Criteria of Admission: A Suggestion If we would like to maintain the spiritual character of the Sri Aurobindo Ashram, care should be taken to see that there is no lowering of the standard of admissibility for the new entrants. The issue is: If someone comes and says that he is ready - or pretends that he is ready - to work in an Ashram Department for a stipulated number of hours every day, should that be deemed to be a sufficient qualification for him to be admitted into a spiritual group-life like our Ashram? Will that not introduce many an unprepared ādhāra into the community and thus lead to a progressive derailment from its basic orientation? It

The Pioneers Sri Aurobindo Ashram at Pondicherry, the great Institution known the world over, which draws its appelation from the name of Mahayogi Sri Aurobindo, was formally established on or around 24 November 1926. But even before that date some young seekers had already started flocking to the then capital town of French India in order to live near Sri Aurobindo and shape their lives under the spiritual guidance of the Seer. The first to arrive was Suresh Chandra Chakravarty (Moni) who reached Pondicherry on 31 March 1910 and made arrangements for Sri Aurobindo's stay there. A few days later Sri Aurobindo arrived at Pondicherry, accompanied by Bejoy Nag: the date was

Problems Peculiar to Our Collectivity Problems are sometimes accentuated in our Ashram community because our aim is to practise a 'collective yoga'; and this implies that individual sadhaks will not only have to contend against the difficulties of their own personal nature but fight many problems as representatives of the whole group. Because of the fact of inner solidarity with all, each member of the collectivity is at all times exposed to the influences coming from all others and if he is not vigilant and strong enough to detect and nullify any adverse influence trying to overpower him, he will surely be lowered down in his consciousness, and willy-n

The Task Ahead But all this, the ideal of achieving a perfect and harmonious blending of the principles of freedom and discipline, cannot be realised in a day in all the members of the Ashram. So if at times we happen to see some imperfections troubling the atmosphere of our collective life here, we should not turn unduly pessimistic. Knowing that there cannot but be some natural difficulties on the arduous path of the achievement of our difficult goal, we should redouble our efforts at self-amelioration and invoke the Mother's Grace and help to crown our efforts with victory. But one thing we have to avoid: we must not be complacent in our attitude and allow things to

E. Wrong Relationship Between Sadhaks and Sadhikas The admission of women in an Ashram of spiritual seekers might strike many people as a dangerous novelty. In the history of past attempts to build a spiritual community, many an organisation has been wrecked because of wrong relationships developing between men and women dwelling together. But Sri Aurobindo's Yoga, as in many other fields of life, does not want to run away from difficulties; instead, it wants to meet them squarely and gain mastery over them. And hence Sri Aurobindo and the Mother admitted equally men and women disciples into Page-82 the Sri Aurobindo Ashram from the

Difficulties of the Past We have ventured to state that even in the "golden" past when the number of inmates was very much restricted and the Mother and Sri Aurobindo were physically present to look after everything, the Ashram's collective life was beset with certain difficulties arising out of the capricious nature and behaviour of some disciples. And this phenomenon was neither fortuitous nor unessential to the fulfilment of the central purpose of the Sri Aurobindo Ashram. Once we understand the occult rationale of this apparently disconcerting phenomenon, we shall be in a position to form a new perspective of vision and not be disheartened by whatever unedifyin

The Ashram Life and the Upsurge of Difficulties Sri Aurobindo has analysed on more than one occasion this phenomenon of the upsurge of difficulties of personal character in many sadhaks after they have settled down in the Ashram and dwelt there for some months or some years. The reason behind the sadhaks' troubles and the troubles they create for other individuals living in the same community is threefold: (1) close concentration of many people within the confines of a small space; (2) sadhana extending to the submerged obscure layers of consciousness and forcing the concealed dark elements there to come out into the open and be exposed to Lig

The Ashram Comes into Being In the earlier years of Sri Aurobindo's stay at Pondicherry, all those who dwelt with Sri Aurobindo formed a rather loosely bound informal grouping. It was only after the Mother finally settled in Pondicherry in 1920 that a serious attempt was made at some sort of a collective organisation. By January 1922, the Ashram - although not yet known as an 'Ashram' - was very much of a reality in its inner spiritual orientation. Yet, in this pre-1926 period, the community of sadhaks had been - in the words of the Mother - no more than "a collection of individuals ... without a collective organisation... One could say it had a general value but

(Jugal's book brings us an easy insight into the heart of Sri Aurobindo's "Integral Yoga" and into the manifold play of his creative vision. A fine piece of work!) xiii

The Sri Aurobindo Ashram Today Following the formal establishment of the Sri Aurobindo Ashram in 1926, a steady stream of seekers heard the inner call and came to form an integral part of the organisation. From among those who joined the Ashram in the first twelve years after the year of founding, we mention here the names of some of the notables who became well-known in later years. The respective years of their joining the Ashram are indicated within brackets: 1. Chunibhai Patel alias Dyuman (1927); 2. K.D. Sethna alias Amal Kiran along with his wife Daulat alias Lalita (1927); 3. Dilip Kumar Roy (1928); 4. Sahana Devi (1928); 5. John Chadwick alias A