SECTION FOURTEEN   DIFFICULTIES OF THE PATH AND THEIR REMOVAL                                                                                  I. THE RIGHT WAY OF OVERCOMING DIFFICULTIES                                                                                                                       II. THE MOTHER'S HELP IN REMOVING DIFFICULTIES   I. THE RIGHT WAY OF OVERCOMING DIFFICULTIES   Difficulty of Yoga   I HAVE not said that to reach the overmind  is impossible; I have only said that it is difficult. Difficulty is not a reason why the things should not be done. It is not easy for a physical being to reach t

SECTION SEVENTEEN   LOVE AND RELATIONSHIPS IN YOGA     Bhakti and Love in Yoga   THE nature of Bhakti is adoration, worship, self-offering to what is greater than oneself;  the nature of love is a feeling or a seeking for closeness and union. Self-giving is the character of both;  both are necessary in the Yoga and each gets its full force when supported by the other.   Spiritual and Psychic Love   THE love that belongs to the spiritual planes is of a different kind—the psychic has its own more personal love, bhakti, surrender. Love in the higher or spiritual mind is more universal and impersonal. The two must go together to make the highest divine love.  

SECTION SEVEN   THE PROCESS OF INTEGRAL TRANSFORMATION                                                                                 I.    PSYCHIC CONVERSION                                                                             II.  ASCENT TO HIGHER PLANES                                                                             III. DESCENT OF HIGHER CONSCIOUSNESS                                                                             IV. THE SUPRAMENTAL DESCENT   I. PSYCHIC CONVERSION   Meaning of "Psychic"   "PSYCHIC" in the sense in which it is used commonly by people has no definite meaning, it is applied to anything non-ph

SECTION FIFTEEN   TRANSFORMATION OF THE VITAL NATURE                                                                                 I.   LIBERATION FROM EGO                                                                                 II.  REJECTION OF DESIRE                                                                                      III. REMOVAL OF WRONG VITAL MOVEMENTS   I. LIBERATION FROM EGO   Need of Transforming the Ego   OBVIOUSLY, unless the object is Nirvana, the small ego has to be attended to—not indulged but transformed out of existence.   21-4-1936 Ego and True Being   THE form of ego has

SECTION TWELVE   LIGHTS AND COLOURS—SYMBOLS AND IMAGES                                                                             I.  FORMS AND ACTION OF LIGHTS AND COLOURS                                                                           II. SYMBOLS AND IMAGES OF VISION   I. FORMS AND ACTION OF LIGHTS AND COLOURS   Action of Light (1)   IT depends upon the colour of the Light. In  any case it is the Light of Force from above. All lights are indications of a Force or Power. It is the work of the Lights and the Forces they represent to act in their descent on the lower nature and change it. 30-7-1934 (2)   IT is

SECTION NINE   CONCENTRATION AND MEDITATION   Two Main Centres For Concentration   MOST people associate consciousness with the  brain or mind because that is the centre for intellectual thought and mental vision, but consciousness is not limited to that kind of thought or vision. It is everywhere in the system and there are several centres of it, e.g., the centre for inner concentration is not in the brain but in the heart,—the originating centre of vital desire is still lower down. The two main places where one can centre the consciousness for Yoga are in the head and in the heart—the mind-centre and the soul-centre.   11-8-1934 Page-249

SECTION FIVE   BASIC REQUISITES OF YOGA                                                                                                    I.  SINCERITY                                                                                                  II. ASPIRATION                                                                                                  III. FAITH                                                                                                  IV. SURRENDER                                                                                                  V. PATIENCE AND PERSEVERANCE   I. SINCERITY    The One Indispensable Conditio

SECTION TWO   SCIENCE, PHILOSOPHY AND YOGA   The Gulf between the Methods of Physical Science and Yoga   WHEN the scientist says that "scientifically speaking,  God is a hypothesis which is no longer necessary" he is talking arrant nonsense—for the existence of God is not and cannot be and never was a scientific hypothesis or problem at all, it is and always has been a spiritual or a metaphysical problem. You cannot speak scientifically about it at all either pro or con. The metaphysician or the spiritual seeker has a right to point out that it is nonsense; but if you lay down the law to the scientist in the field of science you run the risk of having the same objection t

FOREWORD   THIS new volume in the series of "Letters of Sri Aurobindo" contains letters on spiritual philosophy and the practice of Yoga compiled after the publication of the first two volumes which also include letters dealing with the same subjects. The classification of letters under different headings and their arrangement in separate sections in this volume is made on the same plan as that of the earlier volumes. Those who have made a careful study of the earlier volumes will find in these letters further clarification of several issues connected with Sri Aurobindo's spiritual philosophy and psychology, fuller understanding of the aim, the conditions and the process

SECTION NINETEEN   GREAT MEN AND AVATARS   Greatness   BY greatness is meant an exceptional capacity of one kind or another.   24-4-1936 Mistake of Depreciating Great Men   PEOPLE have begun to try to prove that great men were not great, which is a very big mistake. If greatness is not appreciated by men, the world will become mean, small, dull, narrow and tamasic.   Greatness in Yoga and in the Universal Order   OBVIOUSLY, outer greatness is not the aim of Yoga. But that is no reason why one should not recognise the part played by greatness in the order of the universe or the place of great men of action, great poets and artists, etc.