1

ADVENTURE IN CONSCIOUSNESS
"What is the scope of your study ?" an Indian who had travelled to Athens asked Socrates,
according to Aristoxenus, a disciple of Aristotle.
"We are trying to know man", replied Socrates. The Indian laughed. "How can you know
man without first knowing God ?" was the Indians rejoinder.
The Indian psyche believed that man is only one of the numerous manifestations of a
Primary Cause. He may be of great significance, but we cannot fully understand him if we
view him as an independent phenomenon. He as well as everything else can be
understood only when we understand THAT from which everything emerges.
This Upanishadic truth, considered for long as a mystic jargon by many, is fast tending to
become a universal realisation. Everything in the phenomenal universe is related to one
another because everything owes its origin to one thingcall it a Power, a Force, a Reality
or Brahman or X. Also, because that essential X, in an evident or hidden form, is present
in everything, that things are related to one another. This fact of inter-relationship of a
grand unifying truth in Nature is tersely described by Paul Davies :
"Without electro-magnetism there would be no atoms, no chemistry or biology, and no
heat or light from the sun. If there were no strong nuclear force then nuclei could not
exist, and so again there would be no atoms or molecules, no chemistry or biology, nor
would the sun and stars be able to generate heat and light from nuclear energy. Even the
weak force plays a crucial role in shaping the universe. If it did not exist, the nuclear
reactions in the sun and stars could not proceed, and supernovae would probably not
occur, and the vital life-giving heavy elements would therefore be unable to permeate the
universe. Life might well be impossible. When we remember that these four very different
types of forces, each one vital for generating the complex structures that make our
universe so active and interesting, all derive from a single, simple superforce, the
ingenuity of it all literally boggles the mind."1
To know in its entirety any single phenomenon from its surface is well-nigh impossible.
But if one could know the essential X, knowing itself assumes a new meaning, a new
dimension.

To enable man to reach that point is to liberate him, and that was deemed to be the
purpose of education. Sa vidya ya vimuktaye (Education liberates) says the Vishnu Purana.2
In a sense, the process of evolution itself is a process of liberation. The manifestation of
the earliest forms of life as plants out of the apparently lifeless matter was a step towards
liberation of the imprisoned consciousness. A far greater degree of freedom of
consciousnessand an exercise of that freedom in infinitely variant wayswas possible
with the emergence of the primeval creatures, from worms and insects to the whales and
the dinosaur, from the birds to the beasts of incalculable varieties. 3
That urge for freedom inherent in Nature, for releasing its possibilities and potentialities,
received a new turn with the emergence of man, "at the bottom an animal, midway a
citizen, and at the top a divine"as Henry Ward Beecher put it. And he added, "But the
climate of this world is such that few ripen at the top."3
The process of education was set into motion to create the necessary climate for a proper
ripening of manand long has been the history of this process, experience and
intuition, necessity and curiosity, demands of environment and quest for the meaning of
life, all contributing to it.
Man, needless to say, is the only creature who has never stopped growing. With relentless
zeal he has not only adapted himself to the changing environment, but also has obliged
the environment to adapt to his conveniences. Emerging from the world of primeval
Nature he has created for himself new worldsof art, architecture, literature, music,
philosophy and spirituality. His activities and achievements in all these spheres have
again meant nothing but the gradual realisation of his own potentialities, a joy in the
freedom of expression, experience and adventure.
If the process of evolution itself is a movement of consciousness realising its own freedom
from its bondage to material and other limitations, the 20th century, the era we are
leaving behind, has witnessed the most momentous events and ideas ensuring greater
freedom for man in several fronts. Imperialism, colonialism, monarchy and feudalism
collapsedall ensuring mans social, political and economic freedom. Several revolutions
and reformations, emancipation of women from social taboos and discrimination, end of
apartheidall point in the same direction. Science and technology have played their role
in according a greater dignity to the individual.
But these facts of external freedom do not mean much unless they culminate in a freedom
from ignorance. Sri Aurobindo believes that the realisation of such a freedom is not only a

possibility, but also a certainty inherent in the very nature of evolutionary developments.
The true role of education is in preparing and helping man to arrive thereat a new
phase of evolution.
Man is neither an accident nor a freak of Nature. He is an evolving being, awaiting his
fulfilment. Not doubt, he has come a long way from his primitive existence via a stage
dominated by vital impulses, he has been a mental creature for long and has achieved
marvels with his intelligence and intellect. Proud of intellect we may be, but as Einstein
warns, "We should take care not to make the intellect our god; it has, of course, powerful
muscles, but no personality."4
Man must aspire to go beyond his intellect.
But first the spirits ascent we must achieve
Out of the chasm from which our nature rose.
The soul must soar sovereign above the form
Our hearts we must inform with heavenly strength.
Surprise the animal with the occult god.
Then kindling the gold tongue of sacrifice,
Calling the powers of a bright hemisphere,
We shall shed the discredit of our mortal state,
Make the abysm a road for Heavens descent,
Acquaint our depths with the supernal Ray
And cleave the darkness with the mystic Fire. 5
Sri Aurobindo, Savitri
To view man from this angle presented by Sri Aurobindo and to visualise a system of
education in keeping with such a destiny of man is a call for a grand adventure. It is time
we respond to it.

2
GLIMPSES OF SRI AUROBINDOS LIFE
"Biographies are but the clothes and buttons of the manthe biography of the man
himself cannot be written."
Mark Twain, Autobiography (1924)
Although Sri Aurobindos first biography in English was published, obviously without
his knowledge in 1910, the year Sri Aurobindo came over to Pondicherry in his late
thirties. Later when a scholar proposed to write a biography with his knowledge, Sri
Aurobindo discouraged him, saying that no one could write about his life because it had
not been on the surface for man to see.
Sri Aurobindos reluctance would surprise many, for his life, even the first thirtyseven
years of it, which, he mostly spent in England, Baroda (Vadodara) and Calcutta, had been
marked by tumultuous events and most significant ones in relation to the recent history of
the nation. How does he belittle them ?
The fact is, Sri Aurobindo considered his most worthwhile actions as those which were
not on the surface, but deep in the ocean of consciousnessactions which were too
profound for any factual narration. Whatever we know of them, we know through the
persistent queries of his disciples and, of course, much can be surmised from his writings.
However, so many have violated his suggestions against writing his biography and we
too, following the academic traditions, give below a chronological account of his lifea
bare outline of it.
Sri Aurobindos father, Dr. K. D. Ghose, who had received a post-graduate medical degree
from the West, was totally Westernized in his life-style and sense of values. On the other
hand Sri Aurobindos mother, Swarnalata Devi was the daughter of Rajnarayan Bose,
known as "the grandfather of Indian Nationalism", a great patriot and visionary.
Sri Aurobindo, the third son in the family, was born on August 15, 1872.
Neither the mother nor the grandfather had much opportunity to mould Sri Aurobindos
outlook, for Dr. Ghose left all his three sons, the elder two being Benoy Bhushan and Man
Mohan respectively, at Loretto Convent, Darjeeling, in the company of European children.
Sri Aurobindo was then aged five.

Two years later, in 1875, Dr. Ghose and Swarnalata Devi led their children to England and
left them at Manchester, under the care of Latin scholar, Mr. Drewett.
In 1884 the three boys shifted to London, with Mrs. Drewett, a devout Christian, as their
guardian. Sri Aurobindo was admitted to St. Pauls School, where he continued for five
years, shining as a brilliant student, securing all the top prizes for literature and history.
His elder brother, Man Mohan, grew into a poet and as a friend of Oscar Wilde and
Lawrence Binyon.
Sri Aurobindos poetic genius began to bloom at this stage though very little of his
writing of this period has survived the vicissitudes of time. Mrs. Drewett left them before
long and the boys had to live through great hardship because Dr. Ghose, a legendary
philanthrope at home, neglected to send his sons even the minimum amount of money
they needed. Recollects Sri Aurobindo : "During a whole year a slice or two of sandwich,
bread and butter and a cup of tea in the morning and in the evening a penny saveloy
formed the only food."
A scholarship from St. Pauls enabled Sri Aurobindo to go to Kings College, Cambridge,
in 1889. He practically bagged all the prizes in Greek and Latin. He passed the first part of
the classical Tripos in the first class in 1892. The same year he successfully passed his
I.C.S. examination. But he did not report for the riding test and thereby got himself
disqualified for the Civil Services.
His well-wishers, who did not know that Sri Aurobindo had secured his disqualification
deliberately, tried to persuade the authorities to admit Sri Aurobindo into the Service
ignoring the technical lacuna in his performance. G.W. Prothero, a Senior Fellow of Kings
College, wrote to James Cotton, Sir Henry Cottons brother :
"He performed his part of the bargain as regards the college most honourably and took a
high place in the first class of the classical Tripos, part one, at the end of the second year
of his residence. He also obtained certain college prizes, showing command of English
and literary ability. That a man should have been able to do this (which alone is quite
enough for most under-graduates) and at the same time to keep up his I.C.S. work, proves
very unusual industry and capacity. Besides his classical scholarship, he possessed
knowledge
of English literature far beyond the average of under-graduates, and wrote much better
English than most young Englishmen."

The authorities would have probably considered the submission made on Sri Aurobindos
behalf (though without his consent) sympathetically, but by then they had received the
intelligence that Sri Aurobindo was a member of a secret Society called the "Lotus and
Dagger", dedicated to fighting for Indias freedom. His speeches at the Indian Majlis at
Cambridge, attacking the British rule in India, had been reported too.
It was a relief to Sri Aurobindo that the I.C.S. mercifully left him unclaimed. He had,
needless to say, no call for that kind of a career.
Just then, Maharaja Sayaji Rao, the Gaekwad of Baroda was on a visit to London. James
Cotton arranged a meeting between him and Sri Aurobindo and the Maharaja recruited
Sri Aurobindo to his government. After an absence of fourteen years, Sri Aurobindo
returned to India in February 1893. It was a quiet homecoming, preceded by a tragedy
unknown to him. The ship by which he was to reach Mumbai sank off the coast of Lisbon
and the shocking news reached Dr. K. D. Ghosh who had no knowledge of his son
having changed his plan at the last moment and of having boarded another ship. Dr.
Ghosh died of a heart-attack.
Sri Aurobindo was overwhelmed by a vast peace that descended on him the moment he
set foot on the soil of India at Apollo Bunder, Mumbai. That seems to be the way the soul
of India received him. Years later he wrote to a disciple :
"My own life and my yoga have always been, since my coming to India, both this-worldly
and other-worldly without any exclusiveness on either side ....Since I set foot on the
Indian soil on the Apollo Bunder in Bombay, I began to have spiritual experiences, but
these were not divorced from this world but had an inner and infinite bearing on it, such
as a feeling of the Infinite pervading material space and the Immanent inhabiting material
objects and bodies. At the same time I found myself entering supraphysical worlds and
planes with influences and an effect from them upon the material plane, so I could make
no sharp divorce or irreconcilable opposition between what I have called the two ends of
existence and all that lies between them."
We do not know who informed him of his fathers demise. He proceeded straight to
Vadodara and joined the Gaekwads administration as Professor of English and French at
the Maharajas College. During his thirteen years of stay there, he also worked in several
departments of the Maharajas Secretariat at different times, apart from working as the
Vice-Principal and Acting Principal of the College.

Simultaneously, he delved deep into the ancient Indian lore, mastering Sanskrit, Bengali
and several other Indian languages. He translated parts of the epics and works of
Kalidasa and Bhartrihari into English, wrote original poetry and plays and began
practising Yoga.
All those who were in contact with him knew about these activities of his, but very few
people knew that he had become the source of inspiration for groups of dedicated youths,
scattered in different parts of India, ready to sacrifice their lives for the cause of the
motherlands freedom. Through some of his trusted lieutenants including his younger
brother Barindra, he channelised their spirit along a certain line of preparatory action.
The Indian National Congress, formed in 1885, was pursuing a policy that was nowhere
nearer the goal of freedom for the country. In a periodical named the Indu Prakash
published at Mumbai and edited by his Cambridge friend K. G. Despande, Sri Aurobindo
wrote a series of articles under the title "New Lamps for Old" which created a stir in the
political circle of the time.
Interesting glimpses of Sri Aurobindos Vadodara days are left by Direndra Kumar Roy, a
well-known Bengali writer, who lived with Sri Aurobindo for a while to help him learn
Bengali. Roy was amazed at the fact that Sri Aurobindo would at times refuse an
invitation from the Maharaja himself for joining him for breakfast or dinner, under the
pretext that he had no time, while so many Europeans and members of the Indian
nobility waited for days together for an appointment with the Maharaja!
Sri Aurobindo did not care for status or money and he lived the life of an ascetic. There
was no change in this even after his marriage to Mrinalini Devi in 1901, at Calcutta. Roy
sums up his impression of him with these words : "Sri Aurobindo was not a man of this
earth; he was a god descended from heavens, probably under a curse."
One of his private letters to Mrinalini Devi, written from Vadodara which became famous
because the prosecution produced it in the Court in the course of the historic Alipore
Conspiracy Case, gives an intimate picture of his mind (translated from Bengali by an
early biographer) :
"I have three madnesses. Firstly, it is my firm faith that whatever virtue, talent, higher
education and knowledge and wealth, which God has given me, belongs to Him. I have
the right to spend only as much as is needed for the maintenance of the family and on
what is absolutely necessary. Whatever remains should be returned to the Divine. If I
spend all of it on myself, for personal comfort, for enjoyment, then I am a thief. According

to Hindu Scriptures one who accepts money from the Divine and does not return it to
Him is a thief. Till now I have been giving only a small fraction of my money to God and
have been spending nine-tenths of it for my personal happinessthus have I settled the
account and have remained immersed in worldly happiness. Half of the life has already
been wasted; even an animal feels gratified in feeding itself and its family.....
"I have no regrets for the money that I gave to Sarojini or to Usha, because assisting others
is Dharma, to protect those who depend on you is a great Dharma, but the account is not
settled if one gives only to ones brothers and sisters. In these hard days, the whole
country is like a dependent at our doors. I have thirty crores of brothers and sisters in this
countrymany of them die of starvation, most of them are weakened by suffering and
troubles and are somehow dragging on their existence. They must be helped. What do
you say, will you be my wife sharing this Dharma with me ? We will eat and dress like
ordinary people and buy what is really essential, and give the rest to the Divine. That is
what I would do. If you agree to it, and accept the principle of sacrifice then my resolution
can be fulfilled. You were complaining that you have made no progress. This is a path to
progress that I point out to you. Would you like to take that path ?
"The second folly has recently taken hold of me. It is this : by whatever means, I must get
the direct realisation of the Lord. The religion of today consists in repeating the name of
God every now and then, in praying to Him in the presence of everybody and in showing
to people how religious one is; I do not want it. If the Divine is there, then there must be a
way of experiencing His existence, of realising His presence; however hard the path, I
have taken a firm irresolution to follow it. Hindu Dharma asserts that the path is to be
found in ones own self, in ones mind. The rule that enables one to follow the path is also
given to me; I have begun to observe all the rules and within a month I have been able to
ascertain that the words of the Hindu Dharma are not false, I have had the experience of
all the signs that have been mentioned by it. I would like to take you also along that path;
you would not be able to keep up with me as you have not yet had the knowledge, but
there is nothing to prevent your following me. Anybody can reach perfection by following
the path. But it depends upon ones choice to enter the path. Nobody can force you to
enter it. If you are willing, I will write more about this subject.
"The third folly is this : whereas others regard the country as an inert object, and know it
as the plains, the fields, the forests, the mountains and rivers, I look upon my country as
the mother, I worship her and adore her as the mother. What would a son do when a
demon sitting on the breast of his mother is drinking her blood? Would he sit down
content to take his meals, and go on enjoying himself in the company of his wife and
children, or would he, rather, run to the rescue of his mother? I know I have the strength

to uplift this fallen race; it is not physical strength, I am not going to fight with the sword
or with the gun, but with the power of knowledge. The power of warrior is not the only
kind of force, there is also the power of the Brahman which is founded on knowledge.
This is not a new feeling with me, it is not of a recent origin, I was born with it, it is in my
very marrow, God sent me to the earth to accomplish this great mission. At the age of
fourteen the seed of it had begun to sprout and at eighteen it had been firmly rooted and
become unshakable."
That was the time when Curzons move to partition Bengal inspired a determined protest
from all nationalists. "Never had India seen such popular demonstration", wrote Valentine
Chirol, the correspondent of The Times of London.
At the request of friends who founded the National Council of Education in Calcutta, Sri
Aurobindo came over to Calcutta in 1906 to head a college that would be a bold
alternative to the system of clerk-making education imposed on India by its colonial
masters.
Sri Aurobindo had already developed a distinct educational vision by then. In his article
entitled A system of National Education published in 1907, he wrote :
"Every one has in him something divine, something his own, a chance of perfection and
strength in however small a sphere which God offers him to take or refuse. The task is to
find it, develop it and use it. The chief aim of education should be to help the growing
soul to draw out that in itself which is best and make it perfect for a noble use."
In 1910 was published the article containing the line which has by now become famous as
an epigram : "The first principle of true teaching is that nothing can be taught."
Almost simultaneously Bipin Chandra Pal, a leading public figure of the time, launched a
newspaper, the Bande Mataram, and invited Sri Aurobindo to edit it. Sri Aurobindo
acceded to the request and in no time the newspaper, "full of leading and special articles
written in English with brilliance and pungency not hitherto attained in the Indian Press",
as
S. K. Ratcliffe, the then editor of The Statesman, recollected later, became "the most
effective voice of what was then called nationalist extremism."
The enthusiasm with which Sri Aurobindo and the Bande Mataram were greeted, can be
imagined from a comment in Sandhya edited by the veteran, Brahmabandhav Upadhyay :
"Have you ever seen the spotless all-white Aurobindo (lotus), the hundred-petalled
Aurobindo in full bloom in Indias Manasarovara?... Our Aurobindo is a rare

phenomenon in the world. In him can be marked the splendour of the Sattvik, snow-white
and resplendent. Great and vastvast in his heart, great in his personal gloryhis
Swadharma... Pure and complete a man, a fire-charged thunder yet tender and delicate as
the lotus-petal.... The words of Bande Mataram will drive out your fear; steel your arms
with the might of thunder; fire will course through your veins; death will put on a face of
a spring-time joy... True, Aurobindo has had his education in England, but he has not
succumbed to its bewitching spell. An efflorescence of the glory of his countrys
Swadharma and culture, Aurobindo is now at the feet of the Motherland, as a fresh-blown
lotus of the autumn, luminous with the spirit of his self-offering... There, bow down to the
Mother, with the Mantra of Bande Mataram. Freedom is not far." (Translated from Bengali).
M. R. Jayakar, a young delegate to the Calcutta Session of the Congress (1906), records in
his autobiography, The Story of My Life (Vol. 1) :
"I then had any first opportunity of observing from close quarters the Congress leaders of
those times with some of whom my contact increased later. I then saw Aurobindo Ghose
and his associates. What struck me were his great earnestness and dignified appearance.
He had not then developed, so far as outside appearance could show, into a complete
Yogi, but I got, from a distance, an indication that his political philosophy was different
from that of those who surrounded him."
In 1907 the Government prosecuted the Bande Mataram and Sri Aurobindo as its editor for
spreading sedition. It was a nationwide sensation. Tagore wrote his famous poem,
"Aurobindo, Accept the Salutations of Rabindra", during this period.
The governments case failed in the court. Towards the end of the same year the historic
Surat Congress took place where the nationalists and moderates clashed and the former
assembled in a separate conference. As author and journalist Henry Nevinson who was
present as a correspondent of The Daily News of London records in his New Spirit in India :
"Grave and silent, I think without saying a single word, Mr. Aurobindo Ghose took the
chair and sat unmoved, with far-off eyes, as one who gazes at futurity. In clear, short
sentences, without eloquence or passion, Mr. Tilak spoke till the stars shone out and
someone kindled a lantern at his side."
This was a turning in the history of Indias fight for freedom. Swaraj, complete freedom,
became the specific target to be achieved and Sri Aurobindo had spelt out the methods:
Boycott of British goods, national education, organisation of a volunteer force to fight for
the cause, etc.

