{"id":3755,"date":"2013-07-13T01:51:01","date_gmt":"2013-07-13T01:51:01","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/localhost\/?p=3755"},"modified":"2013-12-01T22:53:33","modified_gmt":"2013-12-02T06:53:33","slug":"13-difficulties-of-transformation-vol-02-second-series-1949","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/worksofthemotherandsriaurobindo.org\/index.php\/01-works-of-sri-aurobindo\/02-other-editions\/letters-of-sri-aurobindo\/02-second-series-1949\/13-difficulties-of-transformation-vol-02-second-series-1949","title":{"rendered":"-13_Difficulties of Transformation.htm"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n\n\n
\n

\nSECTION ELEVEN <\/font><\/p>\n

\n <\/p>\n

\n
\nDIFFICULTIES
\nOF
\nTRANSFORMATION <\/font><\/b><\/p>\n

\n <\/p>\n

\n

\n

\n

\n

\n<\/p>\n<\/p>\n<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n
\nI. NECESSITY OF TRANSFORMATION<\/a> <\/font>
\n<\/b><\/p>\n

\n <\/p>\n

\n
\nInsufficiency of Human Life and Need of Transformation\u2014Yogic Traditions and Supramental Yoga<\/i><\/font><\/b><\/p>\n

\n <\/p>\n

\nYou describe the rich human egoistic life you might
\nhave lived and you say "not altogether a wretched life, you will admit." On
\npaper it sounds even very
\nglowing and satisfactory, as you describe it. But
\nthere is no real or final satisfaction in it, except for
\nthose who are too common or trivial to seek anything
\nelse, and even they are not really satisfied or happy,\u2014 and in the end, it tires
\nand palls. Sorrow and illness,
\nclash and strife, disappointment, disillusionment
\nand all kinds of human suffering come and beat
\nits glow to pieces\u2014and then decay and death. That
\nis the vital egoistic life as man has found it throughout
\nthe ages, and yet it is that which this part of your
\nvital regrets. How do you fail to see, when you lay
\nso much stress on the desirability of a merely human
\nconsciousness, that suffering is its badge? When
\nthe vital resists the change from the human into the
\ndivine consciousness, what it is defending is its right <\/font><\/p>\n

\nPage – 315<\/font><\/p>\n

\n

\nto sorrow and suffering and all the rest of it, varied
\nand relieved no doubt by some vital or mental pleasures and satisfactions, but very partially relieved
\nby them and only for a time. In your own case,
\nit was already beginning to pall on you and that was
\nwhy you turned from it. No doubt, there were the
\njoys of the intellect and of artistic creation, but a
\nman cannot be an artist alone; there is the outer,
\nquite human, lower vital part and, in all but a few,
\nit is the most clamorous and insistent part. But
\nwhat was dissatisfied in you? It was the soul within,
\nfirst of all, and through it the higher mind and the
\nhigher vital. Why then find fault with the Divine
\nfor misleading you when it turned to the Yoga or
\nbrought you here? It was simply answering to the demand of your own inner being and the higher
\nparts of your nature. If you have so much difficulty
\nand become restless, it is because you are still divided
\nand something in your lower vital still regrets what it has lost or, as a price
\nfor its adhesion or a compensation\u2014a price to be immediately paid down to
\nit\u2014asks for something similar and equivalent in the
\nspiritual life. It refuses to believe that there is a
\ngreater compensation, a larger vital life waiting for
\nit, something positive in which there shall not be the
\nsold inadequacy and unrest and final dissatisfaction.
\nThe foolishness is not in the divine guidance, but <\/font><\/p>\n

\nPage – 316<\/font><\/p>\n

\n

\nin the irrational and obstinate resistance of this
\nconfused and obscure part of you to the demand,
\nmade not only by this Yoga, but by all Yoga\u2014to the
\nnecessary conditions for the satisfaction of the aspiration of your own soul and higher nature. <\/font><\/p>\n

\nThe "human" vital consciousness has moved
\nalways between these two poles, the ordinary vital
\nlife which cannot satisfy and the recoil from it to
\nthe ascetic solution. India has gone fully through
\nthat seesaw, Europe is beginning once more after
\na full trial to feel the failure of the mere vital egoistic
\nlife. The traditional Yogas\u2014to which you appeal\u2014
\nare founded upon the movement between these two
\npoles. On one side are Shankara and Buddha and
\nmost go, if not by the same road, yet in that direction; on the other are Vaishnava or Tantric lines
\nwhich try to combine asceticism with some sublimation of the vital impulse. And where did these lines
\nend? They fell back to the other pole, to a vital
\ninvasion, even corruption and a loss of their spirit.
\nAt the present day the general movement is towards
\nan attempt at reconciliation, and you have alluded
\nsometimes to some of the protagonists of this attempt
\nand asked me my opinion about them, yours being
\nunfavourable. But these men are not mere charlatans, and if there is anything wrong with them
\n(on which I do not pronounce), it can only be <\/font><\/p>\n

\nPage – 317<\/font><\/p>\n

\n

\nbecause they are unable to resist the magnetic pull
\nof this lower pole of the egoistic vital desire-nature.
\nAnd if they are unable to resist, it is because they
\nhave not found the true force which will not only
\nneutralise that pull and prevent deterioration and
\ndownward lapse, but transform and utilise and
\nsatisfy in their own deeper truth, instead of
\ndestroying or throwing away, the life-force and
\nthe embodiment in Matter; for, that can only
\nbe done by the supermind power and by no
\nother. <\/font><\/p>\n

\nYou appeal to the Vaishnava-Tantric traditions; to Chaitanya, Ramprasad, Ramakrishna. I know
\nsomething about them and, if I did not try to repeat
\nthem, it is because I do not find in them the solution,
\nthe reconciliation I am seeking. Your quotation
\nfrom Ramprasad does not assist me in the least\u2014 and it does not support your
\nthesis either. Ramprasad is not speaking of an embodied, but of a
\nbodiless and invisible Divine\u2014or visible only in a subtle form to the inner experience. When he
\nspeaks of maintaining his claim or case against the
\nMother until she lifts him into her lap, he is not
\nspeaking of any outer vital or physical contact, but
\nof an inner psychic experience; precisely, he is
\nprotesting against her keeping him in the external
\nvital and physical nature and insists on her taking <\/font><\/p>\n

\nPage – 318<\/font><\/p>\n

\n

\nhim on the psycho-spiritual plane into spiritual
\nunion with her. <\/font><\/p>\n

\nAll that is very good and very beautiful, but it
\nis not enough: the union has indeed to be realised in the inner psycho-spiritual
\nexperience first, because without that nothing sound or lasting can be done; but also there must be a realisation of the
\nDivine in the outer consciousness and life, in the
\nvital and physical planes on their own essential
\nlines. It is that which, without your mind understanding it or bow it is to be done, you are asking
\nfor, and I too; only I see the necessity of a vital
\ntransformation, while you seem to think and <\/b>to demand that it should be done without any radical
\ntransformation, leaving the vital as it is. In the
\nbeginning, before I discovered the secret of the
\nSupermind, I myself tried to seek the reconciliation
\nthrough an association of the spiritual consciousness
\nwith the vital, but my experience and all experience
\nshow that this leads to nothing definite and final, \u2014it ends where it began, midway between the two
\npoles of human nature. An association is not enough, a transformation is indispensable. <\/font><\/p>\n

\nThe tradition of later Vaishnava Bhakti is an
\nattempt to sublimate the vital impulses through
\nlove by turning human love towards the Divine; It made a strong and intense effort and had many <\/font><\/p>\n

\nPage – 319<\/font><\/p>\n

\n

\nrich and beautiful experiences; but its weakness
\nwas just there, that it remained valid only as an
\ninner experience turned towards the Inner Divine,
\nbut it stopped at that point. Chaitanya’s  prema
\n<\/i>was nothing but a psychic divine love with a strong
\nsublimated vital manifestation. But the moment
\nVaishnavism before or after him made an attempt
\nat<\/i> greater externalisation, we know what happened \u2014a vitalistic deterioration, much corruption and
\ndecline. You cannot appeal to Chaitanya’s example
\nas against psychic or divine love"; his was not
\nsomething merely vital-human; in its essence,
\nthough not in its form, it was very much the first
\nstep in the transformation, which we ask of the
\nsadhaks, to make their love psychic and use the
\nvital not for its own sake, but as an expression of
\nthe soul’s realisation. It is the first step and perhaps
\nfor some it may be sufficient, for we are not asking
\neverybody to become supramental; but for any full manifestation on the physical
\nplane the supramental is indispensable. <\/font><\/p>\n

\nIn the later Vaishnava tradition the sadhana
\ntakes the form of an application of human vital love in all its principal turns to the Divine;
\nviraha, abhiman,<\/i> even complete separation (like the departure of Krishna to Mathura) are made prominent elements of this Yoga. But all that was only meant\u2014 <\/font><\/p>\n

\nPage – 320<\/font><\/p>\n

\n

\nin the sadhana itself, not in the Vaishnava poems\u2014
\nas a passage of which the end is milan<\/i> or complete
\nunion; but the stress laid on the untoward elements
\nby some would almost seem to make strife, separation, abhiman,<\/i> the whole means, if not the very
\nobject of this kind of prema-yoga.<\/i> Again, this method
\nwas only applied to the inner, not to a physically
\nembodied Divine and had a reference to certain
\nstates and reactions of the inner consciousness in
\nits seeking after the Divine. In the relations with
\nthe embodied Divine. Manifestation, or, I may
\nadd, of the disciple with the Guru, such things
\nmight rise as a result of human imperfection, but
\nthey were not made part of the theory of the relations. I do not think they formed a regular and
\nauthorised part of the relations of the bhaktas to
\nthe Guru. On the contrary, the relation of the
\ndisciple to the Guru in the Guruvada is supposed
\nalways to be that of worship, respect, a complete
\nhappy confidence, an unquestioning acceptance
\nof the guidance. The application of the unchanged
\nvital relations to the embodied Divine may lead
\nand has led to movements which are not conducive
\nto the progress of the Yoga. <\/font><\/p>\n

\nRamakrishna’s Yoga was also turned only to
\nan inner realisation of the inner Divine,\u2014nothing
\nless, but also nothing more. I believe Ramakrishnai’s<\/font><\/p>\n

\nPage – <\/font>321<\/font> <\/font><\/p>\n

\n

\nsentence about the claim of the sadhak on the Divine
\nfor whom he has sacrificed everything was the
\nassertion of an inner and not an outer claim, on
\nthe inner rather than on any physically embodied
\nDivine: it was a claim for the full spiritual union,
\nthe God-lover seeking the Divine, but the Divine
\nalso giving himself and meeting the God-lover.
\nThere can be no objection to that; such a claim all
\nseekers of the Divine have; but as to the modalities
\nof this divine meeting, it does not carry us much
\nfarther. In any case, my object is a realisation on
\nthe physical plane and I cannot consent merely
\nto repeat Ramakrishna. I seem to remember too
\nthat for a long time he was withdrawn into himself,
\nall his life was not spent with his disciples. He got
\nhis siddhi first in retirement and when he came
\nout and received everyone, well, a few years of
\nit wore out his body. To that, I suppose, he had
\nno objection; for he even pronounced a theory, when Keshav Chandra was dying, that spiritual
\nexperience ought to wear out the body. But at the
\nsame time, when asked why he got illness in the
\nthroat, he answered that it was the sins of his
\ndisciples which they threw upon him and he had
\nto swallow. Not being satisfied, as he was, with
\nan inner liberation alone, I cannot accept these
\nideas or these results, for that does not sound to me <\/font><\/p>\n

\nPage – 322<\/font><\/p>\n

\n

\nlike a successful meeting of the Divine and the
\nsadhak on the physical plane, however successful
\nit might have been for the inner life. Krishna did
\ngreat things and was very clearly a manifestation
\nof the Divine. But I remember a passage of the
\nMahabharat in which he complains of the unquiet
\nlife his followers and adorers gave him, their
\nconstant demands, reproaches, their throwing of
\ntheir unregenerate vital nature upon him. And
\nin the Gita he speaks of this human world as a
\ntransient and sorrowful affair and, in spite of his
\ngospel of divine action, seems almost to admit
\nthat to leave it is after all the best solution. The
\ntraditions of the past are very great in their own
\nplace, in the past, but I do not see why we should
\nmerely repeat them and not go farther. In the spiritual development of the consciousness upon earth
\nthe great past ought to be followed by a greater
\nfuture. <\/font><\/p>\n

