/span> <\/p>\n

\n\t\t\t 
\n <\/span> <\/p>\n

\n\tIt is true that devotion here is very insufficient
\n\u2014  but these can
\nnot be the reasons, for psychic emotion is not discouraged by us and the integral Sadhana is not integral without bhakti. And yet
\nit is a fact that those who come here full of bhakti lose much of  
\n<\/span> <\/p>\n

\n <\/p>\n

\n
\nPage \u2013 <\/font>660<\/font><\/span><\/p>\n

\n

\n\tit after a time \u2014  with a few exceptions. I think it is because of the prevalence of a too positive mind and the habit of criticising
\neverything from a quite external point of view which is rife in the atmosphere.
\n\t<\/span> <\/p>\n

\n
\n5 August 1933 <\/font> <\/span> <\/p>\n

\n\t <\/p>\n

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

\n\t\t\t  <\/span> <\/p>\n

\n\t\t\tWe have very little devotion and obedience compared to the disciples of Shankara and Buddha or the followers of old yogic
\ndisciplines, even though a greater discipline is needed because our aim is higher. This is perhaps due to the fact that you do
\nnot impose any discipline. Or perhaps there is a fundamental defect in our aspiration because of the western education many
\nhave had. I wonder if Shankara or Buddha or Mahavir would have allowed many of the things we do here.
\n\t\t\t<\/span> <\/p>\n

\n 
\n <\/span> <\/p>\n

\n\tThey would not. All the causes you mention operate \u2014  perhaps the westernised atmosphere (even more than the education) of
\nthe present times is the strongest, but also the nature of the work to be done.
\n\t<\/span> <\/p>\n

\n
\n3 April 1934 <\/font> <\/span> <\/p>\n

\n\t <\/p>\n

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

\n\t\t\t  <\/span> <\/p>\n

\n\t\t\tI feel that many have become “soft” after they come here. Is there something in the Yoga itself that makes them soft?
\n\t\t\t<\/span> <\/p>\n

\n 
\n <\/span> <\/p>\n

\n\tNothing in the sadhana. It is because their desires had only been limited by poverty and, as soon as the poverty is removed, the
\ndesires come surging up. As for the self-imposed renunciation of desire which is of primary importance in this Yoga, only a few
\never think of it. <\/span> <\/p>\n

\n
\n13 June 1934
\n<\/font>
\n<\/span> <\/p>\n

\n\t <\/p>\n

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

\n\t\t\t  <\/span> <\/p>\n

\n\t\t\tIf the Force cannot bring definite and lasting fruit without our
\nindividual endeavour, don’t you think at least half the sadhaks here will remain in the mud for long if not for ever? Half of
\nthem don’t seem to want to make any steady personal effort. They depend on the action of your Force alone.
\n\t\t\t<\/span> <\/p>\n

\n 
\n <\/span> <\/p>\n

\n\tThat is why the Asram is what it is. Only those who are taking the Yoga seriously are making any progress.
\n\t<\/span> <\/p>\n

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

\n\t <\/p>\n

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

\n <\/p>\n

\n
\nPage \u2013 <\/font>661<\/font><\/span><\/p>\n

\n

\n

\nHow is it that people here become more soft than in ordinary life and a little hardship or discomfort becomes unbearable? Is
\nit because they live a life of ease here doing no physical work? <\/span> <\/p>\n

\n\t\t\t 
\n <\/span> <\/p>\n

\n\tWhat you have noticed is quite correct. It comes from a wrong
\nmovement which takes the rejection of asceticism as if it were a sanction for the indulgence of the body in whatever comfort
\nit can get. The right principle is that one should be free from attachment and be able to do without things but also able to
\nhave them and use them without being bound or affected. Very few have taken it in that way
\n\u2014  the vital has chosen to turn a
\ndeaf ear to anything said in that direction and to take as a right the comforts and conveniences given. What you have noted is
\none of the consequences. <\/span> <\/p>\n

