{"id":1677,"date":"2013-07-13T01:36:28","date_gmt":"2013-07-13T01:36:28","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/localhost\/?p=1677"},"modified":"2013-07-13T01:36:28","modified_gmt":"2013-07-13T01:36:28","slug":"53-the-ashram-and-religion-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\/53-the-ashram-and-religion-vol-35-letters-on-himself-and-the-ashram","title":{"rendered":"-53_The Ashram and Religion.htm"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n\n\n
\n

\n\t\t\tThe Ashram and Religion <\/font><\/b>
\n\t\t\t<\/span> <\/p>\n

\n\t\t\t 
\n<\/span> <\/p>\n

\nA Way, Not a Religion
\n<\/b>
\n<\/span> <\/p>\n

\n 
\n <\/span> <\/p>\n

\n\tI have no time to read books usually. I seldom had and none at all now. I have had no inspirations from the sadhana of Bejoy
\nGoswami, though a good deal at one time from Ramakrishna and Vivekananda. My remarks simply meant that I regard the
\nspiritual history of mankind and especially of India as a constant development of a divine purpose, not a book that is closed, the
\nlines of which have to be constantly repeated. Even the Upanishads and the Gita were not final though everything may be there
\nin seed. In this development the recent spiritual history of India is a very important stage and the names I mentioned had a special
\nprominence in my thought at the time \u2014  they seemed to me to indicate the lines from which the future spiritual development
\nhad most directly to proceed, not staying but passing on. I do not know that I would put my meaning exactly in the language you
\nsuggest. I may say that it is far from my purpose to propagate any religion new or old for humanity in the future. A way to be
\nopened that is still blocked, not a religion to be founded, is my conception of the matter.
\n\t<\/span> <\/p>\n

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

\n\t\t\t 
\n<\/span> <\/p>\n

\nIslam, Hinduism, and the Integral Yoga
\n<\/b><\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n\t\t\tI want to do something to work for Islamic ideals here. I have a strong desire to do this, but somehow it cuts me off very
\nmuch from the Ashram atmosphere and sadhana. <\/span> <\/p>\n

\n\t\t\t 
\n <\/span> <\/p>\n

\n\tAs to what you say about Islamic ideals, you should remember
\nthat whatever is necessary to keep from the past as materials for the future, will
\nof itself <\/i>and automatically <\/i>be taken into the new
\ncreation when things are ready and the full Light and Power at work. It is not necessary for anybody to represent or stand
\nfor Islamic ideals or for Hindu or Christian ideals; if anybody  
\n<\/span> <\/p>\n

\n <\/p>\n

\n
\nPage \u2013 <\/font>696<\/font><\/span><\/p>\n

\n

\nhere thinks he must stand for one or other of these things, he is making a mistake and is likely to create unnecessary narrowness,
\nclash and opposition. There is no opposition or clash between them in spiritual experience; it is only the external human mind
\nthat mistakenly puts them against each other. What we are here to make is a new creation in which there is a larger reconciling
\nTruth than anything that went before in the past; but what will reconcile and create anew is the Power, the Light, the Knowledge that comes from above. The important thing therefore is to prepare yourself for that Power, Light and Knowledge; it is
\nonly when that descends that all will be done rightly. Nothing can be done rightly by the individual working without the Light
\nand the Knowledge. <\/span> <\/p>\n

\n
\n14 January 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\tI want to ask if there is any likelihood of a fight between the
\nHindus and Mahomedans in India, and if the forces are nearly equal on both sides or one side is superior to the other.
\n\t\t\t<\/span> <\/p>\n

\n 
\n <\/span> <\/p>\n

\n\tIt is to be hoped that in time the present mentality will pass away and both communities learn to live as children of the same
\nMother. If they fight, neither are likely to gain but both to lose, even perhaps giving an opening to a third party as has happened
\nbefore in their history. <\/span> <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n\t\t\tI also want to ask if Mahomedanism will retain its present
\nform and terms in the future. At present its only strength and faith is in the most orthodox section, which does not and
\ncannot change even a bit; for the least change would mean the end of its formation, and in that it has sufficient force and
\nfaith. What happens under such circumstances? Can it have a place in the supramental creation?
\n\t\t\t<\/span> <\/p>\n

