dated 30 September 2008. Readers are cautioned that this unannotated document contains false assertions. For in-depth analysis of this and similar documents see An Outbreak of Fundamentalism?.

Dear Trustees,

I am writing this letter with great hesitation. I know that you have already received hundreds and hundreds of letters and one letter more or less will make no difference. A large number of issues have been raised and presented so clearly to you, that there is nothing for me to add. I know you are facing a lot of problems and are under a lot of pressure. I do not want to add to the problems or the pressure. I also know very well that it is very easy to give advices [sic] when one is not sitting on the chair of responsibility, and how difficult it is to take the right decisions, when one has to be responsible for those decisions and face the consequences. Some of the letters have even been interpreted as an attack on the Trustees and this is the furthest from my intentions. Hence I have been waiting and praying.

But now, inspite of it all, I am writing to you, because there are issues about which I have been feeling very strongly and deeply for a long time. Many senior persons have been advising me that I should speak to you and also write to you, if for no other reason then purely as my duty towards Them and as a little bit of nishkama karma. Therefore, I have already spoken to one of you and now I am writing to all of you.

1. I know thatfor every perception there can be a different perception, for every argument a counte rargument and for every justification a reason to justify the opposite. How does one judge what is in context and what is out of context? Who can really decide what is right and wrong? And, at the mental level, perhaps there is no way by which everyone can be convinced or all led to the same conclusion.

However, there are a few truths which no one can or will deny. We all know with what deep reverence and divine love the Mother spoke about Sri Aurobindo or acted in regard to anything which was related to Him. We know that the Mother has said that Sri Aurobindo is the Supramental Avatar, the Avatar of Tomorrow. And Sri Aurobindo has said that our Mother is the Divine Mother, the Supreme Aditi. Several powerful writings of Sri Aurobindo and the Mother have been widely circulated recently, which affirm unambiguously that no one can understand, far less judge, their actions and lives. No one can be aware of the full outer facts, and even the few outer facts which are known, derive their true meaning only from the inner forces, which again no one has the capacity to see. They have given clear indications on how Their biographies should be written or rather should not be written. It is with this background that we have to look at all that has been written in the book, every sentence of it.

In view of the above, I sought for some light and direction. I asked myself a very simple question: “Would I be happy to offer this book to the Mother, would the Mother be happy to receive it, with all that has been written in it about Sri Aurobindo and Her?” My personal answer was a very emphatic No. In fact, after reading some of the things which are written, being only human, my personal reaction was of sadness, of great pain and hurt, even disgust and anger, and also of amazement that how is it that [sic] some people are not responding to it or seeing it as I am. I attributed it to my own limited understanding. But, dear Trustees, my appeal to you is that this is a responsibility which has been placed on each of you. It is for each one of you as your sacred duty to read the book and ask yourself the same question that I asked myself, “Would you be happy to offer this book to the Mother and would the Mother be happy to receive it?”

If, from deep within, your answer to this question is Yes, then you need not read this letter further. All that you have to do is to announce to all of us in the Ashram and outside, that you have read the book, that you feel it is fine (with perhaps a few minor lapses here and there, which are of no great consequence) and that this book can and should be sold through Sabda, like other books published by the Ashram and outside. And there should be no hesitation in this regard. Otherwise we will be false to ourselves and we will be applying double standards.

And there the matter should rest. But at least all the devotees are entitled to know that this is your assessment and conclusion and not remain in the present state where no one knows what isthe considered opinion of the Ashram Trustees about the book.

2. On the other hand, if your answer to the question is the same as mine and it is an emphatic No, that the Mother would not be happy with this book, then the issue becomes very much more serious, and our responses upto now are not at all appropriate. This is not the first time that wrong and calumnious things have been written about Sri Aurobindo and the Mother; but if someone unconnected with the Ashram had written this book, we could have just ignored it, or issued a denial about its factuality and truth or even issued a rebuttal. There are maligned attacks on all institutions and very few would have given credence to it.

But here the situation is entirely different. We cannot delude ourselves any longer with whatever rational or legal arguments we can find. We have to realize once and for all, and very clearly, that the Columbia Edition affirms very pointedly that the book is written by a person who is a founder and a director of the Ashram Archives and Research Section, that by implication he enjoys the full trust and sanction of the Ashram, that he has been given access to the most privileged documents, many of which are yet unpublished, and that he has been given the permission to use the documents by the Trustees of the Ashram. There is also the fact that the entire work was prepared in the Ashram under its auspices, and I am told that the MOU with Columbia says that the royalty too will come to the Ashram. The only conclusion possible is that according to the Ashram itself, this is one of the most authentic, authoritative and objective presentations of the lives [sic], work, sadhana, yoga and relationship of Sri Aurobindo and the Mother. The reader will also find that the book has been very highly praised and even financed by some supposedly well known scholars in the West, like Jeffrey Kripal and Michael Murphy, as the book has done such a wonderful work of “humanizing, problematising and interpreting” persons, who are for some devotees Supramental Avatars and Divine Incarnations. But the praise from such scholars, with their known background, should create greater doubts about the motives of all concerned. This book will be read and quoted by all and sundry for decades, as the Ashram’s own version, which cannot be dismissed as one more of those trash books which keep appearing.

In view of this, I feel that it serves no purpose and there is no meaning in coming out with a modified and revised version for the India edition. Rather, it will confirm even more strongly, the earlier premise that the Columbia edition has not been disowned by the Ashram, it is the authentic biography. The Ashram has merely taken out another version more suited to the Indian taste and psyche because, after all, there is a big difference between the Indian and Western psyche, that the Indians by nature and culture are unlikely to see and accept certain truths and therefore they have to be provided with a more watered down and diluted version. It will not help in any manner and may make the [sic] things worse.

The only solution, I believe, is for the Ashram to openly and publicly dissociate itself from the book, to declare that it does not convey the right picture, that no permission had been sought for and given for printing many of the privileged documents, including the personal diaries of the sadhaks, that there are several errors of facts, presentations and interpretations. Once such a bold decision is taken, with full conviction, then with a combined effort we have to block completely the printing of the Indian edition and explore what can be done to stop the distribution of the American edition. I feel strongly that by the Mother’s Grace we can do it, and we are all willing to work together for it. Through this decision if the Ashram has to face some difficulties, we will all surely stand by you. And with the courage of conviction we will have Their support and protection. But it is for you, dear Trustees, to take the decision and take the lead.

I am told it is nearly 2 months since the book was published. We have already wasted too much time. Every day, devotees in the Ashram and outside hope that today definitely a decision will be taken. And, with each passing day, it will become more and more difficult to take a [sic] proper action. Soon it may even be too late to control the events. If anything has to be done, it has to be done immediately, without the delay of a single day.