Sri Aurobindo's diary of his yogic practice between 1909 and 1927.
Sri Aurobindo's diary of his yogic practice between 1909 and 1927. This two-volume record of sadhana contains fairly regular entries between 1912 and 1920 and a few entries in 1909, 1911 and 1927. It also contains related materials Sri Aurobindo wrote about his practice of yoga during this period, including descriptions of the seven 'chatusthayas' (groups of four elements), which are the basis of the yoga of the 'Record'.
Thought to be set entirely free
T² to be thoroughly idealised and given certitude.
Tapas siddhi to be made luminously effective.
Physicality to be brought under control of Tapas.
Rupasiddhi and samadhi.
First get rid of the physical lapse.
The ҫraddha has to be firm and absolute
First week of February
Three chatusthayas.
Perfection of 2ᵈ chatusthaya.
Shakti. Idealised and intellectual perfection.
The highest ideality in the highest log[ist]ical ideality.
Lipi, thought-speech, jnana perfected on this level of vijnana
T² perfected a little later, but rapidly all the same.
Rupa-siddhi and samadhi
The physical lapse in the subjectivity has been nearly got rid [of], but not quite eliminated. Its force however and effectuality have been much diminished and are being brought to the vanishing point.
The ҫraddha is now firm, but not yet absolute.
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Shakti has got its intellectual perfection, so far as the word can be applied, and is getting its ideal perfection.
This is due to an extraordinarily rapid development of the whole system into the highest logistic ideality,—first elimination of mental intuivity, confirmation in intuitive revelatory vijnana, then rise to interpretative revelatory, then to revelatory full of founded power of inspiration. The lower forms of vijnana occur from outside.
The prana and body are also being taken up by this ideality..
The process is not yet quite complete.
There is a rapid development of combined action of all the parts of the siddhi, but this is as yet only being founded, not complete.
Thought-speech, jnana [and]1 primary T² are being founded on the highest logistis
Rupa and samadhi are still obstructed and pressing on the obstruction.
Some progress in rejecting obstruction in samadhi
Attack of the intuitive mind from outside, only temporarily successful in a partial invasion—
The idealistic force is strong enough to reestablish its hold.
All February the struggle in the physical siddhi.
In spite of the intuitive mental [invasion]2—
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(1) The interpretative or inspirational ideality has manifested itself with some power in lipi, thought[,] trikaldrishti etc. The logistic ideality remains but is surpassed.
(2) Lipi has got rid of the insistence of small intuitive vijnana, though it is still capable of some lapse.
(2)3 The rest of the ideality is labouring to follow in its steps and get rid of all lower forms.
(3) In lipi revelatory logistis is now becoming the lower and not the higher form. The interpretative is the rule.
(4) Ananda is progressing and transforming itself first to the discriminative revelatory logistic then the interpretative and getting rid of the intuitive mental form. It is now persistent when there is smarana.
The second week of February.
(1) Lipi to be fixed in the second vijnana.
(2) Thought, T², to be raised to the second vijnana, the logistis only a lower form.
(3) Ideal Shakti to possess the body.
(4) Ananda to fix itself and be no longer dependent on smarana.
(5) Insistence on ideal Tapas control in arogya, utthapana, saundarya.
(6) Completeness of Brahmachatusthaya.
(7) Rupa and samadhi.
All these will not be complete, but all will advance. The rule of rapidity has to be brought in everywhere.
Ananda overcomes in type the obstacle of vismriti and has almost established the continuity. It is established in type and in dominant tendency, but is still resisted, sometimes briefly suspended by strong absorption. Sleep brings a total discontinuation, but the recovery is swift.
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A certain lapse tendency. Ananda persists but with frequent momentary vismriti. The T² moves for a while in the telepathies. The thought-system is arriving through a last struggle to the condition of the lipi divided between the interpretative as the right and normal, the logistic as the lower relaxed action to the exclusion of the intuitive mentality.
Rupa-siddhi has been developing since yesterday fluidity, perfection of form (not always complete)[,] vividness, but not stability. Variety is poor as yet and stability only initial or primary.
Ananda is now constant (afternoon) but often forgotten by absorption yet present; sometimes this forgetfulness brings momentary cessation. Sleep brings cessation; but the obstacle is now being attacked, though not yet overcome.
T² has descended to rectify and turn into interpretative telepathic ideality.
Ananda Brahman is confirming itself in prema, kama and beauty.
Obstacle to Samadhi persists, but is slowly yielding.
At night a lapse to mentality.
