The Mother’s correspondence with six members of the Sri Aurobindo Ashram.
The Mother : correspondence
Ce volume réunit la correspondance de la Mère avec six personnes, des disciples et des élèves de l’école de l’Ashram. La Mère y répond à leurs questions sur la vie et le yoga.
This volume contains the Mother's correspondence with six members of the Sri Aurobindo Ashram. The material covers a thirty-five year period, from 1932 to 1968. All the correspondences are presented in chronological order. Two of them were written in English; four were written wholly or partly in French and appear here in translation.
THEME/S
To a disciple who joined the Sri Aurobindo Ashram in 1931 at the age of thirty-one. He worked in the Building Service until the mid-1940s and then became head of the Furniture Service, which he managed up to his passing in 1970.
Sri Aurobindo, Mother,
Grant us your help in our endeavour to understand your teaching.
(Programme for a class conducted by the disciple)
1) Prayer
(Sri Aurobindo Mother—grant us your help in our endeavour to understand your teaching)
2) Reading of Sri Aurobindo's book
3) A moment of silence
4) One question can be put by whoever wants to put a question on what has been read
5) Answer to the question
6) No general discussion
This is not the meeting of a group but simply a class for studying Sri Aurobindo's books.
Mother,
In our "Synthesis of Yoga" class the question of the psychic being has come up. In the "Life Divine" chapter entitled "The Double Soul in Man", Sri Aurobindo speaks first of the psychic entity which "is the Witness
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and Control, the hidden Guide, the Daemon of Socrates" etc. Then he speaks of this entity taking form in us as the psychic Person, by which He evidently means the psychic being, and which, He says, grows and develops and "is the traveller between birth and death".
We have then the psychic entity and, as its self-projection in Nature, the psychic being, and their seat is in the secret heart of man.
(1) But what about the Divine who, it is said in the Gita and the Upanishads, dwells as the Lord in the hearts of men?
(2) Is it the psychic entity that is meant here or the Immanent Divine? Can the psychic entity be called the Individual Divine?
(3) Is it only the psychic being that evolves and the psychic entity from behind only supports that evolution?
There are none of these rigid distinctions in Sri Aurobindo's teaching. The psychic entity and the psychic being are one and the same thing approached from a different point of view. It is not the immanent Divine but contains it so to say.
Blessings.
In our poetry class yesterday, I spoke about the object we have placed before us in our study of poetry: the perception and enjoyment of the divine Beauty and Delight which pervade the universe. And I said that as we embrace the whole of life in Yoga, so we accept the entire genuine self-expression of the spirit of life in poetry. We would range up and down the whole realm of poetic creation like free, unattached worshippers of the Divine Beauty and seekers of the divine Delight.
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Later in the afternoon I was told by X that Y does not like love-poems and so he resented my remarks on them some days back. Yesterday too it appears that the same thing upset him. He has very narrow and rigid views on things and is extremely intolerant of others' views.
Well, I think it would be better not to lay too much stress, in your studies of poetry, on the human side of love, as it is not helpful for sadhana and for some it is distinctly harmful.
My blessings.
May I tell the class about Thy wish that we should confine ourselves as far as possible to Sri Aurobindo's works only and give up our habit of comparative study both in philosophy and poetry, as it leads to much unconscious mixture and dilution of the purity of His teachings?
Certainly it is good to tell them the above.
My love and blessings.
"Sun-grape fruits of the deathless Vine"—I interpreted this as the light-rays of the immortal conscious existence which yield the rose-red wine of love when pressed by the feet of the Dancer in Time. But there was some difference of opinion in regard to the interpretation...
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For me poetry is beyond philosophy and explanation.
Z seems to be particularly interested in Samadhi and its different forms. In the next "Synthesis" class, while summarising the chapters on Hathayoga and Rajayoga, I shall try, with Thy approval and blessings, to explain what the different kinds of Samadhi are and what uses we make of Samadhi in our Yoga.
No use at all.
Your silence seems to signify that you have not approved of my proposal for reducing the days of my pranam. I shall therefore continue as before, twice a week, and I beg You to pardon me for having made the proposal.
It is all right—it came from a very kind feeling, but as things stand (about 120 people come every night) one more or less makes not much difference.
With my love and blessings.
Can it be said that there is the possibility of a further evolution even after the full emergence of the Supermind? Or can we say that there may be an infinite progression, but no further evolution, after the Supermind that is involved here is fully evolved?
