{"id":3801,"date":"2013-07-13T01:51:21","date_gmt":"2013-07-13T01:51:21","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/localhost\/?p=3801"},"modified":"2013-07-13T01:51:21","modified_gmt":"2013-07-13T01:51:21","slug":"18-sadhana-in-the-ashram-and-outside-vol-on-yoga-2-letters-on-yoga-tome-one","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/worksofthemotherandsriaurobindo.org\/index.php\/01-works-of-sri-aurobindo\/02-other-editions\/on-yoga-2-letters-on-yoga-tome-one\/18-sadhana-in-the-ashram-and-outside-vol-on-yoga-2-letters-on-yoga-tome-one","title":{"rendered":"-18_SADHANA IN THE ASHRAM AND OUTSIDE.htm"},"content":{"rendered":"\n\n
\n

\n <\/p>\n

\nSection Nine <\/i><\/b>\n<\/p>\n

\nSADHANA IN THE ASHRAM AND OUTSIDE<\/b>\n<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

\n

\n

\nSADHANA IN THE ASHRAM AND OUTSIDE\n<\/p>\n

\nI\n<\/p>\n

\nThis Ashram has been created with another object than that ordinarily common to
\nsuch institutions, not for the renunciation of the world but as a centre and a
\nfield of practice for the evolution of another kind and form of life which would
\nin the final end be moved by a higher spiritual consciousness and embody a
\ngreater life of the spirit. There is no general rule as to the stage at which
\none may leave the ordinary life and enter here; in each case it depends on the
\npersonal need and impulsion and the possibility or the advisability for one to
\ntake the step.\n<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

\n*  *  *  <\/span><\/p>\n

<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

\nThis is not an Ashram like others\u2014the members are not Sannyasis; it is not
\nmoksa <\/b> <\/i>that is the sole aim of the yoga here. What is being done here
\nis a preparation for a work\u2014a work which will be founded on yogic consciousness
\nand Yoga-Shakti, and can have no other foundation. Meanwhile, every member here
\nis expected to do some work in the Ashram as part of this spiritual preparation.\n<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

\n*  *  *  <\/span><\/p>\n

<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

\nThe difficulty is that she seems to have only vairagya <\/i>for worldly life
\nwithout any knowledge or special call for this yoga, and this yoga and the life
\nhere are quite different things from ordinary yoga and ordinary Ashrams. It is
\nnot a life of meditative retirement as elsewhere. Moreover, it would be
\nimpossible for us to demand anything without seeing her and knowing at close
\nhand what she is like. We are not just now for taking more inmates into the
\nAshram except in a very few cases.\n<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

\n*  *  *  <\/span><\/p>\n

<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

\n"Dedication of life" is quite possible for some without their staying here. It
\nis a question of inward attitude and of the total
\n\n<\/p>\n

\n

\n

<\/p>\n

\nconsecration of the being to the Divine.\n<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

\n*  *  *  <\/span><\/p>\n

<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

\nWe do not think it would be advisable at this stage [for X to come to stay at
\nthe Ashram]. By coming to the Ashram difficulties do not cease\u2014they have to be
\nfaced and overcome wherever you are. For certain natures residence in the Ashram
\nfrom the beginning is helpful\u2014others have to prepare themselves outside.\n<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

\n*  *  *  <\/span><\/p>\n

<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

\nI have read and considered your letter and have decided to give you the
\nopportunity you ask for\u2014you can reside -in the Ashram for two or three months to
\nbegin with and find out whether this is really the place and the path you were
\nseeking and we also can by a closer observation of your spiritual possibilities
\ndiscern how best we can help you and whether this yoga is the best for you.\n<\/p>\n

\n    This trial is necessary for many reasons, but especially
\nbecause it is a difficult yoga to follow and not many can really meet the
\ndemands it makes on the nature. You have written that you saw in me one who
\nachieved through the perfection of the intellect, its spiritualisation and
\ndivinisation; but in fact I arrived through the complete silence of the mind and
\nwhatever spiritualisation and divinisation it attained was through the descent
\nof a higher supra-intellectual knowledge into that silence. The book, Essays
\non the Gita, <\/b> <\/i>itself was written in that silence of the mind, without
\nintellectual effort and by a free activity of this knowledge from above. This is
\nimportant because the principle of this yoga is not perfection of the human
\nnature as it is but a psychic and spiritual transformation of all the parts of
\nthe being through the action of an inner consciousness and then of a higher
\nconsciousness which works on them, throws out their old movements or changes
\nthem into the image of its own and so transmutes lower into higher nature. It is
\nnot so much the perfection of the intellect as a transcendence of it, a
\ntransformation of the mind, the substitution of a larger greater principle of
\nknowledge\u2014and so with all the rest of the being.\n<\/p>\n

\n     This is a slow and difficult process; the road is long
\nand it is\n<\/p>\n

\nPage-782<\/p>\n

\n

\n

<\/p>\n

\nhard to establish even the necessary basis. The old existing nature resists and
\nobstructs and difficulties rise one after another and repeatedly till they are
\novercome. It is therefore necessary to be sure that this is the path to which
\none is called before one finally decides to tread it.\n<\/p>\n

\n    If you wish, we are ready to give you the trial you ask for.
\nOn receiving your answer the Mother will make the necessary arrangements for
\nyour residence in the Ashram.\n<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

\n*  *  *  <\/span><\/p>\n

<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

\nIt is not helpful to abandon the ordinary life before the being is ready for the
\nfull spiritual life. To do so means to precipitate a struggle between the
\ndifferent elements and exasperate it to a point of intensity which the nature is
\nnot ready to bear. The vital elements in you have partly to be met by the
\ndiscipline and experience of life, while keeping the spiritual aim in view and
\ntrying to govern life by it progressively in the spirit of Karmayoga.\n<\/p>\n

\n    It is for this reason that we gave our approval to your
\nmarriage.\n<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

\n*  *  *  <\/span><\/p>\n

<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

\nNo, it is not enough to be in the Ashram; one has to open to the Mother and put
\naway the mind which one was playing with in the world.\n<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

\n*  *  *  <\/span><\/p>\n

<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

\nThere is no formal initiation, acceptance is sufficient, but I do not usually
\naccept unless I have seen, or the Mother has seen the person or unless there is
\na clear sign that he is meant for this yoga. Sometimes those who desire to be
\ndisciples have seen me in dream or vision before acceptance.\n<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

