Lamps of

Light
M.

P. Pandit

1963 by

M.

P. Pandit.

Sri Aurobindo Ashram, Pondicheny.

Printed at Sri Aurobindo Ashram Press, Pondicheny 2.

Printed in India -1963.

The

Spiritual

and

the Occult

The Divine

in

6
Form
10

The Divine's Help and

its

Conditions

15

Dreams

Crises in

22
Sadliana
30

Space and Time

in the Spiritual

Context

36
The Curu
42
Consciousness in Alaterial Things

50

The Mother's

Sunlit Path

56
Difficulties in

Sadhana
64

Surrender and

Ego
71

OUT Sadhana

How

large

how

vast

is

Her

chariot,

and all-pervading

the Goddess,

how She

brings

Light in the front of the days

(Rig Veda)

The

Spiritual

and the Occult

THE SPIRITUAL AND the occult were never separate

from each other in the hey-day of spiritual efflorescence in India. It

is

common

to see

many

a spiri-

tual personality of the Vedic times exercising his

occult powers for the benefit of himself and of his

men. The hymns are full of hints on the

which these powers spiritual and occult
ways
were evoked and built up in themselves by
these seers. For that is what is meant by the birth
of the godheads in man. Each godhead represents a cosmic power with its own domain and the
practicant who wins its favour receives and organises it in his own being and can share in it. Not

fellow

in

Veda but even

only in the

come

instances

across

of

later in the Epics,

spiritual

giants

we
like

and

Vishwamitra summoning their

uncommon powers to meet unusual situations
and bringing about what we call "miracles."
They may be miracles for us, but they were not
for those who effected them. For they were simply

Vasishtha

exercising their superior knowledge of the organisation of forces and things in the universe to achieve

the

desired

To

results.

men

of those days all creation was of one

a
manifestation
of One Reality. The world
piece,
within and the world without were one. So too,
the

knowledge of the domain and powers of the soul

within the Spirit was not different from or opposed to the knowledge of the system of the world or
the worlds outside, the occult knowledge

occult

Lamps

of Light

was not patent to the common eye. Both

were two sides of the same coin. The spiritual and
the occult were mutually complementary and
fulfilled each other. It was only in the later days of
because

it

the decline of the spiritual vitality of the race that a

separation between the two grew and they took

practice

Occult knowledge, occult

be frowned upon in the spiritual

lines.

independent

began

to

paths and spiritual

by the occultists.

typical

truths

instance

treated

of this

as

irrelevant

unrealistic

divorce

between the two spheres is the prohibition of the

use of occult powers by spiritual seekers. Almost
all the treatises on orthodox Yoga and spiritual
practice make it imperative on the sadhaka to
much less use
refrain from taking any interest in
the occult powers that may manifest themselves
in the course of the Yoga. This has continued
for ages
Law in

and has acquired the weight of an absolute

most

traditions.

It is only Sri Aurobindo and the Mother who

have questioned the correctness of this taboo. Sri
Aurobindo brought a robust commonsense to

bear upon

an

ascetic

man

question and boldly said that it is

superstition to hold that a spiritual

this

shall not use occult powers.

these powers after all

latent in the system or

They

And what

are

are faculties lying

powers appropriate to different states of consciousness that open up in the course

of the development of the consciousness in the spiritual culture of the being. They strike as "miraculous" simply because they operate in a way which
is different from the modes of
operation in the
of
consciousness
in this matepresent organisation

The

Spiritual

and the Occult

world. That

they look un-natural. But

they are natural to the consciousness that emanates
and puts them out in action. Who shall persuade

rial

is

why

this consciousness that

manner

it

acting in a prohibited

is

It is silly to say that these powers shall not be

used because they are a mighty temptation and
might retard the progress of the practitioner by

confining his interest to their fireworks. That is

entirely a different matter. It does not require
occult powers to hold up the progress of the seeker
;

there are plenty of other things that could play the

same role. Again, to say that these powers could be

used to harm others

Do we

is an
equally insufficient reason.
from developing and using the

refrain

muscle for fear

be
? Do we prohiharmed
these
may
by
the scientist from utilising the powers he dis-

powers of the

intellect or of the

that others
bit

covers or perfects in his laboratory ? Possibility of

the diversion of purpose or of misuse could hardly

be an adequate reason for shutting out the exercise

of faculties and powers that manifest themselves
in the natural course of the

of one's

growth and expansion

consciousness.

What

really matters is the motive with which

the powers are used. If they arc harnessed for the
satisfaction or the aggrandisement of the ego,

can be said to be unspiritual as the ego is

the enemy of all spiritual progress. Like any other
faculty or power, physical, intellectual or aesthetic,
the occult also can be developed and used either
then

it

for one's

own

well-being and progress or for that

what is to be guarded against here

of others;
elsewhere
as

is

the

growth

of

unspiritual

Lamps

of Light

elements of which the ego is the most harmful.

D.B. is a young man in his teens who is gifted by

Providence with certain occult capacities. He has

a healing touch and people of all ages flock to him

on fixed days

cured of their long-standing ailments. He does a few passes and they are healed.
Now this youngster thought, at one time, of taking
to be

Aurobindo's Yoga and asked the Mother if the

healing that he had been doing so long ought to
to Sri

was very eager to know what the

say. Without a moment's hesitation
She said that it need not be stopped at all provided
he took care to see that no egoistic claim crept

be stopped.

Mother would

in

him

for effecting the cures.

scious that

it

He

should be con-

was a universal Shakti, Divine Power,

was acting through him.

How

he acted up
it need not
concern us here. What is important to note and
do is to deny the loud claim of the ego to be the
master. Of course, it is difficult to do it. Even when

that

to this advice

is

far

another matter and

one thinks that the ego is not active there are a

hundred subtle ways in which it thrives. It is only
an utter sincerity that is the sure shield against
the manoeuvrings of the ego. If one is truly sincere
to the call of the Soul then one can very well know
whether he has the capacity to withstand the ego
under certain conditions or he had better avoid
the whole situation, as was wisely done by a seeker

whom we

of

shall

presently

X. took

speak.

to the Sri Cakra pujd

Divine Mother in the linear Form

orthodox way.

Moved by some

worship of the
in a most un-

Faith he drew a

Sri

Cakra design on a piece of metal he happened

to

have and commenced offering worship

to

it

The

Spiritual

and the Occult

according to the instructions contained in a book.

He

received no initiation from anybody. He put his

not
it and to the wonder of all

heart and soul into

excluding himself

the

to the usual

tirtha, i.e.

prasdd, distributed

custom, wielded a potency

according
which could not be missed. People started crowding
at the end of his Puja every day. All this happened
in the course of a

few months.

It

went on

for

about

two years when the gentleman felt unequal to the

He felt the danger of the ego coming upon
him, and not willing to risk his sadhana, he ceased

situation.

the

distribution

is

tirtha

forthwith.

Of

course,

Puja and Updsand and we

now well advanced in his line.

he has continued
learn he

of
his

Thus it is really a matter of sincerity, capacity

and strength of purpose which should decide
the question of the use of occult powers by the
seeker.
developed spiritual consciousness is indis-

pensable for the right and safe use of these powers

and we may

say,

the awakening

of the occult powers

is

and

utilisation

necessary for the establish-

ment and organisation of the manifesting

Spiritual

one can do without the

use of these powers if it is a matter of individual
realisation alone. But where it is a question of manifesting the Divine Consciousness in the collective
Consciousness. Indeed

Universe, the knowledge of its inner workings and

direction
of the
occult
powers is

effective

indispensable.

25-1-1963

The Divine

in

Form

I REFERRED TO
the Sri Cakra while speaking
of the seeker of Sri Vidyd, the Divine Mother.
The Chakra, as we all know, is a diagramatic
representation of the Abode of the Divine Mother

in the Tantras.

ask

loftily,

God

is

Why

this

when God

everywhere, only

is

everywhere

we do not have

Him, and

city to recognise

particular form,

feel

Him

some

Indeed,

the capa-

everywhere.

That is why God manifests, reveals Himself more

in some Forms than in others. These are the
several Forms in which men have found and worshipped the Divine across the ages e.g., Images,
Idols, Yantras and Mandalas etc. The Divine is
easily accessible to the human consciousness
in these special Forms either because He has been
invoked and established in them by Holy

more

Men

who have

realised the Divine or the Divine

Himself

has chosen to abide tangibly in some particular

Forms which correspond to certain fundamental

truths in the Being and the Becoming of the Divine.

The

Sri

forms of

one

Cakra

is

this

kind.

of the

most -remarkable

The

Togini Hrdaya (Tantra)

that
the
of
circles
and triangles constisays
diagram
the
Ghakra
tuting
represents accurately the con-

figuration of the creative Forces of the Divine Shakti

in manifesting the Universe. That is why, apart

from other

factors, the

Chakra

acts

by

itself as

powerful evocation of the Presence of the Divine

Shakti. It is an unmistakable experience of all,
not only of those

who worship but

also those

who

The Divine

witness

in

Form

and

receive the sanctified tirtha after the

Puja, how the entire atmosphere in the place where

the Chakra is installed or worshipped is sur-

charged with powerfully spiritual vibrations.

Of course,

there are requisite conditions like faith,

devotion, love for the Yantra (Chakra) or the Image
on the part of the worshipper. It will not do to treat
as an inanimate object of prescribed ritual. It
should be looked upon and regarded as a living
Personality. An incident in the life of Sri Rama-

it

krishna would illustrate the point.

Due to some accident an idol of worship in the

temple was damaged and the leg came off. They

did not know how to proceed or what to do. A
number of learned pandits were consulted on
the course to be adopted. There was a heated

end of which they advised the

authorities to consign the idol to the Ganges and
substitute a new one. At that time someone had a
bright idea to ask Sri Ramakrishna, who was
discussion at the

already

known

for

his

God-intoxicated

strange

ways, what was to be done in the matter. He

seemed surprised that such a question should be

He asked, in anguish, "You are consigning

the lamed Krishna to the Ganga
If a similar mis-

asked.

the son-in-law of the Rani, perhaps

Treat
go in for a substitute son-in-law
as you would treat a fractured human limb."

hap
you
it

befalls

will

So saying he took the idol and himself had it set

right. It was so natural for him to do it because he
treated the idol as a live entity to be treated as a
living person.

Coming nearer home, we

see so

even photographs spring into

many

life.

times

how

Times without

Lamps

of Light

number people have

seen Sri Aurobindo moving,

smiling, even coming out of the photograph in the
Reception Room in the Ashram and when Sri

Aurobindo was asked about

it,

he confirmed the

genuineness of such experiences. Whole lives have

been changed by a single look at the Mother's pho-

tograph emanating vibrations of an unearthly order.

Coming to the subject of the Mother's photographs, it may be mentioned how each photograph
has a different effect, each radiates a force of its
own. Once I remember, as I was seeing a new
I suddenly felt my head disappearing
was a yawning of Infinity as it were. When
I mentioned it to the Mother and asked why we get
different experiences from different photos of Hers,
She graciously explained that the photographs
were taken at different periods, on different occasions, and the vibrations they emanate correspond
to the state of consciousness She was in at the
time. She also added that one could put oneself

photograph,

there

into contact with that Consciousness through the

particular photograph by concentration. Now, concentration of that kind may not be possible for all,
but a loving adoration can be. And that is found
to

be more effective and

This is the reason why

lasting.

when you

see

some

photographs of the Mother, your heart melts into

on seeing some your mind evaporates

it were and a stillness takes
possession of you
on seeing others you breathe in sheer joy and beauty.
There is a photo of Hers sitting on the window sill,
tenderness;

as

watching, may I say, the birth of a New Age. Who

can look at this picture and yet escape a feeling
of Newness ? Each of Her photographs is a land-

The Divine

in

Form

mark, a sign-post in the

spiritual evolution of the

race.

The photograph brought out on this year's

Ashram Calendar is unique in this respect. I have
yet to see a man who is not knocked out of his
little

world on seeing

named

this portrait.

REALISATION.

It is expressively

should

regard this
picture as the most vivid capture of Her Role
as the sole-sufficing Link between the world of

men and

the

Her Eyes

seize

Realm

of the Divine Truth above.

and hold the Link which is firmly
established on Earth by the Power that exudes
from Her Glorious Body.
26-1-1963

The
and

Divine's Help

Conditions

its

THE DIVINE CAN

be approached, in the Indian

tradition, not only in Form but equally in Sound.
Sound in essence is regarded as the body of Brahman
who creates and manifests through his Sound-Body,
sabdabrahman. Each Sound is accompanied by the
manifestation of a characteristic Form. For every
form in creation there is a corresponding sabda
that gave birth to

it.

