Section Three   Some Aspects of the Sadhana in Pondicherry       Inner Vicissitudes and Difficulties   Undeterred by Difficulty   I suppose all spiritual or inner experiences can be denounced as merely subjective and delusive. But to the spiritual seeker even the smallest inner experience is a thing of value. I stand for the Truth I hold in me and I would still stand for it even if it had no chance whatever of outward fulfilment in this life. I should go on with it even if all here abandoned and repudiated me and denounced it to the world as a delusion and a folly. I have nev

Outer Life in Pondicherry 1910 - 1950   Meeting Paul Richard   I would like to know the mystery behind M. Paul Richard's meeting with Sri Aurobindo. I have heard that when he started for Pondicherry you [i.e. the Mother] gave him some signs or some questions to be solved by an Indian Yogi. And they were solved by Sri Aurobindo.   I don't think there was any mystery. He came for political purposes and enquired of Naidu or perhaps from Shankar Chettiar in whose house I was living whether there was any Indian Guru here and my name was mentioned and they brought him to see me. He showed me some signs employed in Indian, Egyptian and ot

Yoga Centres and Movements   Centres   We have the idea of concentrating our activities and joining ourselves more closely to the Pondicherry Ashram by starting a lodge someplace in Gujarat where we can meet at least once a month.   No "Lodge" or formal society; these methods are not suitable for this sadhana. If they like to meet or meditate together of their own accord and without starting any fixed association or propaganda, that is another matter.   *     You might write to Rangpur (to X or Y —  the one who wrote about the friction with Z, I don't remember which it was) that it is not at all

Miscellaneous Matters   This is a small selection from the many hundreds of letters that Sri Aurobindo wrote to his disciples on various matters relating to their outward lives.   Household Questions   What is the "divine life" and what are "petty things"? The divine life is not something lived on romantic heights with no reference to earth and its movements. The Yogic or spiritual attitude has to be applied to the small outward details of life as well as to inner experiences or high ideals on a large scale. You ought to know by this time that the Mother attaches a great importance to the true spirit in the organisation of

Guidance through Correspondence   Utility of Correspondence   It would be a great mistake for you to stop writing in the book;1 it is a means of direct and concrete contact with me and the help I can give you —  apart from that which I always send you at all times. It is an adverse suggestion and influence which wants you to stop writing, because it wishes to cut the connection established through the book so that you might find it more difficult to feel my help coming to you. It is absurd to break off because you are for the time being unsuccessful in keeping up an uninterrupted progress; the interruptions come, they hav

The Realisation of January 1908   General Remarks   It is not that there is anything peculiar to you in these difficulties; every sadhaka entering this Way has to get over similar impediments. It took me four years of inner striving to find a real Way, even though the Divine help was with me all the time, and even then it seemed to come by an accident; and it took me ten more years of intense Yoga under a supreme inner guidance to find the Way —  and that was because I had my past and the world's Past to assimilate and overpass before I could find and found the future. 5 May 1932   *     I think you

Remarks on Public Figures in India   Sayajirao Gaekwar   I find it strange that they have made the Gaekwar the President of the World Conference of Faiths. Is he a Hindu?   When I knew him the Gaekwar was a free-thinker without any religion; I don't know if he has altered his views since. Formally, he is of course a Hindu. 7 July 1936   *   I read the Gaekwar's speech at the World Conference of Faiths. It is full of commonplace ideas about brotherhood, fellowship and goodwill. These ideas seem to have become mere catch words and it is doubtful if they can be of an

Sadhana in the Ashram   Communal Sadhana   In respect to Yoga, what is the meaning of communal sadhana?   There is no communal sadhana. It is the individuals who do the sadhana and that creates a collective atmosphere with a character and movements of its own.   In the commune can sadhaks help each other in their sadhana?   What commune? There is no commune here, there is only a group of people who are supposed to follow the same sadhana.   In what way?   Anyone can help another if he has the capacity. It has nothing to do with a "commune".   Not living in a commune, is it possible to reach th

Remarks on European Writers on Occultism   Helena Petrovna Blavatsky   On reading La Vie de Mme Blavatsky, I had the impression that there is nothing but vital occultism in her. Her life and work are concerned mostly with the supraphysical worlds and spirits and miraculous powers and Mahatmas.   You are quite right. She was an occultist, not a spiritual personality. What spiritual teachings she gave, seemed to be based on intellectual knowledge, not on realisation. Her attitude was Tibetan Buddhistic. She did not believe in God, but in Nirvana, miraculous powers and the Mahatmas. 31 March 1936

Lights, Visions, Dreams   Sri Aurobindo's Light   If it is pale blue, it may be my colour. Pale lavender blue, pale blue but very brilliant in its own shade. 6 August 1932   *   Nowadays I see Sri Aurobindo's light for most of the time but in different forms —  sometimes like a big star, sometimes like a moon, sometimes like a flash of light. Why do I not see it in the same form?   It varies according to the circumstances. Why should it be always the same? 21 April 1933   *   Two days back in a dream I saw Sri Aurobindo coming towards me. His body