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... surface without touching the silence behind. Of course, if the silence is not strong enough, the activity may disturb the silence. The calm mind too is a positive state. It is the whole stuff or substance of the mind that is silent in the silent mind. In the calm mind also activity goes on on the surface without disturbing the calmness. It is a sort of fundamental stillness. Peace of the mind is still... mysticism but if the mysticism is expressed poetically, I don't see how there can be any objection. NIRODBARAN: Y has sent another letter. He says that the distinctions between the quiet mind, the calm mind and the silent mind are not clear. SRI AUROBINDO ( after reading the letter): A quiet mind is not necessarily free from thoughts. Thoughts can come but the mind is free from disturbance. The mental... If the mind takes part, then the whole thing gets spoiled. In poetry, it is the activity of the mind that meddles. NIRODBARAN: The quiet or silent mind I can make clear to myself, but not the calm mind. Perhaps it is a matter of experience? SRI AUROBINDO: Yes, you have to know the stuff of the mind. Calmness has strength in it. It is the strong man who can be calm, a weak man can be quiet. The ...

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... absolute stillness of a vacant mind and a fundamental stillness of a calm mind, he says: The difference between a vacant mind and a calm mind is this: that when the mind is vacant, there is no thought, no conception, no mental action of any kind, except an essential perception of things without the formed idea; but in the calm mind, it is the substance of the mental being that is still, so still ...

... the peace is there, for the joy and the presence. The difference between a vacant mind and a calm mind is this, that when the mind is vacant, there is no thought, no conception, no mental action of any kind, except an essential perception of things without the formed idea; but in the calm mind, it is the substance of the mental being that is still, so still that nothing disturbs it. If thoughts... and light of its passage. Calm It is the first secret of Yoga, to maintain the inner calm always Page 145 and from that calm to meet everything. It is not necessary [ in a calm mind ] that there should be no thought. When there is no thought, it is silence. But the mind is said to be calm when thoughts, feelings, etc. may pass through it, but it is not disturbed. It feels that ...

Sri Aurobindo   >   Books   >   CWSA   >   Letters on Yoga - II
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... absence from Pondicherry is only temporary. The sooner you get into the right condition, the sooner you will be able to come back. And the right condition is to have a strong body, strong nerves, a calm mind capable of action and will; no shrinking from contact with life and with the others. These conditions are necessary because, before your return, we shall have to ask you to make certain arrangements... must be one neither of attachment nor of fear, horror and shrinking, but of quiet detachment. Do not seek for inspirations, but act quietly and rationally according to our instructions, with a calm mind and a quiet will. Get rid of your obsession about coming here and falling at our feet. This and the other suggestions and voices are not inspirations but merely things created by your own mind and ...

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... certainly prove helpful to a practising sadhak: The difference between a vacant mind and a calm mind is this: that when the mind is vacant, there is no thought, no conception, no mental action of any kind, except an essential perception of things without the formed idea; but in the calm mind, it is the substance of the mental being that is still, so still that nothing disturbs it.... A mind ...

... earlier, beginning with: "II ne faut pas confondre un mental caime et un mental silencieux." My opening English sentence read: "One should not mix up a calm mind and a silent mind." She corrected it to: "One should not confuse between a calm mind and a silent mind." I told Nolini that, as far as I knew, English never employed "confuse" as an intransitive verb and that it always followed the model ...

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... more we know the more we can see that we do not know. Quiet Mind, Calm Mind, Silent Mind Quiet mind: the best way of learning. Perfect quietness in the mind: essential condition for true progress. Quietness established in the mind: the essential condition of its transformation. You should not confuse a calm mind with a silent mind. You can calm your mind and stop its ordinary activity ...

The Mother   >   Books   >   CWM   >   Words of the Mother - II
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... suffering from urinary trouble and he refuses to have any treatment except your blessings. You can send blessings—but he ought to use every means to get rid of his illness. It is only if he has a calm mind and a sound body that he can do Yoga. His present state is too disorganised to bear any pressure. May 1, 1933 I read in "The Synthesis of Yoga" that every act, movement etc. must be done... looked at you,—there was no other search. I feel much better when alone but sometimes I have to attend to X in her illness or I have to go to market with her. I wish I could do all this with a calm mind. I hope lam clear. Quite and you are right—but I don't see the way out for the moment—unless you can separate yourself within and put a guard of calm aloofness around you. May 6, 1933 ...