Each Power of the Divine,

Deity has its Sound-form. By repeating

sound-vibration it is possible to call into mani-

each
this

festation the Deity that answers to

basic principle of the Mantra Yoga
trates

upon

it.

This

is

the

which concen-

sabda to actualise the artha that

is
insepaancients in India perceived that
corresponding to the Gods, the several emanations
from the manifesting Divine, there are certain

rable from

it.

The

sounds or combinations of sounds which could

be called their sound-bodies and used as their

Names

of Call. These sounds, letters expressing the

sounds or words formed from them, called the

mantras are endowed with a mystic potency and

when communicated

to the novice

by a qualified

Guru, they provide a sure means to realise the Deity

embodied in them. The way of Mantra-sadhana
is no doubt
long for it is not enough to simply repeat
a mantra so many times a day. The Mantra is to
be cultivated with feeling and adoration, looked
upon not as a device but as the very Deity that is

The

Divine's Help

and

its

Conditions

11

rendered alive and the whole of one's

being filled with it. The way may be long, still
if you follow it with dedication, your life begins to
be lit early enough with many happy results. There
sought

for,

comes a growing control over circumstances, a

glow of health, fore-vision, infallibility of speech,
In vdk-siddhi> speech develops a special
power and tends to fulfil itself. That is to say,
the sadhaka acquires something of the creative
vdk-siddhi.

of

power

iabda.

comes

itself,

Power

reaches

it

back

Way

true.

What
the

he
he

speaks effectuates
a Deity or a
destination unfailingly.

When

calls

in the early forties,

was once

tra-

Guide, Sastriar, by train. On the

change trains at a junction; but
our train arrived late and there was not much time
left to catch the connection. So Sastriar went straight
velling with

my

way we had

to

compartment of the new train with our

I hurried to the canteen as I could not
and
things
do without the early morning tea. By some silly
misunderstanding I got delayed. In the meaninto the

came to know later the time for the

of
the train was up, the guard blew the
departure
whistle and the train started. It started, went a
few paces and then stopped. I arrived after it had
while

as I

stopped,
that

of everything and came to

the loud imprecations of bystanders
actually missed the train but luckily

unaware

know from
had

had somehow stopped. I rushed inside the

compartment and asked Sastriar. He smiled and
confirmed that it was true the train had started
and stopped after it had proceeded a little ahead.
it

"How did it stop, why did it stop?"

it

started,

called

MOTHER

asked.

"When

and the

train

Lamps

of Light

12

stopped," he explained.
This incident has remained ever-fresh in

my

mind. For though I knew he had been doing Mantrasadhana ever since he was five and had heard from
him and read about many instances of vdk-siddhi,
this was the first time I had a first-hand experience.
There were many occasions later when I saw his selffulfilling speech at work. But that is another matter.
The most important condition for such a power
to manifest, he emphasised to me time and again,
is

satya, truth in

speech, truth in thought.

Under

no circumstances should one

yield to untruth in
whatever form, even in fun. Nothing is so harmful
for sadhana,
any spiritual sadhana he would say,
as falsehood.

Divine

is

Where

there

is

falsehood there the

repelled.

There have been plenty of instances where people

have sought the Mother's help in their affairs and
in Her compassion She has responded but without
the desired result. When once asked, She said that
the Force sent out by Her came back as there
was too much falsehood in the atmosphere of the
person. It could not work. That is why She does
not normally look with favour on appeals for help
in matters like court-cases. For the Force She
sends out is a Force of Truth and if there be any
element of untruth or mixture of falsehood in the
the Force, if it does
matter, as is often the case
not come back, stays to fight and break the evil

man who asked for it has to

thank himself for the consequences
Allied to such cases of the 'failure of the Divine
Force which is really a refusal to salvage falsehood,

formation and the

are certain cases of

illness,

mental and physical,

The

Divine's Help

and

its

Conditions

13

where no favourable results are seen of Her response. Once, one of my near relations fell ill and
in spite of all kinds of medical aid he would not
improve. Daily, at times more than once each
day, telegrams were arriving and placed before
the Mother praying for help. There would be

improvement and again relapse. When I

looked at Her appealingly (and I may add, questioningly too), She said that everytime a call for
help came She put a pressure in the Consciousness
but the patient had so much shut himself in his own
formation (mental and other) that the Force could
not get in. Of course, in Her illimitable Grace, She
persisted and broke through the barrier and today
the person is enjoying sound health. It would be
relevant here to add what She has said regarding
Her Blessings for people when they are seriously
ill. The
Blessings go forth to do what is best foi the
not
what is desired by others. The good of the
soul,

slight

soul

or

it

may coincide
may not.

with the wish of those around,

have spoken of cases where calls for help were

physically reached to the Mother. But there are
innumerable instances where the call has been
responded to, even without the knowing of the
frontal personality of Sri Aurobindo and the
Mother. The fact is She is not confined to the
body in which we see Her. To Her real Form, this
I

body is just like a pin-point for effectuating Her purpose on the physical Earth. "Only
the part that relates to this universe is here", She
remarked once in passing. Her subtle body is
spread all over and in a way, She is always there
where She is thought of. Her subtle extension

physical

Lamps

of Light

14

Whether the part holding

itself in the physical body is attentive or not, the
rest of Her takes note and acts. Her Grace and
knows no physical

limits.

Compassion overspread like the sky.

It was in 1947. I had written an article, my
first one, and given it for inclusion in The Advent,
if

found suitable. In those days every

article

to

be published in the Journal had to be approved

by Sri Aurobindo. So my piece also was read out

him; he heard it through and then said, "But

I have heard it before ?" The reader assured him
he had not. He repeated
"Yes, every word of it,
I remember." Obviously cognizance of that writing
had been taken earlier by his extended Being.

to

27-1-1963

Dreams
WE

DO NOT remember all

that

most of the dreams except

of the
says,

perhaps something

we wake

up. But if, as the Mother

catch the last bit as the tail and go back-

last

we

We forget

we dream.

before

wards we begin to remember more and more of

what we have dreamt. And it becomes a fascinating
study. For each dream is of its own kind and has
an interest different from another.
If we analyse our dreams, we find they are of

Some are elongated reproductions

of our experiences during the waking period; some
are a working out of certain wishes or desires
different types.

entertained but not fulfilled; some are a confused

medley of what we have experienced during the

day, read about in books or papers, heard from

others. All of these are usually of a chaotic type
occurring on the surface levels of our consciousness.

But there are others which come up from deeper

layers and have a distinct message for us, if
only

we

are

attentive

to

them and sufficiently

them objectively.

dispassionate to interpret
The first of such meaningful dreams
indicate

what

is

to

of the

happen.
premonitory type. They
Every event that takes place on our physical plane
is
preceded by its occurrence in some way on the
subtler plane above; in fact it is first determined
there and then precipitated on the lower plane of
existence. The premonitory dreams are, so to say,
the registerings of happenings on the subtler planes,
transcribed on the subtle layers of our conscious2

is

Lamps
ness

of Light

16

which correspond

to or are

in touch with

those planes or worlds above. These dreams give

us a foreknowledge of what is in the process of

happening.

And

to forestall

it

it

it,

or minimise

we

if

may

etc.

coming
an attack of the

If I

am

Thus

its effects.

cious animals
cates

are alert and

wise

take steps

be possible either to avoid

to attack

may

see

some

me. Usually

it

vital forces of passion,

will

be careful in

my

fero-

indi-

anger

move-

ments during the period that follows and when

actually there
very fact that

is

the imminence of the attack, the

am prepared to meet it, reduces

striking power. Similarly with accidents. One

can very well take precautions and save oneself.
its

So too there are dreams which indicate favourable

openings in the offing, and if one is prompt to take
note and act, his is the gain.
Then there is the kind of dream which announces
something that has taken place but of which we
are not yet aware. Some good tidings, some
untoward happening. The Ramayana perhaps
the

earliest

epic

in

the

world

narrates

how

Bharata at his maternal home dreamt that his father

Dasharatha was driving in a carriage drawn by
an ass and was then seen floating in a vat of oil
both these being portents of death in the Indian
Science of Dreams. In fact at that very

moment

messengers had been despatched from far-off Ayodhya to fetch Bharata as the King was dead.
And actually his body had been placed in a vat of
oil to preserve it till the son's return. Such dreams
intimating what has already taken place are fairly
in which we see or

common. Only, every dream

hear someone hurt or dead shall not be taken to be

Dreams
true.

and

17

times they are reflexes of the fears

anxieties harboured by us during our waking

Many

period and they are virtually our own creations.

There is no truth in them. As a celebrated Sanskrit
poet says, too

much

affection, attachment, always

apprehends danger to the person loved, atisnehah
pdpasanki. We fear, we imagine all kinds of danger
to the object of our attachment and these fears
take shape in the dreams. We may add relevently
that by such kind of fear, we indirectly anticipate,
prepare a ground as it were and invite the very

things we fear to effectuate themselves

in dream but in actuality too.

not merely

For those who are seekers on the spiritual path,

building up an inner life, awakening themselves on
subtler levels of their being, dreams have
a remarkable significance. They are unmistakable
impressions of what is going on behind the surface.

the

They have

their

own language and one must be

conversant with their notations.

Once, four years ago, I had a peculiar dream

my father was dead after living with me for twenty
:

years.

And

simultaneously I had vomited blood.

Now,

had passed away nearly twenty-five years

my
and
the
dream was very unusual. But it was
ago
very vivid, so vivid and pursuing that I had to
inform the Mother about it immediately. The
Mother beamed, looked very happy and expressed
father

her

An

important step in
yoga had been taken, She told me, a decisive
the old vdsands
all
change had taken place
had been washed off.
repeated

approval.

Vdsands, the impressions that we

the past, dig themselves into habits

inherit

from

and are

really

Lamps
the

of Light

18

of our

parents

what we do, function

we

as

We

formation.

present

do

function, largely because

of the drive of these formed impressions in the

several layers of our being which fix themselves in
the form of tendencies, habits and natural impulses.
Again, there is a typical dream which I have been
getting off and on. Suddenly I would find my teeth
getting loose and come out; come out not one or
two, but the whole bunch of them as if they were
pebbles. Every time this

happened

nervous and wake up

would get

only

fearfully,

to

so

assure

I was wonderone
ing why
day I read Sri
Aurobindo's explanation of this dream to another
sadhak who complained about a similar discom-

myself that

all

this

fiture.

Sri

the teeth were intact.

was happening

Aurobindo

till

said that the falling of the

teeth indicates the loosening and rooting out of

strong habits in the physical mind. It certainly put
fresh heart into me to realise in what way the

Mother's Yoga-Shakti was active in

Then
get

there

of trains.

in time;

is

dream

The

which many

train arrives but

struggle to reach

but at other times miss

on the platform. Or

it

it.

is

it

and

my

being.

in

sadhana

am not

at times

there

make

it

It leaves just as I step

a bus which calls at the

door step but

my packing is not yet over. Clearly

a vivid picture of what goes on in my being.
There are moments in the life of everyone when
this

is

there comes a favourable current of

of flow,
which if caught properly leads one far towards the
fulfilment of his object in life.
when the
If,

movement

arrives,
it

prepared,
just
has to wait for

one

is

rise,

either inattentive or un-

passes by and the unfortunate man

another such moment which may

Dreams

19

come again

or

may not, in

this life.

Particularly in a

sadhana like ours where the Mother's Shakti is at

work, it comes in such a forward wave time and again
and we have only to grasp the opportunity preferred
If we are immersed in other interests or are not
.

it, then great is the loss. It is this

of
coming
opportunity and our seizing or missing
it that is indicated by our getting into the train or
being left behind. Sastriar used to say that on occa-

ready to profit by

sions
it,

when

the

the train started before he could get into

Mother stopped the

train

and saw

to

it

that he entered.

At times the dream

The examination-hour
o'clock.

But

find

is

more

directly revealing.

hand: today, at
have not read the books at
is

at

11
all.

I have gone on postponing things to the next day

and nothing is ready. 1 These dreams are at once
an indication and a warning.
Or you travel and on the way the terrain suddenly
changes. There are rocks, steep mountains and
ravines and one does not know how to proceed.
You take the Mother's Name and you are suddenly
on the other side or without thinking of anything
you simply fly with the hands beating about, a thrill
;

coursing through the body. In sleep our consciousness goes out to different regions and it is the subtle
or vital body that is on the move it is not bound to
;

the tethers of the physical and it has its own freer

movement. It is this that flies. The difficult terrain

we come

that

across reflects the layout of these

supra-physical regions which are

by no means a

full

of dangers

of any past memories of student days. For

any particular brilliance, I was all along a
conscientious plodder who was at no time unprepared.