\n 
\n <\/span> <\/p>\n

\n\tThere is no place for rigid orthodoxy, whether Hindu, Mahomedan or Christian in the future. Those who cling to it, lose hold
\non life and go under \u2014  as has been shown by the fate of the Hindus in India and of the orthodox Mahomedan countries all
\nover the world. It is only where there has been an opening to new light and inevitable change that strength is returning as
\n   <\/span> <\/p>\n

\n <\/p>\n

\n
\nPage \u2013 <\/font>697<\/font><\/span><\/p>\n

\n

\n

in Turkey and Persia. In the supramental creation fundamental truth will always find a place; but orthodoxy means a clinging
\nto narrow limitations, and limitations of that kind cannot exist in the supramental creation. All that is permanently true will be
\ntaken up into the creation of the future. <\/span> <\/p>\n

\n
\n23 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\tI wish that Muslims might come here from outside and keep
\na more constant contact. It would create a nice atmosphere here. After all, it seems improbable that all the twelve crores
\nof Mahomedans should be left quite out of contact with the Yoga.
\n<\/span> <\/p>\n

\n 
\n <\/span> <\/p>\n

\n\tThese things that rise in you are certainly desires of the physical vital or else ideas of the physical mind giving a mental shape
\nto desires. The sadhak has to see them when they rise and note them for what they are, but not allow them to move him to
\naction.
\n<\/span> <\/p>\n

\nIf one is meant to be an intermediary between the Yogic
\nTruth that is descending here and some part of the outside world, e.g. the Mahomedan world, it is necessary first that he
\nshould get a calm and complete balance, a full foundation in the higher
\nconsciousness and the permanent Light in his being, \u2014
\notherwise he will not be able to do his work. If he tries before he is ready, he will fail
\n\u2014  therefore let there be nothing done that
\nis premature. <\/span> <\/p>\n

\n
\n16 November 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\tYou write: “If one is meant to be an intermediary between the
\nYogic Truth and . . . the Mahomedan world”. I wish to ask if the Mahomedan world is such a separate thing here. For this
\nphrase cannot be put thus: “between the Yogic Truth and the Hindu world”.
\n<\/span> <\/p>\n

\n 
\n <\/span> <\/p>\n

\n\tOf course it can \u2014  the orthodox Hindu world is quite separate, all the outside world is separate, until the Light that is growing
\nhere makes the connection.  
\n<\/span> <\/p>\n

\n <\/p>\n

\n
\nPage \u2013 <\/font>698<\/font><\/span><\/p>\n

\n

\nI thought the attitude towards Mahomedans lay in the minds of the people here because of a subconscious influence and I took this to be an ignorance that can be overlooked for the time being. But if Sri Aurobindo also writes like this, I wish to know if the Mahomedan world is a separate block to be dealt with as
\none deals with strangers, foreigners, almost enemies. <\/span> <\/p>\n

\nI wish also to ask this: The Mother has often issued notices saying, “When a man comes here, he ceases to be a Hindu
\nor a Mahomedan etc.” Though there is sufficient pressure on the Mahomedans to cease to be Mahomedan, does anybody
\ncease to be a Hindu? Is the idea even believed by any Hindu sadhak? So certain is everybody of its not being true that
\nthere is hardly any hope of such a thought ever entering the mind. Under these circumstances, God alone knows if it is
\nright or sensible for me to live on and see the ruin without doing anything to bring in the Mahomedan influence here.
\nWhen I surrendered, I had not ceased to be a Mahomedan as happened afterwards.
\n<\/span> <\/p>\n

\n 
\n <\/span> <\/p>\n

\n\tIf there is anybody in this Asram who is a Hindu sectarian hating Mahomedans and not opening to the Light in which all can
\novercome their limitations and in which all can be fulfilled (each religion or way of approaching the Divine contributing its own
\nelement of the truth, but all fused together and surpassed), then that Hindu sectarian is not a completely surrendered disciple
\nof Sri Aurobindo. By his narrowness and hatred of others he is bringing an element of falsehood into the work that is being
\ndone here.
\n<\/span> <\/p>\n