\n
\nDecember 1936
\n<\/font>
\n<\/span> <\/p>\n

\n 
\n<\/span> <\/p>\n

\nEgoism among Sadhaks <\/b><\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n\t\t\tI have heard that some people here have gigantic egos, like
\nX<\/i>
\nand Y<\/i>, while some have fat egos, like Z<\/i>. What sort of ego do I have?
\n\t\t\t<\/span> <\/p>\n

\n 
\n <\/span> <\/p>\n

\n\tYour ego is small and not gigantic \u2014  not tall and vehement and aggressive like
\nY<\/i>‘s, but squat and inertly obstinate \u2014  not fat,
\ncompletely, nor thin, but short and roundish and grey in colour. <\/span> <\/p>\n

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

\n\t <\/p>\n

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

\n\t\t\t  <\/span> <\/p>\n

\n\t\t\tI looked up “squat” in the dictionary but could not guess
\nwhich definition applied to my ego. <\/span> <\/p>\n

\n\t\t\t 
\n <\/span> <\/p>\n

\n\tSquat = short in stature but broad and substantial, so difficult
\nto get rid of. <\/span> <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n\t\t\tYou write: “not fat, completely, nor thin, but short and roundish and grey in colour.” What do all these symbols stand for?
\n\t\t\t<\/span> <\/p>\n

\n 
\n <\/span> <\/p>\n

\n\tNot tall and preeminent or flourishingly settled in self-fullness \u2014  roundish = plenty of it all the same
\n\t<\/span> <\/p>\n

\nGrey = tamasic in tendency, therefore not aggressive, but  
\n<\/span> <\/p>\n

\n <\/p>\n

\n
\nPage \u2013 <\/font>662<\/font><\/span><\/p>\n

\n

\nobstinate in persistence. But these are not symbols, they are the temperamental figure of the ego.
\n<\/span> <\/p>\n

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

\n\t <\/p>\n

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

\n\t\t\t  <\/span> <\/p>\n

\n\t\t\tNowadays I find ego in every little act or feeling. Formerly I saw it only when I acted with desire or pride.
\n\t\t\t<\/span> <\/p>\n

\n 
\n <\/span> <\/p>\n

\n\tPerhaps because then you were looking for ego only in the form which people specially call egoism, i.e. pride, vanity, selfishness,
\ninsistence on vital satisfactions. But ego is of all kinds \u2014  and you are only just now finding it out.
\n\t<\/span> <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n\t\t\tHalf my being is trying hard to reject the sense of ego, while the ego itself colours all my actions. This contradiction creates
\nan inner pain. Will the ego never be dissolved completely? <\/span> <\/p>\n

\n\t\t\t 
\n <\/span> <\/p>\n

\n\tThere is nothing to be troubled about. You ought rather to
\ncongratulate yourself that you have become conscious. Very few people in this Asram are. They are all ego-centric and they do not
\nrealise their ego-centricity. Even in their sadhana the I is always there, \u2014 
\nmy <\/i>sadhana, my <\/i>progress, my <\/i>everything. The remedy
\nis to think constantly of the Divine, not of oneself, to work, act, do sadhana for the Divine,
\n\u2014  not to consider how this or that
\naffects me <\/i>personally, not claim anything, but to refer all to the Divine. It will take time to do that sincerely and thoroughly, but
\nit is the proper way. <\/span> <\/p>\n

\n
\n31 March 1936
\n<\/font>
\n<\/span> <\/p>\n

\n\t <\/p>\n

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

\n\t\t\t  <\/span> <\/p>\n

\n\t\t\tMany here seem to be proud of their surrender \u2014  even though
\nthey know that surrender and ego do not go together. <\/span> <\/p>\n

\n\t\t\t 
\n <\/span> <\/p>\n

\n\tBut who has got rid of ego in this Asram? To get rid of ego is as
\ndifficult as to make a complete surrender. <\/span> <\/p>\n

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

\n 
\n<\/span> <\/p>\n

\nConversion, Realisation and Transformation <\/b><\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n\t\t\tToday the Mother spoke to me of “conversion of conscious
\nness” as distinct from “transformation of physical nature”.   <\/span> <\/p>\n