This

though

is

never

noted

relic

for

Lamps

of Light

and are

20

be traversed carefully. There are not

merely obstructions of landscape but even encounters with some of the denizens of those planes.
Eerie

to

dwarfs,

sticky

and

proliferating

creatures

swarm about; fierce, hefty and ugly beings threaten;

they crowd upon you and advance to belabour you.
Fear is the one thing that should be avoided at these
moments. But normally one has no control over
one's movements in such situations. I may suddenly

my

find all

courage failing at the nick of time

or

on occasions I find a strong courage gushing up

from somewhere. I beat up these fellows with an
energy that is astonishing. Thus while self-reliance
is commendable, one can never be sure what
part
of us is active at the moment, the developed and
strong one or the timid. The one unfailing armour
against all such unwelcome attentions, however,
is the Divine Name. Times without number I have
watched these Panis and Dasyus slink away the

moment

I called the Mother.

There are of course pleasant and happy dreams

also.

see the vast silvery expanse of the

ocean

me: the Infinite Consciousness that beacons.

I see the Mother sitting on Her throne and distributing Her bounty to one and all. I see the Mother
coming to give a White Cake, a big one, on a plate.
I take liberties with Her which I would not lightly

before

waking state. And each time I have spoken

Mother about these meetings, She has confirmed them either with an emphatic nod or with a
pleased and melting smile. At times She gives an
inkling into the truth of Her manifestation as on one
occasion when She appeared, and as I was looking,
She changed Herself into Sri Aurobindo and blessed

do

in the

to the

Dreams

me

21

with both hands.

feeling to realise that

of Sri

Aurobindo's

woke up with a very warm

it was a
special day, the day
I

arrival

at

Pondicherry,

his

tapobhumi.

These are dreams to be cherished. They register

important developments which take place behind
our physical exterior and forge relations which come
up on the surface later on.

Crises in

Sadhana

WAS ONLY

the other day that I was talking to a

a
on
visit
to our Ashram from abroad,
lady
easily
one of the most remarkable personalities that I
have come across. Narrating one of her experiences
she described how one day at noon in her garden
she suddenly saw a great outburst of Light, Light
from the trees, Light from the flowers, Light from
everywhere. She experienced a manifestation of
the Cosmic Divinity and was totally overpowered.
A new kind of Consciousness came over her and

IT

she could not relate herself to anything around.

Her one prayer at that moment was that she should

be left alone. But that was not to be. Her husband,

her son, her family members all came where she

had poised herself and started questioning. She

was dazed and with great difficulty told them to
leave her to herself for the time being. But no, she
must take food, she could not be left to starve that

way. The doctor was called to see why she was

behaving in that unusual manner. She was asked
'You won't
insistently and all she could say was
:

understand.' That

made them

still

more

suspicious
of some mental aberration and they took matters
in their own hands. The result was that the poor

lady had a very bitter time and hard struggle which

could and should have been avoided at that hour of
spiritual

This

is

apocalypse.
a typical! example of the risks of mis-

understanding and mal-handling to which spiritual

hands of the

seekers are constantly exposed at the

Crises in Sadhana

23

a matter of

common

experience for us
Sadhana reacting at times in a most
unpredictable manner. Persons who are normally
sattvic flare up for no reason with a vehemence

laity.

It is

to see people in

would do credit to a demon. Hours of meditation

would be followed by a tornado of fury. The fact is
that

that in Sadhana, particularly in a path like ours

which insists on the change of one's nature, the
subject to an enormous pressure for
change. Pressure from above by the Yoga-Shakti
on the system to change, to adapt itself to the

sadhaka

demands

is

mounting aspiration and the

responding Consciousness; pressure from below resisting the change from its accustomed routine of
activity. There is no problem as long as man
throws himself totally on one side or the other. He
can wallow in the lower round of ignorance and
as long as he is satisfied with it he goes on merrily.
of

the

Or he

should unreservedly transfer his allegiance

to the Higher Call
then too there is no problem.
:

But constituted as he is, man is a being of several

parts, not all of which are agreed on what they want.
Some parts of his being seek for the higher life, the
others are content with the usual petty rounds of
their activity

there

is

and

any change. That

resist

there

The

is

why

seeker

is
struggle.
it
this
and
is
to
unseen pressure
constantly exposed
this that is mostly responsible for his unexpected

actions,

friction,

un-natural

is

behaviour.

remember how

once, referring to a person

the

Mother

behaving very erratically,

under a tremendous presdo anything. I was always intrigued,

said

'She

is

sure; she may

at first, at Her attitude of

even

towards

such

sympathy indulgence
however disindividuals,

Lamps

24

of Light

ruptive and explosive their actions might be. It

took time to realise that that was the only enlight-

ened way to help them out. What persons under

such circumstances need is an understanding, a
sympathy, and if possible a little of love. But what

happens usually is that the environment meets them

with ridicule, provocation and self-justifying hosought to know better,"
we have no pretensions to spiritual attainments", how many times have we not heard such
remarks! Nobody bothers to pause and see what
tility.

"At

"Spiritual people

least

are the circumstances that have precipitated the

poor man into what he is doing. And even with the
best of intentions

around

the

usually the
In a recent paper 1
is

course adopted

wrong one
on the

by those

Roberto

subject, Dr.

Assagioli of the Institute of Psychosynthesis (Rome),

gives an admirable analysis of such situations as

they develop and are normally tackled.

teresting to follow

him

step

by

step,

It is

in-

whether we do

or do not agree with everything that he says. Here

his analysis

is

In the

first

place,

the writer

like

the other

makes a

parapsychologists of his line of thinking

distinction

The

between

Self-actualisation

and

Self-reali-

covers the various stages in the

psychological growth of the individual, the awakening of his latent faculties which add beauty, moral

sation.

first

values etc. to his

life.

Self-realisation,

on the other

hand, pertains to the experience and realisation of

his deepest Centre, the Self of

T
1

is

Vide

just a projection.

DARSHANA,

which the personal

A further distinction is made

Vol. II, No. 2 (Moradabad, India)

Crises in Sadhana

25

between the experience of the Self and the experience of the spiritual realms of consciousness which
generally include all the levels that are above those
normally accessible to man. The way to the Consciousness of the Self

through these several states

of the higher consciousness which are broadly
lies

described as spiritual.
Now, says Dr. Assagioli, in each individual there
is

a certain

or at the

new

impulses,

new

drives, before

moment

These

reality.

of

stir

of his awakening to the spiritual

stirrings in the being may be com-

pared to similar movements in the body at the time

of adolescence
the one at the awakening of the
soul, the other at the maturation of the body.
"Man's spiritual development," he writes, "is a
long and arduous journey, an adventure through
strange lands full of surprises, difficulties and even
dangers. It involves a drastic transmutation of the
'normal elements of the personality, an awakening
of potentialities hitherto dormant, a raising of
:

consciousness

along a

new

to

new

realms,

inner dimension.

and a functioning

We

should not be

surprised, therefore, to find that so great a change,

so fundamental a transformation is marked by

which are not infrequently

accompanied by various nervous, emotional and
mental troubles."
Such disturbances may show the same symptoms

several critical stages,

common

physical illnesses but they are not

to be dealt with in the usual clinical manner.

as of

And
at

any

these disequilibriums are more today than

time before. That is because as the Doctor

rightly observes

being than his

man

today is a more complicated

forbear a few generations ago; his

Lamps

26

of Light

mind has developed complexes unknown before,

his involvements are more varied and the development has to proceed through a complex balancing
of forces and factors. These disturbances may be
studied under four convenient heads.

The

first

awkening

the

is

man begins

leading so long
senses a

is

the
crises preceding
spiritual
to feel that the life he has been

not

all,

nor the best

in the poise of his

change

awareness. This

may come about

possible.

He

mind and inner

either as a result

of unforeseen happenings or simply by the growing

feeling of a 'void' somewhere. He begins to question
many things he had taken for granted; old values

crumble but no new ones are

them.

He

is

distracted,

there to

he

restless;

replace
turns to

philosophy, religion, metaphysics or other branches of Knowledge for support. He is dissatisfied

with himself, with everything and at times this

disequilibrium

The second

takes

stage

is

physical manifestations also.

of crises caused by the spiritual

awakening. This awakening breaks the barrier and

makes an opening between the normally active and

conscious levels and

the higher,
levels of the individual and there

super-conscious
a flood of ex-

is

periences light, joy, freedom pour down or spread

themselves from within. Some spiritual energy
:

courses in the being. If at this stage these developments are related to the T, the ego-self, a number

of paranoid delusions or dangerous obsessions ensue

blocking true spiritual progress. The distinction

between the 'personal self and the Basic Self shall

not be lost sight of and what belongs and proceeds
from one shall not be appropriated by the other.
Emotionally too, with such sudden influx of

spiri-

Crises in Sadhana

27

tual energies in

weaker systems there

for uncontrolled ebullience, reckless

is a tendency
waste of oneself

activity or other. In some there is an opening of the subtle vision, subtle audition and an unreserved submission to them brings its own dangers

in

some

of mislead.

The

third stage

is

of the

reactions to the spiritual

awakening. At first, following the inflow of the

higher consciousness in its several workings, there is

a sense of peace, a harmony, a joy that not only

fills the
being but flows out to all around. In the
best of the moments one has an intense perception
of the unity of all existence, a happy vision of the
purpose of life and one's part in it. The old, narrow,
angular personality seems like an evil dream and

there

is

a feeling of having arrived.

state of elation, however, does

Such an exalted
not

last

long.

The system

of man,

physical

and

not ready to hold and support

psychological,
the new charge beyond a certain limit. It lags behind the old moorings begin to reappear they
is

had only been

lost to

eliminated. After

is

the

view in the flood but not

flow,

the

ebb.

This period of reaction is almost universal. It

the valley of death, the 'dark night of the soul',

when one becomes acutely conscious of one's

imperfections. By contrast with the temporary
experience of the high tide, things appear darker

than they really

are.

their wretchedness,

teriorated

and have

People

begin

to

bemoan

complain that they have defallen into a state lower

and

drier than ever before, 'worse off than when I

started the sadhana', they emphasise. Doubts,
scepticism, cynicism, have a field-day and the

Lamps

28

of Light

lost. They can neither

the
back
to
old
life
because
somehow their hargo
mony with it has been disturbed once for all; nor
can they live in the new state of consciousness
which has receded before it could be normalised.
The only way out of this morass is to realise that
this is but a stage, an inevitable period of inner
assimilation and preparation for the next forward
surge, an interval for the outer system to absorb

sense of direction seems to be

and
This

the

stabilise
is

the

inner change in its members.

stage of understanding and

fourth

participating in the phases of

the process

of trans-

most significant period in

which the seeker has to watch the workings of the
spiritual Consciousness in him, submit to its demands by the needed regulation of his movements,
removal of obstructions and disposing of his
energies in the hands of the Superior Intelligence.

formation. This

Dormant

is

faculties begin to

open up and there

is

the

inevitable unsettlement of the older functionings.

It would appear as if the capacity to deal with
life was seriously impaired. But
a
only
period of transition "an intermediate stage in which, as it has been aptly said,
one is like a caterpillar undergoing the process

situations in

normal

all this is

of transformation into the winged butterfly. The

insect must pass through the stage of the chrysalis,

a condition of disintegration and helplessness. But

the individual generally does not have the protection of a cocoon in

of

transformation

which
in

undergo the process

seclusion and peace. He
to

must and this is particularly so, nowadays

remain where he is in life and continue to perform his family, professional and social duties,

Crises in Sadhana

29

he can, as though nothing had happened

or was still going on. His problem is similar to that
as well as

which confronts engineers in the reconstruction

railway station without interrupting the
traffiic even for an hour." (Dr. R. Assagioli)

of a

Each night, however, is inevitably followed by a

dawn and the succession of dawns to use the
Vedic figure leads to the emergence
full orb of the Sun of Truth.

of

the

This, I should think, gives a fairly correct account

of the psychological and vital difficulties that
every seeker has to face. Though each one, when

he

subject to them, tends to think that his

exceptionally hard lot, the truth remains
is

is

an

that

human nature being the same everywhere, every

one who seeks to transcend that nature has to
price; and if the aim be not merely transcendence but even a transformation of that nature,

pay a

the price
is

is

doubly great even as the achievement

doubly glorious.
7-2-1963

Space and Time

in the Spiritual Context
in the evening. A young
of
thirteen
was
girl
being taken round the temple
at Chidambaram along with her family. Suddenly

IT

WAS EIGHT-THIRTY

she started hearing a muffled moan in the heart;

hard breathing ensued. This continued till nine

when

abruptly stopped. Later it was

learnt that her grandfather to whom she was very

o'clock

much

it all

attached had passed

attack

started

breathed

at

precisely

away

that day.

