Page 178 is a mess because of an amateurish attempt to second-guess the state of Sri Aurobindo's mind. This is not the forte of a historian; it requires spiritual development to understand such minutiae . Here are Sri Aurobindo's statements on the matter: Nirodbaran, Talks with Sri Aurobindo, 10 DECEMBER 1938

After the accident to his leg, many years later, he said to some disciples in his room, "If you mean thinking, I never do that. Thinking ceased a long time ago -- it has stopped ever since that experience of mine with Lele, the Silence and Nirvana at Baroda. Thoughts, as I said, come to me from all sides and from above and the transmitting mind remains quiet or it enlarges to receive them. True thoughts always come in this way. You can't think out such thoughts. If you try to do so, you only make what the Mother calls mental constructions."

22 DECEMBER 1938

The experience of peace and calm after my first contact with Lele never left me, but in my outer nature there were many agitations and again and again I had to make an effort to establish peace and calm there. Ever since that early experience the whole object of my Yoga has been to change the nature into the mould of the inner realisation. That is what I have done in my sadhana.

APPENDIX, VIVEKANANDA'S VISITATIONS IN ALIPORE JAIL

SRI AUROBINDO: Then there is the incident of the personality of Vivekananda visiting me in jail. He explained to me in detail this work of the Supramental — not exactly of the Supramental, but of the intuitivised mind, the mind as it is organised by the Supramental. He did not use the word "Supermind", I gave this name afterwards. That experience lasted for about two weeks. Q: Was that a vision? SRI AUROBINDO: No, it was not a vision. I would not have trusted a vision.