Letters in Bengali to three sadhikas

LETTERS TO SWARNA

“How far have I come, how far yet have I to go?”—such questions are not of much avail. With Mother as Pilot, swim up-current. She will take you to your destined port.

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The Mother alone is your destination. She contains everything in herself. To have her is to have everything. If you live in her Consciousness, there will be an automatic flowering of every other thing.

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The Mother’s attitude never changes. It remains always the same. When a sadhak sees her according to his mental ideas, he finds her attitude changed. But this is not true.

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If there is ruin, how can there be transformation? Rather the old nature of the vital and of the body should be ruined and not the vital and the body.

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It is true that the Mother is in everybody and we should have a relationship with her there. But that is no human or personal relationship; it is oneness with her vast unity.

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On one side is the increase of peace and the true consciousness; on the other, surrender. This alone is the real way.

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It is a wrong desire to destroy the vital—if the vital is destroyed, the body cannot live; if the body does not live, sadhana cannot be done.

Perhaps, you have pulled down so much power that the body cannot bear it. Everything will become all right if you can remain a little quiet.

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You are not without the Mother Divine. The Mother is really with you. It is to bring down the higher light and the higher consciousness that a sadhak goes down to hell. With this belief go on with a steady heart. The light and consciousness are sure to descend.

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The Mother is already within you. The work of Shakti is going on behind the screen of the physical nature. Finally with the Light of the Mother the screen will become transparent.

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One has to practise spirituality silently, calmly, fearlessly with the constant belief that the victory of the Mother is sure to take place.

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Who will go away? Those who have no sincerity, no faith and trust in the Mother; those who look upon their own imagination as something greater than the will of the Mother, they might go away. But he who seeks the Truth, who has faith and confidence, who wants the Mother, has nothing to be afraid of; even if there are a thousand difficulties, he will surmount them; if he has numerous defects in his nature, he will rectify them; even if he falls, he will rise again and finally one day he will reach the goal of his sadhana.

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This is not the right attitude, your sadhana has not been ruined; the Mother has not abandoned you; she has neither moved away from you nor is she displeased with you—these are vital imaginations and should not be given any place. Keep a simple and quiet confidence in the Mother. Without being afraid of the difficulties call in the Mother’s Force. All that you have received is inside; there will be even further progress.

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Remain quiet and conscious. Call the Mother, the good condition will return. To make full surrender takes time. Surrender all that you find still remaining over. Only thus, by repeating it constantly, the surrender becomes complete.

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Be always calm and let the higher Consciousness of the Mother descend into you—this alone will gradually transform your external consciousness.

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Advance quietly by surrendering more and more. Whatever transformation of the old is required will gradually be effected.

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There is no sadhak, in spite of his being a child of the Divine, who has not numerous little defects in his nature. As soon as one becomes aware of them, they have to be rejected; one has to aspire more ardently for the Mother’s Force so that these little defects of the nature may slowly be eradicated; but faith, surrender and reliance on the Mother must always remain intact. To get rid of these defects entirely is a matter of time; one must not be disturbed because they are there.

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This should not upset you. In the path of yoga such a condition invariably comes—when it is time to descend into the physical consciousness and the subconscient, and it may last long. But the Mother is there behind the veil and she will reveal herself later on; this lower kingdom will be transformed into the kingdom of light that is above—keep this strong faith and, by constantly surrendering all, advance towards the end of this stage that is full of difficulties.

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Relation with the outer world must be maintained but all that must remain on the outer surface. You should live within, close to the Mother and watch everything from there—this is what is wanted. It is the first step of the Karmayoga. Then from within conduct all external work with the help of the Mother’s force. This is the second step. If you can do this, then you will not have any further trouble.

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First of all, you must find the Mother within. Later on, when the external being comes under full control, you will constantly feel her even there.

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This you should always remember, that if you go forward with full trust in the Mother, then whatever may be the circumstances and the difficulties, however long a time may be necessary, you will most certainly reach your goal—no obstacle, delay or adverse condition can mar the ultimate success.

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In this sadhana just as you have to get rid of restlessness, so also sorrow must be given no place. You must rely on the Mother and advance with a steady heart and a quiet and cheerful mind. If you have full trust in the Mother, then where is the place for sorrow? The Mother is not far away but constantly near you. You must maintain this faith and knowledge.

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It is not right to assume from her outer appearance during the Pranam or Darshan that the Mother is pleased or displeased. People are constantly making this error that the Mother is displeased, the Mother is severe, the Mother does not want me, she is keeping me away from her, etc. and so many other false notions; then yielding to despair they create their own difficulties on the way. Instead of doing all this, maintain an unshakable trust in the love and help of the Mother within you and go forward on the path of sadhana with a quiet and cheerful mind. Those who do that are safe. When the difficulties come and the ego rises up, they are not touched; they say, “The Mother is there, whatever she does is all right; though I may not see her for the time being, still she is with me, all around me; I have nothing to fear.” This is what you should do. One has to maintain this trust and continue to do the sadhana.

