Contents :

Table des Matières:

The Synthesis of Yoga

The Yoga of Self-Perfection

The Elements of Perfection

— Sri Aurobindo

La Synthèse des Yogas

Le Yoga de la Perfection de Soi

Les Éléments de la Perfection

— Sri Aurobindo

Sri Aurobindo Says

Sri Aurobindo:

Conversations with Pavitra

The Tale of Satyavan and Savitri

Sri Aurobindo:

Thoughts and Aphorisms

Questions and Answers

Notes on the Way

(Translation)

—The Mother

Sri Aurobindo a dit

Sri Aurobindo:

Conversations avec Pavitra

L'Histoire de Satyavan et de Savitri

Sri Aurobindo:

Pensées et Aphorismes

Entretiens

Notes sur le Chemin

(Original) 

 — La Mère

Sri Aurobindo

Correspondence with Nirodbaran

Sri Aurobindo

Correspondance  avec Nirodbaran

Report on the Quarter

Rapport Trimestriel

Illustrations

detachment and steady rejection and reliance on the Mother's force, this obstinacy can be overcome and the cup emptied for filling with the Divine Light.

(15-1-1937)

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In itself this emptiness and quietude free from all anxiety or trouble or thought about people or things is not a bad sign or an undesirable state. It is a state of what the Yogins call udāsīnatā, a separateness from all things and indifference, an untroubled neutral quietude. In many Yogas it is considered a very advanced and desirable condition — a state of liberation from the world, though not yet of realisation of the Divine, — but they consider it a necessary passage to realisation. In our Yoga it is only a passage through which one arrives at a more positive spiritual calm consciousness in which all experiences and all realisations become possible.

(12-3-1937)

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Every sadhak has by nature certain characteristics which are a great obstacle on the way of the sadhana, these remain with obstinacy and can only be overcome after a very long time by an action of the Divine from within. Your mistake is — not to have these defects, others have defects of anger, jealousy, envy etc. very strongly and not only have them within but show them very openly — but to accept it as a reason for despair and the wish to go away from here. There is absolutely no meaning in going away, for nothing would be gained by it. One does not escape from what is within oneself by changing place, it follows and reproduces itself under other circumstances and among other surroundings. To go away and die does not solve anything either; for one's being and nature do not end with death, they continue. The only way to get rid of them is to throw them out and the only place where you can get rid of them is here. Here, if you remain, a time is sure to come when these things will go out of you. The suffering it causes cannot cease by going out — it can only cease by

Il y a quelque vérité dans ce que vous dites au sujet de la "coupe vide" — il est nécessaire que la conscience soit plus ou moins vidée des vieilles choses avant que quoi que ce soit de positif puisse s'établir. C'est ce qui arrive dans votre conscience physique, les vieux mouvements sont en train de se vider et tout devient tranquille, mais ils se reprécipitent et la coupe doit être vidée d'une façon répétée. Si le rejet est ferme et persistant, le retour répété des vieux mouvements cessera d'être si persistant, les périodes de tranquillité et l'intensité de la tranquillité grandiront, jusqu'à ce que la paix et la quiétude s'établissent d'une façon permanente.

Cependant, il n'est pas vrai que toute la nature doive être vidée des vieilles choses avant que la Lumière et la Grâce puissent venir. D'habitude, le vidage se fait en différentes parties de la nature, à différents moments. Vous aviez vos dernières expériences parce que le mental et le vital supérieurs étaient suffisamment vidés et tranquilles pour recevoir certaines expériences de la nouvelle conscience. Maintenant, c'est le mental physique, le vital physique et le corps qui doivent être vidés — ceux-ci prennent plus de temps que les autres parce que le physique est plus plein de vieilles habitudes, plus lent à recevoir quoi que ce soit de nouveau ou à changer. Mais par le détachement, par un rejet régulier et la confiance en la force de la Mère, cette obstination peut être surmontée et la coupe vidée pour s'emplir de la Lumière divine.

(15-1-1937)

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Ce vide et cette quiétude sans anxiété ni trouble ni pensée des gens ou des choses ne sont pas en eux-mêmes un mauvais signe ni un état indésirable. Cet état est appelé oudâsînatâ par les yogi, c'est une séparation de toutes choses et une indifférence, une quiétude neutre et non troublée. Dans la plupart des yoga, cette condition est considérée comme très avancée et très désirable — un état de libération du monde, bien que ce ne soit pas encore un état de réalisation du Divin —, et on le considère comme un passage nécessaire pour arriver à la réalisation. Dans notre yoga, c'est seulement un passage qui permet d'arriver à une calme conscience

the inner cause being removed or else by your drawing back from them and realising your true self which even if they rise would not be troubled by them and would refuse to regard them as part of itself—this liberation too can only come here by sadhana.

(24-5-1937)

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As for the sadhana, it is not that you have no capacity, but what has happened to many has happened to you — the physical consciousness has risen up and veiled the psychic which was about to come forward. It has risen up with the insistence on the value of its own small ignorant ideas and feelings and refusing to let them go. When the psychic comes forward, all that falls away progressively from the consciousness and larger and more enlightened movements replace them. But usually before that happens, these things rise up and control the consciousness for a while. This state need not be a permanent condition and if one sees clearly and rejects them consciously, then it can be got over more quickly — but even if it lasts a long period, it can in the end be overcome and that is happening to many now. Naturally, the physical consciousness persuades the mind that it is everlasting and cannot be got over; but that is not true.

(21-5-1937)

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This negation is the very nature of the physical resistance and the physical resistance is the whole base of the denial of the Divine in the world. All in the physical is persistent, obstinate, with a massive force of negation and inertia — if it were not so, sadhana would be extremely cursory. You have to face this character of the physical resistance and conquer it however often it may rise. It is the price of the transformation of the earth-consciousness.

(Letters on Yoga, II, 529)

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spirituelle plus positive où toutes les expériences et toutes les réalisations deviennent possibles.

(12-3-1937)

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Chaque sâdhak a par nature certaines caractéristiques qui sont un grand obstacle sur le chemin de la sâdhanâ, elles restent avec obstination et ne peuvent être surmontées qu'après très longtemps, par une action intérieure du Divin. Votre erreur n'est pas d'avoir ces défauts — d'autres ont très fortement des défauts de colère, de jalousie, d'envie, etc., et non seulement ils les ont au fond d'eux-mêmes, mais ils les étalent très ouvertement —, mais l'erreur est d'en faire une raison de désespoir et de vouloir vous en aller d'ici. Partir n'a absolument aucun sens, vous n'y gagnerez rien. On n'échappe pas à ce qui est au-dedans de soi en changeant d'endroit ; les difficultés suivent et se reproduisent en d'autres circonstances et dans un autre milieu. Partir et mourir ne résout rien non plus, car notre être et notre nature ne finissent pas avec la mort — ils continuent. La seule façon de se débarrasser de ces défauts est de les jeter dehors, et le seul endroit où vous puissiez vous en débarrasser, est ici. Ici, si vous restez, un temps viendra certainement où ces choses sortiront de vous. La souffrance qu'elles causent ne peut pas cesser en s'en allant au-dehors — elle ne peut cesser qu'en supprimant la cause intérieure, ou bien en vous retirant de ces choses et en réalisant votre vrai moi qui, même si elles surgissent, ne sera pas troublé et refusera de les considérer comme faisant partie de lui-même — cette libération aussi ne peut venir qu'ici, par la sâdhanâ.

(24-5-1937)

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Quant à la sâdhanâ, il n'est pas vrai que vous n'ayez aucune capacité, mais il vous arrive ce qui est arrivé à beaucoup d'autres : la conscience physique s'est soulevée et a voilé le psychique, qui s'apprêtait à venir en avant. Elle s'est soulevée en insistant sur la valeur de ses petites idées et de ses petits sentiments ignorants et elle refuse de les laisser partir.

Patience, quiet endurance calm resolution to go through to the end and triumph, these are the qualities now required of you — the less spectacular but more substantial of the warrior virtues.

(Letters on Yoga, II, 798)

L'amour divin, l'amour vrai trouve

sa joie et sa satisfaction en lui-même ;

il n'a pas besoin d'être reçu et apprécié,

ni d'être partagé — il aime pour aimer

comme une fleur s'épanouit.

Sentir cet amour en soi, c'est

posséder un bonheur inaltérable.

LA MÈRE

2I.6.I97I

Divine Love, true love finds

its delight and its satisfaction in itself;

there is no need for it to be received and to be appreciated

nor to be shared — it loves for the sake of loving,

even as a flower that blooms.

To feel this love in oneself is to

possess an immutable happiness.

THE MOTHER

21.6.1971  

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(Lettres on Yoga, Il 798)

Sri Aurobindo

Conversations with Pavitra

IX

Monday, October 2, 1926

There is nothing new to say about this last week. The same working goes on. At the evening sitting I feel above the presence of a great peace; it is there but it does not come down, though my mind is quieter also. I suppose it has to come down!

YES, it will.

My thoughts are then seen as happening below. There is not much difference felt between a thought of mine and the voice of somebody else. They all play before me so to say.

Since my coming here my mind has gone through a whole process. Now, I don't feel much inclined towards space and time and towards reading books. The only thing that remains as a part of mental activity is the business of ordinary life. This is sometimes troublesome, however, I generally succeed in keeping it away during meditation.

In the vital I feel the same working. Are there two centres, one below and one above the navel?

The vital centre is at the navel itself. There is a play of forces between this centre and the chest centre. There is a connection between that part and the more physical part of the mind, the material stuff of mind. Below the centre of the navel there is another centre, a vital centre also, which is in connection with life, outward life. The activities of the navel centre

Sri Aurobindo

Conversations avec Pavitra

IX

Lundi 2 octobre 1926

Rien de nouveau à dire cette semaine. Le même mouvement continue. Pendant la séance du soir, je sens au-dessus de moi la présence d'une grande paix; elle est là mais ne descend pas, quoique mon mental soit plus tranquille aussi. Je suppose qu'elle finira par descendre !

