Sri Aurobindo's writings on himself (excluding the letters in volume 35) and other material of historical importance.
Sri Aurobindo's writings on himself (excluding the letters in volume 35, Letters on Himself and the Ashram) and other material of historical importance. The volume is divided into four parts: (1) brief life sketches, autobiographical notes, and corrections of statements made by others in biographies and other publications; (2) letters of historical interest to family, friends, political and professional associates, public figures, etc; also letters on yoga and spiritual life to disciples and others; (3) public statements and other communications on Indian and world events; (4) public statements and notices concerning Sri Aurobindo's ashram and yoga. Much of the material is being published here for the first time in a book.
THEME/S
[1]
It has been found necessary to change some of the forms and methods hitherto used to help by external means the individual and collective sadhana. This has to be done especially in regard to the consecration of food, the collective meditation and the individual contact of the sadhaka with the Mother. The existing forms were originally arranged in order to make possible a spiritual and psychic communion on the most physical and external planes by which there would be an interchange of forces, a continuous increase of the higher consciousness on the physical plane, a more and more rapid change of the external nature of the sadhakas and afterwards an increasing descent of the supramental light and power into Matter. But for this to be done there was needed a true and harmonious interchange, the Mother leading, the sadhakas following her realisation and progress. The Mother would raise all by a free self-giving of her forces, the sadhakas would realise in themselves her realisations and would by the force of an unfaltering aspiration and a surrender free from narrow personal demand and self-regarding littleness, consecrated wholly to the divine work, return her forces for a new progress. At first partly realised, this rhythm of interchange has existed less and less. The whole burden of the progress has fallen physically on the body of the Mother; for the forces it gives it receives little or nothing in exchange; the more its consciousness advances in the light, the more it is pulled back towards the unchanged obscurity of an unprogressive external nature. These conditions create an intolerable and useless strain and make the forms used at once unprofitable and unsafe. Other means will have to be found hereafter for the purpose.
Page 532
Meanwhile modifications of form will have to be made in several details and others suppressed altogether.
26 May 1928
[2]
Meditation on all days of the week except Wednesday and Friday.
Flower offering on Tuesday and Thursday; none on Saturday, Sunday and Monday.
May 1928
[3]
Meditation at 7.0 a.m. as before.
All fixed or daily times for sadhakas seeing the Mother are cancelled. Every day the Mother will call those whom she wants to see. Any others who need to see her will inform Nalini early in the morning or the night before and write the reason for their request which will be acceded to or otherwise dealt with according to circumstances and possibilities.
The soup will be distributed in the evening in the downstairs verandah of Sri Aurobindo's house. All who take it must be present at 8.30 and remain seated in silence till the Mother comes. Before the distribution there will be a few minutes concentration all together.
The night meditations are cancelled for a time.
On the 1ṣṭ of each month the distribution from the stores will be made in the store-room in the presence of the Mother at 8 P.M.
Page 533
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