{"id":3208,"date":"2013-07-13T01:46:40","date_gmt":"2013-07-13T01:46:40","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/localhost\/?p=3208"},"modified":"2013-07-13T01:46:40","modified_gmt":"2013-07-13T01:46:40","slug":"46-a-letter-of-sri-aurobindo-to-his-brother-vol-writings-in-bengali-translation","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/worksofthemotherandsriaurobindo.org\/index.php\/01-works-of-sri-aurobindo\/02-other-editions\/writings-in-bengali-translation\/46-a-letter-of-sri-aurobindo-to-his-brother-vol-writings-in-bengali-translation","title":{"rendered":"-46_A Letter of Sri Aurobindo to His Brother.htm"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n\n\n
\n

\n
\nA Letter of Sri Aurobindo to His Brother <\/font><\/p>\n

<\/b><\/p>\n

\n                                                                                                                                                                                     
\nPondicherry<\/font><\/p>\n

\n Date unfixable [April 1920] <\/font><\/p>\n

\nDear Barin, <\/font><\/p>\n

\nI have received your three letters (and another one
\ntoday), but up till now I have not managed to write a reply. That now I sit to
\nwrite is itself a miracle, because I write letters once in a blue moon,
\nespecially letters in Bengali. This is something I have not done even once in
\nthe last five or six years. If I can finish the letter and post it, the miracle
\nwill be complete. <\/font><\/p>\n

\nFirst, about your yoga. You want to give me the
\ncharge of your yoga, and I am willing to accept it. But this means giving it to
\nHim who, openly or secretly, is moving me and you by His divine power. And you
\nshould know that the inevitable result of this will be that you will-have to
\nfollow the path of yoga which He has given me, the path I call the Integral
\nYoga. This is not exactly what we did in Alipur jail, or what you did during
\nyour imprisonment in the Andamans. What I started with, what Lele gave me, what
\nI did in jail\u2014all that was a searching for the path, a circling around looking
\nhere and there, touching, taking up, handling, testing this and that of all the
\nold partial yogas, getting a more or less complete experience of one and then
\ngoing off in pursuit of another. Afterwards, when I came to Pondicherry, this
\nunsteady condition ceased. The indwelling Guru of the world indicated my path to
\nme completely, its full theory, the ten limbs of the body of the yoga. These ten
\nyears he has been making me develop it in experience; it is not yet finished. It
\nmay take another two years. And so long as it is <\/font><\/p>\n

\nPage-359<\/font><\/p>\n

\n

\nnot finished, I probably will not be able to return
\nto Bengal. Pondicherry is the appointed place for the fulfilment of my
\nyoga\u2014except indeed for one part of it, that is, the work. The centre of my work
\nis Bengal, but I hope its circumference will be the whole of India and the whole
\nworld. <\/font><\/p>\n

\nLater I will write to you what my path of yoga is.
\nOr, if you come here, I will tell you. In these matters the spoken word is
\nbetter than the written. For the present I can only say that its fundamental
\nprinciple is to make a synthesis and unity of integral knowledge, integral works
\nand integral devotion, and, raising this above the mental level to the
\nsupramental level of the Vijnana, to give it a complete perfection. The defect
\nof the old yoga was that, knowing the mind and reason and knowing the Spirit, it
\nremained satisfied with spiritual experience in the mind. But the mind can grasp
\nonly the fragmentary; it cannot completely seize the infinite, the undivided.
\nThe mind’s way to seize it is through the trance of samadhi, the liberation of
\nmoksha, the extinction of nirvana, and so forth. It has no other way. Someone
\nhere or there may indeed obtain this featureless liberation, but what is the
\ngain? The Spirit, the Self, the Divine is always there. What the Divine wants is
\nfor man to embody Him here, in the individual and in the collectivity\u2014to realise
\nGod in life. The old system of yoga could not synthesise or unify the Spirit and
\nlife; it dismissed the world as an illusion or a transient play of God. The
\nresult has been a diminution of the power of life and the decline of India. The
\nGita says: utsīdeyur ime lokā na kuryām karma ced aham,<\/i> "These peoples
\nwould crumble to pieces if I did not do actions." Verily "these peoples" of
\nIndia have gone down to ruin. What kind of spiritual perfection is it if a few
\nascetics, renunciates, holy- men and realised beings attain liberation, if a few
\ndevotees dance in a frenzy of love, god-intoxication and bliss, and an entire
\nrace, devoid of life and intelligence, sinks to the <\/font><\/p>\n

