The Spirit of Auroville

On 28.6.1968 the Mother recited some passages of Savitri and gave her comments on them, which I tape-recorded.

After the work, she asked me to sit very close to her and meditate with her. No sooner did I close my eyes than I felt an immense peace engulfing my whole being.

When the Mother opened her eyes, she smiled and said:

Child, do you know the Banyan tree at the centre of the Mother's Shrine? Just now I saw you in my vision. You were sitting under the Banyan tree, and garlands were hanging all over you from the branches of the tree. Also the flowers were showered on you from above. You were peacefully quiet.

I painted her vision according to her instructions. When she saw the painting, she asked me to alter the length of the grass. She said that it should be short. I made the alteration. The Mother was amused to see the squirrels, the deer and the rabbit. She made small happy exclamations, pointing at various details, and laughed. Then on a sheet of paper, after a little concentration, she wrote:

The Inner Life

I was amazed to see the reproduction of this painting in The Matrimandir Newsletter No. 66, May-June 1990.

Hindu mythology reveals that the banyan tree Ficus religiosa is the sacred tree of wisdom. Underneath the tree Shiva meditated in his Dakshinamurti aspect. Also the banyan tree is one of the aspects of Shiva. Satyavan passed away under a banyan tree. Savitri did puja to the tree and brought back Satyavan's soul upon earth. Yama, the God of Death, is also one of the aspects of Shiva. Till now the Indian women do puja to the banyan tree on full moon days, and pray for their husbands' long life. There are numerous legends about this tree. The Mother named this tree "Unity".

The Mother expressed her wish to have marble seats around the banyan tree so that people could meditate there quietly.

The Mother has written about the "Inner Life":

Once a man has tasted the joy of inner life, nothing else will ever satisfy him.