{"id":527,"date":"2013-07-13T01:28:38","date_gmt":"2013-07-13T01:28:38","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/localhost\/?p=527"},"modified":"2013-07-13T01:28:38","modified_gmt":"2013-07-13T01:28:38","slug":"30-helpers-on-the-way-vol-26-on-himself-volume-26","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/worksofthemotherandsriaurobindo.org\/index.php\/01-works-of-sri-aurobindo\/01-sabcl\/26-on-himself-volume-26\/30-helpers-on-the-way-vol-26-on-himself-volume-26","title":{"rendered":"-30_Helpers on the Way.htm"},"content":{"rendered":"\n\n
\n
\n

\nSection Four<\/b><\/font><\/span><\/p>\n


\nHELPERS ON THE WAY <\/font><\/b><\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n
\n   REASON FOR FORMING THE ASHRAM<\/span><\/b><\/font><\/span><\/p>\n


\nT<\/b>here
\nwas no Ashram at first, only a few people came to live near Sri Aurobindo and practise Yoga. It was only some time after the Mother came from Japan that it
\ntook the form of the Ashram, more from the wish of the Sadhaks who desired to
\nentrust their whole inner and outer life to the Mother than from any intention
\nor plan of hers or of Sri Aurobindo.<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\nThe
\nfacts are: In the meantime, the Mother, after a long stay in France and Japan,
\nreturned to Pondicherry on the 24th April, 1920. The number of disciples then
\nshowed a tendency to increase rather rapidly. When the Ashram began to
\ndevelop, it fell to the Mother (to organise it; Sri Aurobindo soon retired into
\nseclusion and the whole material and spiritual charge of it devolved on her.<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n


\nQ:<\/b> On what date in 1926 did Mother take up
\nthe full charge of the Ashram?<\/span><\/i><\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\nA:<\/b>
\nMother does not at all remember the correct date. It may have been a few days
\nafter 15th August. She took up the work completely when I retired.<\/span><\/p>\n

16-5-1936<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n


\nTHE ASHRAM
\nPRECINCTS<\/font><\/span><\/b><\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\nWhat
\nare the Ashram precincts? Every house in which the Sadhaks of the Ashram live
\nis in the Ashram precincts. People have a queer way of talking of the houses in
\nthis compound as<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

<\/p>\n

Page \u2013 479<\/span><\/font><\/p>\n

\n
\n

\nthe Ashram\u2014it has no meaning. Or do they
\nthink that the Mother’s influence or mine is shut up in a compound?<\/span><\/p>\n

January, 1935<\/span><\/p>\n


\nTWO ATMOSPHERES IN
\nTHE ASHRAM<\/font><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\nThere
\nare two atmospheres in the Ashram, ours and that of the Sadhaks. When people
\nwith a little perceptiveness come from outside, they are struck by the deep
\ncalm and peace in the atmosphere and it is only when they mix much with the Sadhaks that this perception and influence fade away. The other atmosphere of
\ndullness and unrest is created by the Sadhaks themselves \u2014 if they were open to
\nthe Mother as they should be, they would live in the calm and peace and not in
\nunrest and dullness.<\/span><\/p>\n

15-3-1937<\/span><\/p>\n


\nTHE ASHRAM EXTENSION<\/font><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Q:<\/span><\/i><\/b> If the Ashram expands very
\nmuch and there are no houses available in the Pondicherry city, naturally the
\nextension would be somewhere in the villages nearby?<\/span><\/i><\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\nA:<\/font><\/span><\/b> There was some idea of that years ago, but circumstances
\ntook another turn and it did not materialise.<\/font><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

14-4-1935<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n


\nNO EAGERNESS TO GET
\nDISCIPLES<\/span><\/font><\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\nYour
\nimage of the Fishery is quite out of place. I fish for no one; people are not
\nhauled or called here, they come of themselves by the psychic instinct.
\nEspecially I don’t fish for big and famous or successful men. Such fellows may
\nbe mentally or vitally big, but they are usually quite contented with that kind
\nof bigness and do not want spiritual things, or, if they do, their bigness
\nstands in their way rather than helps them. The fishing for them<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n<\/p>\n

Page \u2013 480<\/span><\/font><\/p>\n

\n
\n

\nis
\nX’s idea \u2014 he wanted to catch hold of A, B, now <\/b> C,<\/b> etc., etc., but they
\nwould have been exceedingly troublesome Sadhaks if they ever really dreamed of
\nanything of the kind. All these are ordinary ignorant ideas; the Spirit cares
\nnot a damn for fame, success or bigness in those who come to it. People have a
\nstrange idea that Mother and myself are eager to get people as disciples and if
\nanyone goes away, it is a great blow, a terrible defeat, a dreadful catastrophe
\nand cataclysm for us. Many even think that their being here is a great favour
\ndone to us for which we are not sufficiently grateful. All that is rubbish.<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n


\nTHE ASHRAM’S
\n"PRESTIGE"<\/font><\/span><\/b><\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\nIf
\nthe praise and blame of ignorant people is to be our standard, then we may say
\ngood-bye to the spiritual cause. If the Mother and I had cared for praise or
\nblame we would have been crushed long ago. It is only recently that the Ashram
\nhas got "prestige" \u2014 before it was the target for an almost universal
\ncriticism, not to speak of the filthiest attacks.<\/span><\/p>\n


\nTRUTH OF SPIRITUAL MOTHERHOOD\u2014FALSEHOOD OF ALL<\/font><\/span><\/b><\/p>\n


\n RELIGIOUS
\nFANATICISM<\/font><\/span><\/b><\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\nIf
\nyou want the plain and simple truth, the plain truth is this that you have entered
\ninto a complete falsehood and have put yourself into the hands of a hostile
\nInfluence that lives by confusion and ignorance. You began by setting your own
\nimperfect thinking power against a superior Truth and Knowledge. And by false
\nand fantastic reasonings you have so clouded your mind that it has become
\nentirely muddled and confused and incapable of understanding the plainest
\ndistinctions or discriminating between falsehood and Truth. This is evident in
\nall you are saying and doing; it is not Truth and religion, but the false and
\ninadequate ideas of your own confused, and weakened mind that you are trying to
\nforce upon others.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n<\/p>\n

Page \u2013 481<\/span><\/font><\/p>\n

\n
\n

The
\nletter you wrote to me shows a surprising inability to understand the plainest
\ndistinctions and the simplest truths. The one who was an instrument for giving
\nbirth to the physical body of X,<\/b> was no doubt in her lifetime his
\nmaterial mother. But the relation which exists between the Mother here and X
\n(and between the Mother and all who accept her), is a psychic and spiritual
\nmotherhood. It is a far greater relation than that of the physical mother to
\nher child; it gives all that human motherhood can give, but in a much higher
\nway, and it contains in itself infinitely more. It can therefore, because it
\nis greater and more complete, take altogether the room of the physical relation
\nand replace it both in the inward and the outward life. There is nothing here
\nthat can confuse anyone who has common sense and a straightforward
\nintelligence. The physical fact cannot in the least stand in the way of the
\ngreater psychic and spiritual truth or prevent it from being true. X is
\nperfectly right when he says that this is his true mother; for she has given
\nhim a new birth in an inner life and is creating him anew for a diviner
\nexistence.<\/span><\/p>\n

The idea of a spiritual
\nmotherhood is not an invention of this Ashram; it is an eternal truth which has
\nbeen recognised for ages past both in Europe and in Asia. The distinction I
\nhave drawn between the physical relation and the psychic and spiritual
\nrelation, is also not a new invention; it is an idea known and understood
\neverywhere and found to be perfectly plain and simple by all. It is the present
\nconfused state of your mind which prevents you from understanding what men have
\nfound natural and intelligible everywhere.<\/span><\/p>\n

As for X and Y,<\/b>
\nyou have no claim over them and no right to control their thoughts and actions.
\nX is of an age to choose and decide; he can think and act for himself and has
\nno need of you to think and act for him. You are not his guardian, nor Y’s; you
\nare not even the head of the family. On what ground do you claim to decide
\nwhere he shall go or where he shall stay ? Your pretension to have the
\nresponsibility for him or her before God is an arrogant and grotesque
\nabsurdity. Each one is responsible for himself before God unless he freely
\nchooses to place the responsibility upon another in whom he trusts. No one has
\nthe right to impose himself on others as a religious or spiritual guide<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n<\/p>\n

Page \u2013 482<\/span><\/font><\/p>\n

\n
\n

\n"against
\ntheir free will. You have no claim at all to dictate to X or Y either in their
\ninner or their outer life. It is again the con\u00adfusion and incoherence of your
\nmind in its present state that prevents you from recognising these plain and
\nsimple facts.<\/span><\/p>\n

