European and Indian Music         Q: What is the cause of the great difference between European and Indian music? Is it the origin or the expression ?         It is both but in an inverse sense.         This very high inspiration comes only rarely in European music; rare also is a psychic origin, very rare. Either it comes from high above or it is vital. The expression is almost always, except in a few rare cases, a vital expression -interesting, powerful. Most often, the origin is purely vital. Sometimes it comes        from the very heights, then it is wonderful. Sometimes it is psychic, particularly in what has been religious music, but this

   Sri Aurobindo's Interview with Dilipkumar Roy         Dilip: I have come to know... to ascertain rather... if I can be initiated... I mean I want to practice your yoga to start with, if possible.         Sri Aurobindo: You must tell me clearly what it is exactly that you seek, and why you want to do my yoga.         Dilip: Suppose I suggested — or rather suffer me to ask if you could help me in attaining or shall we say discovering, the object of life?.         Sri Aurobindo: That is not an easy question to answer, for I know of no one desideratum which is cherished equally by all, any more than I know of an object of life equally treasured by all. The object

      SECTION IV         Words of the Mother         There is an ascending evolution in nature which goes from the stone to the plant, from the plant to the animal, from the animal to man. Because man is, for the moment, the last rung at the summit of the ascending evolution, he considers himself as the final stage in this ascension and believes there can be nothing on earth superior to him. In that he is mistaken. In his physical nature he is yet almost wholly an animal, a thinking and speaking animal, but still an animal in his material habits and instincts. Undoubtedly, nature cannot be satisfied with such an imperfect result; she endeavours to bring out a being who will be t

   Divine Incarnation         Nagin Doshi's' Correspondence with Sri Aurobindo         Q: What is an incarnation ?         An incarnation is the Divine Consciousness and Being manifesting through the body.         Q: When the Divine descends here as an incarnation, does not that very act mould his infinity into a limited finite? How then does he still continue to rule over the universe. ?         Do you imagine that the Divine is at any time not everywhere in the universe or beyond it? or that he is living at one point in space and governing the rest from it, as Mussolini governs the Italian Empire from Rome?         Q: I was speaking of the D

    Petals of Divine's Love         (Some Answers from the Mother)         Dear Mother,         Lead me to thy own home in Truth... I offer thee my will of progressive submission and increasing adoration.         The way is opened, my dear child, and I am waiting for you with my arms wide to receive and enfold you affectionately.       With my love and blessings.         22 October 1938         Life of my life, I also want to come to you; for, in your arms alone will I have peace and joy and Ananda and the true truth end fulfilment of my life and being. But still... the way is not clear to me. And how shall I be ever able to climb to you

 Words of Sri Aurobindo         Wars and Destructions         Man is a quarrelling and fighting animal and so long as he is so how can there be peace?         Our work is not to fight these things but to bring down a higher nature and a Truth-creation which will make spiritual Light and Power the chief force in terrestrial existence.         *         Destruction in itself is neither good nor evil. It is a fact of Nature, a necessity in the play of forces, as things are in this world. The light destroys the Darkness and the Powers of Darkness, and that is not a movement of Ignorance!         It all depends on the character of the destruction

Is Sri Aurobindo's Teaching a New Religion?         Words of the Mother         Q: Many people say that the teaching of Sri Aurobindo is a new religion. Would you say that it is a religion?         People who say that are fools who don't even know what they are talking about. You only have to read all that Sri Aurobindo has written to know that it is impossible to base religion on his works, because he presents each problem, each question in all its aspects, showing the truth contained in each way of seeing things, and he explains that in order to attain the Truth you must realise a synthesis which goes beyond all mental notions and emerge into a transcendence beyond th

 MODERN REVIEW, VOL. XLIV, NO 1. .JULY 1928         India Will Speak Through Your Voice         RABINDRANATH TAGORE         (Nobel Laureate, India)         At the very first sight I could realise that he (Sri Aurobindo) had been seeking for the soul and had gained it, and through this long process of realisation had accumulated within him a silent power of inspiration. His face was radiant with an inner light and his serene presence made it evident to me that his soul was not crippled and cramped to the measure of some tyrannical doctrine, which takes delight in inflicting wounds upon life ...         1 felt that the utterance of the ancient Hindu Rish

  The Ascent Towards God         To judge the events of history, a certain distance is needed; similarly, if one knows how to rise high enough above material contingencies, one can see the terrestrial life as a whole. From that moment, it is easy to realise that all the efforts of mankind converge towards the same goal.         It is true that collectively or individually, men follow very different paths to reach it; some of these paths twist and turn so much that they seem at first sight to move away from the goal rather than to lead towards it; but all are going there, consciously or unconsciously, swiftly or more slowly.         What then is this goal?  

      The Mother's Interview with Purani         After seeing one or two institutions, we made for the parade ground. Mother came in tripping lightly from the tennis court dressed in the same manner as before, her blue-green scarf fluttering in the wind round her neck.         Then she went into a small office, where, a few minutes later, I was ushered in. She sat on a high-backed small chair, her feet on a footstool. Her eyes were transparent, almost clear as crystal.         I told her of my personal problems, of my old struggles, of Sri Aurobindo's message and the message of the Gangotri.         She replied in a quiet, firm tone, in a simple straightforward way