\nThere is the rule that you seem all to ignore entirely\u2014the difficulties of the physical embodiment
\nand the divine realisation on the physical plane.
\nFor most it seems to be a simple alternative, either
\nthe Divine comes down in full power and the thing
\nis done, no difficulty, no necessary conditions, no law or process, only miracle
\nand magic, or else, well,
\nthis cannot be the Divine. Again you all (or almost <\/font><\/p>\n

\nPage – 323<\/font><\/p>\n

\n

\nall) insist on the Divine becoming human, remaining
\nin the human consciousness and you protest against
\nany attempt to make the human Divine. On the
\nother hand, there is an outcry of disappointment,
\nbewilderment, distrust, perhaps indignation if there
\nare human difficulties, if there is strain in the body,
\na swaying struggle with adverse forces, obstacles,
\nchecks, illness and some begin to say, "Oh, there is
\nnothing Divine here!"\u2014as if one could remain vitally
\nand physically in the untransformed individual
\nhuman consciousness, in unchanged contact with it, satisfy its demands, and yet be immune under all.
\ncircumstances and in all conditions against strain
\nand struggle and illness. If I want to divinise the human consciousness, to bring down the supramental, the Truth-Consciousness, the Light, the Force
\ninto the physical to transform it, to create there a <\/i>great fullness of Truth and Light and Power and
\nBliss and Love, the response is repulsion or fear, or
\nunwillingness\u2014or a doubt whether it is possible.
\nOn one side there is the claim that illness and the
\nrest should be impossible, on the other a violent
\nrejection of the only condition under which these
\nthings can become impossible. I know that this is
\nthe natural inconsistency of the human vital mind
\nwanting two inconsistent and incompatible things
\ntogether; but that is one reason why it is necessary <\/font><\/p>\n

\nPage – 324<\/font><\/p>\n

\n

\nto transform the human and put something a little
\nmore luminous in its place. <\/font><\/p>\n

\nBut is the Divine then something so terrible, horrible or repellant that the idea of its entry into the
\nphysical, its divinising of the human should create this shrinking, refusal,
\nrevolt or fear? I can understand that the unregenerate vital attached to its own
\npetty sufferings and pleasures, to the brief ignorant
\ndrama of life, should shrink from what will change it.
\nBut why should a God-lover, a God-seeker, a sadhak
\nfear the divinisation of the consciousness? Why
\nshould he object to become one in nature with what
\nhe seeks, why should he recoil from sadrishya-mukti?
\n<\/i>Behind this fear there are usually two causes: first,
\nthere is the feeling of the vital that it will have to
\ncease to be obscure, crude, muddy, egoistic, unrefined (spiritually), full of stimulating desires and
\nsmall pleasures and interesting sufferings (for it
\nshrinks even from the Ananda which will replace
\nthis); next there is some vague ignorant idea of the
\nmind, due, I suppose, to the ascetic tradition, that
\nthe divine nature is something cold, bare, empty,
\naustere, aloof, without the glorious riches of the
\negoistic human vital life. As if there were not a
\ndivine vital and as if that divine vital is not itself
\nand, when it gets the means to manifest, will not make the life on earth also infinitely more full of <\/font><\/p>\n

\nPage – 325<\/font><\/p>\n

\n

\nbeauty, love, radiance, warmth, fire, intensity and
\ndivine passion and capacity for bliss than the present
\nimpotent, suffering, pettily and transiently excited
\nand soon tired vitality of the still so imperfect human
\ncreation.<\/font><\/p>\n

\nBut you will say that it is not the Divine from
\nwhich you recoil, rather you accept and ask for it
\n(provided that it is not too divine), but what you
\nobject to is the supramental\u2014grand, aloof, incomprehensible, unapproachable, a sort of austere Nirakar Brahman. The supramental so described is
\na <\/i>bogey created by this part of your vital mind in <\/i>order to frighten itself and justify its attitude.
\nBehind this strange description there seems to be an
\nidea that the supramental is a new version of the
\nVedantic featureless and incommunicable Para-brahman, vast, grand, cold, empty, remote, devastating,
\noverwhelming; it is not quite that, of course,
\nsince it can come down, but for all practical purposes it is just as bad! It is curious that you admit
\nyour ignorance of what the supramental can be, and yet you in these moods not only pronounce
\ncategorically what it is like, but reject emphatically
\nmy experience about it as of no practical validity
\nor not valid for anybody but myself! I have not
\ninsisted, I have answered only casually because I
\nam not asking you now to be non-human and divine, <\/font><\/p>\n

\nPage – 326<\/font><\/p>\n

\n

\nmuch less to be supramental; but as you are always
\nreturning to this point when you have these attacks
\nand making it the pivot\u2014or at least a main support
\n\u2014of your depression, I am obliged to answer. The
\nSupramental is not<\/i> grand, aloof, cold and austere; it is not something opposed to or inconsistent with
\na full vital and physical manifestation; on the contrary, it carries in it the only possibility of the full
\nfullness of the vital force and the physical life on earth. It is because it is
\nso, because it was so revealed to me and for no other reason that I have followed after it and persevered till I came into contact
\nwith it and was able to draw down some power of
\nit and its influence. I am concerned with the earth,
\nnot with worlds beyond for their own sake; it is a
\nterrestrial realisation that I seek and not a flight to
\ndistant summits. All other Yogas regard this life as
\nan illusion or a passing phase; the supramental Yoga
\nalone regards it as a thing created by the Divine
\nfor a progressive manifestation and takes the fulfilment of the life and the body for its object. The
\nsupramental is simply the Truth-Consciousness and
\nwhat it brings in its descent is the full truth of life,
\nthe full truth of consciousness in Matter. One has
\nindeed to rise to high summits, to reach it, but the
\nmore one rises, the more one can bring down below.
\nNo doubt, life and body have not to remain the <\/font><\/p>\n

\nPage – 327<\/font><\/p>\n

\n

\nignorant, imperfect, impotent things they are now; but why should a change to fuller life-power, fuller
\nbody-power be considered something aloof, cold and
\nundesirable? The utmost Ananda the body and life
\nare now capable of is a brief excitement of the vital
\nmind or the nerves or the cells which is limited,
\nimperfect and soon passes: with the supramental
\nchange all the cells, nerves, vital forces, embodied
\nmental forces can become filled with a thousandfold
\nAnanda, capable of an intensity of bliss which passes
\ndescription and which need not fade away. How
\naloof, repellent and undesirable! The supramental
\nlove means an intense unity of soul with soul, mind
\nwith mind, life with life, and an entire flooding of
\nthe body consciousness with the physical experience
\nof oneness, the presence of the Beloved in every part,
\nin every cell of the body. Is that too something aloof
\nand grand but undesirable? With the supramental change, the very thing on which
\nyou insist, the possibility of the free physical meeting of the embodied
\nDivine with the sadhak without conflict of forces
\nand without undesirable reactions becomes possible,
\nassured and free. That too is, I suppose, something
\naloof and undesirable? I could go on\u2014for pages,
\nbut this is enough for the moment. <\/font><\/p>\n

\n14-1-1932 <\/font><\/p>\n

\nPage – 328 <\/font><\/p>\n

\n

\n
\nNecessity of Transformation<\/i> <\/font><\/b><\/p>\n

\n <\/p>\n

\nYES, unless the external nature is transformed, one
\nmay go as high as possible and have the largest
\nexperiences\u2014but the external mind remains an
\ninstrument of Ignorance. <\/font><\/p>\n

\nNovember, 1933 <\/font><\/p>\n

\n
\nChange of Character and Yoga Experiences<\/i> <\/font>
\n<\/b><\/p>\n

\n <\/p>\n

\nTHE automatic tendency is a good sign as it shows
\nthat it is the inner being opening to the Truth which
\nis pressing forward the necessary changes. <\/font><\/p>\n

\nAs you say, it is the failure of the right attitude
\nthat comes in the way of passing through ordeals to
\na change of nature. The pressure is becoming greater
\nnow for this change of character even more than for
\ndecisive Yoga experiences\u2014for if the experience
\ncomes, it fails to be decisive because of the want of the requisite change of
\nnature. The mind, for instance, gets the experience of One in all, but the vital
\ncannot follow, because it is dominated by ego-reaction
\nand ego-motive or the habits of the outer nature keep
\nup a way of thinking, feeling, acting, living which <\/font><\/p>\n

\nPage – 329<\/font><\/p>\n

\n

\nis quite out of harmony with the experience, or the
\npsychic and part of the mind and emotional being
\nfeel frequently the closeness of the Mother, but the
\nrest of the nature is unoffered and goes its own way
\nprolonging division from her nearness, creating
\ndistance. It is not enough, and there is great need
\nthat this should change. <\/font><\/p>\n

\n9-9-1936 <\/font><\/p>\n

\n
\nPurification of Heart and Psychic Change\u2014
\nValue of Occult Powers<\/i> <\/font><\/b><\/p>\n

\n <\/p>\n

\nTHERE is no impossibility in the purification of
\nthe heart which was the thing you were trying for,
\nand when the heart is purified, other things which
\nseemed impossible before become easy\u2014even the
\ninner surrender which now seems to you impracticable. <\/font><\/p>\n

\nIt is the usual experience that if the humility
\nand resignation are firmly founded in the hearty
\nother things like trust come naturally afterwards.
\nIf once the psychic light and happiness which is the
\nboon of these things is founded, it is not easy for
\nother forces to cloud that state and not possible for <\/font><\/p>\n

\nPage – 330<\/font><\/p>\n

\n

\nthem to destroy it. That is the common experience. <\/font><\/p>\n

\nPurification and consecration are two great
\nnecessities of sadhana. Those who have experiences
\nbefore purification run a great risk: it is much better
\nto have the heart pure first, for then the way
\nbecomes safe. That is why I advocate the psychic
\nchange of the nature first\u2014for that means the purification of the heart; the turning of it wholly to the
\nDivine, the subjection of the mind and the vital to
\nthe control of the inner being, the soul. Always,
\nwhen the soul is in front, one gets the right guidance from within as to what is
\nto be done, what avoided
\nwhat is the wrong thing or the true thing in thought,
\nfeeling, action. But this inner intimation emerges
\nin proportion as the consciousness grows more and
\nmore pure. <\/font><\/p>\n

\nThe stumbling block of X was ambition, pride,
\nvanity\u2014the desire to be a big Yogi with occult
\npowers. To try to bring down occult powers into an
\nunpurified mind, heart and body\u2014well, you can do
\nit if you want to dance on the edge of a precipice.
\nOr you can do it if your aim is not to be spiritual but
\nto be an occultist, for then you can follow the necessary methods and get the help of the occult powers.
\nOn the other hand, the true occult spiritual forces
\nand mysteries can be called down or can come down: without calling, but this must be made secondary to<\/font><\/p>\n

\nPage – 331<\/font><\/p>\n

\n

\nthe one true thing, the seeking for the Divine, and
\nif it is part of the Divine plan in you. Occult powers
\ncan only be for the spiritual man an instrumentation of the Divine Power that uses him: they cannot be
\nthe aim or an aim of his sadhana. Many people
\nhave a habit of doing Yoga according to their own ideas without caring for the
\nguidance of the Guru\u2014
\n"from whom, however, they expect an entire protection and success in sadhana even if they prance or
\ngambol into the wrongest paths possible. <\/font><\/p>\n

\nWhat I mean by subtle methods is psychological,
\nnon-mechanical processes, e.g., concentration in the
\nheart, surrender, self-purification, working out by
\ninner means the change of the consciousness. This
\ndoes not mean that there is no outer change: the outer change is necessary but as a part of the inner change. If there is impurity or insincerity within,
\nthe outer change will not be effective, but if there is a
\nsincere inner working, the outer change will help it
\nand accelerate the process…. The most important
\nthing for the purification of the heart is an absolute sincerity. No pretence with oneself, no concealment
\nfrom the Divine, or oneself, or the Guru, a straight
\nlook at one’s movements, a straight will to make
\nthem straight. It does not so much matter if it takes
\ntime: one must be prepared to make it one’s whole
\nlife-task to seek the Divine. Purifying the heart <\/font><\/p>\n