... way for the final goal. For the chief difference between the positive union and mental receptivity is that I have to formulate what I want you to carry out and put the formula into your pure and calm mind, whereas in the case of the actual union I need not formulate at all. I just put the necessary truth-consciousness in you and the rest automatically works out, because it is I myself who am then in ...

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... traps of the hostile forces that the use of Yogic powers is sometimes discouraged as harmful to the user. But it is mostly people who live much in the vital that so fall; with a strong and free and calm mind and a psychic awake and alive, such pettinesses are not likely to occur. As for those who can live in the true divine consciousness, certain powers are not "powers" at all in that sense, not, that ...

Sri Aurobindo   >   Books   >   CWSA   >   Letters on Yoga - I
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... the Adhar; it disappears as soon as the system is accustomed to the descent and grows wide enough to admit it. The first result of the descent is the calm which he experiences; for it is only in a calm mind and vital ( manaḥ-prāṇa ) that the Divine Shakti can do her work rightly. When there is a pressure of the Force on the Adhar to work on it or enter, this [ feeling of heaviness in the head ...

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... working very greatly. To recognise one's weaknesses and false movements and draw back from them is the way towards liberation. Not to judge anyone but oneself until one can see things from a calm mind and a calm vital is an excellent rule. Also, do not allow your mind to form hasty impressions on the strength of some outward appearance, nor your vital to act upon them. There is a place in the ...

Sri Aurobindo   >   Books   >   CWSA   >   Letters on Yoga - IV
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... × Mother is referring to a letter of Sri Aurobindo's which Satprem had quoted in his manuscript: "... in the calm mind, it is the substance of the mental being that is still, so still that nothing disturbs it. If thoughts or activities come, they do not rise at all out of the mind, but they come from outside and cross ...

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... we should have no shrinking. Surely we should not compel ourselves to seek it out. Furthermore, when we set it aside in any situation, the setting aside should be done on hygienic grounds, with a calm mind, and not because of a vitalistic reaction. What Sri Aurobindo means is that our usual likes and dislikes should be transcended and eating done with a quiet attitude and a movement of aspiration towards ...

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... take blessing flowers during pranam and send them to you. SRI AUROBINDO 16.6.1935 I’ve got your two letters. Remember what I wrote to you when you were here and remember the Mother with a calm mind, call her. At the beginning one sees the Mother by shutting one’s eyes, can hear her words within oneself, but even that does not happen easily. Man sees the external form, hears external words and ...

... 582; as Witness Spirit, 582; "minute-to-minute miracles", 587; on daman and pranam, 592ff; effect of darsan on disciples, 593-4; Nirod, Arjava, Themis on darsan, 5945; on a 'vacant' and a 'calm mind', 599; on suicide, 599-600; on care of material things and waste, 601; on need for food and sleep, 600-2; on susupti state, 602; on role of 'hostile' forces, 602ff; on predestination, 602-3; letters ...

... hostile forces that the use of the Yogic powers is sometimes discouraged as harmful to the user. "But it is mostly people who live much in the vital that so fall; with a strong and free and calm mind and a psychic awake and alive, such pettinesses are not likely to occur. As for those who can live in the true Divine Consciousness, certain powers are not 'powers' at all in that sense, not, that ...

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... traps of the hostile forces that the use of yogic powers is sometimes discouraged as harmful to the user. But it is mostly people who live much in the vital that so fall; with a strong and free and calm mind and a psychic awake and alive, such pettinesses are not likely to occur. As for those who can live in the true Divine Consciousness, certain powers are not "powers" at all in that sense, not, that ...

... instinctive dislike, jealousy, conflicting interests, etc. One must try to look calmly on others, not overstress either virtues or defects, without ill-feeling or misunderstanding or injustice, with a calm mind and vision. There is the selfishness which is always a part if not the whole of human love—and it is the reaction of the demand and desire it brings that creates the opposite feeling. It is ...

Sri Aurobindo   >   Books   >   CWSA   >   Letters on Yoga - IV
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... way for the final goal. For the chief difference between the positive union and mental receptivity is that I have to formulate what I want you to carry out and put the formula into your pure and calm mind, whereas in the case of the actual union I need not formulate at all. I just put the necessary truth-consciousness in you and the rest automatically works out, because it is I myself who am then in ...

