"ALL LIFE IS YOGA"

ONE of the greatest teachings of Sri Aurobindo is : "All life is Yoga".¹ His Ashram is a growing and organised attempt at living this law of life.

Hence, there is no question of "splitting" of the activities as ethical, religious philanthrophic and so on. "All must be taken to a spiritual height and placed upon a spiritual basis; the presence of an inner spiritual change and an outer transformation must be enforced upon the whole of life...all must be accepted that is helpful towards this change..."²

But how can it be applied to our day-to-day life ? Carrying a world of worries, as so many do, how can one hope to think of Yoga?

While we talk, eat, sleep or work and engage ourselves in all sorts of activities, would it not be deceiving ourselves by thinking we are doing Yoga ?

Has not the Master said, "the only work that spiritually purifies is that which is done...for the sake of the Divine alone and at the command of the Divine ?" Then how can all life be Yoga ?³

These are commonplace but baffling questions. The Mother has not left them unanswered. While talking to the children of the Ashram once she said : "Whatever you do—study or sports— you must think of the Divine in doing it. It is not a very difficult thing after all. At first you may do it as a kind of preparation to make you capable of receiving the divine force, and then as

1.The Synthesis of Yoga, p. 4.

2.Ibid., p. 167.

3."Life...is a vast yoga of nature attempting to realise her perfec-tion." The Synthesis of Yoga.— Yoga is a concentrated effort to hasten progress.

Page-59

service to help in the collective work...If you are doing long jump, for example, it should not be merely for the pleasure of doing it, it is with the idea of making your body more perfect in its functioning, an instrument more fit to receive the divine forces and to manifest them."⁴

All depends upon the inner attitude and the level of consciousness from which we think or act. For instance, if whatever we do is for the sake of the Divine, if we eat or sleep to keep the body fit to serve the Divine, buy or sell a thing without an eye to profit, then all we do is raised to the level of service to the Divine, all becomes an act of worship, however imperfect.

If one throws off desires, stops saying, "I, I have done this", and surrenders oneself to Him, puts the charge of one's life into His hands, life will appear no more a wearisome load. Moreover, if one is sincere in one's efforts, there will grow an inner strength to bear the blows of life. Then will come a time when one will be able to sense that someone is there at one's back to heal the wounds of life.

People are afraid of Yoga. But it is Yoga that can transform the poison of life into nectar.

In India, poverty is unfortunately taken to be a sure sign of spirituality. But that which makes life barren is for us no Yoga. Sri Aurobindo's Yoga does not make of us stocks and stones.

In the forceful words of the Mother: "It is one of the greatest weapons of the Asura at work when you are taught to shun beauty. It has been the ruin of India."

It is common knowledge that Art, comprising music, painting, architecture, sculpture, has been fostered for ages under the inspiring influence of spirituality. But that science, trade, commerce, agriculture, horticulture, even games and sports, could come under the domain of spirituality on such a large scale

4. The Yoga of Sri Aurobindo, Part Eight, Nolini Kanta Gupta, p. 16.

Page-60

is a new departure, a novel adventure in the field of Yoga.

Among the people constituting the body of the Ashram there are those who once were merchants, ministers, writers, scientists, scholars, engineers, government officials and others.

They have come here impelled by an inner urge or led by a Light or in quest of the Truth.

Some have, of course, come with the Mother "to share in the work, others she has called, others have come seeking the light".

It is not men of high calibre alone who are chosen for the path. The Master holds: "One man who earnestly pursues the Yoga is of more value than a thousand well-known men."

Another thing : They represent not only different walks of life but different natures and characters. To give only one example : In the course of a casual talk J spoke out: "However furious one may be it would produce no effect on me. It will not provoke my temper, no harsh word will escape my lips."

"Speech,", says the Master, "is a thing which in most people is largely automatic and not under their control."⁵

J is an example of balanced and measured life. A scholar and a poet, yet so sweet in nature and noble in conduct, he seems like an answer to the Upanishadic prayer:

शरीरं मे विचर्षणम् |  जिव्हI मे मधुमत्तमा |

May my body be swift to all works, may my tongue drop pure honey.⁶

But there is also R who is so overpowered by anger that he stands helpless. The attack comes so often and so suddenly that he is unable to check himself. Does he not represent a type of humanity ?

If only J is given a chance, how can a change come about in R who typifies the majority ?

5.Letters of Sri Aurobindo, Fourth Series, p. 579.

