These conversations with the Mother, originally held in French, were noted down from memory by Mona Sarkar. They took place during the period 1959 - 1968.
The Mother : Contact
These conversations with the Mother, originally held in French, were noted down from memory by Mona Sarkar. They took place from 1959 to 1968, and covered such topics as the Mother's way of working with sadhaks, the different nature of the experience when people met her in her interview room, her work to reveal the divine harmony behind appearances, her relation with her own Mahasaraswati aspect, the power of Sri Aurobindo's presence one feels in his room, and the new consciousness that descended on earth in 1969. The last fourteen pages contain the Mother's written answers to questions Mona had submitted to her in his diary in 1951. The book contains many photographs of the Mother and facsimiles of her handwritten notes in the original French.
THEME/S
Where are you coming from?
I was in front of Sri Aurobindo’s Room.
But for what?
To concentrate and to absorb the atmosphere, Mother.
Hmm! But who gave you the permission?
I had asked you Mother, sometime back.
Oh! And did you inform Champaklal?
Yes, Mother, he said: If Mother permits, I have no objection. You can stand in front of the door.
All right. You know, one has to be very pure to be able to stand there. The atmosphere in his room is charged with an intense consciousness. One should not stand for a long time. One cannot.
Mother, I remain there for five minutes.
It is all right.
There, — there is the manifestation of the Truth. To be in front of His room is to perceive the Absolute Consciousness. He who knows how to open himself, truly open himself wide and spontaneously, will find His invariable help for everything. It is unbelievable! It is Invincible! And All- Powerful! Do not pretend. In front of Him, one has to be straightforward, scrupulously frank and sincere and one has to simply open oneself to be able to feel His Beatitude.
It is extraordinary, the power of His Reality. No one could stand and no one could bear it if He reveals Himself in His entirety. That is why I was warning you in advance. Never pretend or make a semblance that you are one of those who have the permission to stand before His room. It vibrates with His Presence. Be happy and make of your life a consecration for accomplishing His work here below. It is an exceptional opportunity. Be worthy of it and do not waste time.
(Silence)
What a marvel! What a Power! What Grandeur! The One who was with us, His Power and His Force still vibrate in His room. It is a place for meditation and for receiving the Vibration of the Truth which it emits. It is charged. The presence of Sri Aurobindo is palpably felt by one who is sincere. Voilà.
August 10, 1952
Sri Aurobindo in His Room
… It is in the best possible conditions that the students are developing here, and they come in contact with this atmosphere of purity, of truth where the consciousness is charged by the transforming force of progress towards perfection and the divine love which is found nowhere, even for the cultural and aesthetic development, the refinement of the senses, of the highest degree of virtue, the appreciation of beauty, of sanctity, and of the subtle, the simple life, the spiritual influence, and above all, especially the Presence — the Presence of the one who is the Supreme Knowledge, the Omniscience from where all emanates, the Reality of our existence, Truth, Beauty … and this Manifestation in a perpetual blossoming. He has given us only a fragment of His knowledge and even that no one can understand. This is the difference, being here. He has opened the doors of the delight of this terrestrial existence which is a mystery. He has revealed to us the Truth in its purity and its totality. He has amassed for us the sublime ananda and the purifying light with which the atmosphere is fully impregnated. You are breathing it, you are imbibing it, you are absorbing it without knowing this exceptional privilege which is found nowhere. It has even become a part of your existence….
However, if the student has the thirst to learn something, I am sure that one can learn better here than in any other part of the world, if only one wants to learn and fill his mind with the true knowledge, the pure idea, to think adequately, to deduce, to reason and to understand, to know and to become intelligent, alert and conscious of all that surrounds us, of all that we feel and perceive, in fact, to develop the mental faculties, the vital faculties and the physical faculties, — for all things, to open oneself towards the heights in order to develop other faculties which are innate and latent in us and demand an absolute discipline to awaken to a new process, to become master of ourselves, of the circumstances and of the whole world — this is the knowledge — to know oneself and then one becomes master of all….