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The condition must be such that the consciousness within remains united with the Mother, her force works in the being and the external consciousness acts as an instrument of that force. But this condition does not come fully or easily. Slowly, and by constant sadhana it becomes complete.

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During the meditation, just as one can see different scenes, one can also see writings. We call these writings “inscriptions or sky-writings”. They can be seen with eyes closed or open.

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These are symbols—a white flower is a symbol of consciousness, the sun represents Knowledge or Truth, the moon stands for the spiritual light, the star indicates creation, fire symbolises tapasya, askesis or aspiration.

Golden rose = love and surrender full of the true consciousness.

White lotus = the Mother’s Consciousness (Divine Consciousness).

The cow is a symbol of consciousness and light. A white cow means the higher pure consciousness.

The child is your psychic being who is bringing out the true things from within you—the road is that of the Higher Mind going up towards the Truth.

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There are five fires in the Vedic sacrifice. If the five are not there, the sacrifice is incomplete. We may say that we need these five fires in the psychic, the mental, the vital, the physical and the subconscient.

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The tree is the spiritual life within. Golden peacocks, sitting on every part of it, are symbols of victory of the Truth. The moon is the light of the spiritual force.

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The lotus situated above the head is the centre of the Higher Consciousness. Probably this lotus wants to bloom. The spirituality that began to shine in the vital was the half moon. There had been an eclipse of the moon. The green colour means the true vital force. The sunrise here is the manifestation of the true consciousness in the vital plane.

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The moon = spiritual light.

The elephant = strength.

The golden elephant = strength of the true consciousness.

Green is the colour of the light of emotions.

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The sun has many forms and light many colours. The sun can equally be red, golden, blue or green, etc.

Blue = higher Mind.

Sunlight = Light of Divine Truth.

Bright red = Divine Love or Force of the Higher Consciousness.

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The upward movement of the vital being is towards the Divine and the Truth. The power of Truth (golden light) and of the Higher Mind (blue light) has manifested and is coming down and moving in that ascending vital consciousness.

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The blue light is mine, the white light is the Mother’s. When the Higher Consciousness with its universality first begins to descend into the being, it is very natural to see blue light.

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This is the Higher Consciousness above the mind from where peace, light, force, etc. come—the white lotus is the Mother’s Consciousness, the red lotus is my consciousness—knowledge and light of the Truth are always there.

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Blue is the colour of the higher mind. Blue lotus: it is the opening of that higher mind in your consciousness.

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White light is the light of the divine consciousness. Blue light is the light of the higher consciousness. The silver light is the light of spirituality.

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The snake is a symbol of energy. A higher energy stands on the higher consciousness above the head.

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Water is the symbol of consciousness. What rises up is desire or the askesis of consciousness.

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It is my light if it is whitish blue. If pure blue, it is the light of the higher knowledge.

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The significance of the colour of an orange is to have union with the Divine and to have the touch of a higher consciousness.

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Muladhar is the inner centre of the physical. The pond is the opening or formation of consciousness. The red lotus is the symbol of Sri Aurobindo’s presence in that consciousness and the rosy light signifies the descending love in the inner physical.

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The snake is an energy of nature. Muladhar (physical centre) is one of its main seats. It remains asleep there in a coiled state. When awakened by sadhana, it unites itself with the higher truth. With the descent of the Mother’s Force it has become golden, that is to say, filled with divine Truth.

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All these experiences are the symbols of earthly outer nature.

Red lotus = The Divine Harmony.

Blue light = The higher consciousness.

Golden Temple = The temple of the Divine Truth.

Remain calm and quiet, then all these will slowly develop in your outer nature and life as well.

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The white rose signifies loving surrender to the Mother. Its result will be the spread of light and truth in your ādhāra. The white lotus means the Mother’s fully awakened Consciousness on your mental plane. The red-gold is the radiance of the Supramental in the physical.

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Don’t forget what I have said many times. Do your sadhana in a calm and quiet manner without getting agitated. Then everything will slowly come right. Crying aloud is no good. Call upon the Mother calmly. Open yourself to Her. The more quiet becomes the vital the more steadily goes on the sadhana without swerving.

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Sitting calm and quiet remember the Mother and open yourself to her. This is the rule of meditation.