OUI, elle descendra.

Mes pensées sont vues, à ce moment-là, comme si elles se produisaient en bas. Je ne sens pas beaucoup de différence entre une pensée de moi et la voix de quelqu'un d'autre. Elles jouent toutes devant moi, pour ainsi dire.

Depuis mon arrivée ici, mon mental a subi tout un processus. Maintenant, je ne m'intéresse plus tellement à l'espace et au temps et à la lecture des livres. La seule chose qui reste de l'activité mentale, ce sont les affaires de la vie ordinaire. C'est parfois gênant, cependant j'arrive en général à les éloigner pendant la méditation.

Dans le vital, je sens le même mouvement. Y a-t-il deux centres, l'un en dessous et l'autre au-dessus du nombril?

Le centre vital est situé au nombril même. Il y a un jeu de forces entre ce centre et celui de la poitrine. Il y a un rapport entre cette partie et la partie physique du mental, l'étoffé matérielle du mental. Au-dessous du centre ombilical, il y a un autre centre, un centre vital aussi, qui est en

may be felt all around the waist. From that centre to Muladhara, all is vital. At Muladhara the vital connects with the physical.

It seems that all these centres become active, though I don't distinguish very well their various activities.

As for the physical consciousness, it appears to me as being somewhere at the level of the mouth?

It may be anywhere. The centres are fixed, but the physical consciousness may be centred anywhere. The fact that it is in connection with the throat centre is a common one. It is the centre of speech and of formulation and most of the vital and physical activities are connected there.

I see the difference. From mulādhāra the force proceeds downwards towards the legs and feet or permeates the whole physical consciousness. But the centre of consciousness, which appears as separate in meditation from the higher consciousness, is felt where I said.

Now there is something I don't understand. When I meditated with Mother last Tuesday the divine force came down. But what is the part of either you or Mother in such a coming down ?

I don't understand !

Well! The divine force comes from inside. How can it be brought down by somebody else? It is not a mere tuning of the vehicles, a quieting of the mind which could be done from outside, but a real call...

The explanation ! ? It is a fact, is it not ?

Yes.

Then that is sufficient.

L'explication ! ? C'est un fait, n'est-ce pas ?

But I meant to say this. Suppose I had not come here, but remained doing yoga elsewhere, I and God would have been the same., but this coming would not have happened. Is there any kind of intermediary centre of divine force, for instance in the spiritual force which is here above?

Even in the case of those who look only for liberation and try to merge into God, such a help from someone who has realised before is generally necessary because the forces of ignorance are too strong. What is trying to come down here is a power for knowledge. In the past, knowledge has been reached also but a different kind of knowledge, a knowledge more abstract. Now it is a knowledge for effectuation, for practical purposes of the human life. That is what is in the spiritual force above. And as you are in touch here with it, it tries to manifest in you.

Mother has spoken of the blue light of Shri Krishna ?

Yes. Krishna is generally depicted as blue. It is his colour. It means that it is one aspect of the Divine. All these colours are aspects of the divine force.

Is it a force of Knowledge?

Not exactly. Knowledge manifests more by a force whose colour is golden. Though it includes many other things.

Then it is a force of divine love.

It is a force of true devotion that raises the psychic being to a pure aspiration. It includes also many things. But names are always limiting. You must not hanker after naming things but see what is behind, realise and know.

Alors, cela suffit.

Mais je voulais dire ceci. Supposez que je ne sois pas venu ici, que je sois allé faire le yoga ailleurs. Dieu et moi nous aurions été les mêmes, mais cette descente Saurait pas eu lieu. Existe-t-il quelque centre intermédiaire de la force divine, par exemple dans la force spirituelle qui est ici, au-dessus ?

Même dans le cas de ceux qui cherchent seulement la libération et essayent de se fondre en Dieu, l'aide de quelqu'un qui a déjà réalisé est nécessaire en général, car les forces de l'ignorance sont trop puissantes. Ce qui essaye de descendre ici, maintenant, c'est un pouvoir de connaissance. Dans le passé aussi, la connaissance a été atteinte, mais c'était une connaissance différente, une connaissance plus abstraite. Maintenant, c'est une connaissance pour réaliser, pour les fins pratiques de la vie humaine. C'est ce qui se trouve dans la force spirituelle ici, au-dessus. Et comme vous êtes ici en contact avec elle, elle essaye de se manifester en vous.

Mère a parlé de la lumière bleue de Shrî Krishna?

Oui. On dépeint généralement Krishna en bleu. C'est sa couleur. Cela veut dire que c'est un aspect du divin. Toutes ces couleurs sont des aspects de la force divine.

Est-ce une force de Connaissance ?

Pas exactement. La Connaissance se manifeste plutôt par une force de couleur dorée. Bien qu'elle inclue beaucoup d'autres choses.

Has it any connection with the historical Krishna?

It does not matter, after all, does it?

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Sunday, October 3, 1926

Interview with Mother

Mother : Do not seek the truth with your mind ! ... All that you have done so far, all that you have learnt ought to be put aside. What holds you back is your education and your mental habits.

A Hindu who had the deep experience you had last time would have drawn knowledge from it. That experience truly would have brought knowledge, it was beautiful enough, wasn't it ? and you felt all its power. But your European mentality came in the way. Your inner being opened, put itself in a receptive attitude which allowed the descent. Instead of trying to reason, plunge into the experience itself.

If I asked a question it was not that my mind was anxious or wanted so much to convert everything into mental terms. My mind has suffered hard blows and it is no longer so exacting. I feel a truth quite close : there is a part in me which knows it. But from time to time a question comes up in my mind, without its attaching much importance to it.

When you put the question to it, it was on the point of speaking. But it cannot speak before the psychic being is open.

If that experience could have brought along the desired change of attitude, all would have been transformed. But that must come, it is bound to come. You are on the eve of that. It depends on your opening to the Divine.

Si j'ai posé une question, ce n'est pas que mon mental soit anxieux ni désire tellement tout transformer en termes mentaux. Mon mental

Next week you may come to the small meditation-room¹. Yea may feel something. That is why I am asking you to come.

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Saturday, October 9, 1926

The pressure bears more upon the mind now. It works at a complete quieting of the mind and for a separation of my consciousness from the workings.

But is it always the mind that is working ?

Yes. I feel in me a consciousness distinct from the mind, behind me, but when working I come again to the mind.

What will happen is that the mind no longer works, but all knowledge comes from above. The mind receives it, of course, but it has no longer to ascertain the truth by reasoning. And the workings, even the most outward like tuition, etc. are directed from above.

Does it mean that the mind is perfectly still ?

The mind is nothing else then but a channel.

Why is it so difficult to bring into my active consciousness the inner experiences ?

Because this consciousness has taken a habitual position, from which

1 The verandah in front of the "Prosperity" hall.

1 La véranda devant la salle de "Prospérité".

it is very difficult to dislodge it. It can be done in two ways. The first is by the mind itself. But it is very slow, especially in cases where the mind has been rigidly trained, and. has worked much. as in Europeans. In most Hindus where the mind is trained differently it is more easy. But this way is also not absolutely secure. When the mind, enlightened, begins to awaken, the vital powers arise. In the practical use of these powers, the mind is capable of making mistakes, and even if it receives the light from above, it may mistranslate the truth. On the other hand, the second way is shorter and surer, it is the opening of the psychic being. It is surer because it knows the truth and if a mistake is made, it feels uneasy until it is set right.

I feel in me some partial awakening of the inner being.

(Smiling) That is true, but it has to come completely forward.

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Tuesday, October 12, 1926

Meditation with Mother at 11-45 a.m.

It is difficult for me to distinguish everything that happens during meditation. I only know that a sweet and powerful and luminous force descends into the vital right up to the physical.

A certain surface activity of the mind always remains. Is it that which prevents me from perceiving clearly?

What is its nature ?

Creative thoughts come and seek to enter in. Sometimes they remain

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without penetrating very deep. At other times I am obliged to throw them out lest they get hold of me.

Yes, that has something to do with it but it is not so important.

The receptivity is good. As soon as you are seated, the force descends and you receive it. What is missing is something in the consciousness. You do not get sufficiently absorbed in the inner experience. If that were so you would return with the full knowledge of what happened.

Between your head and chest a line of light is set up, a column, but not round, a square column so to say, of gleaming light. It is like a cage, the preparation of an abode for what is going to descend.

Yesterday evening, he spoke to you about the four aspects of the supermind, did you follow ? Well, this white light comes from Maheshwari, it is a light of knowledge and purity. It is she who is the great preparer of the yoga. When that is ready generally an aspect of power (Mahakali) descends, which takes a personal form, whilst the force of Maheshwari is impersonal (at least here). I was expecting to see this descent. But the work of preparation was long — of assimilation and cutting off from the exterior, that took almost the whole time. At the same time a third ring separated you as though to cut you off from the world where you lived externally and also from your past. This force comes from Mahalakshmi.

The force of purification is always there now, preparing, regulating. I am always following you though I do not see you physically. As the preparation was very good I thought something would manifest in your consciousness today. But one must not be in too great a hurry, it will come another time.

Before coming here all my meditations were in a wrong direction. Purely mental. I had no idea of what the inner experience was. That is why perhaps I have these difficulties. But perhaps this too was useful after all ?

Yes, as a preparation of the instrument.

