The Mother’s correspondence with fourteen persons.
The Mother : correspondence
Ce volume réunit la correspondance de la Mère avec quatorze 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 fourteen persons; all but one of them were members of the Sri Aurobindo Ashram. The material covers a forty-five year period, from 1927 to 1972. The earliest items are letters of the Mother to her son; the latest are brief thoughts and prayers written in a young disciple’s notebook. Each of the correspondences is presented in chronological order, with the exception of Series Six, which is arranged by theme. Two correspondences were written in English; twelve were written wholly or partly in French and appear here in translation.
THEME/S
To a sadhak of the Sri Aurobindo Ashram
We are at a moment of transition in the history of the earth. It is merely a moment in eternal time, but this moment is long compared to human life. Matter is changing in order to prepare itself for the new manifestation, but the human body is not plastic enough and offers resistance; this is why the number of incomprehensible disorders and even diseases is increasing and becoming a problem for medical science.
The remedy lies in union with the divine forces that are at work and a receptivity full of trust and peace which makes the task easier.
Those who want to progress now have an exceptional chance, because the transformation begins with the opening of the consciousness to the action of the new forces; thus individuals have a unique and wonderful opportunity to open themselves to the divine influence.
The purpose of individual existence is the joy of discovering the Divine and uniting with Him. When one has understood this, then one is ready to gain the strength to surmount all difficulties.
22 November 1971
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A victory won over the lower nature gives a deeper and more lasting joy than any external success.
Sri Aurobindo has revealed to us a few of the marvels that the future will bring to the earth and has encouraged us to prepare ourselves for it.
Each one has his ego and all the egos are at odds with one another. It is only when one gets rid of the ego that one becomes a free being.
To be free, one must belong only to the Divine.
In the difficult hours of life, the imperative duty of each one is to overcome his ego in a total and unconditional self-giving to the Divine. Then the Divine will make you do what you have to do.
Supreme Lord, Infinite Wisdom,
At this perilous hour when egoisms are at odds and asserting themselves, the only safety lies in taking refuge in Thee!
Grant that nothing in us may be an obstacle to the fulfilment of Thy Will.
Grant that we may become conscious and effective collaborators in the fulfilment of Thy Will.
5 December 1971
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Difficult hours come to the earth to compel men to overcome their small personal egoism and turn exclusively to the Divine for help and light. The wisdom of men is ignorant. Only the Divine knows.
Our human consciousness has windows that open upon the Infinite. But generally men keep these windows carefully closed. We have to open them wide and allow the Infinite to enter us freely in order to transform us.
Two conditions are necessary to open the windows:
(1) ardent aspiration;
(2) progressive abolition of the ego.
The divine help is assured to those who set to work sincerely.
The ego was necessary to form the individual being. Its destruction is therefore difficult. There is a much better, though more difficult solution: to transform it and make it an instrument of the Divine.
Egos that are converted and wholly consecrated to the Divine become especially powerful and effective instruments.
The endeavour is difficult and demands an absolute and steadfast sincerity, but for those who have a strong will, an ardent aspiration and an unshakable sincerity, it is well worth undertaking.
The method for each individual is worked out as the activity proceeds, for each ego has its own character and needs a particular method. The only qualities indispensable for all are absolute perseverance and sincerity. The least tendency to deceive oneself makes success impossible.
9 December 1971
Page 425
For you, the best way to begin is to find your psychic being, to concentrate on it by making it the witness of all your inner movements and the judge of all that you should or should not do, and to strive to submit your external nature to its decisions.
The psychic being is the individual sheath of the Divine Presence. It is found deep within oneself, beyond all thoughts.
Communications from the psychic do not come in a mental form. They are not ideas or reasonings. They have their own character quite distinct from the mind, something like a feeling that comprehends itself and acts.
By its very nature, the psychic is calm, quiet and luminous, understanding and generous, wide and progressive. Its constant effort is to understand and progress.
The mind describes and explains.
The psychic sees and understands.
