Sri Aurobindo

Letters of Sri Aurobindo

Volume 1. 1934

Letter ID: 1224

Sri Aurobindo — Nirodbaran Talukdar

December 12, 1934

What do you think of this [a letter from C]? Isn’t it appalling that a small job and a little money in his hands have brought him to this pass? ...Is it right to suppose that the Divine will is behind it in order to exhaust an abnormal propensity? I write so because I read in Bejoykrishna’s biography of a Mahapurush, that in his ascetic wanderings the Mahapurush met a woman and lived with her, for 3 years, a most passionate life. Then he got terribly disgusted and ran away. Behind it, the Mahapurush sees the Will of the Divine or his Guru who led him to exhaust his propensity through excessive indulgence. Even if it be true, it seems to be rather an abnormal remedy, because to our experience we find the more a desire is satisfied the more it flares up. But the working of the Divine may be quite different! What would you say?

It may be true of this Mahapurush or of other well-known cases, because the spiritual impulse is strong in them and survives; but what of those in whom the desire persists or even grows?

But what to do now with C? He may turn desperate and try to satisfy his lower propensity which will totally finish him. Do save him, or at least give him a thunder. These cases are very queer indeed – on one side such a bhakti, aspiration, and on the other –!!

He will have to fight it out. You can tell him whatever happens not to despair. I don’t think thunder is of much use.

Today I was very quiet in meditation and saw the full moon with cross stripes over it.

Full moon = spiritual consciousness. Cross is the symbol of the triple Divine – transcendent, cosmic, individual.