Sri Aurobindo toured several parts of Gujarat and Maharashtra and received ovations the
like of which were not known till then. Prosecution Counsel North complained during the
Alipore trial : "Aurobindo was treated with the reverence due to a king wherever he went.
As a matter of fact, he was regarded as the leader not merely of Bengal but of the whole
country."
On May 2, 1908, Sri Aurobindo was arrested, implicated in several militant activities
conducted under the leadership of his younger brother, Barindra. From May 5, 1908 till
the May 6 of the next year, he was lodged in the Alipore Central Jail, Calcutta.
In his solitary cell, he turned his ordeal into a unique opportunity, realising what he had
already knownthe Cosmic Consciousness and the Divine in every being and thing. He
said in his speech upon his acquittal :
"I looked at the jail that secluded me from men and it was not longer by its high walls that
I was imprisoned; no, it was Vasudeva, who surrounded me. I walked under the branches
of the tree in front of my cell but it was not the tree, I knew it was Vasudeva, it was Sri
Krishna whom I saw standing there and holding over me His shade.... I looked and it was
not the Magistrate whom I saw, it was Vasudeva, it was Narayana who was sitting there
on the bench. I looked at the Prosecuting Counsel and it was not the counsel for the
prosecution that I saw; it was Sri Krishna who sat there... and smiled."
The exciting trial continued for a full year, Sri Aurobindo refusing to say or do anything to
protect himself. But the young legal genius who stepped forward to defend himlater
famous as Deshbandhu Chittaranjan Dasproved prophetic when he concluded his final
submission with these words :
"My appeal to you therefore is that a man like this who is being charged with the offences
imputed to him stands not only before the bar in this Court but stands before the bar of
the High Court of History and my appeal to you is this : That long after this controversy
is hushed in silence, long after this turmoil, this agitation ceases, long after he is dead and
gone, he will be looked upon as the poet of patriotism, as the prophet of nationalism and
the lover of humanity. Long after he is dead and gone his words will be echoed and reechoed not only in India, but across distant seas and lands. Therefore I say that the man in
his position is not only standing before the bar of this Court but before the bar of the High
Court of History."
Sri Aurobindo was acquitted. The Bande Mataram had ceased publication. He launched an
English weekly, the Karmayogin, followed by a Bengali weekly, the Dharma. The

government, however, could never rest in peace with Sri Aurobindo at large. They drew
up several strategies to justify his deportation. Lord Minto, the Viceroy and GovernorGeneral of India, would have liked this action very much, but Lord Morley, the Secretary
of State for India, was inclined to weigh the question on the scales of pragmatism and not
exigencies. "As for deportation, I will not listen to it", he asserted.
As the news of a warrant being issued against Sri Aurobindo for a so-called seditious
article by him in the Karmayogin, flashed in The Times, London, Sir Ramsay MacDonald,
leader of the newly formed Labour Party, demanded that the article be produced in the
House. When the Secretary of State for India could not oblige him, Sir Ramsay himself
produced the magazine and read out passages from it and said, "Surely, to any man who
reads this article as it was meant to be read the meaning of that sentence is perfectly clear,
and Mr. Aurobindo Ghose, as is perfectly well known by those who have followed his
actions and his writings, sincerely believes that the nationalist movement of which he is
the head for the time being at any rate, or was still quite recently, is the one guarantee that
there shall be no violence done in India and he blames the officials who have suppressed
the free expression of Nationalist sentiment for the unfortunate circumstances which have
led to murder and death and executions which everyone deplores."
It may be of interest here to refer to a brief dialogue. A Member of the House, Mr. J. King,
asked in a friendly way "whether this article is published in Bengali and whether Mr.
Aurobindo Ghose is not a Bengali !"
Replied Sir Ramsay : "The article is in the most excellent English. There is not a line of
Bengali in the whole of it except the date of this Issue and its own title. Mr. Aurobindo
Ghose could no more write an article in Bengali than I could."
While they were confidently debating on the issue, Sri Aurobindo, obeying an inner
inspiration, suddenly left Calcutta for the French pocket Chandernagore and later sailed
for Pondicherry where he arrived in April, 1910. Even then, in his last but one letter
concerning Sri Aurobindo, Minto wrote to Morley (May 26, 1910) : "As to the celebrated
Aurobindo, ... I can only repeat what I said to you in my letter of April 14th that he is the
most dangerous man we now have to reckon with... and has an unfortunate influence on
the student class and Indians who know him quite well have told me he is quite beyond
redemption."
But, for Sri Aurobindo, now the issue was the redemption of humanity from its present
ignorant state and at Pondicherry he plunged into an exploration of the realms of
consciousness, determined to unravel the destiny of man. He saw :

"The earliest preoccupation of man in his awakened thoughts and, as it seems, his
inevitable and ultimate preoccupation, for it survives the longest periods of scepticism
and returns after every banishment, is also the highest which his thought can envisage. It
manifests itself in the divination of Godhead, the impulse towards perfection, the search
after pure Truth and unmixed Bliss, the sense of a secret Immortality. The ancient dawns
of human knowledge have left us their witness to this constant aspiration; today we see a
humanity satiated but not satisfied by victorious analysis of the externalities of Nature
preparing to return to its primeval longings. The earliest formula of Wisdom promises to
be the last,God, Light, Freedom, Immortality."(The Life Divine)
Can this primeval quest of man find fulfilment ? For ages, seekers have continued to
escape from the so-called mundane life so that they could dwell in an isolated bliss. Was
the world then doomed to remain only a field of travails or an illusion as any number of
wise mystics would look upon itwithout any spiritual culmination?
Sri Aurobindo saw :
"If a spiritual unfolding on earth is the hidden truth of our birth into Matter, if it is
fundamentally an evolution of consciousness that has been taking place in Nature, then
man as he is cannot be the last term of that evolution: he is too imperfect an expression of
the spirit, Mind itself is a too limited form and instrumentation; Mind is only a middle
term of consciousness, the mental being can only be a transitional being. If, then, man is
incapable of exceeding mentality, he must be surpassed and Supermind and Superman
must manifest and take the lead of the creation. But if his mind is capable of opening to
what exceeds it, then there is no reason why man himself should not arrive at Supermind
and Supermanhood or at least lend his mentality, life and body to an evolution of that
greater term of the spirit manifesting in Nature."
According to Sri Aurobindo, "At present mankind is undergoing an evolutionary crisis in
which is concealed a choice of its destiny; for a stage has been reached in which the
human mind has achieved in certain directions an enormous development while in others
it stands arrested and bewildered and can no longer find its way."
Sri Aurobindo visualised the next stage of human evolution possible with the descent of a
gnostic power, the Supramental, capable of transforming the present man.
The Mother, French by birth, though of Middle-Eastern ancestry, first met Sri Aurobindo
in 1914. The Arya, a monthly, was launched under her initiative. Many of Sri Aurobindos
major works were first serialised in this magazine. The Mother had to leave for France

about a year later, but the magazine continued to be published. The Mother returned to
Pondicherry in 1920 and the Ashram took shape under her loving care. Sri Aurobindos
works now began to be published in an organised way, first by the Arya Publishing
House, Calcutta and later by the Ashram.
Sri Aurobindo, who had started writing at an early age, even during his stay at
Manchester (1879-1884), had continued with his creativity through all the turbulent
phases of his life, even during his incarceration.
His first book, a collection of poems, entitled Songs to Myrtilla, was published in 1895.
Between that and the last work to be published during his lifetime, Savitri (1950), he had
written extensively on Yoga, culture, sociology, in addition to his poetry and plays. He
also answered numerous letters from seekers most of which are compiled as books. His
major works are The Life Divine, The Synthesis of Yoga, Essays on the Gita, The Foundations of
Indian Culture, The Future Poetry, The Human Cycle, The Ideal of Human Unity, Collected
Poems and Plays and the epic Savitri. All this and his translations, letters and minor works
were compiled and published in a systematic manner, after his passing away on the
December 5, 1950, and a new edition of them, in 30 volumes, was brought out on the
occasion of his first birth centenary in 1972.
It is not possible to say in brief about the Mother. Her spiritual vision, her conviction
about the destiny of man, were the same as those of Sri Aurobindo, from her childhood.
She was the collaborator in Sri Aurobindos Yoga of Tansformation. She affirmed that
what Sri Aurobindo represents in earths history is not a teaching, not even a revelation,
but a decisive action direct from the Supreme.
On January 6, 1952, the Mother inaugurated the Sri Aurobindo International University
Centrelater to be known as Sri Aurobindo International Centre of Education.
Writes Dr. K. R. Srinivasa Iyengar :
"The key to knowledge is within, for it is the awakened soul within that observes, records,
sorts out, omits, unites, transmutes, and turns facts and information into knowledge,
knowledge into wisdom, and wisdom into the dynamo of right aspiration and action. The
spark is indeed within, albeit often obscured by the thick fog of the egoistic prison-house.
It is the true task of education to provide the atmosphere, the friendly help or guidance,
the leverage that will release the spark and make it flame forth into a blaze of
consciousness characterised by an ever increasing intensity and wideness. The physical,
the vital, the mental, all will be drafted into this adventure of consciousness, but still the

soul will be the rider of the chariot that is the body, with the vital and the mind as the
twin horses of the race. Sri Aurobindo has defined Yoga as a methodised effort towards
self-perfection by the expression of the potentialities latent in the being, and a union of
the human individual with the universal and transcendent Existence. In its far aims as
also in its essential processes, education coalesces with Yoga, and it is thus no mystery at
all that the Centre of Education is an inseparable part of the Yogashram at Pondicherry.
"Since education is viewed essentially as a field conducive to soul-awakening and soulgrowth, the Centre has no use for the artificial distinction between education for boys and
education for girls. The Centre of Education accordingly provides the same programme
including physical educationfor boys and girls. There is still room for plenty of choice,
but the options are made by the inner preference and not by the fact of sex and the
compulsion of traditional taboos.
Again, what brings pupils and teachers together in the general run of educational
institutions is a system of market-place attitudes and monetary objectives. At the Centre
of Education, on the contrary, pupils pay no feesonce admitted, the education is free.
As for the teachers, although fully qualified for the work they have to do, they are only
maintained by the Ashram like the other sadhaks and receive no salaries or other
monetary awards. This elimination of the rancour of the market-place and the lure of
mere monetary incentive makes for better pupils and better teachers who are brought
together, not as buyers or sellers of knowledge, but as fellow-seekers and pilgrims on the
march owing an unswerving allegiance to Sri Aurobindo and the Mother as the
embodiments of Truth and Love. Academic and hierarchic differentiations have a
functional use only, and are not meant to invade the deeper unity that derives from the
common spirit of dedication and self-consecration. The Centre of Education is a
community, almost a single consciousness, that is trying to realise to the full its
evolutionary possibility."
Through her continuous guidance in every matter, the Mother had seen to it that the
Centre of Education had found firm roots by the time she left her body on November 17,
1973. But the institution has never believed that it had as though arrived at its destination.
It continues to experiment with ideas emerging from Sri Aurobindos vision, applying
them to the process of learning and teaching to the best of its ability.
The Mother, in 1968, also launched Auroville, an epochmaking experiment in collective
living, residents of the township trying to rise above their religious, communal and racial
limitations and aspiring to look for a greater future. "Auroville wants to be a new creation

expressing a new Consciousness in a new way and according to new methods", said the
Mother.
In a wider sense the Auroville experiment is an educational experiment. It is an assertion
of faith in the future of man and an effort to evolve a new pattern of living, keeping in
mind Sri Aurobindos vision of a new humanity.

3
SRI AUROBINDOS VISION OF HUMAN DESTINY
There are several angles to look at man and to conclude that he is indeed different from
all his fellow-species on this earth far more different than the birds are from the beasts
or, among the beasts themselves, the elephant is from the rodent. But the difference that
strikes us immediate is the fact that he is capable of marvelling at himself, he knows that
he is a riddle unto himself. "Apart from man, no being wonders at its own existence", said
Schopenhaur.
Sri Aurobindo says in The Life Divine : "The animal is satisfied with a modicum of
necessity; the gods are content with their splendours. But man cannot rest permanently
until he reaches some highest good. He is the greatest of living beings because he is the
most discontented, because he feels most the pressure of limitations. He alone, perhaps, is
capable of being seized by the divine frenzy for a remote ideal."
Mankind, thus different from all the other species, is again marked by difference within
itself depending on factors such as culture, religion, nationality, wealth, education,
temperament, refinement and much more. But the most remarkable difference between
man and man, it may be said, is determined by the degree of the aforesaid "divine frenzy
for a remote ideal."
Indeed, while all the other creatures live in the present, man alone lives in three modes of
time simultaneously, be he conscious of it or unconscious of it. He has to drag along his
past as memory, he has to struggle through the present; and the futurebe it near or be it
faris always a factor to mould his thoughts and actions. In most people this position
may not mean anything more than experience (past) in the process of use (present) for a
better future, better in the sense of a happier living, but this leads at least a few to raise
several basic questions: Why is man what he is ? Why was he created at all ? To live, to
enjoy, to suffer, to occasionally reflect, but ultimately to dieare they all we have to life ?
Aristotle defining man as a political animal or Spinoza seeing him as

a social animal are well-pronounced statements of fact,

each carrying a certain truth, but they do not satisfy the fundamental queries. At the same
time, man cannot leave these stubborn far behind him.
Aurobindo says in The Life Divine : "We speak of the evolution of Life in Matter, the
evolution of Mind in Matter; but evolution is a word which merely states the
phenomenon without explaining it. For there seems to be no reason why Life should
evolve out of material elements or Mind out of living form, unless we accept the Vedantic
solution that Life is already involved in Matter and Mind in Life because in essence
Matter is a form of veiled Life, Life a form of veiled Consciousness. And then there seems
to be little objection to a farther step in the series and the admission that mental
consciousness may itself be only a form and a veil of higher states which are beyond
mind."
This observation of Sri Aurobindo precisely links the past with the present and the
present with the future, for, despite all the progress made by mankind, it cannot rest
content until this basic quest has been satisfied.
It seems that there was a time when this basic quest of man, which can be termed as his
inner quest, because response to this could come only from an exploration of his
consciousness, went hand in hand with his external explorations of the environment,
Nature, in search of better living conditions. In the Indian tradition we come across that
remarkable phenomenon, the Rishi, who was at once an explorer of these inner mysteries
of life and an architect of life in its social context, capable of leading a seeker along the
spiritual path and guiding a king through his pragmatic political crisis; he could author
an esoteric hymn and also be a poet of the splendours of life. For him life was a field of
experience embracing both the Physical World and the Spirit, but with a goaland that
was the conquest of the former by the latter.
This knowledge, at a certain phase of human development, resulted in the formation of
two different paths: the path of the Spirit and the path of the Mundane World. The first
meant a total preoccupation with the spirit, ignoring the worldly affairs and the second
meant a total absorption in the worldly affairs at the cost of the Spiritalbeit giving some
concessions to the latter in the way of taking interest in religion or leading a so-called
God-fearing life.
But what the Rishis intended in their aspirations for the conquest of the mundane world
by the spirit was not ignoring the mundane nor by its relegation to a position of unreality.
Their concept of the conquest was a kind of elevation of the mundane by the spiritan

enlightenment of those elements of our being which are most active in the mundane
affairs (namely, our physical existence, our passions and emotions, our thoughts and
knowledge) by the alchemy of our soul.
In fact, the Rishis had hit upon the truth that until one had discovered this inner-most
aspect of ones being, the Soul, one will never know oneself, nor will one be oneself.
The knowledge and realisation of the soul not only put life on a new pedestal, but also
changed its definition. Life could no longer be seen as a mere prisoner in the body, its
duration measured by birth and death. In its true nature, it was immortal.
While we find this knowledge of the soul, its immortality in the lores of great antiquity in
India (in the Upanishadic story of Nachiketa for example), it was wrapped up in an
allegorical myth in another ancient civilisation, as a mere story for the people in general
but as a revelation for the initiate.
After wrecking havoc in Thebes, a strange, winged creature with face of a woman, the
body of a dog, the tail of serpent and the paws of a lion stationed itself atop a hillock
along a desert road. It would throw this riddle at any unsuspecting traveller. "Who is the
being to walk on four legs at morn, on two as the day grows and on three in the evening?"
The traveller is given time till the sundown. Should he be able to answer, he could pass. If
not, the creature pounced upon him and killed him. No traveller escaped death until the
day Oedipus happened to reach the spot. "I am the answer", he said when confronted by
the terrible creature, and explained, "Man the infant crawls on all fours at the dawn of his
life; then he walks normally on two legs; in the evening of his life he takes recourse to a
walking stick,
his third leg." No sooner had the hero answered the riddle than the enigmatic examiner,
the Sphinx, jumped to its own death.
Unmistakable is the wisdom sealed in this famous Grecian-Roman myth, a version of the
Upanishadic doctrine: Man dies because he does not know himself. The day he has
known himself, it is death that would die! (The bizare composition of Sphinx, according
to one symbolism, indicated its own unreality).
Since it is the Spirit which is at the root of creation and the soul in man is that mode of the
Spirit which remains pure and self-conscious whereas the other faculties constituting
him, namely his body, life and mind, though essentially modes of the same Spirit, are
diluted and self-oblivious, it is through discovering his soul alone that man can discover
the truth of himself and, consequently, find answers to all the basic riddles of life.

If was necessary, in the process of evolution, for the mind to get the full opportunity for
its thorough exercise, for a demonstration of its marvellous possibilities. Without this
exercise of minds power of exploration, observation and its capacity for progress by
utilisation of its experience and knowledge, we will have neither science nor philosophy,
neither technology nor diplomacy.
The irony is, all these achievements of mind have not yielded to man what he had been
seeking since the dawn of his consciousness. What is more, those who are capable of
reviewing the situation, in regard to man vis-a-vis his fundamental quest, nurture no
illusion that the efficacy of mind can ever do justice to that quest. On the other hand,
there looms large a fear that the mind, ungoverned by something more enlightened, can
be unpredictable in the direction it will take, can wreck havoc on the totality (the being) of
which it is only a part.
As Sri Aurobindo diagnoses the situation; at present mankind is going through an
evolutionary crisis. It is only through a decisive transcendence of the mind and an
emergence into a higher stage of consciousness that man can come face to face with the
realisation of all that has remained his dream and his aspiration through the ages.
The Yoga of Sri Aurobindo and the Mother was directed towards paving the way for such
a transcendencethrough the transforming intervention of a power of the Divine
Consciousness they termed the Supramental. The riddle of Sphinx is the Riddle of our
life, but the future awaits not only the man who knows himself, but also the man who is
capable of applying that knowledge to fulfil his destinyby welcoming the advent of a
greater Self :
"And when that greater Self comes sea-like down
To fill this image of our transience,
All shall be captured by delight, transformed :
In waves of undreamed ecstasy shall roll
Our mind and life and sense and laugh in a light
Other than this hard limited human day,
The bodys tissues thrill apotheosised,

Its cells sustain bright metamorphosis........"

Savitri
Never in history has there been an age of paradox like ours. Today man builds
magnificent cities, and also makes bombs capable of destroying them totally, man has
produced great wealth, yet the deadly sting of poverty keep many limbs of humanity
paralysed. Those who are in a position to enjoy the fruits of technological progress are
haunted by an overwhelming sense of insecurity. Man has developed the greatest ever
awareness of human rights and dignity, yet his egoindividual and collectiveturns
tyrant to others at the earliest opportunity.
Can such broadening gulfs on so many fronts be bridged? Not until man has climbed to a
new state of consciousness, a higher one than hitherto realised, where mentally
irreconcilable situations can be reconciled. According to Sri Aurobindos diagnosis of the
situation, it can be said that we are passing through the greatest-ever transition. This does
not mean that a sweeping social, educational, political or cultural change is called for.
Changes in these spheres will of course comebut not through any kind of constitutional
reform. They will be the outcome of a mighty upliftment in human consciousness.
The promise of such a stride in consciousness, Sri Aurobindo says, is inherent in the
natural scheme of things and is evident in mans perennial urge to exceed himself, in his
age-old quest for perfection.
Is the progress visualised by Sri Aurobindo spiritual in nature? Indeed, it is, but in the
highest sense of the term true spirituality does not admit any dichotomy between the
material world and the spirit. In his Life Divine, Sri Aurobindo shows how mans earliest
formula of wisdom also promises to be his last his quest after God, Light, Freedom,
Bliss and Immortality. All his endeavours in the way of improving his life and his
environment and giving expression to his diverse inner urgesscientific, artistic, et al
can fall into one of these categories. Even the destructive instincts and emotions are not
independent realities by themselves, but are either the pulls of an inconscient state from
which the process of our emancipation is continuing, or are the distortions and
perversions of some of our positive qualities. Truths relation to falsehood can be
compared with lights relation to shadow. "A shadow depends on light for its existence,
but light does not depend for its existence on the shadow."
For long man has tried to get rid of the evil in life through the means of rejection or
destruction. He has not succeeded. Rejection only keeps the evil in waiting; destruction is

just not possiblefor in a sense nothing can be truly destroyed. Besides, good and evil are
intricately interwoven. Even mans noblest inspirations such as love and religion can be
corroded with lust and violence ingrained in him. Sri Aurobindo envisages the
transformation of the evil. The transforming power, the Supermind, is in fact involved in
the evolutionary process. Time has come for man to aspire for its emergence. We are
passing through an evolutionary crisis and nothing short of this can really take us out of
it.
No simpler summary of Sri Aurobindos vision and Yoga can be made than the one by the
Mother :
"There is an ascending evolution in Nature which goes from the stone to the plant, from
the plant to the animal, from the animal to man. Because man is, for the moment, the last
rung at the summit of the ascending evolution, he considers himself as the final stage in
this ascension and believes there can be nothing on earth superior to him. In that he is
mistaken. In his physical nature he is yet almost wholly an animal, a thinking and
speaking animal, but still an animal in his material habits and instincts. Undoubtedly,
nature cannot be satisfied with such an imperfect result; she endeavours to bring out a
being who will be to man what man is to the animal, a being who will remain a man in its
external form, and yet whose consciousness will rise far above the mental and its slavery
to ignorance.
"Sri Aurobindo came upon earth to teach this truth to men. He told them that man is only
a transitional being living in a mental consciousness, but with the possibility of acquiring
a new consciousness, the Truth-consciousness, and capable of living a life perfectly
harmonious, good and beautiful, happy and fully conscious. During the whole of his life
upon earth, Sri Aurobindo gave all his time to establish in himself this consciousness he
called supramental, and to help those gathered around him to realise it."
The educational doctrine of Sri Aurobindo, needless to say, has to be closely linked with
this futuristic vision of human destiny. Sri Aurobindo startles us by saying that the first
thing a teacher must know is that nothing can be taught. The paradox is not meant to be
an enigma. He emphasises the need for a natural and spontaneous growth of the child
each being uniqueaccording to its own inherent capacity, its Swadharama. The real
wisdom lies imbedded in the child. No teacher need tell a child that the flower is
beautiful.
Apart from the well-known principles of taking care to see that the education was
integral, all the parts of the being, physical, vital or life-element, mind and the spirit

within got equal chance to develop simultaneously, Sri Aurobindos vision of man will
oblige us to treat every child as a unique being, a special joy of the creative power in its
manifestation of variety. This element of joy is of vital importance and the process of
education must be a process of inspiring joy in the child.
Once we accept that man is an evolving being, we have to allow many of our stock ideas
to changeideas which have been formulated taking man as he is for granted. Take, for
example, the case of the very discipline which deals with human consciousness
psychology. Once we remember that there is something in man that is in the process of a
transformation or an evolution, we will lose our enthusiasm to apply a principle to it
which was formulated on the basis of a more or less static proposition.
We have taken the idea for granted that it is the past which determines the present and
that the past and present will determine the future. But, in the light of Sri Aurobindo we
may very well revise the idea and wonder if it is not the future which has made the past
and the present. That is to say, there is a destiny which is in the process of realising itself
and all that has happened and all that is happening are a part of that process. Our
interpretation of events will then be quite different. Unlike the American biologist Euston
who proposes a solution of human problems by reducing the future generations to
pocket-size men and women so that, among other things, food problems will be solved,
our attention will go over to a radical change inevitable in human consciousness, for
basically all problems concern consciousness.
Let us recall a one-page story by Oscar Wilde. As we know, among the several miracles
Jesus had performed, one was to restore sight to a man grown blind, another was to cure
a leper and yet another was to resurrect a dead man. Once Jesus comes down from the
heavens and enters a locality. It is night. From inside a house comes the sound of music.
He enters it and sees a man holding a cup of wine in his hand, enjoying a lusty dance.
Jesus touches him on his shoulder. The man gives a start and looks. "I know who you are.
Once I was blind. You restored to me my sight. What am I to do with my sight if not enjoy
this?"
Jesus sighed and went out into the street. He saw another man chasing a coy damsel. He
stood between them. The man stopped, stared at him and said, "I know who you are.
Once I had a rotten body. You restored it to its health. How am I going to use it if not in
this way?" Jesus sighed and moved away. On the outskirts of the locality, beside a lake,
there sat a man shedding tears. Jesus patted him on the back. He looked back and said, "I
know who you are. Once I was dead and you revived me. What am I to do with my life if
not to weep it away!" Jesus sighed and returned to his abode.