The psychic is conscious of its progressive formation during successive lives upon earth, so it has the memory of the important moments in its previous lives.
The more the psychic has taken part in these physical lives on earth, the more numerous and precise its memories are.
Feeling alone in the midst of human beings is the sign that you are beginning to feel the need to find in your own being contact with the Divine Presence. So you must concentrate in silence and
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try to enter deep within to discover the Divine Presence in the depths of your consciousness, beyond all mental activity.
There comes a moment when life becomes intolerable without the Divine Presence. Therefore, give yourself entirely to the Divine and you will emerge into the Light.
One moment of conscious communion with the Divine can shatter all resistance, however powerful it may be.
In silence lies the greatest receptivity. And in an immobile silence the vastest action is done.
Let us learn to be silent so that the Lord may make use of us.
We shall have made a great leap towards realisation when we have driven all defeatism out of our consciousness.
It is by perfecting our faith in the Divine Grace that we shall be able to conquer the defeatism of the subconscient.
Total union and the perfect manifestation of the Divine are the sole means of putting an end to the suffering and misery of the physical world which are the cause of subconscient pessimism. It is only in perfect union with the Divine that the consciousness can emerge into the eternal delight. And this conscious union is the true goal of earthly existence.
21 December 1971
Page 427
To know why we live: discovery of the Divine and conscious union with Him.
The aspiration to concentrate solely on this realisation.
To know how to transform all circumstances into a means of reaching this goal.
Prayer
O Lord, awaken in me the ardent desire to know You.
I aspire to consecrate my life to Your service.
The best thing we can do to express our gratitude is to overcome all egoism in ourselves and make a constant effort towards this transformation. Human egoism refuses to abdicate on the grounds that others are not transformed. But that is the stronghold of bad will, for each one's duty is to transform himself regardless of what others may do.
If men knew that this transformation, the abolition of egoism, is the only way to gain constant peace and delight, they would consent to make the necessary effort. This, then, is the conviction that must awaken in them.
Everyone should repeatedly be told: abolish your ego and peace will reign in you.
The Divine help always responds to a sincere aspiration.
Human beings could be classified under four principal categories according to the attitude they take in life:
(1) Those who live for themselves. They consider everything in relation to themselves and act accordingly. The vast majority of men are like this.
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(2) Those who give their love to another human being and live for him. As for the result, everything naturally depends on the person one chooses to love.
(3) Those who consecrate their life to the service of humanity through some activity done not for personal satisfaction but truly to be useful to others without calculation and without expecting any personal gain from their work.
(4) Those who give themselves entirely to the Divine and live only for Him and through Him. This implies making the effort required to find the Divine, to be conscious of His Will and to work exclusively to serve Him.
In the first three categories, one is naturally subject to the ordinary law of suffering, disappointment and sorrow.
It is only in the last category—if one has chosen it in all sincerity and pursued it with an unfailing patience—that one finds the certitude of total fulfilment and a constant luminous peace.
Do not live to be happy, live to serve the Divine, and the happiness you enjoy will exceed all expectation.
We are at a decisive hour in the history of the earth. It is preparing for the coming of the superman and because of this the old way of life is losing its value. We must strike out boldly on the path of the future despite its new demands. The pettinesses once tolerable, are tolerable no longer. We must widen ourselves to receive what is going to come.
The result of the creation is a detailed multiplication of consciousness.
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When the vision of the whole and the vision of all the details are united in a single active consciousness, the creation will have attained its progressive perfection.
In time and space no two human beings have the same consciousness, and the sum of all these consciousnesses is but a partial and diminished manifestation of the Divine Consciousness.
That is why I said "progressive perfection", because the manifestation of the consciousness of detail is infinite and unending.
The first condition is not to have one's own personal interest as a goal.
The first qualities needed are boldness, courage and perseverance.
And then to be conscious that one knows nothing compared to what one ought to know, that one can do nothing compared to what one ought to do, that one is nothing compared to what one ought to be.
