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This book is compiled from the answers Sri Aurobindo gave in writing to some elementary questions about Yoga put to him during the years 1933-36.
I
THE CALL AND FITNESS
Q: How can one know if he is fit for the spiritual life before taking up Toga? A: How can anyone know before he puts his step on the path? He can only know whether he has the aspiration or not, whether he feels a call or not.
Q: You have said that to enter the path of Toga "all one needs to know is whether the soul in one has been moved to the Toga or not". But how to know this clearly before entering the path? A: It is a question of feeling it or not. There is no "how to know" about it. One knows or one does not know, one feels or one does not feel. You don’t ask how to know when one is happy or angry or sorrowful—one knows at once.
Q: How can people know whether they have any spiritual possibility in them ? A: Nobody does know. When the soul pushes them, they turn towards the Divine, that is all. Q: Please let me know if I have any possibility for spiritual realisation. A: It is a waste of time to ask such a question. When you have entered the spiritual path, you have only to go on relying not on your possibility but on the Mother’s Power.
Q,: Is it not true that those who enter the path of Toga without the full knowledge of their nature and its possibilities get into difficulties? A: Who comes into the path of Yoga with full knowledge or any knowledge? All are ignorant; it is only by Yoga itself that they get the knowledge.
Q,: Sometimes a person enters the path because he feels the aspiration and the call but afterwards leaves it. What is the reason ? Is it not because before entering it he was not able to judge the possibility of his nature ? A: Because his aspiration flags or because he is unfaithful to the call. It is not a question of judging. I have told you nobody can know or judge. Q: Some people say that unless the whole nature is purified there can be no real beginning of Toga. Is this true? A: It is absurd to say that.
Q: Is it true that only a person who has some experiences and realisations in sadhana is accepted by the Mother while one who has no such experiences and lives in ordinary consciousness is not accepted by her ? A: Why should he not be accepted by the Mother? What do you mean by "accepted"?
Q: If a sadhak cannot open himself fully to the Mother because of the obstacles in his nature, will he not be accepted by the Mother? A: There is no meaning in such a question. Those who follow the Yoga here are accepted by the Mother—for "accepted" means "admitted into the Yoga, accepted as disciples". But the progress in the Yoga and the Siddhi in the Yoga depend on the degree to which there is the opening.
Q: When a sadhak is faced with serious difficulties in his sadhana over and over again and is not able to reject his lower nature, what will help him to keep up his faith and stick to the path ? A: Who is able to reject the lower nature fully? All one can do is to aspire and reject the lower impulses and call in the Divine to do the rest.
Q: It is said in the Gila that out of thousands only a few seek the Divine and even of these few only one or two can reach Him. Is this true? A: If one goes by one’s own strength, very few can do it—but by faith in the Divine, by the Grace of the Divine, it becomes possible.
Q: What should be the final aim of a sadhak? Should it not be to become a Yogi ? A: To be in full union with the Divine is the final aim. When one has some kind of constant union, one can be called a Yogi, but the union has to be made complete. There are Yogis who have only the union on the spiritual plane, others who are united in mind and heart, others in the vital also. In our Yoga our aim is to be united too in the physical consciousness and on the supramental plane. |