IN THESE FATEFUL DAYS         To destroy is easy; to create, it is difficult.         The vital force destroys in its violence, it is the spirit that creates in its energy of consciousness.         The vital force is easily available to man. The spirit is a far cry.         And yet there is no other way out: if man is to be saved, that is the only way left before him.         If man's destiny is to fulfil—fulfil the purpose of creation, he will have to find out the way of the spirit. If in his present mood of perversity, he pursues blindly the urge that has possessed him, he will surely annihilate himself—willingly or unwillingly he will commit hara-k

BODY-ENERGY   The Mother spoke once of the body being like a fortress, a strong shelter protecting you against enemy-attacks, the forces that are around roaming in the open spaces, the forces of physical and even moral disruption. The ancients used to refer to the body as a walled city the gates of which are to be carefully guarded. It is also compared to a temple, a firm structure wherein God is to dwell, which is to be kept always clean, trim and tidy. The body itself was worshipped as a holy thing almost as a Divinity by certain schools of spiritual discipline.         These are, so to say, various dimensions of the body; one more, somewhat of a different category, may be

TWO EQUATIONS   I         Einstein's equation:                                      E=mc2         that is, Matter becomes energy when its mass is multiplied by the square of the velocity of light.         The new equation:                                         M=mc∞       that is, Matter is transformed into spiritualised energy (not merely mechanical energy as in Einstein) when its mass is multiplied by consciousness raised to the power of infinity.       II         Buddha's equation:                                          D°=0         that is, Desire raised to the power zero is zero=Nirvana. Page-52

THE IDEAL CENTRE         Once when the Mother was asked by a group of disciples to give permission and blessings for opening a centre, She said in answer: "To open a centre is not sufficient in itself. It must be the pure hearth of perfect sincerity, in a total consecration to the Divine." This is the first motto or mantra that should be inscribed on the tablet of the inner constitution of every group organisation. It states the basic spirit, the true inspiration that should initiate the work and guide it through. The second mantra is embodied in these words of Sri Aurobindo: "Love the Mother: Always behave as if She was looking at you, for indeed She is always present." These are

THE TEST OF TRUTH         The test of Truth is its impossibility. I believe because it is impossible; Credo quia impossibile. That is Saint Augustine.         There is a grain, why a grain, quite a lump of truth in this well-known saying of a great seeker of Truth. "Truth shall prevail? Is this true? Can it be true? It is impossible." Therefore it must be true. "God exists: is it an impossibility?" Therefore God does exist. "Shall we ever come out of the present darkness? Impossible!" We shall, therefore, come out, surely.         The possible, to our senses, is what is happening now: the present fact is the truth and what is in absolute agreement with the present is

THE LADDER OF UNCONSCIOUSNESS         Consciousness, the normal consciousness we know, has various degrees of potency: its familiar form is the rational consciousness or intellect; then at a higher level, there is the intuitive consciousness and at a still higher level the visionary consciousness, that is, the consciousness that sees the Truth, and at the highest, the objectless consciousness, consciousness in itself or the sachchidananda consciousness.         Likewise unconsciousness too has its own various degrees. As consciousness rises up to higher and higher grades of consciousness, so unconsciousness too descends into lower and lower grades of unconsci

    THE YOGA OF SRI AUROBINDO   PART ELEVEN     THE YOGA OF SRI AUROBINDO   PART ELEVEN                 SRI AUROBINDO ASHRAM  PONDICHERRY   First Edition : 1971     January 13, 1971       © Sri Aurobindo Ashram Trust 1971 Published by Sri Aurobindo Ashram, Pondicherry Printed at Sri Aurobindo Ashram Press, Pondicherry Printed in India

SRI AUROBINDO   II         "The poet of patriotism, the prophet of nationalism and the lover of humanity" he was, in the famous words of his advocate and friend and follower who stood for him before the bar of History for his cause, and not merely before a British Court of Justice. Indeed he was all that, but today we have to add another epithet and complete the description. For he is now the builder of the Life Divine. This was indeed the secret Truth that worked in him from behind and gave to these earlier preoccupations the reality and the beauty they attained and the fullness of their significance. He worked for human evolution, that was his life mission. He thus formulate

OUR FINEST HOUR         This is an age of deluge and devastation and decomposition. Is this also the Doomsday?         Nature herself has started the process and man has lent his hand to hasten it. Or did man start it and Nature is hastening the work? Perhaps it is a vicious circle, but the outcome is the same.         Anyhow the question now is whether there is a remedy. How can Nature be made steady arid how can man come out of the muddle?         For man the root-cause is that he is being imprisoned more and more, and circumstances of his life are such that he is losing all free movements and is being hemmed in on all sides. The walls are, as it were, pressin

COSMONAUTICS   (I)         Modern science, modern applied science, has brought about and is bringing about more and more a big change in the earth atmosphere. It is not merely the dust and smoke, gases and fumes thrown out by the modern machineries from the earth into the sky that have been increasing ominously in volume, but the less patent vibrations that have been released by advanced scientific projects and experiments and that have been encircling the earth more and more in a tight embrace. A quiet and clean air was such a treasure for human beings; men have always longed for it as a necessity and also as a diversion, and it was so readily available. The saints and sages we