Of the new books presented in this issue one is a record of conversations between Sri Aurobindo and Pavitra (the Frenchman Philippe Barbier Saint Hilaire) which took place more than eighty years ago. Another is a modern look at Sri Aurobindo's perspective on human motivation within the context of other theoretical perspectives in the field of psychology.

The Quest for Knowledge and Mastery, which began as Martha Orton's doctoral dissertation in the field of Integral Yoga Psychology at Sri Aurobindo Darshan: The University of Tomorrow, is a study of Sri Aurobindo's writings concentrated on revealing what Orton, a psychotherapist who has studied Sri Aurobindo's writings over many years, terms his “well-developed, original, and profound theory of motivation”. She approaches her subject with the acknowledgement that Sri Aurobindo's theory of motivation is not presented as a theory in the ordinary sense of the word, as a speculative position to be investigated, tested, or proved through intellectual analysis or empirical research, but is an expression of a spiritual knowledge and consciousness achieved through the process of inner experience and realisation. Using as source material the considerable body of Sri Aurobindo's writings on consciousness, especially in The Life Divine and The Synthesis of Yoga, she presents a detailed examination of his perspective on human motivation and shows its relation to other aspects of his vision and to other theories as established in several branches of psychological thought. This approach may well encourage other professionals in the field of psychology to take up themes for similar studies, leading modern practitioners in this rapidly changing science to discover a revelatory panorama of psychological insight and knowledge, and an extensive “view of consciousness and human potential for growth, spiritual realisation, and transformation” in the writings of Sri Aurobindo.

Conversations with Sri Aurobindo is in some ways a case study, a record of how a spiritual seeker learns to quiet the mind and open to the divine force and light from above. For nearly a year after he arrived in Pondicherry Pavitra spoke regularly with Sri Aurobindo, discussing his spiritual practices and receiving instruction in meditation. Pavitra's question and Sri Aurobindo's reply quoted below reveal a frank and open exchange that is characteristic of all the conversations recorded in the book:

Friday, 22 January 1926

These last few days have not brought much progress, for my mind was extremely distracted and disturbed by different mental pursuits. Everything has settled down now, but I don't see very clearly what I ought to do. My mind is divided into two parts. The first part, which uses language and reasons and formulates, is the part that falls silent. But a certain attention is necessary to prevent untimely thoughts from arising through the throat and disturbing this peace. The other part is attentive, its special function being the vision of inner images; its centre is the Ajna. This part has been inactive so far, but even so it is not always still; it is centred here and there and does not know what to do.

Thoughts, in fact, have their origin in the solar plexus; then they rise up through the throat and invade the brain, where they become conscious. The still mind has no definite localisation; it is a matter of habit. For the moment you are localising it in the brain, but its true seat, which corresponds to the higher mental truth, is the Sahasrara. Above, this consciousness itself will spread out and become the cosmic consciousness.

There are two different points to consider. The first is to empty the active mind of thoughts and leave it motionless. This is a useful capacity. The second is to remain completely detached from the thoughts that may arise in this active mind. Later you will see the thoughts being formulated there, not rising from below but coming from the surroundings or from above. And you will have to learn to recognise the Truth.

So you must learn to regard these thoughts as external objects, never allowing yourself to get carried away.

Besides, from now on, while keeping the lower mind still, you may “look above” in order to gradually centre your consciousness there.

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