But what we are doing here is so different from what people are in

Hier soir, il vous a parlé des quatre aspects du supramental, vous avez saisi ? Eh bien, cette lumière blanche vient de Mahéshwarî, c'est une lumière de connaissance et de pureté. C'est elle qui est la grande préparatrice de ce yoga. Lorsque cela est prêt, en général un aspect de pouvoir (Mahâkâlî) descend, qui prend une forme personnelle, alors que la force de Mahéshwarî est impersonnelle (tout au moins ici). Je m'attendais à voir cette descente. Mais le travail de préparation était long (d'assimilation et d'isolement de l'extérieur), cela a pris presque tout le temps. En même temps, une troisième enceinte vous isolait, comme pour vous séparer

the habit of thinking, even here in India, and so much more in Europe or in ...¹

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October 1926²

Mother : ... in the inner experience.

That I know quite well. Even in meditation my mind remains active, my consciousness often/allows in its train. I go to and fro so to say between the inner and outer movements. I cannot remain for long united with the inner movement. But I hope that when this inner experience becomes more enduring, I shall become more easily absorbed in it. .

At present I have often the feeling of transparency. My mind becomes transparent and thoughts are like little centres of activity in this translucent milieu.

Yes, this is an experience which will develop.

(To be continued)

1 Here, several pages from Pavitra's notebook were torn.

2 The pages containing the beginning of the conversation with Mother were torn.

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du monnde où vous vivez extérieurement et aussi de votre passé. Cette ' force vient de Mahâlakshmî.

La force de purification est toujours là maintenant, préparant, ordonnant. Je vous suis toujours, bien que je ne vous voie pas physiquement. Comme la préparation était très bonne, je pensais que quelque chose se manifesterait dans votre conscience aujourd'hui. Mais il ne faut pas être trop pressé, ce sera pour une fois prochaine.

Avant de venir ici, toutes les méditations que je faisais étaient dans une mauvaise direction. Purement mentales. Je n'avais aucune idée de ce quêtait l'expérience intérieure. C'est pourquoi, peut-être, j'ai ces difficultés. Mais peut-être après tout était-ce aussi utile ?

Oui, comme préparation de l'instrument.

Mais ce que nous faisons ici est tellement différent de ce que les gens ont l'habitude de penser, même ici en Inde, à plus forte raison en Europe ou en...¹

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...octobre 1926²

Mère : ... dans l'expérience interne.

Cela, je le sais bien. Même en méditation mon mental restait actif, ma conscience est souvent entraînée. Je fais la navette, pour ainsi dire, entre le mouvement interne et le mouvement externe. Je ne peux pas rester longtemps uni au mouvement interne. Mais j'espère que

1 Ici, plusieurs pages du cahier de notes de Pavitra ont été déchirées.

2 Les pages du début de cette conversation avec Mère ont été déchirées.

(à suivre)

THE TALE OF SATYAVAN AND SAVITRI

(An unpublished note by Sri Aurobindo)

THE tale of Satyavan and Savitri is recited in the Mahabharata as a story of conjugal love conquering death. But this legend is, as shown by many features of the human tale, one of the many symbolic myths of the Vedic cycle. Satyavan is the soul carrying the divine truth of being within itself but descended into the grip of death and ignorance ; Savitri is the Divine Word, daughter of the Sun, goddess of the supreme Truth who comes down and is born to save ; Aswapati, the Lord of the Horse, her human father, is the Lord of Tapasya, the concentrated energy of spiritual endeavour that helps us to rise from the mortal to the immortal planes, Dyumatsena, Lord of the Shining Hosts, father of Satyavan, is the Divine Mind here fallen blind, losing its celestial kingdom of vision, and through that loss its kingdom of glory. Still this is not a mere allegory, the characters are not personified qualities, but incarnations or emanations of living and conscious Forces with whom we can enter into concrete touch and they take human bodies in order to help man and show him the way from his mortal state to a divine consciousness and immortal life.

L'HISTOIRE de Satyavan et de Savitri est relatée dans le Mahâbhârata comme une histoire de l'amour conjugal à la conquête de la mort. Mais cette légende, comme le montrent de nombreux traits de l'histoire humaine, est l'un des nombreux mythes symboliques du cycle védique. Satyavan est l'âme qui porte en soi la vérité d'être divine mais qui est descendue dans l'étreinte de la mort et de l'ignorance. Savitri est la Parole Divine, fille du Soleil, déesse de la Vérité suprême, qui descend sur terre et naît pour sauver. Ashwapati, le Seigneur des Coursiers, père humain de Savitri, est le Seigneur de la Tapasyâ, l'énergie concentrée de l'effort spirituel qui nous aide à nous élever du plan mortel aux plans immortels. Dyoumatséna, Seigneur des Troupes Brillantes, père de Satyavan, est le Mental divin aveuglé ici-bas qui a perdu le royaume de sa vision céleste, et, par cette perte, son royaume de gloire. Pourtant, ceci n'est point une simple allégorie, et les personnages ne sont pas des qualités personnifiées mais des incarnations ou des émanations de Forces conscientes avec lesquelles on peut entrer concrètement en contact, et elles revêtent un corps humain afin d'aider les hommes et leur montrer le chemin qui conduit de cet état mortel à une conscience divine et à une vie immortelle.

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Sri Aurobindo

Pensées et Aphorismes

(suivis de quelques réponses de la Mère)

197 — Athènes, et non Sparte, représente le type progressiste pour l'humanité. L'Inde ancienne, avec son idéal de vastes richesses et de vastes dépenses, était la plus grande des nations. L'Inde moderne, avec sa tendance à un ascétisme national, est devenue totalement pauvre dans sa vie et elle s'est enfoncée dans la faiblesse et la dégradation.

198 — Ne t'imagine pas que quand tu te seras débarrassé de la pauvreté matérielle, les hommes seront toujours heureux ou satisfaits ni que la société sera débarrassée de ses maux, ses difficultés et ses problèmes. C'est seulement une première nécessité et la plus basse. Tant que l'âme au-dedans reste imparfaitement organisée, il y aura toujours, au-dehors, de l'agitation, du désordre et des révolutions.

CECI est tout à fait évident ; et c'est ce que nous essayons de faire  comprendre aux gens. Une vie assurée et tranquille ne suffit pas à rendre les gens heureux. Il faut le développement intérieur, et la paix qui vient du contact conscient avec le Divin.

13.11.1969

199 — La maladie reviendra toujours dans le corps si l'âme est défectueuse; car les péchés du mental sont la cause secrète des péchés du corps. De même, la pauvreté et les difficultés reviendront toujours dans l'homme en société tant que le mental de l'espèce humaine sera soumis à l'égoïsme.

200 — La religion et la philosophie sont ce qu'il y a de mieux pour délivrer l'homme de son ego ; alors, le royaume

Sri Aurobindo

Thoughts and Aphorisms

(With some answers from the Mother)

197 — Athens, not Sparta, is the progressive type for mankind. Ancient India with its ideal of vast riches and vast spending was the greatest of nations. Modern India with its trend towards national asceticism has fully become poor in life and sunk into weakness and degradation.

198 — Do not dream that when thou hast got rid of material poverty, men will ever so be happy or satisfied or society freed from ills, troubles and problems. This is only the first and lowest necessity. While the soul within remains defectively organised there will always be outward unrest, disorder and revolution.

THIS is quite evident; and it is this that we are trying to make people understand. A safe and quiet life is not sufficient to make people happy. An inner growth is necessary and the peace that comes from a conscious contact with the Divine.

13.11.1969

199 — Disease will always return to the body if the soul is flawed; for the sins of the mind are the secret cause of the sins of the body. So too poverty and trouble will always return on man in society, so long as the mind of the race is subjected to egoism.

200 — Religion and philosophy are best to rescue man from his ego; then the kingdom of heaven within will be spontaneously reflected in an external divine city.

Sri Aurobindo uses the words philosophy and religion so that he may be understood by all. But he knew very well that the effective remedy

203 — L'espèce humaine progresse toujours le plus quand elle affirme le plus son importance par rapport à la Nature, sa liberté et son universalité.

for human egoism lies beyond philosophy and religion in the true spiritual life accepted and lived upon earth by the physical consciousness itself — the thing that will enable it to finally get rid of the ego.

15.11.1969

201 — Mediaeval Christianity said to the race, "Man, thou art in thy earthly life an evil thing and a worm before God ; renounce then egoism, live for a future state and submit thyself to God and His priest." The results were not over-good for humanity. Modern knowledge says to the race, "Man, thou art an ephemeral animal and no more to Nature than the ant and the earthworm, a transitory speck only in the universe. Live then. for the State and submit thyself antlike to the trained administrator and the scientific expert." Will this gospel succeed any better than the other ?

202 — Vedanta says rather, "Man, thou art of one nature and substance with God, one soul with thy fellow-men. Awake and progress then to thy utter divinity, live for God in thyself and in others." This gospel which was given only to the few, must now be offered to all mankind for its deliverance.

There is nothing to add. Sri Aurobindo has said clearly and masterfully first of the evil and afterwards of its remedy. There is nothing else to do but to put into practice what he has taught us.

16.11.1969

203 — The human race always progresses most when most it asserts its importance to Nature, its freedom and its universality.

204 — Animal man is the obscure starting-point, the present natural man, varied and tangled, the midroad, but supernatural man the luminous and transcendent goal of our human journey.

Man gains his full strength for progress when he feels he is no more tied to Nature and limited by her laws.

Nature is only a limited expression of the Divine, whereas man has

25.11.1969

been created to become the conscious expression of the Divine, with all that it means regarding possibilities of power and light.

18.11.1969

205 — Life and action culminate, are eternally crowned for thee when thou hast attained the power of symbolising and manifesting in every thought and act, in art, literature and life, in home and government and society, in wealth-getting, wealth-having or wealth-spending the One Immortal in his lower mortal being.

Doubtless, this is the description of man when he reaches the summit of his being. But it is only the first step of the superman.

24.11.1969

KARMA

Self-development and spiritual aspiration enables one to blaster one's karma.

25.11.1969

To learn is good. To become is better.

25.11.1969

206 — God leads man while man is misleading himself; the higher nature watches over the stumblings of the lower mortality: this is the tangle and contradiction out of which we have to escape into a clear knowledge, the self-unity to which alone is possible a faultless action.