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To do both is best. If it were possible to do sadhana from a distance, that would be the best, but that cannot always be done. But the fact is that you have to do your sadhana by creating a place of safety or a fort in the psychic—that is to say, rely on the Mother calmly and quietly without getting restless, say cheerfully that what she says is right. These small imperfections are a greater obstacle than big ones. But they have to be slowly brought out and imperfections turned into perfections. This cannot be done all at once.

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So, it is not good to feel sorry and be impatient. The Mother’s Force will gradually do everything.

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The straight road to truth is open in the heart. Whatever is offered goes up to the Mother and gets merged in her Truth and becomes all truth.

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Don’t be afraid or upset. This is the way of Yoga. You have to get over the dark state; you have to remain quiet even in darkness.

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The tapasya is this: to be quiet, to call upon the Mother, to reject calmly restlessness, despair, desires and lusts.

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At the outset peace, truth, etc., get established within, then they turn into action.

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It is not right to fear the void. It is into the void that the divine Peace comes down. The Mother is always within you. But one cannot feel this unless truth, power and light are there.

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Is it not a big boast that all this has happened only for you? “I am very good, very powerful, everything is being done by me, without me the Mother’s work cannot be done.” This is undeniably a kind of vanity. “I am worse than the worst. Everything has come to a stand-still owing to my opposition. God cannot carry on his work.” This is, in an opposite way, another sort of vanity.

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Always remain quiet, calmly calling in the Mother’s Force and throwing aside all worry.

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The child is your psychic being. It is the difficulty of the outer nature that rises up and climbs down from the chest. It does not want to admit the inner truth and wants to cover it up.

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That place is the place of the psychic being in the middle of the spine. What you have described are all the signs of the psychic being.

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Yes, the centre of man’s consciousness is in the heart and there is the seat of the psychic being.

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That straight, illumined path is the real one. But it takes time to get to it. Once that path is reached, there will not be much difficulty and hindrance.

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If you take to the path of the psychic and, like a child, lie on the lap of the Mother, then this kind of sex-impulse and so on can do nothing even if they attack. Finally they will not be able to come.

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I have already given you answers to this sort of questions. Keep within your depths. Look at everything from within. Don’t look with your outer eyes. If you remain in the outer consciousness, then you may make many mistakes under the cloak of thought. The psychic being gradually becomes strong within. It is the psychic being that sees the truth and turns everything into its fullness.

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These experiences are good—this fire is the psychic fire—and the condition you have described in the psychic condition into which nothing impure can come.

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Truly seen. The road of the psychic lies above in the truth-consciousness. Centring round the psychic all the planes begin to turn to the Divine in one and the same way. That road leads upward. The little baby is your psychic being.

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That is what is wanted—the lotus in the heart should always remain open, the whole nature should remain under the control of the psychic being. Thus a new birth can take place.

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Yes, this is the true psychic attitude. One who can have always this state in all circumstances can go straight to one’s goal.

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When the consciousness becomes wide and universal and sees the Mother in the whole universe, then the ego does not stick. Only your true being, which is the Mother’s child and her portion, rests on the Mother’s lap.

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To be sure, we have not left you. When depression comes in then you brood over this kind of thought. At times you come to the outer consciousness and do not feel the Mother. And simply because of that it is not proper to think that the Mother has forsaken you. Once more go deep within, you will feel Her there.

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It means that the stamp of pride, ignorance and desire remains for a long time even in the good periods of good sadhaks. But when the consciousness becomes purer—as it has begun to become in you—then the mixture of ignorance will disappear.

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These difficulties are useless disturbances of the vital. One has to proceed silently along the path of spirituality. No quarter should be given to sorrow and despair.

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Of course, in this kind of talk much impurity of the vital can get in. Irritation and dislike towards the Mother, envy of others, depression, sorrow—these are the things one has to get rid of.

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Always one has to keep this condition, this true knowledge. One should see men and things with a spiritual sense, with the vision of the psychic and not in the pride of knowledge.

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From Muladhar down to the sole of the foot is called the physical plane. Below is the domain of subconscience.

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There are many planes above and below. But mainly there are four planes below. They are the mental, the psychic, the vital and the physical. And above there are many planes, the Supermind and Sachchidananda being the highest.

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If it happens that you go down at all, bring down there the Mother’s light and power by your aspiration. Establish the kingdom of the Mother below as it is above.

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When the consciousness descends into the physical, it does not mean that the results of all sadhana have gone, they really remain behind the veil. One has to bring down the consciousness, the light and the power of the Mother into the obscure physical. When these are established the former state will not recur. But if you are perturbed, depressed and think that nothing can be done in this life and that to die is preferable and so on, then it becomes an obstacle for the consciousness, the power and the light to descend. That is why these wrong feelings have to be rejected and you should depend on the Mother and silently aspire to Her.