\n*  *  *  <\/span><\/p>\n

<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

\nWhat you say is right. This attitude that the Divine has need of the sadhak and
\nnot the sadhak of the Divine, is utterly wrong and absurd. When people are
\naccepted here, they are given a
\n\n<\/p>\n

\nPage-783<\/p>\n

\n

\n

\nchance of a great Divine Grace, of being instruments of a great work. To suppose
\nthat the Divine cannot <\/i>do his work without the help of this or that
\nperson is surely most arrogant and illogical. They ought to remember the Gita’s
\nrte’pi twam <\/i>"even without thee" the work can be done and its
\nnimittamdtram bhava.<\/i>\n<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

\n*  *  *  <\/span><\/p>\n

<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

\nI was thinking not of Pranam etc. which have a living value, but of old forms
\nwhich persist although they have no longer any value \u2014e.g. srdddha <\/i>for
\nthe dead. Also here forms which have no relation to this yoga\u2014for instance
\nChristians who cling to the Christian forms or Mahomedans to the Namaz or Hindus
\nto the Sandhyavandana in the old way might soon find them either falling off or
\nelse an obstacle to the free development of their sadhana.\n<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

\n*  *  *  <\/span><\/p>\n

<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

\nWhat you write shows that you had a wrong idea of the work. The work in the
\nAshram was not meant as a service to humanity or to a section of it called the
\nsadhaks of the Ashram. It was not meant either as an opportunity for a joyful
\nsocial life and a flow of sentiments and attachments between the sadhaks and an
\nexpression of the vital movements, a free vital interchange whether with some or
\nwith all. The work was meant as a service to the Divine and as a field for the
\ninner opening to the Divine, surrender to the Divine alone, rejection of ego and
\nall the ordinary vital movements and the training in a psychic elevation,
\nselflessness, obedience, renunciation of all mental, vital or other
\nself-assertion of the limited personality. Self-affirmation is not the aim, the
\nformation of a collective vital ego is also not the aim. The merging of the
\nlittle ego in union with the Divine, purification, surrender, the substitution
\nof the Divine guidance for one’s own ignorant self-guidance based on one’s
\npersonal ideas and personal feelings is the aim of Karmayoga, the surrender of
\none’s own will to the Divine Will.\n<\/p>\n

\n    If one feels human beings to be near and the Divine to be far
\nand seeks the Divine through service of and love of human beings\n<\/p>\n

\nPage-784<\/p>\n

\n

\n

\nand not the direct service and love of the Divine, then one is following a wrong
\nprinciple\u2014for that is the principle of the mental, vital and moral not the
\nspiritual life.\n<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

\n*  *  *  <\/span><\/p>\n

<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

\n["The love of the Divine in all beings and the constant perception and
\nacceptance of its workings in all things."] That is all right in the ordinary
\nKarmayoga which aims at union with cosmic spirit and stops short at the
\novermind\u2014but here a special work has to be done and a new realisation achieved
\nfor the earth and not for ourselves alone. It is necessary to stand apart from
\nthe rest of the world so as to separate ourselves from the ordinary
\nconsciousness in order to bring down a new one.\n<\/p>\n

\n     It is not that love for all is not part of the sadhana,
\nbut it has not to translate itself at once into a mixing with all\u2014it can only
\nexpress itself in a general and when need be dynamic universal goodwill, but for
\nthe rest it must find vent in this labour of bringing down the higher
\nconsciousness with all its effect for the earth. As for accepting the working of
\nthe Divine in all things that is necessary here too in the sense of seeing it
\neven behind our struggles and difficulties, but not accepting the nature of man
\nand the world as it is\u2014our aim is to move towards a more divine working which
\nwill replace what now is by a greater and happier manifestation. That too is a
\nlabour of divine Love.\n<\/p>\n

\nAs for our own position it is that ordinary life is Maya in this sense, not that
\nit is an illusion, for it exists and is very real, but that it is an Ignorance,
\na thing founded on what is from the spiritual point of view a falsehood. So it
\nis logical to avoid it or rather we are obliged to have some touch with it but
\nwe minimise that as much as possible except in so far as it is useful for our
\npurpose. We have to turn life from falsehood into spiritual truth, from a life
\nof Ignorance into a life of spiritual knowledge. But until we have succeeded in
\ndoing that for ourselves, it is better to keep apart from the life of Ignorance
\nof the world\u2014otherwise our little slowly growing light is likely to be submerged
\nin the seas of dark-50<\/i><\/b>\n<\/p>\n

\nPage-785<\/p>\n

\n

\n

\nness all around it. Even as it is, the endeavour is difficult enough \u2014it would
\nbe tenfold more difficult if there were no isolation.\n<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

\n*  *  *  <\/span><\/p>\n

<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

\nWork here and work done in the world are of course not the same thing. The work
\nthere is not in any way a divine work in special \u2014it is ordinary work in the
\nworld. But still one must take it as a training and do it in the spirit of
\nKarmayoga-\u2014what matters there is not the nature of the work in itself, but the
\nspirit in which it is done. It must be in the spirit of the Gita, without
\ndesire, with detachment, without repulsion, but doing it as perfectly as
\npossible, not for the sake of the family or promotion or to please the
\nsuperiors, but simply because it is the thing that has been given in the hand to
\ndo. It is a field of inner training, nothing else. One has to learn in it these
\nthings, equality, desirelessness, dedication. It is not the work as a thing for
\nits own sake, but one’s doing of it and one’s way of doing it that one has to
\ndedicate to the Divine. Done in that spirit, it does not matter what the work
\nis. If one trains oneself spiritually like that, then one will be ready to do in
\nthe true way whatever special work directly for the Divine, (such as the Ashram
\nwork) one may any day be given to do.\n<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

\n*  *  *  <\/span><\/p>\n

<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

\nObviously the life here is not that of a place where the mind and vital can hope
\nto be satisfied and fulfilled or lead a lively life. It is only if one can live
\nwithin that it becomes satisfactory But for one who has the assured inner life,
\nthere is no dullness. Realisation within must be the first object; work for the
\nDivine on the basis of the true inner self and a new consciousness, not on the
\nbasis of the old, is the result that can follow. Till then work and life can be
\nonly a means of sadhana, not a "self-fulfilment" or a brilliant and interesting
\nvital life on the old basis.\n<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

\n*  *  *  <\/span><\/p>\n

<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

\nHere there is nothing that ministers to the human vital nature; the work is
\nsmall, silent, shut off from the outside world and its
\n\n<\/p>\n