\nWhen I spoke of the outside world, I meant all outside,
\nincluding the Hindus and Christians and everyone else, all who have not yet accepted the greater Light that is coming. If this
\nAsram were here only to serve Hinduism I would not be in it and the Mother who was never a Hindu would not be in it.
\n<\/span> <\/p>\n

\nWhat is being done here is the preparation of a Truth which includes all other Truth but is limited to no single religion or
\ncreed, and this preparation has to be done apart and in silence until things are ready. It is in that sense that I speak of the rest of
\nthe world and all its component parts as being the outside world \u2014  not that there was nothing to be done or no connection to be
\n   <\/span> <\/p>\n

\n <\/p>\n

\n
\nPage \u2013 <\/font>699<\/font><\/span><\/p>\n

\n

\n

made; but these things are to be done in their own proper time.
\n<\/span> <\/p>\n

\nDo you tell me that all the people here show the spirit you
\nspeak of against the Mahomedans or are you generalising from particular cases? If it is as you say, I am quite ready to intervene
\nto put a stop to it. For such a spirit would be entirely opposed to the Truth I am here to manifest.
\n<\/span> <\/p>\n

\n <\/p>\n

\n\t\t\tWhen I came here in the beginning, X <\/i>told me that Sri Aurobindo said: “Mahomedanism was all right for the people of
\nArabia and those countries. I don’t see why it should have come to India.” Had Mahomedanism no message for India?
\nIs this a teaching of the Ashram? <\/span> <\/p>\n

\n\t\t\t 
\n <\/span> <\/p>\n

\n\tNo, certainly not; it is a sheer misinterpretation of my views.
\nI have written clearly that the coming of so many religions to India was part of her spiritual destiny and a great advantage for
\nthe work to be done. <\/span> <\/p>\n

\n
\n17 November 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\tIf the sadhaks here remain Hindus, which in the end turns out to be their very aim and zest, what an utter fool I would be to allow myself to
\nbe changed and trust myself to be worked upon thus. <\/span> <\/p>\n

\nAgain, when Sri Aurobindo writes about what he is going
\nto manifest here, I wonder why such a great thing is partial. Why should that creation be formed in such a way as to
\nexclude Mahomedans from it and put on them an all-round pressure which is experienced by nobody else. To give up one’s
\npast and forget it or to try not to think about it is one thing; to go through the humiliation of taking up the way of others
\nis most difficult, almost shameful, and I have lost faith in it. <\/span> <\/p>\n

\n\t\t\t 
\n <\/span> <\/p>\n

\n\tIt is news to me that I have excluded Mahomedans from the
\nYoga. I have not done it any more than I have excluded Europeans or Christians. As for giving up one’s past, if that means
\ngiving up the outer forms of the old religions, it is done as much by the Hindus here as by the Mahomedans. Every Hindu
\nhere \u2014  even those who were once orthodox Brahmins and have grown old in it,
\n\u2014  give up all observance of caste, take food
\nfrom Pariahs and are served by them, associate and eat with  
\n<\/span> <\/p>\n

\n <\/p>\n

\n
\nPage \u2013 <\/font>700<\/font><\/span><\/p>\n

\n

\nMahomedans, Christians, Europeans, cease to practise temple worship or Sandhya (daily prayer and mantras), accept a non
\nHindu from Europe as their spiritual director. These are things people who have Hinduism as their aim and object would not
\ndo \u2014  they do it because they are obliged here to look to a higher ideal in which these things have no value. What is kept of Hinduism is Vedanta and Yoga, in which Hinduism is one with Sufism of Islam and with the Christian mystics. But even here it
\nis not Vedanta and Yoga in their traditional limits (their past), but widened and rid of many ideas that are peculiar to the
\nHindus. If I have used Sanskrit terms and figures, it is because I know them and do not know Persian and Arabic. I have not
\nthe slightest objection to anyone here drawing inspiration from Islamic sources if they agree with the Truth as Sufism agrees
\nwith it. On the other hand I have not the slightest objection to Hinduism being broken to pieces and disappearing from the face
\nof the earth, if that is the Divine Will. I have no attachment to past forms; what is Truth will always remain; the Truth alone
\nmatters. <\/span> <\/p>\n