^eight-thirty

The

and he

The incident is indeed

manner in which events tallied

his last at nine.

extraordinary for the

across a barrier of over five hundred miles.

To
Some

take another instance with a different setting.

time recently, the Mother told me
"Broader
:

and higher that is the programme for you."

She repeated it once again before I took leave.
I received Her command and came out with this
!

Mantra,

broader and higher,

reds of miles away,

my

in

my

heart.

Hund-

brother had just returned

from a conference and arrived home. Suddenly

he felt his consciousness expanding and rising
upward. He noted it but the full meaning of it
dawned only later when he came to know the
Mother's message to me.
The fact is, apart from his openness to the Mother,
there is so much of understanding and harmony
between him and myself, that the spiritual workings which Mother released into my being automa-

Space and Time in the Spiritual Context

tically

31

reached him and manifested themselves.

so far away did not in the least matter.

That he was

In the earlier case also, the impact of the forces

culminating in death at one end broke through
the physical space-barrier and had its reaction
at the other because of the intensity of the inner

between the two persons. The understanding, sympathy and subtle connection between
them acted as a sufficient means of communication
to function without physical means of transmission.
Instances could be multiplied in this manner
to illustrate how physical distance ceases to be a

relation

barrier in certain conditions. Space, as we

it here in the material world, has no finality.
is

so because there

is

know
That

not one space but many

may say, as many kinds of

spaces; there are, we

space as the number of planes in existence. Each
plane, that is each status of Consciousness, has its

own organisation of self-extension. The

dream

for instance,

space in our

is

something radically
from the space relative to the waking
condition. Space there, in the subtler planes of life,
state,

different

does not act as a distance, as a barrier. No physical

means of communication are needed either for
transmission

or

for

thought, a vibration

the

traversing

distance.

courses through
enough;
almost instantaneously and reaches its destination.
It is when something of this kind of communication
is

it

takes place on the subtler levels and impinges upon

the material that we see phenomena of the kind

described.

Where

the working

is

of subtler forces, spiritual,

occult or even psychological or mental, physical

space simply does not make a difference. By psycho-

Lamps

of Light

logical, I

32

do not mean our usual haphazard mental

activity or thought-movements which sway us with

them, but a well-controlled and directed thought-

and

such thoughtincubations upbuoyed on the stirrings of the soul

that Swami Vivekananda had in mind when he

formation

radiation.

It

is

was perhaps
initiated by the thought-currents of some hermit
in the snows of the Himalayas. Thoughts of deep
thinkers or of those who breathe a higher Consciousness have a power
wings as they say and
they speed on their career no sooner they are
said

that

the

French

revolution

mind that forms them.

Not only Space but Time also is of several kinds.
Each plane in manifestation has its own mode of
duration. Time in one plane does not tally with
time-relation in another. There is more than one
given shape in the

story in the Puranas to bring home this truth.

certain prince repaired to the court of the
Gods in the Heaven on a matrimonial quest.

On

reaching there it took for him a whole day to complete his mission. Thereupon he returned to his

kingdom on earth but imagine his dismay to find

that some thousands of years had elapsed since
he left the earth-scene and all those for whom he
had undertaken the commission had long passed
away.
equal

One Day in the land of Brahma is said to

so many thousand years of man on earth.

While one need not take these

stories too literally

the truth they point to is a fact undoubtedly. How

many times we miss such profound occult truths

clothed in the form of legends

ancient literature

To

take

and parables

in our

recent

history

Years

before

India

Space and Time in the Spiritual Context

33

attained independence, the Mother once saw in

Meditation that India was free and told it to Sri

Aurobindo. But

took thirty years for what She

it

saw happen on the subtler planes

to

effectuate

in the physical conditions. The time sequence

in one organisation of existence is not the same
itself

as in another.

As

and Time are

self-formulations of the Conscious-

Aurobindo explains, Space

Sri

ness for the purposes of manifestation. What is prior

and fundamental is the Consciousness which is one

everywhere. What happens at one point in this vast

expanse of Conciousness prasara of Shakti has its
at

any point,

medium is
The One

over and can be

all

repercussions

felt

anywhere,

only the receiving or perceiving

if

sufficiently

subtilised

Consciousness deploys

manner. There are several

and

sensitive.

itself in

a various

levels of its self-formu-

lation, the planes as they are termed, each plane

housing so many worlds governed by the organisa-

tion of that plane. But they are not rigidly separate

from each other. They interpenetrate, they influence each other and in some ways even partake
of each other. And this is possible because the
underlying Consciousness of all is One. Corres"

ponding

Mother

to this organisation of the

says, there

individual.

body which

is

There are

Cosmos, the

a scheme in the system of the

points, centres in the human

relate to particular planes of existence

These are the Chakras spoken

of in the Yoga and the Tantra, which act as switch-

in

the

boards,

universe.

as

it

corresponding

to

were,
fields

festation around.

are opened by

enter

into

relation

with

of Consciousness in the mani-

When

some

these centres are

discipline,

open or

one can get into

34

of Light

Lamps

touch, see, hear what goes on or has

the respective planes.

gone on on

There are many

layers in the vast extension of

Consciousness that constitutes the Universe, some

some

gross,

subtle,

some

subtler.

Any

vibration,

activity that takes place anywhere, on any

level of existence, leaves a permanent impression

any

somewhere. The subtle layers are full of such

impressions of what has happened, what is happening and what is likely to happen. Past events
leave a store of memory-impressions, dkdsic records
;

the present is being recorded as it manifests itself;

the future, that is what is being shaped in the
higher planes, sends out its own tentative prints

on the
It is

subtler layers of the universal consciousness.

possible for us to take cognizance of all these

we develop

the necessary sensitivity in our

consciousness or forge the needed instruments to

if

only

become aware of and

may

seize the clues.

reveal themselves of their

course of Yoga or one

may

These

faculties

own accord

in the

be born with them as a

result of past evolution.

This

the nature of the subtler organisation of

Consciousness behind the gross material exterior
is

we

are normally aware of and

deal with through our physical senses. This outer
physical world of ours is, in the nature of things,

which

is

all

that

governed by physical laws and physical limitations.

Yet, on occasions, the world or worlds that circumfuse it break into its framework through the windows
of our minds or other less material faculties and

what we call strange or mysterious pheThe same Ideas, at times the very
words, are expressed by individuals who are sepa-

give rise to

nomena.

Space and

Time

in the Spiritual Context

35

rated by thousands of miles without any means of

contact between them. It is a noteworthy fact, for
instance,

that

at

the

time

Sri

Aurobindo had

discovered the Secret of the Veda and was formulating

his findings in a corpus of profound knowledge,

another seer unaware of

this event,

unacquainted

with the modern languages of Europe, was working

on clues revealed to him during his tapasya and had

come

to very similar conclusions.

explained

later, that

when

The

fact

is, it

was

higher truths enter the

earth-atmosphere seeking for expression, they embody themselves wherever the receptacles are ready.
believe the case of Darwin's discoveries being
paralleled by the researches of another scientist
I

coming
instance

to precisely the

to

the

same conclusions

is

another

point.

14-2-1963

The Guru
THERE ARE MANY who
of initiation,

diksd,

no ceremony
No Mantra
any such

mark

why

our

there

is

Ashram.

no system
There is

the admission into the Path.

given to the entrant. How is it

begin the spiritual sadhana without

to

possible

to

ask

in

is

seal

of acceptance

age-old tradition

hallowed

Those who ask

this

by the

and

similar

questions forget that mdntric or any kind of formal

initiation is not the only way of inaugurating the
guru-sisya relation in India or elsewhere.

Initiation

necessary, true ; but there are several kinds of initiation. Initiation marks the establishment of a
is

between the Guru and the disciple and

relation is essentially an inner one.

relation
this

The Guru

enters into the being of the seeker, imhimself

within him and conducts the sadhana.
plants
Something of the Guru, his consciousness, sakti,

leaps into the being of the disciple ; there is what

is called saktipdta, the
impact of Power from the

Guru.

This

is

the

commencement

of the guru-

sisya relation on which revolves the whole course

of sadhana.

The means by which

established

relation
Initiation

this

is

may be formal,

contact

called

made and

is

initiation,

outer, bdhya,

the

diksd.

which may or
or ceremony.

may not be accompanied by ritual

When the means chosen is a Mantra or ritual
like Puja,

there

is

touch,

no

Homa,

etc. it is called kriyd diksd.

ritual, the initiation

spdr&l.

The Guru

may

When

be based upon

tcuches the novice physi-

The Guru

37

cally on a chosen limb and there is the transmission. It may be based upon sight, cdksun\ the

Guru just looks at him and that is enough. Or it may

be mental, manasi\ the Guru thinks of him and
the movement is initiated. These three modes of
Diksha are compared respectively, in the Tantra
Sastra, to the

manner of

the bird bringing up its

young ones by the touch of its warm enfolding
wings, of the fish nourishing its offspring by sight
alone and of the tortoise feeding its infant by merely

over

brooding

it.

Where

the

initiation

is

not

it is inner,
abhyantari\ it is subtly effected. It
called the vedha diksa\ just as the arrow of an

outer,
is

expert hunter speeds in the direction of the sound

even without sight of the object, the Shakti of the

Guru

strikes at the disciple

sheer

will.

There

are

other

many

some describing

Sastra

but

kinds of dlksd

it

is

as

wherever he be, by
classifications

many

enough

in

his

the

as ten different
for

our purpose

know

mantra or word
The main thing
is to effect a subtle contact between the Guru and
the would-be disciple by whatever means and
that initiation through
or ritual is not the only way.
to

each Guru has

tent

relation

teristic

his

own way

with

means he

of establishing this poothers. Through his charac-

enters into the being of the disciple

and takes charge of his inner

life

his

Shakti remains

there ever vigilant, ever active, ever promoting. It

is of course essential that this Guru-shakti should

be helped by every means to function without

hindrance by the disciple. It is indispensable that

no influence

alien or contrary to the Shakti-inbe allowed to enter into the conshould

charge

Lamps

of Light

38

sciousness of the disciple. Such an influence may be

good in itself, may be very moral, religious and
all that. Yet if it is not fully in tune with the

Shakti of the Guru, if the truth that activates it is

at variance with the purpose 1 of the active Shakti,
it

does have an effect of mixing up and to that

of impeding the workings of the latter.

extent

There

is

even the danger of conflict between the two

disharmony in the being

influences with inevitable

of the seeker, physical, psychological and spiritual.

is the reason
why one is enjoined to be entirely

That

one Guru to whom one

You may not meet others

faithful to

has given

giance.
but the action of influences

as

and

forces

alle-

Guru, true;
is

so subtle

that with or without your knowledge, things take

place when you are in their proximity,
especially
of those who are developed in certain directions.

Of

you are alert and organised in consciousness well enough to prevent these intrusions,

it

course

is

if

another matter.

It may be said that this amounts to a prohibition,

an injunction contrary to the spirit of catholicity,
universality and oneness of Spirit which it should
be the first duty of a seeker to recognise and cultivate in himself. Like the bee one can go from flower

to flower of spiritual efflorescence,

from every source and

Certainly this too has

its

collect

honey

the jar of one's soul.

truth and its own applicafill

can be put into practice only by a chosen

so much strength of spirit and will
of purpose that they do not need to resort and
tion.

few

It

who have

1
A power or Influence working, for iastance, for withdrawal from
would hardly be compatible with an effort for a divine fulfilment in

life,

life.

The Guru

39

surrender to a

human Guru. They work

out the

sadhana by themselves and take whatever help they

can, directly from the Divine's creation animate

and inanimate. The Scripture speaks of twentyfour Gurus of Dattatreya and thirteen Gurus of
Uddhava. But every one is not a Dattatreya or an
Uddhava. For most, it is indispensable to repair to
a Guru who has lived the Truth and can launch
them on the same Path and lead them thereon. At

when

any rate once you arrive

at the stage

decision has to be taken

and the path

to

a radical

be trodden

allegiance to a single Guru

becomes imperative. Till then, in the preparatory
stages, benefit may be taken from all uplifting comclearly chalked out,

aspiration strengthened and godward

impulses enlivened.
So far regarding the general bearings of the

pany and the

subject.