\nPage-360<\/font><\/p>\n

\n

\ndepths of darkness and inertia? First one must have
\nall sorts of partial experience on the mental level, flooding the mind with
\nspiritual delight and illuminating it with spiritual light; afterwards one
\nclimbs upwards. Unless one makes this upward climb, this climb to the
\nsupramental level, it is not possible to know the ultimate secret of
\nworld-existence; the riddle of the world is not solved. There, the cosmic
\nIgnorance which consists of the duality of Self and world. Spirit and life, is
\nabolished. Then one need no longer look on the world as an illusion: the world
\nis an eternal play of God, the perpetual manifestation of the Self. Then is it
\npossible fully to know and realise God\u2014samagram mām jnāturh pravistum,<\/i>
\n"to know and enter into Me completely", as the Gita says. The physical body,
\nlife, mind and reason, Supermind, the Bliss-existence\u2014these are the Spirit’s
\nfive levels. The higher we climb, the nearer comes a state of highest perfection
\nof man’s spiritual evolution. When we rise to the Supermind, it becomes easy to
\nrise to the Bliss. The status of indivisible and infinite Bliss becomes firmly
\nestablished\u2014not only in the timeless Supreme Reality, but in the body, in the
\nworld, in life. Integral existence, integral consciousness, integral bliss
\nblossom out and take form in life. This endeavour is the central clue of my
\nyogic path, its fundamental idea. But it is not an easy thing. After fifteen
\nyears I am only now rising into the lowest of the three levels of the Super-
\nmind and trying to draw up into it all the lower activities. But when the
\nprocess is complete, there is not the least doubt that God through me will give
\nthis supramental perfection to others with less diffficulty. Then my real work
\nwill begin. I am not impatient for the fulfilment of my work. What is to happen
\nwill happen in God’s appointed time. I am not disposed to run like a madman and
\nplunge into the field of action on the strength of my little ego. Even if my
\nwork were not fulfilled, I would not be disturbed. This work is not mine, <\/font><\/p>\n

\nPage-361<\/font><\/p>\n

\n

\nit is God’s. I listen to no one else’s call. When I
\nam moved by God, I will move. <\/font><\/p>\n

\nI know that Bengal is not ready. The spiritual
\nflood which has come is for the most part a new form of the old. It is not a
\nreal change. But it too was needed. Bengal has been awakening within itself all
\nthe old yogas in order to exhaust their ingrained tendencies, extract their
\nessence and with it fertilise the soil. First it was the turn of Vedanta: the
\ndoctrine of non-dualism, asceticism, the Illusionism of Shankara, and so forth.
\nNow, according to your description, it is the turn of the Vaishnava religion:
\nthe divine Play, love, losing oneself in the delight of spiritual emotion. All
\nthis is very old and unsuitable for the new age. It cannot last, for such
\nexcite- ment has no lasting power. But the Vaishnava way has this merit, that it
\nkeeps a certain connection between God and the world and gives a meaning to
\nlife. But because it is a partial thing, the connection and the meaning are not
\ncomplete. The sectarianism you have noticed was inevitable. This is the Saw of
\nthe mind: to take one part and call it the whole, excluding all the other parts.
\nThe realised man who comes with an idea keeps, even if he leans on the part,
\nsome awareness of the whole\u2014although he may not be able to give it form. But his
\ndisciples are not able to do this, because the form is lacking. They are tying
\nup their bundles\u2014let them. When God descends completely on the country, the
\nbundles will open of themselves. All these things are signs of incompleteness
\nand immaturity. I am not disturbed by them. Let the force of spirituality have
\nits play in the country in whatever way and through as many sects as there may
\nbe. Afterwards we shall see. This is the infancy, the embryonic state, even, of
\nthe new age, just a hint, not yet the beginning. Then about Motilal’s group.’
\nWhat Motilal got from me is <\/font><\/p>\n

\n    ‘ The Prabartak Sangha of
\nChandernagore. West Bengal, founded  Motilal Roy, an early associate of Sri
\nAurobindo. <\/font><\/p>\n

