LETTERS FROM ABROAD
gained in my life is through the spontaneous and disinterested expression of truth in me, and never through straining for a result whatever high-sounding name it might have carried. A difficult time is before us, but let our friends in the Ashram never forget their mantram
‘Shantam, Shivam, Advaitam.
NEW YORK, October 28, 1920.
Our steamer has arrived at the port—too late for us to land to-night. Between one shore and the other there are tossings on the angry waves and menaces of the shrieking winds, but peace comes at the end and shelter, when the desolation that divides the world appears unreal and is forgotten. This crossing of the sea has not yet been completed by those who are voyagers from one age to another. Storms have raged and the moaning of the salt sea has haunted their days and nights. But the haven is not very far distant and the new continent of time is ready with its greeting of light and life and its invitation to the unexplored. I already feel the broath of that future and see birds from that shore bringing songs of hope.
You must know that our Santiniketan belongs to that future. We have not yet reached it, We need stronger faith and clearer vision to direct our course towards its hill of sunrise. There are chains which still keep our boat clinging
