Early Spiritual Development   First Turn towards Spiritual Seeking   Sri Aurobindo's first turn towards spiritual seeking came in England in the last year of his stay there. He had lived in the family of a Non-conformist clergyman, minister of a chapel belonging to the "Congregational" denomination; though he never became a Christian, this was the only religion and the Bible the only scripture with which he was acquainted in his childhood; but in the form in which it presented itself to him, it repelled rather than attracted him and the hideous story of persecution staining mediaeval Christianity and the narrowness and intolerance even of its

To People in America, 1926 ­ 1927   To Mr. and Mrs. Sharman   [c. January 1926]   Dear Mr.. and Mrs Sharman, .. I received a little while ago your Christmas card and greetings and it reminded me of a letter written long ago which I had hoped personally to answer, but could never do it, the time not having come. I have ever since I came to Pondicherry been obliged to withdraw more and more first from public life and then from all outer activities and absorb myself in a long and arduous inner endeavour. I had to discontinue the "Arya" for this purpose and for a long time I wrote nothing, not even any letters. Now although the needed

On the Integration of the French Settlements in India 1947 ­ 1950   The Future Union (A Programme)   In this period of epoch-making changes when India is achieving at this very moment a first form of freedom and the power to determine her own destiny, it behoves us in French India to consider our situation and make decisions for our own future which will enable us to live in harmony with the new India and the new world around us. At this juncture, we of the Socialist Party wish to define our own policy and the future prospects of the French Settlements as we envisage them.1 For a long time

Life in Baroda, 1893 – 1906   Service in Baroda State   Sri Aurobindo was first introduced to H.H. Sri Sayajirao, the great, Maharaja of Baroda by Mr. Khaserao Jadhav in England.   Not true. Sri Aurobindo made the acquaintance of Khaserao two or three years after reaching Baroda. Cotton introduced him to the Gaekwar.   Struck by the brilliance and the learning of the young Ghose, the Maharaja invited him to be his reader and in that capacity Sri Aurobindo came to Baroda.   Reader. Nothing of the kind. There was no such invitation and this post did not exist. Sri Aurobindo joined the Settlement Department, afterwards went to the Revenue

Messages on Indian and World Events 1948 ­ 1950   On the Assassination of Mahatma Gandhi   [1]   REMAIN FIRM THROUGH THE DARKNESS THE LIGHT IS THERE AND 1 WILL CONQUER.1 4 February 1948   [2]   I would have preferred silence in the face of these circumstances that surround us. For any words we can find fall flat amid such happenings. This much, however, I will say that the Light which led us to freedom, though not yet to unity, still burns and will burn on till it conquers. I believe firmly that a great and united future is the destiny of this nation and its peoples. The Power that brought us through s

Part Two   Letters of Historical Interest Section One   Letters on Personal, Practical and Political Matters 1890 ­ 1926

A Message to America   I have been asked to send on this occasion of the fifteenth August a message to the West, but what I have to say might be delivered equally as a message to the East. It has been customary to dwell on the division and difference between these two sections of the human family and even oppose them to each other; but, for myself I would rather be disposed to dwell on oneness and unity than on division and difference. East and West have the same human nature, a common human destiny, the same aspiration after a greater perfection, the same seeking after something higher than itself, something t

Life in Pondicherry, 1910 ­ 1950   Meeting with the Mother   Fate had just then brought him into contact with a remarkable Frenchman and his wife, Paul and Mirra Richard. They had for years been in search of a Master. . . .   [Altered to:] . . . with a remarkable Frenchman and his wife, Paul Richard and she who is now known as Sri Mira Devi. They had for years been in search of a Master in whom they could recognize a World-Teacher. . . .   *   Mirra Richard was no less overwhelmed by this vision — this reality — of the new Man.   [Altered to:] Mira Devi who had already gone far in spiritual realisation and o

Part Three   Public Statements and Other Communications on Indian and World Events 1940 ­ 1950 Section One Public Statements, Messages, Letters and Telegrams on

Philosophy and Writings   Sources of His Philosophy   Sri Aurobindo's intellect was influenced by Greek philosophy.   Very little. I read more than once Plato's Republic and Symposium, but only extracts from his other writings. It is true that under his impress I rashly started writing at the age of 18 an explanation of the cosmos on the foundation of the principle of Beauty and Harmony, but I never got beyond the first three or four chapters. I read Epictetus and was interested in the ideas of the Stoics and the Epicureans; but I made no study of Greek philosophy or of any of the [? ]. I made in fact no study of met