The story leaves in our mind a formidable question. What if all our desires were fulfilled?
With the quality of our consciousness remaining what it is, is mere fulfilment of desires
going to give us a greater satisfaction in living, a greater sense of fulfilment? Doesnt
affluence and a sense of futility often go together? Even the expectations which the
intelligentsia in the 18th and 19th century hadthat science and socialism will usher in a
new and happy civilisationwere belied in the 20th century. Nevertheless if Huxley
thought of applying a principle of positive eugenics to check the quality of the future
population and Russell wondered if Providence made such an elaborate backdrop for a
puny and transitory result like man, Sri Aurobindo brings a certain assurance about the
future of man and in his light we find a solid ground for developing a new optimism for
the future, despite some deplorable signs to the contrary and if this faith in the future can
be infused into the process of education and the message of a new consciousness can
replace the stock notions of human nature, we can then hope for a qualitative turn in our
philosophy of education.
Education would then embrace, to quote from The Human Cycle by Sri Aurobindo, "all
knowledge in its scope, but would make the whole trend and aim and the permeating
spirit not mere worldly efficiency, but this self-developing and self-finding. It would
pursue physical and psychical science not in order merely to know the world and Nature
in her processes and to use them for material human ends, but to know through and in
and under and over all things the Divine in the world and the ways of the Spirit in its
masks and behind them. It would make it the aim of ethics not to establish a rule of action
whether supplementary to the social law or partially corrective of it, the social law that is
after all only the rule, often clumsy and ignorant, of the biped pack, the human herd, but
to develop the divine nature in the human being. It would make it the aim of Art not
merely to present images of the subjective and objective worlds, but to see them with the
significant and creative vision that goes behind their appearances and to reveal the Truth
and Beauty of which things visible to us and invisible are the forms, the masks or the
symbols and significant figures."
The greatest help we can give to the future is to arm the young with an unshakable faith
in the future.

4
NATIONALISM AND EDUCATION
It was Sri Aurobindos influence on the Indian National Congress, in the first decade of
the century which made the organisation include Swadeshi, Boycott and National

Education in its programme. He wrote editorial in the Bande Mataram, more than once,
urging the party to give sufficient attention to education, which was divided in two
groups. One favoured running a chain of national schools, parallel with the government
schools and the other group was much more ambitious. It wanted its ideas to infiltrate all
the government schools!
The grotesque defects in the system of education that prevailed in India pained not only
patriotic Indians, but also some Englishmen. For example, wrote W. W. Hunter, "Your
State education is producing a revolt against three principles which, although they were
pushed too far in ancient India, represent the deepest wants of human naturethe
principle of discipline, the principle of religion, the principle of contentment." He said
further, "What are you to do with this great clever class, forced up under a foreign system,
without discipline, without contentment and without God ?"
In his well-known work, Indian Unrest (1910), Valentine Chirol observed :
"The fundamental weakness of our Indian educational system is that the average Indian
student cannot bring his education into any direct relation with the world in which,
outside the class or lecture room, he continues to live. For that world is still the old Indian
world of his forefathers, and it is as far removed as the poles asunder from the Western
world which claims his education."
Hemendra Prasad reviews the situation in his foreword to A Phase of the Swadeshi
Movement : National Education (1953) by Prof. Haridas Mukherjee and Prof. Uma
Mukherjee, thus :
"But they had to encounter immense difficulty in introducing a system of national
education chiefly because the alien Government stood in the way. The Government would
not recognise any system of education which was not stamped with their approval and,
consequently, was not likely to serve their end. The door to the professions was barred for
those who were not the products of the system which had a denationalising effect on the
people. It created a huge hiatus between the educated and the masses; for, the educated
considered themselves a separate class and developed what may be called superioritycomplex. As an inevitable result the desire to diffuse the fertilising waters of intellectual
knowledge from their great and copious fountainheads at the Universities by a thousand
irrigating channels over the whole length and breadth of the landdeteriorated and
learning was not connected with the living forces of societythe masses were not made a
sharer in the classic traditions of the lettered world."

"In 1906, the National Council of Education was founded in Calcutta. The Bengal National
College and School started its working career since August 15 at a rented house at 191/1,
Bowbazar Street, with Aurobindo Ghose as its first Principal and Satis Chandra
Mukherjee as its first Executive Head or the Superintendent.... Aurobindos name alone
proved a very valuable asset to the Bengal National College and added enormously to the
prestige of the institution in public eyes. But as he soon became,particularly since
October 1906,more and more involved in active politics and in the conduct of the
famous Bande Mataram,he could not turn up regularly in the college whose life-force
was, in fact, Satis Chandra Mukherjee, the silent inspirer of Young Bengal."
That was a turbulent time. The freedom movement was gathering momentum. The
character of the Indian National Congress was to undergo a radical change at its historic
Surat session in 1907, the nationalists meeting under the Presidentship of Sri Aurobindo
and the government bringing the charge of sedition against the Bande Mataram and then
arresting him in connection with the Alipore Conspiracy Case (1908).
But the need for a greater experiment in national education continued to be felt by him. In
the Bande Mataram of 24 February 1908 he wrote, under the title A National University:
"The idea of a National University is one of the ideas which have formulated themselves
in the national consciousness and become part of the immediate destiny of a people. It is a
seed which is sown and must come to its fruition, because the future demands it and the
heart of the nation is in accord with the demand. The processes of its increase may be
rapid or it may be slow, and when the first beginnings are made, there may be many
errors and false starts, but like a stream gathering volume as it flows, the movement will
grow in force and certainty, the vision of those responsible for its execution will grow
clearer, and their hands will be helped in unexpected ways until the purpose of God is
worked out and the idea shapes itself into an accomplished reality. But it is necessary that
those who are the custodians of the precious trust, should guard it with a jealous care and
protect its purity and first high aim from being sullied or lowered."
Sri Aurobindo, no wonder, could not give his time to the educational movement and the
functioning of the College founded by the National Council seems to have deteriorated
because of the people managing it trying to dissociate it from the general national fervour
sweeping the country and making it purely academic in character. The anguish Sri
Aurobindo felt found expression in an article entitled National Education, published in
the Karmayogin (January 1, 1910), the weekly he edited after his acquittal in the Alipore
Conspiracy Case and before leaving for Pondicherry :

"National Education languishes because the active force has been withdrawn from it; it
does not absolutely perish because a certain amount of Nationalist self-devotion has
entrenched itself in this last stronghold and holds it against great odds and under the
most discouraging circumstances. A certain amount only,because part of the active
enthusiasm and self-sacrifice which created the movement, has been deliberately
extruded from it in obedience to fear or even baser motives, part has abandoned in
disgust at the degeneration of the system in incapable hands and the rest is now finding
its self-devotion baffled and deprived of the change of success by the same incapacity and
weakness at headquaters.
"The National Council of Education, as it is at present composed, has convicted itself of
entire incapacity whether to grasp the meaning of the movement or to preserve or create
the conditions of its success. To the majority of the members it is merely an interesting
academic experiment in which they can embody some of their pet hobbies or satisfy a
general vague dissatisfaction with the established University system. To others the only
valuable part of it is the technical instruction given in its workshops. The two or three
who at all regard it as part of a great national movement, are unnerved by fear, scepticism
and distrust... It is folly to expect that the nation at large will either pay heavily or make
great sacrifices merely to support an interesting academic experiment, still less to allow a
few learned men to spoil the intellectual development of the race by indulging their
hobbies at the public expense... Unless this movement is carried on, as it was undertaken,
as part of a great movement of national resurgence, unless it is made, visibly to all, a
nursery of patriotism and a mighty instrument of national culture, it cannot succeed. It is
foolish to expect men to make great sacrifices while discouraging their hope and
enthusiasm. It is not intellectual recognition of duty that compels sustained self-sacrifice
in masses of men; it is hope, it is the lofty ardour of a great cause, it is the enthusiasm of a
noble and courageous effort. It is amazing that men calling themselves educated and
presuming to dabble with public movements should be blind to the fact that the success
or failure of National Education is intimately bound up with and, indeed, entirely
depends upon the fortunes of the great resurgence which gave it birth. They seem to
labour under the delusion that it was an academic and not a national impulse which
induced men to support this great effort, and they seek to save the institution from a
premature death by exiling from it the enthusiasm that made it possible. They cannot
ignore the service done by that enthusiasm, but they regard it merely as the ladder by
which they climbed and are busy trying to kick it down. They are really shutting off the
steam, yet expect the locomotive to go on."
At Pondicherry, with the appearance of the monthly Arya, Sri Aurobindos vision and
reflections on all the great issues of life and of Yoga and spirituality found a distinct

medium for their serialised presentation. He wrote "A Preface on National Education"
(1920-1921) in which he clearly analysed, in the backdrop of the 20th century, how a
national outlook of education can be synthesised with the modern development. He says
"National education was not a mere change of control of the educational institutions, the
authority passing from the hands of the Westerners to Indians. "I presume that it is
something more profound, great and searching that we have in mind and that, whatever
the difficulty of giving it shape, it is an education proper to the Indian soul and need and
temperament and culture that we are in quest of, not indeed something faithful merely to
the past, but to the developing soul of India, to her future need, to the greatness of her
coming self-creation, to her eternal spirit."
"There could be questions on the idea of a national education. Is it not true that the
training of good citizenship is the same in the East or the West? Is it not true that man is
same everywhere and his needs are common? Education should have a universal
character and not limited by any concept. No nation can reject the discoveries or
inventions in science because they were possible in another country. We cannot dismiss
Galileo and Newton and stop with Bhaskara, Aryabhatta and Varahamihira. We cannot
revive the syllabus followed at Takshashila or Nalanda. After all we live in the twentieth
century and cannot revive the India of Chandragupta or Akbar; we must keep abreast
with the march of truth and knowledge, fit ourselves for existence under actual
circumstances, and our education must be therefore upto date in form and substance and
modern in life and spirit."
To such possible observations, Sri Aurobindos answer was:
"All these objections are only pertinent if directed against the travesty of the idea of
national education which would make of it a means of an obscurantist retrogression to
the past forms that were once a living frame of our culture but are now dead or dying
things; but that is not the idea nor the endeavour. The living spirit of the demand for
national education no more requires a return to the astronomy and mathematics of
Bhaskara or the forms of the system of Nalanda than the living spirit of Swadeshi a return
from railway and motor traction to the ancient chariot and the bullockcart. There is no
doubt plenty of retrogressive sentimentalism about and there have been some queer
violences on common sense and reason and disconcerting freaks that prejudice the real
issue, but these inconsequent streaks of fantasy give a false hue to the matter. It is the
spirit, the living and vital issue that we have to do with, and there the question is not
between modernism and antiquity, but between an imported civilization and the greater
possibilities of the Indian mind and nature, not between the present and the past, but
between the present and the future. It is not a return to the fifth century but an initiation

of the centuries to come, not a reversion but a break forward away from a present artificial
falsity to her own greater innate potentialities that is demanded by the soul, by the Shakti
of India."
That a policy of national education did not mean merely infusing in the student the spirit
of the nations culture, aspirations and other qualities peculiar to it, but something more,
to make the student a worthy unit of humanity, was emphasised in the next part of the
essay :
"It follows that that alone will be a true and living education which helps to bring out to
full advantage, makes ready for the full purpose and scope of human life all that is in the
individual man, and which at the same time helps him to enter into his right relation with
the life, mind and soul of the people to which he belongs and with that great total life,
mind and soul of humanity of which he himself is a unit and his people or nation a living,
a separate and yet inseparable member. It is by considering the whole question in the
light of this large and entire principle that we can best arrive at a clear idea of what we
would have our education to be and what we shall strive to accomplish by a national
education. Most is this largeness of view and foundation needed here and now in India,
the whole energy of whose life purpose must be at this critical turning of her destinies
directed to her one great need, to find and rebuild her true self in individual and in
people and to take again, thus repossessed of her inner greatness, her due and natural
portion and station in the life of the human race."
If this were allthough this is profoundly idealthen this could apply to the ideal
system of education emanating from any culturally advanced country of the world. But
making a good individual, a good citizen of the country and an ideal citizen of the world
could not be the end for the perfect Indian vision of education. Since times immemorial
India has discovered as the final goal of life a point beyond the visible horizon of life. It
has defined life not as a span of existence bracketed by birth and death, but as a spirit
launched into the infinity, at the same time capable of experiencing the infinity in this
world of finites assigned to him. A Nachiketa who demanded of the God of Death the
power to unravel the mystery of death, a Markandeya who could totally identify himself
with the Eternity so that the appointed time for his death came and passed without the
powers concerned being able to locate him as a mortal individual, a Savitri who could
alter the destiny of her husband by the dint of her love sharpened by askesis, an Arjuna
taught to view things and happenings through his inner eye, from the point of view of his
soul and thereby look upon as gross a situation as a battle as an opportunity for Yoga
are examples testifying to this attitude of ushering in the alchemy of infinity into the finite
life.

It is this aspiration to know the hidden realities which gives the spirit of India, as
reflected in its literature, philosophy and traditions, often distorted though, an exclusive
feature. An education to be truly Indian must light in the consciousness of the student the
flame of this quest.
Hence, said Sri Aurobindo:
"India has seen always in man the individual a soul, a portion of the Divinity enwrapped
in mind and body, a conscious manifestation in Nature of the universal self and spirit.
Always she has distinguished and cultivated in him a mental, an intellectual, an ethical,
dynamic and practical, an aesthetic and hedonistic, a vital and physical being, but all
these have been seen as powers of a soul that manifests through them and grows with
their growth, and yet they are not all the soul, because at the summit of its ascent it arises
to something greater than them all, into a spiritual being, and it is in this fact that she has
found the supreme manifestation of the soul of man and his ultimate divine manhood,
his paramartha and highest purusartha. And similarly India has not been understood by the
nation or people as an organised State or an armed and efficient community well
prepared for the struggle of life and putting all at the service of the national ego,that is
only the disguise of iron armour which masks and encumbers the national purusha,but
a great communal soul and life that has appeared in the whole and has manifested a
nature of its own and a law of that nature, a Swabhava and Swadharma, and embodied it in
its intellectual, aesthetic, ethical, dynamic, social and political forms and culture. And
equally then our cultural conception of humanity must be in accordance with her ancient
vision of the universal manifesting in the human race, evolving through life and mind but
with a high ultimate spiritual aim,it must be the idea of the spirit, the soul of humanity
advancing through struggle and concert towards oneness, increasing its experience and
maintaining a needed diversity through the varied culture and life motives of its many
people, searching for perfection through the development of the powers of the individual
and his progress towards a diviner being and life, but feeling out too though more slowly
after a similar perfectability in the life of the race."

5
CONCEPT OF SPIRITUAL EDUCATION
"Man cannot rest permanently until he reaches some highest good."
"To fulfil God in life is mans manhood."

Sri Aurobindo
There are two misconceptions about the term Spiritual and both are too stubborn to give
way to an objective explanation of the word. First, spiritual and spirituality are
understood as synonyms of religious and religion. Second, Spiritual is taken to be the
opposite of material, pragmatic or practical, an idea that inspires in our minds the picture
of other-worldliness and asceticism.
To confuse spirituality with religion, of course, is not always wrong, for much depends on
what one understands by religion. Says Sri Aurobindo, "There are two aspects of religion
true religion and religionism. True religion is spiritual religion, that which seeks to live
in the spirit, in what is beyond the intellect, beyond the aesthetic and ethical and practical
being of man, and to inform and govern these members of our being by the higher light
and law of the spirit. Religionism, on the contrary, entrenches itself in some narrow
pietistic exaltation of the lower members or lays exclusive stress on intellectual dogmas,
forms and ceremonies, on some fixed and rigid moral code, on some religio-political or
religio-social system. Not that these things are altogether negligible or that they must be
unworthy or unnecessary or that a spiritual religion need disdain the aid of forms,
ceremonies, creeds or systems. On the contrary, they are needed by man because the
lower members have to be exalted and raised before they can be fully spiritualised, before
they can directly feel the spirit and obey its law. An intellectual formula is often needed
by the thinking and reasoning mind, form or ceremony by the aesthetic temperament or
other parts of the infrarational being, a set moral code by mans vital nature in their turn
towards the inner life. But these things are aids and supports, not the essence; precisely
because they belong to the rational and infrarational parts, they can be nothing more and,
if too blindly insisted on, may even hamper the suprarational light. Such as they are, they
have to be offered to man and used by him, but not to be imposed on him as his sole law
by a forced and inflexible domination. In the use of them toleration and free permission of
variation is the first rule which should be observed. The spiritual essence of religion is
alone the one thing supremely needful, the thing to which we have always to hold and
subordinate to it every other element or motive."
The Human Cycle
Viewed in a comprehensive perspective, Materialism, the material science in particular, by
exploring the mysteries of Nature and harnessing her powers for welfare and progress,
has made man more and more conscious of his own potential capacity on the one hand,
and, on the other hand, of the infinite possibilities and promises that are there in Nature.
This increase or expansion of mans knowledge of himself and of his environment can

never be opposed to his spiritual quest. If spiritual quest leads man inward, makes him
look for the inner splendours of his consciousness, the material quest helps him to
understand the phenomenon outside and around him. It is the poverty of human mind
and human perception which fails to recognise the harmony between Spirit and Matter,
their secret intimacy and the fact that both owe their existence to a common source.
Matter itself is a form of Spirit in which consciousness remains asleep and involved.
"Matter means the involution of the conscious delight of existence in self-oblivious force
and in self-dividing, infinitesimally disaggregated form of substance", says Sri Aurobindo
(The Synthesis of Yoga)
It is our ignorance which does not allow us to get over the dichotomy between Matter and
Spirit. But, says Sri Aurobindo, "The affirmation of a divine life upon earth and an
immortal sense in mortal existence can have no base unless we recognise not only eternal
Spirit as the inhabitant of this bodily mansion, the wearer of this mutable robe, but accept
Matter of which it is made, as a fit and noble material out of which He weaves constantly
His garbs, builds recurrently the unending series of His mansions."
The Life Divine
A spiritual education, in the light of Sri Aurobindo, would naturally help the seeker to
view both Spirit and Matter in a new light. For him Spirituality is an adventure with
matter for its basis. For him the material or the so-called mundane world is neither false,
nor illusory, but a truth, a reality though shrouded in falsehood and illusion. One seeking
for Truth must change ones attitude to matter, "For this is the monstrous thing, the
terrible and pitiless miracle of the material universe that out of this no-Mind a mind or, at
least, minds emerge and find themselves struggling feebly for light, helpless individually,
only less helpless when in self-defence they associate their individual feeblenesses in the
midst of the giant Ignorance which is the law of the universe. Out of this heartless
Inconscience and within its rigorous jurisdiction hearts have been born and aspire and are
tortured and bleed under the weight of the blind and insentient cruelty of this iron
existence, a cruelty which lays its law upon them and becomes sentient in their sentience,
brutal, ferocious, horrible. But what after all, behind appearances, is this seeming
mystery? We can see that it is the Consciousness which had lost itself returning again to
itself, emerging out of its giant self-forgetfulness, slowly, painfully, as a Life that is would
be sentient, half sentient, dimly sentient, wholly sentient and finally struggles to be more
than sentient, to be again divinely self-conscious, free, infinite, immortal. But it works
towards this under a law that is the opposite of all these things. Under the conditions of

