Communism

(Sri Aurobindo, The Ideal of Human Unity:) “The so-called Communism of Bolshevist Russia came to birth as the result, not of a rapid evolution, but of an unprecedentedly fierce and prolonged revolution sanguinary in the extreme and created an autocratic and intolerant State system founded upon a war of classes in which all others except the proletariat were crushed out of existence, ‘liquidated’, upon a ‘dictatorship of the proletariat’ or rather of a narrow but all-powerful party system acting in its name, a Police State, and a mortal struggle with the outside world: the fierceness of this struggle generated in the minds of the organisers of the new State a fixed idea of the necessity not only of survival but of continued struggle and the spread of its domination until the new order had destroyed the old or evicted it, if not from the whole earth, yet from the greater part of it and the imposition of a new political and social gospel or its general acceptance by the world’s peoples.”

(Mother, 1956:) “The age of Capitalism and business is drawing to a close.
         But the age of Communism, too, will pass. For Communism as it is preached is not constructive, it is a weapon to combat plutocracy. But when the battle is over and the armies are disbanded for want of employment, then Communism, having no more utility, will be transformed into something else that will express a higher truth.
         We know this truth, and we are working for it so that it may reign upon earth.”

(Mother, 1963:) “With the others, the Communists, it's the opposite [of Catholicism]: they want everyone to be happy; but they have succeeded in making everyone unhappy! Everyone: before, a few were happy and many unhappy; now they're all unhappy!”

(Nolini Kanta Gupta:) “As you know, sometime back — quite a few years now [1956] — we had a group of Soviet Gymnasts in our midst. And what a pleasant, perfect performance they gave! Their hammer-and-sickle floating against the wind, the first time they stepped in unison on our sports-ground, marching to the tune of the Russian national anthem, surely you must still remember that beautiful spectacle. Some of their tricks and techniques we have bodily taken over. A good many of you received training at the hands of these experts. They have been heavily filmed and photographed in action and these pictures you must have seen more than once. ...