\nPage-785<\/p>\n

\n

\n

\ncircumstances, of value only as a field for spiritual self-culture. If one is
\ngoverned by the sole spiritual motive and has the spiritual consciousness, one
\ncan take joy and interest in this work. Or if, in spite of his human
\nshortcomings, the worker is mainly bent on spiritual progress and
\nself-perfection, then also he can take interest in the work and both feel its
\nutility for the discovery and purification of his egoistic mental and vital and
\nphysical nature and take joy in it as a service of the Divine.\n<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

\n*  *  *  <\/span><\/p>\n

<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

\nIt is not at all a question of usefulness\u2014although your work is very useful when
\nyou put yourself to it. Work is part of the sadhana, and in sadhana the question
\nof usefulness does not arise, that is an outward practical measure of
\nthings,\u2014though even in the outward ordinary life utility is not the only
\nmeasure. The question is of aspiration to the Divine, whether that is your
\ncentral aim in life, your inner need or not. Sadhana for oneself is another
\nmatter\u2014one can take it up or leave it. The real sadhana is for the Divine\u2014it is
\nthe soul’s need and one cannot give it up even if in moments of despondency one
\nthinks one can.\n<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

\n*  *  *  <\/span><\/p>\n

<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

\nThe work here is not intended for showing one’s capacity or having a position or
\nas a means of physical nearness to the Mother, but as a field and an opportunity
\nfor the Karmayoga part of the integral yoga, for learning to work in the true
\nyogic way, dedication through service, practical selflessness, obedience,
\nscrupulousness, discipline, setting the Divine and the Divine’s work first and
\noneself last, harmony, patience, forbearance, etc. When the workers learn these
\nthings and cease to be ego-centric, as most of you now are, then will come the
\ntime for work in which capacity can really be shown, although even then the
\nshowing of capacity will be an incident and can never be the main consideration
\nor the object of divine work.
\n\n<\/p>\n

\nPage-787<\/p>\n

\n

\n

\nThere is no necessity for everybody to become artists or writers or do work of a
\npublic character. X and Y have their own capacities and it is sufficient for the
\npresent if they train themselves to make them useful for the Mother’s work.
\nOthers have great capacities which they are content to use in the small and
\nobscure work of the Ashram without figuring before the public in something big.
\nWhat is important now is to get the true consciousness from above, get rid of
\nthe ego (which nobody has yet done) and learn to be an instrument of the Divine
\nForce. After that the manifestation can take place, not before.\n<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

\n*  *  *  <\/span><\/p>\n

<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

\nWhat is called politics is too rajasic, unsound and muddled with all sorts of
\negoistic motives. Our way is the pressure of the Spirit upon the
\nearth-consciousness to change.\n<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

\n*  *  *  <\/span><\/p>\n

<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

\nNo, it [politics] is not given as a work to anybody. People go on with that
\nbecause it is a mental interest or habit they do not like giving up, it is like
\nthe vital habit of tea-drinking or anything else of the kind. Politics is not
\nonly not given as a work but the discussion of politics is discouraged as much
\nas possible.\n<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

\n*  *  *  <\/span><\/p>\n

<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

\nBut surely politics is not the only activity possible for the vital \u2014there are
\nhundreds of others. Whenever there is something to be produced, created,
\norganised, achieved, conquered, it is the vital that is indispensable.\n<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

\n*  *  *  <\/span><\/p>\n

<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

\nI have made it a rule not to write anything about politics. Also the question of
\nwhat to do in a body like the Assembly depends on circumstances, on the
\npractical needs of the situation which can change rapidly. In such a body the
\nwork is not of a spiritual character. All kinds of work can be done with the
\nspiritual consciousness
\n\n<\/p>\n

\nPage-788<\/p>\n

\n

\n

\nbehind, but unless one has advanced very far, one must in the fact be guided by
\nthe necessities of the work itself and its characteristic nature. Since you have
\njoined this party, its programme must be yours and what you have to do is to
\nbring to it all the conscientiousness, ability and selflessness which you can
\ncommand. You are right in not taking office, as you have made the promise. In
\nany case a sadhak entering politics should work not for himself but for the
\ncountry. If he takes office, it should be only when he can do something for the
\ncountry by it and not until he has proved his character and ability and fitness
\nfor position. You should walk by a high standard which will bring you the
\nrespect even of opponents and justify the choice of the electors.\n<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

\n*  *  *  <\/span><\/p>\n

<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

\nAs for propaganda I have seen that it is perfectly useless for us\u2014 if there is
\nany effect, it is a very trifling and paltry effect not worth the trouble. If
\nthe Truth has to spread itself, it will do it of its own motion; these things
\nare unnecessary.\n<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

\n*  *  *  <\/span><\/p>\n

<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

\nWell-known or unknown has absolutely no importance from the spiritual point of
\nview. It is simply the propagandist spirit. We are not a party or a church or
\nreligion seeking adherents or proselytes. One man who earnestly pursues the yoga
\nis of more value than a thousand well-known men.\n<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

\n*  *  *  <\/span><\/p>\n

<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

\nFear in these experiences is a thing one must get rid of; if there is any
\ndanger, a call to the Mother is sufficient, but in reality there is none\u2014for the
\nprotection is there.\n<\/p>\n

\n     It is true that there is in most people here this
\nrunning after those who come from outside especially if they are well-known or
\ndistinguished. It is a common weakness of human nature and, like other
\nweaknesses of human nature, the sadhaks seem not inclined to get rid of it. It
\nis because they do not live sufficiently within, so the vital gets excited or
\nattracted when something
\n\n<\/p>\n

\nPage-789<\/p>\n

\n

\n

\nimportant or somebody important (or considered so) comes in from outside.\n<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

\n*  *  *  <\/span><\/p>\n

<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

\nWhat X or others think or say does not matter very much after all as we do not
\ndepend on them for our work but on the Divine Will only. So many have said and
\nthought all sorts of things (people outside) about and against us, that has
\nnever affected either us or our work in the least; it is of a very minor
\nimportance.\n<\/p>\n