Again, you say that you ask only for the
\nTruth and yet you speak like a narrow and ignorant fanatic who refuses to
\nbelieve in anything but the religion in which he was born. All fanaticism is
\nfalse, because it is a contradiction of the very nature of God and of Truth.
\nTruth cannot be shut up in a single book, Bible or Veda or Koran, or in a single
\nreligion. The Divine Being is eternal and universal and infinite and cannot be
\nthe sole property of the Mussulmans or of the Semitic religions only, \u2014 those
\nthat happened to be in a line from the Bible and to have Jewish or Arabian
\nprophets for their founders. Hindus and Confucians and Taoists and all others
\nhave as much right to enter into relation with God and find the Truth in their
\nown way. All religions have some truth in them, but none has the whole truth;
\nall are created in time and finally decline and perish. Mahomed himself never
\npretended that the Koran was the last message of God and there would be no
\nother. God and Truth outlast these religions and manifest themselves anew in
\nwhatever way or form the Divine Wisdom chooses. You cannot shut up God in the
\nlimitations of your own narrow brain or dictate to the Divine Power and
\nConsciousness how or where or through whom it shall manifest; you cannot put up
\nyour puny barriers against the divine Omnipotence. These again are simple
\ntruths which are now being recognised all over the world; only the childish in
\nmind or those who vegetate in some formula of the past deny them.<\/span><\/p>\n

You have insisted on my writing and asked
\nfor the Truth and I have answered. But if you want to be a Mussulman, no one
\nprevents you. If the Truth I, bring is too great for you to understand or to
\nbear, you are free to go and live in a half-truth or in your own ignorance. I
\nam not here to convert anyone; I do not preach to the world to come to me and I
\ncall no one. I am here to establish the divine life and the divine
\nconsciousness in those who of themselves feel the call to come to me and cleave
\nto it and in no others. I am not asking you and the Mother is<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n<\/p>\n

Page \u2013 483<\/span><\/font><\/p>\n

\n
\n

\nnot
\nasking you to accept us. You can go any day and live either the worldly life or
\na religious life according to your own preference. But as you are free, so
\nalso are others free to stay here and follow their own way. You are not
\nentitled to try to make yourself a centre of disturbance and an obstacle to
\ntheir peace and their spiritual progress.<\/span><\/p>\n

In answering you I am answering the ideas
\nwhich have been put in you by the Power of darkness and ignorance that is just
\nnow using you for its own purpose. This Power is very obviously not the divine
\nPower. It is a Power of Falsehood" that is making you do and say
\nextravagant things which are not Islamic but a caricature of Islamic faith and
\naction; its intention is to make not only Islam but all spirituality and
\nreligion ridiculous through you. It hopes to disturb the divine work upon
\nearth, even if it can only do it a little. It is trying to spoil your brain and
\ndestroy your intelligence, to make you say and do foolish and extravagant
\nthings and turn you into an object of sorrow and pity for your friends and
\nwell-wishers and a laughing-stock to others. If you have any respect for
\nyourself or for God or religion, if you truly hope for the Truth and Light, if
\nyou wish for the awakening and the salvation of your soul, you must stop
\nspeaking and doing these extravagant things and you must throw away the
\nInfluence that is now driving you.<\/span><\/p>\n

23-10-1929<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n


\nLAW OF DEALING
\nWITH SADHAKS<\/font><\/span><\/b><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

The
\nMother and myself deal with all according to the law of the Divine. We receive
\nalike rich and poor, those who are high\u00adborn or low-born according to human standards,
\nand extend to them an equal love and protection. Their progress in Sadhana is
\nour main concern \u2014 for they have come here for that, not to satisfy their
\npalates or their bellies, not to make ordinary vital demands or to quarrel
\nabout position or place or comforts. That progress depends on how they answer
\nto the Mother’s love or protection \u2014 whether they receive the forces she pours
\non all alike, whether they use or misuse what she gives them. But the,<\/span><\/p>\n

\n<\/p>\n

Page \u2013 484<\/span><\/font><\/p>\n

\n

\nMother has no
\nintention or obligation to deal with all outwardly in the same way \u2014 the demand
\nthat she should do so is absurd and imbecile \u2014 and if she did it, she would
\nprove false to the truth of things and the law of the Divine. Each Sadhak has
\nto be dealt with according to his nature, his capacities, his real needs (not
\nhis claims or desires) and according to what is best for his spiritual welfare.
\nAs to how it is to be done, we refuse to be dictated to by the ignorance of
\nthose of the Sadhaks who consider that the Mother must act according to their
\nstandards or their ideas of equality or justice or the demands of their vital
\nor the notions they have brought with them from the outside world. We act according
\nto the Light within us and for the Truth that we are striving to establish in
\nthis earthly Nature.<\/span><\/p>\n

11-12-1933 <\/font><\/span><\/p>\n

\nEach one has his
\nown way of doing Sadhana and his own approach to the Divine -and need not
\ntrouble himself about how the others do it; their success or unsuccess, their
\ndifficulties, their delusions, their egoism and vanity are in her care; she has
\nan infinite patience, but that does not mean that she approves of their
\ndefects or supports them in all they say or do. The Mother takes no sides in
\nany quarrel or antagonism or dispute, but her silence does not mean that she
\napproves what they may say or do when it is improper. The Ashram or the
\nspiritual life is not a stage in which some are to be prominent or take a
\nleading part or a field of competition in which one has a claim or can rightly
\nconsider himself superior to others. These things are the inventions of the
\nordinary human attitude to the world and the tendency is to carry it over into
\nthe life of Sadhana, but that is not the spiritual truth of things. The Mother
\ntolerates all; she does not forbid any criticism of the Sadhaks by each other
\nnor does she give these criticisms any value. It is only when the Sadhaks see
\nthe futility of all these things from the spiritual level that there can be any
\nhope that they will cease.<\/span><\/p>\n

In all these things there is nothing that
\nought to drive a man from the spiritual life or make him go away from his Guru.
\nIt seems to me that it is only the Guru who can decide whether one<\/span><\/p>\n

\n<\/p>\n

Page \u2013 485<\/span><\/font><\/p>\n

\n

\nis fit or not; to accept the adverse
\nopinion of someone else on that point seems to me absurd and to act on it an
\noffence against one’s own soul; to judge oneself unfit and act on that is most
\nperilous, for this judgment may be merely a fit of depression or a vital
\ndisturbance raising the self-depreciation of the tamasic ego. If I did not see
\nthat you could progress in the Sadhana or had not seen any progress, I would
\nnot have persistently asked you to continue nor would I be now writing to you
\nletter after letter (I write to no one else) to meet your difficulties.<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

P.S.
\n<\/b>As for your
\nother b\u00eate noire,<\/i> for the dislike of whom you want to leave the Ashram,
\ndo you think the Mother is so dull, unseeing as to take people and their
\nSadhana at their own valuation? that she cannot see their defects as well as
\nwhatever merits they have ? that she is ignorant of the movements of their
\nlower nature? or that they can dupe and influence and lead her?<\/span><\/p>\n

\nCHILDISH ABHIMAN<\/font><\/span><\/b><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\nIt is very silly
\nand childish to have abhimāna;<\/i> for it means that you expect
\neveryone including the Mother and myself to act always according to your ideas
\nand do what you want us to do and never do anything which will not please you!
\nIt is for the Mother to do whatever she finds to be right or necessary; you
\nmust understand that; otherwise you will always be making yourself miserable
\nfor nothing.<\/span><\/p>\n

\n28-4-1932<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

\nTHE INITIAL DEMAND<\/font><\/span><\/b><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\nWhat you say about
\nthose whom we receive \u2014 that if one part of them sincerely desires the Divine
\nwe give them their chance \u2014 is quite true. If we demanded more at the
\nbeginning, exceedingly few would be able even to commence this journey towards
\nthe Divine.<\/span><\/p>\n

\n24-4-1935<\/span><\/font><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n<\/p>\n

Page \u2013 486<\/span><\/font><\/p>\n

\n
\n

OVERWHELMING
\nCOMPASSION<\/b><\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n


\n
\nQ: <\/b>I am
\noverwhelmed at the patience and compassion with which you put up with our
\ninsincerities, disobediences and loosenesses.<\/span><\/i><\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\nA:<\/b> Human nature
\nis like that in its very grain; so if we are not patient, there would be little
\nhope of its changing. But there is something else in the human being which is
\nsincere and can be a force for the change. The difficulty in people like X is
\nto get at that something (it is so covered up) and get it to act.<\/span><\/p>\n