The only safety in life, the only way of escaping from the consequences of one's past errors, is an inner growth making for a conscious union with the Divine Presence, the only effective guide, the Truth of our being and of all beings.

Top

207 —That thou shouldst have pity on creatures is well, but not well, if thou art a slave to thy pity. Be a slave to nothing except to God, not even to His most luminous angels.

For those who want to live according to Truth, the only way is to become conscious of the Divine Presence and to live solely in accordance with His Will.

This is the only way of escaping from evil and suffering, the only way of being always in peace, in light and in delight.

. 26.11.1969

(To be continued)

THE MOTHER

La médiocrité humaine est intolérable.

Nous aspirons a une connaissance qui sait vraiment, a un pouvoir qui peut vraiment, a un amour qui aime vraiment.

LA MÈRE

*

**

Human mediocrity is intolerable.

We aspire for a knowledge truly knowing, for a power truly powerful, for a love that truly loves.

THE MOTHER

Entretiens

Le 14 octobre 1953

"Si le Divin, qui est tout amour, est à la source de la création, d'où proviennent tous les maux qui abondent sur terre ?

"Tout vient du Divin ; mais le Suprême n'a pas fait sortir le monde directement hors de lui-même ; un pouvoir conscient est sorti de lui et s'est répandu à travers beaucoup de gradations descendantes, en passant par beaucoup d'agents. Beaucoup de créateurs, ou plutôt de formateurs, de faiseurs de formes, ont participé à la création du monde. Ce sont des agents intermédiaires, et je préfère les appeler formateurs plutôt que créateurs, car ils n'ont fait que donner à la matière sa forme, son caractère, sa nature. Ils ont été nombreux ; certains ont formé des choses harmonieuses et bienfaisantes, d'autres en ont produit de mauvaises et de malfaisantes. Certains aussi ont été des déformateurs plutôt que des constructeurs, car ils sont intervenus et ont gâté ce qui avait été bien commencé par d'autres."

(Entretiens 1929, p. 136)

Tu dis : "Beaucoup de créateurs, ou plutôt de formateurs, de faiseurs déformes, ont participé à la création du monde." Qui sont ces formateurs?

CELA dépend. On leur a donné beaucoup de noms. Tout s'est fait par échelons et à travers des individualités de tous genres : chaque état d'être est habité par des entités, des individualités et des personnalité et chacun a créé un monde autour de lui ou bien a participé à la formation de certains êtres sur la terre. Les derniers créateurs sont les créateurs du monde vital, mais il y a des êtres du Surmental, ce que Sri Aurobindo appelle Overmind, qui ont créé, qui ont donné des formes, qui ont eu des émanations, et ces émanations ont eu des émanations et ainsi de suite

Questions and Answers

October 14, 1953

"If the Divine who is all love is the source of the creation, whence have come all the evils abounding upon earth?

All is from the Divine; but the One Consciousness, the Supreme has not created the world directly out of itself : a conscient Power has gone out of it and -has descended through many gradations of its workings and passed through many agents. There are many creators or rather 'formateurs', form-makers, who have presided over the creation of the world. They are intermediary agents and I prefer to call them 'formateurs' and not creators, for what they have done is to give the form and turn and nature to matter. There have been many, and some have formed things harmonious and benignant and some have shaped things mischievous and evil. And some too have been distorters rather than builders, for they have interfered and spoiled what was begun well by others."

(Conversations XIII)

You say, "Many creators or rather 'formateurs', form-makers, have presided over the creation of the world." Who are these "formateurs" ?

THAT depends. They have been given many names. All has been done by gradations and through individual beings of all kinds. Each state of being is inhabited by entities, individualities and personalities and each one has created around him a world or has contributed to the formation of certain beings upon earth. The last creators are those of the vital world, but there are beings of the Overmind, as named by Sri Aurobindo, who have created, given forms, sent out emanations, and these emanations again had their emanations and so on. What I wanted to say is that it is

Mauvais ? Ça, je crois que je vous l'ai expliqué une fois : il suffit de ne pas rester sous l'influence directe du Divin et de ne pas suivre le mouvement de création ou d'expansion tel que le veut le Divin ; il suffit de cette, rupture de contact pour que se produise le plus grand des désordres, celui de la division. Eh bien, même les êtres les plus lumineux, les plus puissants,

not the Divine Will that acted directly on Matter to give to the world the required form, it is bypassing through layers, so to say, planes of the world, as for example, the mental plane — there are so many beings in the mental world who are form-makers, who have taken part in the formation of some beings who have incarnated upon earth. In the vital also it is the same.

For example, there is a tradition which says that the whole world of insects is the outcome of the form-makers of the vital world, and that is why they take such absolutely diabolical shapes when they are magnified in the microscope. You saw the other day, when you were shown microbes in water ? Naturally the pictures were made to amuse, to strike the imagination, but they are based on some real forms, but so much magnified that they look monsters. Almost the whole world of insects is a world of microscopic monsters which, had they been in larger dimensions, would have been quite terrifying. So it is said these are entities of the vital world, beings of the vital who created that in fun and in fun formed all these impossible beasts that make human life altogether unpleasant.

Did these intermediaries also come out of the Divine Power?

Through intermediaries, yes, not directly. These beings are not in direct contact with the Divine (there are exceptions, I say as a general rule), they are beings who are in relation with other beings, who are again in relation with others still and so on, in a hierarchy, up to the Supreme.

If they come out of the Divine, why are they evil?

Evil ? That I think I have explained to you once : it is enough just not to remain under the direct influence of the Divine and not to follow the movement of creation or expansion as willed by the Divine, this rupture of contact is enough to produce the greatest of disorders, that of division. Well, even the most luminous, the most powerful beings may choose to follow their own movement instead of obeying the divine movement. And although by themselves they may be wonderful beings and if human beings saw them they would take them for the Divine himself,

1 "Si le Divin, qui est tout amour, est à la source de la création, d'où proviennent tous les maux qui abondent sur terre ?"

they can, because they follow their own will instead of working in harmony with the universe, be the source of very great evils, very great disorders, very great massive obstructions. But the question is improperly put, I laughed just now when I read the question.¹ It is a childish way of saying. The person says : "If God is everything in the world, why are there evil things in the world ?" Now, if that was told to me, I would have simply answered : there is nothing but God, only it is in a disorder. One must try to remedy it — God is not love alone, he is all things, and if that appears to us altogether wrong, it is because it is not arranged properly. So there have been movements of the kind I spoke of.

You may ask why did it happen. Well, certainly it is not the mind that can answer why the thing happened. It happened, that is all. In reality the only thing that concerns us is that it has happened. It is perhaps an accident to begin with .... If you look at the thing from a philosophical point of view, it is evident that the universe in which we live is a movement among many others and this movement follows a law which is its own (and it is perhaps not the same as in others), and if the Will was for a world to be built on the principle of self-choice, of free choice, then you cannot prevent disorderly movements from taking place unless and until the consciousness comes and the choice is enlightened. If you are free to choose, you are free to choose bad things, not necessarily the good, for if it were a thing decided beforehand, it would no more be free choice. When such questions are put, the mind only answers, it reduces the problem, it reduces it to a more or less elementary mental formula, and that corresponds only very vaguely and superficially and incompletely to the reality of things.

To understand, one must become. If you want to understand the why and how of the universe, you must identify yourself with the universe. It is not impossible, but it is not very easy either, particularly for children.

This question was one of the most childish questions that were put — altogether childish : "If He is just, why is there injustice ? If He is good, why is their wickedness ? If He is love, why is there hatred ?" But He is all ! So He is not merely this or that, merely, exclusively this

1 "If the Divine who is all love be the source of the creation, whence have come all the evils abounding upon earth ?"

Mais il y a une seule, unique solution au problème, c'est de ne pas faire de distinction d'origine entre Dieu et l'univers. L'univers est le Divin projeté dans l'espace, et Dieu est l'univers dans son origine. C'est la même chose, sous un aspect ou sous un autre. Et vous ne pouvez pas les diviser. C'est la conception opposée à celle du "créateur" et de son "œuvre".

— He is all. That is to say, to be more correct, one must say all is He. There are notions about creation, spread universally upon earth, that have been accepted more or less for a long time by human mind, that are quite simplistic ! There is "something" (true to say, one does not know what) and then there is a God who puts this something into form and creates the world out of it. So if you have such notions, you have a justifiable right to say to that God : "Well, you have indeed created world, a pretty world of yours !" Although, according to the story, after seven days of labour, he declared that it was very good — but it was good for him; the thing might have amused him immensely, but as for us who are in the world, we do not find it good at all. Well, the conception and the way of saying are altogether childish. It is just like the story of the potter who puts his pot in shape — this God is a human being, formidable in proportions and power, but looks strangely like a man. It is man who has made God in his image, not that God has made man in his image ! So each time a question is put in an incomplete or childish way, it is not possible to give a true answer to it, because the question is badly put. You say, you affirm a thing. But what right have you to assert it. Because you affirm that, you conclude : "Since that is this, how is it that it is so?" But "that is this" is your statement. It does not mean that it is so !

There is only one solution, the only solution — not to make any distinction between God and the universe at the origin. The universe is the Divine projected in space, and God is the universe at its origin. It is the same thing under one aspect or another. And you cannot divide them. It is the conception contrary to that of the "creator" and his "work". Only it is very convenient to speak of the creator and his work. It renders easy the explanations and the teaching quite elementary. But it is not the truth. And then you say : "How is it that God being all-powerful has allowed the world to be such a thing ?". But it is your own conception. It is because you yourself happen to be in the midst of a set of circumstances that appears to you unpleasant, you project that upon the Divine and you tell him : "Why have you made such a world ?" — "I did not do it. It is yourself. If you become again Myself, you will feel no more as you do. What makes you feel as you do is that you are no longer Myself". This is what He could tell you in answer. And the fact is that when

Il y a un moment où toutes ces conceptions paraissent tellement

you succeed in uniting your consciousness with the divine consciousness, there is no more problem. Everything appears quite natural and simple and all right and exactly as that should be. But when you cut yourself away from the origin and stand in front of Him, then truly all goes wrong, nothing can go right !