\nPage-362<\/font><\/p>\n

\n

\nthe first foundation, the base of my
\nyoga\u2014surrender, equality etc. He has been working on these things; the work is
\nnot complete. One special feature of this yoga is that until the realisation has
\nbeen raised to a somewhat elevated level, the base does not become solid.
\nMotilal now wants to rise higher. In the beginning he had a number of old fixed
\nnotions. Some have dropped off, some still remain. At first it was the notion of
\nasceticism\u2014he wanted to create an Aurobindo order of monks.’ Now his mind has
\nadmitted that asceticism is not needed, but the old impression in his vital
\nbeing has still not been thoroughly wiped out. This is why he advocates
\nrenunciation and asceticism while remaining a part of the life of the world. He
\nhas realised the necessity of renouncing desire, but he has not fully been able
\nto grasp how the renunciation of desire can be reconciled with the experience of
\nbliss. Moreover, he took to my yoga\u2014as is natural to the Bengali nature\u2014not so
\nmuch from the side of knowledge as from the side of devotion and service.
\nKnowledge has blossomed out a little; but much more is yet to come, and the fog
\nof sentimentality has not been dissipated, though it is not so thick as it used
\nto be. He has not been able to get beyond the limitations of the sattwic nature,
\nthe temperament of the moral man. The ego is still there. In a word, his
\ndevelopment is progressing, it is not complete. But I am in no hurry. I am
\nletting him develop according to his own nature. I do not want to fashion
\neverybody in the same mould. The real thing will be the same in all, but it will
\ntake many aspects and many forms. Everyone grows from within; I do not wish to
\nmodel from outside. Motilal has got the fundamental thing; all the rest will
\ncome. <\/font><\/p>\n

\n   You ask, "Why is Motilal tying up his
\nbundle?" I will <\/font><\/p>\n

\n‘ Today I have received a letter from
\nMotilal. He writes that he never had this idea, he was misunderstood. (Sri
\nAurobindo’s note.]<\/font><\/p>\n

\n Page-363<\/font><\/p>\n

\n

\nexplain. First, some people have gathered round him
\nwho are in contact with him and with me. What he received from me, they too are
\nreceiving. Secondly, I wrote a small article in Prabartak’<\/i> called "About
\nSociety"2 in which I spoke about the sangha<\/i> or community. I do not want a
\ncommunity based on division. I want a community based upon the Spirit and giving
\nform to the unity of the Spirit. This idea Motilal has taken up under the name
\ndeva-sangha<\/i> (divine community). I have spoken in my English writings of the
\n"divine life". Nolini has translated this as deva-jivana.<\/i> The community
\nof those who want the deva-jivana<\/i> is the deva-sangha.<\/i> Motilal has
\nbegun an attempt to establish this kind of community in seed-form in
\nChandernagore and to spread it across the country. If the shadow of the fragile
\nego falls upon this sort of endeavour, the community turns into a sect. The idea
\nmay easily creep in that the community which will be there in the end is this
\nvery one, that everything will be the circumference of this sole centre, that
\nall who are outside it are not of the fold or, even if they are, that they have
\ngone astray, because they are not in accord with our current line of thinking.
\nIf Motilal is making this mistake\u2014he may have some tendency to make it, though I
\ndo not know whether he has done so or not\u2014it will not do much harm, the mistake
\nwill pass. Much work has been done and continues to be done for us by Motilal
\nand his little group\u2014something nobody else has been able to do up till now. The
\ndivine power is working in him, there is no doubt about that. I <\/font><\/p>\n

\nYou will perhaps ask, "What is the need of a
\nsangha<\/i> ? Lee me be free and fill every vessel. Let all become One, let all
\ntake place within that vast unity." All this is true, but it is <\/font><\/p>\n

\n‘ A magazine published by Motilal Roy’s
\nPrabartak Sangha. 2 Presently published under the title "The Chariot of
\nJagannath" (Jagannather Rath).<\/i> <\/font><\/p>\n

