Correspondence 1934, March (I)

March 13, 1934

But why be overwhelmed by a wealth of any kind of experiences? What does it amount to after all? The quality of a sadhak does not depend on that; one great spiritual realisation direct and at the centre will often make a great sadhak or Yogi — a host of intermediate yogic experiences will not, that has been amply proved by a troop of instances, I refrain from giving names. You need not therefore compare that wealth to your poverty. To open yourself to the descent of the higher consciousness (the true being) is the one thing needed and that, even if that comes after long effort and many failures is better than a hectic gallop leading nowhere.

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March 13, 1934

You have missed my rather veiled hint about wealth of “any kind of experiences” and the reference to the intermediate zone which, I think at least, I made. I was referring to the wealth of that kind of experience of which Govindabhai’s ms abounds and of which Bejoy, to give only one example, had some hundred every day. I do not say that these experiences are always of no value, but they are so mixed and confused that if one runs after them without any discrimination at all they end by either leading astray — sometimes tragically astray — or by bringing one into a confused nowhere.[1] [There have been so many instances in the Ashram itself that I would have only the embarras du choix[2] if I wanted to give examples.] That does not mean all experiences are useless or without value. There are those that are sound as well as those that are unsound; those that are helpful, in the true line, sometimes sign-posts, sometimes stages on the way to realisation, sometimes stuff and material of the realisation. These naturally and rightly one seeks for, calls, strives after — or at least one opens oneself in the confident expectation that they will sooner or later arrive. Your own main experiences may have been few or not continuous, but I cannot recollect any that were not sound or were unhelpful. I would say that it is better to have a few of these than a multitude of others. My only meaning in what I wrote was not to be impressed by mere wealth of experiences or to think that that is sufficient to constitute a great sadhak or that not to have this wealth is necessarily an inferiority, a lamentable deprivation or a poverty of the one thing desirable.

There are two classes of things that happen in Yoga — realisations and experiences. Realisations are the reception in the consciousness and the establishment there of the fundamental truths of the Divine, of the Higher or Divine Nature, of the world-consciousness and the play of its forces, of one’s own self and real nature and the inner nature of things, the power of these things growing in one till they are a part of one’s inner life and existence. As for instance, the realisation of the Divine Presence, the descent and settling of the higher Peace, Light, Force, Ananda in the consciousness, their workings there — the realisation of the divine or spiritual love, the perception of one’s own psychic being, the discovery of one’s own true mental being, true vital being, true physical being, the realisation of the overmind or the supramental consciousness, the clear perception of the relation of all these things to our present inferior nature and their action on it to change that lower nature. The list, of course, might be infinitely longer. These things also are often called experiences when they only come in flashes, snatches or rare visitations; they are spoken of as full realisations only when they become very positive or frequent or continuous or normal.

Then there are the experiences that help or lead towards the realisation of things spiritual or divine or bring openings or progressions in the sadhana or are supports on the way. Experiences of a symbolic character, visions, contacts of one kind or another with the Divine or with the workings of higher Truth, things like the waking of the Kundalini, the opening of the chakras, messages, intuitions, openings of the inner powers, etc. The one thing that one has to be careful about is to see that they are genuine and sincere and that depends on one’s own sincerity — for if one is not sincere, if one is more concerned with the ego or being a big Yogi or becoming a superman than with meeting the Divine or getting the Divine consciousness which enables one to live in or with the Divine, then a flood of pseudos or mixtures comes in, one is led into the mazes of the intermediate zone or spins in the grooves of one’s own formations. There is the truth of the whole matter.

Then why does Krishnaprem say that one should not hunt after experiences, but only love and seek the Divine? It simply means that you have not to make experiences your main aim, but the Divine only your aim — and if you do that, you are more likely to get the true helpful experiences and avoid the wrong ones. If one seeks mainly after experiences, his Yoga may become a mere self-indulgence in the lesser things of the mental, vital and subtle physical worlds or in spiritual secondaries, or it may bring down a turmoil or maelstrom of the mixed and the whole or half-pseudo and stand between the soul and the Divine. That is a very sound rule of sadhana. But all these rules and statements must be taken with a sense of measure and in their proper limits — it does not mean that one should not welcome helpful experiences or that they have no value. Also when a sound line of experience opens, it is perfectly permissible to follow it out, keeping always the central aim in view. All helpful or supporting contacts in dream or vision, such as those you speak of, are to be welcomed and accepted. I had no intention of discouraging, nor do I think Krishnaprem had any idea of discouraging such things at all. Experiences of the right kind are a support and help towards the realisation; they are in every way acceptable.

P.S. I fear this is as illegible as ever — especially as the ink turned confoundedly faint which I did not notice in the heat of composition and the haste of finishing in time. I shall get Nolini to type it, so as to save as much bewilderment as possible.

Nolini

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March 15, 1934

Please don’t be nervous about encouraging me in a new role. Je ne le jouerai point une autre fois, je vous assure [I won’t play it another time, I assure you]. But once a part is played it ought to be offered to the Divine in the Guru as I thought of you both devoutly while cooking.

The content of such an unheard-of adventure: the adventure of a poet-musician suddenly cooking? Well, Bindu challenged me I couldn’t cook and he could—because I have never cooked in my life. So I have cooked. (Confidentially, between you and me, Amiya[3] gave me a few whispering directions, but don’t divulge it.) It tastes — well, it behoves me not to opine about my own handiwork. But I will assure you simply — the experience of cooking has not been quite as delectable as doing justice to it invariably is to me.

Your cooking is remarkable and wonderful — if you had not disclosed the secret about Amiya’s whispers, I could have been inclined to claim it as a Yogic miracle. Even with the whispers, it is an astonishing first success, āścaryavat paśyati kaścidenam! My palate and stomach as well as my pen have done full justice to the event.

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[1] The following passage within brackets has been omitted from the version published in the Centenary Edition (1972).

[2] Embarras du choix: in French, “too great a choice”.

[3] Amiya: Sahana’s elder sister.