6.Sri Aurobindo's translation.

Page-61

"Then why are all not accepted in the Ashram ?" "Why should they be ? Will they sacrifice their all for the sake of the Divine ?" "Does R ?"

"Of course ! Further, he is not satisfied with what he is, what he has (though a man of position). The Ashram shows him the way to his higher possibilities for which is the yearning of his heart and soul." To quote the Master:

"...If only sattwic and cultured men come for Yoga, men without very much of the vital difficulty in them, then, because the* difficulty of the vital element in terrestrial nature has not been faced and overcome, it might well be that the endeavour would fail...Those in the Ashram come from all quarters and are of all kinds; it cannot be otherwise."⁷

That way alone can the problems of life be solved in a cosmic way. That is why this Yoga cannot be done by shutting oneself in a Himalayan cave but only in the midst of life as we live it.

Here it must be kept in mind that Sri Aurobindo Ashram is no hermitage nor a peace-retreat for deserters from life. Rather it is a nursery of divine life, a place from which the Light of the life divine radiates. To quote the Mother:

"It is not from disgust for life and people that one must come to Yoga. It is not to run away from difficulties that one must come here. It is not even to find sweetness of love and protection, for the Divine's love and protection is everywhere if one takes the right attitude.

"When one wants to give oneself totally in service to the Divine, to consecrate oneself totally to the Divine's work, simply for the sake of the joy of giving oneself and of serving without asking for anything in exchange, except the possibility of consecration and service, then one is ready to come here and will find the doors wide open."

7. Letters of Sri Aurobindo, Second Series, p. 466.

Page-62

' A question used to haunt a boy's mind : "Why was I born, what is the purpose of life, who created this world and why ? Is it all a dream ?"

While turning over the pages of Alipore Bomb Case in his brother's office he lighted upon the portrait of Sri Aurobindo. The whole of the boy's family had a spiritual bent and were devoted to a yogin who was a great Sanskrit scholar and poet. This yogin had been in touch with the Light of Sri Aurobindo. The boy's brother had known of the Ashram through this scholar-yogin. What the boy heard from the yogin kindled in him a hidden flame and he expressed his desire to enter into the Ashram life.

His brothers, well-placed in life, persuaded him not to be precipitous in his decision. Let his academic career be over, let his decision take root and then he might take the leap into the unknown. This took two years; during this period the boy added B. Com to his B. A. His correspondence with the yogin disciple grounded him well in the teachings of Sri Aurobindo. Now was the time for him to embark upon the journey. His mother, far from raising her voice in opposition, served as a tonic.

The turning of the boy was most natural, as if the soul had purposely come on earth for a realisation. He had to make practically no struggle to loosen the ties of the world. Though he had at his disposal all that the world could give and he could rise high in life and have a beauty of his choice by his side, yet all such prospects held no charm for him.

When sixteen, the boy had lost his father who had left him a share in his property. Those were the days when no one would keep anything for his own for the future after being accepted by the Ashram and the boy not only offered himself but all he had, his soul, his life, his talents and his earthly resources. Here comes to mind the Mother's saying : "Some give their soul to the Divine, some their life, some offer their work, some their money. A few consecrate all of themselves and all they have—soul, life,

Page-63

work, wealth; these are the true children of God. Others give nothing—these whatever their position, power and riches are for the divine purpose valueless cyphers."

Let us now see how men of different professions, different swabhavas and swadharmas, natures and capacities, are represented here. In "the ordinary Karmayoga...the sadhak chooses his own work but offers it to the Divine".⁸ We prefer to offer ourselves into the hands of the Mother, leave behind what we want and set in front what She wants. She alone knows our capacities and potentialities and the service the Divine demands of each of us, of our individual nature. That is why we see a lawyer or a principal of a college sweeping the Ashram premises or a doctor washing vessels in the dining room with alacrity to get rid of ego-sense. D, though in charge of a number of activities and of the Ashram cash, spends a great part of his energy in dusting and sweeping. Debesh Das, a well-known litterateur and a high official, writes: "During working hours even graduates take part in all sorts of humble work like the washing of linen..."

Regarding educated men's taking up humble work, the Master wrote in reply to a question: "...they are content to be of use in the small and obscure work of the Ashram without figuring before the public in something big. What is important now is to get the true consciousness from above, get rid of the ego (which nobody has yet done) and learn to be an instrument of the Divine Force."

