AUGUST 1943 7th August, 1943 Letter from Siddhartha (Nolini Sen's son). 1. Faith-Blind in Guru's words. 2. Religion is superfluous and injurious to India. 3. What is Sri Aurobindo doing? What has he done or is doing for India? Sri Aurobindo : Why does Siddhartha want to argue about his faith? How can he prove his faith by arguments? He must know that it can't be done. And now-a-days it is well-known that one argues in favour of what one likes. It is not for arriving at the Truth. One can't arrive at the Truth by arguing. He can find plenty of proof of people whose faith has succeeded where all outer reason was against them. There are many such

DECEMBER, 1938 10th December, 1938 Disciple : Why did you choose Pondicherry as the place for your Sadhana? Sri Aurobindo : Because it was by an Adesh – command from Above – I was asked to come here. When I was leaving Bombay for Calcutta I asked Lele what I should do regarding my Sadhana. He kept silent for some time [probably waiting to hear a voice from the heart] and replied, "Meditate at a fixed time and hear the voice in the heart." I did not hear the voice from the heart, but a different voice and I dropped meditation at a fixed time because meditation was going on all the time. When Lele came to Calcutta and heard about it, he said that the devil had caught

DECEMBER, 1939 14th December, 1939 Disciple : Did you meet Swami Dayanand of Bengal? Sri Aurobindo : No. I met one of his disciples, a scientist, in the Calcutta National College. When I wrote – in those days – about the Avatar, he said the Avatar is already there. Afterwards he himself recanted his avatarhood when the shooting affair took place. He has an idea of establishing world peace by bringing all nations together. He can say that he established the League of Nations and somebody else has disestablished it. Disciple : He used to keep nothing for the morrow in his organization – he depended entirely on Divine Grace. Sri Aurobindo : Yes, and he

APRIL, 1943 16th April, 1943 General Tokezyswaki : Polish leader came through Umadevi, a Polish lady. 17th April, 1943 General Tokezyswaki saw Mother at 3-30 for nearly an hour. 1. Synthesis of Elements of different cultures. 2. Nearly 3500 Polish refugees in India. 3. One or two hours to himself for reading about this literature. Sri Aurobindo : "Such men will find great difficulties after the war because the peace seems much more difficult – war is difficult enough". Page – 313  From the notes. 18th April, 1943 In Russia before the war there were 18 million in prison – 1/10th of the population!

7th February, 1939 Disciple : Bose has called his leftist Conference. I wonder what programme they are going to formulate. Sri Aurobindo : That is what they are not going to say. The only thing they are to do is to give an ultimatum to the British Government. After that they will break some laws or ask the Ministers to resign on the States' issue, if they have not done so by that time. Disciple : The States' question will be an all-absorbing matter and the split in the Congress may be avoided. Sri Aurobindo : But it is not definite what the princes will do. They are under the thumb of the British Government. Only a man like Holkar and Nabha may side wit

18th December, 1938 (4-30 P. M.) Disciple  :  It is surprising that Swami Nikhilananda should write about you. (There was an article in the Hindu by Swami Nikhilananda) Sri Aurobindo  :  It is Nistha (Miss Wilson) who arranged for its publication through him, her friend, before she came here. (After some silence) It is peculiar how they give an American turn to everything (Ref. to the article) Disciple : How is it that the Americans seem to be more open? Sri Aurobindo : Yes, because they are a new nation and have no past tradition to bind them. France and Czechoslovakia Page – 29 also are open. Many are writing from there to do yoga. Disciple : Nisth

30th December, 1939 Disciple : The Hindu Mahasabha this year has got a large number of delegates from the two provinces with Muslim majority. Sri Aurobindo : The two provinces with a Muslim majority? Disciple : Do you think that the Hindu Mahasabha if it is organized would weaken the Congress? Sri Aurobindo : The Congress may allow the Mahasabha to settle the question with the Muslims by organizing the Hindus instead of nationalist Hindus quarreling among themselves. If the Congress can do something effective then it would be all right. Disciple : There are some people who object to "Vande Mataram" as a national song. And some Congress men support the remov

NOVEMBER, 1940 28th November, 1940 Letters from Kabul and from Ella Maillard; change in attitude to Gabriel; effective representation of Ella. Gandhi's will – or political will was read (brought by Abhaya Deva) distributed to Gandhi Seva Sangh – spoken orally and taken down; after hearing the whole letter Sri Aurobindo said : Something in him takes delight in suffering for its own sake. Even the prospect of suffering seems to please him though he puts in a lot of ethics with his justification, the fact is that something in him enjoys suffering. 2. Secondly, if he knows that to the British Government 50 Gandhis would not matter – wha

15th December, 1939 Disciple X was laughing and Y was present. Sri Aurobindo turned his head inquiringly as to mean: What is the cause of the laughter. Disciple : My presence acts as a catalytic agent, so I myself do not know the cause nor what is the joke. Sri Aurobindo : That is how the subliminal self acts, without your knowledge, while your surface consciousness is ignorant about it. Disciple : But to return to N's question. If one takes the standpoint of reason and wants to decide about the validity of spiritual experience he will find the experiences also differ. So how can experience be a criterion. Sri Aurobindo : Experience is not a criterion; it is

23rd December, 1938 We have assembled as usual, and are eager to resume the talk. But nobody could begin without some hint or gesture from Sri Aurobindo. He was lying calmly in his bed. A disciple made an approach to Sri Aurobindo half-hesitatingly. This made another disciple roar with laughter.  (Sri Aurobindo heard the laughter) Disciple : X. is roaring with laughter. Sri Aurobindo : Descent of Ananda? This primary breaking of the ice made the atmosphere a little encouraging So, X catching the chance shot the following question with a beaming face : Disciple : Because the hostile forces offer resistance to the Divine manifestation in the world and s