One must have an invariable will to acquire what is lacking in one's nature, to know what one does not yet know, to be able to do what one is not yet able to do.
One must constantly progress in the light and peace that come from the absence of personal desires.
One could take as a programme:
"Always better. Forward!"
And to have only one goal: to know the Divine in order to be able to manifest Him.
Persevere, and what you cannot do today you will be able to do tomorrow.
11 January 1972
Page 430
Mother, is it possible to develop in oneself the capacity to heal?
In principle, everything is possible by uniting consciously with the Divine Force.
But a method has to be found, and this depends on the case and the individual.
The first condition is to have a physical nature that gives energy rather than draws energy from others.
The second indispensable condition is to know how to draw energy from above, from the inexhaustible impersonal source.
In this way the more one spends the more one receives, and one becomes an inexhaustible channel rather than a vessel that empties itself by giving.
It is through steadfast aspiration that one learns.
Sincerity, humility, perseverance and an insatiable thirst for progress are essential for a happy and fruitful life. Above all, one must be convinced that the possibility of progress is unlimited. Progress is youth; one can be young at a hundred.
When the body has learned the art of constantly progressing towards an increasing perfection, we shall be well on the way to overcoming the inevitability of death.
16 January 1972
Page 431
If the growth of consciousness were considered as the principal goal of life, many difficulties would find their solution.
The best way to avoid growing old is to make progress the goal of our life.
To learn constantly, not just intellectually but psychologically, to progress in regard to character, to cultivate our qualities and correct our defects, so that everything may be an opportunity to cure ourselves of ignorance and incapacity—then life becomes tremendously interesting and worth living.
Sri Aurobindo came upon earth to announce the manifestation of the supramental world. And not only did he announce this manifestation but he also embodied in part the supramental force and gave us the example of what we must do to prepare ourselves for this manifestation. The best thing we can do is to study all he has told us, strive to follow his example and prepare ourselves for the new manifestation.
This gives life its true meaning and will help us to overcome all obstacles.
Let us live for the new creation and we shall grow stronger and stronger while remaining young and progressive.
The energies that human beings use for reproduction and that occupy such a predominant place in their lives, should on the contrary be sublimated and used for progress and higher development so as to prepare the coming of the new race. But first, the vital and the physical have to be free of all desire—otherwise one is courting disaster.
31 January 1972
Page 432
The first thing the physical consciousness must understand is that all the difficulties we meet with in life come from the fact that we do not rely exclusively on the Divine for the help we need.
The Divine alone can liberate us from the mechanism of universal Nature. And this liberation is indispensable for the birth and development of the new race.
It is only by giving ourselves entirely to the Divine in perfect trust and gratitude that the difficulties will be overcome.
To want what the Divine wants, in all sincerity, is the essential condition for peace and joy in life. Almost all human miseries come from the fact that men are nearly always convinced that they know better than the Divine what they need and what life ought to give them. Most human beings want other human beings to conform to their expectations and circumstances to conform to their desires—therefore they suffer and are unhappy.
It is only when one gives oneself in all sincerity to the Divine Will that one has the peace and calm joy which come from the abolition of desires.
The psychic being knows this with certainty; so, by uniting with one's psychic, one can know it. But the first condition is not to be subject to one's desires and mistake them for the truth of one's being.
The first necessity for each one is his own transformation, and the best way to help the world is to realise the Divine oneself.
5 February 1972
Page 433
In the depths of our being, in the silence of contemplation, a luminous force floods our consciousness with a vast and luminous peace which prevails over all petty reactions and prepares us for union with the Divine—the very purpose of individual existence.
Thus, the purpose and goal of life is not suffering and struggle but an all-powerful and happy realisation.
All the rest is painful illusion.
When humanity was first created, the ego was the unifying element. It was around the ego that the different states of being were grouped; but now that the birth of superhumanity is being prepared, the ego has to disappear and give way to the psychic being, which has slowly been formed by divine intervention in order to manifest the Divine in the human being.
It is under the psychic influence that the Divine manifests in man and thus prepares the coming of superhumanity.