The whole ideality after a violent depression is now passing into the revelatory form of the interpretative vijnana. This is also laying hold on the body, but here more powerfully besieged by the intuitivity of the intelligence
The perfect shakti in the physical intelligence has been replaced in type by the perfect ideal shakti with the fourfold Devibhava.
Ananda is being reestablished in continuity after interruption.
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Sahaituka has recommenced, but yet in a crude initial form. (since yesterday)
The Ananda is being idealised, but as yet not successfully; because the intuitive intelligence still normally holds the body.
Continuity of Ananda, forgotten sometimes but still existing has been established in type in Samadhi (morning).
Idealisation (rapid) in the revelatory interpretative form of the elements of samadhi has begun in the lipi etc.
Ananda absent in samadhi and sleep in the afternoon, but ideality at play, in dialogue etc. At times deep tamasic nidra hiding a core of sushupti, sometimes jagrat, sometimes আছন্ন
Ananda once more continuous in afternoon in spite of absorption in writing, finally with help of some smarana prevailed over absorption.
Ideal Shakti fixed in the body.
Ideal Shakti is fixed in the body, lipi fixed in the vijnana, interpretative and revelatory of the two lower kinds. Thought-siddhi and T² is partly formed in the same idealities, but revelatory logistis predominates for the time. There is however a mixture of intelligence. Sharira Ananda discontinued at night by sleep and recovered with some difficulty in the morning. Brahma chatusthaya complete in Sarvam Anandam Brahma, Anantam Jnanam in essence. The Brahma-vision has now to be filled in with the vijnana. Rupa and Samadhi are progressing; rupa is still in the first stability, occasionally on the border of the second, recurrent, not steady in appearance. Ideal Samadhi baffled at night by sleep and dream: present in daytime but assailed by nidra.
Today thought-siddhi + T² ought to rid itself of the admixture. The psychic suggestions, telepathy, vyapti, prakamya, possibility, doubt, denial etc are all being rapidly changed into the form of the revelatory logistis. There is a strong tendency to the interpretative form.
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Ideal Shakti is being intensified into the Krishna Kali relation founded on madhura dasya.
One day of lapse (12ṭḥ), another of trouble of recovery. Eye malady, bleeding of nose, constipation; the will prevails only with a struggle.
The revelatory ideality is establishing itself, but with much fluctuation of adjustment, Shakti idealised in the body in the same way, sharira ananda similarly. The latter is being rapidly changed. As yet the siddhi has not recovered its full force of occupation.
Development of T² on the revelatory base but hampered by mentality and its invasion and siege.
Founding, in spite of difficulties, of the [ ]4 exclusive ideal action in thought-siddhi and T² as in script and lipi. In T² this is not complete and this has some reaction on thought-siddhi which is now being closely fused with T².
Recovery of vijnana in the system and rapid development of the ideality. The vijnana (revelatory of all kinds based on intuitive revelatory) is fixed in the system; lapses are only to intuitive ideality and momentarily to highly idealised mental intuitive.
Interpretative revelatory vijnana has been rapidly rushed to the lead and holds it, but the intuitive rev. occurs frequently as a suggestion, but more and more filled with interpretative rev. V. Other lower forms only occur as suggestions from outside and are rapidly and increasingly turned into the right kind before or immediately after they enter the system.
During the lapse even the purely unmixed character of the mental intuitive, though it held the system, was made more and
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more clear. The ideality then continued in spite of this hold and was quite firm in lipi, script and often in thought-speech. Now even these suggestions cannot come in the mental form; only in laxity there is often a sort of mental cloud about the ideal form.
Lipi, script, thought-speech are now firm in the ideality; thought-perception and T² are also substantially ideal, but to some extent in laxity of the shakti affected by the mental shadow. They are however being rapidly subjected to thorough idealisation. When the shakti is not pramatta, the mental shadow does not touch, but the lower forms are more common as yet than the revelatory; the contrary is the rule in the other members.
Vyapti is still chiefly of the mental kind
The interpretative revelatory since last night is being fixed in the system—the essentiality of it, its status in the tissue of the conscious being. But there is already the urge to the revelatory in its own highest kind.
The lipi which has been ideal of all kinds is now shedding the intuitive vijnana and keeping only the revelatory and interpretative.
Fixed in the interpretative form of all kinds it is now immediately (after five minutes, in the same uninterrupted movement) lifting up all to the revelatory vijnana in its three forms. This done in a minute or two it is drawing all into the highest form. This is the first instance of such a large miraculous rapidity
Vyapti is now coming in the revelatory vijnana, but of the totality of the bhava in the object; the particular movements are seen in it, but are undergoing a thorough idealisation, even in the mental intuitivity.
