11 JANUARY 1940 SRI AUROBINDO: Let us see how. He has conceded, though it does not come to much, that Dominion Status will be given within a minimum time if we come to an agreement with the Muslims Rajas and Princes. NIRODBARAN: I think he has declared these little conecessions in order to prevent Congress from precipitating into action. SRI AUROBINDO: Possibly. SATYENDRA: This man has made one good hit about the date— about the change of British Ministry between 5th and 10th January. SRI AUROBINDO: About the change of Ministry, there is nothing remarkable. In war-time there are always these reshufflings and changes. The date has been a bit o

15 DECEMBER 1938 The Mother came. Dr. Savoor also had called. NIRODBARAN (to DR. Savoor): When you give a homoeopathic medicine, how do you select it? By intuition? And how do you know that your intuition is correct? Page-27 DR. SAVOOR: Intuition by its very definition means something not obtained by logical reasoning; so it must be correct. NIRODBARAN (to Sri Aurobindo): You told me that Dr. Ramachandra uses mental intuition. So there must be various levels of intuition. SRI AUROBINDO: By mental intuition I mean that the intuition coming from above gets mixed with the mind. I don't say that mental intuition must be incorrect but

1 JANUARY 1939 Evening, 5.30. The conversation was begun by Dr. Becharlal. We knew from the peculiar signs on his face that he was preparing and he soon burst forth. DR. BECHARLAL: What is the effect of fasting? SRI AUROBINDO (knitting his brows as usual at Dr. Becharlal's question): What about it? DR. BECHARLAL: The effect of fasting on Yoga? Page-85 SRI AUROBINDO (as if the question now were not so perplexing after all): It gives a sort of excitement to the vital being, but the effect does not seem. to be very sound. I fasted twice— once in Alipore jail for ten days and the other time in Pondicherry for twenty-three days. At Alipore I was

10 JANUARY 1939 Today Sri Aurobindo opened the talk by inquiring from Satyendra about X's health. Then the talk proceeded to homoeopathy. The Mother came and took some part in it. After she had gone, the talk on medicine continued. SRI AUROBINDO: Once in Baroda I had a nasty abscess on the knee. All treatment failed. Then Madhavrao Jadhav called in a Mohammedan who pricked the knee at a particular point and brought out a big drop of black blood and the abscess was cured soon afterwards! He must have known the spot to prick. I also remember Jatin Banerji curing many cases of sterility by a Sannyasi's medicine given to him. Cases of ten or fifteen years' sterility

23 FEBRUARY 1940 SRI AUROBINDO: The hippopotamus is also Swayambhu? DR. MANILAL: Why not, Sir? SRI AUROBINDO: That is not science. Evolution doesn't say that. SATYENDRA (to Manilal) According to you, the world was and will be just as it is: everything, space and air compact with the Nigodha or Jiva from eternity? (Laughter) SRI AUROBINDO: Space is also Swayambhu then? DR. MANILAL: Yes, Sir, the creation is infinite; it has no beginning, no end, like a tennis ball! (Laughter) SRI AUROBINDO: And self-existent with Eliot and his hippopotamus existing from eternity? (Laughter) SATYENDRA (to Dr. Manilal): If you don't believe God has cr

21 FEBRUARY 1940 DR. MANILAL: They are always close. SATYENDRA: No, this is the first time they are so near each other. SRI AUROBINDO: They are supposed to counteract the influences of Saturn and Mars which foreboded a great event. SATYENDRA: Saturn and Mars came close to each other on the 13th, but nothing happened. Girdharlal says that it does not mean that the results will be immediate. They may happen long after. SRI AUROBINDO: Something may have happened already. Some more Finns were probably killed. And this Altmark incident may be due to Saturn and Mars! DR. MANILAL: The astrologers recommend various ceremonies to propitiate Saturn