Sri Aurobindo

Letters of Sri Aurobindo

Volume II - Part 1

Fragment ID: 22150

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Men do not know themselves and have not learned to distinguish these different parts of the being which are usually lumped together as mind; they do not understand their own states and actions, or, if at all, then only on the surface. It is part of the foundation of Yoga to become conscious of the complexity of the nature, see the different forces that move it and get over it a control of directing knowledge.

The remedy can only come from the parts of the being that are already turned towards the Light. To call in the light of the divine consciousness, bring the psychic being to the front and kindle a flame of aspiration which will awaken spiritually the outer mind and set on fire the vital being, is the way out. It is usually a psychic awakening or a series of strong experiences by which the sadhak comes out of this intermediary no man’s land of the quiescent vital (few can avoid altogether this passage through a neutral vital indifference) into the full dynamic course of the spiritual movement.

¹ SABCL, volume 22; CWSA, volume 28: the

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² SABCL, volume 22; CWSA, volume 28: their

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³ SABCL, volume 22; CWSA, volume 28: for these

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⁴ SABCL, volume 22; CWSA, volume 28: by them as

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⁵ SABCL, volume 22; CWSA, volume 28: because it is through a mentalised perception and understanding that they know or feel them; therefore they do not understand

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⁶ SABCL, volume 22; CWSA, volume 28: great complexity

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⁷ SABCL, volume 22; CWSA, volume 28: our

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⁸ There is another sentence in SABCL, volume 22 and CWSA, volume 28 after this one: We are composed of many parts each of which contributes something to the total movement of our consciousness, our thought, will, sensation, feeling, action, but we do not see the origination or the course of these impulsions; we are aware only of their confused pell-mell results on the surface upon which we can at best impose nothing better than a precarious shifting order.

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⁹ SABCL, volume 22; CWSA, volume 28: Consciousness from above

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¹⁰ SABCL, volume 22; CWSA, volume 28: to bring

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¹¹ The last part of this paragraph is absent in SABCL, volume 22 and in CWSA, volume 28

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Current publication:

Sri Aurobindo. Letters on Yoga. II // CWSA.- Volume 29. (≈ 22-24 vol. of SABCL).- Pondicherry: Sri Aurobindo Ashram, 2013.- 522 p.

Other publications:

Sri Aurobindo. Letters on Yoga // SABCL.- Volume 22. (≈ 28 vol. of CWSA).- Pondicherry: Sri Aurobindo Ashram, 1971.- 502 p.

Sri Aurobindo. Letters on Yoga. I // CWSA.- Volume 28. (≈ 22 vol. of SABCL).- Pondicherry: Sri Aurobindo Ashram, 2012.- 590 p.