At the feet of The Mother and Sri Aurobindo

27 May 1932

MYSELF: Mother, Sri Aurobindo once wrote to me: “If you wish to be free from people’s expectations and the sense of obligation, it is indeed best not to take from anybody; for the sense of claim will be otherwise there. Not that it will be entirely absent even if you take nothing, but you will not be bound any longer.” But when I do not accept what people want to give me, they are hurt, even offended, especially when they offer with love, affection or respect. Then it becomes difficult to refuse them. What should be done in such cases?

SRI AUROBINDO: The best thing is to keep the rule of not asking, of taking when it is given. It helps to gain mastery over desire and it is that mastery that is here the important thing.

(27.5.32)