But if you ask for a logic that pushes things to the extreme end, you question how is it that the Divine has tolerated parts of his own self to be separated from himself and all this disorder to be created ? You may say so. And I would reply : "If you want to know, rather unite yourself with the Divine, for that is the only way of knowing why He has done these things." Not by questioning mentally, for your mind cannot understand. And I repeat, when you reach such an identification, all your problems are solved. And this feeling that things are not all right and that they should be otherwise, is just because there is a divine will for a constant unfolding in perpetual progress and things that were should give place to things that shall be and shall be better than those that were. The world that was good yesterday will no longer be so tomorrow. The whole world that might appear absolutely harmonious and perfect at one time, today it is discordant, no more harmonious, because we can conceive now and see the possibility of a better world. And if we had found it all right we would not have done what we should do, that is to say, make the effort so that it may become better.

There comes a time when all these notions appear so childish ! And that happens solely because one is shut up within oneself; with this consciousness that is your own, that is like a speck of dust in the measureless, you want to know and judge the measureless ? It is an impossibility. You must first of all come out of yourself, and then unite with the measureless and only afterwards you can begin to understand what it is, not before. You project your consciousness — what you are, the thoughts you have, the capacity of understanding you have — you project all that upon the Divine and then say: "That is all wrong". I quite understand ! But there is no possibility of knowing unless you identify yourself. I do not see how, for example, a drop of water could tell you how the ocean is. It is like that.

Mais vous ne vous en rendez pas compte, c'est une chose constante. Par exemple, il y a cette suggestion collective formidable de la mort. Mais comment se libérer de cette idée-là à moins d'être capable de créer

"When one takes up the human body, one accepts along with it a mass of these general suggestions, race ideas, feelings, associations, attractions, repulsions, fears belonging to mankind".

(Conversations XIII)

When one takes up a human body, is it necessary to accept suggestions of fear ?

It seems more inevitable than necessary ! ... You don't even perceive that you are accepting. We said the other day that when a psychic being enters into a body, it is as though it fell on its head — it is somewhat stunned for a time. So during this period it is under the influence of such suggestions without even knowing it. But as soon as it wakes up, it can come out of that, it is not at all bound to accept them. Only one must know that they are suggestions. You must be able to separate yourself from the purely human consciousness, the body consciousness. And once you are able to look at it from above, you can free yourself from these suggestions quite well. You can free yourself from all suggestions, but for that you must rise above them. If that were not possible it would be impossible to do yoga.

But you do not take notice of it, it is a constant thing. For example, take the formidable collective suggestion of death. But how to get rid of that idea unless you are able to create in you an immortal consciousness ? Once you have created in you the immortal consciousness, you can be freed of the suggestion. Otherwise it is not possible. You are not aware of it, because you live in it quite normally — you are full of the movements and ideas belonging to the human race, that are not personal to you at all. You are not aware of them because they are very intimately bound up with your consciousness. But as soon as you can free yourself from this human consciousness, you enter a domain where, for example, life inside the body becomes almost an accident — it can be here, it can be there, it can be over there — you are not tied to the body. You look at it and you say : it is almost an accident (it may be also a choice, but most often it is an accident). Then, from that moment you are no more tied down, for you are conscious in a being that is not merely, exclusively human. But till that moment you are not even aware of the thing. You

1 Peut-être s'agit-il de l'Aphorisme suivant de Sri Aurobindo, cité dans la revue Advent du mois d'août 1953 : "La logique est le pire ennemi de la Vérité, de même que le pharisaïsme est le pire ennemi de la vertu, car l'une est incapable de voir ses propres erreurs, et l'autre, ses propres imperfections." (Thoughts and Aphorisms, n^o 45)

have no means of becoming aware. And if you come to the purely mental domain, there are such strong ideas ; for example, infinity cannot be within the finite, or that what begins must have an end — such ideas that seem wonderfully luminous, that are idiocies. But all that belongs to the collective human mentality and there is nothing more difficult to drive it out of the head of people who think they are very clever.... Perhaps you have not yet faced those problems, because you have not yet begun studying philosophy, but when you begin you will see. All that they will tell you as deathless verities which must not be touched ! It is nonsense. One day I would like ... (turning towards Nolini) You have not the Advent here ? It is in the Advent, that text of Sri Aurobindo. One day we will translate together that from English into French. He has made a wonderful reflection upon logic and reason¹.... And all that never crossed your mind : that they are collective suggestions and one must come out of them. Not only does it not appear to you as slavery, but it appears to you, on the contrary; as an illumination. Well, not at all.

Mother, sometimes we have a great fear. What should we do in such a case?

Ah ! that depends on the nature of the fear. Is it a fear without a cause, or is it based on a cause ? Because the remedy diners.

It is based on a cause.

Ah ! For example, when someone is sick, you have the fear of catching the sickness ...

1 Perhaps the reference is to the following Aphorism of Sri Aurobindo quoted in the Advent of August I953.

"Logic is the worst enemy of Truth, as self-righteousness is the worst enemy of virtue, for the one cannot see its own errors nor the other its own imperfections."

: (Thoughts and Aphorisms)

Douce Mère, quelquefois nous avons très peut. Que faut-il faire dans  ces cas-là ?

Ah ! cela dépend de la nature de la peur. Est-ce une peur sans cause, est-ce une peur fondée sur une cause ? — Parce que le remède diffère.

C'est fondé sur une cause.

Ah !... Far exemple, quand quelqu'un est malade, on a peur d'attraper la maladie ...

Non, quelqu'un est mort.

Et on a peur de mourir.

Il y a deux remèdes. Il y en a beaucoup, mais enfin il y en a deux. En tout cas, c'est l'usage d'une conscience plus profonde qui s'impose. Dans un cas, le remède consiste à dire que c'est une chose qui arrivera à tout le monde (prenons-le sur ce plan-là), c'est une chose qui arrive à tout le monde, et par conséquent, tôt ou tard, ça arrivera et il n'y a pas de raison d'avoir peur, c'est une chose tout à fait normale. Vous pouvez ajouter à cela une idée de plus, à savoir que, d'après l'expérience (pas la vôtre mais justement l'expérience humaine collective), les circonstances étant les mêmes, absolument identiques, dans un cas les gens meurent, et dans l'autre ils ne meurent pas — pourquoi ? Et si vous poussez la chose encore un peu plus loin, vous vous dites que, après tout, cela doit dépendre de quelque chose qui est tout à fait en dehors de votre conscience — et finalement on meurt quand on doit mourir. C'est tout. Quand on doit mourir on meurt, et quand on ne doit pas mourir on ne meurt pas. Même si vous êtes dans un danger mortel, si ce n'est pas votre moment

No, someone is dead.

You are afraid of dying.

There are two remedies. There are many, but two are there; in any case, it is the use and imposition of a deeper consciousness. In one case the remedy consists in saying that it is a thing that happens to everyone (let us take it on that level), yes, it is a thing that happens to everybody, and therefore, sooner or later, it will come and there is no reason why one should have fear, it is quite a normal thing. You may add one more idea to it, namely, as per experience (not yours, but just the collective human experience), circumstances being the same, absolutely identical, in one case people die, in another they do not — why? And if you push the thing a little further, you say to yourself, after all it must depend on something which is altogether outside your consciousness — and in the end one dies when one must die. That is all. When one has to die one dies, and when one has not to die, one does not die. Even when one is in mortal danger, if it is not your hour to die, you will not die. And even if you are outside all danger, just a scratch on your foot will be enough to make you die, there are people who died of a scratch of a pin on the foot — because the time had come. Therefore, fear has no sense. What you can do is to rise to a state of consciousness where you can say, "It is like that, we accept the fact because it seems an accepted thing that it is an inevitable fact. And I do not need to worry, because it will come only when it must come. Therefore I do not need to have fear. When it is not to come, it will not come to me, but when it must come, then only it will come to me. And as it will come to me inevitably, it is better I do not have fear for the thing, on the contrary, one must accept what is perfectly natural". This is a well-known remedy, that is to say, very much in use.

There is another, a little more difficult, but better, I believe. That is to say : "This body is not I", and try to find in oneself the part that is truly one's self, until you find your psychic being. And when you have found your psychic being — immediately, you understand — you have the sense of immortality. And you come to know that what goes out or what comes in is just a matter of convenience : "I am not going to weep over a pair of shoes I leave aside because it is full of holes ! When my pair of shoes is worn out I cast it aside, I do not weep". Well, the psychic

Et de la minute où vous êtes dans l'être psychique, vous êtes dans ce sentiment-là, spontanément et sans effort. Vous planez au-dessus de la vie physique et vous avez le sens de l'immortalité. Pour moi, je considère que c'est le meilleur remède. L'autre est un remède intellectuel, de bon sens et de raisonnement. Celui-là est une expérience profonde que l'on peut toujours retrouver de la minute où l'on retrouve le contact avec son être psychique. C'est un phénomène vraiment intéressant parce que c'est automatique. De la minute où vous êtes en rapport avec votre être psychique, vous avez le sens de l'immortalité, d'avoir toujours été et d'être

being has taken this body because it needed the body to do its work, but when the time comes to leave the body, that is to say, when it must leave the body because it is no longer of any use, for some reason or other, it leaves the body and has no fear. It is quite natural a gesture — and it is done without the least regret, that's all.

