White Roses (Part 1)

16 March 1961

My dear little child,

Your letter is good and clear. With all my love I want to help you, as I always do. But first, before I can tell you what to do, some misconceptions have to be cleared off.

Death is not at all what you believe it to be. You expect from death some neutral quietness of an unconscious rest. But to obtain that rest you must prepare for it. When one dies, one leaves or loses only one’s body and, at the same time, the possibilities of relation with and of action on the material world.

All that belongs to the vital plane does not disappear with the material substance, and all the desires, attachments, cravings, persist with the sense of frustration and disappointment, and all that keeps you restless and prevents you from getting the expected peace.

To enjoy a peaceful and eventless death you must prepare for it. And the only effective preparation is the abolition of desires, a steady detachment from the fruit of action.

So long as we have a body, we have to act, to do something, to work; but if we work simply because it has to be done, without seeking for the result of our action or wanting it to be like this or like that, little by little we get detached and prepare ourselves progressively for a truly restful death.

In fact, if you do not expect any satisfaction from physical life, you are no more tied to it and get above all sorrow.

This is all for today. The rest will come later on.

My love is with you and my blessings.

The Mother