The Mother's brief statements on Sri Aurobindo, Herself, the Sri Aurobindo Ashram, Auroville, India and and nations other than India.
This volume consists primarily of brief written statements by the Mother about Sri Aurobindo, Herself, the Sri Aurobindo Ashram, Auroville, India, and nations other than India. Written over a period of nearly sixty years (1914-1973), the statements have been compiled from her public messages, private notes, and correspondence with disciples. The majority (about sixty per cent) were written in English; the rest were written in French and appear here in translation. The volume also contains a number of conversations, most of them in the part on Auroville. All but one were spoken in French and appear here in translation.
Mother gives always to each one the love he needs.
11 January 1933
I am always seated in your heart, consciously living in you.
2 September 1935
Open your heart and you will find me already there.
Don't be restless, remain quietly concentrated in your heart and you will find me there.
1 October 1935
Go deep inside the temple and you will find me there.
11 February 1938
All souls who aspire are always under my direct care.
27 December 1957
Mother is with all those who are sincere in their aspiration towards a divine life.
26 March 1971
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Mother, I offer myself to You unceasingly. Here I am, Mother.
I hold you to my heart and keep you there.
Blessings.
5 June 1971
Mother, now and then I feel this new vibration coming down into me, bringing with it vigour, Force, joy, and I don't know what—it is so beautiful. Here you are, my Mother.
I am always with you inwardly.
19 May 1971
I am always present, near you, in you, and my blessings come with me.
Be sure that I am always present among you to guide and help you in your work and your sadhana.
For the moment the important thing is to cultivate this widening and deepening of the consciousness which enables you to feel my constant presence with you, to feel it in a real and concrete way which will bring you an immutable peace.
Keep always this awareness of my constant loving presence and all will be all right.
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Have confidence, I am near you.
With all my tender love.
Today at Pranam, for the first time I could enter X's heart and an emanation of mine settled there.
14 June 1932
I am happy with this awakening in your consciousness. You should allow it to develop more and more so that the light can penetrate everywhere, even into the darkest corners.
My help and protection are always with you.
17 June 1935
My help is always with you to help you in your progress and your work.
The difficulties you cannot overcome today will be overcome tomorrow or later on.
I always look upward. Beauty, Peace, Light are there, they are ready to come down. So, always aspire and look up, in order to manifest them upon this earth.
Do not look down at the ugly things of the world. Look always upward with me, whenever you feel sad.
Be very quiet and you will feel my help.
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Child, you complain that you see me only as a friend... but what could be better than to have a friend who knows, who acts, who loves?
21 September 1945
Surely, my child, I have no intention of leaving you and you need not worry; one thing you must know and never forget: all that is true and sincere will always be kept. Only what is false and insincere will disappear.
In the measure in which your need for me is sincere and genuine, it will be fulfilled.
5 October 1955
My dear boy,
All this talk of leaving you is mere nonsense.
What you are or are not I know better than you do; and I know the treasures that are hidden behind what you call your lower vital.
The only thing true you say is that love is unselfish and unconditioned. Such is the love of Sri Aurobindo and myself for you.
That is why we shall never listen to all your nonsense and will love you surely.
Come to me without fear. I will not scold and not look with "round eyes".
My very dear boy,
I knew something of this although you had not spoken, and the only thing I regretted is that you did not love and trust your Mummy enough to tell her frankly. How could you think that this could change my love for you?
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Now nothing stands in the way between us, between X and his Mummy, and if my love for you could be greater, it would be so now that you have shown full confidence in me.
Remember what Sri Aurobindo has written to you. When these moods come, why do you run away from Mother? Come to her, on the contrary, and she will cure you easily. This is the substance of what he has said.
My dearest little child,
What a sad thing that my lovely is not well! I hope it is getting better now; but keep quiet and do not worry either about work or anything―you must not move until it is all gone.... If you feel quite well this afternoon, come and I will be very happy.
With all my love and affection I am near you holding you in my arms and praying that you will be quite all right very, very soon.
My love remains with you with all its intensity. And in the intensity of this love, I have prayed and prayed to our Lord, asking Him to pour His Grace upon you and to make you conscious of the Divine Light and Soul in you, to give you the supreme realisation of His Presence.
Let all the clouds disperse, all the attachments disappear, all the obstacles vanish, so that you can enjoy fully the peace and the joy of being here, so close to me, in the Divine's abode.
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I am writing to tell you that surely you should be able to feel my presence every day. I am with you so concretely, I see you so clearly, we speak together, together we contemplate the harmony of a beautiful park; I explain to you and show you how to keep within oneself always this great peace which makes you live in eternity, beyond all human miseries, in the Presence (Truth) of the Lord.
I received your letter. My deepest sympathy is with you.
