Background: Sri Aurobindo withdrew from politics and freedom struggle during independence struggle. The Mother has said that Sri Aurobindo’s work has nothing to do with politics.
Good people are needed everywhere including politics. The advice of No Politics is not for people who are good and temperamentally feel inclined towards Politics. Surely each one must follow one’s Swadharma. This advise is for those who feel the conscious need to undertake the journey of Yoga especially the Yoga of transformation. It is because the intensity, focus and concentration required are too great whereas Politics is a deeply absorbs pursuit. Apart from that it is a very murky field full of vital egos lusting for power and strong ambitions running after money. Unless the person is deeply rooted in the Yoga it is more likely than not that the Yoga will get derailed in the process. So while there is fundamentally no permanent objection or absolute denial to entry into politics, yet given the dangers one is best advised to focus first on one’s own inner growth first and once the Divine is found then to act in freedom under the direct Divine impulsion in whatsoever field the Divine may send us. To know the difference between what can be done theoretically and what should be done practically is the whole process of unfolding of the Yoga in real time. To the seeker after the Divine, the Divine first and all else afterwards.
The Mother reveals the truth behind it, ‘In principle we have said that we have nothing to do with politics, and it is true that we have nothing to do with politics as it is practised at present. But it is quite obvious that if politics is taken in its true spirit, that is, as the organisation of human masses and all the details of government and regulation of the collective life, and relations with other collectivities—that is, with other nations, other countries—it must necessarily enter into the supramental transformation, for so long as national life and the relations between nations remain what they are, it is quite impossible to live a supramental life on earth. So it will just have to change; we shall have to deal with that too.’
Affectionately,
Alok Da
