Sri Aurobindo to Dilip - Volume II

Preface

This is the second volume of Sri Aurobindo's letters to Dadaji, Sri Dilip Kumar Roy. The first volume was published by us in August 2003. It covered the period between 1929 and 1933. This volume spans only two years 1934 and 1935 as the correspondence between the Master and the disciple grew in volume, frequency and depth during this period.

It will not be put of place here to highlight again the Divine force and Grace imparted concretely through these letters by a Guru, the Messianic "treasurer of superhuman dreams'71 to his cherished and receptive disciple who the Guru called "a friend and a son and part of his existence". Sri Dilip Kumar illustrates this in his book "Sri Aurobindo Came to Me" which is a companion volume of reminiscence to these letters set- ting the context and circumstances, voicing his doubts and queries, stating his experiences and seeking the Guru's help in his despondency which evoked, in response, these magnificent letters of his Gurudev. Sri Dilip Kumar writes :2

"The general reader, I feel, is likely to appraise the value of letters such as these in terms either of their weightiness of matter or profundity of wisdom. But to us, his disciples, every such communication was valued even more as a token of his Grace than for its other merits, as also because of the light it carried from the fount of his luminous personality, which we had grown to cherish. To me, personally, his letters radiating affection imparted something even more convincing—possibly because only such personal letters could convey to my sceptic mind the light of seerhood that hovered round him, through a receptive emotion which nothing short of an intimate con- tact with his soul of compassion could arouse. Besides, had he not written to me once: 'I am certainly not helping you only with letters, but doing it whenever I get some time for concentration and I notice that when I can do it with sufficient energy and at some length there is a response.'

Page 11

Outsiders may not seize the import of this, but as I saw the effect of his concentration on and for me day after patient day, I had to believe in its concrete efficacy. Could it be otherwise when, time and time again, I experienced my glooms melting away like mists before sunrise and strength returning to me through his exhortation dripping every time the deep tenderness of his solicitude?"

The response of readers of "Sri Aurobindo to Dilip", Vol.1 has been heart-warming; we are positive that this second volume will be received with greater enthusiasm. Sri Aurobindo's Grace and influence is not confined only to his direct disciples but it is far reaching. It is this vast influence of Sri Aurobindo across the Globe, for all time to come, that has been the motivating factor for the detailed publication of these letters.

In this context I would like to quote Madame Gabriela Mistral (Nobel laureate). She affirmed :

"In the midst of personal sorrow, Aurobindo brought me to religion. It may sound quaint that a non-christian should have opened the way to my religious consecration, but Aurobindo did.... Every people must have an Aurobindo, a man far above the people and yet identified with the aspiration of the people ... My debt to India is very great and is due in part to Aurobindo."

in bringing out these Letters Dr. Gobindo Gopal Mukho-padhyaya's guidance, inspiration and encouragement are invaluable. We are grateful to him. We also gratefully acknowledge the dedicated work of "Mira Aditi" team under the guidance of Revered Satprem and Sujata Didi.

We offer our humble pranams to Sri Aurobindo and the Mother, Dadaji Sri Dilip Kumar Roy and Ma Indira Devi. We seek their blessings for our journey of the Spirit.

Dol Purnima

26th March 2005

Shankar Bandopadhyay

Hari Krishna Mandir

Page 12