Nirodbaran

Correspondence with Sri Aurobindo

Second Series

1. Spirituality

The Ashram and its Yoga

VI. “Big Men” and the Ashram's Spiritual Work

Your image of the Fishery is quite out of place. I fish for no one; people are not hauled or called here, they come of themselves by the psychic instinct. Especially I don't fish for big and famous or successful men. Such fellows may be mentally or vitally big, but they are usually quite contented with that kind of bigness and do not want spiritual things, or, if they do, their bigness stands in their way rather than helps them. The fishing for them is X's idea – he wanted to catch hold of A, B, now C etc. etc. but they would have been exceedingly troublesome sadhaks if they ever really dreamed of anything of the kind. All these are ordinary ignorant ideas; the Spirit cares not a damn for fame, success or bigness in those who come to it. People have a strange idea that Mother and myself are eager to get people as disciples and if any one goes away, it is a great blow, a terrible defeat, a dreadful catastrophe and  cataclysm for us. Many even think that their being here is a great favour done to us for which we are not sufficiently grateful. All that is rubbish.

... You seem to have an exaggerated idea of X's bigness (an example of Einsteinian relativity, I suppose, or the result of his own big view of himself). Whatever bigness he has is my creation, apart from the fact that he was a popular singer when he came. He would have been nothing else (even in music) if he had not come here. The only big thing he had by nature was a big and lusty vital.

What big operation? There was no operation; I am not trying to bale in X as a big fish. I am not trying to catch him or bring him in. If he comes into the true spiritual life, it will be a big thing for him, no doubt, but to the work it means only a ripple more or less in the atmosphere. Kindly consider how many people big in their own eyes have come and gone (P, Q, R, not to speak of others) and has the work stopped by their departure or the Ashram ceased to grow? Do you really think that the success or failure of the work we have undertaken depends on the presence or absence of X or on my hauling him in or letting him go? It is of importance only for the soul of X – nothing else.