This is the ideal, but to develop the base, the foundation, even to learn, I mean, ordinarily one must work hard and do mental gymnastics to know, to understand, to study, and to express better one’s profound feelings, and one’s emotions, the sensations, in a word, to enlarge one’s comprehension, the skill, the intelligence, to grasp better and develop the mental faculty, for any discovery, to acquire knowledge, one must at least read Sri Aurobindo. The essence of true knowledge of the highest degree is there. Even if it is to learn a language or else anything, philosophy, psychology, humanities, history, logic, the science of living and the various applied sciences, the religious and the occult domains, and spirituality. Finally, if it is to build or to fashion the different powers of the human mind and its spirit, by evoking the thirst for knowledge and the will to learn with the spirit behind, — for any subject, one will have the key to discover the substance and the essence of that which constitutes them, of that which they reveal, that which they represent.
Theoretically, if the students want to learn, or study, or even know a language, if they are serious and want to appreciate better the shades, the subtleties, the grandeur, the richness, in short, to express better their thoughts, their emotions and their profound sentiments, or if it is to speak clearly and adequately, or discuss logically, they only have to read Sri Aurobindo and they will find all that they need. I do not mention communicating with pure thoughts and the high metaphysics — all this they will have as much as they can understand. But usually, normally, to express themselves better, they ought to study the simple things He has written, — the essays, the plays, his poems and his speeches to appreciate better the beauty of his language, the clarity of thought, simple and direct to approach, the diversity in His expressions whose subjects are innumerable.
The cadences and the harmony, the sound and the vibrations, the beauty and the perfection of the language, the subtle nuances taking in the classical, the romantic as well as the modern styles by a delicate subterfuge, sweet and at the same time profound and virile, with a quality of language which is incomparable…. There is nothing that jars, nothing that clashes or is left hanging but evokes a state which He expresses in its purity in its brief and clear lucidity. It is this that we have a little difficulty in appreciating, the value with which His language is full and vibrant. On the whole, each sentence with its syntax expresses perfectly the idea which He wants to express, the exact meaning of what He gives, the verb which corresponds perfectly to the subject, the impeccable adjective which is unquestionable, so much so that one could not find another, the direct complement which evokes the mood, and the whole gives the exact sense of what He expresses.
The whole together has a finesse which surpasses our beauty of expression and gives a precision to the structure, in a form full of subtlety, of richness and the vision of an object of art marvellously sculptured. The form, concise, simple and of a perfectly pure limpidity; the image, beautiful, fluid and majestic; the sound, musical, rhythmic, sonorous, with an amplitude in the construction of the lucid phrases which evoke the profound sentiments, and the vision which opens the door to the Reality and which suggests the perfection in the art of expression…. It is this that He reveals in all that He has written. This is not all; there are still mysteries which are hidden, unknown things which will be revealed only to those who have access to intuition. The word is the force, the power — it creates. As soon as the word is uttered, it creates a vibration which takes a form and it lasts, only for those who have undertaken to absorb in their lives the practical meaning of His education by a discipline and an effort for the transformation to the Supramental life….
And if someone wants to study His works in depth, he will have all the answers to what is life, what is the universe, to all conceivable questions in all the subjects, to all the mysteries, everything, everything. Be it philosophy, the sciences, physics, higher mathematics which require a certain logic, calculus, the functioning of the body, materials … finally, for all the solutions that man is seeking blindly and groping here and there, man will have the answer or the indication of the essential truth hidden in His writing, which reveal the solutions to the enigma that the universe is, what man has been searching for in vain since antiquity. But this, this demands a lot of sadhana, a great essential curiosity and this is not within everyone’s reach. It is difficult. But if one has this inquisitiveness, the will and the thirst for this knowledge, he will have the key in Sri Aurobindo’s books, in all that He has propounded, has revealed, has experimented, has brought down into the terrestrial consciousness. And it is put in a very simple language, as clear as the day — limpid, pure of all ornaments, direct, with the truth that He has brought down in His impeccable expression. Nothing, nothing but a drop of His knowledge is enough to flood the world with the true attitude, the true and absolute orientation and the truth of existence, essentially the remedy of all these maladies! What a folly to search elsewhere the lesson which is within ourselves and go out of the temple where the Divine resides.
… I am absolutely convinced that the education we give here by far exceeds all other systems of education in the world. Here we prepare men, ādhāras, and above all, souls who can dare to defy ignorance and inconscience, and all that… and all that is perverted in man and which is the cause of all his misfortunes.