And the moment you are in your psychic being, you have that feeling, spontaneously, effortlessly. You soar above the physical life and you have the feeling of immortality. As for me, I consider this to be the best remedy. The other is an intellectual, a commonsense, a rational remedy. This is a deeper experience and you can always have it back, as soon as you recover the contact with your psychic being. This is a truly interesting phenomenon, for it is automatic. As soon as you are in relation with your psychic being, you have the feeling of immortality, that you have been always and are always there, eternally. And then what goes and what comes are life's accidents and have no importance. Yes, this is the best remedy. The other is like the prisoner finding good reasons for accepting the prison. This one is for him for whom the prison does not exist.

Now, a third thing also one must know, but for this one has to be a mighty yogi. For it means to know that death is not an inevitable thing, it is an accident which has been occurring till now (which seems in any case to have occurred till now), but we have put into our head and our will to conquer this accident and to surmount it. But it is so terrible, so formidable a battle against all laws of Nature, against all collective suggestions, earthly habits, that unless, as I have said, you are a top class warrior and whom nothing frightens, it is better not to begin the battle. You must be an absolutely intrepid hero, for at every step, every second you have to fight a battle against all established things. It is not a very easy thing. Even as an individual it is a battle against oneself, because (I think I have already told you once), if you want your physical consciousness to be in a state that admits of physical immortality, you must to such an extent be free from everything that now represents the physical consciousness that it becomes every second a battle. All feelings, all sensations, all thoughts, all reflexes, all attractions, all repulsions, all existing things, all that forms the fabric of our physical life have to be overcome, transformed and freed from all their habits. This is a battle of every second

Les deux autres solutions sont sûres, et à votre portée. Maintenant, il y a un petit remède qui est très, très facile. Parce qu'il est basé simplement sur une petite question de bon sens personnel... Il faut se faire une petite observation, se dire que quand on a peur, c'est comme si la peur

against thousands and millions of enemies. Unless you feel you are a hero, better not to try. Because this solution, well... I do not know, but it seems I was asked this question sometime : "Has anyone ever succeeded ?" To tell you the truth I have never met such a person .... I do not have the feeling that anyone has succeeded till now. But it is possible. Only, he or she who has done it has not declared it, at least, not till now.

The other two solutions are safe and sure and within your reach: Now, there is a small remedy which is very very easy. Because it is based on a simple personal question of one's common sense.... You just observe yourself and say that when you are afraid it is as though the fear was attracting the thing you are afraid of. If you are afraid of illness, it is as though you were attracting the illness. If you are afraid of an accident, it is as though you were attracting the accident. And if you look into yourself and around yourself a little, you will find out that it is a persistent fact. So if you have just a little common sense, you will say : "It is stupid to be afraid of anything because it is precisely as though I was just making a sign to the thing to come to me. If I had an enemy who wanted to kill me, I would not go and tell him : "You know, you are going to kill me !" It is something like that. Therefore, since fear is a wrong thing, we shall not have it. If you say you are unable to prevent it by your reason, well, that shows that you have no control over yourself and you must make a little effort to control yourself. That is all.

Oh ! There are many ways of curing oneself of fear. But in reality everyone finds his own way, that is good for him. There are people to whom you have simply to say : "Your fear is a weakness", and they would immediately find means to look at it with contempt, for they have a horror of weakness. There are others, you tell them : "Fear is a suggestion from hostile forces, you must push it away, as you do with hostile forces", and it is very effective. For each one it is different. But first of all you must know that fear is a very bad thing, very bad, it is a dissolvent, like an acid. If you put a drop on something, it eats into the substance. The first thing to do is not to have fear. I knew people who boasted of their fear. They are incurable. That is to say, quite naturally they would say, "Ah, just imagine, I had such fear !" And then what of it ! It is nothing to be proud of. There is nothing to be done with such people.

However, when once you recognise that fear is a thing neither good

Mais enfin, quand on reconnaît que la peur n'est pas une chose bonne, ni favorable, ni noble, ni digne d'une conscience un peu éclairée, on commence à lutter. Et je dis, le moyen qui est bon pour l'un n'est pas bon pour l'autre ; il faut trouver son propre moyen. Cela dépend de chacun. La peur aussi est une chose terriblement collective et contagieuse— contagieuse, ça s'attrape encore plus que les plus contagieuses de toutes les maladies. Vous respirez une atmosphère de peur, et instantanément vous avez peur, sans même savoir ni pourquoi ni comment ni rien, simplement

nor favourable nor noble nor worthy of a little enlightened consciousness, you just begin to fight against it. And I say, one man's way is not another's; one must find one's own way, it depends on everyone. Fear is a terrible and contagious thing — contagious, it is more catching than the most contagious of illnesses. You breathe an atmosphere of fear, instantly you have fear, without even knowing why or how, nothing, simply because there was an atmosphere of fear. A panic at an accident is nothing but an atmosphere of fear spreading out upon everybody. It is quite curable. There are numerous cases when a panic stopped outright simply because some refused the suggestion and could counteract it with an opposite suggestion. For the mystics the best cure is as soon as one feels that one is getting afraid of something, to think of the Divine, to lie down in his lap or at his feet, letting him be wholly responsible for everything that happens, within, outside, everywhere — and the fear goes away forthwith. That is the cure of the mystic. It is the easiest of all. But everybody does not possess the grace of being a mystic.

Sometimes we find there are latent powers in us of which we are unaware. To do a work, how is one to know that one is capable of doing it?  .

How to know whether one is capable of doing it or not ! By trying. It is the best. If you do not succeed immediately, persevere. And you must know that if a strong urge, a very strong urge comes into you to do something, that means the work has something to do with you and you are capable of doing it. But one can have powers hidden to such an extent that one has to dig long enough to find them. So you must not get discouraged at the first setback, you must persist.

THE MOTHER Top

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OUI, oh ! oui.

Et les individus.

(silence)

Depuis le matin, c'est comme cela — des grèves, des querelles, des désordres ... Et alors, l'impression qu'il faut rétablir l'ordre à l'aide de ceux qui ont créé le désordre. C'est cela qu'il faut faire. Au lieu de la base de bonne volonté ordinaire et de toutes les règles morales, sociales — tout ça, brrm ! par terre —, il faut monter au-dessus, il faut la Volonté divine et l'Harmonie divine, et c'est Ça que nous voulons, et alors ceux qui sont révoltés contre l'ordre ordinaire des choses et les conventions sociales ordinaires : prouvez que vous êtes en rapport avec une conscience plus haute et une vérité plus vraie.

C'est le moment de faire ... (geste de bond au-dessus).

Et au point de vue pouvoir d'organisation, c'est un pouvoir... extrêmement puissant. C'est étonnant. Et alors, si ce pouvoir est mis au service de l'ordre supérieur, de la conscience plus vraie, quelque chose pourra être fait.

Il faut... faire un bond en haut.

Tous les gens qui veulent rétablir l'ordre tirent en arrière dans toutes les vieilles idées — c'est pour cela qu'ils ne réussissent pas. Fini, ça. C'est fini. Nous montons. Seuls ceux qui peuvent monter, peuvent faire.

(long silence)

*

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Le 22 mai 1971

Si le Seigneur veut pour nous le succès, il peut être formidable. Il y a la possibilité d'un succès for-mi-da-ble — pas en l'air : ici. Le tout est de savoir si le temps est venu pour le succès.

(long silence)

Partout il y a la possibilité, je te dis, d'un succès ... extraordinaire. Est-ce que le moment est venu, je ne sais pas ? ... Moi, je me fais comme cela (geste minuscule), physiquement toute petite, et je laisse ... (geste mains ouvertes au Seigneur').

N'est-ce pas, il y a la Volonté qui vient, et puis il y a toutes les formations qui entrent et qui retardent son exécution—je voudrais, je voudrais que mon atmosphère soit... un transmetteur limpide, tout à fait limpide. Je ne tâche même pas de savoir quoi, parce que cela aussi, ça introduit une humanité ordinaire ... Le transmetteur limpide, limpide : que ça vienne comme cela (geste de descente), pureté, dans toute sa pureté — même si c'est formidable.

Et au fond, nous ne savons pas pourquoi "ceci est comme cela", pourquoi "cela est comme cela", et nous avons une vue ... même si notre vue est terrestre, elle est si petite, si petite — si exclusive : nous voulons

Notes on the Way

May 1, 1971

One really feels that the world is in a turmoil. .

YES, oh, yes !

And individual people.

(silence)

Since the morning, it has been like that — strikes, quarrels, disorders.... And then the feeling that order must be re-established with the help of those who created the disorder. That is the thing to be done. Instead of the basis of ordinary good will and all the moral and social rules — all that dashed to the ground —, one must rise up above, the divine Will and the divine Harmony must be there, it is that which we want, and then those who have revolted against the ordinary law of things and the ordinary social conventions : prove that you are in relation with a higher consciousness and a truer truth.

It is time to do it... (gesture of a leap upward)

And from the point of view of organising power, this is a power ... extremely powerful. It is a wonder. And then if this power is placed at the disposal of the higher order, the truer consciousness ... something can be done.

One must.... must take a leap upward.

All people who want to re-establish order pull backward into all old ideas — that is why they never succeed. This is finished, finished for good. We go upward. Only they who rise can act.

(long silence)

Non, c'est récent, c'est tout récent. Je ne peux pas dire parce que ce n'est pas venu brusquement, mais c'est une question de jours.

You have nothing ? Nothing to ask ?

I do not know very well in which direction I am moving ?

There is only one direction — towards the Divine. And as you know, it is as much inward as it is outward, as much upward as downward. It is everywhere. It is in the world as it is that one must find the Divine and cling to Him — and to Him alone, there is no other way.

*

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May 22 1971

If the Lord wants success for us, it can be something tremendous. There is the possibility of a tre-men-dous success — not in the air, but here. The whole thing is to know whether the time for that success is come.

(long silence)

Everywhere there is the possibility, I tell you, of an ... extraordinary success. Is the moment come, I do not know? ... As for myself, I make me like this (gesture of smallness), physically quite small, and I leave ... (gesture of arms open wide towards the Lord).

