If you want to hear the story
Of people dead long ago,
Back in time at the beginning,
To recount the Tale of Man
Erect, and in his strapping boyhood,—
Go to Lake Turkana.

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This is the eighth and last in the series of articles Sri Aurobindo wrote during 1949-50 and it had appeared first in the 24 November 1950 issue of the Bulletin d' Education Physique (Bulletin of Physical Education). The following is absolutely the last piece of Sri Aurobindo’s prose writings. This article was probably dictated towards the end of September or early in November 1950.

It is in this series of the order of existence and as the last word of the lower hemisphere of being, the first word of the higher hemisphere that we have to look at the Mind of Light and see what is its nature and the powers which characterise it and which it uses for its self-manifestation and workings, its connection with Supermind and its consequences and possibilities for the life of a new humanity.

It seems that Sri Aurobindo wanted to develop the series “to look at the Mind of Light” further to characterise the type of New Humanity that will be formed, a humanity paving the path for the arrival of the Gnostic Race and in the progressive sequel of the Divine Life upon Earth. Sri Aurobindo’s own withdrawal on 5 December 1950 was a yogic act in that direction.

But absolutely the last piece of Sri Aurobindo’s creative writings is the 72-line passage (589 words) in Savitri dictated around 15 November 1950, just three weeks before his self-willed withdrawal. It appears in the Book of Fate which he had picked up again for the last revision, the Book that was already published on one or two occasions. Actually, this cannot be called a revision; it was an addition made with a definite intention, indicating the prophetic nature of the Mother’s work of the Supramental Descent and Transformation. Here is the passage:

Queen, strive no more to change the secret will;
Time's accidents are steps in its vast scheme. …
Think not to intercede with the hidden Will,
Intrude not twixt her spirit and its force
But leave her to her mighty self and Fate.

So, absolutely the last line is: “But leave her to her mighty self and Fate.” It seems interesting, the last word uttered by Sri Aurobindo in his literary compositions was “Fate”. In any case, this marks the completion of the long writing career beginning from the series New Lamps for Old on 7 August 1893 and coming to an end in mid-November 1950. It started with “If the blind lead the blind, shall they not both fall into a ditch?”, the end coming in the phrase “her mighty self and Fate”. Her mighty self and Fate, the divine Shakti and Niyati, that is the theme of the Transcendental’s working in this mortal Creation.

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The interpretation of 1857 changed with the emergence of nationalism and the ‘mutiny’ was interpreted as a ‘national war of independence’. The heroes of the British became the villains of the people. However, the families of those ‘loyal Mohammedans’ who were awarded landed properties and cash remained as powerful and influential as before, especially in parts which later became Pakistan. For lack of historical knowledge and perception they are never brought to justice. The result is that there is no anti-colonial approach in our historical narrative. On the contrary, there is great admiration for British rule. What is the lesson of history? History tells us that imperialism cannot succeed in occupying another country without local collaboration. Today, we are facing the same situation in Iraq and Afghanistan on the one hand and Palestine on the other. We are hearing the same arguments that with the help of foreign powers and intervention, religious extremism and terror will be wiped out. Again, history tells us that it is not correct. We cannot rely on others to fight our wars...

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Who is this Yajna-Purusha, Yajneshwara of the Puranas, the Fire of the Yogins, the Tapas of the doers of austerities, the God of worship of the ritualists, the sacramental divinity of the religious, the bringer of the heavenly riches to the terrestrial creatures, the leader of the Aryans, the fulfiller of the purpose of the Supreme in the cosmos, in whom the wheels of Time move like great rhythms of happiness and joy and ever they expand into the Future claiming its felicitous abundances? Is he the alchemist in the cave experimenting with the baser materials to transmute them into the luminous self of his own gold? the physicist feeding the atomic faggots to set ablaze the cosmic conflagration in the very womb of Matter? the occultist who by his magic spell shall build the body of God with the nerve-centres of his own person? “Serene as the Antarctic silence,” who is it that burns in Hegel on his death-bed? in the non-violent march of the “naked fakir”? or the Blitzkrieg of the Titan? Is he the same Purusha strident like a fire and roaring in the loudness of a colossus of might? When was this Yajna-Purusha born and where does he abide? In the deepest sense the occult Fire that burns in the central hearth in Savitri’s House of Meditation is the eternal Yajna itself, the Yajna being performed by the Sat-Purusha as the house-lord with his mate Adya Shakti seated along with him in the great Action of upholding the Creation that the Transcendent may dwell in it with its full threefold beatitude. Although a small Yajna is constantly being performed in the heart of each one of us, this Yajna of Savitri is unique in its triple dimension of the Supreme. If her Yajna is to dissolve Ignorance and Death, that in the evolutionary manifestation divinity may inhabit this house of Matter, ours is to grow in that sun-bright splendour of divinity itself. Hers is the transcendental Yajna, ours the individual. In the flaming spirit of her Yajna are kindled all these thousand Yajnas of our souls. “She is the Sun from which we kindle all our suns.” Such is the possibility that the Divine as Death has now opened out in this earthly existence. such is the majesty of the Yajna that is constantly going on in Savitri’s House of Meditation.