We must pray for the day when the Light of the Truth will reappear in the consciousness. Meanwhile my love and blessings are always with you.
My dear little child,
My love remains with you. I am constantly praying to our Lord that He should make you conscious of His Presence in you and thus one with me.
Always with you in a growing light and peace.
Forward, always forward in love and joy and a peace rising ever higher.
I remember and love all my children equally even if they never write to me―and all sincere prayers are always answered even if I do not write myself. So have no pain and be cheerful.
21 November 1962
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I think that always, at every moment, someone or other is calling You and You answer. Doesn't this disturb Your sleep or Your rest?
Day and night hundreds of calls are coming―but the consciousness is always alert and it answers.
One is limited by time and space only materially.
3 January 1968
X is always present in our thoughts and living in our hearts.
For the thought the world is small, for the heart there is no distance.
Days when it is cold and you would like to wrap Mother's love around your shoulders.
Please think of me now and then.
That much only! Surely I do think of you more often!!
Love and blessings.
1970
"I AM WITH YOU"
"I am with you." What does it mean exactly?
When we pray or struggle with a problem within ourselves, are we really heard, always, in spite of our clumsiness and imperfection, in spite even of our bad will and our error? And who hears? You who are with us?
And is it you in your supreme consciousness, an impersonal divine force, the force of Yoga, or you, Mother
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in a body, with your physical consciousness? A personal presence that really knows each thought and each act and not some anonymous force? Can you tell us how, in what way you are present with us?
Sri Aurobindo and you, it is said, form one and the same consciousness, but is there a personal presence of Sri Aurobindo and your personal presence, two things distinct, each playing its own particular role?
I am with you because I am you or you are me.
I am with you, that signifies a world of things, because I am with you on all levels, on all planes, from the supreme consciousness down to my most physical consciousness. Here, in Pondicherry, you cannot breathe without breathing my consciousness. It saturates the atmosphere almost materially, in the subtle physical, and extends to the Lake, ten kilometres from here. Farther, my consciousness can be felt in the material vital, then on the mental plane and the other higher planes, everywhere. When I came here for the first time, I felt the atmosphere of Sri Aurobindo, felt it materially at a distance of ten miles, ten nautical miles, not kilometres. It was very sudden, very concrete, an atmosphere pure, luminous, light, light that lifts you up.
It is now long since Sri Aurobindo has put up everywhere in the Ashram this reminder that you all know: "Always behave as if the Mother was looking at you, because she is, indeed, always present."
This is not a mere phrase, not simply words, it is a fact. I am with you in a very concrete manner and they who have a subtle vision can see me.
In a general way my Force is there constantly at work, constantly shifting the psychological elements of your being to put them in new relations and defining to yourself the different facets of your nature so that you may see what should be changed, developed, rejected.
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But that apart, there is a special personal tie between you and me, between all who have turned to the teaching of Sri Aurobindo and myself,―and, it is well understood, distance does not count here, you may be in France, you may be at the other end of the world or in Pondicherry, this tie is always true and living. And each time there comes a call, each time there is a need for me to know so that I may send out a force, an inspiration, a protection or any other thing, a sort of message comes to me all of a sudden and I do the needful. These communications reach me evidently at any moment, and you must have seen me more than once stop suddenly in the middle of a sentence or work; it is because something comes to me, a communication and I concentrate.
With those whom I have accepted as disciples, to whom I have said Yes, there is more than a tie, there is an emanation of me. This emanation warns me whenever it is necessary and tells me what is happening. Indeed I receive intimations constantly, but not all are recorded in my active memory, I would be flooded; the physical consciousness acts like a filter. Things are recorded on a subtle plane, they are there in a latent state, something like a piece of music that is recorded without being played, and when I need to know with my physical consciousness, I make contact with this subtle physical plane and the disc begins to turn. Then I see how things are, their development in time, the actual result.
And if for some reason you write to me asking for my help and I answer "I am with you", it means that the communication with you becomes active, you come into my active consciousness for a time, for the time necessary.
And this tie between you and me is never cut. There are people who have long ago left the Ashram, in a state of revolt, and yet I keep myself informed of them, I attend to them. You are never abandoned.
In truth, I hold myself responsible for everyone, even for those whom I have met only for one second in my life.
