Sri Aurobindo
Letters of Sri Aurobindo
Volume 2. 1934 — 1935
I am sorry to have to thrust upon you something. It is rather urgent for the Art Book of Haren Ghosh1 you know: Prithwi Singh’s friend. He has asked me to contribute an article. I have written half of the article “Modern Bengali Music and Classicism.” There my father’s music naturally comes in he having been one of the greatest of modern composers if not the greatest. So this song I have had to translate for the article. Please correct. I have been fairly faithful I think? But what about my rendering? Will it do? If not, with your corrections it must. So please correct without ruth – please do.
This song is one of his most lovely ones in poetry, rhythm, melody, tune and substance, I believe it is somewhat psychic? Anyway it is very lovely in its melancholy and delicacy, is it not? If possible please read it out to Mother after your corrections.
P.S. Apropos strength and perseverance, the other day Prithwi Singh was discussing with Anilkumar before me (I didn’t join, simply listened) and said that effort was not needed for us except only to open ourselves, that outsiders have to make effort etc. but we have nothing to do.
I know it all in my own way. Surrender, I do pray for it with all my heart you can believe me. But I am under a great difficulty: I feel surrender comes after a lot of effort – at least for the likes of me. I feel this surrender just now after six years, you know how I dreaded the very idea of surrender once. But effort I always liked as I am not conscious, in life, of having achieved anything without effort. But then Prithwi Singh is also right perhaps in a way in that effort presupposes egoism and surrender, since you say so, must be easier. But to whom? Not to all. To a man like Dilip effort is perhaps easier, is it not? (I ask to learn not to state my opinion, I have no opinion now I obstinately cling to and state them to be corrected.)
And then opening oneself. Does it not come after a great deal of effort and struggle as I know from experience. So such as can open spontaneously without effort are surely blessed, it “needs no Holy Ghost to tell us that” but to those who cannot, who struggle and writhe and doubt and weigh and analyse and last though not least, want to retain their self-will?
In the early part of the sadhana – and by early I do not mean a short part – effort is indispensable. Surrender of course, but surrender is not a thing that is done in a day. The mind has its ideas and it clings to them – no human vital but resists surrender, for what it calls surrender in the early stages is a self-giving with a demand in it – the physical consciousness is like a stone and what it calls surrender is often no more than inertia. It is only the psychic that knows how to surrender and the psychic is usually very much veiled in the beginning. When the psychic awakes, it can bring a sudden and true surrender of the whole being, for the difficulty of the rest is rapidly dealt with and disappears. But till then effort is indispensable. Or it is necessary till the Force comes flooding down into the being from above and takes up the sadhana, does it for one more and more and leaves less and less to individual effort – but even then, if not effort, at least aspiration and vigilance are needed till the possession of mind, will, life and body by the Divine Power is complete. I have dealt with this subject, I think, in one of the chapters of The Mother2.
On the other hand, there are some people who start with a genuine and dynamic will to surrender; it is those who are governed by the psychic or are governed by a clear and enlightened mental will which, having once accepted surrender as the law of the sadhana, will stand no nonsense about it and insists on the other parts of the being following its direction. Here there is still effort, but it is so ready and spontaneous and has so much the sense of a greater Force behind it that the sadhak hardly feels that he is making an effort at 
all. In the contrary case of a will in mind or vital to retain the self-will, an unwillingness to give up the independent movement, there must be struggle and endeavour until the wall between the instrument in front and the Divinity behind or above is broken. No rule can be laid down which applies without distinction to everybody – the variations in human nature are too great to be covered by a single trenchant rule.