4th January, 1939 Disciple : X's expression showed the usual gesture which to the company present indicated the coming of a question. Disciple : What is the effect of fasting on yoga? Sri Aurobindo :  On what? Disciple : The effect of fasting on yoga. Sri Aurobindo :  Oh, on yoga? It gives a sort of excitement or an impetus to the vital being but the general effect does not seem to be sound or healthy. I fasted twice :  once in Alipore jail for ten days and another time in Pondicherry for twenty-three days. At Alipore I was in full yogic activities and I was not taking my food, and was throwing it away in the bucket. Of course, the Superintendent did no

14 December 1938. Time : about 5-30 P. M. Silent atmosphere, M. meditating, P. sitting by his side. Sri Aurobindo cast a glance at M. After a few minutes P. tried to kill a mosquito with a clapping of hands. Sri Aurobindo looked at P. M. opened his eyes. P. felt much embarrassed. Disciple : Were you ever a Free Mason, Sir? Sri Aurobindo : My eldest brother was; from him I gathered that it was nothing. But Free Masons had something when it was started. Have you heard of Kaliostro? He was a mystic and a Free Mason with a great prophetic        Page – 19  power. He prophesied about the French Revolution, the raising of Bastille and guillotining of the King

24th February, 1939 Disciple : What is the part which mind plays in the cure of a disease? Sri Aurobindo : The mental factor is much more effective than is generally known or admitted. There are cases where the surgeons have found that the mental factor has saved the patient by pulling him or her out from a critical condition. For example, Mothers wanting to see their children are saved, being pulled out of critical conditions. Page – 218  Disciple : Which method of treatment is correct – the Chinese method of pricking or opathy, Ayurvedic or allopathy etc.? Sri Aurobindo : Nature allows you to follow along certain lines and along each she sho

28th January, 1939 The Mother left for the general meditation and the disciples were ready to begin some topic, but Sri Aurobindo seemed mentally occupied with something. He was rather thoughtful and in a mood of silence. So none ventured to begin.  After a few minutes Sri Aurobindo looked at the company present and there was spontaneous smile on every face. Disciple : X seems to have some news. Page – 192 Sri Aurobindo : Then why does he not spurt out with it?      Disciple : There is nothing particular to-day. Sri Aurobindo : There is a cure for your cold in the "Sunday times" :   you have to get into an aeroplane, take some rounds, get down and you

27th December, 1938 Sri Aurobindo himself opened the talk to-day by addressing X and said "I hear D. going about in his car with a guard by his side, two cyclist policemen in front and back." Then the talk continued regarding Pondicherry politics, most of the talk being by us. Then Sri Aurobindo remarked. "When I see Pondicherry and Calcutta Corporation I begin to wonder why I was so eager for democracy. Pondicherry and Calcutta Corporation are the two object lessons which can take away all enthusiasm for self-government." Disciple : Was the Calcutta Corporation so bad before the Congress came there? Sri Aurobindo : No. There was not so much scope for it, – at le

MARCH 1943 12th March, 1943 Disciple : T was such a nice person, – very good in behaviour etc. Sri Aurobindo : 'That is so because you do not know what the person really is – you see only the outside.' Disciple : But she was very disciplined. Sri Aurobindo : "No – she was very nice so long as you did what she liked. But otherwise she was a person least fitted for Sadhana. The family has a touch of madness. She was hysterical and also there was dissatisfied sex. She looked very nice and people generally think it is a sign of great advance when a man stops speaking to persons or if he retires like N. B. and N. and even S. These are persons with smal

26th January, 1939 Disciple : It seems Barcelona – in Spain – is going. The French people are waking up at the eleventh hour. Sri Aurobindo : Yes, democracies are showing such courage at present! Disciple : It seems, political ideas and ideals are not worth fighting for. Thousands fought for democracy and now Page – 185 they are in a hurry to give it up. Nothing seems to be permanent in the political field. Sri Aurobindo : Quite so. All human values are half values – they are relative. They have no permanence or durability about them. Disciple : Perhaps, if man became more of a mentalized being, he would understand things better. Sri Aurobindo

11th December 1938 Disciple : Is there no justice for the misdeeds of people like S, V and N? Surely they will have to bear the consequences of their actions? And yet how is it these people succeed in life? Sri Aurobindo :  Justice in this life? May not be. Most probably not. But justice is not what most people believe it to be. It is said that virtuous people will have happiness, prosperity etc. in another life while in this life they have the opposite effects. In that case, the people you speak of must have been virtuous in their previous life. There is justice in the sense that the virtuous and pious people advance towards Sattwic nature while the contrary one go

5th January, 1939 Disciple : How long does human bone continue to grow? Sri Aurobindo : Cranium fifty-five years, Madulanta fifty years. Disciple : What was your age when you entered politics (openly)? Sri Aurobindo : 33 years. Disciple : When did you begin yoga? Sri Aurobindo : Somewhere in 1905. Disciple : How did you begin? Sri Aurobindo : God knows how! It began very early perhaps. When I landed on the Indian soil a great calm and quiet descended on me. There were also other characteristic experiences – at Poona on the Parvati hills and then in Kashmir on the Shankeracharya hill, – a sense of a great infinite Reality was felt. It was very real

8th January, 1940 Disciple : Have you read C. V. Raman's address at the Science Congress? Sri Aurobindo : Yes, I have. Disciple : It seems they have discovered two new elements. Sri Aurobindo : Not discovered, but created by changing the position of the particles in the atom. What are they going to do with them? Disciple : The cost of producing them will be prohibitive. Though the method of breaking up by Cyclotron is cheap. Raman has supported Einstein's theory about unity of matter and energy. Sri Aurobindo : Has anybody doubted it? Disciple : No. Sri Aurobindo : But what is energy? Page – 248 Disciple : Modern scientists ha