Narendra Nath Dasgupta

(Sri Aurobindo’s name was mentioned as 'A.G.' in the original notes)

October 28, 1925 — First Day at Pondicherry

A.G.: In this yoga what is required first and foremost is calmness. This calmness must be brought down even to the physical.
Do you have any attachments?

I: Attachment? Yes, I have—nothing big—small movements such as the desire to smoke…

A.G.: No harm in that.

*

I: At times I shed tears due to emotional delight.

A.G.: Is it associated with anything or does it take automatically?

I: At times it is associated with your name while at others it happens automatically.

[A.G. remained silent. Then I asked him]

I: May I join the morning meditation?

A.G.: Yes.

I: The evening conversation?

A.G.: Yes.

(I touched his feet and took my leave).

*

November 6, 1925

I: In the letter to Shreesh-babu you had said: It is not possible to suggest oneself to the supramental—calm will to call down calmness. Is this too ‘suggesting… oneself to the supramental’?

A.G.: No, no—I had said it a propos a new method of cure by suggesting. One can’t become a superman through such a suggestion as “I’ve become superman, I’ve become superman”. The maintaining of calm will can’t be suggested.

I: Isn’t calling down with one’s will against the spirit of true surrender?

A.G.: No. You are talking of absolute passivity. If you merely open yourself passively, the Higher Power may come or it may not. There may also be chaos and confusion within you.

*

November 17, 1925

I: What is the difference between mental calmness and mental passivity? Sometimes I see that my mind has become wholly passive, there is no activity, it is calm—again at times I see that there is activity in the mind and simultaneously calmness too.

A.G.: What you say about mental passivity is not correct—then the mind becomes more calm—in this yoga chitta-vritti-nirodha is not necessary. Don’t confuse it with the old practice of yogasadhana. If you remain totally passive many bad things may come from the universal; horizontal forces of Nature may attack which may cause confusion. You have to establish calmness within the mental activity.

*

November 17, 1925

I: Meditation by means of Prakriti—

A.G.: What?

I: I mean if I concentrate above the head and meditate, often the mental consciousness does not remain awake—can it be harmful?

A.G.: Then the Higher Prakriti works, there will be no harm. You were going to say something about meditation by means of Prakriti…

I: It is there in your “Saptachatustaya”.

A.G.: That is only a programme of work—what is there in it?—show it to me some time.

I: In that state I feel as though I am going up—an upward movement—the mental witness is not alert. Is it a movement of the vital force?

A.G.: There is a will in the mind, there is a will also in the vital mind—vital force is a separate thing. You have to watch the play of each one. Often the vital will, rushing upward, attacks the buddhi (intelligence) and tries to make it serve its purpose. First of all it must be controlled by the mental will. Later when the Higher will descends all these are transformed. Until the Higher will descends, the vital being must be kept under control with the help of the mental will.

(Reproduction from memory after five days—so it is doubtful whether everything has been reproduced correctly—Note by the Disciple)

*

December 8, 1925

I:… I feel that I have achieved some mastery over the being. It did not happen in the past when I sat passively.

A.G.: It is possible to be a perfect instrument of God after the whole being is purified. Before that passivity can be harmful. The calm is a must.

*

January 24, 1926

I: I find that when I attempt to reject something it is as though I am pressing it downwards. Nowadays when I try to throw away the weakness that I find in the play, that goes on in my consciousness, I merely press it downwards.

A.G.: There should certainly be the pressure of the will from above, but you have to press it out of the being. Don’t push it into the lower being—throw it out.

I: By ‘throw out’ I understand it is as though driving it out horizontally. But I feel that it is easier to press it down.

A.G.: If only that is done, it will remain. When it rises again, exert pressure and throw it out.

I: The play that goes on in the mental being seems to take place in front. At the back the mental Purusha keeps watch.

A.G.: You see the mental Purusha at the back? Not in front? The real Purusha will watch from above and, in calmness with the help of light and will, press on the impurities and throw them out.

I: Sometimes I experience that state. A positive calm descends from above and fills the mind and everything becomes luminous—these are rare experiences. On a few occasions just before I fell asleep, a current of force had come down from above, and then I was afraid that perhaps the system would break down. The next moment when I awakened the ‘I am Brahman’ consciousness, the fear went away. And that force kept coming down. There was a stream of bright light in that column of force.

A.G.: (He smiled on hearing that I was afraid.) It happened in your sleep because your mind is still active. I don’t say it to hurry you up. I’m not saying that it is bad. This kind of experience comes from time to time only in order to get the mind accustomed. If it comes down from above before the mind is thoroughly accustomed, then it results in the mind forming various wrong ideas.

I: The mind is not as active as it used to be earlier…

A.G.: Remain in the calmness above and pacify the mind with the will. Individual will is necessary to purify the chitta and the prana. Absolute passivity is a must for bringing down light, calmness and will in the physical being. Until that is attained individual will is necessary.

*