Chapter 3Notices for Members of the Ashram, 1928–1937 · Notices of May 1928

Public Statements about the Ashram

1927 and 1934 Many would like to know how the Ashrama here is maintained.1 As a matter of fact there is as yet no regular source of income; it has been carried on in the past by the contributions of a few who are in sympathy with the work and can afford to give some help. But these means are not likely to be sufficient for the future. I understand that Sri Aurobindo’s work has to pass through three stages, the first when he was finding out the spiritual path and laying the foundations of his sadhana, a second, now begun, for creating a nucleus of spiritual workers and a number of institutions as the basis for his work, and last, the full work in India and abroad which will be very wide. For Sri Aurobindo’s Sadhana is not merely for himself or a few disciples; it is a foundation for a great spiritual work for India and for all the world. In the first stage, the personal wants of Sri Aurobindo and the few disciples who lived with him being few and simple, much help was not needed; for there were no other expenses. But now in the second stage of his work this is no longer the case. The Ashrama will have to buy the houses it is now renting in order to prevent any possibility of dispersion. Numbers of disciples are beginning to stream in and, however economical the style of living, the cost of maintenance is greatly increasing and will go on increasing; the institutions to be started will need equipment and funds for maintenance. All this means large financial means which must come in from now onward and go on growing in the future. The members of the Ashrama expect that if the means are forthcoming, the second stage of the work will be not only carried on but thoroughly consolidated in the next two or three 1 Sri Aurobindo wrote this paragraph for insertion in an article written by Jatindranath Sen Gupta and published in the Hindu (Madras) on 6 May 1927. This explains Sri Aurobindo’s use of the third person. — Ed.