fully the character and demands of the integral Yoga.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
To Barindra Kumar Ghose and Others, 1922–1928
To Barindra Kumar Ghose [11]1
16th April 1923.
Pondicherry.
My dear Barin,
I answer first your letter of the 6th
April. I have already let you know that I approve both the people whose
photographs you have sent to me. As to Bibhuti Bhushan Datta you are right in
thinking that he is a born Yogin. His face shows the type of the Sufi or Arab
mystic and he must certainly have been that in a former life and brought much of
his then personality into the present existence. There are defects and
limitations in his being. The narrowness of the physical mind of which you speak
is indicated in the photograph, though it has not come out in the expression,
and it might push him in the direction of a rather poverty-stricken asceticism
instead of his expanding and opening himself richly to the opulences of the
Divine. It might also lead him in other circumstances to some kind of
fanaticism. But on the other hand if he gets the right direction and opens
himself to the right powers these things may be turned into valuable elements,
the ascetic capacity into a force useful against the physico-vital dangers and
what might have been fanaticism into an intense devotion to the Truth revealed
to him. There is also likely to be some trouble in the physico-vital being. But
I cannot yet say of what nature. This is not a case of an entirely safe
development, which can be assured only where there is a strong vital and
physical basis and a certain natural balance in the different parts of the
being. This balance has here to be created and its creation is quite possible.
Whatever risk there is must be taken; for the nature here is born for the Yoga
and ought not to be denied its opportunity. He must be made to understand fully the character and demands of the integral Yoga.
Next for Kumar Krishna Mitter. He is no doubt what you
say, a type of the rich and successful man, but the best kind of that type and
cast on sound and generous lines. There is besides indicated in his face and
expression a refinement and capacity of idealism which is not too common.
Certainly we are not to take people into the Yoga for the sake of their riches,
but on the other hand we must not have the disposition to reject anyone on
account of his riches. If wealth is a great obstacle, it is also a great
opportunity, and part of the aim of our work is, not to reject, but to conquer
for the divine self-expression the vital and material powers, including that of
wealth, which are now in the possession of other influences. If there a man like
this [who]2 is prepared with an earnest and real
will to bring himself and his power over from the other camp to ours, there is
no reason to refuse him. This of course is not the case of a man born to the
Yoga like Bibhuti Bhushan, but of one who has an opening in him to a spiritual
awakening and I think of a nature which might possibly fail from certain
negative deficiencies but not because of any adverse element in the being. The
one necessity is that he should understand and accept what the Yoga demands of
him – first the seeking of a greater Truth, secondly the consecration of himself
and his powers and wealth to its service and finally the transformation of all
his life into the terms of the Truth and that he should have not merely the
enthusiastic turning of his idealism but a firm and deliberate will towards it.
It is especially necessary in the case of these rich men for them to realise
that it is not enough in this Yoga to have a spiritual endeavour on one side and
on the other the rest of the energies given to the ordinary motives, but that
the whole life and being must be consecrated to the Yoga. It is probably from
this reason of a divided life [that]3 men like
Arunsingh fail to progress in spite of a natural capacity. If this is understood
and accepted, the consecration of which he speaks is obviously in his
circumstances the first step 
in the path. If he
enters it, it will probably be advisable for him to come after a short time and
see me in Pondicherry. But this of course has to be decided afterwards.
About Kanai I have no objection to his coming as he wants for a short visit here. But I think it would be best after you come.
I may say a word in passing about Nalineswar. I have read through his experiences and they confirm what I have said about the deficient capacity of his adhar. The mental, vital and physical beings are full of weakness and Tamas and the debility and torpor which he constantly experiences are the result of this deficient adhar trying to bear the pressure of the Sadhana. At the same time he has one thing which can carry him through if he keeps it steadily,– the persistent faith and self-surrender. If the physical lightness, which he experienced for the last four or five days before he wrote, can be made permanent then probably the worst part of the difficulty is over. In any case that permanence whenever it comes will be the sign of a certain fundamental safety and the other deficiencies can be gradually rectified by the coming in of the light and the power into the mind and the vital being.
As regards Jyotish Mukherjee, the most notable thing in
his photograph is the strong symmetry between the two sides of his face centred
in the dissimilarity of the two eyes. This is always a sign of two sides in the
nature which have not been harmonised and unified, one side perhaps of faith and
devotion and another of a critical and negative mind or one side drawn to higher
things and the other held down by the earth nature. This is likely to create a
great disadvantage and difficulties in the earlier part of the Sadhana, for it
remains even though the disparity may be suppressed by the mental effort but
once the balance or the unification can be created there is a compensating
advantage by the combination of two strong elements both necessary to
completeness. The Sadhana he has been doing seems to have been mainly that of a
preliminary mental and vital (psychological) purification and preparation of a
very sound character but what is still lacking is a positive spiritual side of
the Sadhana. However the clearing of the system seems to have gone far enough
for him 
to have had at least glimpses of
psycho-spiritual experiences and a promise even of the supramental awaiting its
time for manifestation. I shall, if I can make time, write separately my
comments on his experiences and if he understands and follows he may proceed
more rapidly in his Sadhana.