As a result also trikaldrishti tapas is beginning to be seen as a movement out of being and no longer only in their separate forms.
The complete idealisation of the tivra ananda whether ahaituka or sahaituka is taking place.
The insistence on the physical siddhi has been increasingly relaxed for the last few days. There is now scanty K.A. It is being transformed into the revelatory ideal K.A, but the transformation is much opposed by the survival of old idealised intuitive Ananda. The other Anandas are sharing the change.
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The second half of the day possession by the intuitive mind from outside. Progress under difficulties.
Rapid progress in spite of mental siege.
(1) Shakti in system fixing the essential being in representative revelatory vijnana; interpretative force present, but not insistent in manifestation. Occasional covering by inspirational intuitive idealised mind.
(2) Lipi deepening into the revelatory largeness even in intuitive vijnana type.
Rapid and powerful development of fixed stability in lipi sadhara and niradhara.
(3) Strong development of ideal thought-siddhi in all forms; rapid and continuous ideal thought-perception, jnana
(4) Developing certitude in trikaldrishti, but much enveloped in idealised mind-matter.
(5) Increasing ideal-power in kavya.
(6) Triumphing tendency to bring all mental action into the ideal form; but there are lapses.
(7) Progress in idealisation and in [s]table jagrat of the three forms of swapna samadhi in the afternoon. Internal lipi in antardarshi fixed in representative revelatory vijnana; continuity in swapna of ideal thought siddhi in speech and perception sometimes accompanied by rupa and drishya.
(1) Idealisation of the intuitive (mental) thought-siddhi jnana and T² knowledge, dominant but not absolutely complete.
(2) Immediately (in the morning) the movement turned to the normalising of the interpretative revelatory vijnana in all the mind and supermind, and after certain fluctuations this came in the evening
(3) In antardarshi interpretative revelatory vijnana in the lipi. The rest of the siddhi active in swapna, but limited and diminished by heavy attack of sleep.
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(4) The interpretative in the shakti of the physical system has now filled the representative revelatory vijnana; the content is interpretative, the shell representative (logistic revelation).
(5) The Tapas is now acting vigorously on the physical asiddhi in the different remnant rogas and has begun on the most persistent central incapacity, in the latter as yet without dominant effect. The remnants still recur with a temporary show of force but cannot resist the dissipating action
(6) In the morning a remarkable solitary instance of the complete and rapid effectivity of the Tapas on inanimate things. This is practically the first instance.
(7) The T² is now normalised in the ideality, though still besieged and sometimes penetrated by the intuitivity, but it is no longer cased in the intuitive mental matter.
Today closes the third week of February and completes a definitive stage of the union of samata, shakti and vijnana. The asiddhi is not entirely exiled, but has lost its power to hold except for touches and a momentary (in the first two) or a brief (in the third) interval. Negative Asamata is only a touch and nothing more, but defect of sama ananda is still possible for a short while.
The next week must complete the perfection of the luminous revelatory reason.
It is also suggested that the rupa, vishaya and samadhi will develop finality of basic perfection.
There is also some preparation for the overcoming of the obstruction in Ananda and Arogya. In saundarya and utthapana the definitive effectivity has not come, but primary utthapana is being prepared for its basis by the steady pressure on the habit of fatigue. There the old strenuous defect of anima has little hold; it comes only in fragments, little as pain, mainly as stiffness. Fatigue is the chief asiddhi.
Tomorrow T² in the interpretative drishti. Ananda. Renewed hold on physical siddhi. Rupa-vishaya. Samadhi.
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(1) Resumption of continuous Ananda, but as yet with insufficient force of spontaneous action.
(2) Shakti shown in resistance to an attack of many remnants of roga. Only three still survive at all in fact, the eye-watering, the stomach affections and the central weakness. All except the last are much reduced, and even the last is much modified in force.
(3) Samadhi progressive at night and in the morning. All is ideal, drishya included, but all is now turning to the revelatory vijnana. Drishya is becoming more complete and stable. Lipi in deep swapna shows a tendency to return to coherence.
In the samata the siege of the exiled intuitivity throws a shadow of defect on the hasya and therefore on the sukham and equal Ananda. This is only when there is the withholding of the full play of the Shakti.
In the shakti the defect that emerges is a deficiency of height of force, aishwarya-bodha, hasya and ҫraddha in the immediate action of the Shakti.
None of these defects are real, but imposed on the system from outside by a shadow of the old habit of the physical mind.
These defects have now to be finally excised. There is already a commencement of the conversion of the surrounding activity to the ideal terms.