\n
\n17 November 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\tDoes the supramental victory mean the victory of the Hindu
\nreligion and culture over others? Will the supramental consciousness come into the body of a man whether or not he
\nsubordinates himself to Hinduism? <\/span> <\/p>\n

\n\t\t\t 
\n <\/span> <\/p>\n

\n\tThe Asram has nothing to do with Hindu religion or culture
\nor any religion or nationality. The Truth of the Divine which is the spiritual reality behind all religions and the descent of the
\nsupramental which is not known to any religion are the sole things which will be the foundation of the work of the future.
\n\t<\/span> <\/p>\n

\n 
\n<\/span> <\/p>\n

\nThe Hindu Religion and Its Social Structure <\/b><\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n\t\t\tMy friend Dhurjati writes: “I want to know the essential feature of Hinduism. Hinduism is inside me, but please bring it up on my conscious plane. The first step of my realisation
\nmust always be conceptual and propositional.”   <\/span> <\/p>\n

\n <\/p>\n

\n
\nPage \u2013 <\/font>701<\/font><\/span><\/p>\n

\n

\n

I am rather at a loss from which side to tackle the affair. Conceptually and propositionally is it possible to give Dhurjati some
\nthing about the essential feature of Hinduism which he does not know already? I can say what to my view is the truth behind
\nHinduism, a truth contained in the very nature (not superficially seen of course) of human existence, something which is not the
\nmonopoly of Hinduism but of which Hindu spirituality was the richest expression. Perhaps I can try to bring out something on
\nthat line. I will see. <\/span> <\/p>\n

\n
\n19 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\tI send you Jawaharlal’s Autobiography<\/i>. I want to have your
\nopinion on his reading of the Hindu religion. I agree with the bulk of his condemnation of religion. But it seems to me he is
\na little hazy in his ideas, expecting from it just what is beyond
\nits <\/span> port\u00e9e<\/i><\/span>. But of course I don’t wonder, for religion is a most mysterious term, like our famous
\nkalpataru <\/i>of Indra’s garden
\nwhich promises to its worshippers any fruit they covet. <\/span> <\/p>\n

\n\t\t\t 
\n <\/span> <\/p>\n

\n\tI fear that to accede to your request for a page and a half on
\nthe mystic soul of India is physically impossible now and psychologically a little difficult. I have once more the full flood of
\ncorrespondence, in spite of the rules of time which have proved an insufficient dam. Each night is a race to get things done
\nin time which I generally lose and that means an increasing mass of arrears which have to be dealt with whenever I get
\nsome exceptional leisure. On Sunday a mass of outside letters waiting for disposal because I have no time on other days and
\n\tnot enough on Sunday either. In these circumstances to produce a page on such a subject would be a feat of acrobacy not easily
\nperformable. <\/span> <\/p>\n

\nAs for the subject, well in the days of the Karmayogin <\/i>or
\nof the Defence of Indian Culture <\/i>I could have served you freely. Now I feel as if I have said all I could say on these things
\n\u2014  they
\nhave gone back into the far recess of my mind and to pull them out for expression is not easy. That is a second obstacle.
\n<\/span> <\/p>\n

\nI do not take the same view of the Hindu religion as Jawaharlal. Religion is always imperfect because it is a mixture of
\n  
\n<\/span> <\/p>\n

\n <\/p>\n

\n
\nPage \u2013 <\/font>702<\/font><\/span><\/p>\n

\n

\nman’s spirituality with the errors that come in trying to sublimate ignorantly his lower nature. Hindu religion appears to me as a
\ncathedral temple half in ruins, noble in the mass, often fantastic in detail, but always fantastic with a significance
\n\u2014  crumbled
\nand overgrown in many places, but a cathedral temple in which service is still done to the Unseen and its real presence can be
\nfelt by those who enter with the right spirit. The outer social structure which it built for its approach is another matter.
\n<\/span> <\/p>\n