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Infinite progression is an evident fact—as for further evolutions or no further evolutions, this is a speculation which does not seem to be of immediate utility.
For the purpose of elucidation and illustration, may I quote some parallel passages from other poets and philosophers from time to time? I find that an apt quotation lights up at once the subject in hand and drives home a difficult point.
My experience is that by quoting one brings confusion rather than clarification.
Some days back X showed me a Hindi translation of "Thoughts and Glimpses". I found that there were some gross errors in it. Is it not possible, Mother, for the translations done by Y and Z to pass through X's hands for revision before printing?
What room do you leave for "amour-propre"?... It is very difficult to make people understand that they are making mistakes.
Sweet Mother,
Yesterday You said that in our "Synthesis of Yoga" class it is useless and even stupid to comment on Sri Aurobindo's writings. Sweet Mother, I have been
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committing this stupidity in my classes for years. May I beg you to allow me to stop giving them?
Many lazy-minded people are very happy to be given explanations about Sri Aurobindo's books, because they have the feeling that they understand better. That is why I have not interfered. Indeed, it is better for people to hear readings and take interest in them than to have no contact at all with Sri Aurobindo's writings.
So you should continue with the class; but in making comments, you must understand that they cannot avoid being inadequate, and that the original text far surpasses anything you can say about it.
With my blessings.
(The remaining letters were written when the disciple was in his sixties and working as head of the Furniture Service.)
I submit the following proposal for your authorisation if You approve of it.
We are ready to display some articles of furniture at Honesty Society, with the prices marked so that customers can see them. Our furniture is strong and attractive and the prices are reasonable. X is in full agreement. We will give him five percent.
But will it be possible to supply the Ashram with everything it needs and at the same time make enough furniture for sale? The needs of the Ashram must come first.
12 March 1964
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I have been to see Dr. Y. He is annoyed with me because Z told him that Mother has authorised a table, chair, clothes-stand and bed for each patient. I wonder how Z can say that when You have never said it.
Anyway, to cut short this unnecessary fuss, I asked him how many patients Cure House can accommodate. He told me ten. So if you authorise it, I will give him ten tables, chairs, beds and clothes-stands—then there will be no cause for complaint.
Yes, we live in a world of falsehood. For the sake of peace it is better to pay no attention.
From time to time I see articles in Bengali and Hindi where the teachings of Sri Aurobindo have been wrongly presented. Can nothing be done to stop these things?
Obviously these incidents are regrettable and they are part of a whole series of things that are happening in the Ashram because everyone seems to be doing just as he pleases without any check. Sincerity and honesty of consciousness are sadly lacking.
For the last few days I have been feeling very tired and my liver is upset. Perhaps it is due to my own stupidity. I thought that the more work and exercise I did, the better I would feel. So I was taking long walks. The
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result is that now even talking is tiring and the slightest exercise just makes me weaker.
Sweet Mother, I will be very happy if you have something to tell me about this.
The mind always tends to want to impose its rule on the body. But that rule is not necessarily the divine wisdom, and so the body suffers.
Now you must give your body the rest it needs in order to recover its balance.
In Your conversations of 1930—31 You speak of the psychic presence and the psychic being: "The psychic being attains its culmination, its total fulfilment if and when it unites with a being or personality from above."1 Sweet Mother, I have not understood this sentence. Do you mean the Jivatman? If not, what "being or personality from above" do You mean?
I wrote "being from above" in order to avoid being more specific, for there are many possibilities, from a "vibhuti" of an Overmind god to a supramental being or even a direct emanation from the Supreme (an Avatar).
May I ask You to give me a copy of Satprem's book, "Sri Aurobindo or the Adventure of Consciousness?" I
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hesitated to ask for it because it is expensive, but I think that it will be useful to me not only in my present work but also afterwards. If I need to quote from it, I will be able to do so.
You know French, and it is undeniably better to read it in the original than in translation. I am sending you the book in French in case you do not have it.
As I told you before, X has no desire at all to work. You asked him to work eight hours a day, but he promised only to work four hours. Gradually he has reduced his hours, and now he has given up almost all work. But we cannot do without him unless we have someone to replace him. Meanwhile, I hope that by Your Grace he will feel that he should work with more sincerity.
It is more difficult to give sincerity to someone who has none than to cure a dying man.
Y developed squint about two years ago. For the last year or more he has been using glasses, but the problem goes on increasing. Now an operation has been advised. But he will do what you decide. Please give your decision.