The first two chatusthayas cannot be quite absolute until the vijnana is universal and free from any suspension of the ideal action.
The rupa and vishaya show signs of reinitiation and of a firmer ideal completeness, but as yet there is no freedom or dominance of stability.
The difficulty of T² is now the adjustment between the higher and lower perceptions; so long as this lasts the surrounding intuitive mind is led to invade with its inadequate suggestions. But this mind now promises to turn into the ideal form.
Ananda is now again active, but subject to the recurrence of its
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old disabilities and still drawn down to the mental intuitive manner. Ideal Ananda comes in as an exception.
Rupa shows great vividness and perfection (not always completeness) and vividness of all forms, perfect, developed, ghana, crude; but except in the last it is only in the initial and primary stabilities
In the afternoon much sushupta swapna samadhi. An outburst of the highest revelatory lipi, vivid and powerful beyond anything yet seen in the jagrat bahirdarshi. Much lipi in the sushupta, ordinarily but not always coherent. Much revelatory vijnana; all ideal. But the hold was still insufficient and besieged not by the actuality, but by the vague consciousness of dream.
Today from the morning lapse towards mentality for the transformation of the surrounding mind. This has brought back unideal telepathy trikaldrishti tapas to a certain extent, but the ordinary thought seems secure. All however is hampered by the invasion. T² at the moment acts only in the representative vijnana with relative and occasional certitude, the truth of each suggestion stands, but not the decisive value the tapasic mind outside fastens on its indications. When the full ideality acts, each is reduced to its native proportions, but there is no future certitude, or only a relative morally certain indication of the future.
There is the same phenomenon in the interpretative representative T², on the lower scale. It remains to be seen what happens when both are lifted to and combined on the higher scale.
Vishaya is again manifesting vividly, but without freedom; only the old customary drishya, rasa, gandha, sparsha, the few limited things. Shabda is obstructed as before.
Ananda is now recovering a firmer, though still imperfect base.
There is much struggle in the primary utthapana; the two rogas are also still successfully obstructive. The Shakti persists in the utthapana and does not allow a long collapse.
Today pain (sharp in the shoulders) returned momentarily in the primary utthapana, but immediately subsided. Fatigue is strong, by cumulative effect; there is [no]where a successful reaction.
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A strong interpretative revelatory vijnana of the Shakti in the physical system.
At night great vividness and constancy of the basic rasas.
T² in the interpretative revelatory and highest revelation of the third scale. All now is the third scale, ie, the divine reason.
Magnificent drishya in the deep and deepest swapna samadhi, scenes, happenings etc, great stability, perfection, sometimes chhayamaya of tejas, sometimes vivid with some jyoti in the tejas. A little force of chhaya however everywhere. Afterwards dream but with much coherence.
Today T² to develop highest certitude. Rupa, vishaya, samadhi. Ananda to idealise and to overcome obstacles. Pressure of Shakti on roga and obstacles to primary utthapana.
Yesterday there was in T² much confusion of the lower inadequate forms, insufficient half representative, half intuitive forms, mind-coated intuitivities and intuitivised mental suggestions from outside, inspirational forms without the discrimination etc; the highest certitudes finally emerging assailed with dubiety from the luminous chaos. Now the discriminating interpretative revelatory power is settling itself in the T². The intuitivities of all kinds are being rejected where they resist transformation, replaced or transformed when they admit change. The highest certitude of the third scale is acting now and then; the occasional certitudes are frequent. There is still much to be done.
Ananda is idealising itself with occasional lapses.
Lipi is now finally getting rid of the strong relics of the intuitive and the weak relics of the inspirational ideal lipi. The representative and interpretative lipi of all degrees take the place.
T² is now getting rid of all forms of tejasic and tapasic stress; but the work is not yet finished. The highest certitudes await the growth and completion of this eliminative process.
The battle is going on in the primary utthapana. The Shakti is trying to impose relief in standing and relief in walking and
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add them to the relief by sitting. But as yet it is only a temporary incomplete relief. The attack of fatigue is heavy and fierce.
Afternoon. Samadhi, ideal thought and speech continued in deeper swapna, but sushupta much under the power of nidra.
The force of ananda increases, but is much cased in inspirational and inspired intuitive mentality. The density tends to diminish in the idealised form. It is however becoming more intense in this form.
The T² acts now normally in the middle form. The higher action is exceptional except so far as it is translated into the middle form.
