Sri Aurobindo
Letters of Sri Aurobindo
Volume II - Part 3
Fragment ID: 11828
It is not indispensable to be an ascetic – it is enough if one can learn to live within in the inner being instead of on the surface, discover the soul or true individuality which is veiled by the surface mind and life forces and open the being to the superconscient Reality. But in this one cannot succeed unless one is wholly sincere and one-pointed in the effort.
As to the second question, participation in Sri Aurobindo’s1 mission depends on capacity to do a difficult Yoga or on a call to devote oneself to that ideal without thought of the claims of the ego or the vital desires. Otherwise it is better not to think of it.
1 In this letter to an enquirer living outside the Ashram, Sri Aurobindo refers to himself in the third person. – Ed.