\n8-7-1934<\/span><\/font><\/p>\n

\nSOLE DUTY TO SADHAKS<\/font><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\nIt is no question
\nof fault or punishment \u2014 if we have to condemn and punish people for their
\nfaults and deal with the Sadhaks like a tribunal of justice, no Sadhana could
\nbe possible. I do not see how your reproach against us is justifiable. Our sole
\nduty to the Sadhaks is to take them towards their spiritual realisation \u2014 we
\ncannot behave like the head of a family intervening in domestic quarrels,
\nsupporting one, putting our weight against the other! However often X may
\nstumble, we have to take him by the hand, lift him up again and get him to move
\nonce more towards the Divine. We have always done the same with you.<\/span><\/p>\n

29-3-1933<\/span><\/p>\n

\nTHE REAL NEED<\/font><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

The psychic being
\nis more than a spark at this stage of its evolution. It is a flame. Even if
\nthe flame is covered by mist or smoke, the mist or smoke can be dissipated. To
\ndo that and to open to the higher consciousness is what is wanted, not to
\nbecome a Sri Aurobindo or equal to the Mother. But if we are the Divine, what
\nis the harm of evolving into a portion of the Divine, living<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n<\/p>\n

Page \u2013 487<\/span><\/font><\/p>\n

\n
\n

\nin the divine Consciousness even if in a lesser degree?<\/span><\/p>\n

10-2-1935<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

\nCOMPARISON WITH SADHAKS<\/font><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\nI did not mean anyone
\nhere could replace or equal myself and the Mother…but certainly it is
\npossible for X,<\/b> Y and Z to change, to throw off their present
\npersonalities or limitations and come nearer to us than they are now \u2014 if they
\nhave the sincere will and make the endeavour.<\/span><\/p>\n

10-8-1935 <\/span><\/p>\n

\nEven the Overmind is for all but the Mother and myself either
\nunrealised or only an influence, mostly subjective.<\/span><\/p>\n

24-3-1934<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

\nWORK FOR SADHAKS AND WORK FOR THE MOTHER<\/font><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Is it beneath your dignity to do work for
\nthe Sadhaks? It is an entirely egoistic attitude and improper for a Sadhak. All
\nthe people in the D.R.1<\/sup>, in the Building Service, in the Stores, in
\nthe carpentry department, in the Atelier and Smithy, are all the time doing
\nwork for the Sadhaks, the Mother herself is doing work for the Sadhaks all day;
\nin writing this answer I am spending my time doing work for a Sadhak. Would you
\nthink it proper for the D.R. and Kitchen workers to say, "We are not going
\nto cook for Sadhaks or serve them; it is beneath our dignity. We will consent
\nonly to cook food for the Mother alone." Do you want me to stop writing
\nanswers to your letter on the ground that I am doing work for a Sadhak and I
\nwill write only letters to the Mother and nobody else?<\/span><\/p>\n

What was X doing in the kitchen so many
\nyears if not preparing the food of the Sadhaks? And what was Y doing in the
\ngranary if not work for the Sadhaks? All these ideas are perfectly idiotic. All
\nwork given by the Mother is work for the Mother.<\/span><\/p>\n

November,
\n1938 <\/span><\/p>\n

\n\u00b9<\/span><\/font>The Dining Room.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n<\/p>\n

Page \u2013 488<\/span><\/font><\/p>\n

\n
\n

\nSOME RELIEF FROM ENORMOUS WORK<\/font><\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

The books and
\nletters are not going to be discontinued \u2014 but I shall have to take one day off
\nin the week (Sunday). The volume of the correspondence is becoming enormous and
\nit takes me all the night and a good part of the day \u2014 apart from the work done
\nseparately by the Mother who has also to work the greater part of the night in
\naddition to her day’s work. It is this that makes the Pranam later and later,
\nfor we do not finish till 7.30 or after. Also much work falls in arrears and
\npiles up and many things that have their importance have had to be discontinued.
\nSome relief is necessary.<\/span><\/p>\n

19-12-1933<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

\nA GREAT LONGING<\/font><\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

I feel a great
\nlonging that the Sadhaks should be free of all these strifes and doubts; for so
\nlong as the present state of things continues with fires of this kind raging
\nall around and the atmosphere in a turmoil, the work I am trying to do
\n(certainly not for my own sake or for any personal reason) will always remain
\nunder the stroke of jeopardy and I do not know how the descent I am labouring
\nfor is to fulfil itself. In fact, the Mother and I have to give nine-tenths of
\nour energy to smoothing down things, to keeping the Sadhaks tolerably contented
\netc. etc. etc. One-tenth and in the Mother’s case not even that can go to the
\nreal work; it is
\nnot enough.<\/span><\/p>\n

September, 1934<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

\nNO PREVISING<\/font><\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\nQ: <\/b>I<\/span><\/font> thought that
\nit is not possible to have spiritual experiences, especially major ones,
\nwithout your pre\u00adviously having knowledge about it.<\/font><\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\nA:<\/b> Previously? My
\nGod, we would have to spend all our time<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n<\/p>\n

Page \u2013 489<\/span><\/font><\/p>\n

\n
\n

prevising the Sadhaks’ experiences. <\/b>
\nDo
\nyou think Mother has nothing else to do? As for myself, I never previse
\nanything, I only vise and revise.<\/span><\/p>\n

18-10-1936<\/font><\/span><\/p>\n

\nRECEIVING HELP THROUGH WRITING<\/font><\/span><\/b><\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n


\nQ:<\/span><\/i><\/b> You and the Mother are supposed to know what is going on in us, how
\nand what we are aspiring for, how our nature is reacting to help and guidance.
\nWhat is then the necessity of writing to you all that?<\/span><\/i><\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\nA:<\/b> It is
\nnecessary for you to be conscious and to put your self-observation before us;
\nit is on that that we can act. A mere action on our observation without any
\ncorresponding consciousness in that part of the Sadhak would lead to nothing.<\/span><\/p>\n

7-1-1936<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

\nIt is an
\nundoubted fact proved by hundreds of instances that for many the exact
\nstatement of their difficulties to us is the best and often, though not always,
\nan immediate, even an instantaneous means of release. This has often been seen
\nby Sadhaks not only here, but far away, and not only for inner difficulties,
\nbut for illness and outer pressure of unfavourable circumstances. But for that
\na certain attitude is necessary \u2014 either a strong faith in the mind and vital
\nor a habit of reception and response in the inner being. Where this habit has
\nbeen established, I have seen it to be almost unfailingly effective, even when
\nthe faith was uncertain or the outer expression in the mind vague, ignorant or
\nin its form mistaken or inaccurate. Moreover, this method succeeds most when
\nthe writer can write as a witness of his own movements and state them with an
\nexact and almost impartial precision, as a phenomenon of his nature or the
\nmovement of a force affecting him from which he seeks release. On the other
\nhand, if in writing his vital gets seized by the thing he is writing of and
\ntakes up the pen for him, \u2014 expressing and often supporting doubt, revolt,<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n<\/p>\n

Page \u2013 490<\/span><\/font><\/p>\n

\n
\n

\ndepression, despair, it becomes a very different
\nmatter. Even here sometimes the expression acts as a purge; but also the statement
\nof the condition may lend energy to the attack, at least for the moment, and
\nmay seem to enhance and prolong it, exhausting it by its own violence perhaps
\nfor the time and so bringing in the end a relief, but at a heavy cost of
\nupheaval and turmoil \u2014 and the risk of the recurring decimal movement,
\nbecause the release has come by temporary exhaustion of the attacking force,
\nnot by rejection and purification through the intervention of the Divine Force
\nwith the unquestioning assent and support of the Sadhak. There has been a
\nconfused fight, an intervention in a hurly-burly, not a clear alignment of
\nforces \u2014 and the intervention of the helping force is not felt in the
\nconfusion and the whirl. This is what used to happen in your crises; the vital
\nin you was deeply affected and began supporting and expressing the reasonings
\nof the attacking force, \u2014 in place of a clear observation and expression of the
\ndifficulty by the vigilant mind laying the state of things in the light for the
\nhigher Light and Force to act upon it, there was a vehement statement of the
\ncase for the Opposition. Many Sadhaks (even "advanced") had made a
\nhabit of this kind of expression of their difficulties and some still do it;
\nthey cannot even yet understand that it is not the way. At one time it was a
\nsort of gospel in the Ashram that this was the thing to be done, \u2014 I don’t know on what ground, for it was
\nnever part of my teaching about the Yoga, \u2014 but experience has shown that it
\ndoes not work; it lands one in the recurring decimal notation, an unending
\nround of struggle. It is quite different from the movement of self-opening that
\nsucceeds, (here too not necessarily in a moment, but still sensibly and
\nprogressively) and of which those are thinking who insist on everything being
\nopened to the Guru so that the help may be more effectively there.<\/span><\/p>\n