\nIII<\/p>\n

\nIt is necessary or rather inevitable that in an Ashram which is a "laboratory",
\nas X puts it, for a spiritual and supramental yoga, humanity should be variously
\nrepresented. For the problem of transformation has to deal with all sorts of
\nelements favourable and unfavourable. The same man indeed carries in him a
\nmixture of these two things. If only sattwic and cultured men come for yoga, men
\nwithout very much of the vital difficulty in them, then, because the difficulty
\nof the vital element in terrestrial nature has not been faced and overcome, it
\nmight well be that the endeavour would fail. There might conceivably be under
\ncertain circumstances an overmental layer superimposed on the mental, vital and
\nphysical, and influencing them, but hardly anything supramental or a sovereign
\ntransmutation of the human being. Those in the Ashram come from all quarters and
\nare of all kinds; it cannot be otherwise.\n<\/p>\n

\n     In the course of the yoga, collectively\u2014though not for
\neach one necessarily\u2014as each plane is dealt with, all its difficulties arise.
\nThat will explain much in the Ashram that people do not expect there. When the
\npreliminary work is over in the "laboratory", things must change.\n<\/p>\n

\n    Also, much stress has not been laid on human fellowship of
\nthe ordinary kind between the inmates (though good feeling, consideration and
\ncourtesy should always be there), because that is not the aim; it is unity in a
\nnew consciousness that is the aim, and the first thing is for each to do his
\nsadhana, to arrive at that new consciousness and realise oneness there.\n<\/p>\n

\nPage-790<\/p>\n

\n

\n

\n    Whatever faults are there in the sadhaks must be removed by
\nthe Light from above\u2014a sattwic rule can only change natures predisposed to a
\nsattwic rule.\n<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

\n*  *  *  <\/span><\/p>\n

<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

\nIf his faith depends on the perfection of the sadhaks, obviously, it must be a
\nrather shaky thing! Sadhaks and sadhikas are not supposed to be perfect. It is
\nonly siddhas for whom one can claim perfection and even then not according to
\nmental standards…. His faith seems to be more mental than otherwise, and
\nmental faith can easily go.\n<\/p>\n

\n    To be by oneself very much needs a certain force of inner
\nlife. It may be better to vary solitude with some kind of its opposite. But each
\nhas its advantages and disadvantages and it is only by being vigilant and
\nkeeping an inner poise that one can avoid the latter.\n<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

\n*  *  *  <\/span><\/p>\n

<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

\nThe general principle of self-consecration and self-giving is the same for all
\nin this yoga, but each has his own way of consecration and self-giving. The way
\nthat X takes is good for X, just as the way that you take is the right one for
\nyou, because it is in consonance with your nature. If there were not this
\nplasticity and variety, if all had to be cut in the same pattern, yoga would be
\na rigid mental machinery, not a living power.\n<\/p>\n

\n   When you can sing out of your inner consciousness in which you feel
\nthe Mother moving all your actions, there is no reason why you should not do it.
\nThe development of capacities is not only permissible but right, when it can be
\nmade part of the yoga; one can give not only one’s soul, but all one’s powers to
\nthe Divine.\n<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

\n*  *  *  <\/span><\/p>\n

<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

\nIt is a little difficult for the wider spiritual outlook to answer your question
\nin the way you want and every mental being wants, with a trenchant "Thou shalt"
\nor "Thou shalt not"\u2014especially when the "thou" is meant to cover "all". For
\nwhile there is an identity of essential aim, while there are general broad lines
\nof endeavour,
\n\n<\/p>\n

\nPage-791<\/p>\n

\n

\n

\nyet there is not in detail one common set of rules in inner things that can
\napply to all seekers. You ask: "Is not such and such a thing harmful?" But what
\nis harmful to one may be helpful to another, what is helpful at a certain stage
\nmay cease to be helpful at another, what is harmful under certain conditions may
\nbe helpful under other conditions, what is done in a certain spirit may be
\ndisastrous, the same thing done in a quite different spirit would be innocuous
\nor even beneficial…there are so many things to be considered: the spirit, the
\ncircumstances, the person, the need and cast of the nature, the stage. That is
\nwhy it is said so often that the Guru must deal with each disciple according to
\nhis separate nature and accordingly guide his sadhana; even if it is the same
\nline of sadhana for all, yet at every point for each it differs. That also is
\nthe reason why we say that the divine way cannot be understood by the mind,
\nbecause the mind acts according to hard and fast rules and standards, while the
\nspirit sees the truth of all and the truth of each and acts variously according
\nto its own comprehensive and complex vision. That also is why we say that no one
\ncan understand by his personal mental judgment the Mother’s actions and reasons
\nfor action: it can only be understood by entering into the larger consciousness
\nfrom which she sees things and acts upon them. That is baffling to the mind
\nbecause it uses its small measures, but that is the truth of the matter.\n<\/p>\n

\n    So you will see that here there is no mental rule, but in
\neach case the guidance is determined by spiritual reasons which are of a
\nflexible character. There is no other consideration, no rule. Music, painting,
\npoetry and many other activities which are of the mind and vital can be used as
\npart of spiritual development or of the work and for a spiritual purpose: it
\ndepends on the spirit in which they are done.\n<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

\n*  *  *  <\/span><\/p>\n

<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

\nWhy should the Mother be obliged to treat everybody in the same way? It would be
\na most imbecile thing for her to do that.\n<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

\n*  *  *  <\/span><\/p>\n

<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

\nIt is not a fact that all I write is meant equally for everybody.
\n\n<\/p>\n

\nPage-792<\/p>\n

\n

\n

\nThat assumes that everybody is alike and there is no difference between sadhak
\nand sadhak. If it were so everybody would advance alike and have the same
\nexperiences and take the same time to progress by the same steps and stages. It
\nis not so at all. In this case the general rules were laid down for one who had
\nmade no progress\u2014but everything depends on how the yoga comes to each person.\n<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

\n*  *  *  <\/span><\/p>\n

<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

\nIt is not always safe to apply practically to oneself what has been written for
\nanother. Each sadhak is a case by himself and one cannot always or often take a
\nmental rule and apply it rigidly to all who are practising the yoga. What I
\nwrote to X was meant for X and fits his case, but supposing a sadhak with a
\ndifferent (coarse) vital nature unlike X were in question, I might say to him
\nsomething that might seem the very opposite, "Sit tight on your lower vital
\npropensities, throw out your greed for food\u2014it is standing as a serious obstacle
\nin your way; it would be better for you to be ascetic in your habits than
\nvulgarly animal in this part as you are now". To one who is not taking enough
\nfood or sleep and rest in the eagerness of his spirit, I might say, "Eat more,
\nsleep more, rest more, do not overstrain yourself or bring an ascetic spirit
\ninto your tapasya". To another with the opposite excess I might speak a contrary
\nlanguage. Each sadhak has a nature or turn of nature of his own and the movement
\nof the yoga of two sadhaks, even where there are some resemblances between them,
\nis seldom exactly the same.\n<\/p>\n