Well, there is the Will that is coming down and then there are all these formations that get in and delay its execution — I would like, I would like my atmosphere to be ... a limpid, altogether limpid transmitter. I do not try even to know what it is, for that too brings in the ordinary humanity .... The limpid, limpid transmitter : let it come like that (gesture of descent), pure, in all its purity — even if it be formidable.

In reality, we do not know why "this is like that", why "that is like that", and we have a vision ... even if our vision includes the earth, it is

On m'a demandé un message pour toute l'Inde. Je l'ai donné (Mère tend le texte au disciple) :

so small, so small — so exclusive : we want this, we do not want that.... First of all, the very first thing is to make the instruments ... one must be LIMPID, limpid, letting things pass without deformation, without obstruction.

Indeed, I am spending my time at that : trying to be like that.

But this possibility of victory that you are feeling, is it something recent?

Yes.

It is recent. Because, apparently, the circumstances are evidently not so good — apparently.

Oh ! you know .... All the circumstances seemed to organise for a catastrophe.

Yes.

Only a few days ago it was as though the catastrophe was impending. And then, at that moment, my whole being was, as though ... (how to say ?) it was, yes, one might call it, an aspiration for the true Victory, not that which this one wants or that one wants or ... but the real Victory. It is this which seems to have brought in all the difficulties (the exclusive wills). And then all at once there appeared as though a light : the possibility of the Victory. It is still.... It is not miraculous, but it is the Intervention ... the intervention of the Supreme Wisdom — will it be concrete ? We will see. It seems to come, it seems to come in that way (gesture at a certain height, the two palms turned downward), as a possibility.

No, it is recent, quite recent. I cannot say, for it did not come suddenly, but it is a question of days.

to Truth.

Yes, because for some time I was feeling a great pessimism.

That is a bad attitude.

I did not have that attitude, however, but it was as though a pessimistic atmosphere was coming in.

All that does not want the Divine creates this atmosphere, purposely to discourage those who want the Divine. You must, you must not pay attention. That is the way of the devil. Pessimism is the demon's weapon and he senses his situation ... (gesture of shaking). Well, if what I see as possible is realised, it will be truly a decisive victory over the adverse forces — naturally, he defends himself as best as he can .... That is the devil always, as soon as you see even the tail of pessimism, it is the devil. That is his great weapon.

*

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June 9, 1971

There is a rush of adverse forces. A mad rush. But the Response has started coming — it is just a small starting. In everyone it was as though a hurricane — it has not gone completely. All that was believed to have been conquered and repulsed rushes back again — in the most unexpected persons — in all forms, but especially in its character, oh ! ... doubts and revolts and all that...

(silence)

A message was asked from me for the whole of India. I have; given it. (Mother hands over the text to the disciple).

Mais le corps a appris que même sans ego, il est ce qu'il est, parce qu'il est ça par la Volonté divine et pas du tout par l'ego — nous existons

Truth.

It is a terrible rush of Falsehood. It was as though the whole world, everyone were lying, even the most unexpected people — everywhere, everywhere, everywhere. And for me it was a living thing (Mother makes the gesture of seeing) Oh ! horrible, you can't imagine.... A little twist to the right, a little twist to the left, a little twist... nothing, nothing, nothing is straight. And then the body asks itself : "Where is your falsehood ?" It looked at itself. And it saw the old story : "The Lord is to be called in when the matter is important! (Mother laughs) You don't expect to be with Him all the time !" Then it got just a nice tap ! ... It was not aggressive, it looked something like humility — it got a good slap.

It was a mad fury of disagreeable things — more than disagreeable: truly, truly wicked and bad and destructive. A fury, until it got the understanding. Then this feeling came in the whole body, in all the cells, everywhere, all the while — it reached such a point that I was not able to swallow when I was eating—until everything, everything got the understanding : that I exist only through the Divine and I cannot subsist but through the Divine ... and I cannot be myself but by being the Divine. After that, things were better. Now the body has understood.

(long silence)

You have nothing to ask ? Nothing to say ?

I have the feeling that the destiny is bad.

No, it is not true. This is part of the Falsehood, it is that Falsehood. There is no bad destiny, it is a bluff! That is a real Falsehood ... it is not true at all, at all, at all.

There, it just gives you an example : it is like that, like that everywhere

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What I have told you is the Truth, that is the only remedy :

Not existing but for the Divine

Not existing but through the Divine

Not existing but in the service of the Divine

Not existing but... by becoming the Divine.

There you are.

There is no "you", there is no "one must wait", there is no "it will come in its time", there is no ... all these things, very reasonable, do not exist any more — it is That (Mother brings down her fist), like a sword blade. It is That. It is That in spite of any and everything: the Divine, the Divine alone. All this rubbish of bad will and revolt and ... all that (Mother lifts a stiff finger), that must be swept away. And what says that one shall perish or that one shall be destroyed by That, is the ego — it is Sir Ego that tries to be taken as the true being.

But the body has learnt that even without the ego, it is what it is, because it is that by the divine Will, not by the ego — we exist by the divine Will and not by the ego. The ego was a means — a means for many centuries — now it is worth nothing, its time has passed. Now ... (Mother brings down her fist), the consciousness, it is the Divine, power, it is the Divine; action, it is the Divine; individuality, it is the Divine.

And the body has understood, felt very well, it has "realised", "understood" that this sense of being a separate individuality is altogether useless, altogether, it is not at all indispensable for its existence, it is wholly useless. If exists through another power, another will which is not personal : it is the divine Will. And it will be what it should be only the day it feels that there is no difference between itself and the Divine. That is all.

The rest is falsehood, falsehood, and falsehood that must disappear. There is only one reality, there is only one life, there is only one consciousness (Mother brings down her fist) : the Divine.

THE MOTHER

Sri Aurobindo

Correspondence with Nirodbaran

I

SRI AUROBINDO ON HIS EARLY LIFE, DEVELOPMENT AND YOGA

His Development — Spiritual, Literary and Philosophic

Nirodbaran (29.10.1935) : I would like to ask something about style in literature. Don't you think that for creating something really good, style is very important — Ie style, c'est I'homme, as they say ?

OF course; without style there is no literature — except in fiction where a man with a bad style like Dickens or Balzac can make up by vigour and the power of his substance.

For an effective style, reading is very necessary. In order to manufacture your style, which is incomparable, your enormous reading must have helped a lot, I am sure.

Excuse me ! I never manufactured my style; style with any life in it .cannot be manufactured. It is born and grows like any other living thing. Of course, it was fed on my reading which was not enormous — I have read comparatively little — (there are people in India who have read fifty times or a hundred times as much as I have), only I have made much out of that little. For the rest it is Yoga that has developed my style by the development of consciousness, fineness and accuracy of thought and vision, increasing inspiration and an increasing intuitive discrimination (self-critical) of right thought, word-form, just image and figure.

Sri Aurobindo

Correspondance avec Nirodbaran

I

PREMIÈRES ANNÉES DE FORMATION ET DE YOGA

NATURELLEMENT, sans style, il n'y a pas de littérature — à part les romans comme ceux de Dickens ou de Balzac dont le mauvais style peut se rattraper par la vigueur et la puissance du fond.

Si l'on veut un style vigoureux, lire est très nécessaire. Pour fabriquer votre style, qui est incomparable, votre énorme culture a dû vous aider considérablement, j'en suis sûr.

Excusez-moi ! Je n'ai jamais fabriqué mon style. Un style tant soit peu vivant ne peut pas se fabriquer. Il naît et il grandit, comme n'importe quel autre organisme. Bien sûr, il s'est nourri de mes lectures, qui n'étaient pas énormes — j'ai lu relativement peu (il y a des gens en Inde qui ont lu cinquante ou cent fois plus que moi), mais j'ai beaucoup tiré de ce peu-là. Pour le reste, c'est le yoga qui a fait mon style, par le développement de la conscience, par la finesse et l'exactitude de la pensée et de la vision, par une inspiration croissante, par un discernement intuitif grandissant (auto-critique) de la pensée juste, delà forme verbale juste, de l'image et de la figure justes.

1.11.1935 Methinks you are making just a little too much of Yogic Force. Its potency as regards matters spiritual is undeniable, but for artistic or intellectual things one can't be so sure about its effectiveness. Take Dilip's¹ case, one could very well say : "Why give credit to the Force ? Had he been as assiduous, sincere etc., elsewhere, he would have done just the same."

Will you explain to me how Dilip who could not write a single good poem and had no power over rhythm and metre before he came here, suddenly, not after long "assiduous efforts" blossomed into a poet, rhythmist and metrist after he came here ? Why was Tagore dumbfounded by a "lame man throwing away his crutches" and running freely and surely on the paths of rhythm? Why was it that I who never understood or cared for painting, suddenly in a single hour by an opening of vision got the eye to see and the mind of understanding about colour, line and design? How was it that I who was unable to understand and follow a metaphysical argument and whom a page of Kant or Hegel or Hume or even Berkeley left either dazed and uncomprehending and fatigued or totally uninterested because I could not fathom or follow, suddenly began writing pages of the stuff as soon as I started the Arya² and am now reputed to be a great philosopher? How is it that at a time when I felt it difficult to produce more than a paragraph of prose from time to time and more than a mere poem, short and laboured, perhaps one in two months, suddenly after concentrating and practising Pranayama daily began to write pages and pages in a single day and kept sufficient faculty to edit a big daily paper³ and afterwards to write 60 pages of philosophy every month ? Kindly reflect a little and don't talk facile nonsense. Even if a thing can be done in a moment or a few days by Yoga which would ordinarily take a long, "assiduous, sincere and earnest" cultivation, that would of itself show the power of the Yoga-force. But a faculty that did not exist appears quickly and spontaneously or impotence changes into highest potency or an obstructed talent changes with equal rapidity into fluent and facile

1 A former disciple of Sri Aurobindo, a well-known Bengali poet and musician.

2 The monthly review where for six years (from 1914-1920) Sri Aurobindo wrote about five thousand pages of his work (at times, four to six books running simultaneously).

