Sri Aurobindo
Letters of Sri Aurobindo
Volume 2. 1934 — 1935
I dreamed rather a nice sort of a dream, if you know what I mean, don’t you know? I dreamed as though I was swimming like an Annette Kellermain, only somewhat blindly. The result? I found myself suddenly in deep waters and below some vicious dark-looking crags jutting out but beyond my reach – tantalisingly so! In a sort of heart-sinking for it was no joke then – I prayed, when, lo, there was an iron rod stretching from the crags to the shore. I plumped for the rod like a shot of course and tried to reach the shore with its help. But alas, again! it was far from easy to reach the shore sliding along a slippery rod. I despaired, when, lo, again, Guru! what do you think happened, eh? I bet you will be at the end of your resources to guess: the rod came to life as it were, and swam along towards the shore – fancy that!!! What do you think happened then? Well, now you will guess, I guess, what? I simply landed instead of being, you know what I mean, stranded! Curious, though, that such a rod should come to lend a helping rod-hand to such a fellow in such a fashion, what?
It was of course a symbolic dream, that is, not a dream at all. And nothing curious about the rod taking it into its head to help you like that: it was there for that purpose, if you know what I mean, to help you – once you could take hold of it.