A collection of letters, poems & paintings by Janina providing a glimpse of her inner life in 'Sri Aurobindo Ashram'. The Mother's comment on Janina is included.
This book is a collection of letters, poems and paintings by Janina Stroka, a Polish disciple of Sri Aurobindo and the Mother and a member of the Sri Aurobindo Ashram in Pondicherry, India, from 1957 until her passing in 1964. Janina’s account of her life in Pondicherry in this book is divided into three parts. The main part of the text consists of extracts from letters written to a Dutch friend with whom Janina lived first in Palestine and later in Germany, from December 1957 to June 1958. The letters in the next section were written between 1960 and 1963 to a young Bengali, a writer and social worker. Next, the book contains selected poems and paintings by Janina and concludes with a comment by the Mother on Janina’s passing.
12.4.1958
Rain!! Lovely rain-like European summer rain. Now we will have to bear the summer heat for a few months. I am so thankful that I do not seem to suffer from the heat at all. When I am bathed in perspiration I feel contented and quite comfortable. I told myself: "This has to be accepted as something normal and even pleasant." But this does not change the fact that rain is wonderful and that not perspiring is quite welcome! All my life is now centred on my soul's contact with Her, with God. The vital, mostly the conceited offended person, succeeds in making me fall down from my seat from time to time, but it is She who teaches me to become more and more detached in my soul from the adhara and not to get upset when, for example, the vital is angry with Her for a stupid reason. What I have grasped is that when even an awfully dirty wave rises in my being I must (1) immediately "run" with it to Her, (2) immediately feel immense joy that Her Grace is purifying me. Then there is no depression, no suffering. I immediately restore the balance and am in Her. This is not easy; but I shall go on and on.
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