\nPage – 332<\/font><\/p>\n

\n

\nmeans after all a pretty considerable achievement
\nand it is no use getting despondent, despairful, etc., because one finds things
\nin oneself that still need to
\nbe changed. If one keeps the true will and true attitude, then the intuitions or intimations from within
\nwill begin to grow, become clear, precise, unmistakable and the strength to follow them will grow
\nalso: and then before even you are satisfied with
\nyourself, the Divine will be satisfied with you and
\nbegin to withdraw the veil by which he protects
\nhimself and his seekers against a premature and
\nperilous grasping of the greatest thing to which
\nhumanity can aspire. <\/font><\/p>\n

\nMarch, 1936 <\/font><\/p>\n

\n
\nIntermediate Experiences and Spiritual Realisation<\/i> <\/font>
\n<\/b><\/p>\n

\n <\/p>\n

\nBUT why be overwhelmed by any wealth of any kind
\nof experiences? What does it amount to, after all?
\nThe quality of a sadhak does not depend on that; one great spiritual realisation direct and at the centre
\nwill often make a great sadhak or Yogi, an army of
\nintermediate Yogic experiences will not, that has
\nbeen amply proved by a host of instances…. You <\/font><\/p>\n

\nPage – 333<\/font><\/p>\n

\n

\nneed not therefore compare that wealth to your
\npoverty. To open yourself to the descent of the
\nhigher consciousness (the true being) is the one thing
\nneeded and that, even if that comes after long effort
\nand many failures, is better than a hectic gallop
\nleading nowhere. <\/font><\/p>\n

\n <\/p>\n

\n
\nPreparation for Establishment of Yoga Consciousness<\/i> <\/font><\/p>\n

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

\n <\/p>\n

\nI DON’T think there is any cause for dissatisfaction
\nwith the progress made by you. Experiences come to
\nmany before the nature is ready to make full profit
\nfrom them; to others a more or less prolonged period
\nof purification and preparation of the stuff of the
\nnature or the instruments comes first, while experiences are held up till this process is largely or wholly
\nover. The latter method which seems to be adopted
\nin your case is the safer and sounder of the two.
\nIn this respect we think it is evident that you have made considerable progress, for instance, in control
\nOver the violence and impatience and heat natural
\nto the volcanic energy of your temperament, in sincerity also in curbing the devious and errant
\nimpulses of an enormously active mind and temperament, in a greater quiet and harmony in the being <\/font><\/p>\n

\nPage – 334<\/font><\/p>\n

\n

\nas a whole. No doubt, the process has to be completed, but something very fundamental seems to have
\nbeen done. It is more important to look at the thing
\nfrom the positive rather than the negative side.
\nThe things that have to be established are\u2014brahmacharyam shamah satyam prashantir atmasamyama: brahmacharya,<\/i> complete sex-purity; shamah,<\/i> quiet and
\nharmony in the being, its forces maintained but
\ncontrolled, harmonised, disciplined; satyam,<\/i> truth
\nand sincerity in the whole nature; prashantih,<\/i> a general
\nstate of peace and calm; atmasamyama,<\/i> the power and habit to control whatever needs control in the movements of the nature. When these are fairly established, one has laid the foundation on which
\none can develop the Yoga consciousness and with
\nthe Yoga consciousness there comes an easy opening
\nto realisation and experience. <\/font><\/p>\n

\n30-11-1936 <\/font><\/p>\n

\n
\nPurification and Experience<\/i> <\/font><\/p>\n

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

\n <\/p>\n

\nI DO not know what K said or in which article, I
\ndo not have it with me. But if the statement is
\nthat nobody can have a successful meditation <\/font><\/p>\n

\nPage – 335<\/font><\/p>\n

\n

\nor realise anything till he is pure and perfect, I
\nfail to follow it: it contradicts my own experience. I have always had realisation by meditation first
\nand the purification started afterwards as a result.
\nI have seen many get important, even fundamental
\nrealisations by meditation who could not be said
\nto have a great inner development. Are all Yogis who have meditated with effect and had great
\nrealisations in their inner consciousness perfect in
\ntheir nature? It does not look like it to me. I am.
\nunable to believe in absolute generalisations in
\nthis field, because the development of spiritual consciousness is an exceedingly vast and complex affair
\nin which all sorts of things can happen and one
\nmight almost say that for each man it is different
\naccording to his nature and that the one thing that
\nis essential is the inner call and aspiration and the,
\nperseverance to follow always after it, no matter
\nhow long it takes, what are the difficulties or impediments, because nothing else will satisfy the soul
\nwithin us. <\/font><\/p>\n

\nIt is quite true that a certain amount of purification is indispensable for going on, that the more
\ncomplete the purification the better, because then
\nwhen the realisations begin they can continue
\nwithout big difficulties or relapses and. without any
\npossibility of fall or failures. It is also true that <\/font><\/p>\n

\nPage – 336<\/font><\/p>\n

\n

\nwith many purification is the first need,\u2014certain
\nthings have to be got out of the way before one can
\nbegin any consecutive inner experience. But the
\nmain need is a : certain preparation of the consciousness so that it may be able to respond more
\nand more freely to the higher Force. In this preparation many things are useful\u2014the poetry and
\nmusic you are doing can help, for it all acts as a sort
\nof shravana<\/i> and manana,<\/i> even, if the feeling roused is
\nintense, a sort of natural nididhyasana.<\/i> Psychic preparation, clearing out of the grosser forms of mental
\nand vital ego, opening mind and heart to the Guru
\nand many other things help greatly\u2014it is not
\nperfection or a complete freedom from the dualities
\nor ego that is the indispensable preliminary, but
\npreparedness, a fitness of the inner being which
\nmakes spiritual responses and receiving possible. <\/font><\/p>\n

\nThere is no reason therefore to take as gospel
\ntruth these demands which may have been right
\nfor K on the way he has trod, but cannot be imposed on all: the law of the spirit is not so exacting
\nand inexorable. <\/font><\/p>\n

\nPage – 337 <\/font><\/p>\n

\n

\n
\nDifficulties of Yoga<\/i> <\/font><\/p>\n

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

\n <\/p>\n

\nYOGA has always its difficulties, whatever Yoga it
\nbe. Moreover, it acts in a different way on different
\nseekers. Some have to overcome the difficulties of
\ntheir nature first before they get any experiences
\nto speak of, others get a splendid beginning and
\nall the difficulties afterwards, others go on for a
\nlong time having alternate risings to the top of the
\nwave and then a descent in.o the gulfs and so off
\ntill the difficulty is worked out, others have a smooth
\npath which does not mean that they have no difficulties\u2014they have plenty, but they do not care
\na straw for them, because they feel that the Divine
\nwill help them to the goal or that he is with them
\neven when they do not feel him\u2014their faith makes
\nthem imperturbable. <\/font><\/p>\n

\n26-8-1936 <\/font><\/p>\n

\n
\nBright and Dark Periods in Sadhana\u2014Surrender<\/i> <\/font><\/p>\n

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

\n <\/p>\n

\nTHE up and down movement which you speak of
\nis common to all ways of Yoga. It is there in the
\npath of Bhakti, but there are equally alternations <\/font><\/p>\n

\nPage – 338<\/font><\/p>\n

\n

\nof states of light and states of darkness, sometimes
\nsheer and prolonged darkness, when one follows
\nthe path of knowledge. Those who have occult
\nexperiences come to periods when all experiences
\ncease and even seem finished for ever. Even when
\nthere have been many and permanent realisations,
\nthese seem to go behind the veil and leave nothing
\nin front except a dull blank, filled, if at all, only
\nwith recurrent attacks and difficulties. These alternations are the result of the nature of human consciousness and are not a proof of unfitness or of
\npredestined failure. One has to be prepared for
\nthem and pass through. They are the "day and
\nnight" of the Vedic mystics. <\/font><\/p>\n

\nAs for surrender, everyone has his own first way
\nof approach towards it; but if it is due to fear,
\n"form" or sense of duty, then certainly that is not
\nsurrender at all; these things have nothing to do
\nwith surrender. Also, complete and total surrender
\nis not so easy as some seem to imagine. There are
\nalways many and large reservations; even if one
\nis not conscious of them, they are there. Complete
\nsurrender can best come by a complete love and
\nbhakti. Bhakti, on the other hand, can begin without surrender, but it naturally leads, as it forms
\nitself, to surrender. <\/font><\/p>\n

\nYou are surely mistaken in thinking that the <\/font><\/p>\n

\nPage – <\/b>339<\/font><\/p>\n

\n

\ndifficulty of giving up intellectual convictions is.
\na special stumbling-block in you more than in
\nothers. The attachment to one’s own ideas and
\nconvictions, the insistence on them is a common
\ncharacteristic. It can be removed by a light of
\nknowledge from above which gives one the direct
\ntouch of Truth or the luminous experience of it
\nand takes away all value from mere intellectual
\nopinion, ideas or conviction and removes the
\nnecessity for it, or by a right consciousness which
\nbrings with it right ideas, right feeling, right action
\nand right everything else. Or else it must come by
\na spiritual and mental humility which is rare in
\nhuman nature\u2014especially the mental, for the mind
\nis always apt to think its own ideas, true or false,
\nare the right ideas. Eventually, it is" the psychic
\ngrowth that makes this surrender too possible and
\nthat again comes most esaily by bhakti. In any
\nease, the existence of this difficulty is not in itself a
\ngood cause for forecasting failure in Yoga. <\/font><\/p>\n

\n21-10-1942 <\/font><\/p>\n

\nPage – 340<\/font><\/p>\n

\n

\n
\nThoroughness and Persistence<\/i> <\/font><\/p>\n

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

\n <\/p>\n

\nWHAT I want of you besides aspiring for faith? Well,
\njust a little thoroughness and persistence in the
\nmethod! Don’t aspire for two days and then go into
\nthe dumps, evolving a gospel of earthquake and
\nSchopenhauer plus the ass and all the rest of it.
\nGive the Divine a full sporting chance. When he
\nlights something in you or is preparing a light,
\ndon’t come in with a wet blanket of despondency
\nand throw it on the poor flame. You will say, "It
\nis a mere candle that is lit\u2014nothing at all!" But in
\nthese matters, when the darkness of human mind
\nand life and body has to be dissipated, a candle is
\nalways a beginning\u2014a lamp can follow and afterwards a sun; but the beginning must be allowed to
\nhave a sequel and not get cut off from its natural
\nsequel\u00e6 by chunks of sadness and doubt and
\ndespair. At the beginning, and for a long time, the
\nexperiences do usually come in little quanta with
\nempty spaces between\u2014but, if allowed its way,
\nthe spaces will diminish and the quantum theory
\ngive<\/i> way to the Newtonean continuity of the spirit.
\nBut you have never yet given it a real chance. The
\nempty<\/i> spaces have been peopled with doubts and
\ndenials and so the quanta have become rare, the
\nbeginning remains a beginning. Other difficulties <\/font><\/p>\n

\nPage – 341<\/font><\/p>\n

\n

\nyou have faced and rejected, but this difficulty you
\nhave dandled too much for a long time and it has
\nbecome strong\u2014it must be dealt with by a persevering effort. I do not say that all doubts must
\ndisappear before anything comes\u2014that would be
\nto make sadhana impossible, for doubt is the mind’s
\npersistent assailant. All I say is, don’t allow the
\nassailant to become a companion, don’t give him
\nthe open door and the fireside seat. Above all, don’t
\ndrive away the incoming Divine with that dispiriting
\nwet blanket of sadness and despair! <\/font><\/p>\n

\nTo put it more soberly\u2014accept once and for all
\nthat this thing has to be done, that it is the only
\nthing left for yourself or the earth. Outside are
\nearthquakes and Hitlers and a collapsing civilisation
\nand, generally speaking, the ass and the flood. All
\nthe more reason to tend towards the one thing
\nto be done, the thing you have been sent to aid in
\ngetting done. It is difficult and the way long and the
\nencouragement given meagre? What then? Why
\nshould you expect so great a thing to be easy or that
\nthere must be either a swift success or none? The
\ndifficulties have to be faced and the more cheerfully
\nthey are faced, the sooner they will be overcome. The
\none thing to do is to keep the mantra of success, the
\ndetermination of victory, the fixed resolve, "Have
\nit I must and have it I will." Impossible? There is <\/font><\/p>\n