\nPage-364<\/font><\/p>\n

\n

\nonly one side of the truth. Our business is not
\nwith the \\
\n<\/i>formless Spirit only; we have to direct life as well. Without shape and
\nform, life has no effective movement. It is the Termless that has taken form,
\nand that assumption of name and form is not a caprice of Maya. The positive
\nnecessity of form has brought about the assumption of form. We do not want to
\nexclude any of the world’s activities. Politics, trade, social organisation,
\npoetry, art, literature\u2014all will remain. But all will be given a new life, a new
\nform. Why did I leave politics ? Because our politics is not the genuine Indian
\nthing; it is a European import, an imitation of European ways. But it too was
\nneeded. You and I also engaged in politics of the- European style. If we had not
\ndone so, the country would not have risen, and we would not have had the
\nexperience or obtained a full development. Even now there is a need for it, not
\nso much in Bengal as in the other provinces of India. But now the time has come
\nto take hold of the substance instead of extending the shadow. We have to awaken
\nthe true soul of India and to do everything in accordance with it. For the last
\nten years I have been silently pouring my influence into this foreign political
\nvessel, and there has been some result. I can continue to do this wherever
\nnecessary. But if I took up that work openly again, associating with the
\npolitical leaders and working with them, it would be supporting an alien law of
\nbeing and a false political life. People now want to spiritualise politics\u2014
\nGandhi, for instance. But he can’t get hold of the Tight way. What is Gandhi
\ndoing? Making a hodgepodge called satyagraha<\/i> out of "Ahimsa parama
\ndharma",1
\n<\/i>Jainism, hartal,<\/i> passive resistance, etc.; bringing a sort of
\nIndianised Tolstoyism into the country. The result\u2014if there is any lasting
\nresult\u2014will be a sort of Indianised Bolshevism. I have no objection to his work;
\nlet each one act according to ‘<\/font><\/p>\n

\n "Non-violence is the highest law." <\/font><\/p>\n

\nPage-365<\/font><\/p>\n

\n

\n his own inspiration. <\/b> But it is not the
\nreal thing. If the spiritual force is poured into these impure forms\u2014the wine of
\nthe spirit into these unbaked vessels\u2014the imperfect things will break apart and
\nspill and waste the wine. Or else the spiritual \u201e force will evaporate and only
\nthe impure form remain. It is , the same in every field of activity. I could use
\nmy spiritual influence; it would give strength to those who received it and 
\nthey would work with great energy. But the force would be expended in shaping
\nthe image of a monkey "and setting it up in the temple of Shiva. If the monkey
\nis brought to life it may grow powerful, and in the guise of the devotee Hanuman
\ndo much work for Rama\u2014so long as the life and strength remain. But in the temple
\nof India we want not Hanuman but the Godhead, the Avatar, Rama himself. <\/font><\/p>\n

\nI can associate with everyone, but only in order to
\ndraw them all onto the true path, while keeping the spirit and form of our ideal
\nintact. If that is not done we will lose our way and the true work will not be
\naccomplished. If we are spread out everywhere as individuals, something no doubt
\nwill be done; if we are spread out everywhere in the form of a
\nsangha,<\/i> a hundred times more will be accomplished. But the time has not
\nyet come for this. If we try to give it form hastily, it will not be the exact
\nthing I want. The sangha<\/i> will at first be in a diffused form. Those who
\nhave accepted the ideal, although bound together, will work in different places.
\nAfterwards, bound into a sangha<\/i> with a form like a spiritual commune,
\nthey will shape all their activities according to the Self and according to the
\nneeds of the age. Not a fixed and rigid form like that of the old Aryan society,
\nnot a stagnant backwater, but a free form that can spread itself out like the
\nsea with its multitudinous waves\u2014engulfing this, inundating that, absorbing
\nall\u2014and as this continues, a spiritual community will be established. This is my
\npresent idea; it is not yet fully developed. What is being developed is what
\ncame to <\/font><\/p>\n

\nPage-366<\/font><\/p>\n

\n

\nme in my meditations at Alipur. I shall see what
\nshape it finally takes later. The result is in God’s hands\u2014let his will be done.
\nMotilal’s little group is just one experiment. He is looking for the means to
\nengage in trade, industry, agriculture, etc. through his sangha. <\/i>
\nI am giving force and watching. There may be some materials for the future and
\nsome useful suggestions to be found in it. Do not judge it by its current}
\nmerits and demerits or its present limitations. It is now in a! wholly initial
\nand experimental stage. <\/font><\/p>\n