The psychic is immortal and it is through the psychic that immortality can be manifested on earth.
So the important thing now is to find one's psychic, unite with it and allow it to replace the ego, which will be compelled either to get converted or disappear.
The first thing one learns on the way is that the joy of giving is far greater than the joy of taking.
Then gradually one learns that to forget oneself is the source of immutable peace. Later on, in this self-forgetfulness, one finds the Divine, and that is the source of an ever-increasing bliss.
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Sri Aurobindo told me one day that if men knew this and were convinced of it, they would all want to do yoga.
Human consciousness is so corrupted that men prefer the miseries of the ego and its ignorance to the luminous joy that comes from a sincere surrender to the Divine. So great is their blindness that they refuse even to try the experiment and would rather be subject to the miseries of their ego than make the effort needed to get rid of them.
So completely blind are they that they would not hesitate to make the Divine a slave of their ego, if such a thing were possible, in order to avoid giving themselves to the Divine.
Supreme Lord, teach us to be silent, that in the silence we may receive Your force and understand Your will.
We want to be true servitors of the Divine.
"Supreme Lord, Perfect Consciousness, You alone know truly what we are, what we can do, what progress we must make to be capable and worthy of serving You as we would. Make us conscious of our possibilities, but also of our difficulties so that we may overcome them in order to serve You faithfully."
The supreme happiness is to be true servitors of the Divine.
For those who want always to progress, there are three major ways of progressing:
(1) To widen the field of one's consciousness.
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(2) To understand ever better and more completely what one knows.
(3) To find the Divine and surrender more and more to his Will.
In other words, this means:
(1) To constantly enrich the possibilities of the instrument.
(2) To ceaselessly perfect the functioning of this instrument.
(3) To make this instrument increasingly receptive and obedient to the Divine.
To learn to understand and do more and more things. To purify oneself of all that prevents one from being totally surrendered to the Divine. To make one's consciousness more and more receptive to the Divine Influence.
One could say: to widen oneself more and more, to deepen oneself more and more, to surrender oneself more and more completely.
What is commonly called faithfulness is a scrupulous compliance with the promises one has made. But the only true and binding faithfulness is faithfulness to the Divine—and that is the faithfulness we all ought to acquire through sincere and sustained effort.
When the whole being, in all its parts and all its activities, can say to the Divine in all sincerity:
"Whatever You will, whatever You will",
then one is well on the way to the true faithfulness.
Life on earth is essentially a field for progress. But how brief life is for all the progress that has to be made!
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To waste one's time seeking the satisfaction of one's petty desires is sheer folly. True happiness is possible only when one has found the Divine.
Supreme Lord, Perfection that we must become, Perfection that we must manifest.
This body lives by You alone and goes on repeating to You:
"Whatever You will, whatever You will"
until the day when it shall automatically know what You will because its consciousness will be totally united with Yours.
Grant that I may become conscious of Your Presence.
Lord, we implore You, grant that nothing in us may reject Your Presence and that we may become what You want us to be; grant that all in us may conform to Your Will.
Lord, give us the silence of Your contemplation, the silence rich with Your effective Presence.
Grant that our silence may be filled with Your Presence and that we may be fully conscious of it.
Grant that we may know that You are our life, our consciousness and our being, and that without You everything is merely illusion.
14 March 1972
Page 437
Grant that we may identify ourselves with Your Eternal Consciousness so that we may know truly what Immortality is.
To prepare for immortality, the consciousness of the body must first identify itself with the Eternal Consciousness.
A fifteen-year-old girl asked: "What is Truth?"
I answered: "The Will of the Supreme Lord."
It is a subject for contemplative meditation.
This truth that man has vainly sought to know will be the birthright of the new race, the race of tomorrow, the superman.
To live according to Truth will be his birthright.
Let us do our best to prepare the coming of the New Being. The mind must fall silent and be replaced by the Truth-Consciousness—the consciousness of details harmonised with the consciousness of the whole.
19 March 1972
Page 438
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