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Now remember one thing. Sri Aurobindo and myself are one and the same consciousness, one and the same person. Only, when this force or this presence, which is the same, passes through your individual consciousness, it puts on a form, an appearance which differs according to your temperament, your aspiration, your need, the particular turn of your being. Your individual consciousness is like a filter, a pointer, if I may say so; it makes a choice and fixes one possibility out of the infinity of divine possibilities. In reality, the Divine gives to each individual exactly what he expects of Him. If you believe that the Divine is far away and cruel, He will be far away and cruel, because it will be necessary for your ultimate good that you feel the wrath of God; He will be Kali for the worshippers of Kali and Beatitude for the Bhakta. And He will be the All-knowledge of the seeker of Knowledge, the transcendent Impersonal of the illusionist; He will be atheist with the atheist and the love of the lover. He will be brotherly and close, a friend always faithful, always ready to succour, for those who feel Him as the inner guide of each movement, at every moment. And if you believe that He can wipe away everything, He will wipe away all your faults, all your errors, tirelessly, and at every moment you can feel His infinite Grace. The Divine is indeed what you expect of Him in your deepest aspiration.
And when you enter into this consciousness where you see all things in a single look, the infinite multitude of relations between the Divine and men, you see how wonderful all that is, in all details. You can look at the history of mankind and see how much the Divine has evolved according to what men have understood, desired, hoped, dreamed and how He was materialist with the materialist and how He grows every day and becomes nearer, more luminous according as human consciousness widens itself. Each one is free to choose. The perfection of this endless variety of relations of man with God throughout the history of the world is an ineffable marvel. And all that
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together is only one second of the total manifestation of the Divine.
The Divine is with you according to your aspiration. Naturally that does not mean that He bends to the caprices of your outer nature,―I speak here of the truth of your being. And yet, sometimes he does fashion himself according to your outer aspirations, and if, like the devotees, you live alternately in separation and union, ecstasy and despair, the Divine also will separate from you and unite with you, according as you believe. The attitude is thus very important, even the outer attitude. People do not know how important is faith, how faith is miracle, creator of miracles. If you expect at every moment to be lifted up and pulled towards the Divine, He will come to lift you and He will be there, quite close, closer, ever closer.
In order to be always near me really and effectively you must become more and more sincere, open and frank towards me. Cast away all dissimulation and decide to do nothing that you could not tell me immediately.
Do only what you could do before me without feeling embarrassed, say only what you could repeat to me without difficulty.
Be very sincere and straightforward, harbour nothing within yourself which you cannot show me without fear, do nothing which you would be ashamed of before me.
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Try to be spontaneous and simple like a child in your relations with me―it will save you from many difficulties.
Be simple, Be happy, Remain quiet, Do your work as well as you can, Keep yourself always open towards me― This is all that is asked from you.
Whether I see you or not makes no difference to the help. It will always be there.
You must remove two falsehoods from your mind.
1) What you get from me has nothing at all to do with what the others have or have not. My relation with you depends on you alone; I give you according to your true need and capacity.
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Even here, already you were alone with me; if there were no others you would receive nothing more.
2) It is a great mistake to think that physical nearness is the one thing indispensable for the progress. It will do nothing for you if you do not establish the inner contact, for without that you could remain from morning to night with me and yet you will never truly meet me. It is only by the inner opening and contact that you can realise my presence.
The Mother's retirement1 has posed a question of great importance for us. Is it going to widen the physical distance that was already existing between her and most Ashramites? And can the affairs of the Ashram be managed without her constant guidance? Do not the true interests of the sadhaks suffer during her retirement? Will she take the same usual care of us as she did before?
You ought not to forget that each one meets in life the exact expression of what he is himself. Grace and blessings are always with you. Not one day have I stopped taking the usual care of those who depend on my force.
22 May 1962
Do the work―my inspiration and guidance will always be with you; and when it is necessary I shall see you physically. But I am working to lessen more and more this necessity. Because to
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be able to receive the inner guidance is indispensable for the perfection of the work.
21 December 1964
Now that you are here, the only thing to do is to forget the past and to concentrate on your work here. It is true that for the moment I cannot see you regularly, but you must learn to get the inner contact (it is one of the chief reasons of my retirement) and then you will know that I am always with you to guide you and to help you and that you can have no better conditions than here to do properly your sadhana.
It would be more correct to say that certain thoughts, certain feelings and certain actions take people away from me or create a separation between someone and me in spite of all physical proximity.
1 May 1968
We feel that we are separated from Your presence; but this separation is only an illusion, isn't it, my Mother?
There is no real separation, but if the consciousness takes a wrong attitude, it puts itself into a state in which it has the sensation or the feeling of separation.
Is a physical contact with you indispensable?
No, this physical contact is not indispensable. Certainly for those who have the true attitude, the physical contact helps the body to follow the movement of transformation, but the body is
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rarely in a state to profit by it. Generally on birthdays it is more receptive.
September 1971
I am no more living an active life; if you are open, help is bound to come.
