35 Letters on Himself and the Ashram VOLUME35 THE COMPLETE WORKS OF SRI AUROBINDO ©SriAurobindoAshramTrust 2011 Published by Sri Aurobindo Ashram Publication Department Printed at Sri Aurobindo Ashram Press, Pondicherry PRINTED IN INDIA Letters on Himself and the Ashram Publisher’s Note This volume contains letters in which Sri Aurobindo referred to his life and works, his sadhana or practice of yoga, and the sadhana of members of his ashram. Many of the letters appeared earlier in Sri Aurobindo on Himself and on the Mother (1953) and On Himself: Compiled from Notes and Letters (1972). These previously published letters, along with many others, appear here under the new title Letters on Himself and the Ashram. The letters included in the present volume have been selected from Sri Aurobindo’s extensive correspondence with members of the Ashram and outside disciples between November 1926 and November 1950. Letters he wrote before November 1926 are published in Autobiographical Notes and Other Writings of Historical Interest, volume 36 of THE COMPLETE WORKS OF SRI AUROBINDO. That volume also contains remarks by Sri Aurobindo on his life and works that were written as corrections of statements made by biographers and others, public messages on world events, letters to public figures, and public statements on his ashram and path of yoga. The letters on the sadhana of members of the Ashram se- lected for publication in Part Four of the present volume differ from those published in Letters on Yoga, volumes 28 – 31 of THE COMPLETE WORKS, in that they are framed historically by events and conditions in the Sri Aurobindo Ashram between 1926 and 1950. The dates and the questions of Sri Aurobindo’s correspondents that accompany many of the letters in the present volume make the historical context clear. The letters included in Letters on Yoga were also written to Ashramites and outside disciples during the 1926 – 1950 period, but they deal with Sri Aurobindo’s yoga in a more general way, and thus are less in need of the contextualisation provided by the questions and dates. The letters in the present volume have been arranged by the editors in five parts, the last of which includes mantras and messages. The texts have been checked against all available handwritten, typed and printed versions. CONTENTS PART ONE REMARKS ON HIS LIFE AND WORKS AND ON HIS CONTEMPORARIES AND CONTEMPORARY EVENTS Section One Reminiscences and Remarks on Events in His Outer Life His Life and Attempts to Write about It 5 His Name 8 Life in England, 1879 – 1893 9 Life in Baroda, 1893 – 1906 13 Political Career, 1906 – 1910 17 Outer Life in Pondicherry, 1910 – 1950 28 Section Two General Remarks on His Life Remarks on His Life in Pondicherry after 1926 35 His Temperament and Character 44 Heredity, Past Lives, Astrology 55 Section Three Remarks on Himself as a Writer and on His Writings On Himself as a Writer 63 Writing for Publication 67 On His Published Prose Writings 74 The Terminology of His Writings 141 Section Four Remarks on Contemporaries and on Contemporary Problems Remarks on Spiritual Figures in India 161 Remarks on European Writers on Occultism 183 Remarks on Public Figures in India 184 Remarks on Public Figures in Europe 203 Remarks on Indian Affairs, 1930 – 1946 205 Remarks on the World Situation, 1933 – 1949 209 CONTENTS PART TWO HIS SADHANA OR PRACTICE OF YOGA Section One Sadhana before Coming to Pondicherry in 1910 Ordinary Life and Yoga 227 Early Experiences 231 The Realisation of January 1908 239 Experiences in Alipur Jail, 1908 – 1909 263 Section Two Sadhana in Pondicherry, 1910 – 1950 The Early Years in Pondicherry, 1910 – 1926 269 The Realisation of 24 November 1926 270 The Sadhana of 1927 – 1929 273 General Remarks on the Sadhana of the 1930s 277 The Supramental Yoga and Other Spiritual Paths 298 Remarks on the Current State of the Sadhana, 1931 – 1947 319 Section Three Some Aspects of the Sadhana in Pondicherry Inner Vicissitudes and Difficulties 371 Unusual Experiences and States of Consciousness 383 PART THREE THE LEADER AND THE GUIDE Section One The Guru and the Avatar The Guru 395 The Question of Avatarhood 399 Section Two Help and Guidance Help from the Guide 437 Guidance through Correspondence 450 CONTENTS Sri Aurobindo’s Force 479 Therapeutic Force and Healing 497 Lights, Visions, Dreams 515 Darshan 520 Contact with People Outside the Ashram 526 PART FOUR THE PRACTICE OF YOGA IN THE ASHRAM AND OUTSIDE Section One The Practice of Yoga in the Ashram, 1926 – 1950 Entering Sri