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... with happiness. And this law holds good not only in regard to one's desire for offspring, it is the inevitable result of all worldly desires. The only remedy is to offer all joy and grief with a calm mind to the Divine. Page 37 Now, let me tell you about the other matter. You must have realised by now that the person with whom your fate is linked is a very strange one. I don't have ...

... One. The original unity is manifestly and effectively modified, but there is yet no division or essential difference. When the reflection of this secondary poise of the Supermind falls upon our calm mind, we realise our soul-individuality ¹ The Life Divine by Sri Aurobindo. ² ibid. Page 55 as distinct from and at the same time united with the One. This is the truth ...

... held their session in the heart's dumb cave; The glory and grace, the light, the sacred life Receded as behind a burning door: Subliminal beneath the lid of mind The grandeur and the passion and the calm. Page 664 His mind became a beat of memory. Sight, hearing changed towards our diminished scale; The little views grew great, the great grew small. As yet some largeness was of ...

Sri Aurobindo   >   Books   >   CWSA   >   Collected Poems
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... which comes from Above. Don't get mixed in the mind. I don't say that mental intuition is not correct but it is always limited because of the mixture. There is also the vital influence which very often becomes mixed up with one's desires. Disciple : How to get the intuition? By calmness of mind? Sri Aurobindo : Calmness is not enough. Mind must be silent. Disciple : It will then... : Can't say. Can take a short time, or a long time. Disciple : But it won't be possible to keep the silence until one has realized the spirit. Sri Aurobindo : One can train one's mind to be silent.  (Dr. X took his leave and as Mother lapsed into meditation we all tried to do the same. Then after Mother had departed by 7 P.M., we rallied around Sri Aurobindo . He looked ...

... intuition coming from above gets mixed with the mind. I don't say that mental intuition must be incorrect but because of the mixture it can't always be relied upon. There is also vital intuition, which very often gets mixed up with one's desires. NIRODBARAN: How is one to get intuition? By calmness of mind? SRI AUROBINDO: Calmness is not enough. The mind must become silent. NIRODBARAN: Then it... SRI AUROBINDO: Can't say. It may take a short or a long time. NIRODBARAN: But it won't be possible to keep the silence until one has realised the Spirit. SRI AUROBINDO: One can train one's mind to be silent. Dr. Savoor took his leave and, as The Mother lapsed into meditation, we all tried to do the same. Then after she left about 7:00 p.m., we collected round Sri Aurobindo. He looked once ...

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... people incapable of concentration; it tires them. But it is like carrying a weight; you can get used to it. So, first you have to master this power of concentration; for that you have to calm your mind and in that calmness, concentrate, go on concentrating on the point that you have to deal with, on the work that is to be done, whatever it is. The concentration comes with a kind of driving force, quiet ...

... in capable of concentration; it tires them. But it is like carrying a weight; you can get used to it. So, first you have to master this power of concentration; for that you have to calm your mind and in that calmness, concentrate, go on concentrating on the point that you have to deal with, on the work that is to be done, whatever it is. The concentration comes with a kind of driving force, quiet ...

... kind and polite; thus in the fullness of his joy, he will put an end to suffering. Just as the jasmine sheds its faded petals, so also the Bhikkhu sheds desire and hatred. Calm in action, calm in speech, calm in mind, serene, emptied of all earthly appetites, this Bhikkhu is called "The Serene One". Let him arouse himself, let him examine himself; thus self-guarded and vigilant, the Bhikkhu... nose and the tongue is good. It is good to control one's actions, words, mind. Control in all things is good. The Bhikkhu who controls himself entirely is delivered from all suffering. The man who is master over his hands, his feet and his tongue, who controls himself wholly, who delights in meditation, who is calm and leads a solitary life, can be called a Bhikkhu. The Bhikkhu who is... (faith, energy, mindfulness, meditation, and wisdom). The Bhikkhu who is thus five times free is said to be "he who has crossed over the flood". Meditate, O Bhikkhus, do not be negligent. Your minds should not turn towards the pleasures of the senses; for if by negligence you swallowed a red-hot iron ball, when you felt the burning you would lament, crying, "Oh, how painful it is!" For one ...