Matter, that is to say, against the grasp of the Ignorance. The movements it has to follow,
the instruments it has to use are set and made for it by this brute and divided Matter and
impose on it at every step ignorance and limitation."
"The Knot of Matter", The Life Divine
A true spiritual education has to teach the students to recognise this relationship between
Spirit and Matter, so that one neither looks down upon Matter and all the problems the
material life presents, nor shuns Spirituality as a lesson in escapism. A spiritual education
would prepare the student to face life armed with a greater faith and face with an outlook
which is integral. His recognition of the problems of life will not depend entirely on their
appearances; he will be able to delve deep into them and see the play of hidden forces
behind them. He will be able to grow spiritually through tackling the hurdles, presented
by life.
"All life is Yoga", says Sri Aurobindo, giving a radically expansive definition to the
concept of Yoga. The same can be said of education; all life is education. So far as the body
is concerned, at least the present human body, it grows mechanically and grows old; so
far as the growth of consciousness is concerned, it waits for mans conscious aspiration
and it never grows old!
In reply to a seekers query, the Mother said, "India has or rather had the knowledge of
the Spirit, but she neglected matter and suffered for it. "
"The West has the knowledge of matter but rejected the Spirit and suffered badly for it.
"An integral education which could, with some variations, be adapted to all the nations of
the world, must bring back the legitimate authority of the Spirit over a matter fully
developed and utilised." (Collected Works, Vol. 13)
Spirit, in a positive form, remained in man as the soul.
"........each human being is a self-developing soul and ....... the business of both parent and
teacher is to enable and to help the child to educate himself, to develop his own
intellectual, moral, aesthetic and practical capacities and to grow freely as an organic
being, not to be kneaded and pressured into form like an inert plastic material. It is not
yet realised what this soul is or that the true secret, whether with child or man, is to help
him to find his deeper self, the real psychic entity within. That, if we ever give it a chance
to come forward, and still more if we call it into the foreground as the leader of the
march set in our front, will itself take up most of the business of education out of our

hands and develop the capacity of the psychological being towards a realisation of its
potentialities of what our present mechanical view of life and man and external routine
methods of dealing with them prevent us from having any experience or forming any
conception."
Sri Aurobindo : The Human Cycle
Commenting on this passage, Dr. K. R. Srinivasa Iyengar says in his Re-thinking on Ends
and Means in Education (A lecture delivered on the occasion of the Silver Jubilee
Celebrations of the British Council Library, Chennai) : "In education, therefore, it is of the
utmost importance to awaken this veiled and withdrawn soul withinas Ramakrishna
awakened the inner self of Vivekanandaand make it the leader of the march.
Population explosion, knowledge explosion, and the threat of nuclear explosion, all seem
to indicate a crisis in human civilisation. Life, knowledge, powerall threaten to destroy
by their very surfeit. For what is lacking is Love, and Love fails us because our
understanding is partial and defective. But for such a fuller understanding a new
education centered in the soul or the psychic entity can alone have the key."
No wonder that at a certain phase in Indian history, the greatest emphasis the educational
system laid was on making the student conscious of his soul. The process of learning,
from this point of view, began from within.
What the teacherwho was often a Rishi or a seerwished to see was, all the faculties,
all the parts of the pupils personality, must be governed by his soul, instead of by his
crude physical desires, mental preferences or impulses. A great doctrine to which they
subscribed was the doctrine of Swadharma. In the phenomenal world marked by
multiplicity, each human being had a specific inner nature, apart from his share of the
common stock of desires, emotions and passions, constituting his superficial personality,
his ego-self. To transcend the ego-self and to illumine the consciousness in the splendour
of the soul was looked upon as the true goal of education.
But what was most significant, this process of discovering ones Swadharma or inner
nature and probing the soul did not mean a breaking away from the world, the trial and
tribulations, challenges and risks offered by the normal life. In fact, the art of developing
ones consciousness lay in ones ability to decipher numerous secret lessons which even
apparently most ordinary situations in life could offer. The Upanishads and the Epics
present several illustrations of this truth. The most astounding of them is the use of the
battlefield by Lord Krishna to reveal the supreme spiritual secret to his dear disciple,
Arjuna, on the eve of a terrible war. Another significant incident concerns the childhood

of Aruni, an illustrious sage. Aruni had satisfied his guru with his mastery over the
scriptures and the different lores he was required to study. Yet the master did not tell him
that he had completed his course.
Then came a rainy night. The Gurukul or the Ashram school owned a plot of paddy field.
The guru feared that the nearby tank might overflow into the field, submerging the
tender crop to its detriment. He asked Aruni to go and ensure that the embankment
between the field and the tank stood intact. Reaching the site, Aruni saw a breach in the
embankment, already causing a steady flow of water into the paddy field. He tried to fill
up the breach with handfuls of earth, but in vain. Without a moments hesitation he lay
down against the breach, stopping the flow. He fainted and was found by his guru and
his fellow-students when the weather improved at dawn. That day, when he had fully
recovered from his exhaustion, the guru told him, "Today I am satisfied that your
education has been completed."
The incident illustrates how theoretical knowledge alone was not enough for one to be
deemed educated. We see some distinct undercurrents beneath Arunis action: his was an
enlightened pragmatism. That is to say, not that he did not know that it was not proper to
risk ones life for a temporary material gain. But he took the risk because his zeal
belonged to another plane where to defy the odds and to stand up to a commitment was
an ideal worth achieving, its utilitarian worth or worthlessness notwithstanding. He had
conquered his ego; even though he was a scholar, he did not look upon the action he took
as something inferior to his status. Education had taught him humility.
But how far is this spirit of education relevant to our time? "Education must have an end
in view, for it is not an end in itself," said Sybil Marshall in An Experiment in Education.
And if we recognise that goal to be at least helping to student to become a better human
being, then the spirit in question is absolutely relevant.
The spiritual education is not a specific subject like history, geography or mathematics. It
begins with the very formation of an individuals consciousness. Today the proliferation
of educational institutions and the phenomenal growth in student-population have made
a personal relationship between the teacher and the pupil very difficult. The students feel
harassed and they dont mind harassing their educators in return.
"When the expanding youth generation comes to the academy, we expect it to master in a
few years what the entire evolutionary adventure has accomplished so laboriously over
all past ages. If the tasks of education were never easy, today they are bewilderingly more
difficult than ever before. Too many students, alas: and too many loads of knowledge: and

too meagre resources: and too little time at our disposal: and too much distraction to
permit us to make really profitable use of even the available time! The aggregating
situation is plainly impossible. Expansion seems already to have gone past the stage of
profitable returns, and yet we feel helpless to arrest this growth, this madness, this
headlong run towards racial suicide."
Dr. K. R. Srinivasa Iyengar
Added to this situation are a hundred other factors, politics (by no means in a theoretical
sense) making inroads into the campus, the influence of the irresponsible and anarchic
explosion of vulgar entertainments through electronic and other media, etc. Where is the
opportunity for spiritual education to claim their attention?
But, luckily, the key to ignite in the children a spiritual outlook is in the hands of those
who have the sole monopoly of the childs attention and the sole hold on the childs time
at the most important stage of the childs growth. Needless to say, they are the parents.
Next in importance, no doubt, is the teacher. Discussing with the teachers of Sri
Aurobindo International Centre of Education the issue of teacher-student relationship
and how a teacher can really exercise his or her influence on the students, the Mother
said, "Teachers who are not perfectly calm, who do not have an endurance that never fails
and a quietude which nothing can disturb, who have no self-respect... will get nowhere.
One must be a saint and a hero to be a good teacher. One must have a perfect attitude to
demand a perfect attitude from the students. You cannot ask anyone to do what you dont
do yourself. That is a rule....
"... I have never asked anyone educated here to give lessons without seeing that this
would be for him the best way of disciplining himself, of learning better what he is to
teach and of reaching an inner perfection he would never have if he were not a teacher
and had not this opportunity of disciplining himself, which is exceptionally severe. Those
who succeed as teachers hereI dont mean an outer, artificial and superficial success,
but becoming truly good teachersthis means that they are capable of making an inner
progress of impersonalisation, of eliminating their egoism, controlling their movement,
capable of a clear-sightedness, an understanding of others and a never-failing patience".
(Collected Works of the Mother, Vol. 8)
In a true system of education it is not the student alone who makes progress, but the
teacher too does the same.

6
CONCEPT OF INTEGRAL EDUCATION
Thoreau and Emerson, both alumni of Harvard, were once reminiscing over their alma
mater, in the course of which Emerson is believed to have said that the University had by
now all the branches of knowledge.
"Branches are fine", Thoreau is believed to have commented. "But what about the roots?"
The primary purpose of education, if not forgotten, had remained ignored for long. Way
back in 1909, Sri Aurobindo wrote in the Karmayogin. "The first necessity for the building
up of a great intellectual superstructure is to provide a foundation strong enough to bear
it. Those systems of education which start from an insufficient knowledge of man, think
they have provided a satisfactory foundation when they have supplied the student with a
large or well-selected mass of information on the various subjects which comprise the best
part of human culture at the time. The school gives the materials, it is for the student to
use themthis is the formula. But the error here is fundamental. Information cannot be
the foundation of intelligence, it can only be part of the material out of which the knower
builds knowledge, the starting-point, the nucleus of fresh discovery and enlarged
creation. An education that confines itself to imparting knowledge, is not education. The
various faculties of memory, judgement, imagination, perception, reasoning, which build
the edifice of the thought and knowledge for the knower, must not only be equipped with
their fit and sufficient tools and materials, but trained to bring fresh materials and use
more skillfully those of which they are in possession. And the foundation of the structure
they have to build, can only be the provision of a fund of force and energy sufficient to
bear the demands of a continually growing activity of the memory, judgement and
creative power."
The Brain of India
We find his concept of an integral education already inherent in this passage, although
the phrase was used much later by the Mother. In a series of articles published in the Arya
in the second decade of the 20th century (subsequently compiled under the title War and
Self-Determination), we find him laying emphasis on the child as a soula truth which any
sound system of education must recognise, first and foremost, and then proceed to help
its other faculties to develop.

"The child was in the ancient patriarchal idea the live property of the father; he was his
creation, his production, his own reproduction of himself; the father, rather than God or
the universal Life in place of God, stood as the author of the childs being; and the creator
has every right over his creation, the producer over his manufacture. He had the right to
make of him what he willed, and not what the being of the child really was within, to
train and shape and cut him according to the parental ideas and not rear him according to
his own natures deepest needs, to bind him to the paternal career or the career chosen by
the parent and not that to which his nature and capacity and inclination pointed, to fix for
him all the critical turning-points of his life even after he had reached maturity. In
education the child was regarded not as a soul meant to grow, but as brute psychological
stuff to be shaped into a fixed mould by the teacher. We have travelled to another
conception of the child as a soul with a being, a nature and capacities of his own who
must be helped to find them, to find himself, to grow into their maturity, into a fullness of
physical and vital energy and the utmost breadth, depth, and height of his emotional, his
intellectual and his spiritual being."
Between the twenties and the thirties of the 20th century, Sri Aurobindos seer-vision
encompassed the entire range of human lifewith all its activities, social, political,
cultural, educational, etc., so much so that we do not know of any other savant in
recorded history to have tackled so many subjects at so very lofty planes. His return to the
issue of education again and again was unavoidable and again and again, in different
contexts, he highlighted the unique role of the soul. Reflecting on the possible
contribution of education to a divine life on earth, he says :
"But it has not been found in experience, whatever might have once been hoped, that
education and intellectual training by itself can change man; it only provides the human
individual and collective ego with better information and a more efficient machinery for
its self-affirmation, but leaves it the same unchanged human ego. Nor can human mind
and life be cut into perfection,even into what is thought to be perfection, a constructed
substitute,by any kind of social machinery; matter can be so cut, thought can be so cut,
but in our human existence matter and thought are only instruments for the soul and the
life-force. Machinery cannot form the soul and life-force into standardised shapes; it can
at best coerce them, make soul and mind inert and stationary and regulate the lifes
outward action; but if this is to be effectively done, coercion and compression of the mind
and life are indispensable and that again spells either unprogressive stability or
decadence. The reasoning mind with its logical practicality has no other way of getting
the better of Natures ambiguous and complex movements than a regulation and
mechanisation of mind and life. If that is done, the soul of humanity will either have to
recover its freedom and growth by a revolt and a destruction of the machine into whose

grip it has been cast or escape by a withdrawal into itself and a rejection of life. Mans true
way-out is to discover his soul and its self-force and instrumentation and replace by it
both the mechanisation of mind and the ignorance and disorder of life-nature. But there
would be little room and freedom for such a movement of self-discovery and selfeffectuation in a closely regulated and mechanised social existence."
The Life Divine
Since Sri Aurobindo made this observation, mankind has witnessed several instances to
corroborate it. Among many tumultuous events of the twentieth century is the World War
IIrevealing how fragile an assurance education and all the trappings of so-called
civilized societies were against an upsurge of dark elements in man or against a hostile
force taking possession of himshowing him as he is in his utter nakedness.
But when we meditate on the issue, we are most likely to arrive at an impasse. We stand
convinced that the awakening of soul in man is the answer to the state of human
predicament, but how to bring about the fulfilment of that condition?
There comes the relevance of Yoga.
But what is Yoga? While Yoga means union, union with the source of our being, people
often understand by Yoga Hathayoga, practice of a system of physical postures, breathcontrol etc. to arrive at certain experience or to achieve certain powers. There are also
other distinguished schools of Yoga: Rajayoga, which leads the seeker to various states of
trance, Jnanayoga, a discipline to grow closer to the goal through Knowledge, Karmayoga
and Bhaktiyoga which lead the seeker to the same goal through Action and Devotion
respectively.
But Sri Aurobindo presents Yoga in a far more natural perspective. "In the right view of
both life and Yoga, all life is either consciously or sub-consciously a Yoga", he says and
proceeds thus :
"For we mean by this term a methodised effort towards self-perfection by the expression
of the potentialities latent in the being and a union of the human individual with the
universal and transcendent Existence we see partially expressed in man and in the
Cosmos. But all life, when we look behind its appearances, is a vast Yoga of Nature
attempting to realise her perfection in an ever increasing expression of her potentialities
and to unite herself with her own divine reality. In man, her thinker, she for the first time
upon this Earth devises self-conscious means and willed arrangements of activity by
which this great purpose may be more swiftly and puissantly attained. Yoga, as Swami

Vivekananda has said, may be regarded as a means of compressing ones evolution into a
single life or a few years or even a few months of bodily existence."
"Life and Yoga", The Synthesis of Yoga

Sri Aurobindo saw that since the different schools of Yoga aimed at one goal, one union, a
synthesis could be achieved among them :
"By the very nature of the principal Yogic schools each covering in its operations a part of
the complex human integer and attempting to bring out its highest possibilities, it will
appear that a synthesis of all of them largely conceived and applied might well result in
an integral Yoga. But they are so disparate in their tendencies, so highly specialised and
elaborated in their forms, so long confirmed in the mutual opposition of their ideas and
methods that we do not easily find how we can arrive at their right union."
Again, those who got a taste of the Infinite through Yoga looked upon the finite world as
something almost superfluous. Since everything in this phenomenal world was subject to
death and other sorts of impermanence, Yogis who grew acquainted with the
indescribable glory of the Power that was beyond the universe (transcendent), developed
an attitude of contempt for the things that were phenomenal.
But Yoga cannot be integral unless it found both the finite and the infinite as aspects of
the same Powercall it Divine or Godhead or Brahman or the Supreme Reality. "The
ultimate knowledge is that which perceives and accepts God in the universe as well as
beyond the universe and the integral Yoga is that which, having found the Transcendent,
can return upon the universe and possess it, retaining the power freely to descend as well
as ascend the great stair of existence."
Three Steps of Yoga, The Synthesis of Yoga
Needless to say, a concept of Integral Education is in line with the Integral Yoga, both the
disciplines pointing at a progress in the direction of realising the best qualities inherent in
man, an urge for perfection and thirst for knowledge and truth. Like Integral Yoga
visualising not only a realisation of the soul, but also a transformation of the gross
physical, vital and mental aspects of man into Divine instruments, the Integral Education
intends at preparing all aspects of the students through a creative cultivation of their
potentialities, to become, with full awareness and a sense of joy, vehicles of a higher
consciousness. Since there is always the fear of the meaning of the phrase Integral

Education being dilutedfor much will depend on the capacity and understanding of
those who are trying to put the idea into practice and the opportunities available to them
it is necessary that those concerned do not forget its sublime goal. The Mother expects
the process of integral education to help ushering in the next phase of human evolution,
when man would have crossed his mind to step into the Supramental. She says, "To
pursue the integral education that leads to the Supramental realisation a four fold
austerity is necessary and also a four fold liberation."
Four Austerities and Four Liberations The Mother
She makes it transparently clear that by austerity she does not mean asceticism or selfmortification. Far more difficult than the practice of such external methods is mastering
power over ones self, "to maintain the consciousness always on the peak of its capacity
and never allow the body to act under the influence of a lower impulse."
The gradation, she says, is from above downward and they need not be followed in that
order mechanicallyeach one formulating his own system according to his capacity and
personal needs.
She explains the austerities from the bottom of the list. The discipline of Beauty requires
to form a programme following which one can build a body beautiful in form,
harmonious in posture, supple and agile in its movements, powerful in its activities and
resistant in its health and organic function.
The body, to prepare itself for receiving a higher consciousness, must follow a sound
routine regarding sleep, food, physical exercise and other activities. "To reach this ideal
goal one must strictly shun all excess, all vice small or big, one must deny onself the use
of such slow poisons as tobacco, alcohol, etc. which men have the habit of developing into
indispensable needs that gradually demolish their will and memory."
The Mother gives more importance on the quality of sleep than the length of the period of
sleep and advises to go to bed keeping the mind clear and calm. A brief meditation may
help.
Exercise should be chosen keeping in mind the bodys capacity and need.
And then comes the question of work. "For the man who wishes to perfect himself, there
is nothing like small and big work, important work or unimportant." One can cultivate the
secret of finding interest in any work one is required to do.

The result of this discipline is liberation in action. The body and the actions thereof would
no longer remain in bondage to Natures dictates, to impulses and lower desires.
Then comes the tapasya of Powerobserving emotional austerities. Vital means the
seat of life-force. "It is in the vital that thought changes into will and become a dynamism
of action. It is also true that the vital is the seat of desires and passions, of violent
impulses and equally violent reactions, of revolt and depression."
Generally those who do not wish to be the victims of their vital desires completely
suppress them, starve them. But that is not austerity. True tapasya in this aspect of our
being is to utilise the senses with discrimination and discernment. "The senses should be
able to bear everything without disgust or displeasure.... the senses should be utilised as
instruments to approach and study the physical and vital world in all their complexity... It
is by enlightening, strengthening and purifying the vital and not by weakening it that one
can help towards the progress of the being."
The vital, when properly taught, can become a flame of aspiration for the higher life.
Liberation from desire will obtain for the seeker peace, serenity and power.
Coming to the tapasya of Knowledge, the Mother lays great emphasis on the need for right
speech. "Man is the first animal upon earth to be able to use the articulate sound. He is
indeed proud of it and exercises this capacity without measure or discrimination. The
world is deafened with the noise of his speech and at times you almost seem to miss the
harmonious silence of the vegetable kingdom", she says.
True knowledge can be gathered in silence, not through arguments and assertion. There
prevails a general impression that those belonging to the academic or intellectual
fraternity are more reasonable than the average man in their speech. The Mother says, "It
is nothing of the kind, however; for even here, into this home of ideas and knowledge,
man has introduced violence of his convictions, sectarian intolerance, passion of
preference."
Mental austerity is a great discipline; control over ones speech is far more important than
keeping mum. Often people pass judgement over others. But how much does one know
oneself that he should judge someone else ?
"Be silent in your mind, keep steady in the true attitude, that of constant aspiration
towards the All-Wisdom, the All-Knowledge and the All-Consciousness. Then, if your
aspiration is sincere, if it is not a mere cover for your ambition to do things well and to be
successful, if it is pure, spontaneous and integral, then you will speak simply, you will

utter the words that should be uttered, neither more nor less, and they will possess a
creative power," she answers.
This discipline will liberate one from ignorance.
Last is the tapasya of Love. This emotion or passion is generally looked upon as
irresistible. Through so many social and moral rules and laws man has tried to keep this
emotion under control, but in vain.
But, the true love, the Divine Love, of which the human passion of love is only a
caricature, a distortion, alone can bring about mans ultimate union with his source, the
Divine.
"One who has known Divine Love, finds all other love obscure, mixed with smallness and
egoism and darkness. It looks like a bargain or a struggle for superiority and authority:
and even in the best of men, it is full of misunderstanding and sensitiveness, frictions and
misgivings."
"Besides, it is a well-known fact that you grow into the likeness of that which you love. If
therefore you want to be like the Divine, love Him alone. One who has experienced the
ecstasy of the communion of love with the Divine can alone know how insipid, dull and
feeble all other love is, in comparison. And even if the most austere discipline is needed to
arrive at this communion, nothing is too hard, too long, too severe, provided it takes you
there; for it surpasses all expression."
"It is this wonderful state that we wish to realise upon earth; it is this which will
transform the world and make it a habitation worthy of the Divine Presence..."
The Mother : On Education
An integral education will recognise the individual not as a vague combination of matter
(body) and spirit, but a personality having four distinct aspects: (a) Physical, (b) Vital, (c)
Mental and (d) Psychic. An ideal system of education must open up avenues for the best
possible development of each of these faculties of the student.
In a right environment, the inner being of the student, the soul, the psychic, must
dominate the other aspects of his being. That will ensure harmonious growth of the
person.

Each child is unique. Creation finds a delight in variety and multiplicity. Hence, clubbing
a group of students together and judging them applying a common, mechanical yardstick
is wrong. Each one has a possibility, a hidden capacity, a talent. Environment and
opportunity must be created for that latent quality to blossom.
Man as he is, is not the final product of Evolution. Sri Aurobindo visualises the advent of
a new man. The mental man must prepare to pave the way for the advent of the
Supramental man. The mental man will be transformed into or evolve into the new being.
The syllabus for Integral Education is all lifeand promises that are there beyond the
present conditions of lifeand behind the appearances of life. For it neither matter nor
spirit is unreal, but the traditional dichotomy between them is unreal.

7
EXPERIMENTS IN INTEGRAL EDUCATION
One of the most recent forms under which Sri Aurobindo conceived of the development
of his work was to establish at Pondicherry an International University Centre open to
students from all over the world.
"It is considered that the most fitting memorial to his name would be to found this
University now so as to give concrete expression to the fact that his work continues with
unabated vigour", said the Mother in 1951 and on the 6th of January 1952 the Sri
Aurobindo International University Centre was inauguratedits name changed, in 1959,
in order to keep itself free from the conventional ideas which go with a University, to Sri
Aurobindo International Centre of Education.

The Centre of Education consists of sections from Kindergarten till the Higher Course
which approximates to the graduation level in other colleges. But the system of learning
and teaching here being very flexible, in principle a student can qualify himself much
more than a graduate, if he is sincere and of the right aptitude.
Flexibility, indeed, is one of the cardinal virtues of this institution. There are no
mechanical promotions taking into consideration a certain average performance of the
student. If a student is observed to be better in a particular subject than expected at his
level, he can very well be in a higher class in that particular subject.
The Centre of Education has these faculties : Humanities, Languages, Science and
Engineering Technology. There are well-organised provisions for learning painting, music
and dance (both Indian and Western), dramatics, crafts, practical ecology etc. Libraries
and laboratories are well-equipped.
Physical education is given great importance. Facilities are there for athletics, gymnastics,
exercises, combatives, aquatics and field games. A daily routine of activities is formulated
for all the students.
Contests and tournaments continue throughout the year, but in a spirit of progress and
not in the conventional sense of competition. Playground, sports ground, swimming pool
etc. are maintained with great care.
The objectives of the Centre of Education are :
1. to evolve and realise a system of integral education and to make it a dynamic ideal for
society;
2. to organise an environment and an atmosphere affording inspiration and facilities for
the exercise and development of the five essential aspects of personality: the physical, the
vital, the mental, the psychic and the spiritual;
3. to emphasise the unity of all knowledge and to attempt to bring Humanities and
Science closer together into a real sense of unity for the benefit of both;
4. to develop the sense of the oneness of mankind and international collaboration; and
5. to prepare for the role that India has to play in the formation of the new international
harmony.

The Centre of Education does not award degrees. The Mother explains why it is so :
"For the last hundred years or so mankind has been suffering from a disease which seems
to be spreading more and more and which has reached a climax in our times; it is what
we may call utilitarianism. People and things, circumstances and activities seem to be
viewed and appreciated exclusively from this angle. Nothing has any value unless it is
useful. Certainly something that is useful is better than something that is not. But first we
must agree on what we describe as usefuluseful to whom, to what, for what ?"
"For, more and more, the races who consider themselves civilised describe as useful
whatever can attract, procure or produce money. Everything is judged and evaluated
from a monetary angle. That is what I call utilitarianism. And this disease is highly
contagious, for even children are not immune to it."
"At an age when they should be dreaming of beauty, greatness and perfection, dreams
that may be too sublime for ordinary common sense, but which are nevertheless far
superior to this dull good sense, children now dream of money and worry about how to
earn it."
"So when they think of their studies, they think above all about what can be useful to
them, so that later on when they grow up they can earn a lot of money."
And the thing that becomes most important for them is to prepare themselves to pass
examinations with success, for with diplomas, certificates and titles they will be able to
find good position and earn a lot of money.
For them study has no other purpose, no other interest.
To learn for the sake of knowledge, to study in order to know the secrets of Nature and
life, to educate oneself in order to grow in consciousness, to discipline oneself in order to
become master of oneself, to overcome ones weaknesses, incapacities and ignorance, to
prepare oneself to advance in life towards a goal that is nobler and vaster, more generous
and more true... they hardly give it a thought and consider it all very utopian. The only
thing that matters is to be practical, to prepare themselves and learn how to earn money.
Children who are infected with this disease are out of place at the Centre of Education of
the Ashram. And it is to make this quite clear to them that we do not prepare them for
any official examination or competition and do not give them any diplomas or titles
which they can use in the outside world.