14 December 1972
If you are quite sincere, you will agree with me that you are complaining of my being not too Divine but not Divine enough. For if in my physical body I had assumed, for instance, the appearance cherished by the ancient Indian tradition, how convenient it would be! Imagine, if having several heads and a great number of arms, possessing the power of ubiquity, when X comes to manicure my hands and so unceremoniously knocks at the door to inform me that she is there, (I cannot tell her not to knock because she is very busy) I could send her a pair of hands for her work and still be in my small room to answer to Y who is sitting with me there, how nice it would be!...
So, you see, I fear I have accepted to become too human, too much bound by the human laws of time and space, and thus not capable of doing half a dozen things at the same time!
12 January 1932
Lord, I lament my limitations... but it is through them, by virtue of them, that men can approach Thee. Without them, Thou wouldst be as remote, as inaccessible to men as if Thou hadst not put on a body of flesh.
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This is why each progress they make represents a true liberation for me, for each step they take towards Thee gives me the right to cast away one of these limitations and to manifest Thee more truly, more perfectly.
And yet these limitations could have been dispensed with. But then it would have been necessary to keep near us only those who have experienced the Divine, who have identified themselves with Thee, Lord, even if only once, either within themselves or in the universe. For this identification is the indispensable basis of our Yoga; it is its starting-point.
17 July 1932
It is their own mental and vital formation of me that they love, not myself. More and more I am confronted with this fact. Each one has made his own image of me for himself in conformity with his needs and desires, and it is with this image that he is in relation, through that he receives the little amount of universal forces and the still smaller amount of supramental forces that manage to filter through all these formations. Unfortunately, they cling to my physical presence, otherwise I could withdraw into my inner solitude and do my work quietly and freely from there; but this physical presence is a symbol for them and that is why they cling to it, for in fact they have very little real contact with what my body truly is or with the tremendous accumulation of conscious energy that it represents.
And now, O Higher Force, that You are descending into me and penetrating more and more totally all the atoms of my body, the distance between myself and everything around me seems to be increasing more and more, and more and more I feel myself floating in an atmosphere of radiant consciousness that is totally beyond their understanding.
11 June 1954
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Since I love only You, O Lord, it is You alone whom I love in all and in each one; and by dint of loving You in them, I shall end up by making them a little conscious of You.
For them, the real thing is to know how to let themselves be loved without any preference and obstruction. But, not only do they not want to be loved except in their own way, they do not want even to open themselves to love unless it comes to them through the intermediary of their choice... and what could be done in a few hours, a few months or a few years takes centuries to be accomplished.
After establishing a conscious contact with each person present, I merge with the Supreme Lord and then my body is nothing but a channel through which He pours out upon all His Light, His Consciousness and His Joy, to each one according to his capacity.
I take the greatest care to open the door within all of you, so that if you have just a small movement of concentration within you, you do not have to wait for long periods in front of a closed door that will not move, to which you have no key and which you do not know how to open.
The door is open, only you must look in that direction. You must not turn your back on it.
I am not eager to be the Guru of anyone. It is more spontaneously natural for me to feel the Mother of all and to carry them forward silently through the power of love.
19 September 1961
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I am not eager to be the Guru of anyone. It is more spontaneously natural for me to be the universal Mother and to act in silence through love.
But as you put the question, I shall answer.
From the time you started using a mantra, I had put in it the power to make it effective. Now that you have stated what is the word of this mantra, I am confirming the power into it.
How do you conceive of my relation with you?
Are you not the son of the universal Mother?
25 July 1970
Until now, my spontaneous attitude was that of the supreme Mother who carries the universe in her loving arms, and I was dealing with each one as with the child from whom she tolerates everything equally; and all that the people here were doing to please me I was taking as a token of their love and I was very grateful for it. Today I have learnt that many, if not most, are looking at me as their Guru and that they are eager to please me because to please the Guru is the best way to acquire merit on the path. And then I have understood that the duty of the Guru is to encourage from each one only that which can lead him quickly to the Lord and serve His Divine Purpose,―and I am very grateful for the lesson.
Everyone has to follow his own path which, necessarily, is the best and the swiftest for reaching the goal.
As I happen to know the way, it is my duty to show it to them.
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When I say that I have initiated someone, I mean that I have revealed myself to this person, without words, and that he was capable of seeing, feeling and knowing What I am.
I want only what You think best.
When people suggest two alternative things and ask me which one to do, I answer "As you like" when neither is better than the other.
17 January 1933
"If you want" obviously implies that there is a risk that the consequences of what you want to do may not be very good for your sadhana, but also that perhaps you are not ready to make the necessary progress which would enable you not to do what you wish to do.
29 March 1933
It seems that you are far too complex and complicated to understand my straight direct simplicity. When I say, "this is the best" I mean that it is the best and consequently that it is the thing to be done. And what I call surrender is not to make a counter-proposal in answer to my arrangement but to accept it full-heartedly.