\n   Again, in applying some truth that is laid down it is necessary to
\ngive it its precise meaning. It is quite true that "in our path the attitude is
\nnot one of forceful suppression, nigraha"<\/i>; it is not coercion according
\nto a mental rule or principle on an unpersuaded vital being. But that does not
\nmean either that the vital has to go its own way and do according to its fancy.
\nIt is not coercion that is the way, but an inner change in which the lower vital
\nis led, enlightened and transformed by a higher consciousness which is detached
\nfrom the objects of vital desire. But in order to let this grow an attitude has
\nto be taken in which a decreasing importance has to be attached to the
\nsatisfaction of the claims of the lower vital, a certain mastery, sarhyama, <\/i>
\nbeing above any clamour
\n\n<\/p>\n

\nPage-793<\/p>\n

\n

\n

\nof these things, limiting such things as food to their proper place. The lower
\nvital has its place, it is not to be crushed or killed, but it has to be
\nchanged, "caught hold of by both ends", at the upper end a mastery and control,
\nat the lower end a right use. The main thing is to get rid of attachment and
\ndesire; it is then that an entirely right use becomes possible. By what actual
\nsteps, in what order, through what processes this mastery of the lower vital
\nshall come depends on the nature, the stress of development, the actual movement
\nof the yoga.\n<\/p>\n

\n    It is not the eating or the not eating of something that is
\nthe important point; what is important is how that or any of these food matters
\naffects you, what is your inner condition and how any such indulgence, cooking
\nor eating, stands or does not stand in the way of its progress and change, what
\nis best for you as a yogic discipline. One rule for you I can lay down, "Do not
\ndo, say or think anything which you would want to conceal from the Mother". And
\nthat answers the objections that rose within you from your vital, is it
\nnot?\u2014against bringing "these petty things" to the Mother’s notice. Why should
\nyou think that the Mother would be bothered by these things or regard them as
\npetty? If all <\/b> <\/i>the life is to be yoga, what is there that can be
\ncalled petty or of no importance? Even if the Mother does not answer, to have
\nbrought any matter of your action and self-development before her in the right
\nspirit means to have put it under her protection, in the light of the Truth,
\nunder the rays of the Power that is working for the transformation\u2014for
\nimmediately those rays begin to play and to act on the thing brought to her
\nnotice. Anything within that advises not to do it when the spirit in you moves
\nyou to do it, may very well be a device of the vital to avoid the ray of the
\nLight and the working of the Force.\n<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

\n*  *  *  <\/span><\/p>\n

<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

\nOne must not treat human nature like a machine to be handled according to rigid
\nmental rules\u2014a great plasticity is needed in dealing with its complex motives.
\n\n<\/p>\n

\nPage-794<\/p>\n

\n

\n

\nIV\n<\/p>\n

\nYes, even in ordinary life there must be a control over the vital and the
\nego\u2014otherwise life would be impossible. Even many animals, those who live in
\ngroups, have their strict rules imposing a control on the play of the ego and
\nthose who disobey will have a bad time of it. The Europeans especially
\nunderstand this and even though they are full of ego, yet when there is a
\nquestion of team work or group life, they are adepts at keeping it in leash,
\neven if it growls inside; it is the secret of their success. But in yoga life of
\ncourse it is a question not of controlling ego but of getting rid of it and
\nrising to a higher principle, so demand is much more strongly and insistently
\ndiscouraged.\n<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

\n*  *  *  <\/span><\/p>\n

<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

\nA rule that can be varied by everyone at his pleasure is no rule. In all
\ncountries in which organised work is successfully done, (India is not one of
\nthem), rules exist and nobody thinks of breaking them, for it is realised that
\nwork (or life either) without discipline would soon become a confusion and an
\nanarchic failure. In the great days of India everything was put under rule, even
\nart and poetry, even yoga. Here in fact rules are much less rigid than in any
\nEuropean organisation. Personal discretion can even in a frame of rules have
\nplenty of play\u2014but discretion must be discretely used, otherwise it becomes
\nsomething arbitrary or chaotic.\n<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

\n*  *  *  <\/span><\/p>\n

<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

\nThe Mother puts her protection round all the sadhaks, but if by their own actor
\nattitude they go out of the circle of the protection there may be undesirable
\nconsequences.\n<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

\n*  *  *  <\/span><\/p>\n

<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

\n[Discipline:] To act according to a standard of Truth or a rule or law of action
\n(dharma) or in obedience to a superior authority or to the highest principles
\ndiscovered by the reason and intelligent will and not according to one’s own
\nfancy, vital impulses and
\n\n<\/p>\n

\nPage-795<\/p>\n

\n

\n

\ndesires. In yoga obedience to the Guru or to the Divine and the law of the Truth
\nas declared by the Guru is the foundation of discipline.\n<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

\n*  *  *  <\/span><\/p>\n

<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

\nYou are putting the cart before the horse. It is not the right way to make the
\ncondition that if you get what you want you will be obedient and cheerful. But
\nbe always obedient and cheerful and then what you want will have a chance of
\ncoming to you.\n<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

\n*  *  *  <\/span><\/p>\n

<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

\nRules are indispensable for the orderly management of work; for without order
\nand arrangement nothing can be properly done, all becomes clash, confusion and
\ndisorder.\n<\/p>\n

\nIn all such dealings with others, you should see not only your own side of the
\nquestion but the other side also. There should be no anger, vehement reproach or
\nmenace, for these things only raise anger and retort on the other side. I write
\nthis because you are trying to rise above yourself and dominate your vital and
\nwhen one wants to do that, one cannot be too strict with oneself in these
\nthings. It is best even to be severe with one’s own mistakes and charitable to
\nthe mistakes of others.\n<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

\n*  *  *  <\/span><\/p>\n

<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

\nYes, quite right. It is a deficiency of psychic perception and spiritual
\ndiscrimination that makes people speak like that and ignore the importance of
\nobedience. It is the mind wanting to follow its own way of thinking and the
\nvital seeking freedom for its desires which argue in this manner. If you do not
\nfollow the rules laid down by the spiritual guide or obey one who is leading you
\nto the Divine, then what or whom are you to follow? Only the ideas of the
\nindividual mind and the desires of the vital: but these things never lead to
\nsiddhi in yoga. The rules are laid down in order to guard against certain
\ninfluences and their dangers and to keep a right atmosphere in the Ashram
\nfavourable to spiritual development; the obedience is necessary so as to get
\naway from one’s own mind and vital and learn to follow the Truth.\n<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