Another singular feature of the Ashram is that new capacities develop, of themselves, by the Grace of the Mother. It has been the experience of some that if the Mother calls upon one to do a certain work unknown to him, she gives him the capacity too.

Formerly, the Ashram clothes were cleaned by a local washerman. Every month his bill rose higher and higher. A young man offered to do the work in the Ashram. There was a time when because of scarcity of soap, oil-stained linen from the kitchen

8. On Yoga II, Tome One, p. 651.

Page-64

was washed with ash. He knew soap-making as well, so he was asked to take up both laundry work and soap-making. Now every month more than 30,000 pieces are washed in the laundry. Soap-making has been taken over by an experienced chemist.

Another instance. S knew paper-making and dyeing. He started to make paper and to dye the shorts of the J.S.A.S.A. members. When this department had made enough progress he handed it over to his assistant and started making earthenware pots; thus pottery found a place in the Ashram. The Ashram no longer depends on the market for the hundreds of jars (Kujas) and flower-pots that it needs.

Paper-making has now grown into a well-organised department and goes by the name of Hand-made Paper Department. A large area called the Industrial Garden has been allotted for this purpose.

There is something interesting about S. He belonged to the Swadeshi days and was one of the co-workers of Sri Aurobindo in his revolutionary activities. On his return from the Andamans he came to see Sri Aurobindo. In his first letter he wrote : "I want freedom (for India) and not God."

When he was permitted to settle down, his youngest son was two and a half years old. Now he is in Germany where he has successfully completed his training in Physiotherapy. S, his father, introduced into the Ashram houses the use of the septic tank— a welcome change for all.

Cottage Industries, now a big establishment, has also grown from a very small beginning. A man came seeking a job; he knew only mat-making. Given some scope he made a mat for a sample. It was found cheaper than what "Prosperity" had to pay. It served as the nucleus for the growth of other industries now forming The Cottage Industries Department.

In the last week of every month the inmates write their needs on a printed chit and they are supplied on the first of every month

Page-65

by "Prosperity." To meet the needs of dress and foot-wear, there are tailoring and shoe-making departments. When there was a great demand for shoes, a sadhak set himself to learn how to make them. Now he supplies 800 pairs of leather sandals per year for our use.

Formerly, the Mother used to sign the "Prosperity" chits. They are issued only to those that are accepted as permanent members. Once a sadhak in his very first chit asked for as many as 30 items and all were given to him. As a contrast another sadhak for months together prayed only for blessings and nothing else, and he had them from the Mother in writing every time. He is now the head of several departments, whereas the former could not stand the discipline of Ashram life for long and left. The Ashram is "a spiritual laboratory" and all sorts of elements are represented here.

To quote Dr.G.Monod-Herzon of the University of Rennes : "...Almost all professions are represented there : cultivators, smiths, poets, mechanics, musicians and writers, artists and accountants. All is found there, and everyone, as in an ideal republic, pursues his activities with joy. This joy is an essential character. It is so true, so strong that even when one passes a disciple in the street, one may be struck by it. They are happy people.

"...everyone carries out an activity which corresponds to his true nature, to the law of his own being. It is not rare to see a newly-arrived disciple change his calling. One who was a singer becomes an accountant, the bourgeois a musician, the professor a poet, the official a peasant.

"These changes are never the result of tests, aptitude examinations, but always the fulfilment of an inner desire, of an urge which is the way of the true being seeking to harmonise its external activities with its own deepest reality...

"This multiplicity of activities poses numerous technical questions, and the Ashram solves them in a manner contrary to what is done normally. For instance, it is the normal way for us first to

Page-66

establish a laundry and then to look for a laundry-man but here it is done just the other way round. It is because a disciple shows a pronounced inclination towards an activity that a scope is given to it.

"In this way, the Ashram has started, one after another, workshops for carpentry and furniture-making; for mechanics, a smithy; a bakery; a laundry, a farm, a press. In each and every one of these enterprises the work of management and supervision is entrusted to disciples. It is they also who form a good part of the labour, the rest being taken from workmen from outside."⁹

Art and Yoga

Always she drives the souls to new attempt...

That a diviner Force might enter life...¹⁰

Instances of the Mother's "drive" to young souls and their wonderful efflorescence are too numerous for the space here. We shall mention only four. This will further demonstrate to what extent life in the Ashram is varied, and what is being done for an all-round development of the youngsters.