Coming

to the

immediate particulars

the oft-asked question, how to know

by the Mother as disciple and who

devotees and

who
is

is

not,

like

accepted

who

are

who

in the absence of
the disciples,
the usual standards of reference like formal diksd ,
it

is

best to state in substance

what the Mother

Herself has said on the matter.

who

accept the Ideal of Sri Aurobindo

and his Teaching are accepted by the Mother
as Her children. They are always Her children.
All those

Of all,
or

who do so, whatever their number, here

elsewhere,
may be in the whole universe
She is the Mother, the Eternal Mother. And
all

Mother, She tends the children, gives them

wide latitude, bears with them even in their strayings. Her love remains the same, unchanged, and
She helps them up. Thus every one who accepts

as the

Lamps

40

of Light

by Sri Aurobindo and believes

Teaching becomes a child of the Mother.
This relation of Mother and child is to be distinguished from that of the Guru and disciple. The
Mother has countless children but of disciples She
the Ideal established

in his

has comparatively a very few. To be accepted as a

disciple there are far more stringent conditions. The

Mother does not agree

to

become the Guru of any-

one unless Her conditions

inner

life

are

fulfilled.

for

And

a thorough-going

they

are

exacting.

She Herself says that She is a hard taskmaster as a

Guru, whatever may be Her aspect as the Mother.
As the Guru She takes full charge of the life of the
disciple. She has to link him to the Supreme and
help him to achieve the object during his lifetime.
It is extremely difficult to achieve within a single

but She works to make

life

She expects that no time

and

it

possible

is

allowed to be

naturally,
lost,

no

energy directed elsewhere. Deliberately, pointedly,

She is 'severe and corrects and pulls back at every
5

step; for when She chooses to see there is

nothing that can escape Her. She allows no quarter
to indolence, falsehood, ignorance. To be the Guru

wrong

less easy and more strenuous for Her than to be

the Mother. As the Mother She can always remain

is

in

Her supreme state of Divine Benevolence; but

Guru She has to come down a step, stoop
live with the disciple in active and close charge

as the
to

of his

life.

She says that She exacts. But we shall not forget

that She exerts Herself for the disciple in a manner
that has no parallel in the spiritual history of man.
Exacting perhaps, but exerting always.

And who,

according to Her,

is

the true disciple

The Guru

He who

41

asks

for

nothing,

yet

expects every-

That is to say, he never demands anyfrom

Her; he knows and lives in the faith,
thing
that what is necessary is being done and will be done
by Her unasked. She is more solicitous than we in
thing.

our

ignorance

can conceive.

It

goes

without

saying that for the Mother the disciple is also a

child. She not only builds up the inner life for
him but showers too all Her Love on him. To him

both the Guru and the Mother.

Thus, She says, She has many children but only
a few disciples. Nobody is accepted as a disciple

She

is

forthwith though, in the nature of things, as children

many are accepted anon. One has to qualify oneself to

be taken as a disciple.

a discipline
child of the Mother.

is itself

beginning and

one

is

if

which one

so qualify oneself
can best start as a

Her help

there from the very

one

prepared to

To

is

fulfil

is

sincere

and persevering,

if

the conditions of a single-

minded pursuit of the Ideal of Transformation,

She

is

there ready to respond.

25-2-1963

Consciousness in Material Things

WE

HAVE,

our Ashram, some mottos printed

IN

and displayed

prominent places, so as to serve

as constant reminders of our Ideal in day-to-day
life.
They are all selected sayings of Sri Aurobindo
and the Mother, as for instance this one
in

Not
one uses

of material things which

a sign of inconscience and ignorance.

to take care

is

You have no

to

right

any material

use

object whatsoever if you do not take care of it.

You must take care of it not because you

are

attached

something

of

to

but

it,

the

because

Divine

it

manifests

Consciousness.

The Mother

Now
by a

this

motto-card

certain

is

much

very

demand

in

of visitors like industrialists,

class

factory-owners, heads of commercial establishments.

Discreet enquiries revealed why they all made a
bee-line for this particular card
they wished to
:

put

it

up

of their

in their establishments for the correction

staff.

The

staff,

was

told,

are careless

in their use of things putting the proprietors to considerable loss thereby and if such a motto were

placed there in the premises under the imprimateur

of Sri Aurobindo and the Mother, it was bound
to

have a healthy

evinced

interest

effect.

in

other

All wealth belongs

who hold

it

None

mottos

to the

are trustees,

of these worthies
like

Divine and those

not possessors.

Sri Aurobindo

43

Consciousness in Material Things

Or,
more

Give all you are, all you have, nothing

is asked of you but also nothing less.

The Mother

Did

it

ever occur to

them

that the truth

and the

purpose of this motto is quite other than what

they intended using it for ?

For

this

profound dictum of the Mother under-

over the universe, in every

a pulsation of One Divine
part of creation, there
Consciousness. It may be articulate or may be
lines the fact that all

is

inarticulate,

embodied

but the same Consciousness

in each form. It

differently
it

on each
is

mentally
Consciousness

the
is

may

there

is

formulate

level of existence,

itself

but funda-

same Consciousness everywhere.

not confined to

human

beings

Animals too have a consciousness. 1 It

may not have the same form of expression as men's
but it is articulate in its own way. Animals have
their own language. Even in as old an epic as the
Ramayana, there is mention of king Kekaya (father
of the famous Kaikeyi) who knew the language of
animals. Once it appears when he was resting

alone.

One

of the most remarkable and

recent

of

instances

the

developed

by an American couple
with a writer- friend during their absence from their mountain home. One
consciousness in the animal relates to a

dog

left

the dog was out,

it appears, the gentleman was sitting at his desk
perhaps gambolling in the garden. For a moment he got the thought of
going out for a walk, but only for a moment. Imagine his surprise to find

day,

the dog had run inside the house,

commotion outside the room
rushed to the place where walking boots and stick were kept and soon
it brought and placed them before the owner, yelping with delight at the

prospect of a run in the

thought that it was

matter of wonder.

hills.

How

and how

it

it came to know of the thought

passing
acted upon that knowledge is truly a

of Light

Lamps

44

couch, he suddenly burst into laughter. On

the queen's asking for the reason of this strange hila-

on

his

he explained that he had just heard an amusing

bit of conversation between two creatures. His
wife got curious who would not get curious under
the circumstances, and that too a member of the
and asked to be told what it was
feminine race
about. But the king was obliged by the conditions
of his knowledge not to ever reveal what he heard
in this manner, and with a cool head, unusual in
such situations, he stoutly refused to yield to the
rity,

and mounting blandishments of his

saved
himself.
and
wife,
To come back to the point, the animals too birds,
have a language
beasts and all the rest of them
and men can have access to it under certain condientreaties

tions.

In Yoga,

Patanjali,

for

example,

it

is

possible, says

become aware of the speech of

to

all

animals by special forms of concentration. It is

recorded of Sri Ramakrishna that when he was
practising the Tantric Yoga, he could listen to the
speech of particular birds and beasts when certain
centres or chakras within

him were opened

in the

process of the ascent of his Kundalini. One has to

enter into the state of consciousness which corres-

ponds to the consciousness that governs that mode

of speech.

So

many

how She

has

we have heard from the Mother

heard and talked to the members of the

times

To

one instance
long, long back when in Algeria, She was once
sitting for meditation under a big tree on the outanimal

world.

sarva-bhuta-rutdni

narrate

only

Consciousness in Material Things

45

of a desert region. Suddenly She became

aware of something in the vicinity and opened Her
eyes only to see a huge cobra furiously hissing close

skirts

in front of Her.

The Mother

studied the situation,

saw that She was sitting blocking the entrance to the
home of the cobra at the foot of the tree. She looked
quietly at the cobra, and slowly moved out. Later,
the cobra appeared to Her in vision and declared

himself to be the king of the serpent world. He

offered a pact of friendship promising never to harm

Her

She would reciprocate. But She would not

agree unless he promised not to harm not only Her,
but all those who belonged to Her. Years later
She found cobras lying on the floor of the car etc.
But the moment She asked them to go, they slunk
if

away.

Not merely
plant world
its

own

in the
is

animal world but

also in the

there a living consciousness with

The Mother always says that

articulation.

the consciousness in plants is more sensitive than

the human. Trees and plants are excellent conductors of energies of

has described

how

whatever kind.

And

the

Mother

possible to establish an affiat its roots and open oneself to

it is

nity with a tree, sit

the vitality that flows in

it.

Then

there are flowers

which play a significant role in the Mother's scheme

of things. Even in Her early days, in Japan, when
She was in the garden plucking flowers, they used
with each other saying, 'pluck me', 'pluck me'.
I may mation a remarkable experience I used to
have during the period when the Mother had

to vie

made

it

possible for

me

to see

before starting the day.

On

Her every morning

coming down after

meeting Her, receiving a flower in the button-

Lamps

of Light

46

found myself oozing with goodwill and

love for everybody. Everyone whom I met would
evoke a feeling of deep sympathy and love from
within. It was somewhat novel to me. It did not
hole,

happen

at

other times of the day

when

had

occasion to meet Mother.

I was intrigued about

and gave myself so many flattering explanations;
but none of them was satisfying till one day I
noticed on my shirt the Rose given by the Mother.
it

Now,
(or

the significance of the flower

psychic

love)

for

the Divine.

is faming
love
That explained

everything.
For the Mother, flowers are not just items of decoration; they are not even merely symbols; they

are living messengers linking the spiritual to the

material worlds. When She gives a flower, She
transmits a state of consciousness designated
flower. Each flower is endowed with an

by that
occult

capacity to receive, hold and conduct a particular

force of consciousness and the Mother has given
us a scheme of their significances with very fine
shades of meaning corresponding to the shades of

hue of every kind of flower. To

cite just a few, the

surrender, white rose integral

surrender, yellow champak flower the supramental
psychological perfection, Tulsi devotion, jasmine

pink rose

signifies

the divine's purity, and so on. The Mother finds

flowers readier vehicles for Her Consciousness than
us

humans with our complicated minds and

blus-

tering egos. During a period of collective sadhana,

She used to give a number of selected flowers to each

during Pranam, suited to his need of the moment

and the turn of his nature ; sadhaks were advised to
meditate upon them, form sentences from them

Consciousness in Material Things

47

and know the message.

The

ranges of Consciousness do not stop with the

Consciousness extends and spreads
plant-level.
itself in what we call the inanimate and immobile
creation

also.

Each form, each thing houses a

concentration

of consciousness. Every object in

the universe, say Sri Aurobindo and the Mother,
is inhabited
by a consciousness which is divine,

just as each human individual

ciousness that is Divine. To

is

ensouled by a Consto this fact of

awake

divine extension, to be able to regard this Divine

Consciousness in every form, every object, is true

Things are not just lifeless, masses of matter as they appear to our sensemind. There is in them all the stir of a mighty
consciousness that keeps them intact for the purpose
for which they are formed in God's creation. It is

awakening of the

spirit.

of course not possible to recognise this fact at once.

But you must start with a mental conviction that all
1
things have a life, a consciousness and it behoves
man to deal with them as with living beings. They

are entitled to the

same consideration

in

our ap-

proach and our handling of them. The mental

idea

gradually sinks in the being and a spontaneous

feeling grows up for these things. To those who
are sensitive by nature or refined by spiritual aspiand discipline, this comes out very naturally.

ration

When you

approach a plant and pick up a flower,

it does hurt you somewhere if you were to pinch the
stalk harshly. If an article of use falls hard on the
floor from your hands, you instinctively caress it
with concern. You do not like to part with things
1

antah sanjfidb bhavanti

ete

sukha-dukha-samanvitdk

(Manu)

Lamps
easily.

48

of Light

An

understanding, a friendship so to say,

is

formed between the thing and yourself. And if a

thing with such a relation with you is lost, it always
tends to come back to you in some way or other.
The Mother once told an inmate who was winding the clock not to talk while winding. She asked
him to put his full consciousness in the act of winding; for only then, She added, the clock would
respond to him. Things respond to your trust and
consideration. They do not break easily in your
handling. They link you up with quite another
order of creation and help your consciousness to

and wide.
And they too speak, they communicate

expand and spread

itself far

their

feelings of joy, of sorrow.

Years ago, when the Mother used to

visit reguthe
of
the
Services
different
Ashram, sadhaks
larly
naturally took great care to tidy up things fitting
the occasion. But in the nature of things it

would happen that some corners or out of the way

spots would receive less attention and all odds and
ends would be heaped up there out of sight. But
more than once it so happened that She went
straight to those 'neglected'

spots to the conster-

in-charge and found things

thrown pell-mell. On being asked how it happened
that she went first to places which were so much out

nation of

those

of the way, She replied to say that the moment

She stepped in, those things kept pell-mell called

how we have been

kept, look
there
to
at us', and She had perforce
go
More pleasantly, I recall taking to the Mother a

Her, saying 'Look,

few articles that were regularly sent by a devotee

from abroad. Many times She would smile the

Consciousness in Material Things

moment She saw me with

49

and say that

She knew they had arrived. On my looking up
questioningly, She would say, "they came and
told

the things

me, 'we have come', 'we have come'

".

