Sri Aurobindo

Letters of Sri Aurobindo

Second Series

Fragment ID: 20758

Yes, it is a defect in the vital, a lack of will to discipline. One has to learn from the master and act according to his instructions because the master; knows the subject and how it is to be learnt – just as in spiritual things one has to follow a Guru who has the knowledge and knows the way. If one learns all by oneself, the chances are that one will learn all wrong. What is the use of a freedom to leanr wrongly? Of course, if the pupil is more intelligent than the master, he will learn more than the master, just as a great spiritual capacity may arrive at realisation which the Guru has not – but even so the control and discipline in the early stages is indispensable.