         The round of sports and athletics over, the Soviet gymnasts expressed a desire to know more about us — that is, about the aims and ideals of the Ashram, the spiritual disciplines we follow and their rationale. You know, officially and in the world’s eye the Soviet Union is atheistic and follows a materialist philosophy of life. Their entire stress or faith is on this world, this life, on the physical-vital-mental being whom they call Man.
         It was arranged that I should talk to the gymnasts. Following civilised traditions, this was to be a post-prandial session; that is, the conversation was to follow a rather sumptuous dinner. Food before philosophy, as they say. But, no. The Soviet gymnasts were strict dietitians, extremely cautious and restrained in their food habits. When finally we met, there were ten or twelve of them, three or four girls and the rest young men. Only the leader seemed slightly elderly. Their knowledge of English was almost nil. Russian was all they knew. When they used to train the Ashram children, funny situations would arise, for they had to express themselves mainly, sometimes vainly, through wordless hints and gestures. Anyway, one of the girls knew English fairly well and she acted as interpreter. Of her more later.
         We met at a conference, as it were, in Golconde. I started by reading out a brief passage from the Words of the Mother. It contained a statement of our ideal or objective — the goal of transformation, the coming race, a new consciousness and realisation. But the Soviet leader was a bit of a blunt atheist, or at least that was the role he chose to play. And in due course he raised the usual objection. “In times like ours,” he said, “what we need is health and wealth. All our activities and education must be conducive to these normal aims. After all, men have to live. First, therefore, the care of the body, time enough for the soul afterwards. First this world, then the rest.”
         “Why not a little division of labour?” I told the group. “You keep to your social reform or revolution, if you please, your physical culture and your secular pursuits. Spare us from them. Why not let us to go ahead with another kind of aim and work? After all, we do not mind your doing what you like to do. It is only fair that you should allow us to go our own way. Isn’t this the ideal of co-existence?”
         But then, the ideal of co-existence finds little favour with the radical communists. Their one aim is to destroy or convert — that is, brainwash — the opposition. Somewhat in that spirit the Soviet leader continued his criticism. “But if you tempt people away from their normal social duties,” he said, “and if by degrees people are drawn towards the soul and the beyond and all that, will that not prove to be ruinous for the race and did not something like this actually take place in the history of the Indian people?” “Mā bhaiḥ, fear not,” I assured him. “Only a few turn to this path. After all, out of millions and millions how many — or how few — come this way?”
         But they countered my remark by saying that though we might be few in number, our influence might spread, quite out of proportion to our number — which, by the way, is true. Then they raised another doubt or objection: that the kind of education given to the children in the Ashram, forcing a doctrine on their young, unsuspecting minds, what was it but a kind of indoctrination?
         “No, sir,” I replied. “For one thing, we never ask, much less force anyone to come here, we offer no rewards or temptations. On the contrary, we make it quite clear that the path chosen here, the training and the education are indeed hard. Sharp as the razor’s edge, our sages have called it. So one should choose carefully. And out of those who still insist on joining us, only a few are permitted. Of course the children know little or nothing, but the parents who bring them here do. At least they have been told. It is, however, true that there are some children who are conscious and know fairly well what they are doing and why they are here. After staying here and seeing things for themselves, many of them make up their minds to stay on; they refuse to go elsewhere. Also, ours is not a medieval monastery, a lifelong entombment, so that once you get in you can never get out. Here anyone can leave at any time. One has full freedom in the matter. In other words, the very first principle, the foundation of our life and teaching in the Ashram, is freedom and individuality. No one is cajoled or persuaded to follow the spiritual aim or spiritual path. If one wants to know something, one knows it freely, of oneself; if one wants to understand something, one does it in freedom. At every moment you are free, you can step in any direction you like, provided you are ready for the consequence. In fact, we have few compulsory codes or taboos here, only those that are absolutely necessary to keep group-life together for any length of time. “Discover your own rule or law of being for yourself,” that is our primary instruction. Where is compulsion in all this? As for the atmosphere, the climate of opinion’, wherever men live, in whatever age, society or country (even in your Soviet State) one has to ‘belong’. The common man, the citizen, cannot help breathing in the atmosphere of his age or milieu. But here, and only here, we warn everyone, we tell them, well ahead, to be conscious of all that is happening around and within; we tell them to watch, understand and scrutinise what it is that they are taking in. This is not indoctrination but its exact opposite.
         “In all this, where does spiritual discipline come in? What is its necessity? First and foremost comes the care of the body, then only other considerations. That is what one may naturally think. But it is wrong to think that for spirituality, outward comfort and affluence are a necessity. Those who want bodily comfort are apt to remain content with that, all their efforts are confined to finding the means of such enjoyment or euphoria. But the spiritual seeker, even in the midst of suffering and discomfort, will move towards the spirit. In fact, he uses his very adversity for spiritual ends. The true seeker longs for the spirit in the midst of comfort and discomfort alike, while those who do not want the higher life, do not want that, quite apart from being comfortable. In spite of what many think, material factors do not determine these things. The Mother once said something to this effect. In order to relieve the disciples from all thoughts of earning their livelihood, she had planned an external order of untroubled living, so that aspirants might find the time and opportunity to dedicate themselves completely to spiritual living and realisation. In practice, however, she found that this does not always work.” “All right,” said the Soviet guests. “But suppose that while you are engaged in your own spiritual growth and culture, for want of the good life, the rest of the human race goes to the dogs — what then?”
         To this my answer was and is: “The majority of men are obviously busy with the pursuit of worldly ends and creature comforts. This has been so always and the indifference or withdrawal of a few aspirants will not matter much. As to the human race ending up in smoke, we would say that the race is not going to be snuffed out so easily. It has never been like that. What wars and devastations we have had down the ages, what upheavals and revolutions! Millions dead and dying and yet the race is still going strong. Not only that, it is evolving, progressing. In spite of everything the standards of civilization are going up. Even you admit progress — of some kind. Perhaps you will say, but all this is a gift of the reason or the intellect. We will say it is a gift of the soul, or of the soul and its bearer, the intellect, together. If this soul were not there, man could not, would not survive. It is because of this active, immortal spark within him that he lives and shall continue to live and progress towards perfection. Don’t worry. No amount of outward loss or danger can wipe him out. Man will disappear only when the soul in him withdraws or is extinguished.” ...
         In the end they raised a rather funny question. “Here we find a very pleasing sight,” they began. “We mean the groups of little children and your love and affection and solicitude for them. It’s very rare and very touching. You like children so much and yet we are told you do not like to be parents of children. We don’t understand this.”
         “Do you understand self-restraint?” I asked them. “We are told not to drink, not even smoke. Why?”
         “Because the effect of drinking and smoking on the body, especially the body of an athlete, is harmful. That’s why,” they replied.
         “Exactly so,” said I. “When you’ve progressed a little further, you too will arrive at our conclusion.”
         At this they all laughed, perhaps somewhat incredulously.
         …
         Our society is based on blood or parental relations. But the Russians themselves have tried to set up another set of relationship — social instead of parental. Taking the children away from their parents, they are rearing them in socialised crèches, schools or kindergartens. To them the parents are but secondary instruments. The child belongs to the State, to the service of the almighty State. The average parents have neither the ability nor the resources that the State possesses. Now, if instead of the secular State we think of a spiritual group, or use the word ‘God’, a new and altogether different possibility opens up. Not the link of biology but the closeness of the spirit within is all, the same in all, a relationship in terms of Reality or the Divine. How deep and intimately satisfying such a relationship, based on Truth, can be. I think our Soviet gymnasts had a glimpse of that truth here in the Ashram. And naturally they wondered.”

(Shyam Sunder on a meeting with Mother, 10 July 1972:) “One German is not satisfied with the pay scale for workers in the Auropress.
         Mother said that he should concern himself with his own work; this doesn't concern him.
         He further wants to know whether he has to regard as absolute truth what Sri Aurobindo and Mother have said. He speaks of Karl Marx.
         Mother said, “There is a wide world for him to go. He need not be here.” ”

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See also

• Economy