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... how intensely one feels these things, depends on the condition of the consciousness at the time, the temperament, the activity of the vital, the mind's receptivity and response. The Yogi (or even certain strong and calm minds) is not carried away, as the mind and the vital often are, by the Ananda,—he holds and watches it and there is no mere excitement mixed with the divine flow of it through the conscious... expectation, the mind might have been active Page 266 and interfered and either prevented the experience or else stood in the way of its being pure and complete. The silence of the mind does not of itself bring in the supramental consciousness; there are many states or planes or levels of consciousness between the human mind and the Supermind. The silence opens the mind and the rest of... condition and the work creates such reactions in it, it is no use forcing it violently and putting an overstrain upon it. It is better to educate and train the external material being slowly by bringing calm and peace and light and strength persistently into the nervous system and cells of the body. A violent compulsion on the body may well defeat its own object. Probably your sadhana has been too exclusively ...

Sri Aurobindo   >   Books   >   CWSA   >   Letters on Yoga - II
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... becomes the vehicle of error and ignorance.         Savitri now rises out of her human mind to escape its law of limitation and force of perversion, and from a vantage height dedicates her "sovereign will...to God's timeless calm". Her mind itself is calm, as if a dynamo has ceased to work, and it is this condition that "men call quietude and prize as peace". Presently, mental activity is not only... of fire Circling in a corner of its boundless self, The world's destruction a small transient storm In the calm infinity it has become. 303   Savitri should for a time "banish all thought...and be God's void"; in the absolute condition of silence of the mind so created she will see the true origins of things and also the shape of the desired transfiguration of earth into heaven... nothing is impossible. Savitri stands back, Page 191        .. .detached and calm,       A witness of the drama of herself,       A student of her own interior scene 304   and "watches the passion and the toil of life" and hears "in the crowded thoroughfares of mind/The unceasing tread and passage of her thoughts". It is as though she is looking beneath the polished ...

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... revolutionary action was too serious a matter to be decided by anyone except those who had attained a philosophic calm of mind." Few, indeed, can be extremists while retaining their calmness. Philosophic? Sri Aurobindo's second nature, I dare say. Not a ripple ever ruffled that equanimity and calm. I still remember Sudhir Sarkar of Khulna, narrating such a tale, with tears streaming down his cheeks. "You... round him. Sudhir violently threw up, spattering those papers. Not a word of reproach. Not even art exclamation of annoyance. "Sri Aurobindo got up, and calmly began cleaning up the ejected matter." Sri Aurobindo had established equanimity and calm right down to his body-consciousness so that nothing stirred Page 430 whatever happened. It was this quality in him to which Tilak referred... back nothing for himself or for other aims, but has given all himself to his country." Sri Aurobindo said, "He was a really great man and a rare disinterested one. Tilak had a brilliant mind." In his Introduction to Speeches and Writings of Tilak in 1918, two years before Tilak's death, Sri Aurobindo wrote: "Neither Mr. Tilak nor his speeches really require any presentation or foreword ...

... feelings and from your mind's habit of interpreting or explaining in its own way." Questions and Answers 1929 ( 5 May ) What should be done to get rid of mental intervention? The mind must learn to be silent—remain calm, attentive, without making a noise. If you try to silence your mind directly, it is a hard job, almost impossible; for the most material part of the mind never stops its a... you manage to shift your consciousness into a higher domain, above the ordinary mind, this opening to the Light calms the mind, it does not stir any longer, and the mental silence so obtained can become constant. Once you enter into this domain, you may very well never come out of it—the external mind always remains calm. The only true solution is aspiration for the higher light. How to persuade... and the consequences of these. Above all, be very patient, do not tire of repeating the same things. In this work, can the mind be of help? Yes, if a part of the mind is fully enlightened, if it is surrendered to the psychic light and has a sense of the truth, the mind can be of great help, it can explain things in the true way. For past lives, are there any general rules, broad outlines ...