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The war [first] years in the capital were formative for Eliot's career, particularly with regard to his friendship with Ezra Pound which connected him to leading figures in the international avant garde. It was Pound, in his role as a friend, editor and promoter, who did most to establish Eliot as the pre-eminent figure in the modernist movement, particularly through his decisive editorial intervention in The Waste Land. Eliot's literary career now gained momentum: Prufrock and Other Observations appeared in 1917 and made a strong impact. However, growing professional success masked personal suffering as the Eliot's marriage disintegrated, prompting a nervous breakdown in Eliot which resulted in three months' enforced rest. It was during this period that The Waste Land was composed, his bleak masterpiece of psychic fragmentation. With its collage of voices, its violent disjunctions in tone and wealth of cultural allusion, The Waste Land also resonated as a depiction of the ruins of post-war European civilisation. It was published in The Criterion, a quarterly cultural that Eliot edited until 1939. This role, along with his involvement with another important journal, The Egoist, and his position from 1925 as one of the Directors of Faber & Faber established Eliot as the leading literary critic of his time, as well as its most famous poet. His essay on the impersonality of the poet and his concept of the "objective correlative", to name but two of his best known ideas, have been part of the critical currency ever since.

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Once in a vision Nishikanto saw a mahā śūnya,Total Void. Then he saw a star emerge in that Void and when it vanished, its place was taken by a beautiful green moon. Beneath it stood a magnificent verdant tree, innumerable birds flitted around it and the tree was bathed by the effulgence of the green moon. After some time the green moon vanished as well and a sapphire moon was seen in a blue sky with its rays falling on all creation. Eventually the green moon vanished too and a golden moon was seen with golden rays radiating from it. When Nishikanto wrote to Sri Aurobindo asking him the significance of the vision, the Guru replied that the ‘star’ which emerged in the Void was the Creatrix—the Mother; the green moon was Rama and his light was falling on the verdant tree symbolizing the creation; the blue moon was Krishna with his light permeating the creation and the golden moon symbolized the Future Avatar.

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An Indian civil servant, SM Raju, has come up with a novel way of providing employment to millions of poor in the eastern state of Bihar. His campaign to encourage people to plant trees effectively addresses two burning issues of the world: global warming and shrinking job opportunities. Evidence of Mr Raju's success could clearly be seen on 30 August, when he organised 300,000 villagers from over 7,500 villages in northern Bihar to engage in a mass tree planting ceremony. In doing so the agriculture graduate from Bangalore has provided "sustainable employment" to people living below the poverty line in Bihar.

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You were charmed by a shadow’s sound,
But I was asleep so quietly, deathlessly,
That I could not catch the deer in my dream;
I was stunned when a nightmare
Seized you and you screamed wild,
Like a phantom who in some incoherent agony
Cried as it reached the engulfing hollow;
Zelda, you surely were brave and great
To take death for a husband.