You ask for peace as if I was withdrawing it—but when I wrote to you with the best feelings of kindness, trust and consideration, "this is the best thing to do", if you had answered at once "Yes, Mother, let it be done", you would have certainly felt a greater peace in you and even a sweet joy.
26 July 1939
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Your last letter, in reply to mine which explained what I thought of doing, runs: "Do as you like. But as you ask my opinion I must say that it is silly." Is it silly because there is a feeling in me that circumstances are compulsive? Another thing: why have you omitted those words which mean so much to me and which you have always ended with: "Love and blessings"?
My "it is silly" covered many sides of the question, including the most exterior one. What you suggest as the foolishness of believing that circumstances are compelling when they are not, is part of it.
It is purposely that I have omitted the words "love and blessings", because I did not wish you to think that I am blessing your enterprise—I do not—just because I find it silly. So, do not be mistaken if I end by love and blessings. These words are for your soul of which you are not just now very conscious, and not for your exterior being.
18 June 1942
Why do I feel so much fear?
Because you think I want to impose my will upon you; but this is wrong. On the contrary I want to leave you quite free to decide for yourself. Only I can know and foresee what you cannot know and do not foresee and I tell you what I see, that is all. It is up to you to make use of my knowledge or not. Your decision to wait for one year is wise and I am happy you have taken it.
13 February 1954
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Nobody ever thought of forcing you to do yoga. If you want to do it in order to acquire the power over the circumstances, it is not a very noble or high motive, and you cannot count upon me to help you there. I can help you only if your motive is to discover the Truth (not to postulate a priori that what you think is the truth) and to surrender entirely to the Truth. So the decision is in your hands.
1 December 1961
Now I am obliged to tell you that I neither approve nor disapprove―no like and no dislike, no desire and no personal will. Each case is seen individually, and the answer given for the best of each one from the spiritual point of view.
Go to your parents and at the same time you will be able to see and decide if sincerely you want the Divine Life more than anything else.
8 October 1966
I am not in the habit of imposing my will on others.
If they, themselves, ask for help, the help will be given.
24 October 1967
You were having these bad suggestions (that I do not love you and that you want to go away), because you were disobeying me. But now that you have taken the resolution to act according to my will, the bad suggestions will disappear.
Nobody has told anything against you to me.
24 December 1931
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You ought to drop altogether and once and for all this idea that I get displeased―it sounds to me so strange! If I would get thus displeased in the presence of the human weaknesses, I would certainly not be fit to do the work I am doing, and my coming upon earth would have no meaning.
14 January 1933
I have never noticed anything bad in you when you come for pranam. Your aspiration is very clear and I always answer it. Do not worry about what other people may say―I am entirely satisfied with you and my blessings are always with you.
15 January 1937
I felt that you were not quite satisfied with me.
Nothing of the kind. Each one has his difficulties and I am here to help him out of them.
My love and blessings.
25 February 1942
Perhaps you have not found time or you have not found it necessary to answer my letter. There was something in your look which I could not fathom today. It looked like a rebuke. If it is so, I do not know what the reason can be. With Pranam.
Nothing of a rebuke. I had sent what I considered as the most important answer through X and I expected you to acknowledge it―hence my look.
I may add that in all human relations there is always such a coating of vital attractions and impulses over what can be
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hidden there of a psychic movement that one is never too much on one's guard.
11 January 1944
Mother,
For the last three days I have not been able to read the expression in your eyes when I come for Pranam. I feel you are displeased with me. I may be wrong, but if there is anything I wish you to tell me. With Pranam.
I am not aware of any change in my attitude towards you and also there is no reason for a change. The only thing I see is that I was thinking of Y when you came and I was wondering how far you are informed of the state of affairs. As for being displeased with you, there is no sign of it anywhere and I can safely say that I am not displeased.
With my love and blessings.
5 September 1945
My dear Mother,
I feel I have displeased you. I am very sorry for whatever may be the reason for it. I am feeling very bad about it. I hardly need to tell you about my growing affection for you. With Pranam.
My dear child,
Don't feel bad and don't worry―I am not at all displeased. Others may have been a little upset by what seems to be a somewhat light talk, but I do not hold you responsible for it. It has become a habit in the Ashram to speak lightly and inconsiderately of many things that are beyond the usual understanding of people. It would need a great strength and endurance
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to resist successfully this influence. However I have hope that this strength and endurance will grow in all those of goodwill. Meanwhile my love and blessings are with all.
Be sure that I am quite aware of the growing love and devotion in you and they meet with the full response they can duly expect.
22 September 1947
Once more this is a perfectly gratuitous shock.... I never knew that it was your sitar you were asking back from X; from what he told me, it seemed clear that it was his own sitar that was in question. I see that it is a mistake and he must give it back to you if you need it.