For R music is a means of self-dedication. The Mother encouraged him, listening to his music once a fortnight. Sri Aurobindo once remarked that R would have been a great musician but he did not apply himself to it.¹¹ He has poured out his feelings in numerous poems. He has a whole file of poems corrected by Sri Aurobindo. He has been working on a poem, Lotus Flame, of 25000 lines.

He was the first boy to be allowed to enter the life of the Ashram. When his father sought permission for him, then only nine years old, Sri Aurobindo wrote to the effect that they (he and the Mother) did not admit children, but R could come; they

9.Mother India, August 15, 1949, p. 11.

10.Savitri, pp. 403, 416.

11.Mother India, July 1966.

Page-67

would see what could be done. His first visit to the Ashram was in 1929, but at that time he was not allowed into the Ashram premises.

He would remain sitting by the window with hungry eyes fastened on the road along which the Mother would have a drive. She ordered a small chair and a table to be prepared for him. He was allowed to stay in 1930. His student life began with Nolini's help.

Although his natural tendency is towards literature, it is the artistic side of life that gives him the real joy. "Art for me is Yoga." says he.

If the Mother finds an opening in one, say, to music or painting, She gives him all encouragement to develop that particular faculty fully. Who knew that P, a product of our Centre of Education, would go to the Sorbonne for a doctorate in Literature with a French Government scholarship, and have his own composition of music accepted in a French University Orchestra, and have an audience with the Pope. (February 8,1967).

When the Cardinal introduced P as an Indian, the Pope told him of his deep love for the Indian people. At the end he added, "You are a poet. Poets are so different. The Lord is always with poets."

At the age of eleven when P came to the Ashram his very sight evoked the Mother's compassion, for fate had denied him the use of the right leg. He could not walk a step without crutches. She told the Director of Physical Education, Pranab, "P's vital is full of energy but how will he be able to utilize it ? If he can develop love of learning and artistic capacity it will be well." He is now well on the way to fulfilling the Mother's wishes.

Nirod writes, "Sri Aurobindo said, in the Ashram atmosphere a creative force was in action that could serve anyone's aspiration to be a poet or an artist."¹² The exhibition of H's paintings, opened on 10-2-1967, is an illustration of this statement. Could it

12. Mother India, February, 1967.

Page-68

be imagined that she would blossom into a symbolic painter and develop 470 pictures largely from the pencil sketches of the Mother and depict the whole of Savitri ? Each picture, with its corresponding verse quoted below, made it so impressive that it inspired meditation.

There is a perfection of their own in these pictures which owed little to outside help. Those who are gifted with an inner eye can see in them "some of the realities which are still invisible to the physical eyes", as the Mother puts it.

The passages of Savitri portrayed have been rendered into orchestral music by S. The Mother has given to H a new eye to visualise Savitri. Has S also been given an inner ear ? He seems to be rising from peak to peak in his creative activities.

Before he came here he loved music but could hardly dream he would be able to compose anything worth the name.

His own words speak for him : "Some twenty years ago I heard for the first time the Mother improvising on her organ. In the beginning the music sounded strange to me. It was neither Indian nor Western or shall I say that it sounded like both ?

'The theme She was playing came very near to what we know as 'Bhairon', the whole closely knit musical structure expanding melodiously. Then suddenly it started: notes came surging up in battalions, piled one on top of another, deep, insistent, coming as if from a long way down and welling up inevitably: the magnificent body of sound formed and gathered volume till it burst into an illumination that made the music an experience.

'Thus She revealed to me the secret of a magic world of music where harmonies meet and blend to make melodies richer, wider, profounder and infinitely more powerful...I have tried to take my music from Her.

"My music is my labour and my aspiration for the Divine and what I try to convey through it are the voices of my inner experience.

"The source of my music is the Mother, its expression or form

Page-69

is the Mother's but in substance it reveals my own experience. For these I am immensely grateful to Her."

Music is not S's only love. He is a mathematician of a high order. B who recently had his first class first in B.Sc. (Hons.) from St. Andrew's University of Scotland, is all praise for him. He says it is S who has made him.

S had discerned B's brilliance in his infancy. There is something amusing in their first contact. S had been to see one of the performances by our school-children. By his side he found B with his father. Someone cracked a joke with the boy, "You too would be a chemist like your father ?"

"Why not ?"

"Good ! Hope you will invent some pill, one of which will be enough to make the stomach full!"