\nNext I will discuss some of the specific points
\nraised in your letter. I do not want to say much here about what you write as
\nregards your yoga. It will be more convenient to do so when we meet. But there
\nis one thing you write, that you admit no physical connection with men, that you
\nlook upon the body as a corpse. And yet your mind wants to live the worldly
\nlife. Does this condition still persist? To look upon the body as a corpse is a
\nsign of asceticism, the path of nirvana. The worldly life does not go along with
\nthis idea. There must be delight in everything, in the body as much as in the
\nspirit. The body is made of consciousness, the body is a form of God. I see God
\nin everything in the world. Sarvam idam brahma, vāsudevah sarvamiti<\/i> ("All
\nthis here is the Brahman", "Vasudeva, the Divine, is all")\u2014this vision brings
\nthe universal delight. Concrete waves of this bliss flow even through the body.
\nIn this condition, filled with spiritual feeling, one can live the worldly life,
\nget married or do anything else. In every activity one finds a blissful self-
\nexpression of the divine. I have for a long time been transforming on the mental
\nlevel all the objects and experi- ences of the mind and senses into delight. Now
\nthey are all taking the form of supramental delight. In this condition there is
\nthe perfect vision and experience of Sachchidananda\u2014the divine Existence,
\nConsciousness and Bliss. <\/font><\/p>\n

\nNext, in reference to the divine community, you
\nwrite, "I <\/font><\/p>\n

\nPage-367<\/font><\/p>\n

\n

\nam not a god, only some much-hammered and tempered
\nsteel." I have already spoken about the real meaning of the divine community. No
\none is a god, but each man has a god within him. To manifest him is the aim of
\nthe divine life. That everyone can do. I admit that certain individuals have
\ngreater or lesser capacities. I do not, however, accept as accurate your
\ndescription of yourself. But whatever the capacity, if once God places his
\nfinger upon the man and his spirit awakes, greater or lesser and all the rest
\nmake little difference. The difficulties may be more, it may take more time,
\nwhat is manifested may not be the same\u2014but even this is not certain. The god
\nwithin takes no account of all these difficulties and deficiencies; he forces
\nhis way out. Were there few defects in my mind and heart and life and body ? Few
\ndifficulties? Did it not take time? Did God hammer at me sparingly\u2014day after
\nday, moment after moment? Whether I have become a god or something else I do not
\nknow. But I have become or am becoming something\u2014what- ever God desired. This is
\nsufficient. And it is the same with everybody; not by our own strength but by
\nGod’s strength is <\/font><\/p>\n

\nthis yoga done. <\/font><\/p>\n

\nIt is good that you have taken charge of
\nNarayan.<\/i> The magazine began well, but later it drew a narrow sectarian line
\naround itself, fostered feelings of faction and began to rot. At first Nolini
\nwrote for Narayan,<\/i> but later he was obliged to turn elsewhere, because it
\ngave no scope to free opinion. There must be the free air of an open room,
\notherwise how can there be any power of life ? Free light and free air are the
\nprimary nourishment of the life-force. At present it is not possible for me to
\ncontribute anything. Later I may be able to give something, but Prabartak<\/i>
\nalso has its claim on me. It may at first be a little difficult to satisfy calls
\nfrom both directions. We shall see when I begin to write in Bengali again. At
\nthe moment I am short of time; it is not <\/font><\/p>\n

\nPage-368<\/font><\/p>\n

\n

\npossible for me to write for anything except the
\nArya.<\/i> Each month I alone have to provide 64 pages; it is no small task. And
\nthen there is poetry to write; the practice of yoga takes time; time is also
\nneeded for rest. Most of "On Society", which Saurin has with him, has probably
\nappeared in Prabartak.<\/i> The rest of what he has must be a draft; the final
\nrevision has not been done. Let me have a look at it first. We shall see then
\nwhether it can be published in Narayan.<\/i> <\/font><\/p>\n

\nYou write about Prabartak<\/i> that people cannot
\nunderstand it, it is misty, a riddle. I have been hearing the same complaint all
\nalong. I admit that there is not much clear-cut thinking in Motilal’s writing;
\nhe writes too densely. But he has inspiration, force, power. In the beginning
\nNolini and Moni wrote for Prabartak<\/i> and even then people called it a
\nriddle. But Nolini’s thinking is clear-cut, Moni’s writing direct and powerful.
\nThere is the same complaint about the
\nArya;<\/i> people can’t understand it. Who wants to give so much thought and
\nconsideration to his reading? But in spite of this, Prabartak<\/i> was doing a
\nlot of work in Bengal, and at that time people did not have the idea that I was
\nwriting for it. If now it does not have the same effect, the reason is that now
\npeople are rushing towards activity and excitement. On one side there is the
\nflood of devotion, on the other side the effort to make money. But during the
\nten-year period that Bengal was lifeless and inert, Prabartak<\/i> was its
\nonly fountain of strength. It has helped a lot in changing the mood of Bengal. I
\ndo not think its work is over yet. <\/font><\/p>\n