The Mother's

Sunlit Path

HAVE OFTEN WONDERED how

I got the fixed idea

that
to
lead
my boyhood
spiritual life one must
be always serious. I was quite playful before 12.
I

in

was only when

It

awoke

to the Call of

God

that

mood. Why
was so, I cannot explain. Perhaps it was from
the environment that I imbibed the notion that
spiritual life is a terribly serious affair and it was
started developing into a different

it

hence indispensable
tion if I ever

to

prepare myself in the direc-

hoped to take to that path. For it was

belief in those days
and I believe it

an accepted
is so even now
that to turn to the spiritual life one
must bid good-bye to the world of mirth and laughter. One has to be in dead earnest, in desperate
hurry to reach the goal of liberation before death
overtakes. There is not a moment to lose and it
will not do to relax; it will not do to take anything
lightly.

It

is

in

unspiritual to take joy in the things of

women and children entanglements

men,
Maya. Look only to the serious side of things,
busy yourself only with those that increase disgust
for the world, remind yourself at every moment of

life,

of

the transitoriness of

life.

Somehow

this

atmosphere
be built up around spiritual Quest in
India. Whatever may be the historical reasons
that led to this unnatural twist in the higher life

has

come

to

has long come

to stay. And when I was swept into the Quest,
naturally I took it as a natural course and uncon-

of the race, the fact

is

sciously developed a

becoming solemnity of demea-

this attitude

The Mother's

Sunlit Path

51

nour and a seriousness of mind. It was only when

I was
brought into touch with the Mother that I
realised to my utter surprise that one could smile
even

laugh with impunity in spiritual life

The more I saw of Her and of Her Way of life, the
more I realised that cheerfulness, laughter, a cer!

tain gaiety of disposition are necessary in the higher

life as are thought, work and devotion. And it

could not be otherwise. For the Mother's vision

and outlook

is

the Divine in

integral in character

and embraces

His aspects. Joy, Bliss is a fundamental aspect of the Divine as much as Knowledge,
as much as Power. Was it Kalidasa who described
the

all

snowy peaks of the Himalayas

as the white

laughter of Shiva ? Yes, I realised that delight,

joy, happiness all derive from the Divine. They are

a part not only of the Divine and true and lasting joy derives only from the Divine but equally
of the Creation of the Divine. In fact their
efflorescence
tion.

is

Somehow

full

meaning of this creado

not
have, in the present
they

the ultimate

transitional stage of the evolutionary world, their

in the order of things. But they are there
in their own inalienable right and are bound to

due place

come

into their

own

as

man moves

the Light. As in ordinary

life,

further towards

in spiritual

life

too,

they have their own part to play. They are not

things to be thrown out or banished, not even to
be suffered, but valuable elements to be cherished
and promoted. For a cheerful temper, a happy
attitude to things and a capacity to laugh at discomfitures and smile through difficulties are a great
asset in ordinary life, much more so in the spiritual.
It

makes the path

less

hard,

less difficult.

And

at

Lamps
its

of Light

best,

it fits

52

one to walk on the Mother's

SUNLIT

PATH.
Certainly it is not that one should be light-hearted
or easy-going. Most emphatically not. The spiritual is the most difficult of all the lines of self-deve-

lopment, inexorable in its demands, inflexible in

its conditions of fulfilment. There should be, without doubt, a seriousness of purpose, an earnestness
in the being. But this inner determination is not
to be mistranslated into terms of denial, asceticism,

or a kill-joy

Nothing

is

bad, nothing

is

unspiritual in itself so as to invite the superior frown of the

self-righteous sadhaka. All is Divine, all has value

in

spirit.

the Divine scheme.

Some

things

express

the

Divine more directly, put us in tune with the Divine

more easily. Of this kind are music, song, dance,
movements that express something of the
art
Divine rhythm in creation. Things of beauty, things
that evoke tender feelings, things that exude a sunshine of cheer, are very valuable elements that
should remind us and link us to the Divine whose
characteristic expression in our physical world is of
Beauty. Beauty, Harmony, Love these are indeed

some of the highest expressions of the Divine and

when sought in things around us, they are capable
of drawing us into the Divinity they represent and
shaping us into their mould. To shun them, to
turn our back upon them as traps of Maya, seduca very perverted
view of life which rejects the Divine as He comes to
greet us. To awake to the happy, the pleasant, and
tive chains of the material world,

is

the beautiful side of people, of Nature, of creation

at all levels, is to find a sure door of entry into the

Divine that

is

Auspicious, Sivam, Beautiful, sundaram.

The Mother's

Sunlit Path

53

Times without number the Mother has emphaneed of benevolence in those who would
progress in the way of the Divine. To have a glad
and helpful disposition and a charitable attitude
towards others, to recognise that others can be
right, to have an indulgence towards the drawbacks

sised the

of others, to always look to the bright side of life

of ourselves and of others, to refuse to be driven
into tantrums at the first resistance to the satisfaction of our desires, to

make

light of difficulties

and

exude a breath of cheerfulness, is a gift that few are

given. But all can cultivate this spirit of benevolence.
It is in such an atmosphere of cheer and goodwill

and radiance that the rays of the soul, the deeper

influence of the psychic being can come forward
and lead the sadhak on the bright path. The
ground needs to be velvety soft with the gentle touch
of love and radiant with the glow of joy for the
tread of the Beloved's Feet. If we are constantly
or repeatedly depressed due to any reason or no
reason, or overweighed with prepossessions on the
dark side of things in ourselves and in others

then the soul within finds

One

its

gates bolted.

of the most usual causes for this sort of

mo-

roseness or grip of depression in the earlier stages

of sadhana is when the sadhaka becomes conscious of
his weaknesses,

what he

occupied with them,

helplessness

at

their

is

calls

his

defects.

He

is

possessed by a feeling of

obstinate

refusal

to

cancel

He

develops a kind of obsession of his

weaknesses and begins to despair of ever overcoming
themselves.

them.

Now

it

must be remembered that these

so-

called defects are not the exclusive products of any

individual manufacture. They are universal move-

of Light

Lamps

54

ments, tendencies and workings, which express them-

more

selves

are there in

some and less in others. But they

all, in some measure or other. When

in

one takes to spiritual life in earnest, these formations

hardened into habits by long repetitions, begin to

show up
that

in the

manner of

being washed.

is

spots

And

showing on cloth
is
on purpose.

that

Nature brings them to the surface in order that the

deficiencies may be corrected.
It is the path of
wisdom to recognise this fact, separate them from
one's deeper being and treat them to the Higher
Light. It is the wrong way to go about trying

them out thoroughly before proceeding

further. That is a negative way and hardly ever
successful. A better and surer way is to look more
to the positive gains. One has to aspire for and
to

root

imbibe the higher calm, peace, purity, faith etc.

In the measure they are received and settled in the
being, the deficiencies of restlessness, desires, impurities and similar elements get gradually displaced

As one grows in devotion,

in dedication, in purity, the outer and lower pulls
begin to lose their hold and just drop off like dry

and rendered

ineffctive.

skin.

Yet another cause of such hardening of spirit is

an excessive preoccupation with oneself. I am so

much

centred in myself,

my

effort,

my

difficulties,

my progress, my sadhana, that I am completely

shut up in my own world. I become intolerant of
that appears to stand in

way. I resent laughter in my environment, mirth in the vicinity, I

lose the sap of life. I would have everyone geared

all

my

sense of proportion. I fail

to realise that with all my straining the most that I

up

to

my

needs. I lose

all

The Mother's

can do

is

Sunlit Path

55

a fraction of what the Mother's Grace

and Shakti could do if only I consent to its workings

and place myself in Her hands with a glad surrender. A happy trust in the Wisdom of the Divine,
a devotion growing into the heart's love for the
Divine, and a joyous dedication of myself in all my
movements to the Divine, transform the situation
out of recognition. Everything acquires a different
look. The whole world appears in a new light.

The cosmos moves without my furrowed brow at the

wheel.

I
laugh. I feel light as I
of
the Mother's LOVE.
wings

am

wafted on the

Difficulties in

WAS SPEAKING

of

Sadhana

difficulties.

everywhere, in every

walk of

There are
life,

difficulties

not only in the

Resistance,
obstruction,
these are necessary factors designed

spiritual.

opposition

by Nature

to

ensure and speed up growth. Strength muscular

or other is always built up against resistance.
And there is always plenty in human nature that

a change. But whatever the nature of the

difficulty, in spiritual life it is our approach to it
that matters much more than the inherent problem.
Certain difficulties lose their edge in the very way

resists

in which they are faced. Some go to make a positive

contribution to sadhana when rightly tackled.

There

for instance the question of disturbing

thoughts, not merely in periods of meditation but
even at other times. To take the first type
is

thoughts that crowd the mind continuously during

meditation in the early stages are mostly incon-

and mechanical. There are

many ways recommended to check this flow of
thoughts and stop them. The easiest way, however,
is not to mind them. It is not that thoughts come

sequential, incoherent

during meditation only. They are there floating in

the air all the time only we are not aware of them
because we are normally busy with one thing
;

or another.

When we

sit

for meditation,

we

free

ourselves from other occupations and it is then that

we become aware of this incessant flow of thoughts.
Even then if we have something positive to hold
to

or

concentrate

upon,

the

flow

of thoughts

Sadhana

Difficulties in
is

57

not so distracting.

the

mind

easily

and succeed

to

make

is

more

Name

Where

there

is

interest there

turns spontaneously. Thoughts disturb

in distracting only

mind vacant or silent.

the

when we try

If the meditation

positive with somethong to hold to as a

or an Idea or a Form, then their entry

and passage occurs only on the surface without

affecting the main process. Either way, the best
course

be

left to

object.
slidings,

The thoughts can

mind directed to its

to simply ignore them.

is

themselves and the

and are bound

There may be
but each time

quietly brought back

to

be

happens the mind

it

to

its

backis

object without

to

be

much

and persistence win in the end.

the positive element of stability grows
the negative is displaced.

ado. Patience

The more
the

more

However, thoughts are not always of this harmless type. At times waves of thoughts come touching upon what are our sore points; they strike at
our weak spots. Where faith is weak, there they rush
to weaken further. Where there is apprehension,
they come and rake up things alarmingly. They
give suggestions which are the very reverse of what
we should do or seek to have. If we are afraid of
anything, these thoughts hammer at that very point
and a host of suggestions strike terror conjuring up
visions and forebodings that are upsetting in the

extreme. If

we adore anyone, it is the business of

make suggestions that mock and

these visitations to

are contrary to the spirit of our approach and throw

us out of gear into confusion, nervous disarray.

They induce and promote

fill

with

a strong sense

Here again, the

easiest

a sense of guilt, of sin and

of impurity, incapacity.

and the

right

method

is

to

Lamps

of Light

58

quietly ignore them. After all, they do not originate

in us, though they create that impression in their

impact. They come from the subtle thoughtworlds outside ourselves and they are to be treated
as foreigners, passing birds in flight, with which

we have nothing
and
is

interrupt.

we

done. If

to do.

They come only

to disturb

we

are upset then half their work

are obstinate in refusing them the

If

pleasure of succeeding in their object, they slink

away. They are not tests imposed by the Divine as

some may

think.

The Divine

Divine always helps.

It

is

does not

test.

The

the hostiles that test

at every step whether the pilgrim has qualified to

go beyond their regime before giving him passage

onwards. Not to anticipate and so prepare the

ground for these invasions but to resolutely refuse
to identify ourselves with them, all the while growing in a happy confidence in the outstretched arms
of the Divine is the unfailing way.

Another

common

difficulty relates to sex.

Unfor-

tunately such an atmosphere of taboo has been built

up around this subject, at any rate in our country,

never considered in a proper perspective.

Sex, indulgence in sex, is contrary to spiritual
aspiration and progress. True. But is that the only
element in nature that is contrary ? In man
that

it is

there are so
ed, uplifted

many movements

that are to be correct-

and transformed. Sex

a function in physical nature, in

If it is incumbent to abstain from
it is

not because

it is

after all serves

common
it

life.

in spiritual

evil in itself,

something
sinful, but because it throws
downward the energy that should be directed
life,

something immoral or

upward

to support

and strengthen

spiritual effort.

Difficulties in

Sadhana

59

Secondly, the vibrations accompanying the orgasm

throw the system into a vortex of a peculiar excite-

ment

that

is

rhythm of spiriThus the question

the very reverse of the

tual consciousness

and

repels

it.

not one of merit or demerit, papa or punya. It is

mainly a matter of what promotes and what

is

retards spiritual effort. Sex-energy

is

to

be con-

served and sublimated upwards. Now there are

many other formations of nature that are to be
similarly checked

hullabaloo

over

and
this

reoriented.

one

Then why

element

this

In

only
nature-formations

some of the other

are
more important and call for more urgent attention
than sex in building up true spiritual life.

sense,

not generally realised that close to sex-energy

another important form of energy that is to be

It is
is

conserved with as much, or perhaps greater care.