\n <\/p>\n

\n
\nPage \u2013 <\/font>663<\/font><\/span><\/p>\n

\n

\n

\nPointing to me she said, as for “the conversion of consciousness, it is there”. Did she mean, by implication, that all those
\nwho have gathered round Sri Aurobindo and the Mother have this “conversion of consciousness”
\n\u2014  perhaps in varying
\ndegrees? <\/span> <\/p>\n

\n\t\t\t 
\n <\/span> <\/p>\n

\n\tNo. Those who come here have an aspiration and a possibility;
\nsomething in their psychic being pushes and if they follow it, they will arrive; but that is not conversion. Conversion is a definite
\nturning of the being away from lower things towards the Divine. <\/span> <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n\t\t\tCan it be further explained in terms of the psychic being and
\nits relation to the instrumental (nature) being? <\/span> <\/p>\n

\n\t\t\t 
\n <\/span> <\/p>\n

\n\tIt is certainly the psychic being turning the nature definitively
\nGodwards, but the transformation has still to be worked out in the nature.
\n\t\t\t<\/span> <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n\t\t\tOr can it be said that whoever has some aspiration for the Light or Truth or God vaguely, has some sort of conversion of
\nconsciousness, for the reason that he has come to the Ashram and lives here?
\n\t\t\t<\/span> <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n\t\t\tNo. Aspiration can lead hereafter to conversion; but aspiration is not conversion.
\n\t\t\t<\/span> <\/p>\n

\nMother spoke of three different things: conversion, the turning of the soul decisively towards the Divine,
\n\u2014  inner realisation
\nof the Divine, \u2014  transformation of the nature. The first two can happen swiftly and suddenly and once for all, the third always
\ntakes time and cannot be done at one stroke, in a moment. One may become aware of a rapid change in this or that detail of the
\ntransformation, but even this is a rapid result of a long working. <\/span> <\/p>\n

\n
\n3 September 1937
\n<\/font>
\n<\/span> <\/p>\n

\n 
\n<\/span> <\/p>\n

\nAshram Sadhaks and the Supramental Realisation <\/b><\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n\t\t\tOne day, while I was thinking that I would have to fulfil
\ncertain conditions before I could be saved from Ignorance, a strong feeling came to me from you that I need not fulfil any
\n  
\n<\/span> <\/p>\n

\n <\/p>\n

\n
\nPage \u2013 <\/font>664<\/font><\/span><\/p>\n

\n

\ncondition, but that you would save me by a special Grace. Was there any truth to what I felt?
\n<\/span> <\/p>\n

\n 
\n <\/span> <\/p>\n

\n\tI certainly gave you no such message or promise as you describe. You may have picked up something that was in my atmosphere,
\nbut, once again, your mental transcription of it was wrong \u2014 and turned it into something quite different from the truth. It
\nmay or may not be, although no promise of the kind can be made at the present moment, that you or other sadhakas here
\nor all will be brought through in the end by the divine grace in spite of the very serious difficulties created by your and their
\nexternal being and the obstinate obscurities and resistance in its crooked human nature. But in any case, to say that “you
\nneed not fulfil any condition” is a flagrant error. It is the old mischievous suggestion of an inert passivity to all influences
\nas the true surrender and, if accepted, would legitimate every wrong movement of the nature. First, certain conditions have to
\nbe fulfilled; afterwards, there will be room for the divine grace to act.
\n<\/span> <\/p>\n

\n
\n18 October 1928 <\/font> <\/span> <\/p>\n

\n\t <\/p>\n

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

\n\t\t\t  <\/span> <\/p>\n

\n\t\t\tI have heard that sadhaks here will have perfect control over decay and death. I have some doubts about this. Could you
\nsay something about it? <\/span> <\/p>\n

\n\t\t\t 
\n <\/span> <\/p>\n

\n\tIt depends on the Supramental and on the Divine’s will in the
\nsadhak. All that can be said is that to conquer disease and death is part of the total physical perfection. But as to other matters
\nnothing can be said as yet. <\/span> <\/p>\n