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Mind of Light: This is the seventh in the series of the last set of eight articles Sri Aurobindo wrote during 1949-50 and it had appeared first in the 15 August 1950 issue of the Bulletin d' Education Physique (Bulletin of Physical Education). The three phases of evolution towards the supramental manifestation as envisaged at this point of occult-yogic achievements are as follows: new humanity, gnostic mentality, and illumined divine life. Organization advancing to a stage of a new descent, projection of the new principle and power in the evolutionary process, and this building up the rungs of its own type are what will make full manifestation of the new descent. This is in the manner of the mental being advanced sufficiently getting ready for the next part of the unfolding sequence. Supermind projecting in evolution an aspect of itself is what the Mind of Light is, and it is this Mind of Light which forms and governs the new humanity. New Humanity with the Mind of Light as its operative principle can then begin to climb to gnostic mentality. The Mind of Light preparing its own types and building up rungs for a higher ascent form a basis for the supramental descent and manifestation. The Ascent making the full Descent of Supermind is the inevitability of the evolutionary urge primordially present in the set of things. This is then the point when there is the appearance of the divine life. This is what the Supramental Yogi willed and accomplished.

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The important aspect is, there are well-educated broad-minded noble souls in the subcontinent and the mistake lies in mixing them up with the militant and retrograde individuals or groups that are causing the havoc everywhere. If there is a mechanism by which this ‘progressive’ constituent can come into play, then many if not most of the problems will just disappear like thin vapours. There could be cultural exchanges; there could be freer communication, could be easy flow of trade and commerce in the entire region as a single unit, even with the removal of export-import duties. Media, in spite of the digital age, have remained aloof from each other. Educational institutions can be opened out for each others’ students, and academic and professional members be encouraged meeting in order to promote the respective fields. Of course, this does not mean that there are not going to be checks against infiltration of anti-social elements. This may look too idealistic, but is there any other way out? The problems cannot be solved at the political level, cannot be solved at the military level, cannot be solved by sticking to formalized religious dogmatism, cannot be solved by importing western ideologies or systems, though all of them can to some degree come to help. If there is a kind of oneness deep in the entire subcontinent, then one has to discover the roots of it and nourish the growth on their vigorous possibilities. There is certainly a truth in what Abraham Maslow had said: "If you only have a hammer, you tend to see every problem as a nail." If one sees each a soul’s possibility, then there can be happy concordances of their being in harmonious relationship, individually and collectively. The hope is that this will happen, and if it happens sooner than later much of the human suffering we are experiencing today will be diminished.

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Savitri has entered into her House of Meditation; there the “homestead’s sentinel and witness fire” is constantly burning. There for the welfare of the creatures and of the entire creation the Vedic-Brahminic rites are ever in progress. The great Ahavaniya Fire, located in the East and in the form of a square, is receiving the holocaust; to its West, eight paces farther away, the cooking of the offerings is in progress in the Grahapatya Fire which is in the shape of a circle; the Anvaharyapachana Fire at its South, and hence also known as Dakshinagni, in the form of a half moon, as added to the Grahapatya Fire to speed up the cooking of the sacrificial food, the Havis; the Sabhya and Avasathya to the North and North-East of the Ahavaniya Fire, respectively, complete the ceremonial Fire-Altar. The construction of the Fire-Altar itself was an elaborate process extending over a period of one year. Located in a prominent place of the whole sacrificial area, it was built in five strata of bricks, 10,800 bricks in all with the lowest having 1950. The Altar looks like a great Bird, the Golden Hawk, in its flight high up in the upper skies. The Hotri has taken charge the of the entire ceremony; the Ritwik is inviting and summoning the gods to attend the sacrifice; the Potri or the Purohit has assumed the responsibility of the right conduct and sequence of the offerings; the Adhvaryu is standing in front of the sacrificer, the Yajaman, the paterfamilias, and is guiding him and helping him in the details of the eternal cosmic Yajna. The Chief Priest assisted by these four, each one of them in turn assisted by three, is the Master of the mighty Ceremony. The Hotris chanting the hymns of the Rig Veda; the Udgatra in his melodious voice is doing the Saman recitation of the Riks; the Adhwaryu is busy with the material arrangements of the Sacrifice; the Brahman takes care of this holy Action by supervising everything assiduously. The Fire is bright-lit, the flames leaping to heaven; indeed, “only with an offering in the well-kindled Fire, Samiddha Homa, can the oblations be successful and fulfilling, Samŗddha.” The Sacrifice itself becomes the only determining Act. Destiny is created or moulded by it; the decrees of Fate are fixed or altered by it in a decisive way. Although it is a Vedic rite it is loaded with occult significance bearing far-reaching consequences to regulate the steps of Time for achieving the desired result.