It is the power of speech. According to the Knowledge of the Tantra, the Centre which governs sex

Centre that governs speech. Both are

energy-formulations of life-force, the vitality, both
creative potentials governed from the centre of
Agni. The force of vdk has in fact a wider and
is

also the

greater sweep and significance than that of sex.

But it is the most ill-used and wasted of human
to me with
can never forget, how
speech-power which should be harnessed to the
great Divine Work of Realisation and Transforma-

potencies.

The Mother once observed

a gesture of regret that

being carelessly frittered away. We talk,

talk and talk away our subtle power of sustenance

tion

and

is

Those on the

spiritual path have

the
to
observe
aftermaths of these
plenty of occasions
little realise what precious possesbouts of talk.

effectuation.

We

Lamps

of Light

60

we squander when we are in the midst of that

tempo. To conserve this energy from dissipation

sion

and draw
is

its

for self-development,
ideas behind mounam, silence of

intrinsic

one of the main

power

speech, recommended at certain stages in

the spiritual paths in India.

who launched me in this

of me at the very beginning

Sastriar

some of

of Yoga,
that I should
life

required
attach the greatest importance to the cultivation of
truth, truth in speech to begin with, truth in thought

and action

Truth is the form of God,

he told me, and if you want God you must live
in truth. To drive home the point, he added
"You may even commit adultery, but you shall
not tell a lie." Of course it was a way of emphaBut
sising and shall not be taken too literally
to follow.

the point is unmistakable. Movements of falsehood

are more harmful than movements of sex. False-

hood

not merely un-spiritual but positively antispiritual. To those who seek the Mother's Presence
it

is

is

an unfailing experience how the

slightest

breath of falsehood brings in the touch of the

unclean. She is categorical on the point and admits

no compromise. It is a well-known saying of

"If we allow a falsehood, however small,
Hers
to express itself through our mouth or pen, how can
we hope to become perfect messengers of Truth ?
A perfect servant of Truth should abstain
even from the slightest inexactitude, exaggeration
:

or

deformation."

So

is

ego.

The ego

slays the soul.

Compared

to

the effort required to get over the clutches of falsehood and the elusive holds of the ego, control
and rejection of sex is nothing. Yes, nothing

Difficulties in

compared

Sadhana

to

it.

61

Only, as

I said,

we have somehow

got into the habit of exaggerating the role of sex.

As the Mother has observed, people take too much
notice of sex.

People get upset over attacks of sex in a way

that it is out of all proportion to their importance.

Sex-dreams, for instance. A certain amount of

waste is inevitable at some stages in the growth of
the body. It does not mean that one falls every time
it

occurs. It

is

a matter to be approached in a

rational way, keeping proper count of hygienic considerations, taking steps on the psychological level

To brood
over the wastages is the most wrong way. One contito eliminate the

nues to

motivating factors

etc.

atmosphere by worrying over

them, one helps them prolong their vdsands.
Sex is not a thing to be suppressed in the system.
But to say so is not to mean that it is a thing to be
indulged in. Far from it. It is a thing to be rejected.
The rejection starts from the mind. It takes time for
desire in the physical or the vital to be rooted out.
But one can always start with eliminating the
thinking of sex, sex imagination, from the mind.
This is an earnest of the sincerity of the sadhaka.
He must decline to entertain sex thoughts, much
less participate in sex-reveries in his mind. If he
abstains from physical indulgence but harbours sex
in mental imagination, then he is a mithydcdrL It
live in their

such cases that result in what are called sexdisorders which are proudly held up by the Euro-

is

examples of the ruinous results

of the Indian ideal of Brahmacharya. No man has
ever got unbalanced by abstinence from sex. All the havoc
is
caused by mental indulgence while keeping

pean psychologists

as

Lamps

of Light

62

up forms outwardly.
Be sincere to yourself,
and there is no problem.

sincere to your aspiration

All difficulties arise due to

a vital insincerity in ourselves, The crux lies not in

the fact of sex but in our approach to it. Fear of sex

up an

builds

obsession

than indulgence.

which is even more dangerous

just appreciation of the role

of sex, a refusal to overrate its importance, and a

robust confidence in ourselves go a long way to

reduce

this

bugbear

more

to

its

proper proportions.
leave the subject. Much
than our personal effort, it is the settling

One word more

before

of the Higher Consciousness in ourselves, its peace,

its purity, that eliminates the difficulty. As one

grows thus in the positive manner, there is a kind

of shift in the consciousness and a displacement of
elements and forces. Without much labour, sex
recedes farther and farther

till

it

just

ceases to

have known of one case which it would

be permissible to mention by way of illustration.
He was a new inmate who had just joined the
Ashram. As usual, after the first flush of enthusiasm
interest.

and

joy,

period.

there

Among

came what
the

many

known

the dry
sides of his nature that
is

as

came up

for exposure to the corrective Light,

this desire for sex. He tried hard to get over it.

tried to meditate

was

He

he tried to read out of the im-

He

tried to forget it in strenuous physical

passe.
exercise. But all to no avail. Then one evening

when he was awaiting his turn on

to go to the Mother and receive
so

much ashamed

the Playground
prasdd, he felt

of himself that he

felt it

would

be better to go away from the Ashram instead of

staying here and contaminating the Mother's

Difficulties in

atmosphere

Sadhana

by

his

63

sex-feelings.

He

realised

he

could not do anything further by his own effort.

In despair he just surrendered to Her inwardly.

By

this time, his

turn

came up

Mechathe Mother. The Mother

nically he stood before

looked at him and held

in the queue.

his

hand. 1 She looked

and looked into him, gave a characteristic smile

of Hers and gave prasdd. He felt a thrill and a
tremendous insurge. He went home. He could
not sleep. In the heart there were waves after
waves of delight. There was a sensation of icelike cold in the sex-region.

Throughout the

night,

cold spell continued. And the next morning

when he got up, there was not the least shred of
this

sex-desire

or

rience

and

sex-feeling. This

continued

for

was a unique expemany months.

never again did sex bother him as

long time, for

It

before.

17-3-1963

It must be noted that during these functions the Mother used to receive
over a thousand people in a line and distribute prasdd rapidly within about
1

half-an-hour.

Surrender and Ego

A good

most simple person to

all appearances. But behind an
unassuming exterior there works a sharp mind supported by an
L.

is

friend.

Among

amazing physical industry.

occupations
attention

is

that

the

host

of

his

constantly engage
smiling
the editing of a high-class journal. He

me

if I would help by
his
from
readers on subjects
answering queries
sadhana and philosophy.
pertaining to our
Not knowing what I was in for I agreed.
That was some years ago. But time has not

once asked

innocently

The

never
questions
cease. Before one set of questions is dealt with,
he is ready with another. He dovetails a series
his

dampened

spirits.

of topics in one broad question and watches how I

that he indeed
react, in the manner of an examiner

was

in

his purvdsrama.

have begun

Lately

to

suspect whether all these intricate questions really

come from the readers or are concoctions of his own.

Be that

as

it

may,

in terms of our agreement, I

am

week he put before

Only
would
me a poser that
require quite a volume for a

obliged to answer.

last

he began, that Sri

all other yogas
from
unique
that here there is no necessity of any set

satisfactory answer. People say,

Aurobindo's Yoga
in this

is

discipline, fixed course of devotions

is

to

the case elsewhere. It

the

is

enough

Mother. His work

is

and the

if

like, as

one surrenders

done.

The Mother

does the rest and the goal is certain. Is it correct

to say so ? Now, the naivety of the question would

Surrender and Ego

65

be enough to dismiss
consideration, were

are

many who

it

it

as not meriting any serious

not for the fact that there

actually think in that line

and run

their affairs accordingly.

As usual

my

of statements

friend

of fact

has combined a
in

this

number

seemingly

simple

query which can be answered neither with a

simple yes nor a straight no. There is a graded
discipline that one has to go through in the traditional lines of yoga. It may be dsanas, exercises
prdnaydma or sessions of conducted studies,
prescribed meditations developing into samadhi,

in

japa of various kinds and all the innumerable

methods that have been developed by adepts for
attaining spiritual ends in the different paths of
yoga. All these modes of self-discipline are not obligatory though not prohibited, be it noted in

Yoga of Sri Aurobindo. What, then,

means to achieve the object of this Yoga

the

is

the
It

is

the Divine, full surrender to the

embodies the Divine Shakti that alone

surrender to

by
Mother who
can accomplish the
yoga.
there

Once
is

difficult

the surrender

nothing

left

is

for the

aim of

this integral

made, it is argued,
sadhaka to do. The

Power to whom the surrender is made takes charge

and executes the task. Simple, is it not ? Rather
too simple.

Now

to

come

certainly true

to grips with the question : it is

that Sri Aurobindo has said that

once a surrender is made to the Divine and the

Divine has accepted it the rest lies with the Divine.
But surrender to the Mother is not merely a physical
affair. The material part of it is only a token, an
earnest

of the

total

dedication.

Real surren-

66

of Light

Lamps

inner and

a long process. It is not

something that can be done in a trice. A mental
decision or even the heart's resolve is not surrender
der

is

it

is

in terms of this yoga.

movement of surrender

not surrender, it is only a beginning. True surrender is a result of long and sincere effort. It is a com-

is

achievement into which many strands of

have to be fused. For man, as he is consti-

plex
effort

tuted,

were.

is

He

of several parts, several persons as it

has to train each part of his multiple

being to surrender itself to the Divine Mother.

And to surrender means to yield one's own will
and motivation in that part to the Higher Power
so that the Will of that Power may act instead.

To

decide to surrender and

consciousness

The

surrender

at

affirm

it

in

one's

moment is not enough.

be consciously confirmed at
becomes a natural attitude. And

is

that

to

each step till it

this is to be relentlessly worked in

all

the parts of the

being. The physical has its inertia and obstinacy,

the vital has its passions and vehemence, the mind
its own ideas and preferences. Surrender calls for

a double effort of the progressive elimination of selfwill and self- motivation in each member of the being

and a pliant disposal to the will and rule of

the Divine in each. There is no fixed hour for
no fixed location either. It is a
this effort;
which
continuous and all-pervading
tapasya
extends over long, long stretches of time the whole
of lifetime practically and is far more exacting
and severe a discipline than any we know of. The
exertion and sincerity called for by this discipline
of complete surrender
dtma-samarpana

is

purna-samarpana, not only

more intensive than

much

Surrender and Ego

'

67

needed in the other paths.

This translation of surrender from theory into ac-

demands ceaseless vigilance and sincere

application. At every step in the life of the sadhaka,
at every moment, the Mother points out, one is
tual practice

faced with the choice: to decide in

favour of

my

favour, in

and

dislikes, needs or preferences,

my
or to decide in favour of the Ideal, of the Divine

likes

Whether

Call.

or in

in

my own psychological movements

dealings with others, the challenge that

always the same am I going to choose

my

itself is

poses

am I going
it
even
Right
though
may conflict with my personal conveniences ? Every time I
have to choose between my ego and the Truth

what

is

pleasing to

what

to opt for

my

egoistic self or

is

whose demand is almost always counter

clamour of the former. Nowhere does one

to

the

realise

the ubiquitous nature of the ego as in spiritual

life. It is the most difficult knot to untie, the one

obstruction that refuses to be easily surmounted,

the impediment that delays true surrender the
longest. And the ego is very cunning. It may go
under in one form only to come up in another. For it

has a thousand forms. It accommodates

situation
tlest

and

casts

ways. Ego

thought.

It

is

itself to

any

shadow

in the sub-

not pride alone as

commonly

its

vitiating

can lurk very well in humility

too.

The vanity of Antisthenes, said Plato, peeps through

the holes of his garment.
has such a strong hold on man because
a contrivance devised by Nature in the course

The ego
it is

long evolution, as a centralising agency, an

individuating centre in the floating mass of forces

of

its

and movements

that constitutes

life.