But for your own sake I must tell you that you are bound to receive shocks and hard blows too so long as you indulge in such false ideas as "my taking sides" with one or another, etc.
This is completely wrong and baseless and you must get rid of this way of thinking altogether if you wish to feel close to the Divine.
With my love and blessing.
5 November 1947
You must learn once and for all that whatever mistakes people commit, it cannot vex me nor displease me. If there is bad will or revolt, Kali may come and chastise but she always does it with love.
23 March 1954
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People say that you always admire the things we do, no matter what they are.
What a strange idea! There are plenty of things and actions that I find bad and that I do not admire at all.
12 May 1934
I spent quite a lot of grey matter, putting before you argument after argument. But you have not argued back. You are quite happily unconcerned.
All the reasonings in your letter come from the external physical mind. You cannot expect me to come down to that level and discuss with you from there. I see things from another plane and in a different way.
19 July 1942
It is quite inexact that in my consciousness there is a will to be late. The truth is that the will to be ready in time does not take precedence in me over the other wills: it is in its place among the others, not exclusive and unique but forming part of the whole in which degrees of greatness and importance may not conform to what you think or feel. In fact, your sense of relative importance is not the same as mine. Moreover, you consider the problem in a linear and exclusive way, as if it were separate from other accompanying problems. It is nothing of the kind; each problem exists not in itself but in relation to all the others; and in order to be true, the solution must not neglect any of them.
If you can understand that, your difficulty is sure to disappear easily.
16 November 1950
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Evidently, according to human laws I was wrong in telling you that I would see you every month, since I was not sure of being able to do so, even while not forgetting what I had said.
In truth, I live from moment to moment, according to the supreme Guidance and, consequently, am incapable of making plans. I know that this is not comfortable for the human mentality which believes it can decide everything in advance. But from the spiritual point of view it is inevitable.
Each sadhak must remember that he is not alone. As far as possible I am trying to give satisfaction to everybody and to give answers to reasonable questions whenever it is necessary.
It is a way of saying, a crude description of something that actually happens but is much more subtle than that.
If I were busy with one single person I could keep perhaps in my memory such precisions, but as I am consciously dealing with more than a thousand people such precise details are not usually noted―and it is not necessary either―because the Consciousness always does the work in the way it has to be done.
There is always a great difference between what people are and do and what they ought to be and do. The consciousness is quite aware of this and is constantly working to rectify and to change but it does not work on separate points in a spasmodic way. It works on the whole in a total and all-comprehensive way. The advance seems slow but it is more complete and nothing is forgotten.
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Truly speaking, I have no opinion. According to a vision of truth, everything is still terribly mixed, a more or less favourable combination of light and darkness, truth and falsehood, knowledge and ignorance, and so long as decisions are made and action is undertaken according to opinions, it will always be like that.
We want to give the example of an action that is undertaken in accordance with a vision of truth, but unfortunately we are still very far from realising this ideal, and even if the vision of truth expresses itself, it is immediately distorted in its implementation.
So, in the present state of affairs, it is impossible to say, "This is true and that is false, this leads us away from the goal and that brings us nearer the goal."
Everything can be used for the progress to be made; everything can be useful if we know how to use it.
The important thing is never to lose sight of the ideal we want to realise and to make use of all circumstances in view of this goal.
And finally, it is always better not to make an arbitrary decision for or against things, and to watch the unfolding of events with the impartiality of a witness, relying on the Divine Wisdom which will decide for the best and do what is necessary.
29 July 1961
My way of seeing is somewhat different. For my consciousness the whole life upon earth, including the human life and all its mentality, is a mass of vibrations, mostly vibrations of falsehood, ignorance and disorder, in which are more and more at work vibrations of Truth and Harmony coming from the higher regions and pushing their way through the resistance. In this vision the ego-sense and the individual assertion and separateness become quite unreal and illusory.
When some extra confusion is created in the already existing confusion I direct upon it some special vibrations to restore as
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much as possible a better harmony. It is not the individuals as such that feel the "blow", it is their clinging to or siding with the disharmony.... In such cases there is never one side right and one side wrong, but all are to blame in the measure of their adhesion to falsehood and confusion.
You don't understand the way of my working. You can as well say, "You have the supramental force, why don't you use it and finish all this muddle?" But it is not like this that the work can be done. The world is not ready for the supramental force and if it is used without preparing the base, things will shatter completely. I have to prepare the base and then bring down the force.
Your human vision sees things in a straight line. For you it is either this way or that way. For me it is not like this. I see the whole thing as a mass of consciousness moving towards its end or goal. For every small movement I have to see what its reactions will be on the whole mass, what repercussions may follow.