\nPage – 342<\/font><\/p>\n

\n

\nno such thing as impossibility\u2014there are difficulties
\nand things of longue haleine,<\/i> but no impossibles.
\nWhat one is determined fixedly to do will get done
\nnow or later\u2014it becomes possible. Drive out dark
\ndespair and go bravely on with your Yoga. As the
\ndarkness disappears, the inner doors will open. <\/font><\/p>\n

\n27-1-1934 <\/font><\/p>\n

\nN<\/font><\/i>eed of Patience<\/i><\/font>
\n<\/font><\/p>\n

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

\n <\/p>\n

\nA YOGA like this needs patience, because it means
\na change both of the radical motives and of each
\npart and detail of the nature. It will not do to say
\n\u2014"Yesterday I determined to give myself entirely
\nto the Mother, and look it is not done, on the contrary, all the old opposite things turn up once more."
\nOf course, when you come to the point where you
\nmake a resolution of that kind, immediately all that
\nstands in the way does rise up\u2014it invariably happens.
\nThe thing to be done is to stand back, observe and
\nreject, not to allow these things to get hold of you,
\nto keep your central will separate from them and
\ncall in the Mother’s Force to meet them. If one
\ndoes get involved, as often happens, then to get <\/font><\/p>\n

\nPage – 343<\/span><\/font><\/p>\n

\n

\ndisinvolved as soon as possible and go forward again.
\nThat is what everybody, every Yoga does\u2014to be
\ndepressed because one cannot do everything in a
\nrush is quite contrary to the truth of the matter. <\/font><\/p>\n

\nThe steadiness you have gained is not a personal
\nvirtue but depends on your keeping the contact with
\nthe Mother\u2014for it is her Force that is behind it and
\nbehind all the progress you can make. Learn to rely
\non that Force, to open to it more completely and to
\nseek spiritual progress even not for your own sake
\nbut for the sake of the Divine\u2014then you will go
\nmore smoothly. <\/font><\/p>\n

\n <\/p>\n

\n
\nDuality in Human Nature<\/i> <\/font><\/p>\n

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

\n <\/p>\n

\nYES, the solution is certainly the Divine Grace\u2014
\nit, comes of itself intervening suddenly or with an
\nincreasing force when all is ready. Meanwhile,
\nit is there behind all the struggles, and "the unconquerable aspiration for the light" of which you speak
\nis the outward sign that it will intervene. As for the
\ntwo natures, it is only one form of the perpetual duality in human nature from which nobody escapes,
\nso universal that many systems recognize it as a standing feature to be taken account of in their discipline, <\/font><\/p>\n

\nPage – 344<\/font><\/p>\n

\n

\ntwo Persona:, one bright, one dark in every human
\nbeing. If that were not there. Yoga would be an easy
\nwalk-over and there would be no struggle. But its
\npresence is not any reason for thinking that there is
\nunfitness; the obstinacy of the worldly element is
\nalso not a reason, for it is always obstinate in its
\nvery nature. It is like the Germans in their trenches,
\nfalling back and digging themselves in for a new
\nmass attack, every time they are baffled. But for all
\nthat, if the bright Person is equally determined
\nnot to be satisfied without the crown of light, if it is
\nstrong enough to make the being unable to rest content in lesser things, then that is the sign that the
\nbeing is called, one of the elect in spite of outward
\nappearances and its own doubts and despairs\u2014
\nwho has them not, not even a Christ or a Buddha is
\nwithout them\u2014and that the inner spirit will surely
\nwin in the end. There is no cause for any apprehension on that score. <\/font><\/p>\n

\n31-10-1933 <\/font><\/p>\n

\n
\nDanger in Yoga and Safeguards<\/i> <\/font><\/p>\n

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

\n <\/p>\n

\nI HAVE never said that Yoga or that this Yoga is a
\nsafe and easy path. What I say is that anyone who <\/font><\/p>\n

\nPage – 345<\/font><\/p>\n

\n

\nhas the will to go through, can go through. For the
\nrest, if you aim high there is always the danger of a
\nsteep fall if you misconduct your aeroplane. But
\nthe danger is for those who allow themselves to entertain a double being, aiming high but also indulging
\ntheir lower outlook and hankerings. What else can
\nyou expect when people do that? You must become
\nsingle-minded, then the difficulties of the mind and
\nvital will be overcome. Otherwise, those who oscillate
\nbetween their heights and their abysses will always
\nbe in danger till they have become single-minded.
\nThat applies to the "advanced" as well as to the
\nbeginner. These are facts of nature; I can’t pretend
\nfor anybody’s comfort that they are otherwise. But
\nthere is the fact also that nobody need keep himself
\nin this danger. One-mindedness, surrender to the
\nDivine, faith, true love for the Divine, complete
\nsincerity in the will, spiritual humility (real, not
\nformal)\u2014there are so many things that can be a
\nsafeguard against any chance of eventual downfall.
\nSlips, stumbles, difficulties, upsettings everyone
\nhas; one can’t be assured against these things, but
\nif one has the safeguards, they are transitory, help
\nthe nature to learn and are followed by a better
\nprogress. <\/font><\/p>\n

\n6-1-1934 <\/font><\/p>\n

\nPage – 346<\/font><\/p>\n

\n

\n
\nBlows in Life and Yoga<\/i> <\/font><\/p>\n

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

\n <\/p>\n

\nAs for the blows, well, are they always given by the
\nYoga? Is it not sometimes the sadhak of the Yoga
\nwho gives blows to himself? There are plenty of blows
\nin ordinary life according to my experience. Blows
\nare the order of existence: our own nature and the
\nnature of things bring them upon us until we
\nlearn to present to them a back which they cannot
\ntouch. <\/font><\/p>\n

\n <\/p>\n

\n
\nStorms on the Path<\/i> <\/font><\/p>\n

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

\n <\/p>\n

\nI QUITE agree with you in not relishing the idea of
\nanother attack of this nature. I am myself, I suppose,
\nmore a hero by necessity than by choice\u2014I do not
\nlove storms and battles, at least on the subtle plane.
\nThe sunlit way may be an illusion,\u2014though I do not
\nthink it is,\u2014for I have seen people treading it for
\nyears; but a way with only natural or even only
\nmoderate fits of rough weather, a way without
\ntyphoons surely is possible\u2014there are so many examples; durgam pathastat<\/i> may be generally true and
\ncertainly the path of Laya or Nirvana is difficult in
\nthe extreme to most (although in my case I walked <\/font><\/p>\n

\n.Page – 347<\/font><\/p>\n

\n

\ninto Nirvana without intending it or rather Nirvana
\nwalked casually into me not so far from the beginning
\nof my yogic career without asking my leave). But
\nthe path need not be cut by periodical violent
\nstorms, though that it is so for a great many is an
\nobvious fact. But even for these if they stick to it, I
\nfind that after a certain point the storms diminish
\nin force, frequency, duration. That is why I insisted
\nso much on your sticking\u2014for if you stick, the
\nturning-point is bound to come. I have seen some
\nastonishing instances recently of this typhoonic
\nperiodicity beginning to fade out after years and
\nyears of violent recurrence. <\/font><\/p>\n

\nThese things are not part of the normal difficulties,
\nhowever acute, of the nature but special formations
\n\u2014tornadoes which start (usually from a particular
\npoint, sometimes varying) and go whirling round in
\nthe same circle always till it is finished…. To dissolve it ought to be possible if one sees it for what it
\nis and is resolved to get rid of it\u2014never allowing
\nany mental justification of it, however logical,
\nright and plausible the justification may seem to
\nbe\u2014always replying to all the mind’s arguments
\nor the vital’s feelings in favour of it, like Cato to
\nthe debaters, "Delenda est Carthago"\u2014"Carthage
\nhas to be destroyed", Carthage in this case being
\nthe formation and its nefarious circle. <\/font><\/p>\n

\nPage – 348<\/font><\/p>\n

\n

\nAnyway the closing idea in your letter is the: right one. "The Divine is worth ferretting out
\neven if oceans of gloom have to be crossed." If you
\ncould confront the formation always with that
\nfirm resolution, it should bring victory. <\/font><\/p>\n

\n22-1-1937 <\/font><\/p>\n

\nTHE Divine may be difficult, but his difficulties
\ncan be overcome if one keeps at him. <\/font><\/p>\n

\n11-2-1937 <\/font><\/p>\n

\n
\nRight Attitude in Victory and Crisis<\/i> <\/font><\/p>\n

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

\n <\/p>\n

\nTHERE is no reason to think that the movement of
\nstrength and purity was a make-believe. No, it
\nwas a real thing. But with these strong forward.
\nmovements the vital enthusiasm often comes in with
\na triumphant "Now it is finished" which is not’
\nquite justified, for, "Now it will be soon finished"
\nwould be nearer to it. It is at these moments that
\nthe thrice-damned Censor comes in with a jog,
\nraises up a still shaky bit of the nature and produces
\na result that is out of all proportion to the size of <\/font><\/p>\n

\nPage – 349<\/font><\/p>\n

\n

\nthe little bit, just to show that it is not finished.
\nI have had any number of times that experience
\nmyself. All this comes from the complexity and slowness of our evolutionary nature which Yoga
\nquickens but not as a whole at a stroke. But in
\nfact, as said, these crises are out of all proportion
\nto their cause in the nature. One must therefore
\nnot be discouraged, but see the exaggeration in
\nthe adversary’s successful negation as well as the exaggeration in our idea of a complete and definite
\nvictory already there. <\/font><\/p>\n

\n24-6-1936 <\/font><\/p>\n

\n
\nGain after Crisis<\/i> <\/font><\/p>\n

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

\n <\/p>\n

\nAFTER each crisis there is something gained, if
\n"there has been a Victory and rejection. The gain,
\nis to externalise the vital disturbance, so that even
\nif it returns it will be felt so much an outside force
\nthat the observing consciousness (mental, higher
\nvital) cannot be disturbed. If you keep that, it
\nwill be an immense advance. <\/font><\/p>\n

\n23-10-1933 <\/font><\/p>\n

\nPage – 350<\/font><\/p>\n

\n

\nII.
\nTHE TRUE WAY OUT OF DIFFICULTIES<\/a><\/font><\/b><\/p>\n

\n
\nRemoval of Difficulties<\/i> <\/font><\/p>\n

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

\n <\/p>\n

\nHE can continue his endeavour and let us know
\nif there is any result. The difficulties that have
\nrisen in him are quite normal and natural reaction
\nto the effort he is making. It is usual for these
\nresistances to rise up, for they have to manifest
\nthemselves in order that they may be dealt with
\nand thrown out. If he perseveres, that should
\nhappen sooner or later. But it is best not to struggle
\nwith the resistances but to stand back from them,
\nobserve as a witness, reject these movements and
\ncall on the Divine Power to remove them. Surrender
\nof the nature is not an easy thing and may take
\na long time; surrender of the self, if one can do
\nit, is easier and once that is done, that of the nature
\nwill come about sooner or later. For that it is
\nnecessary to detach oneself from the action of the
\nPrakriti and see oneself as separate. To observe the
\nmovements as a witness without being discouraged
\nor disturbed is the best way to effect the necessary
\ndetachment and separation. This also would help
\nto increase the receptivity to any aid that may be
\ngiven to him and to bring about the reliance. <\/font><\/p>\n

\n13-5-1945 <\/font><\/p>\n

\nPage – 351<\/font><\/p>\n

\n

\n
\nMental Self-Analysis and Inner Self-Vision<\/i> <\/font><\/p>\n

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

\n <\/p>\n

\nWHAT the Mother spoke of was not self-analysis
\nnor dissection; they are mental things which can
\ndeal with the inanimate or make the live dead\u2014
\nthey are not spiritual methods. What the Mother
\nspoke of was not analysis, but a seeing of oneself
\nand of all the living movements of the being and
\nthe nature, a vivid observation of the personalities
\nand forces that move on the stage of our being,
\ntheir motives, their impulses, their potentialities,
\nan observation quite as interesting as the seeing
\nand understanding of a drama or a novel, a
\nliving vision and perception of how things
\nare done in us, which brings .also a living
\nmastery over this inner universe. Such things
\nbecome dry only when one deals with them with
\nthe analytic and ratiocinative mind, not when one
\ndeals with them thus seeingly and intuitively as
\na movement of life. If you had that observation
\n(from the inner spiritual, not the outer intellectual
\nand ethical viewpoint), then it would be comparatively easy for you to get out of your difficulties; for instance, you would find at once where this
\nirrational impulse to flee away came from and it
\nwould not have any hold upon you. Of course,
\nall that can be done to the best effect when you <\/font><\/p>\n