\nIn this connection let me tell you briefly one or
\ntwo things I have been observing for a long time. It is my belief that the main
\ncause of India’s weakness is not subjection, nor poverty, nor a lack of
\nspirituality or religion, but a diminution of the power of thought, the spread
\nof ignorance in the "birthplace of knowledge. Everywhere I see an inability or
\nunwillingness to think\u2014incapacity of thought or "thought- <\/font><\/p>\n

\nPage-369<\/font><\/p>\n

\n

\nphobia". This may have been all right in the
\nmediaeval period, but now this attitude is the sign of a great decline. The
\nmediaeval period was a night, the day of victory for the man of ignorance; in
\nthe modern world it is the time of victory for the man of knowledge. He who can
\ndelve into and learn the truth about the world by thinking more, searching more,
\nlabouring more, gains more power. Take a look at Europe. You will see two
\nthings: a wide limitless sea of thought and the play of a huge and rapid, yet
\ndisciplined force. The whole power of Europe is here. It is by virtue of this
\npower that she has been able to swallow the world, like our tapaswis of old,
\nwhose might held even the gods of the universe in terror, suspense, subjection.
\nPeople say that Europe is rushing into the jaws of destruction. I do not think
\nso. All these revolutions, all these upsettings are the first stages of a new
\ncreation. Now take a look at India. A few) solitary giants aside, everywhere
\nthere is your simple man, that is, your average man, one who will not think,
\ncannot think, has not an ounce of strength, just a momentary excitement. India
\nwants the easy thought, the simple word; Europe wants the deep thought, the deep
\nword. In Europe even ordinary labourers think, want to know everything. They are
\nnot satisfied to know things halfway, but want to delve deeply into them. The
\ndifference lies here. But there is’ a fatal limitation to the power and thought
\nof Europe. When she enters the field of spirituality, her thought-power stops
\nworking. There Europe sees everything as a riddle, nebulous metaphysics, yogic
\nhallucination\u2014"It rubs its eyes as in smoke and can see nothing clearly?’ But
\nnow in Europe not a little effort is being made to surmount even this
\nlimitation. Thanks to our forefathers, we have the spiritual sense, and whoever
\nhas this sense has within his reach such knowledge, such power, as with one
\nbreath could blow all the immense strength of Europe away like a blade of grass.
\nBut power is <\/font><\/p>\n

\nPage-370<\/font><\/p>\n

\n

\nneeded to get this power. We, however, are not
\nworshippers of power; we are worshippers of the easy way. But one cannot obtain
\npower by the easy way. Our forefathers swam in a vast sea of thought and gained
\na vast knowledge; they established a vast civilisation. But as they went forward
\non their path they were overcome by exhaustion and weariness. The force of their
\nthought decreased, and along with it decreased the force of their creative
\npower. Our civilisation has become a stagnant backwater, our religion a bigotry
\nof externals, our spirituality a faint glimmer of light or a momentary wave of
\nintoxication. So long as this state of things lasts, any permanent resurgence of
\nIndia is impossible. <\/font><\/p>\n

\nIt is in Bengal that this weakness has gone to the
\nextreme. The Bengali has quickness of intellect, a capacity for feeling,
\nintuition. In all these qualities he is the foremost in India. Each of these
\nqualities is necessary, but they are not in themselves sufficient. If there were
\nadded to them depth of thought, manly force, heroic audacity, proficiency and
\ndelight in prolonged labour, the Bengali would become the leader not only of
\nIndia, but of the world. But the Bengali does not want this; he wants to pick up
\nthings the easy way\u2014knowledge without .thought, results without labour,
\nspiritual perfection after an easy discipline. He relies on emotional
\nexcitement, but excessive emotion devoid of knowledge is the very symptom of the
\ndisease. What has the Bengali been doing from the time of Chaitanya onwards,
\nfrom long before that, in fact? Catching hold of some easy superficial aspect of
\nspiritual truth and dancing about for a few days on waves of emotion; afterwards
\nthere is exhaustion, inertia. And at home, the gradual decline of Bengal, the
\nebbing away of her life-force. In the end, what has the Bengali come to in his
\nown province ? He has nothing to eat and no clothes to wear, there is wailing on
\nevery side. His <\/font><\/p>\n