17-12-1932<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

\nDIRECT COMMUNICATION<\/font><\/span><\/b><\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n


\nQ:<\/span><\/i><\/b> X asked me if it would be possible to have direct communication
\nwith you and dispense with writing letters<\/span><\/i><\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n<\/p>\n

Page \u2013 491<\/span><\/font><\/p>\n

\n
\n


\nto get your guidance. I replied that it
\nwould not be possible unless one has developed the power of telepathy and
\nreceives replies inwardly. But even then there would be the possibility of
\nobscuration and distortion in reception unless there is complete psychicisation
\nof consciousness. Even with complete psychicisation it would not be possible to
\nknow all from within, e.g. about the experiences of higher stages like Overmind
\nand Supermind, because the psychic has no instrumentality to know about them.
\nCommunication through letters would, therefore, still be necessary. But
\nperhaps a person in complete rapport with Mother might be able to dispense with
\nthe need of communicating through letters. But is even a person who has
\nrealised the Overmind capable of such complete rapport?<\/font><\/span><\/i><\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\nA:<\/font><\/b> I think it would need the
\nSupermind itself to establish such a complete rapport. The psychic can do much
\nin that direction on condition it has a complete control. Overmind and
\nIntuition could do it on their own plane, but here they have to descend into
\nthe physical consciousness and that interferes with its immense obscurity in
\naddition to the distortions of mind and vital.<\/font><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

\n27-5-1934<\/font><\/span><\/p>\n

\nATTRIBUTION OF WRONG MOTIVES<\/font><\/span><\/b><\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\nYou attribute too
\nmany motives \u2014 e.g. that the Mother tries to allure the vital by indulging it
\nin the beginning. She has no such intention. She behaves naturally and simply
\nwith the being\u2014 whatever change there is is in the vital’s impressions about
\nher action rather than in the action itself \u2014 except in so far as there is a
\nchange necessitated by the change in the consciousness. Formerly you were
\nwriting from the higher mind mostly, but partly from the vital \u2014 the vital was
\noften dissatisfied with my answers, so I ceased answering to it and wrote only
\nwhat would help your higher mind and psychic. Now it is from the physical mind
\nand vital that you often write and so my answers must be to them and they feel
\nthey are not given the answers they want<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n<\/p>\n

Page \u2013 492<\/span><\/font><\/p>\n

\n
\n

or in
\nthe tone of indulgence they would like. But to satisfy and indulge them would
\nnot be helpful to your Sadhana.<\/span><\/p>\n

9-12-1935<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

\n
\nMISINTERPRETATIONS
\nAND WRONG CONCLUSIONS<\/font><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\nI have always
\ntold you that you should not take what any Sadhak says or thinks as
\nauthoritative or coming from the Mother. Even when they say it is coming from
\nme or her it cannot be accepted, for it is often an idea in their own minds
\nthat they think<\/i> to be ours also or a misunderstanding of what we have
\nsaid in a particular connection but which their minds apply to something with
\nwhich it was not connected or to all things in general. No Sadhak whoever he
\nmay be can stand for us in our place or speak for us. Each must be taken as
\nspeaking on his own account his own thought or feeling.<\/span><\/p>\n

3-6-1937<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

\nPeople often catch
\nhold of something written by me or said by the Mother, give it an
\ninterpretation quite other than or far be\u00adyond its true meaning and deduce from
\nit a suddenly extreme and logical<\/i> conclusion which is quite contrary to
\nour knowledge and experience. It is natural, I suppose, and part of the game of
\nthe hostile forces; it is so much easier to come to vehement logical
\nconclusions than to look at the Truth which is many-sided and whole.<\/span><\/p>\n

May, 1933<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

\nTWO<\/font><\/span><\/b> ELEMENTS IN SPIRITUAL SUCCESS<\/font><\/b><\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

The help (I am
\nnot speaking of a divine intervention from above but of my help and the
\nMother’s) will be there. It can be effective in spite of your physical mind,
\nbut it will be more effective if the steady working will of which I speak is
\nthere as its instrument. There are always two elements in spiritual success \u2014
\none’s<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n
\nPage \u2013 493<\/span><\/font><\/p>\n

\n
\n

own
\nsteady will and endeavour and the Power that in one way or another helps and
\ngives the result of the endeavour.<\/span><\/p>\n

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

\nRELIANCE IN PROTECTION<\/font><\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

You have to
\ndevelop the power and the habit of taking refuge in the protection of the
\nMother and myself. It is for this reason that the habit of criticising and
\njudging by the outer mind or cherishing its preconceived ideas and formations
\nmust disappear. You should repeat always to yourself when it tries to rise,
\n"Sri Aurobindo and the Mother know better than myself\u2014 they have the
\nexperience and knowledge which I have not\u2014they must surely be acting for the
\nbest and in a greater light than that of ordinary human knowledge." If you
\ncan fix that idea in yourself so that it will remain even in clouded moments
\nyou will be able to face much more easily the suggestions of the Asuric Maya.<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\nThe Mother and I
\nwill do all to get rid of the cloud which the physical mind presents against
\nthe permanent consciousness of your soul’s connection with the Mother, \u2014 but
\nlet your thinking mind be firm in its will to be rid of it and to call the aid
\nof our Force.<\/span><\/p>\n


\n6-2-1936<\/font><\/span><\/p>\n

\nTHE<\/font><\/span><\/b> INNER PRESENCE<\/font><\/b><\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\nBe cheerful and
\nconfident. Doubt and desire & Co. are there, no doubt, but the Divine is
\nthere also inside you. Open your eyes and look and look till the veil is rent
\nand you see Him or Her!<\/span><\/p>\n

30-12-1933 <\/span><\/p>\n

\nNo \u2014 we do not
\nput our picture inside anybody when we give<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n<\/p>\n

Page \u2013 494<\/span><\/font><\/p>\n

\n
\n

\nthe
\nfirst blessing. But if you go on looking inside, you will one day find the
\nMother there.<\/span><\/p>\n

 \n<\/p>\n

\nPRESSURE TO LIBERATE<\/font><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\nWe are sorry that
\nyou have suffered so much. It was not to hurt you that the Mother put the
\npressure, but to liberate. It has always been with a deep affection and
\nsympathy with you in your struggles that she has tried to help you. I trust you
\nwill recover soon your ease of mind and peace. I will try to give you all the
\nhelp possible.<\/span><\/p>\n

23-1-1935<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

\nPERSONAL CONTACT AND RECEPTIVITY TO FORCE<\/font><\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

It is not
\npossible to accept the suggestion about joining with those who are in personal
\nattendance upon me. They were not admitted as a help to their Sadhana but for
\npractical reasons. In fact, here also there is some misconception. Continual
\npersonal contact does not necessarily bring out the action of the Force. Hriday
\nhad that personal contact with Sri Ramakrishna and the opportunity of personal
\nservice to him, but he received nothing except on one occasion and then he
\ncould not contain the force and the realisation which the Master had put into
\nhim. The feeling of losing himself which X had was on the special occasions of
\nthe Darshan and the Pranam to the Mother. That he had this response shows that
\nhe can answer to the Force, that he has the receptivity, as we say, and that is
\na great thing, for all do not have it and those who have it are not always
\nconscious of its cause but only of its result. But he should reason less and
\nrather try to keep himself open as he was in those moments. If I have written
\nabout Force, it is because both the Mother and myself have had many thousand
\nexperiences in which it acted and produced results of every kind. This idea of
\nthe Force has nothing to do with theory or reasoning but is felt constantly by
\nevery Yogi; it is part of his<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n<\/p>\n

Page \u2013 495<\/span><\/font><\/p>\n

\n
\n

normal Yogic consciousness and his
\nconstant spiritual activity. <\/span><\/p>\n

\n18-5-1945<\/font><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

\nQ:<\/b> Is it not likely that more outward nearness and familiarity with you
\nor the Mother may mean less aspiration and less inner growth?<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\nA:<\/b> It depends on the person. Some profit, some do not. No general
\nstatement can be made.<\/span><\/p>\n

18-8-1933<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

\nUNCONSCIOUS RECEPTION OF FORCE<\/font><\/span><\/b><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