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... elements, the psychic within which wants the Divine, and the mind, vital, physical which are pushed to enter the way through some idea, desire or feeling—it may be the feeling of vairāgya with the ordinary life, disgust of it and a desire for freedom and peace, or it may be something else, the idea of a greater knowledge or joy or calm which mind and life cannot give, or the seeking of Yoga power for one... on the nature. The soul, the psychic being, is in direct touch with the divine Truth, but it is hidden in man by the mind, the vital being and the physical nature ( manas, prāṇa, anna of the Taittiriya Upanishad). One may practise Yoga and get illuminations in the mind and the reason; one may conquer power and luxuriate in all kinds of experiences in the vital; one may establish even surprising... to the true supramental light and finally to the supreme Ananda. Mind can open by itself to its own higher reaches; it can still itself and widen into the Impersonal; it may too spiritualise itself in Page 337 some kind of static liberation or Nirvana; but the supramental cannot find a sufficient base in spiritualised mind alone. If the inmost soul is awakened, if there is a new birth out ...

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... receives a command to do so, an imperative command. It receives a command, then does something precise for a precise reason, a very precise action, and then ... silence and calm. The Mind recovers its true role: that of a tool, like antennae, crab’s pincers or a nightingale’s throat. So then, that rehabilitates everything. It's only the quagmire it has been turned into that ceases to be. 7 ... speak”—I just can’t speak anymore!... All sorts of things like that. The functioning is direct. 5 Nothing passes through the Mind any more. The Mind loses its usurped rank of creator and impulse- giver. The supramental action is decided by a leap over the Mind. The Mind is an immobile zone of transmission. 6 Now it is perfectly tranquil, peaceful, and it sets itself in motion only when it receives... impossibilities⎯were precisely difficulties that we thought . All that was before , they were the impossibilities and “laws” of the first web, Matter according to our heads and the laws of our physical mind; when we reach the second web and that cellular substance freed from its phantoms, the difficulty is the reverse of the old Wall that we have crossed: the difficulty is precisely that there are no longer ...

... incarnate form in every detail, he repeatedly said, “Obeisances to you, O Lord, my obeisances, again and again.” One by one as he beheld the several parts of the deity, and with a pleased and calm unperturbed mind, he said once more, “Obeisances to you, O Lord, my obeisances, again and again.” Seeing the entire creation in him, inanimate and animate beings in a like manner, he said, “Obeisances to you... it. In brief that is how Jnaneshwar expounds, in about one hundred and twenty-five owis , the first four shlokas of the eleventh chapter of the Gita. While the presentation runs smoothly with calm unperturbed spontaneity, and there are at a number of places yogic intuitive flashes caught in perfect language, we cannot say that the poetry is throughout overhead. In fact, one starts wondering whether... as creepers of the great formative elements, in that primal existence has the Will of the Divine conceived.  Lord, you are the measureless Quality, without an end in any extension; Lord, you are the calm and even Spirit, the same in each and every aspect, in all the aspects; you are indeed the Supreme, God of gods. You are the abode of the three creations, you are the ever-auspicious and benign, you ...

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... ! And I used to think it was excellent! For years before last April, everything was Page 221 very calm, the mind was always turned this way ( gesture above ), silent, and there was a sort of functioning—I thought it was very good! Well, I have realized that it's worthless. Mind you, I wish everyone could have what I had! It was extremely handy, far beyond ordinary mental methods—but in... it was sexless, neither male nor female, and as intrepid as the vital can be, with a calm but absolute power.... Ah, I found a very good description of it in one of Sri Aurobindo's plays, when he speaks of the goddess Athena (I think it's in Perseus , but I am not sure); she has that kind of... it's an almighty calm, and with such authority! Yes, it's in Perseus —when she appears to the Sea-God and... time Sri Aurobindo was here, the four entities he speaks of, the four Aspects of the Mother, 5 were always present. And I was constantly obliged to tell one or the other of them, "Now keep calm, now, now, calm down"—they were always inclined to intervene! Did I ever tell you? Last time I went down for the pujas (was it last year or the year before? I remember nothing any more, you know: it all ...

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... and beloved merge in that unbounded ocean of Supreme Felicity.... Breaking down the ridge-poles of that tabernacle in which the soul has made its abode for untold ages — stilling the body, calming the mind and drowning the ego, comes the sweet joy of Brahman in that superconscious state. Space disappears in nothingness, time is swallowed up in Eternity ... [and] it is all stillness indefinable... There sat Sri Ramakrishna in the very same position in which he had left him. There was no manifestation of life in the body, but the countenance was calm, serene and radiant. He saw that the disciple was still dead to the objective world, his mind absorbed in the Self, without a flicker — absolutely steady! ... "With the utmost care he [Totapuri] determined if the heart was beating, or... and withdraw his mind. But he could not succeed at once in attaining the Samadhi state, for his mind, in the fashion of a restless baboon, began to fleet from object to object.... At a later stage, the mind-monkey would at times leave outside contacts and felt eager for the enjoyment of the inner Sattwic bliss; but this was indeed an intermittent mood, for most often the mind would rush towards ...