\nPage-795<\/p>\n

\n

\n

<\/p>\n

\nRules like these are intended to help the vital and physical to come under the
\ndiscipline of sadhana and not get dispersed in fancies, impulses,
\nself-indulgences; but they must be done simply, not with any sense of
\nsuperiority or ascetic pride, but as a mere matter of course. It is true also
\nthat they can be made the occasion of a too great mental rigidity\u2014as if they
\nwere things of supreme importance in themselves <\/i><\/b>and not only a
\nmeans. Put in their right place and done in the right spirit, they can be very
\nhelpful for their purpose.\n<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

\n*  *  *  <\/span><\/p>\n

<\/span><\/p>\n

\nWhat most want is that things should be done according to their desire without
\ncheck or reference. The talk of perfection is humbug. Perfection does not
\nconsist in everybody being a law to himself. Perfection comes by renunciation of
\ndesires and surrender to a higher Will.\n<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

\n*  *  *  <\/span><\/p>\n

<\/span><\/p>\n

\nIf I said things that human nature finds easy and natural, that would certainly
\nbe very comfortable for the disciples, but there would be no room for spiritual
\naim or endeavour. Spiritual aims and methods are not easy or natural (e.g. as
\nquarrelling, sex indulgence, greed, indolence, acquiescence in all imperfections
\nare easy and natural) and if people become disciples, they are supposed to
\nfollow spiritual aims and endeavours, however hard and above ordinary nature and
\nnot the things that are easy and natural.\n<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

\n*  *  *  <\/span><\/p>\n

<\/span><\/p>\n

\nIn the outside world there is a mental and social control and also the
\nabsorption in other things. Here you are left alone with your own consciousness
\nand have to replace the mental and outward control by an inner self-control of
\nthe spirit.\n<\/p>\n

\nHe **<\/b>\n<\/p>\n

\nIt is no question of fault or punishment\u2014if we have to condemn and punish people
\nfor their faults and deal with the sadhaks like\n<\/p>\n

\nPage-796<\/p>\n

\n

\n

\na tribunal of justice, no sadhana could be possible. I do not see how your
\nreproach against us is justifiable. Our sole duty to the sadhaks is to take them
\ntowards their spiritual realisation\u2014we cannot behave like the head of a family
\nintervening in domestic quarrels, supporting one, putting our weight against the
\nother! However often X may stumble, we have to take him by the hand, lift him up
\nagain and get him to move once more towards the Divine. We have always done the
\nsame with you. But we could not support any demand of yours upon him. We have
\nalways treated it as something between him and the Divine. For you, the one
\nthing we have insisted on and that with your full consent and with your prayers
\nto us to be helped in doing it, is to cut the vital relation with him altogether
\nand to base nothing upon it any more. Yet now you write to us that because we
\nhave not approved of your action of what you said to Y, no matter what that
\nmight be,\u2014you renounce us forever.\n<\/p>\n

\nI must ask you to return to your better self and your true consciousness and
\nthrow off these moods of vital passion which are unworthy of your soul. You have
\nrepeatedly written of your love for the Mother, the Ananda which you received
\nfrom her and the number of spiritual experiences. Remember that and remember
\nthat that is your true way and your true being and nothing-else matters. Get
\nback your poise and throw off the lower nature and its darkness and ignorance.\n<\/p>\n

\nV\n<\/p>\n

\nNo one in fact is kept here when his will or decision is to go\u2014 although the
\nprinciple of the spiritual life is against any return to the old one even for a
\ntime especially if the deeper urge is there and striving towards a firm
\nfoundation of the new consciousness \u2014for the return to the ordinary atmosphere
\nand surroundings and motives disturbs the work and throws back the progress.\n<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

\n*  *  *  <\/span><\/p>\n

<\/span><\/p>\n

\nWhen there is so sharp a difference between the inner and the outer being, it is
\nalways the sadhak who has to make his choice.
\n\n<\/p>\n

\nPage-797<\/p>\n

\n

\n

\nIt is especially when the outer being rejects the Truth and insists on living
\nits life and refuses the rule of the spiritual life that the experiment [of
\ngoing away from the Ashram] becomes inevitable. I have never said that it is
\nrecommendable.\n<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

\n*  *  *  <\/span><\/p>\n

<\/span><\/p>\n

\nIn some it [the push to go away from the Ashram] is too strong; they have to go
\nand see for themselves. That does not mean that everyone has to go whenever he
\nfeels a difficulty. These are exceptional cases.\n<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

\n*  *  *  <\/span><\/p>\n

<\/span><\/p>\n

\nThere is no such impossibility of your victory over the harder parts of your
\nnature as you imagine. There is only needed the perseverance to go on till this
\nresistance breaks down and the psychic which is not absent nor unmanifest is
\nable to dominate the others. That has to be done whether you stay here or not
\nand to go is likely only to increase the difficulty and imperil the final
\nresult\u2014it cannot help you. It is here that the struggle however\n<\/p>\n

\nAs for coming back, many who have gone out have come back, others have not\u2014for
\nin going out there is always the danger of entering into a current of forces
\nthat make return impossible. Whatever decision you make should be clear and
\ndeliberate\u2014 otherwise you may go out and as soon as you are there want to come
\nback and after coming here again want to go; that would be inadmissible.\n<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

\n*  *  *  <\/span><\/p>\n

<\/span><\/p>\n

\nIt is well understood that the permission given [to go away from the Ashram]
\ndoes not exclude the possibility of the experiment ending badly. But the
\nexperiment becomes necessary if the pull of the ego or outer being and that of
\nthe soul have become too acute for solution otherwise or if the outer being
\ninsists on having its experience.
\n\n<\/p>\n

\nPage-798<\/p>\n

\n

\n

\nacute has, because of the immediate presence of the Mother, the best chance and
\ncertitude of a solution and successful ending.\n<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

\n*  *  *  <\/span><\/p>\n

<\/span><\/p>\n

\nIt usually happens like that\u2014when one comes out of the world, the forces that
\ngovern the world do all they can to pull you back into their own unquiet
\nmovement.\n<\/p>\n