When I say something should be done in this way or that way, your human mind takes it as a principle and tries to apply it rigidly in all cases. For me it is not like that. For me there are no rules, no regulations and no principles. For me each one is an exceptional case, to be dealt with in a special way. No two cases are similar.
In the movement of this mass of consciousness I know that a certain point should move in a certain direction for reaching the goal more easily. With this point in view I declare that this should be done or not done, but I find that sometimes there is a big obstruction in the way. Now, it can be dealt with in two ways: either I should allow the point to change its direction and leave the barrier alone for the time being till more and more light falls upon it and it gets changed, or I should break the barrier. As I have said, every small movement has its reactions and repercussions on the mass, so this breaking also will cause
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a chain of reactions which may affect a much larger field. I am no respecter of persons, but I have to see at every moment the changing circumstances due to the change of the person or persons concerned and the change of time and the channel through which the thing passes. I have to see with all these changes how best the thing can be done so that it may help the progress of the mass. I have to see whether it is worthwhile to break the barrier and have all the resulting consequences or whether it would not be better to leave it for the moment and tolerate the human stupidity. What appears to you to be contradiction is not contradiction when the whole thing is seen as one. There are various ways to reach the same end. So if I find that breaking will cost much more than what it is worth, then I allow you to go the way you like. But that does not prevent me from condemning the obstruction and saying that it ought to go.
After all, sooner or later each and everything in this mass of consciousness has to move towards the same goal. But to lead the consciousness towards that goal I have to allow human beings to move with me and I have to appear in their own form and speak in their own language. I have to adopt a crude expression. I can see the stupidity of the way in which I have to speak and lay down rules and regulations, but this is a concession that I must make to humanity; otherwise it would not be able to understand anything. Even when I speak in their own language, people misunderstand me and make a mess. If I were to speak in the language of the light, then the whole thing would pass over their heads and they would be left gaping without understanding anything.
X has a very well-developed mind. I can say that his mind is very open towards the light. Twice I tried to speak to him in the language of what Sri Aurobindo calls the mind of light, but even he could not understand it. He could catch a little, but the fullness of the sense escaped him.
With the others it is still worse; they fail to understand
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anything and look dazed. For the sake of these people I have to make a compromise. I say that a certain thing is stupid, but I see that you cannot remain without doing it, so I have to tolerate it. I see the relative value of things and adopt the way that may be helpful in making the progress. In your interest and in the interest of the progress of the whole mass of consciousness, I may have to allow a good many things, but it does not mean that I am blind to them and cannot see their stupidity. Sometimes it is necessary that you should have an experience and so the thing is allowed. But when I say No definitely, it is dangerous to oppose it. There can be many reasons for the same action; but it is not possible to explain them to your mind.
In this particular case I had said No. Then Y intervened. Now Y is a very nice person and he is very sincere in some parts. I know that he is weak and has the habit of grabbing and possessing. I could have refused. But that would have given a big shaking to him. It would have been difficult for him to adjust himself. As I told you, I see the relative values and I saw that the thing was not worth the shaking and so I have given my permission. But that does not prevent me from saying that it is not the right thing.2
Mother of joy, I am surprised to find there are people who think that You call only those sadhaks who cannot receive Your Grace from afar; and that it is a sign of weakness on the part of those who see You from time to time.
Don't bother about what people believe or say; it is almost always ignorant stupidities.
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I always wonder at people's thinking they can know the reasons of my actions! I act differently for each one, according to the necessities of his particular case.
I would advise you never to listen to what sadhaks say especially advanced sadhaks.
29 December 1931
It is certainly not at all true that I don't care for the sadhaks and their sadhana. Why should the world conditions being bad make me cease to care! It would be rather a reason for insisting more on a quick spiritual realisation as the only way out of the impasse. You should not believe in what you hear from people; so constantly nasty and disturbing things are being said which are quite untrue.
8 October 1940
All your letters are answered, but in the silence of your heart; you must learn to hear the answers there and not through the mouth of others. All help is given to you always, but you must learn to receive it in the silence of your heart and not through exterior means. It is in the silence of your heart that the Divine will speak to you and will guide you and will lead you to your goal.
But for that you must have full faith in the Divine Grace and Love.
18 January 1962
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Little child of mine,
When your first letter came, I simply wrote a word in French upon it and left it on my table―as I was expecting the second one; being quite sure that you would receive my silent answer.
To comfort you, I can say immediately and once and for all, that I never pay any attention to what people say of one another, whoever it is who speaks―and on your side I ask you never to take seriously what somebody (whoever it is) says in my name, because even with the best of wills it is always distorted.
Now I ask you also not to worry about this school affair. I will not write about it, but one day I intend to call you and to explain how I see the whole thing. Afterwards you shall see how you feel about it.
Meanwhile let the mind be at rest so that the Light may pass through.
With all my love and blessings.