3 The Bande Mataram (in English) from 1906 to 1909 in Calcutta.

3 Le Bandémâtaram (en anglais) de 1906 à 1909 à Calcutta.

sovereignty. If you deny that evidence, no evidence will convince you because you are determined to think otherwise.

So about your style too, it is difficult to understand how much the Force has contributed towards its perfection.

It may be difficult for you to understand, but it is not difficult for me, since I have followed my own evolution from stage to stage with a perfect vigilance and following up of the process. I have made no endeavour in writing. I have simply left the higher Power to work and when it did not work, I made no efforts at all. It was in the old intellectual days that I sometimes tried to force things and not after I started the development of poetry and prose by Yoga. Let me remind you also that when I was writing the Arya and also since whenever I write these letters or replies, I never think or seek for expressions or try to write in good style, it is out of a silent mind that I write whatever comes ready-shaped from above. Even when I correct, it is because the correction comes in the same way. Where then is the place for even a slight endeavour or any room at all for "my great endeavours ?" Well ?

By the way, please try to understand that the supra-intellectual (not the supramental only) is the field of a spontaneous automatic action. To get it or to get yourself open to it needs effort, but once it acts there is no effort. Your grey matter does not easily open, it closes up also too easily, so each time an effort has to be made, perhaps too much effort — if your grey matter would sensibly accommodate itself to the automatic flow there would not be the difficulty and the need to "assiduous, sincere and earnest endeavour" each time, methinks. Well?

I challenge your assertion that the Force is more easily potent to produce spiritual results than mental (literary) results. It seems to me the other way round. In my own case the first time I started Yoga, Pranayama, etc., I laboured five hours a day for a long time and concentrated and struggled for five years without any least spiritual result, (when the spiritual experiences did come, they were as unaccountable and automatic as — as blazes), poetry came like a river and prose like a flood and other things too that were mental, vital or physical, not spiritual richnesses or

A propos, essayez de comprendre, s'il vous plaît, que le supra-intellectuel (et pas seulement le supramental) est le domaine d'une action automatique et spontanée. Pour y parvenir, ou s'y ouvrir, il faut des efforts, mais une fois qu'il agit, il n'y a plus d'effort. Votre matière grise île s'ouvre pas facilement (elle se ferme aussi trop facilement), alors chaque fois il faut faire un effort—peut-être trop d'efforts. Si votre matière grise voulait bien s'accommoder raisonnablement à ce flot automatique, il n'y aurait ni difficulté ni besoin chaque fois d'un "effort assidu, sincère et sérieux", me semble-t-il. Non ?

openings. I have seen in many cases an activity of the mind in various directions as the first or at least early result. Why ? Because there is less resistance, more co-operation from the confounded lower members for these things than for a psychic or a spiritual change. That is easy to understand at least. Well ?

(29.12.1934) I can quite understand that the inner knowledge comes with the growth and heightening of consciousness. But what about the outer knowledge — what we ordinarily call knowledge ?

The capacity for it can come with the inner knowledge. E.g. I understood nothing about painting before I did Yoga. A moment's illumination in Alipore jail opened my vision and since then I have understood with the intuitive perception and vision. I do not know the technique, of course, but I can catch it at once if anybody with knowledge speaks of it. That would have been impossible to me before.

Suppose you had not studied English literature ; would it be still possible for you to say something about it by Yogic experience ?

Only by cultivating a special siddhi,¹ which would be much too bothersome to go after. But I suppose if I had got the Yogic knowledge (in your hypothetical case) it would be quite easy to add the outer one.

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By the way. What is this story about my four or five hour's concentration a day for several years before anything came down ? Such a thing never happened, if by concentration you mean laborious meditation. What I did was four or five hours a day Pranayama — which is quite another matter. And what flow do you speak of? The flow of poetry came down

1 Occult power.

1 Pouvoir occulte.

while I was doing Pranayama, not some years afterwards. If it is the flow of experiences, that did come after some years, but after I had stopped the Pranayama for a long time and was doing nothing and did not know what to do or where to turn once all my efforts had failed. And it came not as a result of years of Pranayama or concentration, but in a ridiculously easy way, by the grace either of a temporary guru1 (but it was not that, for he was himself bewildered by it) or by the grace of the eternal Brahman and afterwards by the grace of Mahakali and Krishna. So don't try to turn me into an argument against the Divine, that attempt will be perfectly ineffective.

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(1.4.1935') When one hears that you had to plod through a lot, one wonders whether the story of Valmiki's2 sudden opening of poetic faculties is true — whether such a miracle is really possible.

Plod about what ? For some things I had to plod — other things came in a moment or in two or three days like Nirvana or the power to appreciate painting. The "latent" philosopher failed to come out at the first shot (when I was in Calcutta) — after some years of incubation (?) it burst out like a volcano as soon as I started writing the "Arya". There is no damned single rule for these things. Valmiki's poetic faculty might open suddenly like a champagne bottle, but it does not follow that everybody's will do like that.

*

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(4.4.1935) How can one train oneself to have a direct intuition ? Any special clinic or lessons?

1 Vishnu Bhaskar Lele whom Sri Aurobindo met for three days in December 1907 (Experience of Nirvana).

2 A highway, illiterate robber who received a mantra from the sage Narad, about two thousand B. C., then suddenly, seeing two birds coupled together killed by a hunter, began to express his sorrow in a Sanskrit verse, then he wrote the famous epic : The Ramayana, that is 24.000 couplets in Sanskrit.

2 Bandit des grands chemins et illettré qui reçut un mantra du sage Nârad, environ deux mille ans av. J.C., puis, soudain, voyant un chasseur tuer deux oiseaux accouplés, se mit à exprimer sa douleur en poésie sanscrite, puis écrivit la célèbre épopée du Râmâyana, c'est-à-dire quelque 24.000 couplets en sanscrit,

It can be done — but I should have to write an essay on the Intuition to make my explanation intelligible.

I thought whatever is necessary will grow up itself, either by a growth of consciousness or something else.

It can or it may not. Why did not everything open up in me like the painting vision and some other things ? All did not. As I told you I had to plod in many things. Otherwise the affair would not have taken so many years (30). In this Yoga one can't take a short cut in everything. I had to work on each problem and on each conscious plane to solve or to transform and in each I had to take the blessed conditions as they were and do honest work without resorting to miracles. Of course if the consciousness grows all of itself, it is all right, things will come with the growth, but not even then pell-mell in an easy gallop.

*

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The Realisation of the Self

(London, Bombay, Baroda)

(31.10.1935) I have read what you wrote to Dilip the other day about the way in which you had the experience of the Self ; that such a thing could have happened seems to me almost unthinkable !

I can't help that. It happened. The mind's canons of the rational and the possible do not give spiritual life and experience.

But can you not tell us what the experience was like ? Was it by any chance like the one you speak of in your Uttarpara Speech¹ — the Vasudeva experience ?

1 In 1908, in the Alipore jail, Sri Aurobindo had the vision of Krishna in everything, which he has described later in his famous "Uttarpara Speech" (30th May 1909).

Cela peut arriver, ou ne pas arriver. Pourquoi tout ne s'est-il pas ouvert en moi, comme pour la vision de la peinture et certaines autres choses ? — En effet, pas tout. Comme je vous l'ai dit, j'ai dû piocher pour bien des choses. Autrement, l'affaire n'aurait pas pris tant d'années (trente). Dans ce yoga, on ne peut pas toujours prendre un raccourci pour

Great jumble — Mumble ! What has Vasudeva to do with it ? Vasudeva is a name of Krishna, and in the Uttarpara I was speaking of Krishna, if you please.

By the Self, I suppose, you mean the individual Self?

Good Lord, no. I mean the Self, sir, the Self, the Adwaita, Vedantic, Shankar Self. Atman, Atman ! A thing I knew nothing about, never bargained for, didn't understand either.

But didn't you begin Yoga later on in Gujarat?

Yes. But this began in London, sprouted the moment I set foot on Apollo Bunder, touching Indian soil, flowered one day in the first year of my stay in Baroda, at the moment when there threatened to be an accident to my carriage. Precise enough ?

(To be continued)

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(à suivre) Top

Report on the Quarter

Darshan

"NEEDLESS to say that those who aspire to Truth must abstain from telling lies."

THE above message of the Mother was distributed on the Darshan Day of 24 April 1971, this being the fiftyfirst anniversary of the Mother's final arrival at Pondicherry in 1920.

As usual, there was collective Meditation around the Samadhi in the morning followed by a visit to Sri Aurobindo's Room, and in the evening, the Darshan of the Mother. Later, at the playground there was the March Past to the accompaniment of the J.S.A.S.A. Band.

Education Academic : Extension Lectures and Talks

On 20.3.71 Kireet spoke to our students giving an introduction to Sri Aurobindo's "The Life Divine".

On 31.3.71 Promode Kumar read his Bengali poem on Sri Aurobindo.

On 14.4.71 Arindam addressed our students on Sri Aurobindo.

On 23.4.71 Sri Aurobindo Society organised a meeting which was addressed as follows :

1. Dayanand—Agriculture in Auroville.

2. Allain — Bharat Nivas and Matrimandir.

3. Norman — Education in Auroville.

4. Kireet — Latest trends in Education.

5. Navajata—Preparation for the Centenary.

6. Madanlal — On new publications.

On 26.4.71 Surendra Mohan Ghose spoke on "The Present Situation".

at Aspiration, Auroville

à Aspiration, Auroville

Auro-Orchard, Auroville

K. K. Shah, gouverneur du Tamil Nadu, visite

Auro-Orchard, Auroville

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