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In the 1960s Champaklal-ji’s need for Blessing Packets was around 400 a month. But after the Mother left, the need in the ’80s shot up to 12000. Light-di was helping Champaklal-ji. Light-di was my mathematics teacher in 1957-58.

Champaklal-ji had two problems regarding Blessing Packets:
1) Once the Mother was asking for a Blessing Packet to give to someone and he just didn’t have any in stock!
2) The Mother was also complaining to him, “Who has made these Blessing Packets? They have not been made with a proper attitude; and thus are ineffective when I give to people.”

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He rises and begins to round,
He drops the silver chain of sound,
Of many links without a break,
In chirrup, whistle, slur and shake.

For singing till his heaven fills,
‘Tis love of earth that he instils,
And ever winging up and up,
Our valley is his golden cup
And he the wine which overflows
To lift us with him as he goes.

Till lost on his aerial rings
In light, and then the fancy sings.

During a long career that spanned the first half of the 20th century, Ralph Vaughan Williams sparked a new Renaissance of English music. A dedicated musicologist, he collected and catalogued over 800 English folk songs; this work led to his editing the new English Hymnal of 1906, to which he added several new hymns of his own. In The Lark Ascending, Vaughan Williams found inspiration not only in English folk themes but in a poem by the English poet George Meredith (1828-1909). The work opens with a calm set of sustained chords from the strings and winds. The violin enters as the lark, with a series of ascending, repeated intervals and nimble, then elongated arpeggios. These rise into the first theme, and the orchestra quietly enters to accompany the solo in the development of this somewhat introspective, folk-like motif. The solo cadenza is reprised, then the woodwinds, led by flute and clarinet, announce the second theme, a folk dance. The full orchestra joins in, though Vaughan Williams always keeps the orchestration restrained, never forceful.

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Nishikanta seems to have put himself into contact with an inexhaustible source of flowing word and rhythm—with the world of sound-music, which is one province of the World of Beauty. It is part of the vital World no doubt and the joy that comes of contact with that beauty is vital—but it is a subtle vital which is not merely sensuous. It is one of the powers by which the substance of the consciousness can be refined and prepared for sensibility to a still higher beauty and Ananda. Also it can be made a vehicle for the expression of the highest things. The Veda, the Upanishads, the Mantra everywhere owe half its power to the rhythmic sound that embodies it.

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Monuments and statues in public places have always reflected the nature of the times they were built in. But art and artifice sometimes don’t blend too well. Popes, kings, queens, and pioneering statesmen through the ages exhibited their visionary zeal through landmark statues. Their sense of history must be appreciated. Just think of all the beautiful statues in public places around the world that are a feast to the discerning eye! Unfortunately many of us world travellers are like the Zoozoos..... sprinting around landmarks in the capitals of the world, eager to “do” as much as possible in a day! Just imagine what a waste it would be if one did not bother to look... My very first “look” at a famous statue was from the air. You guessed right.... the statue of Liberty, as we did a turn to land at Kennedy airport. From the air, the majestic lady continues to fascinate me even after decades of viewing her with awe. She gave hope to immigrants who headed to Ellis Island long ago. She probably makes the Shah Rukhs of this world uneasy. But she still looks great!

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Last night, I spent the whole night with Sri Aurobindo somewhere, I don't know where, but there were lots of people. The two of us were alone, but we saw a multitude of people pass by. But the peculiar thing is that when I wake up, it doesn't go away! And when I lie down again, it's there, just where I had left it: it goes on. There's no longer a ... You know, in dreams, you have a dream, and then, the consciousness you're in suddenly changes, and it's over, you have to make an effort to recapture your dream or the state-but this doesn't budge! It doesn't budge, it's there like this, all the time: it goes on, whether I concern myself with it or not.

