FOREWORD

THE letters of Sri Aurobindo are a vast literature of very great value. Written mostly to his disciples in answer to their specific inquiries they have also a wider bearing and are likely to prove of great benefit not only to those who are interested in the things of the Spirit but also to all those who, not satisfied with the usual and the ordinary, strive for higher and greater values in life. For, the most significant and central idea of Sri Aurobindo's spiritual metaphysics as well as of his Yoga is that he does not consider human and spiritual values as totally distinct and basically incompatible, but, in their true significance, as related parts of an all-comprehending and all-integrating Reality and as necessary stages in a continuous process of a progressive growth into that Reality. Human values are not false or meaningless; they are incomplete approaches, partial and dim pointers to something to which they strain to arrive but cannot so long as they remain fixed in the human formula; it is only by relaxing the grip and breaking through the narrow and rigid circle of this formula and entering into the domain of the infinite Spirit that their deep urge can be fulfilled and their labour come to a fruitful completion.

It is for this reason that Sri Aurobindo though aiming at the highest spiritual heights yet does not shun or discard the human endeavour as trivial or unreal, however insignificant it might seem as compared to the infinite greatness of the Spirit it is yet a step, the most significant of the many steps which the Spirit has taken to recover itself after losing itself in its apparent opposite which constitutes the riddle of this difficult and complex earth-existence. It is also for this reason that in Sri Aurobindo we find not only a more insistent stress on the original and the eternal verities of existence but also a truer and more adequate appreciation of the significance of all that we consider valuable in human life. Spirit and life forget their age-old quarrel in him and join hands and clasp and coalesce for mutual enrichment and harmonious completeness.

It is therefore not absolutely necessary to be a spiritual seeker to find interest in and derive benefit from the writings of Sri Aurobindo; the only requirement would seem to be a clear perception of the insufficiency of human life even at its best and an urge towards a less circum-scribed and uncertain existence; for, at its root this human urge is an indirect expression of the soul's yearning for the Spirit and sooner or later it is sure to convert itself into that yearning, directly and openly. Thus, not only to those who are following the direct call of the soul and are on the spiritual path but also to all who have this deep inner urge or aspiration in them the letters of Sri Aurobindo will prove of incomparable value in as much as intended for direct and intimate help

to disciples they are written in a somewhat less lofty and difficult style than his other more metaphysical works and yet they bear that stamp of luminous authenticity and are charged with that High Wisdom that comes from the constant living in the Spirit's complete Truth. It is for this reason that this volume of Sri Aurobindo's letters is brought out on the occasion of his 75^th birthday which also significantly coincides with the day of India's achievement of freedom. The first and the most important task that India will have to undertake on gaming this deliverance from the long domination of a foreign influence unsuited to her essential nature and temperament will be to recover her true great soul and spirit and to carry her past glorious spiritual endeavour, after this temporary setback, to its complete and perfect goal. In the accomplishment of this central task the teachings of Sri Aurobindo, who is not only a living embodiment of all the past spiritual achievement of India but also the Master-Leader of her future spiritual destiny, will undoubtedly work as the main shaping influence.

K. H. G.