\nPage – 352<\/font><\/p>\n

\n

\nstand back from the play of your nature and become
\nthe Witness-Control or the Spectator-Actor-Manager.
\nBut that is what happens when you take this kind
\nof self-seeing posture.<\/font><\/p>\n

\nThe fear that this will be dry or painful is an
\nidea of the non-understanding intellect. <\/font><\/p>\n

\n <\/p>\n

\n
\nTrue Self-Vision …<\/i> <\/font><\/p>\n

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

\n <\/p>\n

\nYou stick to your intellectual-ethical version of
\nthe inner self-vision? Dry? policeman? criminal?
\nGreat Lord! If it were that, it would cease to be
\nself-vision at all\u2014for in the true self-vision there
\nis no policemanship and no criminaldom at all.
\nAll that belongs to the intellectual-ethical virtue-and-sin dodge which is only a mental construction
\nof practical value for the outward life but not a
\ntruth of real inner values. In the true self-vision
\nwe see only harmonies and disharmonies and set
\nthe wrong notes right and replace them by the
\ntrue notes. But I say that for the sake of truth,
\nnot to persuade you to start the self-vision effort; for if you did with these ideas of it, you would
\ninevitably start it on the policeman basis and get
\ninto trouble. Besides, evidently, you prefer in the <\/font><\/p>\n

\nPage – 353<\/font><\/p>\n

\n

\nYoga to be the piano and not the pianist, which is
\nall right but involves total self-giving and the
\nintervention of the supreme musician and harmonist. May it be so. <\/font><\/p>\n

\nEvery man is full of these contradictions
\nbecause he is one person, no doubt, but made up
\nof different personalities; the perception of multiple
\npersonality is becoming well-known to psychologists now who very commonly disagree with each
\nother. So long as one does not aim at unity in a
\nsingle dominant intention, like that of seeking and
\nself-dedication to the Divine, they get on somehow
\ntogether, alternating or quarrelling or muddling
\nthrough or else one taking the lead and compelling
\nthe others to take a minor part\u2014but once you
\ntry to unite them in one aim, then the trouble
\nbecomes evident. <\/font><\/p>\n

\n22-1-1936 <\/font><\/p>\n

\n
\nTrue Way Out of Difficulty<\/i><\/font>
\n<\/font><\/p>\n

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

\n <\/p>\n

\nDIFFICULTY cannot be overcome by your running
\naway from it. <\/font><\/p>\n

\nAll this comes from your having taken a wrong
\nway with yourself. It is not by tormenting yourself <\/font><\/p>\n

\nPage – 354<\/font><\/p>\n

\n

\nwith remorse and harassing thoughts that you
\ncan overcome. It is by looking straight at yourself,
\nvery quietly, with a quiet and firm resolution and
\nthen going on cheerfully and bravely in full confidence and reliance, trusting in the Grace, serenely
\nand vigilantly, anchoring yourself on your psychic
\nbeing, calling down more and more of the love and
\nAnanda, turning more and more exclusively to the
\nMother. That is the true way\u2014and there is no
\nother. <\/font><\/p>\n

\n20-5-1933 <\/font><\/p>\n

\n
\nFaith in Difficulty<\/i> <\/font><\/p>\n

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

\n <\/p>\n

\nA WEEPING that comes with the feeling you speak of
\nis the sign of a psychic sorrow\u2014for it translates an
\naspiration of the psychic being. But depression
\nand hopelessness ought not to come. You should
\nrather cling to the faith that since there is a true
\naspiration in you, it is sure to be fulfilled, whatever
\nthe difficulties of the external nature. You must
\nrecover in that faith the inner peace and quietude
\nwhile at the same time keeping the clear insight into <\/font><\/p>\n

\nPage – 355 <\/font><\/p>\n

\n

\nwhat has to be done and the steady aspiration for
\nthe inner and outer change. <\/font><\/p>\n

\n12-3-1935 <\/font><\/p>\n

\n
\nBreaking the Recurring Obstacle<\/i> <\/font><\/p>\n

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

\n <\/p>\n

\nWHAT stands in the way is the recurring circle of
\nthe old mixture. To break out of that is very
\nnecessary to arrive at an inner yogic calm and
\npeace not disturbed by these things. If that is
\nestablished, it will be possible to feel in it the
\nMother’s presence, to open to her guidance, to get,
\nnot by occasional glimpses but in a steady opening
\nand flowering, the psychic perception and the
\ndescent of the spiritual Light and Ananda. For
\nthat help will be with you. <\/font><\/p>\n

\n7-3-1937 <\/font><\/p>\n

\n
\nThe Mother’s Help<\/i> <\/font><\/p>\n

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

\n <\/p>\n

\nHE must go into himself and find the presence of the
\nDivine Mother within and the psychic behind the <\/font><\/p>\n

\nPage – 356<\/font><\/p>\n

\n

\nheart and from there the knowledge will come and
\nalso the power to dissolve the inner obstacles. <\/font><\/p>\n

\n21-12-1936 <\/font><\/p>\n

\n
\nTwo Elements of Spiritual Success<\/i> <\/font><\/p>\n

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

\n <\/p>\n

\nOUR help will be there. <\/b> It can be effective in spite of your physical mind, but it will be more effective
\nif the steady working will is there as its instrument.
\nThere are always two elements in spiritual success \u2014one’s own steady will and endeavour and the
\nPower that in one way or another helps and gives
\nthe result of endeavour. <\/font><\/p>\n

\n26-1-1934 <\/font><\/p>\n

\n
\nThe Inner Guidance<\/i> <\/font><\/p>\n

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

\n <\/p>\n

\nAs for the feeling from within, it depends on being
\nable to go inside. Sometimes it comes of itself with
\nthe deepening of the consciousness by bhakti or
\notherwise, sometimes it comes by practice-\u2014a sort of <\/font><\/p>\n

\nPage – 357<\/font><\/p>\n

\n

\nreferring the matter and listening for the answer\u2014
\nlistening is, of course, a metaphor but it is difficult
\nto express it otherwise\u2014it doesn’t mean that the
\nanswer comes necessarily in the shape of words,
\nspoken or unspoken, though it does sometimes or
\nfor some; it can take any shape. The main difficulty
\nfor many is to be sure of the right answer. For that it
\nis necessary to be able to contact the consciousness
\nof the Guru inwardly\u2014that comes best by bhakti.
\nOtherwise, the attempt to get the feeling from within
\nby practice may become a delicate and ticklish job.
\nObstacles: (1) normal habit of relying on outward
\nmeans for everything; (2) ego, substituting its suggestions for the right answer; (3) mental activity; (4) intruder nuisances. I think you need not be
\n<\/i>eager for this, but rely on, the growth of the inner
\nconsciousness. The above is only by way of general
\nexplanation.<\/font><\/p>\n

\n28-4-1943 <\/font><\/p>\n

\n
\nConsciousness for True Actions<\/i> <\/font><\/p>\n

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

\n <\/p>\n

\nIF you want the consciousness for true actions very
\nmuch and aspire for it, it may come in one of <\/font><\/p>\n

\nPage – 358<\/font><\/p>\n

\n

\nseveral ways:\u2014 <\/font><\/p>\n

\n1. You may get the habit or faculty of watching
\nyour movements in such a way that you see the
\nimpulse to action coming and can see too its nature. <\/font><\/p>\n

\n2. A consciousness may come which feels uneasy
\nwhenever a wrong thought or impulse to action or
\nfeeling is there. <\/font><\/p>\n

\n3. Something within you may warn and stop you
\nwhen you are going to do the wrong action. <\/font><\/p>\n

\n7-2-1933 <\/font><\/p>\n

\n
\nThe Inner Conquest<\/i> <\/font><\/p>\n

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

\n <\/p>\n

\nTHAT is the inconvenience of going away from a
\ndifficulty,\u2014it runs after one,\u2014or rather one carries
\nit with oneself, for the difficulty is truly inside, not
\noutside. Outside circumstances only give it the occasion to manifest itself and so long as the inner
\ndifficulty is not conquered, the circumstances will
\nalways crop up one way or another. <\/font><\/p>\n

\n4-5-1937 <\/font><\/p>\n

\nPage – 359<\/font><\/p>\n

\n

\n
\nNeed of Vigilance<\/i> <\/font><\/p>\n

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

\n <\/p>\n

\nAs for your inner attitude, it must remain the
\nsame. Not to be excited or drawn outwards by these
\n"incidents" of the outward life or by the coming in
\nof new elements is the rule; they must come in like
\nwaves into an untroubled sea and mix in it and
\nbecome themselves untroubled and serene. <\/font><\/p>\n

\nYour present condition is all that it should be,
\nonly you must remain vigilant always. For when
\nthe condition is good, the lower-movements have a
\nhabit of subsiding and become quiescent, hiding as
\n<\/i>it were,\u2014or they go out of the nature and remain
\nat a distance. But if they see that the sadhak is
\nlosing his vigilance, then they slowly begin to rise
\nor draw near, most often unseen, and when he is
\nquite off his guard, surge up suddenly or. make a
\nsudden irruption. This continues until the whole
\nnature, mental, vital, physical down to the very
\nsubconscient is enlightened, conscious, full of the
\nDivine. Till that happens, one must always remain
\nwatchful in a sleepless vigilance. <\/font><\/p>\n

\n26-5-1932 <\/font><\/p>\n

\nPage – 360<\/font><\/p>\n

\n

\n
\nDifficulties of Character<\/i> <\/font><\/p>\n

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

\n <\/p>\n

\nTHE difficulties of the character persist so long as
\none yields to them in action when they rise. One
\nhas to make a strict rule not to act according to the
\nimpulses of anger, ego or whatever the weakness
\nmay be that one wants to get rid of, or if one does
\nact in the heat of the moment, not to justify or persist in the action. If one does that, after a time the
\ndifficulty abates or is confined purely to a subjective
\nmovement which one can observe, detach oneself
\nfrom and combat. <\/font><\/p>\n

\n6-3-1938 <\/font><\/p>\n

\n
\nFall in Toga<\/i> <\/font><\/p>\n

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

\n <\/p>\n

\nZ’s fall after his one year’s rapid progress had obvious
\nreasons in his<\/i> character which do not exist in others.
\nIt is well-known to all Yogis that a fall is possible
\nand the Gita speaks of it more than once. But how
\ndoes the fall prove that spiritual experience is not true
\nand genuine? The fall of a man from a great height
\ndoes not prove that he never reached am a great height. <\/font><\/p>\n

\nPage – 361 <\/font><\/p>\n

\n

\nIII.
\nTRANSFORMATION OF THE VITAL NATURE<\/a><\/font><\/b><\/p>\n

\n
\nThe Nature of the Vital<\/i> <\/font><\/p>\n

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

\n <\/p>\n

\nYES, that is the nature of the vital. It can make the
\nabsolute and enthusiastic surrender as well as cause
\nall trouble possible. Without the vital there is no
\nlife-force of creation or manifestation; it is a necessary
\ninstrument of the spirit for life. <\/font><\/p>\n

\n2-10-1933 <\/font><\/p>\n

\n
\nPurification and Mastery of Vital Nature<\/i> <\/font>
\n<\/b><\/p>\n

\n <\/p>\n

\nI HAVE always said that the vital is indispensable for
\nthe divine or spiritual action\u2014without it there can
\nbe no complete expression, no realisation in life\u2014
\nhardly even any realisation in sadhana. When I
\nspeak of the vital mixture or of the obstructions,
\nrevolts, etc. of the vital, it is the unregenerated outer
\nvital full of desire and ego and the lower passions of
\nwhich I speak. I could say the same against the mind
\nand the physical when they obstruct or oppose, but
\nprecisely because the vital is so powerful and <\/font><\/p>\n

\nPage – 362<\/font><\/p>\n

\n

\nindispensable, its obstruction, opposition or refusal of
\nco-operation is most strikingly effective and its wrong
\nmixtures are more dangerous to the sadhana. That
\nis why I have always insisted on the dangers of the
\nunregenerated vital and the necessity of mastery
\nand purification there. It is not because I hold, like
\nthe Sannyasis, the vital and its life-power to be a thing
\nto be condemned and rejected in its very nature. <\/font><\/p>\n