It is not true
\nthat you have never received Force from us: you have received it to any extent;
\nit can only be said that you were not conscious of it, but that happens with
\nmany. Certainly none of the Sadhaks receives or uses all the Force that the
\nMother sends, but that is a general fact and not peculiar to you.<\/span><\/p>\n

29-5-1936<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

\nQ:<\/span><\/i><\/b> X seems to think that the
\nMother is harder than you.<\/span><\/i><\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n


\nA:<\/span><\/b> That is because the Mother’s pressure for change is always strong \u2014
\neven when she does not put it as force, it is there by the very nature of the
\nDivine Energy in her.<\/span><\/p>\n


\n11-3-1937<\/font><\/span><\/p>\n

\nACTION OF FORCE ON THE SUBTLE BODY<\/font><\/span><\/b><\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\nAs to the dream,
\nit was not a dream but an experience of the inner being in a conscious dream
\nstate, svapna-samādhi.<\/i> The numbness and the feeling of being about
\nto lose consciousness are always due to the pressure or descent of a Force to
\nwhich the<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n<\/p>\n

Page \u2013 496<\/span><\/font><\/p>\n

\n
\n

body is not accustomed, but feels strongly.
\nHere it was not the physical body that was being directly pressed, but the
\nsubtle body, sūksma śarīra,<\/i> in which the inner being more intimately
\ndwells and in which it goes out in sleep or trance or in the moment of death.
\nBut the physical body in these vivid experiences feels as if it was itself that
\nwas having the experience; the numbness was the effect in it of the pressure.
\nThe pressure on the whole body would mean a pressure on the whole inner
\nconsciousness, perhaps for some modification or change which would make it more
\nready for knowledge or experience; the third or fourth rib would indicate a
\nregion which belongs to the vital nature, the domain of the life-force, some
\npressure for a change there.<\/span><\/p>\n

The strength of
\nthe hand, the weight would not necessarily indicate that it was mine \u2014 for it
\nwas an experience not of the physical hand or in the physical body, but in the
\nsubtle realms of the being and there the Mother’s touch and pressure might well
\nbe stronger and heavier than mine. The Mother does not remember the date, but
\none night about that period she was thinking strongly about her and putting a
\npressure for the removal of some obstacle to a spiritual opening. It is
\npossible that this was what produced the experience. If it was myself, it must
\nhave been at a time when I was concentrating and sending the force to different
\npeople, but I remember nothing precise. I have often thought of her of course and
\nsent a force to help her.<\/span><\/p>\n

It is not necessary for us always to be
\nphysically conscious of the action, for it is often carried out when the mind
\nis occupied with outward things or when we sleep. The Mother’s sleep is not
\nsleep but an inner consciousness in which she is in connection with people or
\nworking everywhere. At the time she is aware, but she does not carry all that
\nalways into her waking consciousness or in her memory. A call would come in
\nthe occupied waking mind as the thought of the person coming \u2014 in a more free
\nor in a concentrated state as a communication from the person in question; in a
\ndeeper concentration or in sleep or trance she would see the person coming and
\nspeaking to her or she herself going there. Besides that, wherever the Force
\nis working, the Presence is there.<\/span><\/p>\n

28-9-1936<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n<\/p>\n

Page \u2013 497<\/span><\/font><\/p>\n

\n
\n

\n
\nDIFFERENT
\nAPPEARANCE ON THE VITAL PLANE<\/span><\/font><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\nIt is quite normal in dream to see the Mother or myself with another
\nappearance than the present. These dreams are expe\u00adriences on the vital plane
\nwhere forms are not so rigid as in the physical world.<\/span><\/p>\n

\n
\n1-6-1937<\/span><\/font><\/p>\n

\n
\nTHE CONSTANT
\nPRESENCE<\/font><\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

It is quite sure that we are with you day and night; even if you do not
\nyet see the Mother in your dreams or feel her presence, you should think of her
\nas there and supporting you and that will surely help you.<\/span><\/p>\n

If there is a natural movement of your mind to
\nidentify Shiva in the way you speak of and it jumps to myself and the Mother,
\nwhy not let it take the jump? Perhaps it is not a jump but a natural transition,
\nand reconciliation and not a conflict. Certainly your Pranams are always
\naccepted by us and always will be.<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n
\nAN EXPERIENCE OF A
\nDESCENT<\/font><\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n


\nQ:<\/span><\/i><\/b> Yesterday after dusk, I felt as if some welcome
\nrevolution had taken place in the Divine order of things. I attended the
\nmeditation and felt the whole place filled with calm and silence. I seemed to
\nbe sitting alone in meditation in the midst of a boundless vastness. The Sadhaks
\nhad all become one, a solid mass; and over that massed body a light was
\nflitting about, casting electric flashes. All was still, silent, calm,
\nmotionless. Anon I found within me numerous lotuses. Then descended a virāt<\/span>̣<\/span> <\/span><\/i>mahāpurus<\/span><\/i><\/span>̣<\/span>a, Himalayan in proportions, in the form of Sri
\nAurobindo, who, as if on finding the earth incapable of bearing his weight,
\nstood behind the Mother and placed his hands on her shoulders. The whole world<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

<\/p>\n

Page \u2013 498<\/span><\/font><\/p>\n

\n
\n

was surcharged with silence and Ananda. The
\nsight is beyond my powers to describe. An immeasurable force rushed into me,
\nwave upon wave. Quick and short grew my respiration. Slowly a silence fell over
\neverything. This led me to think that the Mother might have withdrawn, leaving
\nus thrown into Yogic sleep. Then stealthily, like a wary thief, I opened my
\neyes and saw in front a white figure of ice, calm, motionless, stiff,
\nstatue-like, as if without life. Was my experience true?<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n


\nA:<\/span><\/i> The experience you had was a true one, for something came down at that
\nmeditation which had not come down before and your experience was a translation
\nof this descent in your consciousness. That you should have become aware of it
\nin this way shows that your stay here has been very profitable to you and
\nprepared your consciousness for the true realisation. The capacity for it is
\nnow there in you. Your future Sadhana should be a development from the
\nexperience to the realisation.<\/span><\/p>\n

\n11-9-1936<\/font><\/span><\/p>\n

\n
\nA PSYCHIC
\nEXPERIENCE<\/font><\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n


\nQ:
\n<\/font>
\n<\/b>On the Darshan Day (the 15th August) and the day before it, I felt an intense
\nlove for you and for the Mother. It possessed my whole being for some time. And
\nthen a high and profound reverence for both of you \u2014 and "a happiness that
\nno worldly pleasure can give us".<\/font><\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\nA:<\/span><\/b> That is obviously psychic.<\/span><\/p>\n

25-8-1934<\/span><\/p>\n

\n
\nACTION OF FORCE
\nUNDER CONDITIONS<\/font><\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

As for the Force, I shall write some other time. I have told you that it
\nis not always efficacious, but works under conditions like all forces; it is
\nonly the supramental Force that works absolutely,<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n<\/p>\n

Page \u2013 499<\/span><\/font><\/p>\n

\n
\n

because it
\ncreates its own conditions. But the Force I am using is a Force that has to
\nwork under the present world conditions. It is not the less a Force for that. I
\nhave cured myself of all illnesses except three by it and those too when they
\ncome I have kept in check; the fact that I have not succeeded yet in eliminating
\nthe fact or probability of those three does not cancel the fact of my success
\nwith the others. As for the Mother, she used formerly to cure everything at
\nonce by the same Power \u2014 now she has no time to think about her body or to
\nconcentrate on it. The prevalence of illness just now is a fact; it is part of
\nthe struggle that is going on in the domain of Matter. But even so there are
\nplenty of people in the Ashram who get rid of their ills by reliance on the
\nMother. If all cannot do it, what does that prove or disprove? It only proves
\nthat the power does not work absolutely, miraculously, impossibly, but it
\nworks by certain given means and under conditions. I have always said that, so
\nwhat is there in that that is new or that annihilates the truth of the Yoga?<\/span><\/p>\n

6-2-1935<\/span><\/p>\n

\nRECEPTIVITY TO
\nFORCE IN CURING ILLNESS<\/font><\/span><\/b><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

I mean a certain receptivity in the consciousness \u2014 mind, vital,
\nphysical, whichever is needed. The Mother or myself send a force. If there is
\nno openness, the force may be thrown back or return (unless we put a great
\nforce which is not advisable to do) as from an obstruction or resistance: if
\nthere is some openness, the result may be partial or slow; if there is the full
\nopenness or receptivity, then the result may be immediate. Of course, there are
\nthings that cannot be removed all at once, being an old part of the nature, but
\nwith receptivity these also can be more effectively and rapidly dealt with.
\nSome people are so open that even by writing they get free before the book or
\nletter reaches us.<\/span><\/p>\n