\nPage-371<\/font><\/p>\n

\n

\nwealth, his business and trade, even his
\nagriculture begin to pass slowly into the hands of outsiders. We have abandoned
\nthe yoga of divine power and so the divine power has abandoned us. We practise
\nthe yoga of love, but where there is no knowledge or power, love does not stay.
\nNarrowness and littleness come in. In a narrow and small mind, life and heart,
\nlove finds no room. Where is there love ii. Bengal? Nowhere else even in this
\ndivision-ridden India is there s\u00a6 much quarrelling, strained relations,
\njealousy, hatred an\u00a6 factionalism as in Bengal. ? <\/font><\/p>\n

\nIn the noble heroic age of the Aryan people there
\nwas no so much shouting and gesticulation, but the endeavour the’ set in motion
\nlasted many centuries. The Bengali’s endeav-1 our lasts for a day or two. You
\nsay what is needed is\u00a6 emotional excitement, to fill the country with
\nenthusiasm. We did all that in the political field during the Swadeshi period;
\neverything we did has fallen in the dust. Will there be a more auspicious
\noutcome in the spiritual field ? I don’t say there has been no result. There has
\nbeen; every movement produces some result. But it is mostly in an increase of
\npossibilities. This is not the right way to steadily actualise the thing.
\nTherefore I do not wish to make emotional excite ment. feeling and mental
\nenthusiasm the base any longer I. want to make avast and strong equality the
\nfoundation of my  yoga; in all the activities of the being, which will be
\nbased on that equality.I want a complete, firm and unshakable over that ocean of
\npower I want the radiation of the sun of Knowledge and in that luminous vastness
\nan established ecstasy of infinite love and bliss and oneness. I do not want
\ntens of thousands of disciples. It will be enough if I can get as instruments of
\nGod one hundred complete men free from petty egoism. I have no confidence in
\nguru hood of the usual type. I do not want to be a guru. What I want is for
\nsomeone, awakened by my touch or by that of another, to manifest <\/font><\/p>\n

\nPage-372<\/font><\/p>\n

\n

\nfrom within his sleeping divinity and to realise
\nthe divine life.  Such men will uplift this country.  <\/font><\/p>\n

\nDo not think from reading this lecture that I
\ndespair of the I future of Bengal. I too hope for what they are saying\u2014that this
\ntime a great light will manifest in Bengal. But I have tried to show the other
\nside of the shield, where the defects, failings and deficiencies lie. If these
\nremain, that light will not be great, nor will it endure. The saints and great
\nmen you have written about appear to me rather dubious. Somehow I do not find in
\nthem what I am looking for. Dayananda’ has all sorts of wonderful powers.
\nIlliterate disciples of his do remarkable automatic writing. All right, but this
\nis only a psychic faculty. What I want to know about is the real thing in them
\nand how far it has progressed. Then there is another\u2014he stirs a person to his
\ndepths just by touching him. Very well, but what does that thrill lead to? Does
\nthe person become by this touch the kind of man who can stand like a pilar of
\nthe new age, the divine Golden Age? This is the question. I see you have your
\ndoubts about this. I have mine too. <\/font><\/p>\n

\nI laughed when I read the prophecies of those
\nsaints and holymen\u2014but not a laugh of scorn or disbelief. I do not know about
\nthe distant future. The light God sometimes gives me falls one step ahead of me;
\nI move forward in that light. But I wonder what these people need me for. Where
\nis my place in their great assembly? I am afraid they would be disappointed to
\nsee me. And as for me, would I not be a fish out of the water? I am not an
\nascetic, not a saint, not a holy- man\u2014not even a religious man. I have no
\nreligion, no code of conduct, no morality. Deeply engrossed in the worldly life,
\nI enjoy luxury, eat meat, drink wine, use obscene <\/font><\/p>\n