We want here only those who aspire for a higher and better life, who thirst for knowledge
and perfection, who look forward eagerly to a future that will be more totally true.
"There is plenty of room in the world for all the others."
Pavitra, a French savant whose original name was P. B. Saint-Hilaire, who was the
Director of the Centre of Education, wrote :
"It is quite clear that, according to Sri Aurobindo, the current idea that the teacher should
impart his knowledgewhat he knows about a subjectto a child is fundamentally
wrong. He must show the child how to learn that subject by himself, help him in devising
his own methods of learning and of organizing the knowledge which he gathers or
discovers.
"We can understand this better if we observe how a young child gains spontaneously the
knowledge of his surroundings. He does it through a ceaseless activity which is natural to
him whenever he finds interest in the objects at his disposal. He examines, touches,
manipulates every object he can lay his hand upon, studies how he can use it for his own
purposes (often very different from his parents ends and views). He explores every nook
and corner of the room, of the house, of the garden, sees how he can make use of them for
his activities, his games (with little care for the purpose and the tranquility of the grownups). All this is done and pursued in conformity with the needs of his stage of growth. It
is the learning by doing, as named by Dewey. When we say that a child is amusing
himself or playing (alone or with playmates), it is almost always the purposeful activity
(alone or with playmates), it is almost always the purposeful activity (solitary or
collective) of a growing being deeply engaged in the process of building up and
perfecting his instruments of knowledge and action. We are indeed in presence of a
genuine education, leading to discovery and inventiondiscovery of the world around
and of its meaning (for the childs mentality), invention of the usage he can put it to (for
the childs aims and interests)and it is a self-education as it does not require lectures or
books. An adults intervention is in most cases not sought for, nor is it effective, as the
adults understanding is too remote from the childs mentality.
"But the adult has an important part to fulfil. When a child is idle, restless or mischievous,
it is either that his natural activity has been hampered or distorted, or that he had
exhausted the opportunities given to him by his surroundings and his activity has no
outlet. It is for the adultparent or teacherto keep the environment supplied with
elements of interest. These objects should act by their presence, not by their purpose.
Their aim is to satisfy an immediate and actual need of the child, not a future need as

anticipated by the parent or teacher (pass an exam, get a good job, raise a family). The
purpose of a child is always immediate : the satisfaction of an actual need, which is one of
the forms taken by the deep fundamental urge in him to grow physically, emotionally and
mentally. He does not paint with the aim of becoming an artist (such an aim belongs to
the adult mentality, but it is often unwisely and untimely instilled into a childs receptive
mind), but for the satisfaction of the creative impulse in him. He does not try to solve a
problem of mathematics to become a mathematician or a good engineer, or even to know
geometry and algebra, but for the satisfaction of the discovery, the lightning that
suddenly flashes into his mind when he gets it, for the inner joy of having overcome a
difficulty and succeeded. He does not play the mouth organ to have a large audience and
be recognized as a musician (if he has these ambitions, he got them by the praises
bestowed upon him by elders), but for the joy of self-expression and the pleasure he gives
to his nearest mates and friends."
A salient feature of the educational methods followed here is known as the Free Progress
stream. The Mother says, "Free Progress is progress guided by the soul and not subjected
to habits, conventions and preconceived ideas."
According to the Centres brochure :
"All education aims at the progress of the individual."
But the basic question is : What is progress ? For the word progress can and does have
many meanings and implications widely differing in their content and scope.
The view the Centre takes is that progress is essentially a growth of consciousness,
discovery and increasing awareness of an inner power and principle of guidance, which
holds in it the light and truth of the development, harmony and perfection of our body,
life and mind. It could be said that true progress is an ever-open step towards a total
evolution of our entire being and consciousness so as to transcend and transform all the
limitations to which man as an evolutionary being is at present subject. And this can only
be done by a constant living contact with mans true self, the soul.
And once we accept this view, it would then be irrational to set a standard of progress
which is uniform for all. It would be wiser although more difficult, to consider each
individual as a special centre having his own unique rhythms and modes of progress and
thus to assess each individuals progress by standards appropriate to him. Moreover, "If
the individual can progress at his maximum, the group will necessarily benefit by it. If

the individual is submitted to the possibility and capacity of the group, he loses his
chance to total progress", says the Mother.
On this basis, education would become a process of free growth and not a rigid system.
For, if man is not the last term of evolution, if reason is not the true or highest governor of
life, if the aim of human life is to discover ones inmost and highest principles and to
transform by their light and power the entire mode of ones present embodied mental life,
and if the specific aim of each individual is to be a special or unique centre of a higher
action, then education must be a process of Free Progress.
Some features of the Free Progress approach are :
1. The structure is oriented towards the meeting of the varied needs of the students, each
one of whom has his own special pace and process of development.
2. It is not merely the subjects of study that should count in education; the aspiration, the
need for growth, the experience of freedom, the possibility of educating oneself, of selfexperimentation, the discovery of the inner needs and their relation with the programme
of studies, and the discovery of the aim of life and the art of lifethese are much more
important and the structure of the organisation must provide for them.
3. As he grows older, the student has an increasing freedom in the choice of his subjects
and the organisation of his time; but his freedom has to be luminously guided. The student
should experience freedom but it might be misused; the student has therefore to be
watched with care, sympathy and wisdom.
4. A great stress falls upon the individual work of the students. This individual work may
be the result of the students own choice to follow a particular topic of interest; or it may
be the result of a suggestion from the teacher but accepted by the student. It may be a
follow-up of something explained by the teacher or it may be an original line of inquiry.
The essential aim is to encourage and stimulate the student to find genuine interest and
joy in work.
5. This individual work may be pursued in several ways :
a. quiet reflection or meditation;
b. referring to books or relevant portions of books suggested by the teacher;
c. working on specific exercises/texts prepared for the student by the teacher;

d. consultation or interviews; and

e. carrying out experiments.
6. Apart from individual work, the student participates in group classes as these also have
their value. In addition, lectures are organised; such lectures seek appeal to the sense of
discovery, imagination and creativity in the student, and not merely burden him with
information.
7. There are also periods of discussion between teachers and students and
betweenstudents and students. However, the discussions need not pertain merely to
academic subjects; they can centre round the individual needs of growth and thus
provide an opportunity for guiding the students in their inner search.
8. There are topics which more easily yield to the project system. Teachers therefore
announce a number of projects in these subjects and students according to their
individual or group choice select a few on which they work individually or collectively
and produce charts, monographs, designs, etc. which are periodically exhibited for the
benefit of others.
9. The role of the teacher in this process of education may be summarised as follows :
a. to aid the student in uncovering the inner will to grow and to progressthat needs to
be the constant endeavour of the teacher,
b. to evolve a programme of education for each student in accordance with the felt needs
of the students growth,
c. to watch the students with deep sympathy, understanding and patience, ready to
intervene and guide as and when necessary,
d. to stimulate the student with striking words, ideas, questions, stories, projects and
programmesthis should be the main work of the teacher. The teacher must be a friend
and a guide, must not impose himself, but may intervene when necessary. The wastage of
opportunities given should not be allowed indefinitely. But when and how to intervene
depends on the discretion of the teacher. To radiate inner calm and cheerful dynamism so
as to create an atmosphere conducive to the development of higher faculties of inner
knowledge and institutionthat may be regarded as the heart of the work of the teacher.

10. An adequate organisation for the proper working of the free progress approach would
need the following :
a. A room or rooms of silence to which students who like to do uninterrupted work or
would like to reflect or meditate in silence can go as and when they like ;
b. Rooms of documentation where students can find the required materials to seek
answers to their questions;
c. Rooms for study, group discussion, consultation.
11. In this view of education, there is no rivalry amongst various branches or disciplines
of knowledge, or any stress of their relative importance. In the study of each subject, the
aim and attempt is so directed that it leads towards a discovery of the fundamental truths
underlying the subject and progressively towards a larger discovery of the unity
underlying these truths and the truths of other branches of knowledge, thus helping in
the progressive growth of the consciousness of the student.
This sense of the unity of the truths would contribute to the reconciliation of the various
branches of knowledge, thus leading to the harmony of Science, Philosophy, Technology
and Fine Arts.
This evidently demands a certain maturity and a sense of responsibility. Though the
training of the mental faculties begins much earlier, it is only after the age of fourteen that
a child is in a position to derive the full benefit from the free progress approach.
In its essence, the free progress approach is endlessly open and innovative and the
foregoing should not be taken as rigidly binding.
Experiments and adventures in education in the light of Sri Aurobindos thoughts are
carried out at several other places, within their limitations.
A major field of such experiments is Auroville, not far from Pondicherry. To a question
what system of education Auroville proposes to follow, a teacher, Yvonne Artand says: "It
is less a system than an environment. We want to give everyone, and especially our
children, the possibility of living in an environment which constantly helps them to
evolve and to become that which they can become when there is no difference between
school and home or between study and play.

"The learning process will no longer be something which is turned on from 7.30 to 11.30
a.m., but the natural attitude of a normally developed mind in this universe during its
whole life, an attitude of inquiry, a joy of knowing, and a joy of being and of being able to
do."
To another question on the nature of their syllabus, she says, "Our syllabus is the same as
that of evolution. Evolution has deposited in the DNA chains of each of us a syllabus, a
programme, and given us the possibility of becoming more than our parents were. We
intend to help our children to find this programming in themselves, and then to realize it.
Like evolution, we want them to become more than manAfterman."

A. Sri Aurobindo's writings

A SYSTEM OF NATIONAL EDUCATION

The Human Mind

The Power of the Mind
The Moral Nature
Simultaneous and Successive Teaching

The Training of the Senses

Sense-Improvement by Practice
The Training of the Mental Faculties
The Training of the Logical Faculty

The Human Mind

The true basis of education is the study of the human mindinfant, adolescent and adult.
Any system of education founded on theories of academic perfection, which ignores the
instrument of study, is more likely to hamper and impair intellectual growth than to
produce a perfect and perfectly equipped mind. For the educationist has to do, not with
dead material like the artist or sculptor, but with an infinitely subtle and sensitive
organism. He cannot shape an educational masterpiece out of human wood or stone; he
has to work in the elusive substance of mind and respect the limits imposed by the fragile
human body.
There can be no doubt that the current educational system of Europe is a great advance
on many of the methods of antiquity, but its defects are also palpable. It is based on an
insufficient knowledge of human psychology, and it is only safeguarded in Europe from
disastrous results by the refusal of the ordinary student to subject himself to the processes

it involves, his habit of studying only so much as he must to avoid punishment or to pass
an immediate test, his resort to active habits and vigorous physical exercise. In India the
disastrous effects of the system on body, mind and character are only too apparent. The
first problem in a national system of education is to give an education as comprehensive
as the European and more thorough, without the evils of strain and cramming. This can
only be done by studying the instruments of knowledge and finding a system of teaching
which shall be natural, easy and effective. It is only by strengthening and sharpening
these instruments to their utmost capacity that they can be made effective for the
increased work which modern conditions require. The muscles of the mind must be
thoroughly trained by simple and easy means; then, and not till then, great feats of
intellectual strength can be required of them.
The first principle of true teaching is that nothing can be taught. The teacher is not an
instructor or task-master, he is a helper and a guide. His business is to suggest and not to
impose. He does not actually train the pupils mind, he only shows him how to perfect his
instruments of knowledge and helps and encourages him in the process. He does not
impart knowledge to him, he shows him how to acquire knowledge for himself. He does
not call forth the knowledge that is within; he only shows him where it lies and how it can
be habituated to rise to the surface. The distinction that reserves this principle for the
teaching of adolescent and adult minds and denies its application to the child, is a
conservative and unintelligent doctrine. Child or man, boy or girl, there is only one sound
principle of good teaching. Difference of age only serves to diminish or increase the
amount of help and guidance necessary; it does not change its nature.
The second principle is that the mind has to be consulted in its own growth. The idea of
hammering the child into the shape desired by the parent or teacher is a barbarous and
ignorant superstition. It is he himself who must be induced to expand in accordance with
his own nature. There can be no greater error than for the parent to arrange beforehand
that his son shall develop particular qualities, capacities, ideas, virtues, or be prepared for
a prearranged career. To force the nature to abandon its own dharma is to do it permanent
harm, mutilate its growth and deface its perfection. It is a selfish tyranny over a human
soul and a wound to the nation, which loses the benefit of the best that a man could have
given it and is forced to accept instead something imperfect and artificial, second-rate,
perfunctory and common. Every one has in him something divine, something his own, a
chance of perfection and strength in however small a sphere which God offers him to take
or refuse. The task is to find it, develop it and use it. The chief aim of education should be
to help the growing soul to draw out that in itself which is best and make it perfect for a
noble use.

The third principle of education is to work from the near to the far, from that which is to
that which shall be. The basis of a mans nature is almost always, in addition to his souls
past, his heredity, his surroundings, his nationality, his country, the soil from which he
draws sustenance, the air which he breathes, the sights, sounds, habits to which he is
accustomed. They mould him not the less powerfully because insensibly, and from that
then we must begin. We must not take up the nature by the roots from the earth in which
it must grow or surround the mind with images and ideas of a life which is alien to that
in which it must physically move. If anything has to be brought in from outside, it must
be offered, not forced on the mind. A free and natural growth is the condition of genuine
development. There are souls which naturally revolt from their surroundings and seems
to belong to another age and clime. Let them be free to follow their bent; but the majority
languish, become empty, become artificial, if artificially moulded into an alien form. It is
Gods arrangement that they should belong to a particular nation, age, society, that they
should be children of the past, possessors of the present, creators of the future. The past is
our foundation, the present our material, the future our aim and summit. Each must have
its due and natural place in a national system of education.

The Powers of the Mind

The instrument of the educationist is the mind or anta]hkarana, which consists of four
layers. The reservoir of past mental impressions, the citta or storehouse of memory,
which must be distinguished from the specific act of memory, is the foundation on which
all the other layers stand. All experience lies within us as passive or potential memory;
active memory selects and takes what it requires from that storehouse. But the active
memory is like a man searching among a great mass of locked-up material; sometimes he
cannot find what he wants; often in his rapid search he stumbles across many things for
which he has not immediate need; often too he blunders and thinks he has found the real
thing when it is something else, irrelevant if not valueless, on which he has laid his hand.
The passive memory or citta needs no training, it is automatic and naturally sufficient to
its task; there is not the slightest object of knowledge coming within its field which is not
secured, placed and faultlessly preserved in that admirable receptacle. It is the active
memory, a higher but less perfectly developed function, which is in need of improvement.
The second layer is the mind proper or manas, the sixth sense of our Indian psychology, in
which all the others are gathered up. The function of the mind is to receive the images of
things translated into sight, sound, smell, taste and touch, the five senses and translate
these again into thought-sensations. It receives also images of its own direct grasping and

forms them into mental impressions. These sensations and impressions are the material of
thought, not thought itself; but it is exceedingly important that thought should work on
sufficient and perfect material. It is, therefore, the first business of the educationist to
develop in the child the right use of the six senses; to see that they are not stunted or
injured by disuse, but trained by the child himself under the teachers direction to that
perfect accuracy and keen subtle sensitiveness of which he is capable. In addition,
whatever assistance can be gained by the organs of action, should be thoroughly
employed. The hand, for instance, should be trained to reproduce what the eye sees and
the mind senses. The speech should be trained to a perfect expression of the knowledge
the whole anta]hkarana possesses.
The third layer is the intellect or buddhi, which is the real instrument of thought and
that which orders and disposes of the knowledge acquired by the other parts of the
machine. For the purpose of the educationist this is infinitely the most important of the
three I have named. The intellect is an organ composed of several groups of functions,
divisible into two important classes, the functions and faculties of the right-hand, the
functions and faculties of the left-hand. The faculties of the right-hand are
comprehensive, creative and synthetic; the faculties of the left-hand critical and analytic.
To the right-hand belong judgment, imagination, memory, observation; to the left-hand
comparison and reasoning. The critical faculties distinguish, compare, classify, generalise,
deduce, infer, conclude; they are the component parts of the logical reason. The righthand faculties comprehend, command, judge in their own right, grasp, hold and
manipulate. The right-hand mind is the master of the knowledge, the left-hand its
servant. The left-hand touches only the body of knowledge, the right-hand penetrates its
soul. The left-hand limits itself to ascertained truth, the right-hand grasps that which is
still elusive or unascertained. Both are essential to the completeness of the human reason.
These important functions of the machine have all to be raised to their highest and finest
working-power, if the education of the child is not to be imperfect and one-sided.
There is a fourth layer of faculty which, not as yet entirely developed in man, is attaining
gradually to a wider development and more perfect evolution. The powers peculiar to this
highest stratum of knowledge are chiefly known to us from the phenomena of genius,
sovereign discernment, intuitive perception of truth, plenary inspiration of speech, direct
vision of knowledge to an extent often amounting to revelation, making a man a prophet
of truth. These powers are rare in their higher development, though many possess them
imperfectly or by flashes. They are still greatly distrusted by the criticial reason of
mankind because of the admixture of error, caprice and a biased imagination which
obstructs and distorts their perfect workings. Yet it is clear that humanity could not have
advanced to its present stage if it had not been for the help of these faculties, and it is a

question with which educationists have not yet grappled, what is to be done with this
mighty and baffling element, the element of genius in the pupil. The mere instructor does
his best to discourage and stifle genius, the more liberal teacher welcomes it. Faculties so
important to humanity cannot be left out of our consideration. It is foolish to neglect
them. Their imperfect development must be perfected, the admixture of error, caprice and
biased fancifulness must be carefully and wisely removed. But the teacher cannot do it; he
would eradicate the good corn as well as the tares if he interfered. Here, as in all
educational operations, he can only put the growing soul into the way of its own
perfection.

The Moral Nature

In the economy of man the mental nature rests upon the moral, and the education of the
intellect divorced from the perfection of the moral and emotional nature is injurious to
human progress. Yet, while it is easy to arrange some kind of curriculum or syllabus
which will do well enough for the training of the mind, it has not yet been found possible
to provide under modern conditions a suitable moral training for the school and college.
The attempt to make boys moral and religious by the teaching of moral and religious textbooks is a vanity and a delusion, precisely because the heart is not the mind and to
instruct the mind does not necessarily improve the heart. It would be an error to say that
it has no effect. It throws certain seeds of thoughts into the anta]hkara]na and, if these
thoughts become habitual, they influence the conduct. But the danger of moral text-books
is that they make the thinking of high things mechanical and artificial, and whatever is
mechanical and artificial is inoperative for good.
There are three things which are of the utmost importance in dealing with a mans moral
nature, the emotions, the sa=msk"aras or formed habits and associations, and the
svabh"ava or nature. The only way for him to train himself morally is to habituate himself
to the right emotions, the noblest associations, the best mental, emotional and physical
habits and the following out in right action of the fundamental impulses of his essential
nature. You can impose a certain discipline on children, dress them into a certain mould,
lash them into a desired path, but unless you can get their hearts and natures on your
side, the conformity to this imposed rule becomes a hypocritical and heartless, a
conventional, often a cowardly compliance. This is what is done in Europe, and it leads to
that remarkable phenomenon known as the sowing of wild oats as soon as the yoke of
discipline at school and at home is removed, and to the social hypocrisy which is so large
a feature of European life. Only what the man admires and accepts, becomes part of

himself; the rest is a mask. He conforms to the discipline of society as he conformed to the
moral routine of home and school, but considers himself at liberty to guide his real life,
inner and private, according to his own likings and passions. On the other hand, to
neglect moral and religious education altogether is to corrupt the race. The notorious
moral corruption in our young men previous to the saving touch of the Swadeshi
movement was the direct result of the purely mental instruction given to them under the
English system of education. The adoption of the English system under an Indian
disguise in institutions like the Central Hindu College is likely to lead to the European
result. That it is better than nothing, is all that can be said for it.
As in the education of the mind, so in the education of the heart, the best way is to put the
child on the right road to his own perfection and encourage him to follow it, watching,
suggesting, helping, but not interfering. The one excellent element in the English
boarding school is that the master at his best stands there as a moral guide and example,
leaving the boys largely to influence and help each other in following the path silently
shown to them. But the method practised is crude and marred by the excess of outer
discipline, for which the pupils have no respect except that of fear and the exiguity of the
inner assistance. The little good that is done is outweighed by much evil. The old Indian
system of the guru commanding by his knowledge and sanctity the implicit obedience,
perfect admiration, reverent emulation of the student was a far superior method of moral
discipline. It is impossible to restore that ancient system; but it is not impossible to
substitute the wise friend, guide and helper for the hired instructor or the benevolent
policeman which is all that the European system usually makes of the pedagogue.
The first rule of moral training is to suggest and invite, not command or impose. The best
method of suggestion is by personal example, daily converse and the books read from day
to day. These books should contain, for the younger student, the lofty examples of the
past given, not as moral lessons, but as things of supreme human interest, and, for the
elder student, the great thoughts of great souls, the passages of literature which set fire to
the highest emotions and prompt the highest ideals and aspirations, the records of history
and biography which exemplify the living of those great thoughts, noble emotions and
aspiring ideals. This is a kind of good company, satsa<nga, which can seldom fail to have
effect so long as sententious sermonising is avoided, and becomes of the highest effect if
the personal life of the teacher is itself moulded by the great things he places before his
pupils. It cannot, however, have full force unless the young life is given an opportunity,
within its limited sphere, of embodying in action the moral impulses which rise within it.
The thirst of knowledge, the self-devotion, the purity, the renunciation of the Brahmin,
the courage, ardour, honour, nobility, chivalry, patriotism of the Kshatriya,the
beneficence, skill, industry, generous enterprise and large open-handedness of the Vaisya,

the self-effacement and loving service of the Sudra,these are the qualities of the
Aryan. They constitute the moral temper we desire in our young men, in the whole
nation. But how can we get them if we do not give opportunities to the young to train
themselves in the Aryan tradition, to form by the practice and familiarity of childhood
and boyhood the stuff of which their adult lives must be made ?
Every boy should, therefore, be given practical opportunity as well as intellectual
encouragement to develop all that is best in the nature. If he has bad qualities, bad babits,
bad sa=msk"aras, whether of mind or body, he should not be treated harshly as a
delinquent, but encouraged to get rid of them by the Rajayogic method of sa=myama,
rejection and substitution. He should be encouraged to think of them, not as sins or
offences, but as symptoms of a curable disease, alterable by a steady and sustained effort
of the will,falsehood being rejected whenever it rises into the mind and replaced by
truth, fear by courage, selfishness by sacrifice and renunciation, malice by love. Great care
will have to be taken that unformed virtues are not rejected as faults. The wildness and
recklessness of many young natures are only the overflowings of an excessive strength,
greatness and nobility. They should be purified, nor discouraged.
I have spoken of morality; it is necessary to speak a word of religious teaching. There is a
strange idea prevalent that by merely teaching the dogmas of religion children can be
made pious and moral. This is an European error, and its practice either leads to
mechanical acceptance of a creed having no effect on the inner and little on the outer life,
or it creates the fanatic, the pietist, the ritualist or the unctuous hypocrite. Religion has to
be lived, not learned as a creed. The singular compromise made in the so-called National
Education of Bengal making the teaching of religious beliefs compulsory, but forbidding
the practice of anu]s]th"ana or religious exercise, is a sample of the ignorant confusion
which distracts mens minds on this subject. The prohibition is a sop to secularism
declared or concealed. No religious teaching is of any value unless it is lived, and the use
of various kind of s"adhan"a, spiritual self-training and exercise is the only effective
preparation for religious living. The ritual of prayer, homage, ceremony is craved for by
many minds as an essential preparation and, if not made an end in itself, is a great help to
spiritual progress; if it is withheld, some other form of meditation, devotion or religious
duty must be put in its place. Otherwise, religious teaching is of little use and would
almost be better ungiven.
But whether distinct teaching in any form of religion is imparted or not, the essence of
religion, to live for God, for humanity, for country, for others and for oneself in these,
must be made the ideal in every school which calls itself national. It is this spirit of
Hinduism pervading our schools whichfar more than the teaching of Indian subjects,

the use of Indian methods or formal instruction in Hindu beliefs and Hindu scriptures
should be the essence of Nationalism in our schools distinguishing them from all others.