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

\n\t <\/p>\n

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

\n\t\t\t  <\/span> <\/p>\n

\n\t\t\tYou wrote to X<\/i>, “It is the first step and perhaps for some it
\nmay be sufficient, for we are not asking everybody to become supramental.” Do you mean everybody in this Asram?
\n\t\t\t<\/span> <\/p>\n

\n 
\n <\/span> <\/p>\n

\n\tYes. Only it does not mean that anybody here is debarred from the supramental consciousness or the physical transformation
\n\u2014  if he wants it. It is not a question of possibility, but of the need and aspiration in the nature.
\n\t<\/span> <\/p>\n

\n
\n21 September 1934  
\n<\/font> <\/span> <\/p>\n

\n <\/p>\n

\n
\nPage \u2013 <\/font>665<\/font><\/span><\/p>\n

\n

\n\t\t\tRealisations by Sadhaks <\/b> <\/span> <\/p>\n

\n\t\t\t 
\n <\/span> <\/p>\n

\n\tI have all but made up my mind to give up the sadhana. I find
\nit very humiliating to be reminded every month that I am far from the cosmic consciousness. In the midst of all my troubles,
\nI have lost faith. Do you think it is of any use to keep me here? When you have got out of this attack, you will yourself recognise
\nthe emptiness of such a question. You have the Yogic capacity in you as your experiences show and it is not by going away from
\nhere that you will develop it.
\n<\/span> <\/p>\n

\nI do not understand why it should be insulting to speak al
\nways of the cosmic consciousness and the necessity of its settling down. I mean by it the living in the sense of the cosmic Self and
\nthe experience of the cosmic forces. A certain number here have contact with that, very few have it as a constant realisation, none
\nhave it perfected and fixed in all their being. As for going above it there are grades in the cosmic consciousness and one can go
\nabove the cosmic mental and rise as far as the overmind. But that also is still the cosmic consciousness.
\n<\/span> <\/p>\n

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

\n\t <\/p>\n

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

\n\t\t\t  <\/span> <\/p>\n

\n\t\t\tI sometimes wonder whether anyone here is attaining anything at all? Has anyone realised the Divine? Please don’t ask me
\nwhat I mean by the Divine. <\/span> <\/p>\n

\n\t\t\t 
\n <\/span> <\/p>\n

\n\tWhy shouldn’t I ask? If you mean the Vedantic realisation, several have had it. Bhakti realisation also. If I were to publish the letters on sadhana experiences that have come to me, people
\nwould marvel and think that the Asram was packed full of great Yogis! Those who know something about Yoga would not mind
\nabout the dark periods, eclipses, hostile attacks, despairings, falls, for they know that these things happen to Yogis. Even the
\nfailures would have become Gurus, if I had allowed it, with circles of Shishyas!
\nX <\/i>did become one. Y <\/i>of course. But all that does
\nnot count here, because what is a full realisation outside, is here only a faint beginning of siddhi. Here the test is transformation
\nof the nature, psychic, spiritual, finally supramental. That and  
\n<\/span> <\/p>\n

\n <\/p>\n

\n
\nPage \u2013 <\/font>666<\/font><\/span><\/p>\n

\n

\nnothing else is what makes it so difficult. <\/span> <\/p>\n

\n
\n20 May 1936
\n<\/font>
\n<\/span> <\/p>\n

\n\t <\/p>\n

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

\n\t\t\t  <\/span> <\/p>\n

\n\t\t\tIs it only for physical transformation that staying here is necessary? Otherwise sincere sadhana can be done elsewhere as well as here.
\n\t\t\t<\/span> <\/p>\n

\n 
\n <\/span> <\/p>\n

\n\tI don’t suppose the later stages of the transformation including the physical would be possible elsewhere. In fact in those outside
\nnone of the three transformations seems to have begun. They are all preparing. Here there are at least a few who have started one
\nor two of them. Only that does not show outside. The physical or external alone shows outside.
\n\t<\/span> <\/p>\n