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Mounjiba had joined our large village-household about a hundred years ago when he was hardly a ten-year old boy, and lived with us whole of the rest of his life of about sixty; he died in the lap of my grandmother. Mounjiba saw the ups and downs of the family, and laughed and wept in the naturalness of its members. As a kid I’d heard from him any number of bed-time stories and fables which the books later told me were from Aesop. Who knows? I do not know wherefrom he had picked them up, nor the art of cattle-breeding and care. An occult master with small twinkling eyes, he seemed to know things immediately, a knowledge that comes from identification with what one is associated. Once he had to carry an errand to an acquaintance in the neighbouring village. On reaching the place the host asked him, “Mounjiba, you have come without wearing a shirt.” Mounjiba replied, “But Aai did not tell me to wear a shirt.” Now that generation lives no more.

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This is the sixth in the series of the last set of eight articles Sri Aurobindo wrote during 1949-50 and it had appeared first in the 21 April 1950 issue of the Bulletin d' Education Physique (Bulletin of Physical Education). It anticipates a new humanity possessed of a perfected mind, a mind of light, which could be a subordinate action of the supermind proper. It could even be a part of the life divine upon earth. The extent to which it will spread over humanity will be in accordance with the higher intention, intention in the evolution itself. There is a practical aspect of it also. The world is living in darkness of consciousness and man may reject the descending Light which has not happened infrequently. But if supermind can become a part of the order of the universe, then that darkness will no more be there and it will take care of things in the efficacy of its operation,—man accepting or rejecting it. Humanity’s participation will be a great thing but its immediate absence is not going to deter the Yogi’s pursuit. The decisive step hence lies in making the descent of supermind a worked-out imperative in the course of the evolutionary manifestation. Sri Aurobindo at this point of time was more concerned with the descent of the supramental and for that purpose, when found necessary, he took another station of operation by withdrawing from this physical. Was Sri Aurobindo indicating this just before a few months of his withdrawal, early in December 1950? Who knows?

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The Macaulay stamp of mental slavery is distinct and complete on our bureaucracy; he wanted to give English education to Indians to produce clerks, not to educate them, and he succeeded well in his enterprise. Not too long ago we had another absurdity, why laptops should not be given to the students in the schools, showing continuance of the colonial mind-set in the central school seated in New Delhi. And imagine brazenness of the politicised reservations! The conundrum is of the awakened India in strange contrast with the India fallen disreputably in many ways and gone astray in the manner of a soul-lost sleep-walker of the dark night of tamas. The problem is yet deeper. If bureaucracy is a heart made of log and a mind of clay, and if the political leadership walks around like the famous ‘headless chickens’, then we have the colonial past to blame for it. But the greater tragedy is, similar things pervade in our religious and spiritual institutions. Will it not be disheartening, rather despicable, if they get caught in the clutches of lawsuit and litigation, which could be for right reasons or could be wrong reasons, all in the name of promotion of ethics and morality and values of the aspiring and manifesting spirit? The institutional soul gets buried beneath the incompetence of the powers that be, and there is the decline, glāni, which only becomes the first crumbling sign of decay and disappearance. This is not a very pleasing scenario and should be a matter of concern.

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A many-hued inner flaming dawn has brought to Savitri the fated day, the moment of golden truth when heaven must race with hell. She is encountering the last decisive turn in relationship with the dreadful and the frightening, and her failure would imply the failure of the present creation, possibly leading to another pralaya or dissolution. But Savitri has picked up the mantle, the gauntlet, the sword of conquest, the bow of burning gold, and must win the battle. Yama, the God of Death with the soul of Satyavan in his possession, is unyielding and Savitri is presently following him, though somewhat helplessly. She doesn’t seem to have any likelihood of winning the difficult race. For a while, however, she withdraws into her inner self, summoning the strength that alone can reverse the outcome. She enters her House of Meditation and observes the eternal Yajna being carried out there. With it, everything changes, and changes in a most decisive way. The prospects of her winning the race have become assuredly splendid. Savitri has now become, from behind, the Leader of the March, and everything is in her full control. Such indeed is the efficacy of the Vedic Sacrifice. And here is a Sacrifice which is being performed by the Lord and his Spouse themselves, by the Sat-Purusha and the Adya-Shakti, the omniscient Being and the omnipotent Consciousness-Force. No power can now stop Savitri. The race is already settled in the glorious Yajna. Let us have an overview of this Yajna in Savitri’s House of Meditation.

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