SECTION SIX     THE SECURE FOUNDATION OF SADHANA   The First Foundation of the Yogic Status   EQUANIMITY and peace in all conditions, in all  parts of the being is the first foundation of the Yogic status. Either Light (bringing with it Knowledge) or Force (bringing strength and dynamism of many kinds) or Ananda (bringing love and joy of existence) can come next according to the trend of the nature. But peace is the first condition without which nothing else can be stable.   31-7-1936 The True Basis   YES, a settled peace and strength supporting the intensity and poise in which everything foreign falls off, is the true basis.   16-4-1933

SECTION EIGHTEEN   SADHANA THROUGH WORK   Motives of Work in Ordinary Life and Yoga—Signs of Vital's Consecration in Action   MEN usually work and carry on their affairs  from the ordinary motives of the vital being, need, desire of wealth or success or position or power or fame or the push to activity and the pleasure of manifesting their capacities, and they succeed or fail according to their capability, power of work and the good or bad fortune which is the result of their nature and their Karma. When one takes up the Yoga and wishes to consecrate  one's life to the Divine, these ordinary motives of the vital being have no longer their full and free play; they have t

SECTION FOUR   SADHANA AND MENTAL DEVELOPMENT   Sadhana and Mental Development (1)   FOR one who wants to practise sadhana, sadhana must come first—reading and mental development can only be subordinate things.   25-12-1936   (2)   Mental development may or may not help sadhana —if the mind is too intellectually developed in certain rationalistic lines, it may hinder.   Sadhana and Mental Work   I DON'T know that it (mental work) helps the sadhana and I don't quite understand what is meant by the Page-107 phrase. What is a fact is that mental work like physical work can be made a part of the sadhana,— not as a rival

SECTION FOURTEEN   DIFFICULTIES OF THE PATH AND THEIR REMOVAL                                                                                  I. THE RIGHT WAY OF OVERCOMING DIFFICULTIES                                                                                                                       II. THE MOTHER'S HELP IN REMOVING DIFFICULTIES   I. THE RIGHT WAY OF OVERCOMING DIFFICULTIES   Difficulty of Yoga   I HAVE not said that to reach the overmind  is impossible; I have only said that it is difficult. Difficulty is not a reason why the things should not be done. It is not easy for a physical being to reach t

SECTION SEVENTEEN   LOVE AND RELATIONSHIPS IN YOGA     Bhakti and Love in Yoga   THE nature of Bhakti is adoration, worship, self-offering to what is greater than oneself;  the nature of love is a feeling or a seeking for closeness and union. Self-giving is the character of both;  both are necessary in the Yoga and each gets its full force when supported by the other.   Spiritual and Psychic Love   THE love that belongs to the spiritual planes is of a different kind—the psychic has its own more personal love, bhakti, surrender. Love in the higher or spiritual mind is more universal and impersonal. The two must go together to make the highest divine love.  

SECTION SEVEN   THE PROCESS OF INTEGRAL TRANSFORMATION                                                                                 I.    PSYCHIC CONVERSION                                                                             II.  ASCENT TO HIGHER PLANES                                                                             III. DESCENT OF HIGHER CONSCIOUSNESS                                                                             IV. THE SUPRAMENTAL DESCENT   I. PSYCHIC CONVERSION   Meaning of "Psychic"   "PSYCHIC" in the sense in which it is used commonly by people has no definite meaning, it is applied to anything non-ph

SECTION FIFTEEN   TRANSFORMATION OF THE VITAL NATURE                                                                                 I.   LIBERATION FROM EGO                                                                                 II.  REJECTION OF DESIRE                                                                                      III. REMOVAL OF WRONG VITAL MOVEMENTS   I. LIBERATION FROM EGO   Need of Transforming the Ego   OBVIOUSLY, unless the object is Nirvana, the small ego has to be attended to—not indulged but transformed out of existence.   21-4-1936 Ego and True Being   THE form of ego has

SECTION TWELVE   LIGHTS AND COLOURS—SYMBOLS AND IMAGES                                                                             I.  FORMS AND ACTION OF LIGHTS AND COLOURS                                                                           II. SYMBOLS AND IMAGES OF VISION   I. FORMS AND ACTION OF LIGHTS AND COLOURS   Action of Light (1)   IT depends upon the colour of the Light. In  any case it is the Light of Force from above. All lights are indications of a Force or Power. It is the work of the Lights and the Forces they represent to act in their descent on the lower nature and change it. 30-7-1934 (2)   IT is

SECTION NINE   CONCENTRATION AND MEDITATION   Two Main Centres For Concentration   MOST people associate consciousness with the  brain or mind because that is the centre for intellectual thought and mental vision, but consciousness is not limited to that kind of thought or vision. It is everywhere in the system and there are several centres of it, e.g., the centre for inner concentration is not in the brain but in the heart,—the originating centre of vital desire is still lower down. The two main places where one can centre the consciousness for Yoga are in the head and in the heart—the mind-centre and the soul-centre.   11-8-1934 Page-249

SECTION FIVE   BASIC REQUISITES OF YOGA                                                                                                    I.  SINCERITY                                                                                                  II. ASPIRATION                                                                                                  III. FAITH                                                                                                  IV. SURRENDER                                                                                                  V. PATIENCE AND PERSEVERANCE   I. SINCERITY    The One Indispensable Conditio