There are those who think that he neglects to answer his mail. Because he leaves their letters so long unanswered, they conclude that he means to drop them out of his life. Nothing could be farther from the truth. It is true that his mail accumulates for long periods of time. But it is equally true that he lacks the staff needed to handle it, that the pressure of work like writing and meditation and research notes leaves him little remaining time. However, those who have met him personally and call themselves his disciples often cannot understand his behaviour so he gives this published explanation. Once inner contact is established by a single physical meeting it is not necessary to have further ones with the guide although they may be helpful. Sri Aurobindo granted only a single minute to each individual at his first or later meeting with a disciple or a candidate for discipleship. Thus it is evident that he does not consider more than sixty seconds really necessary to establish it. Not only are further physical meetings not necessary but even further personal action on his part, such as writing letters to the disciples are also unnecessary even though they may be helpful. Thus a spiritual guide does not need to do anything physically or write anything personally to keep up the internal contact, it being kept up by the student's remembrance, devotion, faith, and meditation.
No disciple can be effectively trained by the long distance method of an occasional exchange of letters. He needs personal supervision, personal contact, and personal discussion of his special problems. No conscientious teacher will ever undertake to give instructions by mail and declare it sufficient. It gives too meagre a basis for accurate understanding on the disciple's part or for an adequate communication on the teacher's part.
Then again he cannot accept the position of personal counsellor under the guise of being spiritual teacher. That is not his work. Most students who keep on failing to recognize this fact against all previous and present warnings and who send letter after letter with every fluctuation of their personal moods and fortunes, in an attempt to wrest advice or intervention from him, may force him to break the external contact with him until such time as they do realize what the true situation is. If he were to adopt a counselling position and to agree to show students how to apply the philosophical teaching to every change of their own personal life, he would soon have no time to give out those teachings at all. Consequently he must refuse to respond to all these attempts often openly but sometimes hidden, often naïve but sometimes cunning, to get him personally involved in the life of the seeker or to mix both their personal problems together. So many of his correspondents try to force him into this highly personal guru-student relationship, and thus to impose their own responsibilities upon his shoulders, that he has to fall into lengthy periods of silence to protect himself. Moreover, if he were to respond to the emotional or worldly problems in the way such response is desired, it would only mean the downfall of both of them and the breakdown of their pure relationship. To maintain this purity, to safeguard the relationship itself, and to protect the master as well as the seeker, the proper teaching must be given from the start and that is: the teacher must be regarded as a symbol, not as a person. He is to be considered merely as an agent for that which he represents, not as just another human being entering into a human relation with the disciple. Often the beginner, finding that the teacher does not fully respond to his emotional craving for continuous personal attention, soon becomes disappointed. This feeling may develop until it reaches a critical stage where one of two things may happen. Either he will fail to pass the test, for so it becomes, and will withdraw altogether from the relationship--perhaps even maligning the guide--or he will continue his trust, gain a new point of view, and make the needed change to a higher attitude in the end. If, however, he allows his egoism or emotion to lead him into disobedience of this rule, he will only endanger the relationship. If he persists in this disobedience, he will even find it brought to an end for a time. So few understand what is really involved in this relationship, so many misunderstand it and are therefore disappointed by it in the beginning or along the way, that the teacher prefers with rare exceptions of well-advanced cases, not to enter into it outwardly at all but instead to offer a little friendly help without obligation.
-- Notebooks Category 1: Overview of the Quest > Chapter 6 : Student-Teacher > # 599