"Oh! that I can do even now. Only it will be as big as a ball." came his smart answer.

B says he came here when he was four. Sri Aurobindo once sent him a copy of his Brain of India. He could not make out why he had sent him that book.

"He will understand later on", came the Master's reply. He joined the Ashram when he was six in 1946. At the age of 23 he went abroad for higher studies and a second time for his Ph.D.

Regarding S he has said, "I have not met such a teacher even in England. Whatever subject he taught went home to the student."

On the other hand, S said about himself that he was a hard task-master. But the good that his strict and exacting method did to his students was gratefully appreciated afterwards when they grew up. An example of mutual love and collaboration between teacher and taught!

The Art of Writing and Yoga

"Art is a means, not an end, it is a means of expression. The personality of an artist counts no longer; he is an agent, a

Page-70

channel, his art a means of expressing his relations with the Divine. If you consider in this light, art is not very different from yoga."

"...If they are true artists...and use their art for the expression of the inner world they grow in consciousness by their concentration on the subject."

THE MOTHER

For the sadhak as author, writing is no mere display of art, it is not meant to show off the power of the pen. It is a dedication to the Divine, an approach to Him—an offering of the capacity received from the Divine back to the Divine. What flows from the pen may be a way of worship, a stream flowing from the heart to pour on the head of Shiva. The purer the heart, the purer the stream.

The benediction it earns from Shiva is no less elevating than what is received in meditation. Here it takes the form of the joy of creation.

When J obtained the Mother's sanction to present Sri Aurobindo's thought on the Veda in simple Sanskrit, he felt the work was not for intellectual enjoyment but an act of offering. The feeling of offering grew more intense when his pen ran with ease and the work was not a laboured and strenuous process. Whenever there was a snag, he would resort to concentration and some help or hint came which gave the work a fresh start.

When a child, J used to dream that he would write a commentary on the Veda. Who knew that his dream would one day begin to fulfil itself in such an auspicious way ?

He always stood first in every subject and was an ideal student. He took a vow of celibacy in his student life and has maintained it all through.

To be a real artist, says the Mother, "needs hard labour for years together."

But "it is possible...there may be an opening of new capacities

Page-71

of mental creation...by the miraculous touch of the Yoga-Shakti. Aesthetic feeling, the power of artistic creation in one field or many fields together, ...any power of eye or ear or hand or mind-power may awaken where none was apparent before. The Divine within may throw these latent riches out from the depths in which they were hidden or a Force from above may pour down its energies to equip the instrumental nature for the activity or the creation of which it is meant to be a channel..."¹³

What capacity is developing in whom in the Ashram, only the Mother can say. The marvel of her working is perhaps more visible on the surface in children than in grown-ups. There are various aspects of this development. One of these is the New Age Association. For its every quarterly seminar the subject chosen by the Mother is generally linked with the practical aspect of the sadhana. How easy and spontaneous appear the answers of those who have had the privilege of being in the Ashram atmosphere from their very childhood! Looking at some of them one is led to believe that the seeds of inner strength that were scattered in their life have not fallen on desert sand.

In the words of the Master : "...they who are predestined receive the help of the inner guide. At the right moment they come across the book they should read or the person who can give them the right indication..."

To give an illustration: A student of the Centre of Education in the most critical period of his life needed help with techniques for art and guidance in the use of colours and materials. A German artist happened to visit the Ashram. Not only did he give him all the guidance he needed but also all his personal equipment. Several artists have commented on the excellence of his work.

So many students have flowered into good artists in the course of two or three years.

13. The Synthesis of Yoga,

Page-72

We are enjoined: "All should be done quietly from within— working, speaking, reading, writing as part of the real conscious-ness—not from the ordinary consciousness."

These lines appeared to X intensely revealing and he put his whole heart and mind into applying them to life-works. But besides intense thinking he could do nothing. However he tried, he could not keep the mind concentrated at the time of writing. A few days after, even the lines slipped away from memory and not even a trace of them could be retained.

One question rose in his mind again and again :

The power of concentration may help one to remain withdrawn while at work but how could it be possible in brain work— how can the mind remain concentrated when it has to take active part in thinking, observing, discussing and at the same time remain engrossed in hundreds of activities ? If the memory is not retentive how to profit by reading ?

The answer to this question can be found in the Master's life.

The secret of secrets in Yoga is to know how to make the higher Forces work instead of "doing all by the mind's effort."

