Sri Aurobindo
Letters of Sri Aurobindo
Volume 1. 1935
Letter ID: 1419
Sri Aurobindo — Nirodbaran Talukdar
September 9, 1935
C has developed ringworm. He wants me to inform you. I hesitate to report these small things, but the general belief is that once they reach your ears they’ll be quickly done with. Am I then making a mistake in my refusal?
No. For small things the general force (+ or – the doctor) ought to be sufficient since it is always there. If it is something serious or if it is something obstinate, then it is another matter. Of course if they insist, you can drop a word in passing.
I have three letters of yours before me, and all three require some elucidation. I think and think, but can’t get anywhere. Perhaps you will say, “Make the mind silent”! But Descartes says, “Je pense, donc je suis.”1
Descartes was talking nonsense. There are plenty of things that don’t think but still are – from the stone to the Yogi in Samadhi. If he had simply meant that the fact of his thinking showed that he wasn’t dead, that of course would have been quite right and scientific.
I forgot to tell you that C has gone back to his old habits.
By the way, X has been sending Rs. 2 every month. He doesn’t take any other interest in the Ashram. Is it of use to correspond with him?
I don’t know. Some people say that everything one does in this world is of some use or other known or unknown. Otherwise it wouldn’t be done. But it is doubtful. That by the way would apply both to X’s lack of interest and C’s inconclusive ferocities.
1 “I think, therefore I am.”