Still, if I could convince the boy[12] of the importance of our combined effort against the falsehood and the ill-will that predominate and which are the cause of the conflicts and the wars with all this suffering and that the only remedy is found in Sri Aurobindo, he would have seen another aspect of our education. I will see what I can do — to work in him, on the domains which persist obstinately and revolt and are dark, and change them slowly with my Force. Because he is my child, I do not want that he goes astray and falls into the inconscience. I will help him to surmount his difficulties. I will see how I can change his attitude. I have hope and my compassion and my mercy can triumph over the worst and the most vile. Well, for all the uncompromising problems which seem so obstinate there are as many solutions and remedies which emerge, with innumerable options. This is a challenge thrown against the invasion of the ill-will and falsehood which want to establish themselves; but I shall be as severe as I can be so that this malady does not spread among others and spoil my work. I must uproot and undo the knots before this contaminates others. After all, it is not so much against this boy that I am angry, but against this force which sows the seed of unease and influences these little brains in formation. It is … against this that I must fight. This is the problem.
But I do not doubt that everything will be arranged as it should be, because it is the will of Sri Aurobindo that I execute. And there, nothing can stand against it.
Au revoir.
Au revoir, Douce Mère.
The word “Knowledge”
(I had asked the Mother the exact significance of the word “knowledge that Sri Aurobindo uses in his books.
As my question was not properly worded She re-wrote the question in proper French, gave the French equivalent of the English term and explained:)
It is from the context that one can know what kind of knowledge he is speaking of.
May 21, 1951
Bonjour!
Bonjour, Douce Mère.
(In my letter to the Mother, I had asked a question.)
What, didn’t you receive my answer?
No, Mother.
No?
But, I sent you a word. Didn’t you feel something?
Ah! Look, how you complicate matters! It becomes so easy. And I gain time if you are a little receptive…. Didn’t you hear anything?
But, if you become conscious and receptive, you will get the answer at once. You see, when I read your letter, I sent the answer immediately…. I do not formulate it mentally, but it is a clear and distinct formation sustained by a spiritual force which acts and contains a power of efficacy and I send it towards the person with whom I want to communicate. Like this (Mother makes a gesture), I aim it — it is like a vibration originating from me, coming out and touching the person, and if he is receptive, at once he receives the answer and he is satisfied….
(The Mother speaks about some other things, then says:)
You must learn to observe all that happens, watch all that takes place and absorb with equanimity all that has some value for your progress. It is this which is important. Always equal. (Mother makes a horizontal movement with Her hand) One should not get perturbed or be anxious about the results, — then you will see that things get arranged much better by themselves, and you will get an indication in the quietness of your inner state, as well as the answer.
If ever something torments you or you are in difficulty and you do not know what to do, quieten yourself at once and go inwards. That means, you enter within, and sincerely ask your inner being, the psychic being, and you will get the answer, — clear and precise, like this. It will tell you what is to be done. It will guide you invariably….
And there is also another means which is very effective and you will succeed each time you ask. If you are in difficulty or you want an answer, it could be anything, or if you are not feeling quite at ease or something is tormenting you or you have made a mistake which makes you feel uneasy, — supposing you become angry and are discontented, which may be very insignificant, quite ordinary and without any value, even for things of which you do not know the cause, if something is not all right, not as it should be, — at that time, if you want to get rid of this somewhat unhappy state, come directly to the Samadhi, and bow down your head at the Samadhi and speak frankly to Sri Aurobindo all that you have to say, without hesitation, without doubt, as you come to tell me — and you have seen so many times that your difficulties have disappeared at once, vanished completely the moment you spoke to me. You got rid of them because I chased them out of you. And you felt yourself free from these negative or even harmful formations and you felt light because I had removed from you this burden and you went back happy. Do you remember? So many times you have told me that.
Yes, Mother, many times.
In the same manner, you should tell Him (Sri Aurobindo); like this, you should keep your head on the Samadhi (the Mother bows Her head) and you tell Him to get rid of your difficulties. Or you send a prayer like this, (the Mother makes a movement with the hand from the region of the heart upwards) but very sincerely, and you bring the concentration at the very depth of your being. I am sure that He will hear you and He will give you your answer. Without doubt, you can now communicate easily with Him. There are many who put themselves in contact with Him and find their answers. He has become more accessible to us and He is much more active. You see then, in this way you don’t have to wait — first to inform me and then I would have to choose a convenient date, a precise time, and also see if I have the time or not so that I could listen to what you have to tell me, and then I would answer. A whole process to be followed before you get the answer. It is long, it takes a lot of time and above all, you have to have the patience to wait…. But this method is convenient and more direct and more accessible. At any time you can ask. You just come to the Samadhi to have your answer.