The ordinary method is ninety-eight percent perspiration, two per cent inspiration. Almost the same was the method of D. Before embarking on a venture he would read a thousand pages.

A Sadhika took up writing because it afforded her an opportunity to make an offering of her capacity, her tapasya at the feet of the Mother.

S would lay open his heart in prayer, "May every word that may flow from the pen be a flower of worship! May I feel Thy touch in all I do."

N would concentrate and concentrate till the pen made a move. On this point one recalls another saying of the Master : "If the power of concentration and attention is continuously cultivated, the active external consciousness will allow only those thoughts that are needed and then they become all the more dynamic and

Page-73

effective. And if, in the intensity of concentration, it is necessary not to think at all, all mental vibration can be stopped and an utmost total silence secured. In this silence one can open gradually to the higher mental regions and learn to record the inspiration that comes from there.

"The art of giving rest to one's mind is a thing to be acquired. Changing mental activity is a way of rest; but the greatest possible rest lies in silence."

Experience confirms that making the mind thoughtless when one waits in a "sort of listening expectancy" as one awaits the visit of a dear guest, being quiet, very quiet, without a ripple of thought, then some idea, some new thought or a line comes floating before the eyes or shoots forth from within. As one makes a note of it, one finds that the pen moves effortlessly without one's thinking, without one's knowing what the next word would be. Of course such instances are very rare. All this relates to the preliminary stage; still there is the danger of taking the voice of the mind for the voice of the Divine. Hence we are asked to be ever "watchful".

When nothing comes one must wait in patience and remember : "If the Force wants to express anything through you hereafter or not, is a thing you should leave to the Divine Will; once you give yourself into its hands in the true consciousness, it will know what to do or not to do through you and will make full use of whatever instrumentation you can put at its disposal."¹⁴

P, a young Swiss, has been translating Savitri into German. He has already done two-thirds of the epic. It is an immense help, he says, that his mind is thus always concentrated in higher thoughts and influences by mantric vibrations. Even when stirring out he keeps thinking over one or two difficult lines.

Sometimes he broods for hours and hours over one single line; sometimes pages flow almost without effort into translation.

14. On Yoga II, Tome One, p. 682.

Page-74

Whatever is beautiful and natural in turn and rhythm, he feels given by Sri Aurobindo's and the Mother's Grace.

He has tried out many extreme possibilities of his language and is now nearer to a natural mastery. His ideal is to become absolutely open, without any thought in the mind, to the inspiration of Savitri which is above the human tongue and can to a certain extent be drawn into any language—English of course having been the most rich and plastic at hand and brought by Sri Aurobindo's master touch to a blossoming which seems to be the highest culmination possible to the tongue.

The Mother allowed him, his wife R and children to come to Pondicherry—not so the authorities concerned. To the question why the visa had been refused, the Consul answered : "We have enough people in India who don't do anything but look at the stars." And further : "You are young, full of life, what do you want in India ? It is poor, and dirty !"

By the Mother's Grace, however, they got the visa after 18 months. In the meantime, when R was working, P was reading, among other books by Sri Aurobindo and the Mother, The Human Cycle, The Synthesis of Yoga, Prières et Méditations, The Life Divine, at least 12 hours daily and telling R what he had read. When after The Life Divine, P thought he would no more read any book, all questions having been answered, he started translating Savitri. It was while he was waiting for the Visa. At that time he could hardly read this epic and he took up the translator's role in order to come to grips with the uncommon poetry and be able to understand it. But he never thought of continuing the work in the Ashram and was ready to carry out anything the Mother would give him. She gave him as his first work here the translating of this very epic.

One minute after receiving the visa, P went straight to book the passage, without having the money to pay for it. But this difficulty was as marvellously solved by the Mother as

Page-75

everything else.

P says : "We feel that we have been guided by the Divine who had prepared us and brought us together at the right moment and cut through all apparent impossibilities, inner and outer. We are entirely happy in the Ashram, and what a joy it is to see how the children are growing up and learning to find the truth of their own being. I feel an inner Beauty and Truth everywhere here and it is evident that the Day is approaching when there will be nothing but Harmony, even outwardly. We are infinitely grateful to the Mother and Sri Aurobindo."

P says that he is not P, as he feels his personality realised so far to be foreign to him just as much as his name. The Mother, however, has promised him : "Je te donnerai ton nouveau nom plus tard" ("I shall give you your new name later"). So he waits, and in the meantime he hopes that into his work of translating Savitri may flow something of what he really is and, by the Grace, will one day become even in the most external being.