\n
\n11 April 1937 <\/font> <\/span> <\/p>\n

\n\t <\/p>\n

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

\n\t\t\t  <\/span> <\/p>\n

\n\t\t\tPeople here \u2014  the Toms, Dicks and Harrys, who would be nowhere beside X
\n<\/i>in the outside world and who would simply
\nhave rotted in the gutter if they hadn’t found shelter here \u2014 even such people criticise him.
\n\t\t\t<\/span> <\/p>\n

\n 
\n <\/span> <\/p>\n

\n\tThe quality of the sadhaks is so low? I should say there is a considerable amount of ability and capacity in the Asram. Only
\nthe standard demanded is higher than outside even in spiritual matters. There are half a dozen people here perhaps who live
\nin the Brahman consciousness \u2014  outside they would make a big noise and be considered as great Yogis
\n\u2014  here their condition is
\nnot known and in the Yoga it is regarded not as siddhi but only as a beginning.
\n\t<\/span> <\/p>\n

\n
\n12 July 1937 <\/font> <\/span> <\/p>\n

\n\t <\/p>\n

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

\n\t\t\t  <\/span> <\/p>\n

\n\t\t\tWhat the deuce is "Brahman consciousness"? The same as cosmic consciousness? Does one come to that after your psychic and spiritual
\ntransformation? <\/span> <\/p>\n

\nIs it something like seeing Brahman in everybody and
\neverywhere or what? It is not spiritual realisation, I suppose, I mean realisation of Self? You see I am a nincompoop in this
\nbusiness. Please perorate a little. <\/span> <\/p>\n

\n\t\t\t 
\n <\/span> <\/p>\n

\n\tEternal Jehovah! you don’t even know what Brahman is! You
\n   <\/span> <\/p>\n

\n <\/p>\n

\n
\nPage \u2013 <\/font>667<\/font><\/span><\/p>\n

\n

\n

will next be asking me what Yoga is or what life is or what body is or what mind is or what sadhana is! No, sir, I am not
\nproposing to teach an infant class the A-B-C of the elementary conceptions which are the basis of Yoga. There is
\nX <\/i>too who
\ndoesn’t know what consciousness is, even!
\n<\/span> <\/p>\n

\nBrahman, sir, is the name given by Indian philosophy since
\nthe beginning of time to the one Reality eternal and infinite which is the Self, the Divine, the All, the more than All, which
\nwould remain even if you and everybody and everything else in existence or imagining itself to be in existence vanished
\ninto blazes \u2014  even if this whole universe disappeared, Brahman would be safely there and nothing whatever lost. In fact, sir,
\nyou are Brahman and you are only pretending to be Y<\/i>; when Z <\/i>is translating
\nX<\/i>‘s poetry into Bengali, it is really Brahman
\ntranslating Brahman’s Brahman into Brahman. When X <\/i>asks me what consciousness is, it is really Brahman asking Brahman
\nwhat Brahman is! There, sir, I hope you are satisfied now.
\n<\/span> <\/p>\n

\nTo be less drastic and refrain from making your head reel
\ntill it goes off your shoulders, I may say that a realisation of the Self is the beginning of Brahman realisation;
\n\u2014  the Brahman
\nconsciousness \u2014  the Self in all and all in the Self etc. It is the basis of the spiritual realisation and therefore of the spiritual
\ntransformation; but one has to see it in all sorts of aspects and applications first and that I refuse to go into. If you want to
\nknow you have to read the Arya<\/i>. <\/span> <\/p>\n

\n <\/p>\n

\n\t\t\tIs living in that consciousness an ideal condition for receiving
\nthe supramental descent? <\/span> <\/p>\n

\n\t\t\t 
\n <\/span> <\/p>\n

\n\tIt is a necessary condition.
\n\t\t\t<\/span> <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n\t\t\tI ask because I heard that no one here was prepared for this supramental descent.
\n\t\t\t<\/span> <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n\t\t\tOf course not, this realisation of the Self as all and the Divine as all is only the first step.
\n  
\n<\/span> <\/p>\n