Rupa and Vishaya have been less active today. Vishaya is trying to manifest particular tastes in their subtle general essence
Last night T² action of various kinds, none entirely satisfactory, though one uplifted above the lower movements which gave some of the highest certitudes. At night wakefulness with intervals of swapna samadhi good of its kind; only towards morning nidra.
Today strong attack of besieging intuivity on all ideal members. In lipi this results in persistence of intuitive ideal lipi representing the intuitive mentality in the ideality, but not itself mental in kind. An insufficient speech and suggestion is its limitation; it is true in itself, but so expressed as to mislead the mind. It is rejected in favour of the intuitive revelatory or at lowest revelatory [intuitive],5 representative and interpretative lipi, but still recurs sometimes in spite of prohibition.
In thought-siddhi the same process is taking place, but the recurrence of lower forms of ideal speech is strong and occasionally there is the half idealised mental suggestion from outside.
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Nevertheless lower ideal forms are now banned by the law of the Shakti.
In script as in lipi, but the lower forms are more rebellious to exclusion.
T² is most affected. Here too it is definitely settled that only the highest ideal reason is to give the certitudes and the recurrence of the lower forms however strong and obstructive to the proper action is not to be accepted, even if they give the truth.
Ananda promised last night to prevail, but this morning has been discontinued except in smarana.
T² perfect, decisive and invariably effective in the representative highest vijnana, but only in distinct isolated final results; the rest of a lower type besieged by mentality and confusing the mind by trying to figure as this representative ideal action.
In Samadhi much nidra.
T², the representative vijnana is taking up detail, but not all the detail. The confused action of the rest continues, but is becoming clearer by restriction. The Shakti now tends to allow provisionally all ideal T², but to accept only the forms of the highest ideality with a total acceptance, partially accept the revelatory forms of the lower (inspirational and intuitional) stages, observe only in order to reject or transform the survivals of mental suggestion. The rest occurs, but is partially sanctioned only when there is some revelatory force or interpretative in it or at the back.
The interpretative-representative highest ideality has now definitely replaced all other action as the standard movement in the T². The others still persist in laxity of the system. This ideality is now absorbing all the thought-siddhi and proving its truth and certitude.
At night this ideality, at first only able to act above the head free from the physical levels, began to act spontaneously on the
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head level. It begins to replace the physical tendency to intuivity and is descending to take possession of the whole system. At the same time it is adapting itself and taking possession of all kinds of thought perception in the nature. This it has done, first in the interpretative, then in the lower idealities.
All the vishayas, the others in little, gandha and rasa more in large.
Abundant rupa in the samadhi.
T² is now fixing itself in the complete ideality, first in the lower T forms with some help from the highest interpretative vijnana. All is now turned to its elements of truth, but the last difficulties of the old excessive stress still remain. The rest is a difficulty of limitation and incertitude.
Afterwards something like a deliberate lowering or collapse, but even in this laxity the ideal tendency prevails, but not its order.
Sharira Ananda long neglected and occasional only by smarana is resumed today and restored to an interrupted continuity, while the remnants of the mental form are being rapidly idealised by the highest vijnana.
Rupa is obstructed, though it acts under call of tapas. It has gone back to the initial or very primary stability.
Vishaya acts but under obstruction.
Stable crude rupa (perfect in line) at night.
Lapse.
The lipi has begun to reject all but the highest vijnana (chiefly interpretative) or else its light in other forms. The same process is beginning in antardarshi.
In Samadhi tertiary and perfect stability of rupa, scene and coherent movement begins to occur. Also conversation, no longer mental only, but the physical word. The elements of samadhi have
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now [to be]6 developed and combined, the [......] more steady in spite [......]
Thought speech has [......] reject all [but the] forms of the highest vijnana or else its light and form on lower levels.
Today the whole vijnana has lifted to different levels of the revelatory vijnana. Even the highest drashta logos has manifested as well as the highest interpretative ideality. The basis of the luminous reason has been perfectly founded and what is now left is to perfect and make it universal in its embrace.
The first necessity is to get rid of the lower stratum of intuitive mentality, then to exclude the circumvironing mentality.
This has already begun to be done and for some time the shakti in the body is fixed in the basic third ideality, its contents varying from the intuitive to the revelatory, with interpretative and other floating. Even the intrusions from the surrounding ideality are now for the most solidly idealised though with a suspicion of strong intuitive mentality not easily distinguish[able] from a [ ]7 concentrated doubly illumined vijnana.
Rupa has suddenly at night manifested several old forms (reel, ribbon wound reel, bat, brushes etc) in ghana & developed with strong ghana tendency in the second and third (mostly third) stability.
Samadhi is still hampered by obstruction.
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