Amal Kiran's Correspondence with The Mother

29 April 1968

Dearest Mother,

There is a very fine recent statement of yours on sincerity and the Divine Force at work at present, all basically apropos of Auroville. Oscar showed it to me. It has such a general bearing that I feel its publication in the May Mother India will be very much appreciated. If you approve of my publishing it, I shall send you M’s English translation, along with the French original for scrutiny.

You can send it.

(The text mentioned above appeared in the Mother India issue of May 1968; it says:)

There should be an absolutely transparent sincerity. Lack of sincerity is the cause of the difficulties we meet with at present. Insincerity is in all men. There are perhaps a hundred men on the earth who may be totally sincere. It is man’s very nature that makes him insincere — it is very complicated, for he is constantly tricking himself, hiding truth from himself, excusing himself. Yoga is the means to become sincere in all the parts of the being.

It is difficult to be sincere, but you can at least do so mentally; it is this that one can demand of Aurovilians.

The force is there, present as never before; it is the insincerity of men that prevents it from descending, from being felt. The world is in falsehood, all the relations between men have so far been based only on falsehood and fraud. The diplomacy among nations is founded on lies. They claim to desire peace and, on the other hand, arm themselves. Only transparent sincerity in men and among nations will permit the advent of a transformed world.

Auroville is the first attempt of the experiment. A new world will be born if men are willing to make the effort of a transformation and of a quest for sincerity; it is possible. From animal to man thousands of years were necessary; today man, thanks to his mind, can speed up and will a transformation towards a man who shall be Divine.

This transformation with the help of the mind (by analysing oneself) is the first stage; afterwards, we have to transform the vital impulses. That is much more difficult, and, above all, to transform the physical: each cell of our body should become conscious. This is the work I am doing here; it will permit the conquest of death. That is another story; that will be the humanity of the future, perhaps in centuries, perhaps more rapidly. It will depend on men, on peoples.

Auroville is the first step towards this goal.

(February 1968)

In the meantime I am sending another letters of yours, with my English translation for approval. (Amal sent both the French original and his English translation. Below only the English is given.)

READING SRI AUROBINDO AND THE MOTHER

A LETTER TO THE MOTHER

How should one read the books of Sri Aurobindo and the Mother?

The true method is to read a little at a time, with concentration, then keep the mind as silent as possible, without trying actively to understand, but turn upward in the silence and aspire to the light. The understanding will come little by little.²⁵

And later, in a year or two, you will re-read the same thing and then you will know that the first contact was vague and incomplete and that the true understanding comes later on when you have tried to put into practice. (16 October 1967)

Blessings

29 April 1968