If something is not all right and you would like to know the cause, or you want to get rid of a weakness, or get cured, or be cleansed, to have a difficulty removed in order to be purified, — for any answer, come and ask Sri Aurobindo at the Samadhi and you will have the answer. Not only His answer but also His blessings, His compassion, His peace and His illumination. You will be engulfed and seized by His love that is all-powerful. Once you abandon yourself to Him, you will be protected against all mishaps. It is like this — His influence. He reveals Himself to all those who are simple, sincere and humble. He is there, perfectly conscious, and He directs all the activities of the world. When I want to know something, I ask Him, and at once He answers me.
This does not mean that I forbid you to come to me and ask something. You can always come to see me on any day. I shall be free to listen to you and give you my advice.
You know, earlier, when He was in His body, people used to say that He was very far, remote and inaccessible to men and that He was not concerned about the affairs of the sadhaks here. It is not quite correct, for indeed He used to spend night after night replying to a heap of letters instead of doing His work of uplifting the world and preparing it for the advent of the Supramental world. He used to take pains to follow their progress and occupy Himself with matters concerning the sadhaks. And yet He had arranged things in such a way that the sadhaks could communicate directly with me and receive my blessings and my help practically on the physical plane as well as inwardly for the sadhana. It was through me that they could realise the heights of consciousness towards the Supramental or surmount any difficulty. At that time, He was preoccupied to gain control, not only to conquer but to subjugate and master the different worlds, the diverse powers and the innumerable states of consciousness that were opposing and standing like an obstacle to our work — the quest towards the Supramental. And the mundane affairs were left to me to resolve and also all this organisation of the Ashram as well as the progress of the individuals and the effort towards the collective yoga. During that period He had hardly any time to occupy Himself with the people or hear their complaints. But now He has universalised Himself, become vast, very intimate and close. There is a bond with everyone, through a nearness and a direct influence so that everyone can have access to Him.
It is formidable. His presence vibrates, concrete, all around the Samadhi. And His influence penetrates and touches the central being and awakens the consciousness to the spiritual life. Even the agnostics, the unbelievers, people of bad-will who come out of curiosity to visit the Samadhi, return amazed by a mysterious alchemy and find an inner peace, because there He showers His peace and His compassion constantly. It is this that bathes them when they pass before Him. It is an unbelievable surcharged activity of His force and His presence.
When I look at the Samadhi and see what is happening there, I am astonished to find this column of dazzling light vibrating with an energy and a transforming force. It rises like this — (Mother makes an upward movement with the hands) with a splendour and a brilliance like an effusion of light from the length and breadth of the Samadhi. It is the New Light materialising….
At night, when everything is quiet, there are some entities who clean up this place of all that the people have left behind — all the formations of falsehood, desires, impatient supplications, all sorts of complaints, bad-will and maladies, as well as the hostile forces — and make this place peaceful and pleasant. They purify the whole surrounding with so much love so that His presence is felt.
It is a sanctified place for meditation and not for gossip. Never to speak — one disturbs the atmosphere. He is there with His glorified body sustaining the entire world in a subtle movement, manifesting gradually His consciousness, partially veiled for the Divine descent.
He is the living assurance of our divine possibility, the promise of the Divinity radiating with the divine Light and divine Power — the progressive march towards the Divine Manifestation. That is why the whole atmosphere is charged with a divine and sublime Peace, you understand? It is He who is there — in the divine body — Himself divinised, the representative of the whole humanity, He who, by His own effort, by His tapasya and by the sadhana that He has done in His body, has made His body glorious. The realisations and the experiences He has had, what He has accumulated in His body by this yogic effort, has charged His body with a transforming power. It is charged — charged dynamically with a force and a light that overflows; it is this that envelops the whole atmosphere. All around, it is His presence. It endures because it is the Supramental force and shows no sign of diminishing. It cannot.
