Chapter 1

The Fifteenth of August 1923

Sri Aurobindo spoke on the 15th of August 1923.

Formerly we used to celebrate the event of my physical birth in a “vital” manner. There was the seed of the inner Truth in it, but the manifestation was vital. Now, I wish that if the day is observed it should be in keeping with the Truth it symbolises.

You all know of the Supramental Truth that has to descend into our life. This day that Truth is symbolised. But there are several obstacles in the way of its coming down. There is the Mind and the mental ideas that grasp at the Truth coming from Above and try to. utilise the Truth for their own aims. There is, for instance, the Vital, or the Life-force, which seizes upon the Higher Force and wants to throw itself out into impure actions. The Truth that is coming down is not mental, it is Supramental. In order that it may be able to work properly, all the lower instruments must be Supramentalised. The lower forces want to utilise this higher Truth for the satisfaction of their ordinary movements. Whenever a man enjoys the pleasures of life, or spends his life in pursuit of his selfish ends it is, really speaking, these universal forces that take enjoyment through and in him.

In order that this higher Truth may be able to work in its purity, one has to open oneself to the greater Power above, to give oneself up to it and remove all that stands in the way of the higher Truth. The capacity to surrender consists in these three things.

I have been working all these years to meet the obstacles and remove them and prepare and clear the path so that the task may not be very difficult for you As for my helping you in that task it all depends upon your capacity to receive the help. I can give any amount that you can take. There is an idea that to-day every sadhaka gets a new experience. That depends upon your capacity to receive the Truth in yourself. Real spiritual surrender is of course, quite another matter ; but if any of you have experienced even a degree of it, even some faint reflection, then the purpose of the 15th will have been served.