... can we call down calm when we are too agitated? ( Silence ) Repeat that. How...? How can we call calm...? Oh, "call"? Um, um. Make calm come to us, you mean? How? Simply as when you want to call someone, you call him, don't you? ( Laughter ) It is the same thing. You must remain as calm as you can and wish for calm, aspire for calm, call calm, like that, remaining as calm as you can at that... tiny, between different things, and when you get used to distinguishing these nuances, you can discern exactly what it is. It is always the same thing. One must be very quiet, very attentive, calm the mind as much as possible, because as soon as it begins to stir, the phenomenon is distorted. In any case, in a very general way, this proves that the inner vision is beginning to develop or is developed... that moment. Ask to be yet calmer. Want calm. But all this calmly, because if you want it agitatedly, calm will not come. Sometimes when one wants to concentrate, usually there are disturbing thoughts, but often some kind of images pass before... Do you see images when you meditate? Sometimes. When the eyes are open or closed? Closed. Closed. And what images? Colours or images ...

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... and don't allow your heart to be vexed, your mind to be clouded, no matter how many outward "ills" (as Hamlet would say) "the flesh is heir to." The Divine Presence has been established in your life: you have only to grow aware of it all the time. Once you realise that it is ever accompanying you, all those "ills" will be held securely in an inner calm, confined within their proper limits - that is... name became all the more vivid when I found that the white horse represented the purified life-energy. Much of my Yogic effort had been concerned with the rebellious vital force in me. Both the calm-moving mind and the pure-passioned soul had to be put at play in order to make the unruly varicoloured courser of that force learn to reflect the hue and harmony of the spiritual world. All my effort was... followed over-rigidly if it taxes one's health. A little dust here and there, a bit of disorder in some comers can't do much harm, provided one's heart remains clean of egoistic desires and one's mind holds first things first - namely, remembrance of the Divine. Further, if one is not physically very smart in arranging things, one should have in mental Page 35 sight the spot where ...

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... as interpreted by Shankara, the catholic forms of Mahayana Buddhism, Jainism and Christianity accept action as a preliminary means of purification. Certain prescribed actions, calculated to calm the mind of the neophyte and help the growth of disinterestedness and concentration, are enjoined in the beginning and continued, as a social utility or as an example to others, even through the later... take the help of reflection. This action may be flawless and authentically Yogic, but also it may not be—it all depends upon the then state of the being's subconscient. If the subconscient is pure and calm, the divine inspiration may be received undeformed, but if it is full of impurities and obscure movements, the inspiration received may be a false one, and the action can only betray the the riot and... is veiled by a mist of ignorance, and one has perforce to appeal to reflection. But reflection is not always a good counsellor, for, it bases its operations on the crystallized experiences of the mind and the prima facie evidences of the senses, on the one hand, and, on the other, on inference and imagination. The data of the senses being, more often than not, misleading and confusing, and imagination ...

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... Truth". The full Vedic account tells of the revelatory Word arising simultaneously from the heart of the Rishi and from the lofty ether of Surya-Savitri and get-ting shaped like a chariot in the calmly dynamic mind for the gods to ride from their mysterious stations into the world of men. (30.3.80)   In April that year Amal's wife of thirty-six years died, and he moved into a smaller flat at... whether your conscious mind intended this overtone of suggestion. But poetry, even if deliberate artistic workmanship has gone into it, is surely more than the poet's doing. Yeats has said somewhere that though a lot of conscious labour may be spent on a poem, the result is worth nothing if it does not read like "a moment's thought". This "thought" exists beyond the poet's conscious mind, and the latter toils... Illiad by the Greek warriors who did not wish to be killed under the night's bewildering pall." Suddenly it did not matter if my small attempt had any merit of its own -enough that it had kindled in the mind of a lover of great literature the moment of pure joy that a memory of Homer's lines calls forth! That letter was the start of a correspon-dence that began in the nineteen-seventies and a friend-ship ...