Simultaneous and Successive Teaching

A very remarkable feature of modern training which has been subjected in India to a
reductio ad absurdum is the practice of teaching by snippets. A subject is taught a little at a
time, in conjunction with a host of others, with the result that what might be well learnt
in a single year is badly learned in seven and the boy goes out ill-equipped, served with
imperfect parcels of knowledge, master of none of the great departments of human
knowledge. The system of education adopted by the National Council, an amphibious
and twy-natured creation, attempts to heighten this practice of teaching by snippets at the
bottom and the middle and suddenly change it to a grandiose specialism at the top. This
is to base the triangle on its apex and hope that it will stand.
The old system was to teach one or two subjects well and thoroughly and then proceed to
others, and certainly it was a more rational system than the modern. If it did not impart
so much varied information, it built up a deeper, nobler and more real culture. Much of
the shallowness, discursive lightness and fickle mutability of the average modern mind is
due to the vicious principle of teaching by snippets. The one defect that can be alleged
against the old system was that the subject earliest learned might fade from the mind of
the student while he was mastering his later studies. But the excellent training given to
the memory by the ancients obviated the incidence of this defect. In the future education
we need not bind ourselves either by the ancient or the modern system, but select only
the most perfect and rapid means of mastering knowledge.
In defence of the modern system it is alleged that the attention of children is easily tired
and cannot be subjected to the strain of long application to a single subject. The frequent
change of subject gives rest to the mind. The question naturally arises : are the children of
modern times then so different from the ancients, and, if so, have we not made them so by

discouraging prolonged concentration? A very young child cannot, indeed, apply himself;
but a very young child is unfit for school teaching of any kind. A child of seven or eight,
and that is the earliest permissible age for the commencement of any regular kind of
study, is capable of a good deal of concentration if he is interested. Interest is, after all, the
basis of concentration. We make his lessons supremely uninteresting and repellent to the
child, a harsh compulsion the basis of teaching and then complain of his restless
inattention! The substitution of a natural self-education by the child for the present
unnatural system will remove this objection of inability. A child, like a man, if he is
interested, much prefers to get to the end of his subject rather than leave it unfinished. To
lead him on step by step, interesting and absorbing him in each as it comes, until he has
mastered his subject is the true art of teaching.
The first attention of the teacher must be given to the medium and the instruments, and,
until these are perfected, to multiply subjects of regular instruction is to waste time and
energy. When the mental instruments are sufficiently developed to acquire a language
easily and swiftly, that is the time to introduce him to many languages, not when he can
only partially understand what he is taught and masters it laboriously and imperfectly.
Moreover, one who has mastered his own language, has one very necessary facility for
mastering another. With the linguistic faculty unsatisfactorily developed in ones own
tongue, to master others is impossible. To study science with the faculties of observation,
judgement, reasoning and comparison only slightly developed is to undertake a useless
and thankless labour. So it is with all other subjects.
The mother-tongue is the proper medium of education and therefore the first energies of
the child should be directed to the thorough mastering of the medium. Almost every
child has an imagination, an instinct for words, a dramatic faculty, a wealth of idea and
fancy. These should be interested in the literature and history of the nation. Instead of
stupid and dry spelling and reading books, looked on as a dreary and ungrateful task, he
should be introduced by rapidly progressive stages to the most interesting parts of his
own literature and the life around him and behind him, and they should be put before
him in such a way as to attract and appeal to the qualities of which I have spoken. All
other study at this period should be devoted to the perfection of the mental functions and
the moral character. A foundation should be laid at this time for the study of history,
science, philosophy, art, but not in an obtrusive and formal manner. Every child is a lover
of interesting narrative, a hero-worshipper and a patriot. Appeal to these qualities in him
and through them let him master without knowing it, the living and human parts of his
nations history. Every child is an inquirer, an investigator, analyser, a merciless anatomist.
Appeal to those qualities in him and let him acquire without knowing it the right temper
and the necessary fundamental knowledge of the scientist. Every child has an insatiable

intellectual curiosity and turn for metaphysical enquiry. Use it to draw him on slowly to
an understanding of the world and himself. Every child has the gift of imitation and a
touch of imaginative power. Use it to give him the groundwork of the faculty of the artist.
It is by allowing Nature to work that we get the benefit of the gifts she has bestowed on
us. Humanity in its education of children has chosen to thwart and hamper her processes
and, by so doing, has done much to thwart and hamper the rapidity of its onward march.
Happily, saner ideas are now beginning to prevail. But the way has not yet been found.
The past hangs about our necks with all its prejudices and errors and will not leave us; it
enters into our most radical attempts to return to the guidance of the all-wise Mother. We
must have the courage to take up clearer knowledge and apply it fearlessly in the interests
of posterity. Teaching by snippets must be relegated to the lumber-room of dead sorrows.
The first work is to interest the child in life, work and knowledge, to develop his
instruments of knowledge with the utmost thoroughness, to give him mastery of the
medium he must use. Afterwards, the rapidity with which he will learn will make up for
any delay in taking up regular studies, and it will be found that, where now he learns a
few things badly, then he will learn many things thoroughly well.

The Training of the Senses

There are six senses which minister to knowledge, sight, hearing, smell, touch and taste,
mind, and all of these except the last look outward and gather the material of thought
from outside through the physical nerves and their end organs, eye, ear, nose, skin,
palate. The perfection of the senses as ministers to thought must be one of the first cares
of the teacher. The two things that are needed of the senses are accuracy and
sensitiveness. We must first understand what are the obstacles to the accuracy and
sensitiveness of the senses, in order that we may take the best steps to remove them. The
cause of imperfection must be understood by those who desire to bring about perfection.
The senses depend for their accuracy and sensitiveness on the unobstructed activity of the
nerves which are the channels of their information and the passive acceptance of the
mind which is the recipient. In themselves the organs do their work perfectly, the eye
gives the right form, the ear the correct sound, the palate the right taste, the skin the right
touch, the nose the right smell. This can easily be understood if we study the action of the
eye as a crucial example, a correct image is reproduced automatically on the retina, if
there is any error in appreciating it, it is not the fault of the organ, but of something else.

The fault may be with the nerve currents. The nerves are nothing but channels, they have
no power in themselves to alter the information given by the organs. But a channel may
be obstructed and the obstruction may interfere either with the fullness or the accuracy of
the information, not as it reaches the organ where it is necessarily and automatically
perfect, but as it reaches the mind. The only exception is in case of a physical defect in the
organ as an instrument. That is not a matter for the educationist, but for the physician.
If the obstruction is such as to stop the information reaching the mind at all, the result is
an insufficient sensitiveness of the senses. The defects of sight, hearing, smell, touch, taste,
anesthesia in its various degrees, are curable when not the effect of physical injury or
defect in the organ itself. The obstructions can be removed and the sensitiveness
remedied by the purification of the nerve system. The remedy is a simple one which is
now becoming more and more popular in Europe for different reasons and objects, the
regulation of the breathing. This process inevitably restores the perfect and unobstructed
activity of the channels and, if well and thoroughly done, leads to a high activity of the
senses. The process is called in Yogic discipline, n"ad$-suddhi or nerve-purification.
The obstruction in the channel may be such as not absolutely to stop in however small a
degree, but to distort the information. A familiar instance of this is the effect of fear or
alarm on the sense action. The startled horse takes the sack on the road for a dangerous
living thing, the startled man takes a rope for a snake, a waving curtain for a ghostly
form. All distortions due to actions in the nervous system can be traced to some kind of
emotional disturbance acting in the nerve channels. The only remedy for them is the habit
of calm, the habitual steadiness of the nerves. This also can be brought about by
n"ad$-suddhi or nerve-purification, which quiets the system, gives a deliberate
calmness to all the internal processes and prepares the purification of the mind.
If the nerve channels are quiet and clear, the only possible disturbance of the information
is from or through the mind. Now the manas or sixth sense is in itself a channel like the
nerves, a channel for communication with the buddhi or brain-force. Disturbance may
happen either from above or from below. The information outside is first photographed
on the end organ, then reproduced at the other end of the nerve system in the citta or
passive memory. All the images of sight, sound, smell, touch and taste are deposited there
and the manas reports them to the buddhi. The manas is both a sense organ and a channel.
As a sense organ it is as automatically perfect as the others, as a channel it is subject to
disturbance resulting either in obstruction or distortion.
As a sense organ the mind receives direct thought impressions from outside and from
within. These impressions are in themselves perfectly correct, but in their report to the

intellect they may either not reach the intellect at all or may reach it so distorted as to
make a false or partially false impression. The disturbance may affect the impression
which attends the information of eye, ear, nose, skin or palate, but it is very slightly
powerful here. In its effect on the direct impressions of the mind, it is extremely powerful
and the chief source of error. The mind takes direct impressions primarily of thought, but
also of form, sound, indeed of all the things for which it usually prefers to depend on the
sense organs. The full development of this sensitiveness of the mind is called in our Yogic
discipline s"uk]smad]r]s]ti or subtle reception of images. Telepathy, clairvoyance,
clairaudience, presentiment, thought-reading, character-reading and many other modern
discoveries are very ancient powers of the mind which have been left undeveloped, and
they all belong to the manas. The development of the sixth sense has never formed part of
human training. In a future age it will undoubtedly take a place in the necessary
preliminary training of the human instrument. Meanwhile there is no reason why the
mind should not be trained to give a correct report to the intellect so that our thought
may start with absolutely correct if not with full impressions.
The first obstacle, the nervous emotional, we may suppose to be removed by the
purification of the nervous system. The second obstacle is that of the emotions themselves
warping the impression as it comes. Love may do this, hatred may do this, any emotion or
desire according to its power and intensity may distort the impression as it travels. This
difficulty can only be removed by the discipline of the emotions, the purifying of the
moral habits. This is a part of moral training and its consideration may be postponed for
the moment. The next difficulty is the interference of previous associations formed or
ingrained in the citta or passive memory. We have a habitual way of looking at things and
the conservative inertia in our nature disposes us to give every new experience the shape
and semblance of those to which we are accustomed. It is only more developed minds
which can receive first impressions without an unconscious bias against the novelty
experience. For instance, if we get a true impression of what is happeningand we
habitually act on such impressions true or falseif it differs from what we are
accustomed to expect, the old association meets it in the citta and sends a changed report
to the intellect in which either the new impression is overlaid and concealed by the old or
mingled with it. To go farther into this subject would be to involve ourselves too deeply
into the details of psychology. This typical instance will suffice. To get rid of this obstacle
is impossible without cittasuddhi or purification of the mental and moral habits formed
in the citta. This is a preliminary process of Yoga and was effected in our ancient system
by various means, but would be considered out of place in a modern system of education.
It is clear, therefore, that unless we revert to our old Indian system in some of its
principles, we must be content to allow this source of disturbance to remain. A really

national system of education would not allow itself to be controlled by European ideas in
this all-important matter. And there is a process so simple and momentous that it can
easily be made a part of our system.
It consists in bringing about passivity of the restless flood of thought sensations rising of
its own momentum from the passive memory independent of our will and control. This
passivity liberates the intellect from the siege of old associations and false impressions. It
gives it power to select only what is wanted from the storehouse of the passive memory,
automatically brings about the habit of getting right impressions and enables the intellect
to dictate to the citta what sa=msk"aras or associations shall be formed or rejected. This is
the real office of the intellect,to discriminate, choose, select, arrange. But so long as
there is no cittasuddhi, instead of doing this office perfectly, it itself remains imperfect
and corrupt and adds to the confusion in the mind channel by false judgment, false
imagination, false memory, false observation, false comparison, contrast and analogy,
false deduction, induction and inference. The purification of the citta is essential for the
liberation, purification and perfect action of the intellect.

Sense-Improvement by Practice
Another cause of the inefficiency of the senses as gatherers of knowledge, is insufficient
use. We do not observe sufficiently or with sufficient attention and closeness and a sight,
sound, smell, even touch or taste knocks in vain at the door for admission. This tamasic
inertia of the receiving instruments is no doubt due to the inattention of the buddhi, and
therefore its consideration may seem to come properly under the training of the functions
of the intellect, but it is more convenient, though less psychologically correct, to notice it
here. The student ought to be accustomed to catch the sights, sounds, etc., around him,
distinguish them, mark their nature, properties and sources and fix them in the citta so
that they may be always ready to respond when called for by the memory.
It is a fact which has been proved by minute experiments that the faculty of observation is
very imperfectly developed in men, merely from want of care in the use of the sense and
the memory. Give twelve men the task of recording from memory something they all saw
two hours ago and the accounts will all vary from each other and from the actual
occurrence. To get rid of this imperfection will go a long way towards the removal of
error. It can be done by training the senses to do their work perfectly, which they will do
readily enough if they know the buddhi requires it of them, and giving sufficient attention
to put the facts in their right place and order in the memory.

Attention is a factor in knowledge, the importance of which has been always recognised.
Attention is the first condition of right memory and of accuracy. To attend to what he is
doing is the first element of discipline required of the student, and, as I have suggested,
this can easily be secured if the object of attention is made interesting. This attention to a
single thing is called concentration. One truth is, however, sometimes overlooked; that
concentration on several things at a time is often indispensable. When people talk of
concentration, they imply centring the mind on one thing at a time; but it is quite possible
to develop the power of double concentration, triple concentration, multiple
concentration. When a given incident is happening, it may be made up of several
simultaneous happenings or a set of simultaneous circumstances, a sight, a sound, a
touch or several sights, sounds, touches occurring at the same moment or in the same
short space of time. The tendency of the mind is to fasten on one and mark others
vaguely, may not at all or, if compelled to attend to all, to be distracted and mark none
perfectly. Yet this can be remedied and the attention equally distributed over a set of
circumstances in such a way as to observe and remember each perfectly. It is merely a
matter of abhyasa or steady natural practice.
It is also very desirable that the hand should be capable of coming to the help of the eye
in dealing with the multitudinous objects of its activity so as to ensure accuracy. This is of
a use so obvious and imperatively needed, that it need not be dwelt on at length. The
practice of imitation by the hand of the thing seen is of use both in detecting the lapses
and inaccuracies of the mind, in noticing the objects of sense and in registering accurately
what has been seen. Imitation by the hand ensures accuracy of observation. This is one of
the first uses of drawing and it is sufficient in itself to make the teaching of this subject a
necessary part of the training of the organs.

The Training of the Mental Faculties

The first qualities of the mind that have to be developed are those which can be grouped
under observation. We notice some things, ignore others. Even of what we notice, we
observe very little. A general perception of an object is what we all usually carry away
from a cursory half-attentive glance. A closer attention fixes its place, form, nature as
distinct from its surroundings. Full concentration of the faculty of observation gives us all
the knowledge that the three chief senses can gather about the object, or if we touch or
taste, we may gather all that the five senses can tell of its nature and properties. Those
who make use of the sixth sense, the poet, the painter, the Yogin, can also gather much
that is hidden from the ordinary observer. The scientist by investigation ascertains other
facts open to a minuter observation. These are the components of the faculty of
observation and it is obvious that its basis is attention, which may be only close or close

and minute. We may gather much even from a passing glance at an object, if we have the
habit of concentrating the attention and the habit of sattwic receptivity. The first thing the
teacher has to do is to accustom the pupil to concentrate attention.
We may take the instance of a flower. Instead of looking casually at it and getting a casual
impression of scent, form and colour, he should be encouraged to know the flowerto fix
in his mind the exact shade, the peculiar glow, the precise intensity of the scent, the
beauty of curve and design in the form. His touch should assure itself of the texture and
its peculiarities. Next, the flower should be taken to pieces and its structure examined
with the same carefulness of observation. All this should be done not as a task, but as an
object of interest by skilfully arranged questions suited to the learner which will draw
him on to observe and investigate one thing after the other until he has almost
unconsciously mastered the whole.
Memory and judgement are the next qualities that will be called upon, and they should
be encouraged in the same unconscious way. The student should not be made to repeat
the same lesson over again in order to remember it. That is a mechanical, burdensome
and unintelligent way of training the memory. A similar but different flower should be
put in the hands and he should be encouraged to note it with the same care, but with the
avowed object of noting the similarities and differences. By this practice daily repeated
the memory will naturally be trained. Not only so, but the mental centres of comparison
and contrast will be developed. The learner will begin to observe as a habit the
similarities of things and their differences. The teacher should take every care to
encourage the perfect growth of this faculty and habit. At the same time, the laws of
species and genus will begin to dawn on the mind and, by a skilful following and leading
of the young developing mind, the scientific habit, the scientific attitude and the
fundamental facts of scientific knowledge may in a very short time be made part of its
permanent equipment. The observation and comparison of flowers, leaves, plants, trees
will lay the foundations of botanical knowledge without loading the mind with names
and that dry set acquisition of informations which is the beginning of cramming and
detested by the healthy human mind when it is fresh from nature and unspoiled by
unnatural habits. In the same way by the observation of the stars, astronomy, by the
observation of earth, stones, etc., geology, by the observation of insects and animals,
entomology and zoology may be founded. A little later chemistry may be started by
interesting observation of experiments without any formal teaching or heaping on the
mind of formulas and book knowledge. There is no scientific subject the perfect and
natural mastery of which cannot be prepared in early childhood by this training of the
faculties to observe, compare, remember and judge various classes of objects. It can be
done easily and attended with a supreme and absorbing interest in the mind of the

student. Once the taste is created, the boy can be trusted to follow it up with all the
enthusiasm of youth in his leisure hours. This will prevent the necessity at a later age of
teaching him everything in class.
The judgement will naturally be trained along with the other faculties. At every step the
boy will have to decide what is the right idea, measurement, appreciation of colour,
sound, scent, etc., and what is the wrong. Often the judgements and distinctions made
will have to be exceedingly subtle and delicate. At first many errors will be made, but the
learner should be taught to trust his judgment without being attached to its results. It will
be found that the judgement will soon begin to respond to the calls made on it, clear itself
of all errors and begin to judge correctly and minutely. The best way is to accustom the
boy to compare his judgements with those of others. When he is wrong, it should at first
be pointed out to him how far he was right and why he went wrong; afterwards he
should be encouraged to note these things for himself. Every time he is right, his attention
should be prominently and encouragingly called to it so that he may get confidence.
While engaged in comparing and constrasting, another centre is certain to develop, the
centre of analogy. The learner will inevitably draw analogies and argue from like to like.
He should be encouraged to use this faculty while noticing its limitations and errors. In
this way he will be trained to form the habit of correct analogy which is an indispensable
aid in the acquisition of knowledge.
The one faculty we have omitted, apart from the faculty of direct reasoning, is
Imagination. This is a most important and indispensable instrument. It may be divided
into three functions, the forming of mental images, the power of creating thoughts,
images and imitations or new combinations of existing thoughts and images, the
appreciation of the soul in things, beauty, charm, greatness, hidden suggestiveness, the
emotion and spiritual life that pervades the world. This is in every way as important as
the training of the faculties which observe and compare outward things. But that
demands a separate and fuller treatment.
The mental faculties should first be exercised on things, afterwards on words and ideas.
Our dealings with language are much too perfunctory and the absence of a fine sense for
words impoverishes the intellect and limits the fineness and truth of its operation. The
mind should be accustomed first to notice the word thoroughly, its form, sound and
sense; then to compare the form with other similar forms in the points of similarity and
difference, thus forming the foundation of the grammatical sense; then to distinguish
between the fine shades of sense of similar words and the formation and rhythm of
different sentences, thus forming the formation of the literary and the syntactical

faculties. All this should be done informally, drawing on the curiosity and interest,
avoiding set teaching and memorising of rules. The true knowledge takes its base on
things, arthas, and only when it has mastered the thing, proceeds to formalise its
information.

