Nirodbaran

Talks with Sri Aurobindo

Volume 1

10 December 1938 – 14 January 1941

3 December 1939

Purani brought a letter from one Padmakanti whose income tax had been assessed wrongly and who had appealed against the Government. The case was on the next day.

Sri Aurobindo: He ought to have written earlier. Not much time to save him. Where is the appeal?

Purani: In the revenue court, perhaps.

Sri Aurobindo: Are the officers just?

Purani: At present yes, because of the Congress Ministry.

Sri Aurobindo: There is no more Congress Ministry. The mind of a revenue collector is not an easy job to work on. A judge’s mind is different.

Nirodbaran (after Sri Aurobindo’s walk): Did you say Theatre Road was your village?

Sri Aurobindo: Yes, I was born there in the house of the lawyer Manmohan Ghose. It was No. 4, I think.

Nirodbaran: Dilip says that that brought about his contact with you. (Laughter)

Purani: Have you read that criticism by Joad of Gerald Heard?

Sri Aurobindo: Yes. Joad doesn’t seem to be much of a thinker. He says that he had the same ideas as the author but he changed them because of the objections of philosophical critics. If he changes his ideas because of that, his ideas are not worth much. The first business of a philosopher is to anticipate the objections and then meet them.

Purani: He has written some good treatises on Plato and others.

Sri Aurobindo: That means he is a good teacher, not an original thinker.

Purani: He has reviewed a book on Indian philosophy.

Sri Aurobindo: Yes, I have seen the review. He says he can’t believe in Chakras because he has no experience of them! If one doesn’t believe things one has no experience of, there will be few beliefs. Indian mystics have always said that only by Yoga can you have experiences, otherwise you have to take such matters on belief.