\nAffection, love, tenderness are in their nature
\npsychic,\u2014the vital has them because the psychic is
\ntrying to express itself through the vital. It is through
\nthe emotional being that the psychic most easily
\nexpresses, for it stands just behind it in the heart
\ncentre. But it wants these things to be pure. Not
\nthat it rejects the outward expression through the
\nvital and the physical, but as the psychic being is the form of the soul, it naturally feels the attraction
\nof soul to soul, the union of soul with soul as the
\nthings that are to it most abiding and concrete..
\nMind, vital, body are means of expression and very
\nprecious means of expression, but the inner life is for
\nthe soul the first thing, the deepest reality, and these
\nhave to be subordinated to it and conditioned by
\nit,\u2014its expression, its instruments and channel. I
\ndo not think that in my emphasis on the inner things,
\non the psychic and spiritual, I am saying anything
\nnew, strange or unintelligible. These things have <\/font><\/p>\n

\nPage – 363<\/font><\/p>\n

\n

\nalways been stressed from the beginning and the
\nmore the human being is evolved, the more they
\ntake on importance. I do not see how Yoga can be
\npossible without this premier stress on the inner life,
\non the soul and the spirit. The emphasis on the
\nmastery of the vital, its subordination and subjection
\nto the spiritual and the psychic is also nothing new,
\nstrange or exorbitant. It has been insisted on always
\nfor any kind of spiritual life; even the Yogas which
\nseek most to use the vital, like certain forms of
\nVaishnavism, yet insist on the purification and the
\ntotal offering of it to the Divine. All realisation of
\nthe Divine is an inner realisation, only, here the soul
\noffers itself through the emotional being. The
\nsoul or psychic being is not something unheard of
\nor incomprehensible. <\/font><\/p>\n

\n20-9-1933 <\/font><\/p>\n

\n
\nVital Demand and Bargain in Yoga<\/i> <\/font><\/p>\n

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

\n <\/p>\n

\nEVIDENTLY, the condition into which you have fallen
\nis due to an upsurging of suppressed elements in the
\nlower vital nature. It has been compelled by the
\nmind and the higher vital part in you to give up the
\nlittle "joys and pleasures" to which it was habituated, <\/font><\/p>\n

\nPage – 364<\/font><\/p>\n

\n

\nbut it\u2014or at any rate the subconscient part of it
\nwhich is often the most powerful\u2014did that without
\nentire conviction and probably with "reservations"
\nand "safeguards" and in exchange for a promise of
\ncompensations, other and greater joys and pleasures
\nto replace all it was losing. This is evident from what
\nyou write; your description of the nature of the depression, the return of what you call impure thoughts
\nwhich are merely indices of the subconscient lower
\nvital desire-complex, the doubt thrown upon the
\ngenerosity of the Divine, the demand for compensation for losses, something like striking a bargain with
\nthe Divine, a quid pro quo <\/i> pact,<\/i> are all unmistakable.
\nLatterly, there has been a combination of circumstances which have rather suddenly increased the
\ndeprivation of its former outlets; this attack is its
\nway of non-co-operation or protest. There is only
\none way to deal with it,\u2014to cast the whole thing
\naway, depression, demands, doubts, sex-thoughts,
\nthe whole undesirable baggage, and have in its
\nplace the one true movement, the call for the consciousness and the presence of the Divine. <\/font><\/p>\n

\nIt may be that behind this persistence of the
\nlower vital demand for satisfaction there was something not quite clear in the obscure part of the
\nphysical mind in your mental attitude towards
\nthe Yoga. You seem to regard this demand for <\/font><\/p>\n

\nPage – 365<\/font><\/p>\n

\n

\nthe replacement of the old lower vital
\nsatisfactions
\nby other joys and pleasures as something quite legitimate; but joys and
\npleasures are not the object of Yoga and a bargain or demand for a replacement of this kind can be no legitimate or healthy
\nelement in the sadhana. If it is there, it will surely
\nimpede the flow of spiritual experience. Ananda,
\nyes; but Ananda and the spiritual happiness which
\nprecede it (adhyatma sukham)<\/i> are something quite
\ndifferent from joys and pleasures. And even Ananda
\none cannot demand or make it a condition for
\npursuing the sadhana\u2014it comes as a crown, a
\nnatural outcome and its true condition is the growth
\nof the true consciousness, peace, calm, light, strength,
\nthe equanimity which resists all shocks and persists
\nthrough success and failure. It is these things
\nwhich must be the first objects of the sadhana, not
\nany hedonistic experience even of the highest kind; for that must come of itself as a result of the Divine
\nPresence. <\/font><\/p>\n

\nMeanwhile, the first thing you must do is to
\nthrow out this perilous stuff of despondency and
\nits accompaniments and recover a quiet and clear
\nbalance. A quiet mind and a quiet vital are the
\nfirst conditions for success in sadhana. <\/font><\/p>\n

\n21-3-1931 <\/font><\/p>\n

\nPage – 366<\/font><\/p>\n

\n

\n
\nAspiration for Peace and Joy\u2014Vital Demand<\/i> <\/font>
\n<\/b><\/p>\n

\n <\/p>\n

\nIT is evident that you still cherish some misunderstanding about peace and joy and Ananda. (Peace,
\nby the way, is not joy\u2014for peace can be there
\neven when joy is quiescent). It is not a fact that
\none ought not to pray or aspire for peace or spiritual joy. Peace is the very basis of all the siddhi in
\nthe Yoga, and why should not one pray or aspire
\nfor foundation in the Yoga? Spiritual joy or a deep
\ninner happiness (not disturbed even when there
\ncome superficial storms or perturbations) is a
\nconstant concomitant of contact or union with the
\nDivine, and why should it be forbidden to pray or
\naspire for contact with the Divine and the joy that
\nattends it? As for Ananda, I have already explained
\nthat I mean by Ananda something greater than
\npeace or joy, something that, like Truth and Light,
\nis the very nature of the supramental Divine. It
\ncan come by frequent inrushes or descents, partially
\nor for a time even now, but it cannot remain in the
\nsystem so long as the system has not been prepared
\nfor it. Meanwhile, peace and joy can be there
\npermanently, but the condition of this permanence
\nis that one should have the constant contact or
\nindwelling of the Divine, and this comes naturally
\nnot to the outer mind or vital but to the inner soul <\/font><\/p>\n

\nPage – 367<\/font><\/p>\n

\n

\nor psychic being. Therefore one who wants his
\nYoga to be a path of peace or joy must be prepared
\nto dwell in his soul rather than in his outer mental
\nand emotional nature. <\/font><\/p>\n

\nI objected in a former letter not to aspiration but
\nto a demand, to making peace, joy or Ananda a condition for following the Yoga.
\nAnd it is undesirable because if you do so, then the vital, not
\nthe psychic, takes the lead. When the vital takes
\nthe lead, then unrest, despondency, unhappiness
\ncan always come, since these things are the very
\nnature of the vital\u2014the vital can never remain
\nconstantly in joy and peace, for it needs their opposites in order to have the sense of the drama of
\nlife. And yet when unrest and unhappiness come,
\nthe vital at once cries, "I am not given my due,
\nwhat is the use of my doing the Yoga?" Or else, it
\nmakes a gospel of its unhappiness and says that the
\npath to fulfilment must be a tragic road through
\nthe desert. And yet it is precisely this predominance of the vital in us that
\nmakes a necessity of the passage through the desert. If the psychic were always
\nthere in front, the desert would be no longer a
\ndesert and the wilderness would blossom with the
\nrose. <\/font><\/p>\n

\n22-4-1931 <\/font><\/p>\n

\nPage – 368<\/font><\/p>\n

\n

\n
\nCo-operation of the Vital Nature in Sadhana<\/i> <\/font>
\n<\/b><\/p>\n

\n <\/p>\n

\nI HAVE always told you that you ought not to stop
\nyour poetry and similar activities. It is a mistake
\nto do so out of asceticism or with the idea of tapasya. One can stop these
\nthings when they drop of themselves, because one is full of experience and so
\ninterested in one’s inner life that one has no energy
\nto spare for the rest. Even then, there is no rule for
\ngiving up; for there is no reason why poetry etc.
\nshould not be part of sadhana. The love of applause,
\nthe desire for fame, the ego reaction have to be given
\nup, but that can be done without giving up the activity
\nitself. Your vital needs some activity\u2014most vitals
\ndo\u2014and to deprive it of its outlet, an outlet that
\ncan be helpful and not harmful, makes it sulking,
\nindifferent and desponding or else inclined to
\nrevolt at any moment and throw up the sponge.
\nWithout the assent of the vital it is difficult to do
\nsadhana\u2014it non-co-operates, or it watches with
\na grim, even if silent dissatisfaction ready to
\nexpress at any moment doubt and denial; or
\nit makes a furious effort and then falls back
\nsaying, "I have got nothing." The mind by
\nitself cannot do much, it must have support
\nfrom the vital and for that the vital must be in a
\ncheerful and acquiescent state. It has the joy of <\/font><\/p>\n

\nPage – 369<\/font><\/p>\n

\n

\ncreation and there is nothing spiritually wrong in
\ncreative action. Why deny your vital this joy
\nof outflow? <\/font><\/p>\n

\nI had already hinted to you that to be able to
\nwait for the Divine Grace (not in a tamasic spirit
\nbut with a sattwic reliance) was the best course for
\nyou. Prayer, yes\u2014but not prayer insisting on
\nimmediate fulfilment\u2014but prayer that is itself a
\ncommunion of the mind and heart with the Divine
\nand can have the joy and satisfaction of itself,
\ntrusting for fulfilment by the Divine in his own
\ntime. Meditation? Yes, but your meditation has
\ngot into a wrong asana,<\/i> that of an eager and vehement wrestling followed by a bitter despair. It is
\nno use getting on with it like that: it is better to
\ndrop it till you get a new asana.<\/i> (I am referring to
\nthe old Rishis who established an asana,<\/i> a place and
\na fixed position, where they would sit still till they
\ngot siddhi\u2014but if the asana<\/i> got successfully disturbed by wrong forces like asuras, apsaras,<\/i> etc., they
\nleft it and sought for a new one.) Moreover, your
\nmeditation is lacking in quietude: you meditate
\nwith a striving mind, but it is in the quiet mind
\nthat the experience comes, as all Yogis agree\u2014the
\nstill water that reflects rightly the sun, the cup
\nmade empty before the soma-rasa<\/i> of the spirit may
\nbe poured in it. Prepare the mind and heart till <\/font><\/p>\n

\nPage – 370<\/font><\/p>\n

\n

\nthings begin to flow into them in a spontaneous
\ncurrent when all is ready. <\/font><\/p>\n

\nMay,1933 <\/font><\/p>\n

\n
\nThe Vital-Physical<\/i> <\/font><\/b><\/p>\n

\n <\/p>\n

\nTHE nervous part of the being is a portion of the
\nvital\u2014it is the vital-physical, the life-force closely
\nenmeshed in the reactions, desires, needs, sensations
\nof the body. The vital proper is the life-force acting
\nin its own nature, impulses, emotions, feelings,
\ndesires, ambitions, etc., having as their highest centre
\nwhat we may call the outer heart of emotion, while
\nthere is an inner heart where are the higher or psychic
\nfeelings and sensibilities, the emotions or intuitive
\nyearnings and impulses of the soul. The vital part
\nof us is, of course, necessary to our completeness, but
\nit is a true instrument only when its feelings and
\ntendencies have been purified by the psychic touch
\nand taken up and governed by the spiritual light
\nand power. <\/font><\/p>\n

\n9-8-1943 <\/font><\/p>\n

\nPage – 371<\/font><\/p>\n

\n

\n
\nVital Energy in Work<\/i> <\/font><\/b><\/p>\n

\n <\/p>\n

\nDON’T be afraid of vital energy at work. Vital
\nenergy is an invaluable gift of God without which.
\nnothing can be done\u2014as the Mother has always
\ninsisted from the beginning; it is given that His work
\nmay be done. I am very glad that it has come back
\nand the cheerfulness and optimism with it\u2014that
\nis as it should be…. Let the energy have play-\u2014it
\ncan’t but strengthen the being for the greater purpose. <\/font><\/p>\n