8-6-1933 <\/span><\/p>\n

\nIt depends on how far the inner being is awake \u2014 otherwise one needs a
\nphysical avalambana.<\/i> There are some people who get the<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n<\/p>\n

Page \u2013 500<\/span><\/font><\/p>\n

\n
\n

\nrelief only
\nafter we read a letter, others get it immediately they write or before it has
\nreached us or after it has reached but before we have read. Others get. it
\nsimply by referring the whole matter to us mentally. Idiosyncrasies!<\/span><\/p>\n

March, 1935<\/span><\/p>\n

\nNEED OF CORRECT
\nINFORMATION<\/font><\/span><\/b><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n


\nQ:<\/font><\/b>
\nIf, after the Mother or you start working spiritually on some relative or
\nfriend of ours reported to be ill, some wrong information is given about his or
\nher identity, does the help sent miss its mark?<\/font><\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

A:<\/span><\/b> Wrong information coming across the working creates a confusion so that
\nit is no longer possible to say what is the result. Of course, if the wrong
\ninformation comes at the beginning, it would be still worse. It is very
\nnecessary that the information given should be correct.<\/span><\/p>\n

10-6-1935<\/span><\/p>\n


\nWORKING OF FORCE THROUGH ALLOPATHS AND HOMEOPATHS<\/font><\/span><\/b><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\nThe Mother and I have no preference for allopathy. The Mother thinks
\ndoctors very usually make things worse instead of better by spoiling Nature’s
\nresistance to illness by excessive and ill-directed use of their medicines. We
\nhave been able to work through X’s homeopathy far better than through anything
\nelse \u2014 though it is likely that the Force working through homeopaths, who were
\nnot conscious instruments, might not have succeeded better than with the allopaths.<\/span><\/p>\n

\nHELP TO THOSE WHO DIE IN THE ASHRAM
\n<\/font><\/b><\/span><\/p>\n

\n Q: What is the
\ndifference between a death in the Ashram<\/font><\/i><\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n<\/p>\n

Page \u2013 501<\/span><\/font><\/p>\n

\n
\n

\nand a death outside? Does one get more benefit
\nin the form of development of mind and other parts on the subtle planes so that
\none may get a better new birth?<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n


\nA:<\/span><\/b> I am not aware of any "development of mental" etc. in their
\nplanes; the development takes place on earth. The mental and other planes are
\nnot evolutionary.<\/span><\/p>\n

The one who
\ndies here is assisted in his passage to the psychic world and helped in his
\nfuture evolution towards the Divine.<\/span><\/p>\n

14-12-1936<\/span><\/p>\n

\n
\nSADHANA AND SPORTS<\/span><\/font><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\nCertainly, Mother does not want only sportsmen in the Ashram:<\/span>
\nthat would
\nmake it not an Ashram but a playground. The sports and physical exercises are
\nprimarily for the children of the school and they also do not play only but
\nhave to attend to their studies as well. Incidentally, they have improved
\nimmensely in their health and in discipline and conduct as one very valuable
\nresult. Secondarily, the younger Sadhaks are allowed, not enjoined or even
\nrecommended, to join in these sports, but certainly they are not supposed to be
\nsportsmen only; they have other and more important things to do. To be a
\nsportsman must necessarily be a voluntary choice and depends on one having the
\ntaste and inclination. There are plenty of people around the Mother herself\u2014 X
\nfor instance \u2014 who would never dream of frequenting the playground or engaging
\nin sports and the Mother also would never think of asking them to do it. So,
\nequally, she could not think of being displeased with you for shunning these
\ndelights. Some, of course, might ask why any sports at all in an Ashram which
\nought to be concerned only with meditation and inner experiences and the escape
\nfrom life into Brahman. But that applies only to the ordinary kind of Ashram to
\nwhich we have got accustomed and this is not that orthodox kind of Ashram. It
\nincludes life in Yoga, and once we admit life we can include anything that we
\nfind useful for life’s ultimate and immediate purpose and not inconsistent
\nwith the works of the Spirit. After all, the orthodox<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n<\/p>\n

Page \u2013 502<\/span><\/font><\/p>\n

\n
\n

Ashram came into being only after Brahman began
\nto shun all connection with the world and the shadow of Buddhism stalked over
\nall the land and the Ashrams turned into monasteries. The old Ashrams were not
\nentirely like that; the boys and young men who were brought up in them were
\ntrained in many things belonging to life: the son of Pururavas and Urvasie
\npractised archery in the Ashram of a Rishi and became an expert bowman, and
\nKama became disciple of a great sage in order to acquire from him the use of
\npowerful weapons. So there is no a priori <\/i>ground why sports should be
\nexcluded from life of an Ashram like ours where we are trying to equate life
\nwith the Spirit. Even table-tennis and football need not be rigorously
\nexcluded. But putting all persiflage aside, my point is that to play or not to
\nplay is a matter of choice and inclination and it would be absurd for Mother to
\nbe displeased with you any more than with X for not caring to be a sportsman.
\nSo you need not have any apprehension on this score; that the Mother should be
\ndispleased with you for that is quite impossible. So the idea that she wished
\nto draw away from you for anything done or not done was a misinterpretation
\nwithout any real foundation since you have given no ground for it and there was
\nnothing farther from her mind. She has herself explained that it was just the
\ncontrary that has been in her mind for sometime past and it was an increasing
\nkindness that was her feeling and intention. The only change she could expect
\nfrom you was to grow in your psychic and spiritual endeavour and inner progress
\nand in this you have not failed \u2014 quite the contrary. Apart from that, the
\nnotion that she could be displeased with you because you did not change
\naccording to this or that pattern is a wild idea; it would be most arbitrary
\nand unreasonable.<\/span><\/p>\n

\n10-7-1948 <\/span><\/p>\n

\nThe Mother does not want anybody to take up the
\nsports if he has no inclination or natural bent for them; to join or not to
\njoin must be quite voluntary and those who do not join are not cold-shouldered
\nor looked down upon by her for that reason. It would be absurd for her to take
\nthat attitude: there are those<\/span><\/p>\n

\n<\/p>\n

Page \u2013 503<\/span><\/font><\/p>\n

\n

\nwho do her
\nfaithful service which she deeply appreciates and whom she regards with
\naffection and confidence but who never go to the playground either because they
\nhave no turn for it or no time, \u2014 can you imagine that for that reason she will
\nturn away from them and regard them with coldness? The Mother could never
\nintend that sports should be the sole or the chief preoccupation of the inmates
\nof the Ashram; even the children of the school for whose physical development
\nthese sports and athletic exercises are important and for whom they were originally
\nintended, have other things to do, their work, their studies and other
\noccupations and amusements in which they are as interested as in these
\nathletics. There are other things more important: there are Yoga, spiritual
\nprogress, Bhakti, devotion, service….<\/span><\/p>\n

\nI do not
\nunderstand what you mean by my "giving time to sports": I am not
\ngiving any time to it except that I have written at Mother’s request an article
\nfor the first number of the Bulletin1 <\/sup><\/i>and another for the
\nforthcoming number. It is the Mother who is doing all the rest of the work for
\nthe organisation of the sports and that she must do, obviously, till it is
\nsufficiently organised to go on of itself with only a general supervision from
\nabove and her actual presence once in the day. I put out my force to support
\nher as in all the other work of the Ashram, but otherwise I am not giving any
\ntime for the sports.<\/span><\/p>\n

\n4-3-1949<\/font><\/span><\/p>\n

\nThere is no need for anyone to take up sports as indispensable for Yoga
\nor enjoying the Mother’s affection and kindness. Yoga is its own object and has
\nits own means and conditions; sports is something quite different as the Mother
\nherself indicated to you when she said that the concentration practised on the
\nplay\u00adground was not meditation and was used for the efficacy in the movements
\nand not for any purpose of Yoga.<\/span><\/p>\n

\n14-3-1949<\/span><\/p>\n

\n1<\/span><\/sup>Bulletin of
\nPhysical Education,<\/font><\/i> a quarterly journal published by the Ashram.<\/font><\/span><\/p>\n