27 October 1963
When will you learn not to listen to all the rumours going about this place?
15 July 1967
Yes, all these false and idiotic rumours have come to me after turning round the Ashram. I attached no importance to them because most of the people here seem to live only for gossip and falsehood, and once and for all I have closed my consciousness to all that, in order to avoid a Kali or a Durga manifestation.
I hope that those who are faithful and have common sense will not lose their time listening to all that.
All that you say about the food business was known to me―but you will admit that there is always a way of improving one's action and making it more luminous and comprehensive.
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You must not get worried about the mistakes and weaknesses of others, the only thing necessary is not to believe what people say to you, especially if they speak in my name.
When we get bitter we lose our Divine contact and become very "bitterly" human.
Beware of what is repeated to you in my name—the spirit in which it has been said is lost!
Be very careful to let no influence diminish your confidence in me and allow nothing or nobody to separate you from me.
A great misunderstanding has taken place.
You seem to believe that I say one thing when I mean another. This is absurd.
When I speak, I speak plainly and always mean what I say.
When I say: the first condition for yoga is to keep quiet and calm―I mean it.
When I say that talk is useless and leads only to confusion, waste of energy and loss of the little light one may have—I mean that and nothing else.
When I say that I have given nobody the right to speak in my name and to interpret my words according to his own fancy, I mean that and nothing else.
I hope that this is clear and decisive and this singular misunderstanding will now come to an end.
I have already warned those who go on spreading rumours, more or less false, on what I am believed to have said or not said, that this is an act of treachery.
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As this pernicious habit does not seem to stop I must add that those who persist in so doing will be treated occultly as traitors.
It is absolutely forbidden to send to anybody one of my unpublished writings without my express permission. I am told that you have the intention of doing it so I hasten to inform you that it must not be done and ask you to return to me at once all the typed copies you may have.
18 June 1964
To do something scrupulously is to do it with the utmost care, as honestly, as thoroughly as one can do it.
Another time if there are words in what I have written that you do not understand, it is better to send me back your book asking for an explanation. I will always give it to you and thus you will avoid speaking to others of what I have written to you―because it is not good to do so.
It is a pity you have shown my answers to your questions. They were meant for you alone and nobody else. This has partly damaged the experience, as it was the vital and the mental wanting to take advantage of the situation to satisfy their own desires.
(About Mother's playing tennis with sadhaks and students)
I was told that our boys (young or old) like to play with me (the exact words were "to give me a game") for some reason or
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another, but to play truly and to learn to play they must play among themselves.
You have this extraordinary opportunity of being able to play a game and to take exercise in an atmosphere filled with Divine Consciousness, Light and Power in such a way that each of your movements is, so to say, permeated by the consciousness and the light and the power which is in itself an intensive yoga; and your ignorant unconsciousness, your blindness and lack of sensitiveness is such that you believe you are giving a game or even helping to play a good old lady for whom you feel a little gratefulness and some kind of affection!
5 June 1949
I did not answer because their minds are terribly restless, they do not know how to make use of the force and they spoil my formations. But you need not tell them that―send them only blessings.
13 May 1955
You must understand one thing. Before giving an answer to a question, I look at all the sides of the problem present and future, so when the answer is given it is final. It is no use coming back to the question any more.
12 June 1955
From Your long experience of over sixty years, have You found that Your expectation from us and from humanity has been sufficiently fulfilled?
As I am expecting nothing I cannot answer the question.
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X says, "It depends upon the Mother."
No, it does not all depend upon me. If it did, everything would go smoothly. But there is always a person's character in between.
20 August 1961
How can I give wise advice to foolish people?
Here are two questions that do not call for a reply:
What have you done for the Divine to make so many demands?
What have you done to the Divine to receive so many blows?
What have you given to the Lord or done for Him, that you ask me to do something for you? I do only the Lord's work.
Where you are mistaken is to believe that I am cheated―this is impossible because their "intention" is for me much clearer than their words.
But if I were to be strict with all those who try to deceive me, very few would escape this strictness.
Have you never been mistaken in any of your decisions? Yes, you have been mistaken, haven't you? and many a time.
Then, by what right do you think that when my decision is not the same as yours, it is I who am mistaken?
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I know that to be with me is, for you, neither a need nor a joy but a duty, and that you are happier elsewhere, with some others. So I call you only when it is necessary―not when it pleases me, for it is long since I have put my pleasure in my pocket and left it there.
This is why I did not see you, because I knew that it was quite useless, as our respective outlooks upon life and action are actually much too different.
What can you do against me? You live in your body-consciousness and your body is perishable. I live in my spirit-consciousness and my spirit is immortal.
There we are, Lord, it is those very people to whom you have shown most love who make you responsible for their difficulties.
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