\n <\/p>\n

\n
\nPage \u2013 <\/font>668<\/font><\/span><\/p>\n

\n

\nIs that the height of realisation achieved here so far among sadhaks? What is the next step?
\n<\/span> <\/p>\n

\n 
\n <\/span> <\/p>\n

\n\tThe next step is to get into contact with the higher planes above spiritual mind
\n\u2014  for as soon as one gets into the spiritual Mind
\nor Higher Mind, this realisation is possible. <\/span> <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n\t\t\tNow the big question is: Is the realisation of the Self a state of
\nperpetual peace, joy and bliss? <\/span> <\/p>\n

\n\t\t\t 
\n <\/span> <\/p>\n

\n\tIf it is thoroughly established, it is one of
\ninternal <\/i>peace, freedom,
\nwideness, in the inner being. <\/span> <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n\t\t\tIs it a state surpassing all struggles, dualities and depressions?
\n\t\t\t<\/span> <\/p>\n

\n 
\n <\/span> <\/p>\n

\n\tAll these things you mention become incidents in the external being, on the surface
\n\u2014  but the inner being remains untouched
\nby them. <\/span> <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n\t\t\tAre all troubles of the lower nature conquered finally \u2014
\nespecially sex? <\/span> <\/p>\n

\n\t\t\t 
\n <\/span> <\/p>\n

\n\tNo, sir. But the inner being is not touched.
\n\t\t\t<\/span> <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n\t\t\tOr is it that sex-desire rises up in the Yogis, but leaves them untouched, unscathed? No attraction for them? It must be so,
\notherwise how can they be called siddhas<\/i>? No danger of a fall from the spiritual state?
\n\t\t\t<\/span> <\/p>\n

\n 
\n <\/span> <\/p>\n

\n\tIt may be covered up in a way \u2014  so long as it is not established in all parts of the being. The old Yogis did not consider that
\nnecessary, because they wanted to walk off, not to change the being.
\n\t\t\t<\/span> <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n\t\t\tWhy do you call it a beginning only? What more do you want to do except perhaps physical transformation?
\n\t\t\t<\/span> <\/p>\n

\n 
\n <\/span> <\/p>\n

\n\tI want to effect the transformation of the whole nature (not only of the physical)
\n\u2014  that’s why.
\n   <\/span> <\/p>\n

\n <\/p>\n

\n
\nPage \u2013 <\/font>669<\/font><\/span><\/p>\n

\n

\n

\nAnd lastly can you whisper to me the names of those lucky fellows, those “half a dozen people” [p. 667<\/i>], so that I can
\nhave a practical knowledge of what that blessed thing \u2014  “the Brahman consciousness”
\n\u2014  is like?
\n<\/span> <\/p>\n

\n 
\n <\/span> <\/p>\n

\n\tNO, SIR.
\n<\/u>
\n\t<\/span> <\/p>\n

\nHow can you have a practical knowledge of it by knowing
\nwho has it? You might just as well expect to have a practical knowledge of high mathematics by knowing that Einstein is a
\ngreat mathematician. Queer ideas you have! <\/span> <\/p>\n

\n <\/p>\n

\n\t\t\tAre they A<\/i>? B<\/i>? C<\/i>?
\nD<\/i>? E<\/i>? F<\/i>? \u2014  but he can’t be for he is a
\nBrahma himself, so keeps himself secluded like Him, no? <\/span> <\/p>\n

\n\t\t\t 
\n <\/span> <\/p>\n

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

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

\n\t\t\t 
\n<\/span> <\/p>\n

\n“Advanced Sadhaks” <\/b>
\n<\/span>
\n<\/p>\n

\n\t\t\t 
\n <\/span> <\/p>\n

\n\tX <\/span> <\/i>is an advanced sadhak? This word “advanced” has no sense, it merely feeds the egoism of those who apply it to themselves.
\n\t<\/span> <\/p>\n