\nIt is certainly strange. Most people after the atmosphere here cannot tolerate
\nthe ordinary atmosphere. If they go outside, they are restless until they
\nreturn. Even X’s aunt who was here only for a few months writes in the same way.
\nBut probably when people get into the control of a falsehood as Y and Z did,
\nthey are projected into the unregenerated vital nature and no longer feel the
\ndifference of the atmosphere.\n<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

\n*  *  *  <\/span><\/p>\n

<\/span><\/p>\n

\nAll yoga is difficult, because the aim in every yoga is to reach the Divine, to
\nturn entirely towards the Divine and that means to turn away from the ordinary
\nmovements of the nature to something beyond it. But when one aspires with
\nsincerity the strength is given that ends by surmounting the difficulties and
\nreaching the goal.\n<\/p>\n

\nThe Mother was speaking of sadhaks who had entered into the life and atmosphere
\nof the Ashram and felt the touch on the psychic of what is here. It does not
\napply to those who have come here from the outside world but still belong to the
\noutside. All the ties of X’s nature were still with the outside life; her vital
\nwas quite unadapted to the Ashram life and recoiled from the idea of living it
\nalways. She gave her psychic no time to make that connection and absorb that
\ninfluence which would have fixed in it the feeling of this as its true home.
\nPeople can come here like that and stay for a time and go without any difficulty
\nas many have done. The feeling of difficulty or uneasiness in going is on the
\nother hand a sign that the soul has taken root here and finds
\n\n<\/p>\n

\nPage-799<\/p>\n

\n

\n

\nit painful to uproot itself. There are some who are like that and have had to go
\nbut do not feel at ease and are always thinking of how to come back as soon as
\npossible.\n<\/p>\n

\nTo help others without egoism or attachment or leaving the spiritual
\nsurroundings and spiritual life is one thing, to be pulled away by personal
\nattachment or the need of helping others to the outside life is different.\n<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

\n*  *  *  <\/span><\/p>\n

<\/span><\/p>\n

\nThe inability to go [from the Ashram] can come from the psychic which refuses,
\nwhen it comes to the point, to allow the other parts to budge, or it can come
\nfrom the vital which has no longer any pull towards the ordinary life and knows
\nthat it will never be satisfied there. It is usually the higher parti of the
\nvital that act like that. What still is capable of turning outwards is probably
\nthe physical vital in which the old tendencies have not been extinguished.\n<\/p>\n

\nYou ought to be able to see…that the cause of the unrest is in yourself and
\nnot in the outward circumstances. It is your vital attachment to family ties and
\nthe ordinary social ideas and feelings that has risen in you and creates the
\ndifficulty. If you want to practise yoga, you must be able to live in the world,
\nso long as you are there, with a mind set upon the Divine and not bound by the
\nenvironment. One who does this, can help those around him a hundred times more
\nthan one who is bound and attached to the world.\n<\/p>\n

\nIt is not possible for the Mother to tell you to remain, if you are yourself in
\nyour mind and vital eager to go. It is from within yourself that there must come
\nthe clear will on one side or the other.\n<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

\n*  *  *  <\/span><\/p>\n

<\/span><\/p>\n

\nIt is easier to feel the presence in the atmosphere, of the Ashram than outside
\nit. But that is only an initial difficulty which one can overcome by a
\nsteadiness in the call and a constant\n<\/p>\n

\nPage-800<\/p>\n

\n

\n

\nopening of oneself to the influence.\n<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

\n*  *  *  <\/span><\/p>\n

<\/span><\/p>\n

\nThe force is there in the atmosphere, but you must receive it in the right
\nway\u2014in the spirit of self-giving, openness, confidence. All the rest depends on
\nthat.\n<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

\n*  *  *  <\/span><\/p>\n

<\/span><\/p>\n

\nWhat is true is that there is a strong force going out from here and it is
\nnaturally strongest at the centre. But how it affects there, depends on how one
\nreceives it. If it is received with simple trust, faith, openness, confidence,
\nthen it works as a complete protection. But it can so work too at a distance. It
\nis not the house, it is the inner nearness that matters.\n<\/p>\n

\nVI\n<\/p>\n

\nThe best way to prepare oneself for the spiritual life when one has to live in
\nthe ordinary occupations and surroundings is to cultivate an entire equality and
\ndetachment and the samatd <\/i><\/b>of the Gita with the faith that the
\nDivine is there and the Divine Will at work in all things even though at present
\nunder the conditions of a world of Ignorance. Beyond this are the Light and
\nAnanda towards which life is working, but the best way for their advent and
\nfoundation in the individual being and nature is to grow in this spiritual
\nequality. That would also solve your difficulty about things unpleasant and
\ndisagreeable. All unpleasantness should be faced with this spirit of
\nsamatd.<\/i><\/b>\n<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

\n*  *  *  <\/span><\/p>\n

<\/span><\/p>\n

\nWhen one is living in the world, one cannot do as in an Ashram \u2014one has to mix
\nwith others and keep up outwardly at least ordinary relations with others. The
\nimportant thing is to keep the inner consciousness open to the Divine and grow
\nin it. As one does that, more or less rapidly according to the inner intensity
\nof the sadhana, the attitude towards others will change. All will
\n\n<\/p>\n

\nPage-801<\/p>\n

\n

\n

\nSADHANA IN THE ASHRAM AND OUTSIDE<\/b><\/p>\n

\nThe difficulty which you experience from relatives and others is always one that
\nintervenes as an obstacle when one has to practise the sadhana in ordinary or
\nunfavourable surroundings. The only way to escape from it is to be able to live
\nin oneself in one’s inner being\u2014which becomes possible when the responsiveness
\nand luminosity of which you speak in your letter increase and become normal, for
\nthen you are constantly aware of your inner being and even live in it\u2014the outer
\nbecomes an instrument, a means of communication and action in the outer world.
\nIt is then possible to make the relations with people outside free from tie or
\nnecessary reaction\u2014one can determine from within one’s own reaction or absence
\nof reaction: there is a fundamental liberation from the external nexuses\u2014of
\ncourse, if one wills it to be so.\n<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

\n*  *  *  <\/span><\/p>\n

<\/span><\/p>\n

\nThe life ofsamsdra <\/i><\/b>is in its nature a field of unrest\u2014to go
\nthrough it in the right way one has to offer one’s life and actions to the
\nDivine and pray for the peace of the Divine within. When the mind becomes quiet,
\none can feel the Divine Mother supporting the life and put everything into her
\nhands.\n<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