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... "freed man—or God's slave". In truth "Our consciousness is- cosmic" and our "mind is only a means and body a tool." Man can be free and even rise above the cosmos and survey the world. Savitri attained this freedom, became silent and then she willed the whole world to be dedicated "to God's timeless calm". Her mind and life became quiet. Even in the peace which she attained she could see that all... "the spirit's willing bride". Savitri then became a witness "aloof and standing back detached and calm". Then she could see the movements of Nature and know the forces behind them,—"prompter's voice", "animal instincts", impulses, passions. She also could see the birth of "Thought". The human mind appeared like a "gramophone's disc" unrolling, almost mechanically, "a reproduction's film" indicating... knowledge of apparent thing" which the mind gives, because "I seek my soul". The being on the plane of mind said:—the Soul, the Spirit cannot be known,—nobody has ever known it. Mind is the parent of the Soul. Mind is the "sole creator of the apparent world". How can there be any one who seeks to go beyond mind? Savitri saw the crowd of the powers of mind and was strongly attracted by them. But ...

... action, to carry out the process. The calm that I can, at certain times, produce in my mind is arti­ficial, so to say. It is imposed by will and must be constantly watched so that no thought interferes — and it does not last long. But I know this is not the calm that has to come from above and to settle in the mind. Nevertheless I always feel that the calm is very close and the veil is thin and grows... work was done of itself without my being its plaything, in detachment and peace. This calm is at first mental; there are two parts in the mind, one which reflects the activity of Prakriti, the other which shares the calm of Purusha. I understand quite clearly. The only result reached so far is more calmness and a deeper peace, less easily disturbed by the little things of life, more intuitiveness... progress. My mind is sometimes tamasic, sometimes rajasic, at times outside noises are the cause of difficulties; they resound with as much greater a force as my mind is more quiet and empty. What are your inner movements? Always the following two movements: either, having quietened the mind, to remain attentive to the influence from above; or, to sepa­rate myself from the calmed mental being ...

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... passage to enter into it. If you say you understand you are hanged.   XXXVIII   The body is the boat, the mind the oar And the word of the Guru the helm upon the seas; Calm your mind and hold to the wheel: There is no other way to cross over to the other shore. The boatman tugs the boat by the rope: Even so... Purusha and Prakriti is broken, . Broken all the bondages that encircle: Kanhu revels drunk with the sweetest wine, He enters Self- born's lotus-grove and attains the calmness; Even like the elephant in rut for his mate He rains Truth's own realities. All the sixfold movements in his nature are purified: Whether in the Presence or in the Absence... up this creation, this illusory world. It is as simple as the tree growing spontaneously and effortlessly and spreading and filling up the great space, one with its silence and equal calmness. It is simple for it is zero, as the next poem says.   PARAPHRASE   1. When the ordinary consciousness – the world conscious­ness – dissolves, becomes ...

... you manage to shift your consciousness into a higher domain, above the ordinary mind, this opening to the Light calms the mind, it does not stir any longer, and the mental silence so obtained can become constant. Once you enter into this domain, you may very well never come out of it—the external mind always remains calm.' 18 Eckhart teaches a remedy that is more readily accessible. It consists... The remedy spoken of below by the Mother, though most radical, is not of easy access: The mind must learn to be silent—remain calm, attentive, without making a noise. If you try to silence your mind directly, it is a hard job, almost impossible; for the most material part of the mind never stops its activity—it goes on and on like a non-stop recording machine. It repeats all that it records... looks at these things [thoughts and feelings] as a surface movement, we say that the mind or vital is quiet. Calm is a still unmoved condition which no disturbance can affect—it is a less negative condition than quiet.... Calm is a positive tranquillity which can exist in spite of superficial disturbances. ... Calm is a strong and positive quietude, firm and solid—ordinary quietude is mere negation ...

... condition of the consciousness at that time, the temperature, the activity of the vital. The yogi of course (even certain strong and calm minds) is not carried away by the Ananda he holds and watches it and there is no more excitement mixed with the flow of it through the mind, vital or body. Naturally the Ananda of samarpaṇ or spiritual realisation or divine love is something far greater, but the Ananda... occurred to my mind that I would have to do my sadhana in such comfort and ease. There was a deep satisfaction in seeing everything neat and clean. Even the brass knob of the door was shining. As soon as I stepped into the Ashram, I felt that the atmosphere there was pervaded with some other element. The difference was palpable. There was such a calm silence everywhere that the mind of itself turned... grace, to recognise our gratitude to them and feel a new taste in it. Now I shall speak about the Mother through some of her letters. She writes: It is very good to have recovered the calm. It is in the calm that the body can increase its receptivity and gain the power to continue. With my love and blessings. Sahana, I fully approve of your singing in your room and see no necessity ...