\n‘ A yogi of eastern Bengal, alive when this
\nletter was written. Not to be confused with Swami Dayananda of the Arya Samaj. <\/font><\/p>\n

\nPage-373<\/font><\/p>\n

\n

\nlanguage, do whatever I please\u2014a Tantrik of the
\nleft-hand I path. Among all these great men and incarnations of God am I a great
\nman or an incarnation ? If they saw me they might think I was the incarnation of
\nthe Iron Age, or of the titanic and demoniac form of the goddess Kali\u2014what the
\nChristians call the Antichrist. I see a misconception about me has been spread.
\nIf people get disappointed, it is not my fault. <\/font><\/p>\n

\nThe meaning of this extraordinarily long letter is
\nthat I too am tying up my bundle. But I believe this bundle is like the net of
\nSaint Peter, teeming with the catch of the Infinite. I am not going to open the
\nbundle just now. If it is opened too soon, the catch may escape. Nor am I going
\nback to Bengal just now\u2014not because Bengal is not ready, but because I am not
\nready. If the unripe goes amid the unripe, what can he accomplish ? <\/font><\/p>\n

\nYour Sejdada<\/font><\/p>\n

\n <\/p>\n

\nP. S. Nolini writes that you are coming not at the
\nend of April, but in May. Upen2 also wrote about coming. What about that ? Is he
\nstaying with you or elsewhere ? Mukundilal has sent me a letter to be redirected
\nto Sarojini.3 But I don’t know where Sarojini is, so I am sending it to you.
\nPlease forward it. <\/font><\/p>\n

\n1 have received a letter from Motilal. I gather
\nfrom it and from some other circumstances that the shadow of a misunderstanding
\nhas fallen between him and Saurin.This <\/font><\/p>\n

\n <\/p>\n

\n1 Elder brother. <\/font><\/p>\n

\n2 Upendranath Bannerjee. Like Barin, he Was
\nsentenced to transportation for life for his part in the Alipur Bomb Conspiracy.
\nIn 1919 or 1920 both were granted amnesty. <\/font><\/p>\n

\n3 Sri Aurobindo’s sister. <\/font><\/p>\n

\n4 A cousin of Sri Aurobindo’s wife; he was
\nstaying with Sri Aurobindo in Pondicherry, but at the time of this letter was in
\nBengal. <\/font><\/p>\n

\nPage-374<\/font><\/p>\n

\n

\nmay develop into mutual dislike. It is most
\nimproper that such a thing should happen among ourselves. I shall write to
\nMotilal about this. Tell Saurin to be careful not to give the least occasion for
\nthe opening of such a breach or rift. Somebody told Motilal that Saurin has been
\ntelling people (or giving them the impression) that Aurobindo Ghose has nothing
\nto do with Prabartak.<\/i> Saurin certainly never said anything like this, for
\nPrabartak<\/i> is our paper. Whether I write for it in my own hand or not, God
\nthrough me is giving the force that enables Motilal to write. From the spiritual
\npoint of view, the writing is mine; Motilal just adds the colour of his mind.
\nProbably what Saurin said is that Aurobindo Ghose himself does not write
\nPrabartak’s<\/i> articles. But it is not necessary to say even that. It may
\ncreate a wrong impression just opposite the truth in people’s minds. I have to
\nsome extent kept it a secret who writes or does not write for Prabartak.<\/i>
\nPrabartak ("The Initiated") itself writes
\nPrabartak.<\/i> The Power itself is the writer; it is not the creation of any
\nparticular individual. This is the truth of the matter. Devajanma1<\/i> and
\nother publications with articles by Nolini and Moni have come out in book form
\nand there too no names have been given. It is the same principle. Let it be like
\nthat until further order. <\/font><\/p>\n

\nA collection of essays. <\/font><\/p>\n

\nPage-375<\/font><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/table>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

A Letter of Sri Aurobindo to His Brother                                                                                                                                                                                       Pondicherry  Date unfixable [April 1920] Dear Barin, I have received your three letters (and another one…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[64],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3208","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-writings-in-bengali-translation","wpcat-64-id"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/worksofthemotherandsriaurobindo.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3208","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=3208"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/worksofthemotherandsriaurobindo.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3208\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/worksofthemotherandsriaurobindo.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3208"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/worksofthemotherandsriaurobindo.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3208"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/worksofthemotherandsriaurobindo.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3208"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}