The Mother's brief statements on various aspects of spiritual life including some conversations.
Part One consists primarily of brief written statements by the Mother on various aspects of spiritual life. Written between the early 1930s and the early 1970s, the statements have been compiled from her public messages, private notes, and correspondence with disciples. About two-thirds of them were written in English; the rest were written in French and appear here in English translation. There are also a small number of spoken comments, most of them in English. Some are tape-recorded messages; others are reports by disciples that were later approved by the Mother for publication. These reports are identified by the symbol § placed at the end. Part Two consists of thirty-two conversations not included elsewhere in the Collected Works. The first six conversations are the earliest recorded conversations of the 1950s' period. About three-fourths of these conversations were spoken in French and appear here in English translation.
Most of the texts in this volume were first published between the 1930s and 1970s in books and journals put out by the Sri Aurobindo Ashram or groups associated with it. The remaining texts first appeared in 1980 in the first edition of this volume. About two-thirds of the short written statements comprising Part One were written in English, the rest in French. About three-fourths of the conversations comprising Part Two were spoken in French, the rest in English.
The conversations in Part Two were transmitted in various ways. The six conversations of 1950 and 1951 were taken down in shorthand. The conversation of 3 April 1962 was noted from memory. The manner of transcription of two conversations is not known — those of 1958 (1) and January 1960. All the other conversations were tape recorded. Most of them were spoken in French; those spoken in English are: 1958 (1), January 1960, 3 April 1962, 13 April 1962 (first half only), 11 May 1967 and 25 May 1970.
The volume has been divided into six parts, each part having a number of sections. Each section does not necessarily contain all of the statements that could be placed there. Each statement has been put only in one section, though it might have been put in more than one. Statements that appear in other volumes have not, as a rule, been reproduced here.
Quotations from the works of Sri Aurobindo and the Mother are occasionally cited in the text and footnotes. The sources of these works are the Sri Aurobindo Birth Centenary Library (SABCL) and the second edition of the Collected Works of the Mother (CWM).
The text of this second edition is the same as that of the first edition, apart from the correction of some typographical errors and the revision of a few English translations.
Page 409
Home
The Mother
Books
Share your feedback. Help us improve. Or ask a question.