... The Gita , VII. 19. Page 454 lower nature to dwell in the still and inalienable calm and light of the self-existent spirit." 63 We can also say that the man of poetic taste ( rasika ), one who can be of one mind with the poet ( sahṛdaya ) can also experience the joy of calmness ( śānta rasa) and the withdrawal from the whirl of lower nature. 64 This bare strength of expression... plays and poems we find pithily uttered thoughts, for instance in Kumārasaṃbhava: vikāra-hetau sati vikriyante yeṣāṃ na cetāṃsi ta eva dhirāh 90 They alone are really calm whose minds are not perturbed even when there is cause of perturbation. But more often thoughts are transmuted into concrete images and symbols, i.e. into aesthetic matter. 91 Sri Aurobindo recognises... mentality"" 8 which is quite alien to the modem mind. Today we see poetry as a revel of intellect and fancy, imagination as a caterer for our amusement, an entertainer for the pleasure of our mind and vital sensations. But to the ancients the image was "a revelative symbol of the unrevealed and it was used because it could hint luminously to the mind what the precise intellectual word... could not ...

... only Aurobindo and himself could take such a momentous decision. He knew that a revolutionary action was too serious a matter to be decided by anyone except those who had attained a philosophic calm of mind. Curzon's highhanded administration and his decision to cut Bengal into two offered the necessary fuel to the engine of Nationalism, and the Bande Mataram, Swadeshi and boycott agitations... above the head and was able to push it back concretely before it came inside. In three days - really in one - my mind became full of an eternal silence - it is still there. 53 Lele's advice was that Sri Aurobindo should strive to empty his mind of all mere mental stuff-to make the mind a sheet of white paper ready to receive a piece of Page 274 Divine calligraphy - to purify the ... 55 The three-day effort to insulate the mind from the invasion of extraneous thoughts had brought Sri Aurobindo to a condition of unbelievable silence of the mind, a. condition which he was able to maintain for many months, and indeed always thereafter. As he described the condition to one of his disciples subsequently: In a moment my mind became silent as a windless air on a high mountain ...

... Yoga, he must do it with a quiet spirit, demanding nothing but the calm, peace and light and strength of the divine consciousness and the presence of the Divine. And he must face all that comes to him in life, in a spirit of quiet faith and equality and endurance. circa 1928 It is very evident from his letter that in his mind he is not at all ready. If he has this wandering and experimental spirit... been previously given. He could come for darshan if he wishes in August and return back,—but the more important thing is that he should establish a conscious inner connection and attain to the calm and peace of mind which is always the best preparation and foundation of this Yoga. 24 June 1934 There is no possibility of that just now. The Asram is crowded Page 581 and we cannot admit... to learn that you have not yet come out. I would like to come to Pondicherry on the 15th August and remain for about three months. I try to follow the instructions given me, and have been able to calm my mind and improve my nature to some extent. I am still not coming out; no "instructions" are given for the Sadhana. All depends now on the sadhaka being able to open silently to the influence and ...

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... of the consciousness at the time, the temperament, the activity of the vital; the Yogi, of course, (or even certain strong and calm minds) is not carried away by the Ananda, he holds and watches it and there is no mere excitement mixed with the flow of it through the mind, vital or body. Naturally the Ananda of samarpan [surrender] or spiritual realisation or divine love is something far greater... for his Light and presence and joy, go through all difficulties and delays relying on him and never giving up. Let my mind be quiet and turn to him and let him open to it his Light; let my vital be quiet and turn to Page 62 him alone and let him open it to his calm and joy. All for him and myself for him. Whatever happens, I will keep to this aspiration and self-giving and go on in... Why mind the feministic emphasis when your conscience is clear of all anti-feminism ? The involuntary sin of being a male is there of course but since you have done so much to Page 93 atone for it ? To be more serious, angularities and discords even if of a small character, are trying I know to the nerves but to overcome the nervous reaction and meet them with a calm good humour ...