Section Three   Remarks on Himself as a Writer and on His Writings       On Himself as a Writer   Yoga and Intellectual Development   Can it be that in course of the sadhana, one may have certain intellectual or other training by the direct power of yoga? How did your own wide development come?   It came not by "training", but by the spontaneous opening and widening and perfecting of the consciousness in the sadhana. 4 November 1936   Yoga and Literary Expression   Suppose you had not studied English literature; would it be still possible for you to say something about it by Yogic experience?

Early Experiences   An Experience in England   Someone told me that it is written somewhere that you had a realisation in 1890 when you were 18. Is this true?   A realisation in 1890? It does not seem possible. There was something, though I was not doing Yoga and knew nothing about it in the year of my departure from England; I don't remember which it was but probably 1892 ­ 3 which would make 20 years, not 18. I don't remember anything special in 1890. Where did he see this written? 22 August 1936   First Experience of the Self   For, as to this "Grace", we describe it in that way because

Section Two   Sadhana in Pondicherry 1910 - 1950   The Early Years in Pondicherry 1910 - 1926   Sitting on the Path?   It is not clear what your Guru meant by my sitting on the path; that could have been true of the period between 1915 and 1920 when I was writing the Arya, but the sadhana and the work were waiting for the Mother's coming. In 1923 or 1924 I could not be described as sitting on the path, so far as the sadhana was concerned, but it may perhaps be only a metaphor or symbol for the outward form of the work not yet being ready. The statement about my having gone too high to red

Rules in the Life of the Ashram   No Fixed Rules   The Asram, not being a public institution, has no prospectus or fixed set of rules. It is directed by the Mother according to what she sees to be necessary for each individual and for the work as a whole. 19 March 1930   *   I request you to furnish me with the rules and regulations necessary for becoming a member of the Ashram.   Tell him that there are no public rules and regulations for the Asram, as it is not a public institution.1 Only some of Sri Aurobindo's disciples who are considered ready or called to the Asram life are admitted. At

Heredity, Past Lives, Astrology   Heredity and Past Lives   It is true that we bring most of ourselves from past lives. Heredity only affects the external being and all the effects of heredity are not accepted, only those that are in consonance with what we are to be or not preventive of it at least. I may be the son of my father or mother in certain respects, but most of me is as foreign to them as if I had been born in New York or Paraguay. 3 June 1935   Speculations about His Past Lives   It is reported that you were Kalidasa and Shakespeare. I suppose it is true, at least regarding Kalidasa —  isn't it?   As to the report, who is t

Darshan   Admission to Darshan   Write that usually Sri Aurobindo sees on these days only his disciples, whether those residing in the Asram or those who come to him from outside, and a few others who are either connected in some way with the Asram, its work or its members or else are given permission for special reasons. Permission is not given to all who would like to come, as that would mean an impossible number and it would besides entirely break the principle of Sri Aurobindo's retirement.1 5 February 1930   *   You can write to him that he can have permission for himself and his wife —  but f

Remarks on the World Situation 1933 - 1949   Intellectual Idealists, World Events and the New Creation   I cannot persuade myself that all the things that are happening —  including the triumph of the British policy and deterioration of Gandhi's intellect —  are meant for the best. . . . Bengal is now benighted and there is no sign of light anywhere. Tagore too has just written an article of despair in which he forebodes gloomily an end of the world, pralaya-kalpānta, as perhaps the quickest and most satisfactory solution to the mess we are in. Add to this my own lack of devotion and faith. . . . I do sometimes even

Remarks on Public Figures in Europe   Kaiser Wilhelm II   The Kaiser gave up at the last moment when he could have assumed a dictatorship. Napoleon did the same after Waterloo.   In Napoleon's case they say it was the result of his disease, he was no longer quite his old self. The Kaiser was a man without any real strong stuff in him to face adversity. In the German case they simply lost hope after the American intervention and the failure of the submarine campaign —  there was no way out any longer and they felt exhausted by a hopeless struggle. But the end was inevitable. After the turning back at Co

Section Two   Messages     Messages Written for Special Occasions   Darshan Messages   The Divine gives itself to those who give themselves without reserve and in all their parts to the Divine. For them the calm, the light, the power, the bliss, the freedom, the wideness, the heights of knowledge, the seas of Ananda. 15 August 1929   *   It is not by your mind that you can hope to understand the Divine and its action, but by the growth of the true and divine consciousness within you. If the Divine were to unveil and reveal itself in all its glory, the mind might feel a Presence, but it would not understand its action or its

Sadhana in the Ashram Contd... I for my part am not prepared to bear any part of the burden of transformation of the hostile forces.   So much the better. I am not asking anybody to transform the Asuras —  I am only asking them to reject them.   I spoke of having seen and heard someone who showed me how he had organised, in the being of every sadhak here, a "dark being" veiling his "divine being".   I do not know what you mean by this someone. The existence of a double being is a preexistent fact, it has not been organised by anyone here.   I am not aware that the conditi