It is this that the people absorb when they pass around the Samadhi. Without knowing it, they are bathed by His love and they do not even realise as to why they are mystified when they approach the Samadhi. It is amazing! They are bewildered when they touch the Samadhi because the force that is working all around demolishes their so-called religious sentiments, shatters the emotions clamouring towards the heavens and puts them before a Reality that they do not understand. They are astounded by this extraordinary phenomenon of the Truth that manifests there. Those who are open are touched, and they return to recharge themselves and to imbibe in their being, this Peace that is in the atmosphere. His presence is so concrete and so living — like a conscious Immensity that dominates and charges this atmosphere. I see how it seems to float in evanescent lights and colours, a beauty of unseizable delight, a spirit of purity and an elusive presence, though unsubstantial yet nearly material, carrying a sweetness unknown to the world. It seems to me that a heart that is one-pointed, aspiring ardently for the Divine, if it stands before the Samadhi and desires nothing but His beatitude, will be transported into a region of delight much better and higher than the ecstasy experienced by the all-powerful heavens or that the earth has ever known.
His devotees and those who aspire — truly aspire to unite their consciousness with Sri Aurobindo who dominates this place with His formidable presence — find the grandeur of His majestic presence, as concrete as you see me now. And those who wish to communicate with Him find His invariable answer. He is there — all-puissant with all His power and He presides over the New Creation from behind the veil with a sustained insistence and an unbelievable patience, but determined, as is His mode of action, gaining victories one after another, first to change the consciousness of humanity and then to transform it in all its dimensions, knowing well that these resistances and these momentary falls prepare humanity to overcome the obstacles before it, and guiding its mode of action and its attitude by a global movement in the peace of His light. And, above all, this is based on spirituality and not on those so called pseudo-religious movements whose essence is fanaticism, war and unnecessary quarrels. You see the results…. The world is tired of the cruelties of men, — blood flows and violence predominates, we have never seen such terrible devastations. Men have become beasts, even worse than beasts!
… So long as man does not try to change his consciousness … it is an unsurmountable impasse. No one, neither man, nor individuals endowed with extraordinary faculties can do anything or bridge the chasm between the Divine and the adverse forces. It is ignorance which has pushed man into this state.
But do not worry. One who has been given the charge, One who is responsible, works to bring man towards the frontiers of a New World; He uproots the difficulties and the obstacles incessantly, guiding man towards a luminous future. He alone can cure this malady, because he is the Master of our existence. Have confidence and all will be all right. This is perhaps the lowest point that man has reached in the spiral of evolution, in the vicissitudes of his terrestrial existence. But soon, we shall see the light — the hope of a great change — the certitude of His presence which alone can bring down and establish the kingdom of the Divine upon earth.
There are some passages in Savitri which explain very well this Apocalypse. I do not remember so well. Perhaps one begins like this: ‘Slowly the light grows greater …’[13] Hmm!… Ah!
‘Greater in the east,’ Mother …
Yes, yes, you have caught the right thing. Myself, I do not remember so well. But, there are some extraordinary passages in Savitri.
There you are.
(Mother asks for my notebook)
Your notebook … (She reads and then says:)
… this is a thing that is happening constantly. Each day there are thousands who die and many others who are born. This is a thing that happens constantly and Sri Aurobindo is occupied with all this. He is in the subtle physical and constantly people who die come to Him and also He decides who will come back. It is something common….
It is a thing that goes on constantly in the subtle physical. He is preparing souls who shall reincarnate….
But, Mother, is it that Sri Aurobindo wants to reincarnate?
No, my child, not so soon. He has already said that He will come back only with the first Supramental body. The first Supramental body will be that of Sri Aurobindo. That is what He has announced. And it is not for now. There is plenty of time. We can wait. It is not yet ready for the Supramental body. The world must be made ready. It will take time….
It is true that Sri Aurobindo is occupied with all those who go away and also prepares their reincarnation….
(Mother writes:)
Comme Sri Aurobindo est dans le physique subtil tout le temps il s’occupe de gens qui s’en vont et de ceux qui reviennent.
[As Sri Aurobindo is in the subtle physical all the time He takes care of people who go away and those who come back.]
Good … what is it?
Mother, write something here (showing the facing page).
You want me to write my blessings here? (Mother writes) Is it all right? You are satisfied?…
October 14, 1969
Is it true that Sri Aurobindo will come back?
Mother,
Is it true that Sri Aurobindo will come back? If yes, will He be in His old form? For I have heard that you have said: “He will come back.”
(The Mother’s answer: )
Sri Aurobindo will surely come back in the first supramental body. But when and how, this he did not say.
January 28, 1951
If He will come back then why did He leave? Is it to show a miracle to the world?
It is not to show the miracle but to accomplish on it.
January 30, 1951
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