Sri Aurobindo

Autobiographical Notes

and Other Writings of Historical Interest

Part Two. Letters of Historical Interest

2.Early Letters on Yoga and the Spiritual Life 1911–1928

Extracts from Letters to the Mother and Paul Richard, 1911 – c. 1922

Draft of a Letter¹

He wishes me to say that he sent back the MS according to your request because he felt that it was quite impossible for him to deal with it in the near future.² He is now living entirely retired and engrossed in his yoga. He has put off all external activities and so organised his time as to be able entirely to concentrate upon it alone. He has removed from his immediate surroundings all who are out of harmony with the atmosphere necessary to the yogic quietude. He sees no one and receives no visits. His friends in Madras do not see him when they come. Even his old guru Vishnu Lele who proposed to come here at this time has been requested to postpone indefinitely his visit. For the same reason he has ceased altogether to write. His own works, even those of which the publication has been arranged,– except the few of which others take the responsibility and which make no demand on him,– are lying unpublished for want of time to retouch them. It is not only that he does not wish but that he cannot any longer allow himself to be disturbed or interrupted by anything that would perturb the balance or break the mould of his present arrangement of his life or draw him aside from the concentration of his energies. All else must be postponed until he has finished what he has to do and is free again to apply himself to external things and activities. Under these conditions a work so considerable as the retranslation or revised translation of the “Seigneur des Nations” becomes quite impossible. If he undertook it, he would not be able to carry it out. He hopes therefore that you will be able to make some other arrangement for it, as for the translations of your recent addresses which have been admirably done. Once you understand in the light of the above the conditions here, you can understand also why – apart from all other considerations – he is unable to assent to the suggestions in your letter.

¹ 1920s. The circumstances referred to in this letter suggest that it was written during the early 1920s, when Sri Aurobindo was partly retired. The reference to Le seigneur des nations (“The Lord of the Nations”), a book by Paul Richard, suggests that Richard was the intended recipient. Sri Aurobindo’s reply was meant to be sent over the signature of a secretary. This explains his use of the third person.

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² In this draft, Sri Aurobindo referred to himself in the third person because he intended the letter to be sent over the signature of his secretary. – Ed.

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