\n
\nPage \u2013 504<\/span><\/font><\/p>\n

\n<\/div>\n
\n

It is also
\nnot a fact that either the Mother or I are turning away from Yoga and intend to
\ninterest ourselves only in sport; we have no intention whatever of altering the
\nfundamental character of the Ashram and replacing it by a sportive
\nassociation. If we did that it would be a most idiotic act and if anybody
\nshould have told you anything like that, he must be off his head or in a
\ntemporary crisis of delirious enthusiasm for a very upside-down idea. The
\nMother told you very clearly once that what was being done in the playground
\nwas not meditation or a concentration for Yoga but only an ordinary
\nconcentration for the physical exercises alone. If she is busy with the organisation
\nof these things \u2014 and it is not true that she is busy with that alone \u2014 it is
\nin order to get finished with that as soon as possible after which it will go
\non of itself without her being at all engrossed or specially occupied by it, as
\nis the case with other works of the Ashram. As for myself, it is surely absurd
\nto think that I am neglecting meditation and Yoga and interested only in
\nrunning, jumping and marching! There seem to have been strange misunderstandings
\nabout my second message in the Bulletin.<\/i> In the first, I wrote about
\nsports and their utility just as I have written on politics or social
\ndevelopment or any other matter. In the second, I took up the question
\nincidentally because people are expressing ignorance as to why the Ashram should
\nconcern itself with sports at all. I explained why it had been done and dealt
\nwith the more general question of how this and other human activities could be
\npart of a search for a total perfection of all parts of the being including the
\nbody and more especially what would be the nature of the perfection of the
\nbody. I indicated clearly that only by Yoga’ could there come a supreme and
\ntotal perfection of all the instruments of the Spirit and the ascent of the
\nwhole being to the highest level and a divine life on earth and the assumption
\nof a divine body. I made it clear that by human and physical means such as
\nsports only a limited and precarious human perfection could come. In all this
\nthere is nothing to justify the idea that sport could be a means for jumping
\ninto the Supermind or that the Supermind was going to descend on the playground
\nand nowhere else and only those who are there will receive it; that would be a
\nbad look-out for me as I would have no chance!<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n<\/p>\n

Page \u2013 505<\/span><\/font><\/p>\n

\n
\n

\nI write air this in the hope of clearing away
\nall the strange misconceptions with which the air seems to have become thick
\nand by some of which you may have been affected.<\/span><\/p>\n

27-4-1949<\/span><\/p>\n

\nYou ought to be able to see that your idea of our insistence on you to
\ntake up sport or to like it and accept it in any way has no foundation. I
\nmyself have never been a sportsman or \u2014 apart from a spectator’s interest in
\ncricket in England or a non-player member of the Baroda cricket club \u2014 taken up
\nany physical games or athletics except some exercises learnt from Madras! wrestlers
\nin <\/span>Baroda<\/span> such as dan<\/i><\/span>̣<\/span>d<\/span>̣<\/span><\/i> and bait<\/i><\/span>̣<\/span>hak,<\/span><\/i> and those I took up only to put some strength
\nand vigour into a frail and weak though not unhealthy body, but I never
\nattached any other importance or significance to these things and dropped the
\nexercises when I thought they were no longer necessary. Certainly, neither the
\nabstinence from athletics and physical games nor the taking up of those
\nphysical exercises have for me any relevance to Yoga. Neither your aversion to
\nsport nor the liking of others for it makes either you or them more fit or more
\nunfit for Sadhana. So there is absolutely no reason why we should insist on
\nyour taking it up or why you should trouble your mind with the supposition
\nthat we want you to do it. You are surely quite free, as everybody is quite
\nfree, to take your own way in such matters.<\/span><\/p>\n

28-4-1949 <\/span><\/p>\n

\nBefore coming to the main point I may as well clear out one matter not
\nunconnected with it: my articles or messages, as they are called, in the Bulletin’,<\/i>
\nfor their appearance there and their contents seem to have caused some trouble,
\nperplexity or mis\u00adunderstanding in your mind and especially my speculations
\nabout the Divine Body. I wrote the first of these articles to explain about how
\nand why sport came to be included in the programme of the Ashram activities and
\nI think I made it clear, as I went on, that sport was not Sadhana, that it
\nbelonged to what I called the lower end of things, but that it might be used
\nnot merely for<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n<\/p>\n

Page \u2013 506<\/span><\/font><\/p>\n

\n
\n

amusement
\nor recreation or the maintenance of health, but for a greater efficiency of the
\nbody and for the development of certain qualities and capacities, not of the
\nbody only but of morale and discipline and the stimulation of mental energies:
\nbut I pointed out also that these could be and were developed by other means
\nand that there were limitations to this utility. In fact, it is only by Sadhana
\nthat one could go beyond the limits natural to the lower end means. I think
\nthere was little room for misunderstanding here, but the Mother had asked me
\nto write on other subjects not connected in any way with sport and had
\nsuggested some such subjects as the possibilities of the evolution of a divine
\nbody; so I wrote on that subject and went on to speak of the Supermind and
\nTruth-Consciousness which had obviously not even the remotest connection with
\nsport. The object was to bring in something higher and more interesting than a
\nmere record of gymnasium events but which might appeal to some of the readers
\nand even to wider circles. In speaking of the divine body I entered into some
\nfar-off speculations about what might become possible in the future evolution
\nof it by means of a spiritual force, but obviously the possibilities could not
\nbe anything near or immediate, and I said clearly enough that we should have to
\nbegin at the beginning and not attempt anything out of the way. Perhaps I should
\nhave insisted more on present limitations, but that I should now make clear.
\nFor the immediate object of my endeavours is to establish spiritual life on
\nearth and for that the first necessity must always be to realise the Divine;
\nonly then can life be spiritualised or what I have called the Life Divine be
\nmade possible. The creation of something that could be called a divine body
\ncould be only an ulterior aim undertaken as part of this transformation, as,
\nobviously, the development of such a divine body as was visioned in these
\nspeculations could only come into view as the result of a distant evolution and
\nneed not alarm or distract anyone. It might even be regarded as a phantasy of
\nsome remotely possible future which might one day happen to come true.<\/span><\/p>\n

I then come
\nto the main point, namely that the intention attributed to the Mother of
\nconcentrating permanently on sports and withdrawing from other things pertinent
\nto Sadhana and<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n<\/p>\n

Page \u2013 507<\/span><\/font><\/p>\n

\n
\n

our
\nspiritual endeavour is a legend and a myth and has no truth in it. Except for
\nthe time given to her own physical exercise \u2014 ordinarily, two hours or
\nsometimes three in the evening on the playground \u2014 the Mother’s whole day from
\nearly morning and a large part of the night also has always been devoted to her
\nother occupations connected with the Sadhana \u2014 not her own but that of the Sadhaks
\n\u2014 Pranam, blessings, meditation and receiving the Sadhaks on the staircase or
\nelsewhere, sometimes for two hours at a time, and listening to what they have
\nto say, questions about the Sadhana, results of their work or their matters,
\ncomplaints, disputes, quarrels, all kinds of conferences about this or that to
\nbe decided and done \u2014 there is no end to the list: for the rest she had to
\nattend to their letters, to reports about the material work of the Ashram and
\nall its many departments, correspondence and all sorts of things connected
\nwith the contacts with the outside world including often serious trouble and
\ndifficulties and the settlement of matters of great importance. All this has
\ncertainly nothing to do with sports and she had little occasion to think of it
\nat all apart from the short time in the evening. There was here no ground for
\nthe idea that she was neglecting the Sadhaks or the Sadhana or thinking of
\nturning her mind solely or predominantly to sport and still less for imputing
\nthe same preoccupation to me. Only during the period before the first and
\nsecond December this year Mother had to give a great deal of time and
\nconcentration to the preparation of the events of those two days because she
\nhad decided on a big cultural programme: her own play, Vers l’Avenir,<\/i>
\ndances, recitation from Savitri<\/i> and from the Prayers and Meditations<\/i>
\nfor the first December and also for a big and ambitious programme for the
\nsecond of sportive items and events. This meant a good deal more time for these
\npurposes but hardly any interruption of her other occupations except for one
\nor two of them just at the end of this period. There was surely no sufficient ground
\nhere either for drawing the conclusion that this was going to be for the
\nfuture a normal feature of her action or a permanent change in it or in the
\nlife of the Ashram ending in a complete withdrawal from spiritual life and an
\napotheosis of the Deity of Sport. Those who voiced this idea or declared that
\nsport would henceforth be<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n
\nPage \u2013 508<\/span><\/font><\/p>\n

\n
\n

obligatory
\non all were indulging in fantasies that have no claim to credibility. As a
\nmatter of fact, the period of tension is over and after the second December
\nthings have returned to normal or even to subnormal in the activities of the
\nplayground and as for the future you may recall the proverb that "once is
\nnot for ever."<\/span><\/p>\n

