Nirodbaran
Talks with Sri Aurobindo
Volume 1
10 December 1938 – 14 January 1941
9 June 1940
Nirodbaran: I find Dilip in my company regarding Krishnaprem’s review of The Life Divine. He is not much impressed by it.
Sri Aurobindo: Why?
Nirodbaran: He says that there is nothing characteristic about it, and it doesn’t go far enough. And Krishnaprem does not seem to have understood the Supermind.
Sri Aurobindo: No, that he hasn’t.
Nirodbaran: When Dilip saw that Krishnaprem makes Nirvana and Samsara equal according to Buddha, he revolted. That was too much because Buddha has always been against Samsara.
Sri Aurobindo: Of course, Buddha never said that. Krishnaprem speaks according to the Mahayana. Mahayana went much further. Buddha didn’t say what Nirvana is and he did not say that Nirvana and Samsara are equal.
Purani: As an authority on Buddhism, Mrs. Rhys Davies seems to be the best person.
Sri Aurobindo: No, she is not very reliable. The Mahayana conception of Nirvana seems to be something like Laotse’s Tao. Tao, according to him, is a condition of nothingness that is beyond all present construction, and that is the nothingness which contains everything. (Addressing Purani) Do you know anything about the Nous, the Divine Mind, of Plotinus? Krishnaprem appears to make the Supermind and the Nous the same. Nous seems to be Intelligence.
Purani: I do not know if Divine Mind would be the same as Supermind.
Sri Aurobindo: When they consider Shankara the greatest of realists and my philosophy the same as his …
Purani: What can you say about others? (Laughter)
Sri Aurobindo: Is it the supramental urge for unification? (Laughter)
Purani: Italy has ordered her ships to neutral ports.
Sri Aurobindo: It means war then.
Purani: And it seems the German generals are to go to Italian Africa.
Nirodbaran: What a huge mass Hitler has thrown into the north!
Sri Aurobindo: Yes, if Weygand can hold on, it’s all right; otherwise a dark lookout. Germany has the advantage of concentrating all its strength at one point, while the Allies have to keep their forces scattered.
Nirodbaran: Germany seems to be making for the ports – first, Dieppe.
Sri Aurobindo: Dieppe is a minor port. Le Havre, Cherbourg, Boulogne and Calais are the major ones.
Nirodbaran: Why are the British not sending their army? They have a big force.
Sri Aurobindo: Their army is still in training. They have adopted conscription too late. Somebody from Switzerland informed France that if Germany attacks her through Basle, Switzerland will be able to hold on for forty-eight hours and has warned France to make arrangements beforehand. Basle is flat forestland. From the end of France to Basle there is what is called a trou – a hole, that is – there is no Maginot Line there. Of course Switzerland can fight by retreating into the mountains. Hitler may not think of attacking there now because of his concentration in the north.
Purani: Perhaps he is waiting for Italy to join and then make a combined attack there.
Sri Aurobindo: Probably.
Nirodbaran: It is very strange that France did not build any Maginot Line on the Belgian frontier.
Sri Aurobindo: There were only scattered fortifications.
Purani: Even during these eight months they did not do anything.
Sri Aurobindo: That is not enough. France counted on the Belgian fortifications which were supposed to be very strong. Liege held up the enemy for a long time. They also thought that the forest of Ardennes would form a natural barrier and the Germans would find it difficult to cross it. Of course, it is all Daladier’s work – the most indefensible War Minister. He seems to have done nothing. It is like the story of the general of Napoleon III. When Napoleon asked him, “Is everything prepared?” he replied, “Yes, up to the last button,” and when the attack began everything broke down at once! As for Gamelin, he seems to know only the names of officers and nothing more and is quite helpless when in difficulty. That shows that it is easy to build up a reputation during peace.
Purani: In the secret session they will try to throw out Chamberlain and other previous ministers who were responsible for this bad preparation.
Sri Aurobindo: I see.
Purani: And it is the Conservatives who will lead the attack, it seems.
Sri Aurobindo: Of course they made a tremendous blunder.
Nirodbaran: Tom Paine says in the New Statesman and Nation that Chamberlain wanted to make an alliance with Germany.
Sri Aurobindo: Not so far as that but it was Baldwin and Chamberlain’s policy to make a four Power alliance: Italy, Germany, England and France to settle all European affairs. Of course England is responsible for all this, for it is England that raised Germany so that France might not be too powerful. It is the old policy of balance of power. She did not think that her own weapon might strike against her.