Aurobindo’s Path 539 Admission, Staying, Departure 559 The Ashram and Its Atmosphere 630 Sadhana in the Ashram 634 Discipline in the Ashram 672 Rules in the Life of the Ashram 676 The Ashram and Religion 696 Human Relations and the Ashram 705 Work in the Ashram 742 Life and Death in the Ashram 759 Miscellaneous Matters 794 Section Two The Practice of Yoga in the Ashram and the Outside World The Ashram and the Outside World 811 Yoga Centres and Movements 814 PART FIVE MANTRAS AND MESSAGES Section One Mantras On Mantras 825 Mantras Written by Sri Aurobindo 829 CONTENTS Section Two Messages Messages Written for Special Occasions 837 NOTE ON THE TEXTS 847 Letters on Himself and the Ashram Selected Letters on His Outer and Inner Life, His Path of Yoga and the Practice of Yoga in His Ashram Sri Aurobindo in Pondicherry, c. 1915–1918 Part One RemarksonHisLifeandWorks and on His Contemporaries and Contemporary Events Section One Reminiscences and Remarks on Events in His Outer Life His Life and Attempts to Write about It Knowing about Things in His Past For a long time I have wanted to hear something about the early days in Pondicherry from those who lived with you then. This morning I approached X and asked him. He agreed to tell me and a few friends some stories and anecdotes. Do you think it undesirable or objectionable in any way? I do not know whether it is of much utility. Besides, it would be only myself who could speak of things in my past, giving them their true form and significance. But as you have arranged it, it can be done. 11 August 1933 On Writing His Biography This [a proposed book in Telugu] is not a publication for which the Asram is responsible. If the outer facts of the life are corrected there is no harm, but nothing should be said about the inner things of the life here. It is not necessary to give the book so much importance or try to make it an authoritative biography. 14 May 1933 * [B. R. DHURANDHAR TO A. B. PURANI:] My friend and col- league Mr. P.B. Kulkarni is the author of several books in Marathi, including a life of C. R. Das. He is now writing a biography of Sri Aurobindo Ghose. He has been collecting material for many years and has already written around 200 pages. As he wants the biography to be authentic he is trying to approach persons who have come into contact with Sri AG. Please be kind enough to extend your cooperation to him. I am not interested in my own biography. Who is this Dhuran- dhar or this Kulkarni? 6 Letters on Himself and the Ashram Is there any reply to be sent to this letter? I don’t think a reply is necessary. If I am to be murdered in cold print, it had better be done without my disciples becoming abettors of the crime. 24 June 1933 * This idea of a “Life” going into details and personalities is itself an error. I wrote the brief life given to Dilip as containing all that I wanted to be said about me for the present.1 The general public can know about my philosophy and Yoga and general character of my work, it has no claim to know anything about the personal side of my life or of that of the Asram either. 30 October 1935 * First of all what matters in a spiritual man’s life is not what he did or what he was outside to the view of the men of his time (that is what historicity or biography comes to, does it not?) but what he was and did within; it is only that that gives any value to his outer life at all. It is the inner life that gives to the outer any power it may have, and the inner life of a spiritual man is something vast and full and, at least in the great figures, so crowded and teeming with significant things that no biographer or historian could ever hope to seize it all or tell it. 9 February 1936 * Here is a tempting offer. A publisher writes to me: “We are beginning a series of biographies. We propose that you take up Sri Aurobindo’s biography. We shall give you very good terms, as you are well qualified for the task.” If I decline 1 The “brief life” referred to here is “Sri Aurobindo: A Life Sketch”, reproduced on pages 5 – 10 of Autobiographical Notes and Other Writings of Historical Interest, volume 36 of THE COMPLETE WORKS OF SRI AUROBINDO. See also Sri Aurobindo’s letters to Dilip Kumar Roy about the “Life Sketch” and about biography in general on pages 11 – 13 of the same volume. — Ed. His Life and Attempts to Write about It 7 I am sure they will just get it done by someone else. What do you say? There is no one who can write my biography nor is this the time to do it, supposing it has to be done at all.