The Training of the Logical Faculty

The training of the logical reason must necessarily follow the training of the faculties
which collect the material on which the logical reason must work. Not only so but the
mind must have some development of the faculty of dealing with words before it can deal
successfully with ideas. The question is, once this preliminary work is done, what is the
best way of teaching the boy to think correctly from premises. For the logical reason
cannot proceed without premises. It either infers from facts to a conclusion, or from
previously formed conclusions to a fresh one, or from one fact to another. It either
induces, deduces or simply infers. I see the sunrise day after day, I conclude or induce
that it rises as a law daily after a varying interval of darkness. I have already ascertained
that wherever there is smoke, there is fire. I have induced that general rule from an
observation of facts. I deduce that in a particular case of smoke there is a fire behind. I
infer that a man must have lit it from the improbability of any other cause under the
particular circumstances. I cannot deduce it because fire is not always created by human
kindling; it may be volcanic or caused by a stroke of lightning or the sparks from some
kind of friction in the neighbourhood.
There are three elements necessary to correct reasoning : first, the correctness of the facts
or conclusions I start from, secondly, the completeness as well as the accuracy of the data I
start from, thirdly, the elimination of other possible or impossible conclusions from the
same facts. The fallibility of the logical reason is due partly to avoidable negligence and
looseness in securing these conditions, partly to the difficulty of getting all the facts
complete, most of all, to the extreme difficulty of eliminating all possible conclusions
except the one which happens to be right. No fact is supposed to be more perfectly
established than the universality of the Law of Gravitation as an imperative rule, yet a
single new fact inconsistent with it would upset this supposed universality. And such
facts exist. Nevertheless by care and keenness the fallibility may be reduced to its
minimum.
The usual practice is to train the logical reason by teaching the science of Logic. This is an
instance of the prevalent error by which book knowledge of a thing is made the object of
the study instead of the thing itself. The experience of reasoning and its errors should be
given to the mind and it should be taught to observe how this works for itself; it should

proceed from the example to the rule and from the accumulating harmony of rules to the
formal science of the subject, not from the formal science to the rule, and from the rule to
the example.
The first step is to make the young mind interest itself in drawing inferences from the
facts, tracing cause and effect. It should then be led on to notice its successes and its
failures and the reason of the success and of the failure; the incorrectness of the fact
started from, the haste in drawing conclusions from insufficient facts, the carelessness in
accepting a conclusion which is improbable, little supported by the data or open to doubt,
the indolence or prejudice which does not wish to consider other possible explanations or
conclusions. In this way the mind can be trained to reason as correctly as the fallibility of
human logic will allow, minimising the chances of error. The study of formal logic should
be postponed to a later time when it can easily be mastered in a very brief period, since it
will be only the systematising of an art perfectly well-known to the student.

B. The Mothers Writings

Integral Education
Education
Physical Education
Vital Education
Mental Education
Psychic Education and Spiritual Education

Education
The education of a human being should begin at birth and continue throughout his life.
Indeed, if we want this education to have its maximum result, it should begin even before
birth; in this case it is the mother herself who proceeds with this education by means of a
twofold action: first, upon herself for her own improvement, and secondly, upon the child

whom she is forming physically. For it is certain that the nature of the child to be born
depends very much upon the mother who forms it, upon her aspiration and will as well
as upon the material surroundings in which she lives. To see that her thoughts are always
beautiful and pure, her feelings always noble and fine, her material surroundings as
harmonious as possible and full of a great simplicitythis is the part of education which
should apply to the mother herself. And if she has in addition a conscious and definite
will to form the child according to the highest ideal she can conceive, then the very best
conditions will be realised so that the child can come into the world with his utmost
potentialities. How many difficult efforts and useless complications would be avoided in
this way?
Education to be complete must have five principal aspects corresponding to the five
principal activities of the human being; the physical, the vital, the mental, the psychic and
the spiritual. Usually, these phases of education follow chronologically the growth of the
individual; this, however, does not mean that one of them should replace another, but that
all must continue, completing one another until the end of his life.
We propose to study these five aspects of education one by one and also their
interrelationships. But before we enter into the details of the subject, I wish to make a
recommendation to parents. Most parents, for various reasons, give very little thought to
the true education which should be imparted to children. When they have brought a child
into the world, provided him with food, satisfied his various material needs and looked
after his health more or less carefully, they think they have fully discharged their duty.
Later on, they will send him to school and hand over to the teachers the responsibility for
his education.
There are other parents who know their children must be educated and who try to do
what they can. But very few, even among those who are most serious and sincere, know
that the first thing to do, in order to be able to educate a child, is to educate oneself, to
become conscious and master of oneself so that one never sets a bad example to ones
child. For it is above all through example that education becomes effective. To speak good
words and to give wise advice to a child has very little effect if one does not oneself give
him an example of what one teaches. Sincerity, honesty, straightforwardness, courage,
disinterestedness, unselfishness, patience, endurance, perseverance, peace, calm, selfcontrol are all things that are taught infinitely better by example than by beautiful
speeches. Parents, have a high ideal and always act in accordance with it and you will see
that little by little your child will reflect this ideal in himself and spontaneously manifest
the qualities you would like to see expressed in his nature. Quite naturally a child has

respect and admiration for his parents; unless they are quite unworthy, they will always
appear to their child as demi-gods whom he will try to imitate as best he can.
With very few exceptions, parents are not aware of the disastrous influence that their own
defects, impulses, weaknesses and lack of self-control have on their children. If you wish
to be respected by a child, have respect for yourself and be worthy of respect at every
moment. Never be authoritarian, despotic, impatient or ill-tempered. When your child
asks you a question, do not give him a stupid or silly answer under the pretext that he
cannot understand you. You can always make yourself understood if you take enough
trouble; and in spite of the popular saying that it is not always good to tell the truth, I
affirm that it is always good to tell the truth, but that the art consists in telling it in such a
way as to make it accessible to the mind of the hearer. In early life, until he is twelve or
fourteen, the childs mind is hardly open to abstract notions and general ideas. And yet
you can train it to understand these things by using concrete images, symbols or parables.
Up to quite an advanced age and for some who mentally always remain children, a
narrative, a story, a tale well told teaches much more than any number of theoretical
explanations.
Another pitfall to avoid: do not scold your child without good reason and only when it is
quite indispensable. A child who is too often scolded gets hardened to rebuke and no
longer attaches much importance to words or severity of tone. And above all, take good
care never to scold him for a fault which you yourself commit. Children are very keen and
clear-sighted observers; they soon find out your weaknesses and note them without pity.
When a child has done something wrong, see that he confesses it to you spontaneously
and frankly; and when he has confessed, with kindness and affection make him
understand what was wrong in his movement so that he will not repeat it, but never scold
him; a fault confessed must always be forgiven. You should not allow any fear to come
between you and your child; fear is a pernicious means of education : it invariably gives
birth to deceit and lying. Only a discerning affection that is firm yet gentle and an
adequate practical knowledge will create the bonds of trust that are indispensable for you
to be able to educate your child effectively. And do not forget that you have to control
yourself constantly in order to be equal to your task and truly fulfil the duty which you
owe your child by the mere fact of having brought him into the world.
Bulletin, February 1951

Physical Education
Of all the domains of human consciousness, the physical is the one most completely
governed by method, order, discipline, process. The lack of plasticity and receptivity in
matter has to be replaced by a detailed organisation that is both precise and
comprehensive. In this organisation, one must not forget the interdependence and
interpenetration of all the domains of the being. However, even a mental or vital impulse,
to express itself physically, must submit to an exact process. That is why all education of
the body, if it is to be effective, must be rigorous and detailed, far-sighted and methodical.
This will be translated into habits; the body is a being of habits. But these habits should be
controlled and disciplined, while remaining flexible enough to adapt themselves to
circumstances and to the needs of the growth and development of the being.
All education of the body should begin at birth and continue throughout life. It is never
too soon to begin nor too late to continue.
Physical education had three principal aspects: (1) control and discipline of the
functioning of the body; (2) an integral, methodical and harmonious development of all
the parts and movements of the body; and (3) correction of any defects and deformities.
It may be said that from the very first days, even the first hours of his life, the child should
undergo the first part of this programme as far as food, sleep, evacuation, etc. are
concerned. If the child, from the very beginning of his existence, learns good habits, it will
save him a good deal of trouble and inconvenience for the rest of the life; and besides,
those who have the responsibility of caring for him during his first years will find their
task very much easier.
Naturally, this education, if it is to be rational, enlightened and effective, must be based
upon a minimum knowledge of the human body, of its structure and its functioning. As
the child develops, he must gradually be taught to observe the functioning of his internal
organs so that he may control them more and more, and see that this functioning remains
normal and harmonious. As for positions, postures and movements, bad habits are
formed very early and very rapidly, and these may have disastrous consequences for his
whole life. Those who take the question of physical education seriously and wish to give
their children the best conditions for normal development will easily find the necessary
indications and instructions. The subject is being more and more thoroughly studied, and
many books have appeared and are still appearing which give all the information and
guidance needed.

It is not possible for me here to go into the details of the application, for each problem is
different from every other and the solution should suit the individual case. The question
of food has been studied at length and in detail; the diet that helps children in their
growth is generally known and it may be very useful to follow it. But it is very important
to remember that the instinct of the body, so long as it remains intact, is more reliable
than any theory. Accordingly, those who want their child to develop normally should not
force him to eat food which he finds distasteful, for most often the body possesses a sure
instinct as to what is harmful to it, unless the child is particularly capricious.
The body in its normal state, that is to say, when there is no intervention of mental notions
or vital impulses, also knows very well what is good and necessary for it; but for this to be
effective in practice, one must educate the child with care and teach him to distinguish his
desires from his needs. He should be helped to develop a taste for food that is simple and
healthy, substantial and appetising, but free from any useless complications. In his daily
food, all that merely stuffs and causes heaviness should be avoided; and above all, he
must be taught to eat according to his hunger, neither more nor less, and not to make his
meals an occasion to satisfy his greed or gluttony. From ones very childhood, one should
know that one eats in order to give strength and health to the body and not to enjoy the
pleasures of the palate. Children should be given food that suits their temperament,
prepared in a way that ensures hygiene and cleanliness, that is pleasant to the taste and
yet very simple. This food should be chosen and apportioned according to the age of the
child and his regular activities. It should contain all the chemical and dynamic elements
that are necessary for his development and the balanced growth of every part of his body.
Since the child will be given only the food that helps to keep him healthy and provide
him with the energy he needs, one must be very careful not to use food as a means of
coercion and punishment. The practice of telling a child, "You have not been a good boy,
you wont get any dessert", etc., is most harmful. In this way you create in his little
consciousness the impression that food is given to him chiefly to satisfy his greed and not
because it is indispensable for the proper functioning of his body.
Another thing should be taught to a child from his early years: to enjoy cleanliness and
observe hygienic habits. But, in obtaining this cleanliness and respect for the rules of
hygiene from the child, one must take great care not to instill into him the fear of illness.
Fear is the worst instrument of education and the surest way of attracting what is feared.
Yet, while there should be no fear of illness, there should be no inclination for it either.
There is a prevalent belief that brilliant minds are found in weak bodies. This is a
delusion and has no basis. There was perhaps a time when a romantic and morbid taste
for physical unbalance prevailed; but, fortunately, that tendency has disappeared.

Nowadays a well-built, robust, muscular, strong and well-balanced body is appreciated at

its true value. In any case, children should be taught to respect health and admire the
healthy man whose vigorous body knows how to repel attacks of illness. Often a child
feigns illness to avoid some troublesome obligation, a work that does not interest him, or
simply to soften his parents hearts and get them to satisfy some caprice. The child must
be taught as early as possible that this does not work and that he does not become more
interesting by being ill, but rather the contrary. The weak have a tendency to believe that
their weakness makes them particularly interesting and to use this weakness and if
necessary even illness as a means of attracting the attention and sympathy of the people
around them. On no account should this pernicious tendency be encouraged. Children
should therefore be taught that to be ill is a sign of weakness and inferiority, not of some
virtue or sacrifice.
That is why, as soon as the child is able to make use of his limbs, some time should be
devoted every day to the methodical and regular development of all the parts of his body.
Every day some twenty or thirty minutes, preferably on waking, if possible, will be
enough to ensure the proper functioning and balanced growth of his muscles while
preventing any stiffening of the joints and of the spine, which occurs much sooner than
one thinks. In the general porgramme of the childs education, sports and outdoor games
should be given a prominent place; that, more than all the medicines in the world, will
assure the child good health. An hours moving about in the sun does more to cure
weakness or even anaemia than a whole arsenal of tonics. My advice is that medicines
should not be used unless it is absolutely impossible to avoid them; and this "absolutely
impossible" should be very strict. In this programme of physical culture, although there
are well-known general lines to be followed for the best development of the human body,
still, if the method is to be fully effective in each case, it should be considered
individually, if possible with the help of a competent person, or if not, by consulting the
numerous manuals that have already been and are still being published on the subject.
But in any case a child, whatever his activities, should have a sufficient number of hours
of sleep. The number will vary according to his age. In the cradle, the baby should sleep
longer than he remains awake. The number of hours of sleep will diminish as the child
grows. But until maturity it should not be less than eight hours, in a quiet, well-ventilated
place. The child should never be made to stay up late for no reason. The hours before
midnight are the best for resting the nerves. Even during the waking hours, relaxation is
indispensable for all who want to maintain their nervous balance. To know how to relax
the muscles and the nerves is an art which should be taught to children when they are
very young. There are many parents who, on the contrary, push their child to constant
activity. When the child remains quiet, they imagine that he is ill. There are even parents

who have the bad habit of making their child do household work at the expense of his
rest and relaxation. Nothing is worse for a developing nervous system, which cannot
stand the strain of too continuous an effort or of an activity that is imposed upon it and
not freely chosen. At the risk of going against many current ideas and ruffling many
prejudices, I hold that it is not fair to demand service from a child, as if it were his duty to
serve his parents. The contrary would be more true, and certainly it is natural that parents
should serve their child or at least take great care of him. It is only if a child chooses freely
to work for his family and does this work as play that the thing is admissible. And even
then, one must be careful that it in no way diminishes the hours of rest that are absolutely
indispensable for his body to function properly.
I have said that from a young age children should be taught to respect good health,
physical strength and balance. The great importance of beauty must also be emphasised.
A young child should aspire for beauty, not for the sake of pleasing others or winning
their admiration, but for the love of beauty itself; for beauty is the ideal which all physical
life must realise. Every human being has the possibility of establishing harmony among
the different parts of his body and in the various movements of the body in action. Every
human body that undergoes a rational method of culture from the beginning of its
existence can realise its own harmony and thus become fit to manifest beauty. When we
speak of the other aspect of an integral education, we shall see what inner conditions are
to be fulfilled so that this beauty can one day be manifested.
So far I have referred only to the education to be given to children; for a good many
bodily defects can be rectified and many malformations avoided by an enlightened
physical education given at the proper time. But if for any reason this physical education
has not been given during childhood or even in youth, it can begin at any age and be
pursued throughout life. But the later one begins, the more one must be prepared to meet
bad habits that have to be corrected, rigidities to be made supple, malformations to be
rectified. And this preparatory work will require much patience and perseverance before
one can start on a constructive programme for the harmonisation of the form and its
movements. But if you keep alive within you the ideal of beauty that is to be realised,
sooner or later you are sure to reach the goal you have set yourself.
Bulletin, April 1951

Vital Education
Of all education, vital education is perhaps the most important, the most indispensable.
Yet it is rarely taken up and pursued with discernment and method. There are several

reasons for this: first, the human mind is in a state of great confusion about this particular
subject; secondly, the undertaking is very difficult and to be successful in it one must have
endless endurance and persistence and a will that no failure can weaken.
Indeed, the vital in mans nature is a despotic and exacting tyrant. Moreover, since it is the
vital which holds power, energy, enthusiasm, effective dynamism, many have a feeling of
timorous respect for it and always try to please it. But it is a matter that nothing can
satisfy and its demands are without limit. Two ideas which are very widespread,
especially in the West, contribute towards making its domination more sovereign. One is
that the chief aim of life is to be happy; the other that one is born with a certain character
and that it is impossible to change it.
The first idea is a childish deformation of a very profound truth: that all existence is based
upon delight of being and without delight of being there would be no life. But this delight
of being, which is a quality of the Divine and therefore unconditioned, must not be
confused with the pursuit of pleasure in life, which depends largely upon circumstances.
The conviction that he has the right to be happy leads, as a matter of course, to the will to
"live ones own life" at any cost. This attitude, by its obscure and aggressive egoism, leads
to every kind of conflict and misery, disappointment and discouragement, and very often
ends in catastrophe.
In the world as it is now the goal of life is not to secure personal happiness, but to awaken
the individual progressively to the Truth-consciousness.
The second idea arises from the fact that a fundamental change of character demands an
almost complete mastery over the subconscient and a very rigorous disciplining of
whatever comes upon from the inconscient, which, in ordinary natures, expresses itself as
the effects of atavism and of the environment in which one was born. Only an almost
abnormal growth of consciousness and the constant help of Grace can achieve this
Herculean task. That is why this task has rarely been attempted and many famous
teachers have declared it to be unrealisable and chimerical. Yet it is not unrealisable. The
transformation of character has in fact been realised by means of a clear-sighted discipline
and a perseverance so obstinate that nothing, not even the most persistent failures, can
discourage it.
The indispensable starting-point is a detailed and discerning observation of the character
to be transformed. In most cases, that itself is a difficult and often a very baffling task. But
there is one fact which the old traditions knew and which can serve as the clue in the
labyrinth of inner discovery. It is that everyone possesses in a large measure, and the

exceptional individual in an increasing degree of precision, two opposite tendencies of

character, in almost equal proportions, which are like the light and the shadow of the
same thing. Thus someone who has the capacity of being exceptionally generous will
suddenly find an obstinate avarice rising up in his nature, the courageous man will be a
coward in some part of his being and the good man will suddenly have wicked impulses.
In this way life seems to endow everyone not only with the possibility of expressing an
ideal, but also with contrary elements representing in a concrete manner the battle he has
to wage and the victory he has to win for the realisation to become possible.
Consequently, all life is an education pursued more or less consciously, more or less
willingly. In certain cases this education will encourage the movements that express the
light, in others, on the contrary, those that express the shadow. If the circumstances and
the environment are favourable, the light will grow at the expense of the shadow;
otherwise the opposite will happen. And in this way the individuals character will
crystallise according to the whims of Nature and the determinisms of material and vital
life, unless a higher element comes in in time, a conscious will which, refusing to allow
Nature to follow her whimsical ways, will replace them by a logical and clear-sighted
discipline. This conscious will is what we mean by a rational method of education.
That is why it is of prime importance that the vital education of the child should begin as
early as possible, indeed, as soon as he is able to use his senses. In this way many bad
habits will be avoided and many harmful influences eliminated.
This vital education has two principal aspects, very different in their aims and methods,
but both equally important. The first concerns the development and use of the sense
organs. The second progressing awareness and control of the character, culminating in its
transformation.
The education of the senses, again, has several aspects, which are added to one another as
the being grows; indeed it should never cease. The sense organs, if properly cultivated,
can attain a precision and power of functioning far exceeding what is normally expected
of them.
In some ancient initiations it was stated that the number of senses that man can develop is
not five but seven and in certain special cases even twelve. Certain races at certain times
have, out of necessity, developed more or less perfectly one or the other of these
supplementary senses. With a proper discipline persistently followed, they are within the
reach of all who are sincerely interested in this development and its results. Among the
faculties that are often mentioned, there is, for example, the ability to widen the physical

consciousness, project it out of oneself so as to concentrate it on a given point and thus

obtain sight, hearing, smell, taste and even touch at a distance.
To this general education of the senses and their functioning there will be added, as early
as possible, the cultivation of discrimination and of the aesthetic sense, the capacity to
choose and adopt what is beautiful and harmonious, simple, healthy and pure. For there
is a psychological health just as there is a physical health, a beauty and harmony of the
sensations as of the body and its movements. As the capacity of understanding grows in
the child, he should be taught, in the course of his education, to add artistic taste and
refinement to power and precision. He should be shown, led to appreciate, taught to love
beautiful, lofty, healthy and noble things, whether in Nature or in human creation. This
should be a true aesthetic culture, which will protect him from degrading influences. For,
in the wake of the last wars and the terrible nervous tension which they provoked, as a
sign, perhaps, of the decline of civilisation and social decay, a growing vulgarity seems to
have taken possession of human life, individual as well as collective, particularly in what
concerns aesthetic life and the life of the senses. A methodical and enlightened cultivation
of the senses can, little by little, eliminate from the child whatever is by contagion vulgar,
commonplace and crude. This education will have very happy effects even on his
character. For one who has developed a truly refined taste will, because of this very
refinement, feel incapable of acting in a crude, brutal or vulgar manner. This refinement,
if it is sincere, brings to the being a nobility and generosity which will spontaneously find
expression in his behaviour and will protect him from many base and perverse
movements.
And this brings us quite naturally to the second aspect of vital education which concerns
the character and its transformation.
Generally, all disciplines dealing with the vital being, its purification and its control,
proceed by coercion, suppression, abstinence and asceticism. This procedure is certainly
easier and quicker, although less deeply enduring and effective, than a rigorous and
detailed education. Besides, it eliminates all possibility of the intervention, help and
collaboration of the vital. And yet this help is of the utmost importance if one wants the
individuals growth and action to be complete.
To become conscious of the various movements in oneself and be aware of what one does
and why one does it, is the indispensable starting-point. The child must be taught to
observe, to note his reactions and impulses and their causes, to become a discerning
witness of his desires, his movements of violence and passion, his instincts of possession

and appropriation and domination and the background of vanity which supports them,
together with their counterparts of weakness, discouragement, depression and despair.
Evidently, for this process to be useful, along with the growth of the power of observation
the will for progress and perfection must also grow. This will should be instilled into the
child as soon as he is capable of having a will, that is to say, at a much earlier age than is
usually believed.
In order to awaken this will to surmount and conquer, different methods are appropriate
in different cases; with certain individuals rational arguments are effective, for others
their feelings and goodwill should be brought into play, with yet others the sense of
dignity and self-respect. For all, the most powerful method is example constantly and
sincerely shown.
Once the resolution has been firmly established, one has only to proceed rigorously and
persistently and never to accept any defeat as final. To avoid all weakening and
backsliding, there is one important point you must know and never forget: the will can be
cultivated and developed just as the muscles can by methodical and progressive exercise.
You must not shrink from demanding the maximum effort of your will even for a thing
that seems of no importance, for it is through effort that its capacity grows, gradually
acquiring the power to apply itself even to the most difficult things. What you have
decided to do, you must do, whatever the cost, even if you have to renew your effort over
and over again any number of times in order to do it. Your will will be strengthened by
the effort and you will have only to choose with discernment the goal to which you will
apply it.
To sum up: one must gain full knowledge of ones character and then acquire control over
ones movements in order to achieve perfect mastery and the transformation of all the
elements that have to be transformed.
Now all will depend upon the ideal which the effort for mastery and transformation seeks
to achieve. The value of the effort and its result will depend upon the value of the ideal.
This is the subject we shall deal with next, in connection with mental education.
Bulletin, August 1951