All the facts of his life are, if at all, of importance to him inasmuch only as they finally brought him "to this most blessed spot on the earth."

When D expressed his desire to stop writing poetry, the Master wrote in a persuasive vein :

"It is a mistake to do so out of asceticism or with the idea of tapasya. One can stop these things when they drop themselves, because one is full of experience and so interested in one's inner life that one has no energy to spare for the rest. Even then, there is no rule for giving up; for there is no reason why poetry etc. should not be part of sadhana...

"It (the vital) has the joy of creation and there is nothing spiritually wrong in creative action."¹⁵

To write anything great, "...One has to have the passage clear

15. On Yoga

Page-76

between the outer mind and something in the inner being."¹⁶ Now, what is meant by art of living ? And has it anything to do with Yoga?

Art of Living and Yoga

The art of living does not comprise only the aesthetic sense; the inner being must be made beautiful first so that the outer might reflect it and add beauty to all one does, to all one sets his hands to. Even those who have plenty do not know how to lead a happy and contented life. Mere collection and possession of things does not make life opulent and luminous.

Leading a comfortable life is also not enough. One may have all the luxuries of life but if there is no "inner rest", inner peace, nothing will make life a joyous living.

Here begins the role of yoga. Its first demand is to clear all the rubbish that has accumulated within for ages and to make room for all that is good, and beautiful. If the inner is pure it will breathe its own atmosphere and lend charm and sweetness to all one is and all one does.

Yoga teaches how to live in peace. Only he who is free from tension, free from worry, can live in peace. How little is man's capacity to enjoy life ! It is only the gods who know how to lead a happy and joyous life. Because they are masters of their own house and not slaves of passion like us. How can he who is a slave in his own house expect happiness for himself ?

So long as one lives in darkness, breathes in darkness, acts in darkness, one is bound to be in conflict not only with his own nature but with those with whom he has to deal. Yoga brings light into life and a rhythm which makes life sweet and beautiful.

Let the Divine shine in your life, then see what changes take place in you. It is open to all to make an experiment and discover for himself what reward yoga offers to life.

16. Sri Aurobindo Came to Me, Dilip Kumar Roy, p. 219.

Page-77

It is often asked, "Can Sri Aurobindo's Yoga solve the riddle that is man's life ? How does his Yoga affect our day-to-day life ? Has his Yoga a place in social, political, economical fields of the country ?"

The Master has written volumes on the subject. We shall only touch the point in our humble way.

The eye of the modern world is on the economical aspect of an undertaking, whatever its sphere; even politics to-day is dominated by economics.

We make big plans but in the long run some flaw or other shows itself. Why ? Because it was done by one who had no true vision, no capacity to read the turn of the future.

At present our destiny is in the hands of politicians. Their actions are directed by the light of the mind which is a seat of Ignorance. Consequently, however sincere they may be in their attempts to do good to others, to the country or to the world, they can be no source of peace and harmony for all. Sri Aurobindo asserts : "...so long as man has not come within measurable distance of self-knowledge and has not set his face towards it, he cannot escape from the law of external compulsion and all his efforts to do so must be vain. He is and always must be so long as that lasts, the slave of others, the slave of his family, his caste, his clan, his Church, his society, his nation; and he cannot but be that and they too cannot help throwing their crude and mechanical compulsion on him, because he and they are the slaves of their own ego, of their own lower nature."¹⁷

If the man at the helm is one endowed with vision and open to Truth, whatever his field of action, he will be able to do the right thing in the right way, And as his words will carry weight there will be far less chance of discontent and disharmony.

The same principle holds good in our day-to-day life, be it political, social or economical. For instance, if an engineer has at

17. The Human Cycle, p. 319.

Page-78

least, some higher faculties his work is likely to be much less faulty. If over and above he has a psychic opening he will be guided not only at the critical moments of his life but at every step. Experience confirms that true reliance on the Divine not only facilitates an automatic arrangement of things but can give even a difficulty a favourable turn. Moments are not rare when a clear guidance comes like a whisper of God. But it is not easy to arrive at this stage. How to reach this stage is the work that is going on in the Ashram under the Mother's unfailing guidance. The pity is that we are not able to draw much from "her rich store."

Of all the marvel and beauty that are hers

Only a darkened little we can feel.

Page-79