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I cannot decide this kind of thing; but I give my blessings for the specialists to make the correct decision.
I enclose a letter I received from Z yesterday. Please have a look at the paragraph I have marked. He says he will write to You. I pray, Sweet Mother, that Your Will may guide his decision and that he does not allow himself to be misled by his mind, which seems to be over-confident in itself.
Everything depends on what he means by "divinely directed". After his first visit I wrote to him that from the material standpoint the Ashram was in need of an overall reorganisation, and that I thought he could help me to do it. But that it would be possible only if he could bring with him from America money donated or lent interest-free for 25 years. I mentioned the sum of Rs. 10 crores.2
He has always considered this to be an unfeasible stipulation—and yet it is an indispensable one. Without it, nothing can be done.
P.S. By now, the sum of 10 crores would not be sufficient, since we have added the Auroville project, which alone requires at least 50 crores.
Without money, nothing can be changed in our present way of working.
27 May 1965
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As I told You a few days ago, X does not want to work any more. He has already dropped almost all his work and deals only with a small part of the accounts, and even in that work he makes a lot of mistakes. Sweet Mother, may I humbly ask you to tell him to work six hours and not leave in the morning when I go upstairs?
It is strange: instead of throwing themselves head-long into Your work, people are holding themselves back more and more. The work of the departments goes on increasing and there is disorder everywhere. Only Your Grace can overcome the forces of laziness and insincerity in us and bring order out of this disorder. I pray for the intervention of Your Grace!
Insincerity seems to be an incurable defect which nullifies the working of the Grace in a being. It is certainly insincerity which has necessitated the violent intervention of Kali in the world.
I cannot possibly give orders to an insincere person because he will respond hypocritically, and that increases even further the darkness he is engulfed in.
One must either have nothing to do with insincere people or else take them as they are.
Dr. Y, the homoeopath, has written: "Through the grace of the Mother the volume of business transacted here at my newly opened dispensary has increased by leaps and bounds." That means that Your Grace has increased the number of people who are sick and the doctor is pleased about it. This surprises and amuses me.
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Fortunately, to him the phrase is only a polite expression and does not correspond to any idea. It is just like those people who are always saying, "Thank God"—it does not correspond to any real thought.
I find that Z's electric massage has weakened my stomach, which was already weak and delicate, and consequently I feel even more tired than before. If you agree, I would like to stop the treatment. More and more I feel that nothing can completely cure me except Your Grace, and I trust myself to that. If I love You and am faithful to You, I am sure that You will transform this physical body.
It is all right; if the treatment does not suit you, you must stop it.
It is true that the transformation can only be done by the divine force; but under the present conditions of the earth the process still takes a lot of time, and our faith must be very patient.
In view of the war3 and the austerities it necessitates, would you like us to practise some economy in supplying furniture? Could we cut down on extravagant
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demands and at the same time economise according to the requirements of the present situation?
Yes; at any rate the extravagant demands must stop because they are completely out of place here.
For the last three days I have been trying X's Nature Cure, and on his advice I have reduced by half the amount of milk and water I drink. If you approve, I would like to continue this treatment for some time.
I do not advise you to take less milk because you are already eating too little, and as one eats less and less one loses the capacity to eat, which leads to a loss of vitality.
Sweet Mother, I am sure that my complaint will be gone for ever by the end of the year. If You approve, I will continue the Nature Cure; otherwise I will stop it. I trust myself entirely to Your Force.
Continue the Nature Cure since you find it helpful, and keep your faith intact and living, because it is essential to the cure.
Previously I used to take milk three times a day: morning, noon and evening. But X and Y have told me that buttermilk at noon is easier to digest and better for a weak constitution. That is why I am taking buttermilk at noon instead of milk.
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But all these suggestions are unimportant. I will do what You, Sweet Mother, tell me to do.
Buttermilk is excellent and you can go on taking it. My advice was only not to starve yourself but to take sufficient nourishment.
In his latest letter Z writes, "I have received no reply from the Mother to my last two letters. Do you think that they could have gone astray?" What would you like me to reply, Sweet Mother?
This: "I have received and read both his letters. The answer was immediately sent, mentally, and continues to be sent to him whenever his thoughts come to me. It is essential that this way of corresponding mentally should become part of his sadhana and reach a certain perfection. Nevertheless I intend to write to him when the time comes to inform him physically of what I expect of him.
