Sri Aurobindo
Autobiographical Notes
and Other Writings of Historical Interest
Part Two. Letters of Historical Interest
2.Early Letters on Yoga and the Spiritual Life
1911–1928
To Barindra Kumar Ghose and Others, 1922–1928
To Barindra Kumar Ghose [6]1
23rd January
1923.
Arya Office,
Pondicherry.
My dear Barin,
I got your telegram about Krishnashashi this morning.
Yesterday I received his photograph and today his last written
experiences.2 I have
been able to form from all these and from 
other
indications as complete an idea about him and about what has happened to him as
is possible at this distance. The photo shows a remarkable soul, an idealistic
psychic intelligence and the presence of a high and beautiful internal being but
the part of the face showing the emotional and vital being is too delicate to
support adequately the upper part and the physical and physico-vital mould is of
a poor and inferior character not easily lending itself to the higher movements
or to the change demanded by the Yoga. This disparity in the being was the cause
of his illness and is the cause also of his present disorder. The immediate
cause however is his being hurried by circumstances and the eagerness of his own
mind into a development too rapid for the physical consciousness which should
have been subjected to a long and steadying preparation.
I do not know whether Krishnashashi received Moni’s
letter written to him at his other address, Raja Brojendra Narayan Roy’s Street,
which he should have got on the 14th. In
this letter I suggested that he should remain in Chittagong or some other quiet
place and do the Sadhana by himself turning to me for help and protection and I
also insisted that the main object of his Sadhana should be the purification and
calming of the mind, the vital being and the body. After returning to
Bhowanipore I see that just the contrary has happened,– a feverish psycho-mental
activity and a much too eager attempt at rapid progress. Instead of calmly
receiving he has been seizing at everything that came and trying to translate it
and throw it out into form. He has also been pulling at realisation and trying,
as Mirra has put it, to swallow the world in a minute. The result is that there
has been an uprush of some undesirable kind from the imperfect vital being and
the physical mind unable to bear the strain has been thrown into disorder. It is
evident also that the atmosphere of the Bhowanipore centre is not favourable to
him. There is there an intense mental and psychic activity and a constant push
towards rapid experience and progress which are just the things that are
dangerous for him and there is not yet the assured basis of calm, peace,
serenity and inner silence which is what he needs above all things.
I hope that it is only
a crisis or a passing disorder. I am doing my best from here to mend the
breakdown, but you must help me by keeping there a firm quietness and calm
concentration. This was the object of my telegram. I am of the opinion that when
he recovers his balance, my original instructions (in Moni’s letter) should be
adhered to and he should go to some quiet place where there will not be any high
pressure. He must be instructed to put away every other object except the
quieting of his mind, vital being and body and the attainment of a poise of
serene calm and peace. Also it is better for him not to pass the whole day in
meditation and Sadhana but to take plenty of relaxation for the relief of the
physical being and do some kind of physical work (not exhausting) which will
keep it occupied and healthy. He must be assured that this change does not mean
at all a rejection but that it is necessary to secure the proper condition for
his future Sadhana. He must of course keep himself in constant spiritual
connection with me and write to me from time to time.
Please keep me constantly informed of his condition
until he recovers.
. . . . . . . . . . . .
Since the above was written your second telegram came
into my hands this morning. It is possible that Krishnagore may be a more
suitable place for Krishnashashi than Calcutta. There is a more settled basis
there. The place is more deliberate and the surroundings are likely to be
quieter, a not unimportant consideration in his case. Besides he needs some one
who can impose upon him an atmosphere of calm and influence him directly from
the psychic nature and not through the mentality, the latter being always of a
doubtful effectivity in dealing with psychic people, and from what you have told
me about Indu, it is possible that she may be able to help him in this way. In
that case it would not be necessary for him to return to Chittagong or pursue
his Sadhana in isolation. All this of course after he has recovered. His case is
not that of insanity in the ordinary sense but, as in Jyotish’s case and for
rather similar reasons, a psychic disorder. I should of course be kept informed
of his condition. 
I have many things to write
but as this must go without delay I postpone them to another letter.
Aurobindo.