\n\t <\/p>\n

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

\n\t\t\t    <\/span> <\/p>\n

\n\t\t\tThe Mother never speaks of advanced sadhaks \u2014  it is the sadhaks themselves who have invented the phrase. Whenever they used it in their letters to me, I have thrown ridicule on the phrase
\nand said I have no knowledge of there being two classes in the Asram, one of advanced sadhaks and the other of non-advanced
\nsadhaks. So the question about X <\/i>does not arise. If a sadhak, whoever he may be, speaks or acts out of anger, rajasic violence
\nor any other unYogic impulse, his speech or action is contrary to the spirit of the sadhana.
\n\t\t\t<\/span> <\/p>\n

\n\t <\/p>\n

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

\n\t\t\t    <\/span> <\/p>\n

\n\t\t\tYes, you should learn not to be perturbed by talk of this kind
\nfrom whomsoever it proceeds; I think I have already tried to put you on your guard against listening to “advanced sadhaks”
\nor taking these pronouncements of theirs as authoritative statements of the aims and conditions of the Yoga. Why this claim
\n  
\n<\/span> <\/p>\n

\n <\/p>\n

\n
\nPage \u2013 <\/font>670<\/font><\/span><\/p>\n

\n

\n\tto be an advanced sadhak and what is the sense of it? it resolves itself into an egoistic assertion of superiority over others which is
\nnot justified so long as there is <\/i>the egoism and the need of assertion
\n\u2014  accompanied, as it always is, by a weakness and turbid
\nimperfection which belie the claim of living in a superior consciousness to the “unadvanced” sadhaks. It is time these crudities
\ndisappeared from the Asram atmosphere. <\/span> <\/p>\n

\n
\n3 February 1932
\n<\/font>
\n<\/span> <\/p>\n

\n\t <\/p>\n

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

\n\t\t\t  <\/span> <\/p>\n

\n\t\t\tWouldn’t it be best if people did not think of themselves as
\nbeing more advanced than others? It is enough to know that we are on the right path.
\n\t\t\t<\/span> <\/p>\n

\n 
\n <\/span> <\/p>\n

\n\tYes, the talk about advanced sadhaks is a thing I have always discouraged \u2014  but people go on because that appeals to the vital
\nego. <\/span> <\/p>\n

\n
\n13 May 1935
\n<\/font>
\n<\/span> <\/p>\n

\n\t <\/p>\n

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

\n\t\t\t  <\/span> <\/p>\n

\n\t\t\tI understand your protesting against “great” or “big” sadhaks,
\nbut why against “advanced” sadhaks? Is it not a fact that some are more advanced than others? If we speak of
\nX <\/i>as an
\nadvanced sadhak, we don’t mean anything else. <\/span> <\/p>\n

\n\t\t\t 
\n <\/span> <\/p>\n

\n\tAdvanced indeed! Pshaw! Because one is 3 inches ahead of
\nanother, you must make classes of advanced and non-advanced? Advanced has the same puffing egoistic resonance as “great”
\nor “big”. It leads to all sorts of stupidities \u2014  rajasic self-appreciating egoism in some, tamasic self-depreciating egoism
\nin others, round-eyed wonderings why X, an advanced sadhak, one 3 inches ahead of Y, should stumble, tumble or fumble
\nwhile Y, 3 inches behind X, still plods heavily and steadily on, etc. etc. Why, sir, the very idea in X that he is an advanced
\nsadhak (like the Pharisee, “I thank thee, O Lord, that I am not as other unadvanced disciples”,) would be enough to make him
\nfumble, stumble and tumble. So no more of that, sir, no more of that. <\/span> <\/p>\n

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

\n 
\n\t\t\t<\/span> <\/p>\n

\n
\nPage \u2013 <\/font>671<\/font><\/span><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/table>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Sadhana in the Ashram Contd… I for my part am not prepared to bear any part of the burden of transformation of the hostile forces….<\/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-1662","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\/1662","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=1662"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/worksofthemotherandsriaurobindo.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1662\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/worksofthemotherandsriaurobindo.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1662"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/worksofthemotherandsriaurobindo.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1662"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/worksofthemotherandsriaurobindo.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1662"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}