Mental Education

Of all lines of education, mental education is the most widely known and practised, yet
except in a few rare cases there are gaps which make it something very incomplete and in
the end quite insufficient.
Generally speaking, schooling is considered to be all the mental education that is
necessary. And when a child has been made to undergo, for a number of years, a
methodical training which is more like cramming than true schooling, it is considered
that whatever is necessary for his mental development has been done. Nothing of the
kind. Even conceding that the training is given with due measure and discrimination and
does not permanently damage the brain, it cannot impart to the human mind the faculties
it needs to become a good and useful instrument. The schooling that is usually given can,
at the most, serve as a system of gymnastics to increase the suppleness of the brain. From
this standpoint, each branch of human learning represents a special kind of mental
gymnastics, and the verbal formulations given to these various branches each constitute a
special and well-defined language.
A true mental education, which will prepare man for a higher life, has five principal
phases. Normally these phases follow one after another, but in exceptional individuals
they may alternate or even proceed simultaneously. These five phases, in brief, are:
(1) Development of the power of concentration, the capacity of attention.
(2) Development of the capacities of expansion, widening, complexity and richness.
(3) Organisation of ones ideas around a central idea, a higher ideal or a supremely
luminous idea that will serve as a guide in life.
(4) Thought-control, rejection of undesirable thoughts, to become able to think only what
one wants and when one wants.
(5) Development of mental silence, perfect calm and a more and more total receptivity to
inspirations coming from the higher regions of the being.
It is not possible to give here all the details concerning the methods to be employed in the
application of these five phases of education to different individuals. Still, a few
explanations on points of detail can be given.
Undeniably, what most impedes mental progress in children is the constant dispersion of
their thoughts. Their thoughts flutter hither and thither like butterflies and they have to
make a great effort to fix them. Yet this capacity is latent in them, for when you succeed in

arousing their interest, they are capable of a good deal of attention. By his ingenuity,
therefore, the educator will gradually help the child to become capable of a sustained
effort of attention and a faculty of more and more complete absorption in the work in
hand. All methods that can develop this faculty of attention from games to rewards are
good and can all be utilised according to the need and the circumstances. But it is the
psychological action that is most important and the sovereign method is to arouse in the
child an interest in what you want to teach him, a liking for work, a will to progress. To
love to learn is the most precious gift that one can give to a child: to love to learn always
and everywhere, so that all circumstances, all happenings in life may be constantly
renewed opportunities for learning more and always more.
For that, to attention and concentration should be added observation, precise recording
and faithfulness of memory. This faculty of observation can be developed by varied and
spontaneous exercises, making use of every opportunity that presents itself to keep the
childs thought wakeful, alert and prompt. The growth of the understanding should be
stressed much more than that of memory. One knows well only what one has understood.
Things learnt by heart, mechanically, fade away little by little and finally disappear; what
is understood is never forgotten. Moreover, you must never refuse to explain to a child the
how and the why of things. If you cannot do it yourself, you must direct the child to those
who are qualified to answer or point out to him some books that deal with the question.
In this way you will progressively awaken in the child the taste for true study and the
habit of making a persistent effort to know.
This will bring us quite naturally to the second phase of development in which the mind
should be widened and enriched.
You will gradually show the child that everything can become an interesting subject for
study if it is approached in the right way. The life of every day, of every moment, is the
best school of all, varied, complex, full of unexpected experiences, problems to be solved,
clear and striking examples and obvious consequences. It is so easy to arouse healthy
curiosity in children, if you answer with intelligence and clarity the numerous questions
they ask. An interesting reply to one readily brings others in its train and so the attentive
child learns without effort much more than he usually does in the classroom. By a choice
made with care and insight, you should also teach him to enjoy good reading-matter
which is both instructive and attractive. Do not be afraid of anything that awakens and
pleases his imagination; imagination develops the creative mental faculty and through it
study becomes living and the mind develops in joy.

In order to increase the suppleness and comprehensiveness of his mind, one should see
not only that he studies many varied topics, but above all that a single subject is
approached in various ways, so that the child understands in a practical manner that
there are many ways of facing the same intellectual problem, of considering it and solving
it. This will remove all rigidity from his brain and at the same time it will make his
thinking richer and more supple and prepare it for a more complex and comprehensive
synthesis. In this way also the child will be imbued with the sense of the extreme
relativity of mental learning and, little by little, an aspiration for a truer source of
knowledge will awaken in him.
Indeed, as the child grows older and progresses in his studies, his mind too ripens and
becomes more and more capable of forming general ideas, and with them almost always
comes a need for certitude, for a knowledge that is stable enough to form the basis of a
mental construction which will permit all the diverse and scattered and often
contradictory ideas accumulated in his brain to be organised and put in order. This
ordering is indeed very necessary if one is to avoid chaos in ones thoughts. All
contradictions can be transformed into complements, but for that one must discover the
higher idea that will have the power to bring them harmoniously together. It is always
good to consider every problem from all possible standpoints so as to avoid partiality and
exclusiveness; but if the thought is to be active and creative, it must, in every case, be the
natural and logical synthesis of all the points of view adopted. And if you want to make
the totality of your thoughts into a dynamic and constructive force, you must also take
great care as to the choice of the central idea of your mental synthesis; for upon that will
depend the value of this synthesis. The higher and larger the central idea and the more
universal it is, rising above time and space, the more numerous and the more complex
will be the ideas, notions and thoughts which it will be able to organise and harmonise.
It goes without saying that this work of organisation cannot be done once and for all. The
mind, if it is to keep its vigour and youth, must progress constantly, revise its notions in
the light of new knowledge, enlarge its framework to include fresh notions and constantly
reclassify and reorganise its thoughts, so that each of them may find its true place in
relation to the others and the whole remains harmonious and orderly.
All that has just been said concerns the speculative mind, the mind that learns. But
learning is only one aspect of mental activity; the other, which is at least equally
important, is the constructive faculty, the capacity to form and thus prepare action. This
very important part of mental activity has rarely been subject of any special study or
discipline. Only those who want, for some reason, to exercise a strict control over their
mental activities think of observing and disciplining

this faculty of formation; and as soon as they try it, they

have to face difficulties so great that they appear almost insurmountable.
And yet control over this formative activity of the mind is one of the most important
aspects of self-education; one can say that without it no mental mastery is possible. As far
as study is concerned, all ideas are acceptable and should be included in the synthesis,
whose very function is to become more and more rich and complex; but where action is
concerned, it is just the opposite. The ideas that are accepted for translation into action
should be strictly controlled and only those that agree with the general trend of the
central idea forming the basis of the mental synthesis should be permitted to express
themselves in action. This means that every thought entering the mental consciousness
should be set before the central idea; if it finds a logical place among the thoughts already
grouped, it will be admitted into the synthesis; if not, it will be rejected so that it can have
no influence on the action. This work of mental purification should be done very regularly
in order to secure a complete control over ones actions.
For this purpose, it is good to set apart time every day when one can quietly go over ones
thoughts and put ones synthesis in order. Once the habit is acquired, you can maintain
control over your thoughts even during work and action, allowing only those which are
useful for what you are doing to come to the surface. Particularly, if you have continued to
cultivate the power of concentration and attention, only the thoughts that are needed will
be allowed to enter the active external consciousness and they then become all the more
dynamic and effective. And if, in the intensity of concentration, it becomes necessary not
to think at all, all mental vibration can be stilled and an almost total silence secured. In
this silence one can gradually open to the higher regions of the mind and learn to record
the inspirations that come from there.
But even before reaching this point, silence in itself is supremely useful, because in most
people who have a somewhat developed and active mind, the mind is never at rest.
During the day, its activity is kept under a certain control, but at night, during the sleep of
the body, the control of the waking state is almost completely removed and the mind
indulges in activities which are sometimes excessive and often incoherent. This creates a
great stress which leads to fatigue and the diminution of the intellectual faculties.
The fact is that like all the other parts of the human being, the mind too needs rest and it
will not have this rest unless we know how to provide it. The art of resting ones mind is
something to be acquired. Changing ones mental activity is certainly the way of resting;
but the greatest possible rest is silence. And as far as the mental faculties are concerned a
few minutes passed in the calm of silence are a more effective rest than hours of sleep.

When one has learned to silence the mind at will and to concentrate it in receptive silence,
then there will be no problem that cannot be solved, no mental difficulty whose soultion
cannot be found. When it is agitated, thought becomes confused and impotent; in an
attentive tranquillity, the light can manifest itself and open up new horizons to mans
capacity.
Bulletin, November 1951

Psychic Education and Spiritual Education

So far we have dealt only with the education that can be given to all children born upon
earth and which is concerned with purely human faculties. But one need not inevitably
stop there. Every human being carries hidden within him the possibility of a greater
consciousness which goes beyond the bounds of his present life and enables him to share
in a higher and a vaster life. Indeed, in all exceptional beings it is always this
consciousness that governs their lives and organises both the circumstances of their
existence and their individual reaction to these circumstances. What the human mental
consciousness does not know and cannot do, this consciousness knows and does. It is like
a light that shines at the centre of the being, radiating through the thick coverings of the
external consciousness. Some have a vague intimation of its presence; a good many
children are under its influence, which shows itself very distinctly at times in their
spontaneous actions and even in their words. Unfortunately, since parents most often do
not know what it is and do not understand what is happening in their child, their reaction
to these phenomena is not a good one and all their education consists in making the child
as unconscious as possible in this domain and concentrating all his attention on external
things, thus accustoming him to think that they are the only ones that matter. It is true
that this concentration on external things is very useful, provided that it is done in the
proper way. The three lines of educationphyscial, vital and mentaldeal with that and
could be defined as the means of building up the personality, raising the individual out of
the amorphous subconscious mass and making him a well-defined self-conscious entity.
With psychic education we come to the problem of the true motive of existence, the
purpose of life on earth, the discovery to which this life must lead and the result of that
discovery: the consecration of the individual to his eternal principle. Normally this
discovery is associated with a mystic feeling, a religious life, because it is mainly the
religions that have concerned themselves with this aspect of life. But it need not
necessarily be so: the mystic notion of God may be replaced by the more philosophical
notion of truth and still the discovery will remain essentially the same, but the road
leading to it may be taken even by the most intransigent positivist. For mental notions and
ideas have only a very secondary importance in preparing one for the psychic life. The

important thing is to live the experience; that carries with it its own reality and force apart
from any theory that may precede or accompany or follow it, for most often theories are
no more than explanations that one gives to oneself in order to have, more or less, the
illusion of knowledge. Man clothes the ideal or the absolute he seeks to attain with
different names according to the environment in which he is born and the education he
has received. The experience is essentially the same, if it is sincere; it is only the words
and phrases in which it is formulated that differ according to the belief and the mental
education of the one who has the experience. All formulation is thus only an
approximation that should be progressive and grow in precision as the experience itself
becomes more and more precise and co-ordinated. Still, to sketch a general outline of
psychic education, we must give some idea, however relative it may be, of what we mean
by the psychic being. One could say, for example, that the creation of an individual being
is the result of the projection, in time and space, of one of the countless possibilities latent
in the supreme origin of all manifestation which, through the medium of the one and
universal consciousness, takes concrete form in the law or the truth of an individual and
so, by a progressive development, becomes his soul or psychic being.
I must emphasise that what is stated briefly here does not claim to be a complete
exposition of the reality and does not exhaust the subjectfar from it. It is only a very
summary explanation for a practical purpose, to serve as a basis for the education which
we intend to consider now.
It is through this psychic presence that the truth of an individual being comes into contact
with him and the circumstances of his life. In most cases the presence acts, so to say, far
behind the veil, unrecognised and unknown; but in some, it is perceptible and its action
recognisable and even, in a very few, the presence becomes tangible and its action fully
effective. These go forward in life with an assurance and a certitude all their own; they are
masters of their destiny. It is for the purpose of obtaining this mastery and becoming
conscious of the psychic presence that psychic education should be practised. But for that
there is need of a special factor, the personal will. For till now, the discovery of the psychic
being and identification with it have not been among the recognised subjects of
education, and although one can find in special treatises useful and practical hints on the
subject, and although in exceptional cases one may have the good fortune of meeting
someone who is capable of showing the way and giving the help that is needed to follow
it, most often the attempt is left to ones own personal initiative. The discovery is a
personal matter and a great determination, a strong will and an untiring perseverance are
indispensable to reach the goal. Each one must, so to say, trace out his own path through
his own difficulties. The goal is known to some extent, for most of those who have
reached it have described it more or less clearly. But the supreme value of the discovery

lies in its spontaneity, its ingenuousness, and that escapes all ordinary mental laws. And
that is why anyone wanting to take up the adventure usually first seeks out some person
who has successfully undertaken it and is able to sustain him and enlighten him on his
way. Yet there are some solitary travellers and for them a few general indications may be
useful.
The starting-point is to seek in yourself that which is independent of the body and the
circumstances of life, which is not born of the mental formation that you have been given,
the language you speak, the habits and customs of the environment in which you live, the
country where you are born or the age to which you belong. You must find, in the depths
of your being, that which carries in it a sense of universality, limitless expansion,
unbroken continuity. Then you decentralise, extend and widen yourself; you begin to live
in all things and in all beings; the barriers separating individuals from each other break
down. You think in their thoughts, vibrate in their sensations, feel in their feelings, live in
the life of all. What seemed inert suddenly becomes full of life, stones quicken, plants feel
and will and suffer, animals speak in a language more or less inarticulate, but clear and
expressive; everything is animated by a marvellous consciousness without time or limit.
And this is only one aspect of the psychic realisation; there are others, many others. All
help you to go beyond the barriers of your egoism, the walls of your external personality,
the impotence of your reactions and the incapacity of your will.
But, as I have already said, the path to that realisation is long and difficult, strewn with
snares and problems to be solved, which demand an unfailing determination. It is like the
explorers trek through virgin forest in quest of an unknown land, of some great
discovery. The psychic being is also a great discovery which requires at least as much
fortitude and endurance as the discovery of new continents. A few simple words of
advice may be useful to one who has resolved to undertake it.
The first and perhaps the most important point is that the mind is incapable of judging
spiritual things. All those who have written on this subject have said so; but very few are
those who have put it into practice. And yet, in order to proceed on the path, it is
absolutely indispensable to abstain from all mental opinion and reaction.
Give up all personal seeking for comfort, satisfaction, enjoyment or happiness. Be only a
burning fire for progress, take whatever comes to you as an aid to your progress and
immediately make whatever progress is required.
Try to take pleasure in all you do, but never do anything for the sake of pleasure.

Never get excited, nervous or agitated. Remain perfectly calm in the face of all
circumstances. And yet be always alert to discover what progress you still have to make
and lose no time in making it.
Never take physical happenings at their face value. They are always a clumsy attempt to
express something else, the true thing which escapes our superficial understanding.
Never complain of the behaviour of anyone, unless you have the power to change in his
nature what makes him act in this way; and if you have the power, change him instead of
complaining.
Whatever you do, never forget the goal which you have set before you. There is nothing
great or small once you have set out on this great discovery; all things are equally
important and can either hasten or delay its success. Thus before you eat, concentrate a
few seconds in the aspiration that the food you are about to eat may bring your body the
substance it needs to serve as a solid basis for your effort towards the great discovery, and
give it the energy for persistence and perseverance in the effort.
Before you go to sleep, concentrate a few seconds in the aspiration that the sleep may
restore your fatigued nerves, bring calm and quietness to your brain so that on waking
you may, with renewed vigour, begin again your journey on the path of the great
discovery.
Before you act, concentrate in the will that your action may help or at least in no way
hinder your march forward towards the great discovery.
When you speak, before the words come out of your mouth, concentrate just long enough
to check your words and allow only those that are absolutely necessary to pass, only those
that are not in any way harmful to your progress on the path of the great discovery.
To sum up, never forget the purpose and goal of your life. The will for the great discovery
should be always there above you, above what you do and what you are, like a huge bird
of light dominating all the movements of your being.
Before the untiring persistence of your effort, an inner door will suddenly open and you
will emerge into a dazzling splendour that will bring you the certitude of immortality, the
concrete experience that you have always lived and always shall live, that external forms
alone perish and that these forms are, in relation to what you are in reality, like clothes
that are thrown away when worn out. Then you will stand erect, freed from all chains,
and instead of advancing laboriously under the weight of circumstances imposed upon

you by Nature, which you had to endure and bear if you did not want to be crushed by
them, you will be able to walk on, straight and firm, conscious of your destiny, master of
your life.
And yet this release from all slavery to the flesh, this liberation from all personal
attachment is not the supreme fulfilment. There are other steps to climb before you reach
the summit. And even these steps can and should be followed by others which will open
the doors to the future. These following steps will form the object of what I call spiritual
education.
But before we enter on this new stage and deal with the question in detail, an explanation
is necessary. Why is a distinction made between the psychic education of which we have
just spoken and the spiritual education of which we are about to speak now ? Because the
two are usually confused under the general term of "yogic discipline", although the goals
they aim at are very different: for one it is a higher realisation upon earth, for the other an
escape from all earthly manifestation, even from the whole universe, a return to the
unmanifest.
So one can say that the psychic life is immortal life, endless time, limitless space, everprogressive change, unbroken continuity in the universe of forms. The spiritual
consciousness, on the other hand, means to live the infinite and the eternal, to be
projected beyond all creation, beyond time and space. To become conscious of your
psychic being and to live a psychic life you must abolish all egoism; but to live a spiritual
life you must no longer have an ego.
Here also, in spiritual education, the goal you set before you will assume, in the minds
formulation of it, different names according to the environment in which you have been
brought up, the path you have followed and the affinities of your temperament. Those
who have a religious tendency will call it God and their spiritual effort will be towards
identification with the transcendent God beyond all forms, as opposed to the immanent
God dwelling in each form. Others will call it the Absolute, the Supreme Origin, others
Nirvana; yet others, who view the world as an unreal illusion, will name it the Only
Reality and to those who regard all manifestation as falsehood it will be the Sole Truth.
And every one of these expressions contains an element of truth, but all are incomplete,
expressing only one aspect of that which is. Here too, however, the mental formulation
has no great importance and once you have passed through the intermediate stages, the
experience is identical. In any case, the most effective starting-point, the swiftest method
is total self-giving. Besides, no joy is more perfect than the joy of a total self-giving to
whatever is the summit of your conception: for some it is the notion of God, for others

that of Perfection. If this self-giving is made with persistence and ardour, a moment
comes when you pass beyond the concept and arrive at an experience that escapes all
description, but which is almost always identical in its effects. And as your self-giving
becomes more and more perfect and integral, it will be accompanied by the aspiration for
identification, a total fusion with That to which you have given yourself, and little by little
this aspiration will overcome all differences and all resistances, especially if with the
aspiration there is an intense and spontaneous love, for then nothing can stand in the way
of its victorious drive.
There is an essential difference between this identification and the identification with the
psychic being. The latter can be made more and more lasting and, in certain cases, it
becomes permanent and never leaves the person who has realised it, whatever his outer
activities may be. In other words, the identification is no longer realised only in
meditation and concentration, but its effects are felt at every moment of ones life, in sleep
as well as in waking.
On the other hand, liberation from all form and the identification with that which is
beyond form cannot last in an absolute manner; for it would automatically bring about
the dissolution of the material form. Certain traditions say that this dissolution happens
inevitably within twenty days of the total identification. Yet it is not necessarily so; and
even if the experience is only momentary, it produces in the consciousness results that are
never obliterated and have repercussions on all states of the being, both internal and
external. Moreover, once the identification has been realised, it can be renewed at will,
provided that you know how to put yourself in the same conditions.
This merging into the formless is the supreme liberation sought by those who want to
escape from an existence which no longer holds any attraction for them. It is not
surprising that they are dissatisfied with the world in its present form. But a liberation
that leaves the world as it is and in no way affects the conditions of life from which others
suffer, cannot satisfy those who refuse to enjoy a boon which they are the only ones, or
almost the only ones, to possess, those who dream of a world more worthy of the
splendours that lie hidden behind its apparent disorder and widespread misery. They
dream of sharing with others the wonders they have discovered in their inner exploration.
And the means to do so is within their reach, now that they have arrived at the summit of
their ascent.
From beyond the frontiers of form a new force can be evoked, a power of consciousness
which is as yet unexpressed and which, by its emergence, will be able to change the
course of things and give birth to a new world. For the true solution to the problem of

suffering, ignorance and death is not an individual escape from earthly miseries by selfannihilation into the unmanifest, nor a problematical collective flight from universal
suffering by an integral and final return of the creation to its Creator, thus curing the
universe not by abolishing it, but a transformation, a total transfiguration of matter
brought about by the logical continuation of Natures ascending march in her progress
towards perfection, by the creation of a new species that will be to man what man is to the
animal and that will manifest upon earth a new force, a new consciousness and a new
power. And so will begin a new education which can be called the supramental
education; it will, by its all-powerful action, work not only upon the consciousness of
individual beings, but upon the very substance of which they are built and upon the
environment in which they live.
In contrast with the types of education we have mentioned previously, which progress
from below upwards by an ascending movement of the various parts of the being, the
supramental education will progress from above downwards, its influence spreading
from one state of being to another until at last the physical is reached. This last
transformation will only occur visibly when the inner states of being have already been
considerably transformed. It is therefore quite unreasonable to try to recognise the
presence of the supramental by physical appearances. For these will be the last to change
and the supramental force can be at work in an individual long before anything of it
becomes perceptible in his bodily life.
To sum up, one can say that the supramental education will result no longer in a
progressive formation of human nature and an increasing development of its latent
faculties, but in a transformation of the nature itself, a transfiguration of the being in its
entirety, a new ascent of the species above and beyond man towards superman, leading in
the end to the appearance of a divine race upon earth.
Bulletin, February 1952

References*
1. Davies, Paul; Superforce: A Search for a Grand Unified Theory of Nature; Unwin,
London 1990.
2. Visnu Purana, Amsa 1, Canto 19, Verse 41.
3. Beecher, H. W.; Proverbs from Plymouth Pulpit (1887).
4. Einstein, Albert; Out of My Later Years

5. Mukherjee Haridas and Uma Mukherjee; A Phase of Swadeshi Movement. National

Education: (1953).
6. 6. Manoj Das; Sri Aurobindo in the First Decade of the Century (1972).
***********