Letters to a Young Disciple

I have been experiencing calm and silence, but the Ananda and love which I was feeling have disappeared.

The basis of calm and silence should be there first — otherwise the Ananda and love may take a too vital character and prove unstable.

Would you please indicate the difference between the psychic being and what is called the central being? Is our psychic a part of this central being and does it receive the Divine’s help through it? In Yoga, how does our central being stand in relation to the other parts of our being?

After death, when the vital retires to its vital plane, what does it do there till the psychic calls it back for the next life on the earth?

For most people the vital dissolves after a time as it is not sufficiently formed to be immortal. The soul descending makes a new vital formation suitable for the new life.

Can a beginner get a distinct answer from the Purusha?

The Purusha does not talk. It is a movement of consciousness — a movement of consent or refusal.

I find it difficult to keep myself free from feeling disgust for X whenever I see him. How am I to throw away such stupid reactions from my nature?

By having dislike and disgust for nobody — remembering that the Divine is in all.

One aspires for a thing for five minutes and afterwards for something else. Will this have the same effect as aspiring for one thing for a long time?

The order or time is of no importance. It is the force and sincerity of the aspiration itself that matters.

Aspiration is intense in the morning, then diminishes, and in the evening the consciousness becomes calm and quiet. Is this the rule in such matters?

It is quite usual to have such periods in the day. The consciousness needs time for rest and assimilation, it cannot be at the same pitch of intensity at all times.

I experience Love and Ananda, but they disappear after a while.

It is so with all spiritual experiences. The ordinary consciousness is not accustomed to hold them.

A fall in concentration is very upsetting.

Fall of the concentration happens to everybody [...]

How is one to remain quiet within even while carrying on all kinds of activities?

By having a separate consciousness calm and silent within, separate from the mental, vital or physical activity.