As regards the press debts, I have, as I have already let you know, asked Amar to cut off from it the two hundred rupees which he wanted to send after being paid. The debt to him is marked in your list as rupees two hundred and ninety one odd. If he does as I ask him you will only then have this 91 odd to pay and it is better to do it than to leave the debt running and pay interest. As to Arun’s pro-note I suppose it must be signed, but as soon as we have sufficient money for other purposes we should have to turn our attention to paying it. These debts are a very heavy burden as they are likely to swallow up any large sum you may be able to realise. I am thinking over the matter and I shall write to you in detail as soon as I see my way clearer.
What you say about your Sadhana is probably the right interpretation of your experiences. The two things of which you speak are really two sides of one movement. The opening and clearing of the lower strata can only be effectively done in proportion as this relative or mentalised supramental can lay hold on the consciousness and open to and bring down the higher or intermediate supramental from above, and this in its turn can only settle it into the being in proportion as the physico-vital and physical open and clear and change. The interaction must go on until a certain balance between the two movements is created which will enable the higher to hold the being without interruption, and open it more and more to the true supramental activities. The action into which you have been cast was probably necessary because it is the dynamic part of your being in which the defects of the lower nature have the greatest hold and are most prominent.
Aurobindo
P.S. After this letter was finished I got your last of
the 12th. What you say about Kumar
Krishna there is what I could already 
gather
about him, only made precise. I do not think that these things very much matter.
All strong natures have the rajasik active outgoing force in them and if that
were sufficient to unfit for the Yoga, very few of us would have had a chance.
As for the doubt of the physical mind as to whether the thing is possible, who
has not had it? In my own case it pursued me years and years and it is only in
the last two years that the last shadow of doubt, not latterly of its
theoretical feasibility, but of the practical certainty of its achievement in
the present state of the world and of the human nature, entirely left me. The
same can be said of the egoistic poise,– that almost all strong men have the
strong egoistic poise. But I do not think judging from the photograph that it is
the same half bull and half bulldog nature as in P. Mitter. These things can
only go with spiritual development and experience and then the strength behind
them becomes an asset. It is also evident from what you say about his past
experience of the voice and the vastness that there is, as I thought, a psychic
something in him waiting for and on the verge of spiritual awakening. I
understand that he is waiting for intellectual conviction and, to bring it, some
kind of assurance from an inner experience. To that also there is nothing to
say. But the question is, and it seems to me the one question in his case,
whether he will be ready to bring to the Yoga the firm, entire and absolute will
and consecration that will be needed to tide him through all the struggles and
crises of Sadhana. The disparity between his mental poise and action is natural
enough, precisely because it is a mental poise. It has to become a spiritual
poise before the life and the ideal can become one. Have the spoiling by luxury
of which you speak and the worldly life sapped in him the possibility of
developing an entire Godward will? If not, then he may be given his chance. I
cannot positively say that he is or will be the Adhikari. I can only say that
there is the capacity in the best part of his nature. I cannot also say that he
is among the “best”. But he seems to me to have more original capacity than some
at least who have been accepted. When I wrote about the “best” I did not mean an
Adhara without defects and dangers; for I do not think such a one is to be
found. My impression is 
of course founded on a
general favourable effect produced by the physiognomy and the appearance, on
certain definite observations upon the same and on psychic indications which
were mixed but in the balance favourable. I have not seen the man as you have.
Take the sum he offers, do not press him for more at present and for the rest,
let him understand clearly not only what the Yoga is, but the great demands it
makes on the nature. See how he turns and whether he cannot be given his chance.
Your fuller account of your Sadhana shows that you are seeing in the nature and power of the supramental but you are seeing it probably through the revelatory light descending into the mind. It can only fulfil itself on the conditions I have named, first, the opening to the actual descent of the supermind itself which you will find something still more concrete and full of the truth-power and truth-substance and its penetration of the physical consciousness in all its layers.
Lastly, I may add to what I have said about the press debts that what has been troubling me is the necessity of applying money given for the spiritual work and the maintenance of the Sadhana centres to this object. This is likely to create falsehood or equivoke in the physical atmosphere and I think the mixture of the two things is one obstacle to the movement of the incoming resources. I am trying to find separate means of meeting the debt. About this I will write to you in future. I have written in the body of the letter that Kanai might come after your return, it is just possible I may call him before. Kshitish is always asking for a word about his Sadhana, but it is proceeding very well and he seems to understand it so clearly himself that there is no need for comment.
Your last letter came insured for Rs. 25/– but there was no money or mention of the sum inside. Was it forgotten or was there some other reason for insurance?
Aurobindo
1 This letter is preserved only in the form of handwritten, typed or printed copies. Whenever possible, the editors have collated several copies of each letter in order to produce an accurate text. – Ed.
2 MS (copy) and
3 MS (copy) these