But there
\nseems to be still a survival of the groundless idea that sportsmanship is
\nobligatory henceforth on every Sadhak and without it there is no chance of
\nhaving the Mother’s attention or favour. It is therefore necessary for me to
\nrepeat with the utmost emphasis the statement I made long ago when this fable
\nbecame current for a time along, I think, with the rumour that the Supermind
\nwas to descend on the playground and the people who happen to be there at the
\ntime and nowhere else and on nobody else \u2014 which would have meant that I for
\none would never have it!! I must repeat what I said then, that the Mother had
\nnever imposed or has any idea of imposing any such obligation and had no reason
\nfor doing so. She does not want you or anybody else to take to sports if there
\nis no inclination or turn towards it. There are any number of people who enjoy
\nher highest favour, among them some of her best and most valued workers, some
\nmost near to her and cherished by her who do not even set foot on the
\nplayground. Nobody then could possibly lose her favour or her affection by
\nrefusing to take up sport or by a dislike of sport or a strong disinclination
\ntowards it: these things are a matter of idiosyncrasy and nothing else. The
\nidea, whether advanced or not by someone claiming to have authority to voice
\nthe Mother’s intentions, that sport is now the most important thing with her
\nand obligatory for Sadhana is absurd in the extreme.<\/span><\/p>\n

\n6-12-1949 <\/span><\/p>\n

The realisation of the Divine is the one thing needful and the rest is
\ndesirable only in so far as it helps or leads towards that or when it is
\nrealised, extends or manifests the realisation. Manifestation or organisation
\nof the whole life for the Divine work:<\/span><\/p>\n

first, the
\nSadhana personal and collective necessary for the realisation <\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n<\/p>\n

Page \u2013 509<\/span><\/font><\/p>\n

\n
\n

\nand
\na common life of the God-realised men, secondly, for help to the world to move
\ntowards that and to live in the Light, is the whole meaning and purpose of my
\nYoga. But the realisation is the first need and it is that round which all the
\nrest moves, for apart from it all the rest would have no meaning. Neither the
\nMother nor myself ever dreamed or could dream of putting anything else in its
\nplace or neglecting it for anything else. Most of the Mother’s day is in fact
\ngiven to helping the Sadhaks in one way or another towards that end, most of
\nthe rest is occupied with work for the Ashram which cannot be neglected or
\nallowed to collapse, for this is too work for the Divine. As for the gymnasium,
\nthe playground and the rest of it, the Mother has made it plain from the
\nbeginning what place she assigned to these things; she has never done anything
\nso imbecile as to replace essential things by these accessories.<\/span><\/p>\n

4-4-1950<\/span><\/p>\n

\nQUIETUDE AND ACTION<\/font><\/span><\/b><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n


\nQ:<\/b> Learning languages makes the mind active.
\nDoes not the Yoga mean to keep the mind quiet and turn it always to the Divine?<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\nA: <\/b>Do you mean to say that in order to have quietness of the mind one
\nmust do nothing ? Then neither the Mother nor I nor anyone else here has a
\nquiet mind.<\/span><\/p>\n

6-4-1937<\/font><\/span><\/p>\n

\n
\nREADING NEWSPAPERS<\/font><\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n


\nQ:<\/span><\/i><\/b> Is it very important in our Sadhana to give up
\nreading newspapers ? I find that almost all the Sadhaks including the best ones
\nread them and you also. Moreover, if one does not read them one remains
\nuninformed and blank.<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\nA:<\/b> These things depend on oneself and one’s own conditions<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n<\/p>\n

Page \u2013 510<\/span><\/font><\/p>\n

\n
\n

\u2014<\/span><\/i> there can be no general rule. It is
\ntrue that I read newspapers, but Mother never does unless her attention is
\ncalled to a particular item. I dare say if X stopped reading papers for a
\nyear, it might be very good for him. One has to see what is one’s necessity
\nfor the Sadhana. If the newspapers disperse the mind or externalise the
\nconsciousness too much, they should be avoided. If on the other hand one is
\ndawdling over the Sadhana and having no particular inner endeavour one can read
\nnewspapers\u2014 it is no
\nworse than anything else. On the other hand if the newspapers do not affect the
\nformed or forming inner consciousness in any way (by dispersion, lowering, externalisation
\netc.) one can read them. I read the newspapers mainly because I have to see
\nwhat events are happening which might any day have an effect on my work etc. I
\ndo not read for the interest of reading.<\/span><\/p>\n

9-7-1936<\/font><\/span><\/p>\n

\n
\nTHE ONLY MANTRA
\nUSED IN THIS YOGA<\/font><\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\nAs a rule the only mantra<\/i> used in this Sadhana is that of the
\nMother or of my name and the Mother’s. The concentration in the heart and the
\nconcentration in the head can both be used \u2014 each has its own result. The first
\nopens up the psychic being and brings Bhakti, love and union with the Mother,
\nher presence within the heart and the action of her Force in the nature. The
\nother opens the mind to self-realisation, to the consciousness of what is above
\nmind, to the ascent of the consciousness out of the body and the descent of the
\nhigher consciousness into the body.<\/span><\/p>\n

13-10-1934<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n<\/p>\n

Page \u2013 511<\/span><\/font><\/p>\n

\n
\n

Q: <\/b>Is there any difference between the Force
\nthat helps when I call the Mother in sleep and the Force that comes when I
\nrepeat "Sri Aurobindo-Mira^ ?<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\nA:<\/b> There is not necessarily any difference of Force. Usually the
\nMother’s name has the full power in it ; but in certain states of consciousness
\nthe double Name may have a special effect.<\/span><\/p>\n

29-8-1936<\/span><\/p>\n

\n
\nA MANTRA<\/font>1 <\/font> <\/sup><\/span><\/p>\n

\n <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n        (<\/span><\/i>OM<\/span><\/i> Sri Aurobindo Mira<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n


\nOpen my mind, my heart, my life to
\nyour Light, your Love, your Power. In all things may I see the Divine.)<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

\n16-7-1938<\/span><\/p>\n

\n <\/p>\n

\n\u00b9<\/font>This was given by Sri Aurobindo to a Sadhak who had asked him for a
\nbrief prayer with Sri Aurobindo’s and the Mother’s names to use as a mantra.<\/i>
\nWhile giving it, Sri Aurobindo wrote:<\/font><\/span><\/p>\n

\n"I have written for you a brief prayer with the names in the form
\nof a mantra.<\/i> I hope it will help you to overcome your difficulty and get
\nan inner foundation." (16-7-1938)<\/font><\/span><\/p>\n

\nOn receiving the mantra<\/i>
\nthe Sadhak inquired:<\/font><\/span><\/p>\n

\n"Have I to
\nconsider the names and the prayer as one <\/font> mantra?"<\/font><\/i><\/span><\/p>\n

\nSri Aurobindo
\nreplied: "Yes". (18-7-1938)<\/font><\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n<\/p>\n

Page \u2013 512<\/span><\/font><\/p>\n

\n
\n

 
\n
\nSRI AUROBINDO’S GAYATRI<\/font><\/span><\/p>\n

 \n<\/p>\n

 
\n\t<\/p>\n

\n <\/p>\n

\n
\n(Tat servitor vanam rūpam jyotih<\/span>̣<\/span> <\/span>parasya
\ndhīmahi, yannah<\/span>̣<\/span><\/span> <\/span>satyena
\ndīpayet<\/span><\/i>\u00b9)<\/i><\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n
\nA BENEDICTION<\/font><\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n\t<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n


\n1<\/font><\/span><\/sup> Let us meditate on the most auspicious (best) form of
\nSavitri, on the Light of the Supreme which shall illumine us with the Truth.
\n(Sri Aurobindo’s translation)<\/font><\/span><\/p>\n


\n
\n2<\/font><\/span><\/sup> From the
\nnon-being to true being, <\/font> <\/span><\/p>\n


\n   <\/font><\/span>
\n from the darkness to the Light,
\n<\/font> <\/span><\/p>\n


\n   <\/font><\/span>
\n from death to
\nImmortality. <\/font> <\/span><\/p>\n


\n   <\/font><\/span>
\n
\nOM<\/font><\/span>
\nPeace! Peace! Peace!<\/font><\/span><\/p>\n


\n                                        (Brihadaranyaka Upanishad,<\/font><\/span><\/i> 1.3.28)<\/font><\/span><\/p>\n


\n3<\/font><\/span><\/sup> So be it.<\/font><\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n<\/p>\n

Page \u2013 513<\/span><\/font><\/p>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/table>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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