"He must go on preparing himself and perfecting his development, so that he is ready to do what needs to be done.
"My blessings are with him."
You can translate this and send it to him.
X has refused to prepare the new stock-books for next year. And Y is neither willing nor able to do anything. He has made himself completely unfit for any
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work. I inform you of this so that the situation may improve through Your grace.
I am afraid that the Grace has no effect on lazy people.
As you told me to do, I am taking milk and a soft-boiled egg every morning. I will eat the egg you have sent me today at about 6:30 tomorrow morning.
I have been told about another method: a fresh egg is broken into the milk to be drunk, without first boiling it in water.
Which of these two would you like me to do? May I put yesterday's egg in my milk today? Will it be easy to digest?
Eggs are easiest to digest when raw.
The more they are cooked, the more difficult they are to digest. If you keep your egg in a cool place, you can very well use it the next day, mixing it thoroughly with the milk, and slightly sweetened if you like.
Everything the doctors find out I lay before You so that Your Grace may act upon it, but I am not anxious about what happens to the body. My body is Your instrument, and You alone know how to free it from all illness and transform it.
As for my inner being, it is immersed in Your Love
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and filled with it. Your Love is my life, my only support, my peace and my joy.
Keep your faith intact and remain immersed in the eternal love.
That is the only Reality.
My force and my blessings are with you.
Dr. Z came to see me yesterday morning. He says that I should take more food and eat things that are more nourishing. He says that unless I take solid, nutritious food, this illness cannot be overcome. The stomach will resist, but it has to adapt itself.
I have been wanting to tell you for some time that you should eat more and take more substantial food.
This is essential to strengthen your body; as you grow stronger, eating will become easier for you.
I beg you to free me from this insomnia which has harassed me for the last twenty-five years or more. Last night I slept only one hour, and for about the last twenty nights I have had almost no sleep. Dr. Z says there is no medicine for this complaint except sleeping-pills. But a few years ago You told me not to take sleeping-pills.
The only cure for insomnia is to get rid of the need for sleep by knowing how to obtain mental silence at will. When you can obtain silence at will, you must put your body into a position
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of absolute repose, stretched out comfortably on the bed; then you go within yourself until there is perfect mental silence and enter a state that is something like a very deep sleep. Only if you know how to do this at will and do it regularly every night, can you manage to do without sleep.
If not, you must be prepared to take sleeping-pills.
As soon as You pointed out to me that my heart-condition was getting progressively worse, I stopped taking my present medicine, thinking, "I will take only what the Mother tells me to take." But if you want me not to take any medicine at all and to open myself exclusively to Your Omnipotence, I will do so gladly.
The body needs to be cared for with physical but enlightened remedies.
I ardently pray to You to pull me out of this condition of bad health and make me progress integrally. You know that my soul's only aspiration is to love You and serve You. Make me physically active in Your service.
You have been and still remain a faithful servitor. Do not worry: f your body is no longer fit for physical work, take advantage of all the time at your disposal to develop your inner consciousness and unite more and more consciously with the Divine.
Reading, meditation, contemplation, self-giving, in silence
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and concentration, to the Divine who is always present to hear you and guide you.
I worked with X up to the 23rd, but my giddiness became so bad that I dared not go out. My blood-pressure has gone down to 96/70, according to Dr. Y who came this morning.
Sweet Mother, if it is possible, pull me out of this darkness and suffering. If it is not possible, please let me feel Your living Presence within me and I shall endure any suffering.
As soon as you start feeling bad, you should try to repeat this: "Lord, give me the strength to think only of You."
My dear child,
There is nothing to forgive, you have done nothing wrong.
When I received your last letter, I transmitted your prayer to the Supreme Lord so that the Truth may manifest without obstruction.
Be peaceful and trusting: what is happening is the best for your psychic being; and in the inner calm you will feel that the Lord is with you to bring you successfully through every ordeal.
As for the work, I will see what can be arranged so that you can remain occupied without straining your body more than it can bear.
My blessings are always with you.
26 August 1969
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I am not at all displeased with you—on the contrary, I find you full of courage and endurance.
But my work is so absorbing that often I have no time even to write a line.
It is better to take sleeping-pills than to spend sleepless nights and suffer as a result. Never imagine that I am dissatisfied with you.
My force, my love and my blessings are always with you so that you may be peaceful, calm and contented.
22 January 1970
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