\n <\/p>\n

\n
\nConquest of Vital Difficulties<\/i> <\/font><\/b><\/p>\n

\n <\/p>\n

\nONCE the vital being has come forward and shown
\nits difficulty\u2014there is nobody who has not one
\ncrucial difficulty or another there\u2014it must be
\ndealt with and conquered. <\/font><\/p>\n

\nIt must be dealt with not by the mind but directly by the supramental power. <\/font><\/p>\n

\nNot peace and knowledge in the mind, but
\npeace, faith, calm strength in the vital being itself
\n(and especially in this part of it that is defective)
\nis the thing to be established. To open yourself
\nand allow all this to be brought down into it is the
\nproper course. <\/font><\/p>\n

\nPage – 372<\/font><\/p>\n

\n

\nThe deficiency is not in the higher mind or mind
\nproper; there is therefore no use in going back to
\nestablish mental peace. The difficulty is in that
\npart of the vital being which is not sufficiently
\nopen and confident and not sufficiently strong and
\ncourageous and in the physical mind which lends
\nits support to these things. To get the supramental
\nlight and calm and strength and intensity down
\nthere is what you need. <\/font><\/p>\n

\nYou may have all the mental knowledge in the
\nworld and yet be impotent to face vital difficulties, Courage, faith, sincerity towards the Light, rejection
\nof opposite suggestions and adverse voices are there
\nthe true help. Then only can knowledge itself be
\nat all effective. <\/font><\/p>\n

\nNot mental control but some descent of a control
\nfrom above the mind is the power demanded in
\nthe realisation. This control derived eventually
\nfrom the Supermind is a control by the Divine
\nPower. <\/font><\/p>\n

\n24-4-1927 <\/font><\/p>\n

\nPage – 373<\/font><\/p>\n

\n

\n
\nIrrational Doubts of the Vital<\/i> <\/font><\/b><\/p>\n

\n <\/p>\n

\nTHE doubts of the sadhaks more often rise from
\nthe vital than from the true mental\u2014when the
\nvital goes wrong or is in trouble or depression,
\nthe doubts rise and repeat themselves in the same
\nform and the same language, no matter how much
\nthe mind had been convinced by either patent
\nproofs or intellectual answers. I have noticed that always the vital is irrational (even when it uses the
\nreason to justify itself) and it believes or disbelieves
\naccording to its feeling, not according to reason.<\/font><\/p>\n

\n21-1-1935 <\/font><\/p>\n

\n
\nPerception of Vital Deficiencies\u2014
\nReplacement of Mental Control<\/i> <\/font><\/b><\/p>\n

\n <\/p>\n

\nIF you see more clearly any deficiencies of your
\nvital nature and the necessity of a transformation,
\nthat itself is a sign of psychic growth. They should
\nnot be a cause of discouragement, for these are
\ncommon defects of the human vital, and by an
\nincreased psychic opening they will lose their hold
\nand finally disappear. <\/font><\/p>\n

\nPage – 374<\/font><\/p>\n

\n

\nAs for the diminution of mental control over the
\nvital movements, that often happens temporarily
\nin the course of the Yoga. Mental control has to
\nbe replaced by a greater control from above and
\nby the calm, purity and strong peace of the vital
\nitself opened to the Divine Force and its government
\nof the whole nature. <\/font><\/p>\n

\nDo not allow yourself to be troubled or discouraged by any difficulties, but quietly and simply
\nopen yourself to the Mother’s force and allow it to
\nchange you. <\/font><\/p>\n

\n10-3-1931 <\/font><\/p>\n

\n
\nRisings of Vital Movements<\/i> <\/font><\/b><\/p>\n

\n <\/p>\n

\nTHE exacerbation of certain vital movements is
\na perfectly well-known phenomenon in Yoga and
\ndoes not mean that one has degenerated, but only
\nthat one has come to close grips instead of to a
\npleasant nodding acquaintance with the basic
\ninstincts of the earthly vital nature. I have had
\nmyself the experience of this rising to a height,
\nduring a certain stage of the spiritual development
\nof things, that before hardly existed and seemed <\/font><\/p>\n

\nPage – 375<\/font><\/p>\n

\n

\nquite absent in the pure Yogic life. These things
\nrise up like that because they are fighting for their existence\u2014they are not really personal to you and the vehemence of their attack is not due to
\nany "badness" in the personal nature. I dare say
\nseven sadhaks out of ten have a similar experience.
\nAfterwards when they cannot effect their object which is to drive the sadhak out of his sadhana, the whole thing sinks and there is no longer any
\nvehement trouble. I repeat that the only serious
\nthing about it is the depression created in you
\nand the idea of inability in the Yoga that they take
\ncare to impress on the brain when they are at their
\nwork. If you can get rid of that, the violence of the
\nvital attacks is only the phenomenon of a stage and
\ndoes not in the end matter. <\/font><\/p>\n

\n24-6-1932 <\/font><\/p>\n

\n
\nPositive Opening<\/i> <\/font><\/b><\/p>\n

\n <\/p>\n

\nTHE gloom and other difficulties come from a
\nresistance of inertia in the lower vital and physical
\nconsciousness. What you have to do is to prepare
\nthe consciousness by getting rid of the inertia. A <\/font><\/p>\n

\nPage – 376<\/font><\/p>\n

\n

\nsattwic gladness and calm and confidence is the
\nproper temperament for this Yoga; gloom, depression and weeping should not be indulged in, as they
\nstand in the way of the opening, unless the tears
\nare the psychic weeping of release or adoration
\nor a moved love and bhakti. The progress made
\nin controlling the sex and other rajasic movements
\nof the lower vital is a good preparation, but not
\nenough; by itself it is only the negative side, though
\nindispensable. Aspire for a positive sattwic opening
\nfor strength, for light, for peace and do not worry
\nor repine if the progress is slow at first, nor grudge
\nthe time and labour of preparation necessary
\nbefore there can be a rapid advance in the Yoga. <\/font><\/p>\n

\n3-12-1934 <\/font><\/p>\n

\n
\nSorrow in Sadhana<\/i> <\/font><\/b><\/p>\n

\n <\/p>\n

\nBUDDHISM is the turning away from dukkha<\/i> and its
\ncauses to the attracting face of Nirvana. The dukkhavada<\/i> did not exist in India, except in the
\ntheory of the Vaishnava viraha;<\/i> otherwise it was
\nnot considered as a means or even a stage
\nof the sadhana. But that does not mean that dukkha<\/i> <\/font><\/p>\n

\nPage – 377<\/font><\/p>\n

\n

\ndoes not come in the sadhana; it comes and has to
\nbe rejected and overcome, overpassed\u2014excepting
\nthe psychic sorrow which does not disturb or depress
\nbut rather liberates the vital. To make a vada<\/i> or
\ngospel of sorrow is dangerous because sorrow, if
\nindulged becomes a habit, sticks and few things,
\nif once they stick, can be more sticky. <\/font><\/p>\n

\n <\/p>\n

\n
\nSuffering and Doubt<\/i> <\/font><\/b><\/p>\n

\n <\/p>\n

\nDISAPPOINTED vital desire must bring about suffering.
\nPain and suffering are necessary results of the
\nIgnorance in which we live; men grow by all kinds
\nof experience, pain and suffering as well as their
\nopposites, joy and happiness and ecstasy. One
\ncan get strength from them if one meets them in the
\nright way. Many take a joy in pain and suffering
\nwhen associated with struggle or endeavour or
\nadventure, but that is more because of the exhilaration and excitement of the struggle than because
\nof suffering for its own sake. There is, however,
\nsomething in the vital which takes joy in the whole
\nof life, its dark as well as its bright sides. There is
\nalso something perverse in the vital which takes <\/font><\/p>\n

\nPage – 378<\/font><\/p>\n

\n

\na kind of dramatic pleasure in its own misery and
\ntragedy, even in degradation or in illness. <\/font><\/p>\n

\nI don’t think mere doubts can bring any gain; mental questioning can bring gains if it is in pursuit
\nof truth, but questioning just for the sake of sceptical
\nquestioning or in a pure spirit of contradiction can
\nonly bring, when it is directed against the truths
\nof the spirit, either error or a lasting incertitude.
\nIf I am always questioning the Light when it
\ncomes and refusing its offer of truth, the Light cannot stay<\/i> in me, cannot settle; eventually, finding no
\nwelcome and no foundation in the mind, it will
\nretire. One has to push forward into the Light,
\nnot always falling back into the darkness and
\nhugging the darkness in the delusion that it is the
\nreal light. Whatever fulfilment one may feel in
\npain or in doubt belongs to the Ignorance; the real
\nfulfilment is in the divine joy and the divine
\nTruth and its certitude and it is that for which the Yogin strives. In the
\nstruggle he may have to
\npass through doubt, not by his own choice or wilt but because there is still
\nimperfection in his knowledge. <\/font><\/p>\n

\n6-2-1943 <\/font><\/p>\n

\nPage – 379<\/font><\/p>\n

\n

\n
\nVital’s Attachment to Suffering<\/i> <\/font><\/b><\/p>\n

\n <\/p>\n

\nI HAVE never said that to overcome doubt is easy; it is difficult because it is the nature of something
\nin the human physical mind to cling to doubt for
\nits own sake. It is not easy to overcome gloom, depression, grief and suffering because something
\n.in the human vital clings to it and almost needs it
\nas part of the drama of life. So also I have never
\nsaid that sex, anger, jealousy, etc. were easy to overcome. I have said it was difficult because
\nthey were ingrained in the human vital and even
\nif thrown out were always being brought into it either by its own habit or by the invasion of the
\ngeneral Nature and the resurgence of its old response …. The external consciousness\u2014the physical
\nmind and consciousness of man\u2014hates its own
\nsuffering and if left to itself dislikes also to see others suffer. But if you will try to fathom the
\nsignificance of your admission of liking drama or
\nof the turn towards drama from which very few
\nhuman beings escape, and if you go deep enough,
\nyou will find that there is something in the vital which likes suffering and clings to it for the sake
\nof the drama. It is something below the surface,
\nbut it is strong, almost universal in human nature
\nand difficult to eradicate unless one recognises it <\/font><\/p>\n

\nPage – 380<\/font><\/p>\n

\n

\nand gets inwardly away from it. The mind and
\nthe physical of man do not like suffering, for if
\nthey did, it would not be suffering any longer, but
\nthis thing in the vital wants it in order to give a
\nspice to life. It is the reason why constant depressions
\ncan go on returning and returning even though
\nthe mind longs to get rid of them, because this
\nin the vital responds, goes on repeating the same
\nmovement like a gramophone as soon as it is got
\ngoing and insists on turning the whole round of the
\noft-repeated record. It does not really depend on
\nthe reasons which the vital gives for starting off to
\nthe round, these are often of the most trivial character
\nand wholly insufficient to justify it. It is only by a
\nstrong will to detach oneself, not to justify, to reject,
\nnot to welcome that one can in the end get rid of this
\nmost troublesome and dangerous streak in human
\nnature. When therefore we speak of the vital comedy, of the vital drama, we are
\nspeaking from a psychological knowledge which does not end with the surface of
\nthings but looks at these hidden movements.
\nIt is impossible to deal with things for the purposes of Yoga if we confine
\nourselves to the surface consciousness only: it is also quite according to the rule
\nof these reactions that your despondency should have
\ncome immediately after a considerable progress in bhakti and the will to surrender in the inner being\u2014 <\/font><\/p>\n

\nPage – 381<\/font><\/p>\n

\n

\nfor it comes from the spirit of darkness which attacks
\nthe sadhak whenever it can and that spirit resents
\nfiercely all progress made and hates the very idea
\nof progress and its whole policy is to convince him
\nby its attacks and suggestions that he has made none
\nor that what progress he has made is after all null
\nand inconclusive…. <\/font><\/p>\n

\nThe laws of this world as it is are the laws of the
\nIgnorance and the Divine in the world maintains
\nthem so long as there is the Ignorance; if he did not,
\nthe universe would crumble to pieces\u2014utsideyur
\nime lokah,<\/i> as the Gita puts it. There are also, very
\nnaturally, conditions for getting out of the Ignorance
\ninto the Light. One of them is that the mind of the
\nsadhak should co-operate with the Truth and that
\nhis will should co-operate with the Divine Power
\nwhich, however slow its action may seem to the vital
\nor to the physical mind, is uplifting the nature
\ntowards the Light; when , that co-operation is
\ncomplete, the progress can be rapid enough. But
\nthe sadhak should not grudge the time and labour
\nneeded to make the co-operation fully possible to
\nthe blindness and weakness of human nature and
\neffective. <\/font><\/p>\n