\n
\n19 September 1936 <\/font> <\/span> <\/p>\n

\n\t\t\t 
\n<\/span> <\/p>\n

\nSocial Rules, Caste and the Ashram
\n<\/b>
\n<\/span> <\/p>\n

\n 
\n <\/span> <\/p>\n

\n\tYou must not get upset like this over these things. After all when one comes to an Asram to do Yoga, one leaves social rules, caste,
\nceremonial purity etc. behind one. Also one tries to practise
\n\tসমতা<\/font> [samata<\/i>] to all people and all things, because the Divine is everywhere. Why not take that attitude instead of the old one?
\n\t<\/span> <\/p>\n

\n 
\n<\/span> <\/p>\n

\nNo Public Worship <\/b> <\/span> <\/p>\n

\n\t\t\t 
\n <\/span> <\/p>\n

\n\tIt seems that even when visitors are there, people come into the
\nReception Room and prostrate before the photograph. I thought the rule had been made that when visitors were there, no one
\nwas to go? This rule must be strictly enforced \u2014  inform the gatekeepers and let everybody know that if these things continue,
\nthe Reception Room will have to be closed and opened only when visitors come.
\n\t<\/span> <\/p>\n

\n
\n23 December 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\tThe reception hall is for visitors. It is only when there are no visitors that Sadhaks can go there
\n\u2014  for a short meditation if
\nthey want. It should not be made a place of public worship. <\/span> <\/p>\n

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

\n 
\n<\/span> <\/p>\n

\nInward Worship and Outer Forms <\/b> <\/span> <\/p>\n

\n\t\t\t 
\n <\/span> <\/p>\n

\n\tThe Mother’s prohibition is only against sadhaks being there
\nand prostrating when visitors are in the Reception Room. This   <\/span> <\/p>\n

\n <\/p>\n

\n
\nPage \u2013 <\/font>703<\/font><\/span><\/p>\n

\n

\n

room was originally meant for the reception of people from outside and the photo was put there to be shown to visitors
\nwho could not see me. The permission was at first given to one sadhak or another to sit and meditate there and afterwards it
\nhas become a common practice to go and make pranam, but it was understood that the sadhaks should not be there when
\nthere were visits. This rule has not been observed and people have used it as a place of public worship. It was this that was
\ndisapproved of by the Mother.
\n<\/span> <\/p>\n

\nThere is no restriction in this Yoga to inward worship and
\nmeditation only. As it is a Yoga for the whole being, not for the inner being only, no such restriction could be intended. Old
\nforms of the different religions may fall away, but absence of all forms is not a rule of the sadhana.
\n<\/span> <\/p>\n

\n
\nc. 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\tYou have written [in the preceding letter<\/i>] that the “old forms . . . may fall away”; but I think it would be proper if
\nthey fell away only after a true consciousness was established. <\/span> <\/p>\n

\n\t\t\t 
\n <\/span> <\/p>\n

\n\tThat is what I meant.
\n<\/span> <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n\t\t\tIt would seem to me that there would be no impropriety if forms like Pranam, Dhup, Dip or Naivedya are continued
\neven after a true inner consciousness is established. <\/span> <\/p>\n

\n\t\t\t 
\n <\/span> <\/p>\n

\n\tI was thinking not of Pranam etc. which have a living value, but
\nof old forms which persist although they have no longer any value \u2014  e.g. Sraddha for the dead. Also here forms which have
\nno relation to this Yoga \u2014  for instance Christians who cling to the Christian forms or Mahomedans to the Namaz or Hindus to
\nthe Sandhyavandana in the old way might soon find them either falling off or else an obstacle to the free development of their
\nsadhana. <\/span> <\/p>\n

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

\n 
\n<\/span> <\/p>\n

\n
\nPage \u2013 <\/font>704<\/font><\/span><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/table>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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