Ed Barr   Ed Barr   7 It is through flowers that Nature expresses herself most harmoniously. The Mother   Oleanders and Other Poisonous Plants   We would like to preface this section with observations by a number of members of the International Oleander Society concerning the poisonous qualities of oleanders. It is their contention that it has suffered bad press and they hope to rectify I this with factual data. Kewpie Gaido called it her "holy grail" to bring to the atten'' tion of the public the fact that although millions of oleanders are grown in southern Texas and on Galveston Island, there have been no reports of fatalitie

5 JANUARY 1939 Today again we had our usual discussion with Dr. Rao on the removal of splints, the growth of bone, its shadow in the X-ray picture, etc. After he had gone, the Mother asked Nirodbaran: "Up to what age can the skull-bone grow?" She said that she had seen cases where even at the age of fifty-five the skull had not completely ossified. "In such cases," she remarked, "the brain goes on developing." Then she departed for the general meditation. There was very little prospect of conversation afterwards, for every time after Dr. Rao's visit we would keep revolving the same problem, the disagreement among doctors, and cut jokes about it. But a question by Sa

6 JANUARY 1940 SATYENDRA: There are plenty of advertisements for curing baldness, but the problem remains. Perhaps Nirodbaran can discover something. NIRODBARAN: I may when I get my intuition opened or when the Supermind opens. SATYENDRA: The Supermind opening is a long affair. SRI AUROBINDO: Intuition would be easier to get. PURANI: If one gets the Supermind, there will be no need to find anything out. NIRODBARAN: Yes, the hair will grow itself. There will be a change in every cell. PURANI: You will be all golden, I suppose. SRI AUROBINDO: As they say in the Upanishad, the Supreme Being with the golden beard, etc. When Sr

23 JANUARY 1940 NIRODBARAN: Nishikanto asks why at times he is seized with a repugnance for writing poetry. He burned a lot of his works at Santiniketan during such seizures. Here also attacks come occasion- ally and he questions himself, "What is the use of writing after all?" And this hampers his work, he says. SRI AUROBINDO: These moods come to many people. They are a kind of Tamas (inertia) which should not be indulged in. NIRODBARAN: Nishikanto says that it would be useful not to write if he could meditate or think of the Divine instead. This he can't do. "Then why not write?" he argues, but the feeling of repugnance conies all the same. SRI AUROBINDO:

4 DECEMBER 1939 SATYENDRA: Ancient Yogis always believed that human nature couldn't be changed. They compared it to a dog's curved tail and left it alone, although they admitted the spiritual principle to be at work. Only Sri Aurobindo thinks it can be changed. NIRODBARAN: And you don't? SATYENDRA: No. SRI AUROBINDO: What on earth has this spiritual principle been doing if the world has remained just the same? SATYENDRA: Meher Baba, the well-known Yogi from Western India, also thinks there can be a change and his mission is to bring it about. But he is himself so changeable that he decides one thing today and changes it tomorrow. SRI AUROBINDO: Then he

2 FEBRUARY 1939 For two days we had no conversation. Sri Aurobindo had suddenly developed some swelling on his injured leg and we were all anxious about it. Nobody was in a mood to talk. At last Sri Aurobindo himself came out with a reference to politics and the talk started. PURANI: X (an Indian political leader), has sent a telegram to Y, saying this is the end of Fascism and the beginning of true democracy and declaring: "You will be a true president." SRI AUROBINDO: Does it mean that the true president follow his followers? That is true democracy! He will choose his followers choose and then follow them. SATYENDRA: Instead of Fascism of the Right, what t

26 JANUARY 1939 PURANI : Barcelona is going! The French people are waking up at the eleventh hour. SRI AUROBINDO: Yes. The democracies are not showing much courage at present at any rate. SATYENDRA: It seems political ideas are not worth fighting for. Today one fights for democracy, tomorrow for monarchy or, dictatorship. Page-208 SRI AUROBINDO: Quite so. All human values are half-values. They are relative. They have no permanence or durability in them. SATYENDRA: Perhaps if men became more mentalised they would understand better. SRI AUROBINDO: Mentalised? No! The difficulty is that they don't follow the principles of life. SATYENDRA: How

4 DECEMBER 1939 SATYENDRA: Ancient Yogis always believed that human nature couldn't be changed. They compared it to a dog's curved tail and left it alone, although they admitted the spiritual principle to be at work. Only Sri Aurobindo thinks it can be changed. NIRODBARAN: And you don't? SATYENDRA: No. SRI AUROBINDO: What on earth has this spiritual principle been doing if the world has remained just the same? SATYENDRA: Meher Baba, the well-known Yogi from Western India, also thinks there can be a change and his mission is to bring it about. But he is himself so changeable that he decides one thing today and changes it tomorrow. SRI AUROBIND

1 DECEMBER 1939 Just as the sponging of Sri Aurobindo started, Nirodbaran prompted to Purani to begin the talk. NIRODBARAN: What are these newspaper cuttings you have brought? PURANI: Cuttings from Paul Brunton. SRI AUROBINDO: What about? SATYENDRA: You have already seen these reports of his views on Yoga. SRI AUROBINDO: Oh! SATYENDRA (after a pause): He says he has plumbed the depths of Yoga. At the beginning he made some foolish exaggerations about the claims of Yoga. SRI AUROBINDO: They were not foolish but deliberate exaggerations with plenty of imagination. He wrote with an eye to the reading public. Page-272 SATYENDRA

Talks with Sri Aurobindo Volume 1 Nirodbaran Sri Aurobindo Ashram Pondicherry