\n*  *  *  <\/span><\/p>\n

<\/span><\/p>\n

\nPeace is never easy to get in the life of the world and never constant, unless
\none lives deep within and bears the external activities as only a surface front
\nof being.\n<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

\n*  *  *  <\/span><\/p>\n

<\/span><\/p>\n

\nIn her condition the one thing by which she can enter into the sadhana is to
\nremember the Divine always, taking her difficulties as ordeals to be passed
\nthrough, to pray constantly and seek the\n<\/p>\n

\nbe seen more and more in the Divine and the feelings, actions, etc. will more
\nand more be determined, not only by the old external reactions, but by the
\ngrowing consciousness within you.
\n\n<\/p>\n

\nPage-802<\/p>\n

\n

\n

\nIt is not possible for the Mother to promise to give help in worldly matters.
\nShe intervenes only in special cases. There are some of course, who by their
\nopenness and their faith get her help in any worldly difficulty or trouble but
\nthat is a different thing. They simply remember and call the Mother and in due
\ntime some result comes.\n<\/p>\n

\nThe tendency you speak of, to leave the family and social life for the spiritual
\nlife, has been traditional in India for the last 2000 years and more\u2014chiefly
\namong men, it touches only a very small number of women. It must be remembered
\nthat Indian social life has subordinated almost entirely the individual to the
\nfamily. Men and women do not marry according to their free will; their marriages
\nare mostly arranged for them while they are still children. Not only so, but the
\nmould of society has been long of an almost iron fixity putting each individual
\nin his place and expecting him to conform to it. You speak of issues and a
\ncourageous solution, but in this life there are no problems and issues and no
\ncall for a solution\u2014a courageous solution is only possible where there is
\nfreedom of the personal will; but where the only solution (if one remains in
\nthis life) is submission to the family will, there can be nothing of that kind.
\nIt is a secure life and can be happy if one accommodates oneself to it and has
\nno unusual aspirations beyond it or is fortunate in one’s environment; but it
\nhas no remedy or escape from for incompatibilities or any kind of individual
\nfrustration; it leaves little room for initiative or free movement or any
\nindividualism. The only outlet for the individual is his inner spiritual or
\nreligious life and the recognised escape is the abandonment of the
\nsarhsdra, <\/i><\/b>the family life, by some kind of Sannyasa. The Sannyasi, the
\nVaishnav vairagi or the Brahmachari are free; they are dead to the family and
\ncan live according to the dictates of the inner spirit; if they enter into an\n<\/p>\n

\nDivine help and protection and ask for the opening of her heart and
\nconsciousness to the supporting Divine Presence.
\n\n<\/p>\n

\nPage-803<\/p>\n

\n

\n

\norder or Ashram, they have to abide by the rules of the order, but that is their
\nown choice. Society recognised this door of escape from itself; religion
\nsanctioned the idea that distaste for the social or worldly life was a
\nlegitimate ground for taking up that of the recluse or religious wanderer. But
\nthis was mainly for men; women except in old times among the Buddhists who had
\ntheir convents and in later times among the Vaishnavas had little chance of such
\nan escape unless a very strong spiritual impulse drove them which would take no
\ndenial. As for the wife and children left behind by the Sannyasi, there was
\nlittle difficulty, for the joint family was there to take up or rather to
\ncontinue their maintenance.\n<\/p>\n

\nAt present what has happened is that the old framework remains, but modern ideas
\nhave brought a condition of inadapta-tion, of unrest, the old family system is
\nbreaking up and women are seeking in more numbers the same freedom of escape as
\nmen have always had in the past. That would account for the cases you have come
\nacross\u2014but I don’t think the number of such cases can be as yet at all
\nconsiderable, it is quite a new phenomenon; the admission of women to Ashrams is
\nitself a novelty. The extreme unhappiness of a mental and vital growth which
\ndoes not fit in with the surroundings, of marriages entered that are unsuitable
\nand where there is no meeting point between husband and wife, of an environment
\nhostile and intolerant of one’s inner life, and on the other hand the innate
\ntendency of the Indian mind to seek a refuge in the spiritual or religious
\nescape will sufficiently account for the new development. If society wants to
\nprevent it, it must itself change. As to individuals, each case must be judged
\non its own merits; there is too much complexity in the problem and too much
\nvariation of nature, position, motives for a general rule.\n<\/p>\n

\nI have spoken of the social problem in general terms only. In the conduct of the
\nAshram, we have had many applications obviously dictated by an unwillingness to
\nface the difficulties and responsibilities of life\u2014naturally ignored or refused
\nby us, but these have been mostly from men; there have been recently only one or
\ntwo cases of women. Otherwise women have not applied usually on the ground of an
\nunhappy marriage or difficult environment. Most of the married sadhikas have
\nfollowed or accom-
\n\n<\/p>\n

\nPage-804<\/p>\n

\n

\n

\n LETTERS ON YOGA<\/b>\n<\/p>\n

\nEND OF TOME ONE<\/b>\n<\/p>\n

\nparried their husbands on the ground of having already begun to practise yoga;
\nothers have come fulfilling sufficiently the responsibilities of married life;
\nin two or three cases there has been a separation from the husband but that was
\nbefore their coming here. In some cases there have been no children, in others
\nthe children have been left with the family. These cases do not really fall in
\nthe category of those you mention. Some of the sadhaks have left wife and family\n<\/p>\n

\nbut I do not think in any case the difficulties of life were the motive of their
\ndeparture. It was rather the idea that they had felt the call and must leave all
\nto follow it.\n<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

\nPage-805<\/p>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/table>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

  Section Nine SADHANA IN THE ASHRAM AND OUTSIDE SADHANA IN THE ASHRAM AND OUTSIDE I This Ashram has been created with another object than…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[102],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3801","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-on-yoga-2-letters-on-yoga-tome-one","wpcat-102-id"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/worksofthemotherandsriaurobindo.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3801","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/worksofthemotherandsriaurobindo.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/worksofthemotherandsriaurobindo.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/worksofthemotherandsriaurobindo.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/worksofthemotherandsriaurobindo.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3801"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/worksofthemotherandsriaurobindo.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3801\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/worksofthemotherandsriaurobindo.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3801"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/worksofthemotherandsriaurobindo.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3801"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/worksofthemotherandsriaurobindo.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3801"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}