\nAll this call of yours for faith, sincerity, surrender
\nis only an invitation to make that co-operation more
\neasily possible. If the physical mind ceases to judge <\/font><\/p>\n

\nPage – 382<\/font><\/p>\n

\n

\nall things including those that it does not know or
\nare beyond it, like the deeper things of the spirit,
\nthen it becomes easier for it to receive the Light
\nand know by illumination and experience the
\nthings that it does not yet know. If the mental and
\nvital will place themselves in the Divine Hand
\nwithout reservation, then it is easier for the Power
\nto work and produce tangible effects. If there is
\nresistance, then it is natural that it should take more
\ntime and the work should be done from within or,
\nas it might appear, underground so as to prepare
\nthe nature and undermine the resistance…. <\/font><\/p>\n

\n <\/p>\n

\n
\nThe Right Psychic Attitude in Sadhana<\/i> <\/font>
\n<\/b><\/p>\n

\n <\/p>\n

\nWHAT is needed is to profit by the discovery and
\nget rid of the impediment. The Mother did not
\nmerely point out the impediment; she showed you
\nvery expressly how to get rid of it and at that time you
\nunderstood her, though now (at the time of writing
\nyour letter to me) the light which you saw seems to
\nhave been clouded by your indulging your vital
\nmore and more in the bitter pastime of sadness.
\nThat was quite natural, for that is the result sadness
\nalways does bring. That is the reason why I object to <\/font><\/p>\n

\nPage – 383<\/font><\/p>\n

\n

\nthe gospel of sorrow and to any sadhana which
\nmakes sorrow one of its main planks (abhiman,
\n<\/i>revolt, viraha).<\/i> For sorrow is not, as Spinoza pointed
\nout, a passage to a greater perfection, a way to
\nsiddhi; it cannot be, for it confuses and weakens
\nand distracts the mind, depresses the vital forces,
\ndarkens the spirit. A relapse from joy and vital elasticity and Ananda to
\nsorrow, self-distrust, despondency and weakness is a recoil from a greater
\nto a lesser consciousness,\u2014the habit of these moods
\nshows the clinging of something in the vital to the
\nsmaller, obscurer, dark and distressed movement
\nout of which it is the very aim of Yoga to rise. <\/font><\/p>\n

\nIt is, therefore, quite incorrect to say that the
\nMother took away the wrong key with which you
\nwere trying to open the Faery Palace and left you
\nwith none at all. For she not only showed you the
\ntrue key but gave it to you. It was not a mere
\nvague exhortation to cheerfulness she gave you
\nbut she described exactly the condition felt in the
\nright kind of meditation\u2014a state of inner rest; not of straining, of quiet opening, not of eager or
\ndesperate pulling, a harmonious giving of oneself
\nto the Divine Force for its workings and in that a
\nsense of the Force working and a restful confidence and allowing it to work
\nwithout any unquiet interference. And she asked you if you had not <\/font><\/p>\n

\nPage – 384<\/font><\/p>\n

\n

\nexperienced that condition and you said you had and
\nyou knew it very well. Now that condition is the
\npsychic opening and, if you have had it, you know
\nwhat the psychic opening is; of course, there
\nis much more that afterwards comes, but this is
\nthe fundamental condition in which it can most
\neasily come. What you should have done was to
\nkeep the key the Mother gave you present in: your
\nconsciousness and apply it\u2014not to go back and
\nallow sadness and the repining view of the past to
\ngrow upon you. In this condition, which you call
\nthe right or the psychic attitude, there may be call,
\nprayer, aspiration; intensity, concentration will
\ncome of themselves, not by a hard effort or tense
\nstrain on the nature. Rejection of wrong movements,
\nfrank confession of defects are not only not incompatible, but helpful to it, but this attitude makes
\nthe rejection, the confession easy, spontaneous,
\nentirely complete and sincere and effective. That
\nis the experience of all who have consented to take
\nthis attitude. <\/font><\/p>\n

\nI may say in passing that consciousness and
\nreceptivity are not the same thing; one may be
\nreceptive, yet externally unaware of how things are
\nbeing done and of what is being done. The Force
\nworks, as I have repeatedly written, behind the
\nveil. The results remain packed behind and come <\/font><\/p>\n

\nPage – 385<\/font><\/p>\n

\n

\nput afterwards, often slowly, little by little, until
\nthere is so much pressure that it breaks through
\nsomehow and forces itself upon the external nature.
\nThere is a difference between a mental and a
\nvital straining and pulling and a spontaneous
\npsychic openness, and it is not at all the first time
\nthat we have spoken of the difference. The Mother
\nand myself have written and spoken of it times without number and we have
\ndeprecated pulling*
\nand straining and advocated the attitude of psychic
\nopenness. It is not really a question of the right or
\nthe wrong key, but of putting the key in the lock
\nin the right or the wrong way; either, because
\nof some difficulty, you try to force the lock turning
\nthe key this way or that with violence or confidently
\nand quietly give it the right turn and the door
\nopens. <\/font><\/p>\n

\nIt is not that the pulling and straining and tension
\ncan do nothing; in the end they prevail for some
\nresult or other, but with difficulty, delay, struggle,
\nstrong upheavals of the forces breaking through
\ninspite of all. Ramakrishna himself began by pulling
\nand straining and got his result, but at the cost of a
\ntremendous and perilous upsetting; afterwards he took <\/font><\/p>\n

\n_____________<\/font><\/p>\n

\n* There is a steady drawing of the Force possible which is
\nnot what I mean by pulling\u2014drawing of the Force is quite
\ncommon and helpful. <\/font><\/p>\n

\nPage – 386<\/font><\/p>\n

\n

\nthe quiet psychic way whenever he wanted a result
\nand got it with ease and in a minimum time. You
\nsay that this way is too difficult for you or the likes
\nof you and it is only "Avatars" like myself or the
\nMother that can do it. That is a strange misconception ; for it is, on the contrary, the easiest and simplest
\nand most direct way and any one can do it, if he
\nmakes his mind and vital quiet.. .. even those who
\nhave a tenth of your capacity can do it. It is the
\nother way of tension and strain and hard endeavour
\nthat is difficult and needs a great force of tapasya.
\nAs for the Mother and myself, we have had to try all
\nways, follow all methods, to surmount mountains of
\ndifficulties, a far heavier burden to bear than you or
\nanybody else in the Ashram or outside, far more difficult conditions, battles to
\nfight, wounds to endure, ways to cleave through impenetrable morass
\nand desert and forest, hostile masses to conquer\u2014a
\nwork such as, I am certain, none else had to do before
\nus. For the leader of the way in a work like ours has
\nnot only to bring down or represent and embody
\nthe Divine, but to represent too the ascending element
\nin humanity and to bear the burden of humanity
\nto the full and experience, not in a mere play or Lila
\nbut in grim earnest, all the obstruction, difficulty,
\nopposition, baffled, hampered and only slowly victorious labour which are possible on the path. But it <\/font><\/p>\n

\nPage – 387<\/font><\/p>\n

\n

\nis not necessary, nor tolerable that all that should
\n<\/b>be <\/b>repeated over again to the full in the experience of
\nothers. It is because we have the complete experience that we can show a straighter and easier road
\nto others\u2014if they will only consent to take it. It is
\nbecause of our experience won at a tremendous price
\nthat we can urge upon you and others, "Take the
\npsychic attitude; follow the straight sunlit path,
\nwith the Divine openly and secretly up bearing- you\u2014
\nif secretly, he will yet show himself in good time,\u2014
\ndo not insist on the hard, hampered, round-about
\nand difficult journey." <\/font><\/p>\n

\nYou say that you were never pointed out all this
\nbefore. But it is what we have been saying in season and out of season to
\neverybody for a long time past.
\nBut you were not inclined to regard it as feasible or
\nat least not ready to apply it in the field of meditation, because your consciousness by tradition, owing
\nto past lives and other reasons, was clinging to former
\ncontrary conceptions. Something in you was harking back to the Vaishnava
\nsadhana, and that tended to
\nbring in its pain-giving feeling, elements of abhiman,
\n<\/i>revolt, suffering, the Divine hiding himself ("always
\nI seek but never does he show himself"), the rarity
\nof the unfolding and the milan.<\/i> Something else in <\/i>you was inclined to see as the only alternative some
\nhard, grim, ascetic ideal, the blank featureless <\/font><\/p>\n

\nPage – 388<\/font><\/p>\n

\n

\nBrahman and imagined that the Supramental was
\nthat; something in the vital looked on the conquest of
\n;wrong movements as a hard, desperate tapasya, not
\nas a passage into the purity and joy of the Divine; even now something in you seems to insist on regarding
\nthe psychic attitude as something extraordinary, difficult, unhuman and impossible.* There
\nwere these and other fingerings of the mind and the
\nvital; you have to tear them out and look at the simplicity of the Truth with a straight and simple gaze. <\/font><\/p>\n

\nIt is not that there is anything peculiar in you in
\nthese difficulties; every sadhak entering the way has
\nto get over similar impediments. It took me four
\nyears of inner striving to find a real way, even though
\nthe divine help was with me all the time, and even
\nthen, it seemed to come by an accident; and it took
\nme ten more years of intense yoga under a supreme
\ninner guidance to trace it out and that was because
\nI had my past and the world’s past to assimilate <\/font><\/p>\n

\n____________<\/font><\/p>\n

\n* The Russellian fear of emptiness which is the form the active
\n.mind gives to silence. Yet it was on what you call emptiness, on
\nthe silence, that my whole Yoga was founded and it was through it
\nthat there came afterwards all the inexhaustible riches of a greater knowledge, will and joy, all the experiences of a greater mental,
\npsychic and vital realms, all the ranges up to Overmind and
\nbeyond. The cup has often to be emptied before it can be new-
\nfilled; the Yogin, the sadhak ought not to be afraid of emptiness
\nor silence. . <\/font><\/font><\/p>\n

\nPage – 389<\/font><\/p>\n

\n

\nand overpass before I could find and found the
\nfuture. <\/font><\/p>\n

\nBut for you the remedy we propose, the key we
\noffer to you, ought not to be difficult to apply as you
\nimagine. After all, it is only applying in "meditation"
\nthe way that has been so successful with you in
\nmusic and poetry. There is a way of producing
\npoetry by strain and tension, by breaking of the
\nbrain, by hard and painful labour\u2014often the passage
\nclogged, and nothing coming or else coming only in
\nreturn for a sort of intellectual tapasya. There is the
\nother way in which one remains quiet and opens
\noneself to a power that is there behind and waits
\nfor inspiration; the force pours in and with it the
\ninspiration, the illumination, the Ananda, all is done
\nby an inner power. The flood passes but one remains
\nquiet for the next flood and at its time surely it comes.
\nHere all is not perfect at once but progress comes by
\never-new waves of the same power. It is the same
\nmethod that the Mother proposed to you for your
\nmeditation\u2014if meditation it must be called\u2014not a
\nstrain of mental activity but a restful opening to the
\nForce that is there all the time above and around
\nyou, so that it may flow freely and do its work in
\npeace, illumination and Ananda. The way has been
\nshown to you, you yourself have had from time to
\ntime the true condition; only you must learn how to. <\/font><\/p>\n

\nPage – 390<\/font><\/p>\n

\n

\ncontinue it or recover it and you must allow the Force
\nto do its work in its own way. It may take some time
\nto take entire hold of it, get the other habit out and
\nto make this normal; but you must not start by
\ndeciding that it is impossible. It is eminently possible
\nand it is that which everyone will have to do sooner
\nor later; for this is the door of the definite entrance.
\nThe difficulty, the struggle were only for the period
\nof preparation necessary to get rid of or to exhaust
\nthe obstructions in the consciousness which was a\u00bb
\nthorn-hedge around the Faery Palace. <\/font><\/p>\n

\n.5-5-1932 <\/font><\/p>\n

\nPage – 391<\/font><\/font><\/b><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/table>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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