Sri Aurobindo

Letters of Sri Aurobindo

Volume II - Part 2

Fragment ID: 11671

That [a state in which the outer being responds to surface thoughts while the inner being is “engrossed in meditation”] is not called meditation – it is a divided state of consciousness.  Unless the consciousness is really engrossed and the surface thoughts are only things that come across and touch and pass, it can hardly be called meditation (dhyana). I don’t see how the inner being can be “engrossed” while thoughts and imaginations of another kind are rampaging about in the consciousness. One can remain separate and see the thoughts and imaginations pass without being affected, but that is not being plunged or engrossed in meditation.