It is

a forma-

Lamps

of Light

68

Nature whose utility is over once the personality of man is formed and he is awakened
to the existence of his true self within of which the
tion of

but the shadow, a figure.

the

first

busi-

ness of the spiritual seeker to become more and

conscious of this truth and eliminate the

more

ego

is

It is

ego,

with his real self within.

steadily replacing
But the ego is not a simple or a single formation
it

that can be put away at one stroke. It is there on

all the levels of our existence. In the physical being,
it is there holding tight to its
empire of inertia,

ignorance and incapacity. It refuses to turn to the

wind of change or yield to the onsetting movements
of dynamism, expansion and knowledge. It is
proud of its badge of weakness and likes to make a

martyr of itself, enjoying its singularity in the

complex of persecution and oppression. Even in
obstinate illnesses of the body, it is this physical
tdmasic ego that forms an important element in
It is
that something which
their persistence.
and
even
illness
enjoys
pleads for a longer lease.
Similarly there
of passion,

man

It is full

of

its

the rdjasic ego, the ego of the

dynamism and vital ebullience.
is

own

importance,

its

sense of

power

seeks to use everything under the sun for the

effectuation of its will. It can very well take on the

and

role of the instrument, utilise the force

ergies

and the en-

poured into the system and subvert

their

own aggrandisement. It swells with

workings
self-satisfaction even when it pays lip-service to a
Cause or an Ideal. The pride of the instrument,
for

Sri

its

Aurobindo has remarked,

pride of the doer.

guard against

this

One

is

worse than the

has to be on the utmost

danger, particularly in a yoga

Surrender and Ego

69

ours where action, participation in the movement of life, plays an important role. One might

like

be able to achieve

much by way

of execution in the

force of this rajasic impulsion and gain title for

efficiency and capacity in the worldly sense. But

of spiritual value it has none. Unless things are

done in the proper spirit, i.e. in dedication, free
from the swayings of the ego, work has no meaning
in the context of spiritual progress.

"To me, what

not what you do" these words

Mother should be remembered by everyone
who would do works for God ward growth.
There is also what may be called the sdttvic ego
the pride of a mind self-assured in its opinions,
ideas and theorisings. It rests content in its learned
posture with a studied reluctance to admit knowings other than its own. Outwardly there is no

you

are matters,

of the

stamp of egoism

man

to

for

it

behoves a thinker, a learned

stand aloof from the turbulence of the

All the self-justification, self-asservulgar ego.

tion is concealed behind a deceptive exterior and
this refined

ego

is

much more dangerous than

the

blatant one, like a hidden rock in the waters of the

sea.

even, what may appear to be contradiction in terms, a spiritual ego. I am different from
others. I am doing sadhana, I am superior to the

There

rest.

is

Even among

seekers

my way

is

the best, the

only true one; I am somehow different, more eligible for the Divine's Grace than others. I may

permit myself certain liberties which ordinary

sadhaks may not. I am so kind to everybody, I am
so broad-minded and selfless. This is the most
subtle

and most

resistant of all the avatars of

ego

Lamps

70

of Light

on the path. One never knows where it lurks.

When you begin to judge others from your superior
pedestal, beware. Those who see ego in others,
says the Mother, have the ego in themselves.
Whole careers have been wrecked on the shoal
of this spiritual ego. Not merely in the past but in
the present as well. One can never be too careful.
The ego is thus the main stumbling-block in making surrender a fact of our being.

And

unless sur-

render, which can only be partial at the outset, is

built up into an integral self-giving to the Divine,
it is

Divine taking up the sadhana

Such a surrender is the culmination of many

idle to talk of the

in us.

by way of aspiration, rejection and

dedication in all the parts of our many-sided being.

lines of effort

20-3-1963

Our Sadhana
So

IT

is

essentially

an inner turn that

given in
sought to be
is

yoga. It is an inner change that is

by inner means. There is no set practice
to be done during each day because the whole of

this

effected

converted

one continual

practice of
higher living. Into this process for the change of the
ordinary life into the godly life, many of the techlife is

into

niques perfected in other yogas may be drawn upon, either wholly or in part, for shorter or longer
periods; not necessarily in their traditional forms

but in principle. How do you begin, where do you

start, is a usual question. Well, you start where
you feel the urge, start in that part of yourself which
asks for the change, the part that is ready.
It may be that it is your mind that is awakened

You

to the Call.
is

lived,

its

your mind

is

realise the limitations of life as

it

imperfections and its uglinesses and

attracted to a Truth that is higher,

eternal, the Divine Reality. You start

forthwith from that point of departure. You seek
every possible knowledge of the Reality that bea-

infinite,

cons, through the authentic writings of

have known

It,

who can

men who

or by a systematic study under a

and prepare your mind for

the reception of that Knowledge. You come to an
intellectual understanding of the Truth that you

teacher

train

choose as your Ideal or Goal. But this grasp of the

intellect alone is not enough. You may luxuriate

any number of mansions of philosophy without

changing your life a wee-bit. The mind must make

in

Lamps
this

of Light

Knowledge

72

real to

itself, it

in the truth of that

of that

must learn

to live

see in the vision

Knowledge,
and
function on the
Knowledge

basis of that

enlightenment. For that purpose it is essential to

disengage the mind from the holds of Ignorance
and Falsehood to which it is subject. And to achieve
end, you take to the method of concentration,
say concentration upon the sole truth of the Infinite
Brahman or the Divine as embodied in Form or in
this

Its aspects; or meditation, a release of the

into a relaxed flow on the Divine or what re-

any of

mind

lates to It; or deliberation

upon the problem that

and on the solution that is possible; or
discrimination between what is divine and what is
not, what is true and what is false etc. You take to
the method which comes naturally to you and
either go straight on that line alone or second it
with the others, all of which are designed to work
upon the mind and help it to release itself from the
incessant drive of Prakriti and find its base in the
Quietude of the One Reality. The aim is one to
withdraw the mind from its normal run of activity
in Ignorance in slavery to Nature and open it to the
Consciousness on the deeper or higher ranges of the
confronts

gradually absorb the vibrations and grow into the nature of the Highei
Consciousness.
Reality so that

it

may

Whatever the method or methods that are

used,
are
a
that
but
the
effort
is
of
they
general
part
made to effect the transition. This effort is threefold in character consisting of aspiration, rejection
and surrender. The mind thinks of and aspires for

the one Truth, concentrates upon the one Goal,

the Divine to which all energies are to be directed.

Our Sadhana

73

Alongside this aspiration which grows in the measure of the earnestness behind, there should develop
a firm rejection of all that is contrary to the Ideal
or Truth that is sought for. If you seek the Truth,
then falsehood and all that contributes to false-

hood needs
all
if

to

that results

you ask

be rejected; if you seek harmony,

in disharmony has to be avoided;

for Peace, all that

makes

for disorder

and

struggle has got to be kept out. Thirdly, all the

movements of the mind must be gradually sur-

rendered to the Divine and the mind learn to passively accept

alone.

and

reflect

The clamour

Silence or the

Or you

are

of the

the Divine's impulsions

mind shall yield to the

Word

of Brahman.

moved

in the heart.

Something

in

you becomes aware of the Divine, of His presence

as the Lord and there is an irresistible urge to flow
towards Him. Without any effort there is a gathering of feeling, a pull of attraction felt in the heart
and you find joy in the growth of this movement.

You

take that as your

way and summon

all

the

and emotions you are capable of to turn

towards the Divine Beloved. Here too you may
feelings

utilise

tion,

the methods perfected in the Path of Devolaudation, stava, japa, worship, inner
e.g.

adoration growing into identity etc. The mode of

advance, again, is the same. Aspiration for the
Presence and the Revelation of the Lord. It is only
a sincere and keen aspiration for the utmost identity
that can guard against the tendency of human

nature to

rest

content and shut

itself in

one experi-

ence or one intermediate realisation. The aspiration must be insistent for larger and still larger

movements of Love. Each experience

shall

be the

Lamps

of Light

74

forerunner of another greater. Rejection of all that

brings in impurity and repels the Presence: egoistic
demands and ignorant misuse foul the inner at-

mosphere from which the Deity

away. Surrender of yourself in the core of the heart with an

utter, selfless

shies

devotion melting into Love.

The aim

become, through the purified and yearning

heart, one with the Divine Beloved.

is

to

Or

be that though you have realised the

necessity of growing out of the normal petty life
of the world into the higher way of the Divine, the
heart is not seized with any emotive quest nor the
it

may

mind athirst for the knowledge of the Divine. You

are awakened to the Existence of a Supreme Divine
who has made you what you are and who claims
your allegiance. You are moved by an intense
desire to dedicate yourself, your energies and
faculties of action to the Divine.

You can

start at that point irrespective of the

readiness or otherwise of the thinking

mind

or the

emotional parts. You begin by acting in the spirit

of the Karmayoga so well described and defined in
the Gita.
the Divine

You
;

dedicate the fruits of your works to

then you dedicate the works themselves

you clear the way and allow the Divine Himself to work through you. Here
to the Divine;

too

and

finally

required the triple discipline. Aspiration for

utmost purity of dedication and for acceptance of
the offering by the Lord. "Remember and offer",
is

is

the

Mantra given by the Mother for the divine

A sincere and constantly renewed aspi-

worker.

alone can safeguard against the common

danger of falling into the routine of mechanical
work. Rejection of the claim and the taint of ego
ration

Our Sadhana

75

which robs

all action of spiritual value by stamping

each output of energy with a capital T. A joyous
surrender of yourself with all the dynamism you

are

endowed with

You may

to the Divine.

on any of these lines, depending

most natural to you. But it does
not mean that your path w ill be on that single
route only. What happens normally is that as you
develop in the part you have elected as your springboard, the other parts also undergo a resultant
change and begin to participate in the movement.
The heart contributes its fine emotions and movements of purity, opening and spontaneous surrender,
to the mental seeking making it soulful, alive; the
mind in its enlightenment gives an eye to the tender
start

on which you

feel

child of devotion within; the force of vitality receives the rays of the light of the knowledge in the

mind and
the heart

gets uplifted by the soaring emotions of

to support the upward effort

and begins

on the thousand hoods of

its

energies.

Even the

body obeys the pressure of the aspiration and it is a

unique feature of this Yoga to recognise the claim
of the physical body in the perfection that is aimed
at. The body is in the individual scheme what the
earth

is

of the
itself

in the cosmic. Just as the entire gradation

worlds in the manifested Creation bases

the

upon

evolution,

so

purposes of spiritual
different formulations of the

earth

the

for

man in

the form of mind, the subliminal, the vital etc. support themselves in this field
of evolution on the pedestal of the physical body.

Consciousness in

gives as much value to the physical

in the Divine Manifestation as to the other

The Mother
body

constituents of man's being.

The Divine

manifests,

Lamps

of Light

76

says the Mother, in Mind as Knowledge, in the Psychic as Love, in the Vital as Power, in the Physical

To

raise the physical body to its highest

of
potentialities
perfection so as to form a beautiful,
supple and at the same time substantial vehicular

as Beauty.

Con-

base for the manifestation of the Divine

sciousness
this

is

a necessary part of

this

Yoga. Thus in
exposed to and

Path where the whole being is

by the Higher Light, all parts gradually

treated

wake up and begin to participate sooner or later

and there is a many-sided advance towards the
Spirit.

There are, broadly speaking, three fundamental

movements in this wide and integral effort for the
upliftment of the entire
divine supernature. The

human

nature into the

consciousness

which

is

confined in our limited, separative selves and always

turned outward, is deliberately withdrawn from the
superficies and directed inward. It is steadily
into the inner and deeper regions of the

arrives at the core of

drawn
being

the antardtman,
true soul, the psychic being which is the Divine
seated within the individual. This is the realisatill

it

itself,

tion of the Individual Divine.

Second, the consciousness is led to expand itself,

grow "out of its individual confines and spread out
in

waves of sympathy,

ing etc.

till

it

love,

harmony, unity in

feel-

touches and links up with the unibecomes one with this infinite

versal Consciousness,

extension of the Spirit. This

the Cosmic Divine.

is

the realisation of

Third, the human consciousness opens into the

rising tiers of the Consciousness that lie above and

beyond the highest reaches of the mind and

gets

Our Sadhana

77

gradually fused into the various self-orgnisations

or states of the Divine Consciousness that tran-

scend the boundaries of

this triple

rance. This is the crowning

Transcendent Divine.

Such

realisation

the mighty effort that

Yoga of Sri Aurobindo

is

world of Igno-

the Integral

is

of the

called for in

and the Mother.

recognised that human effort alone is totally

unequal to the task and that it is only the YogaShakti which has initiated this Yoga of the Lord
It is

through the transformanature, that can effect the change and

for the divinisation of life

tion of human

achieve the objective.

an active surrender
till

this

effort
is

is

inner

The key

to

this

surrender

indispensable. It

integral that the

is

therefore

Divine

lies

in

Shakti. But

is

complete, personal
only when the surrender

working of the Divine Shakti,

then by the many reservations and

resistances in the nature of the sadhaka, can come

conditioned

till

own

unfettered role leading to a complete

assumption of the sadhana in its hands of Grace.
Till then exert, exert in the spirit of the call of Sri
into

its

Aurobindo

"Stride swiftly, for the goal

not unduly, for thy Master

at the end of thy journey."

rest

is

is

far;

waiting for thee

24-3-1963