Some Letters from Sri Aurobindo and the Mother

Foreword

To begin with, I would like to relate two interviews with the Mother and what I heard from her when I first came here on 22nd November 1928 — sixty years ago.

In those days, after 9 o'clock in the morning one could go to the Mother if one had something to ask her. Of course a previous permission or appointment was the general rule, but in case there happened to be an urgent necessity the Mother would always allow the person to come to her. There was no rigidity about the rule. The divine compassion and consideration were always there.

One day I went to the Mother in a very upset state because of an unpleasant matter which had hurt me very much. As soon as I entered the room, I fell at her feet and began to weep. Seeing this, the Mother raised me up, embraced me with a warmth unforgettable and started patting me as she would a small child and in a tone most delicately soft and sweet went on saying, "What's wrong, my dear child? Tell me what is the matter." While replying I was still sobbing. She drew me more close to her and kissed my forehead. Then, after hearing everything, she said, "Look here, my child, listen, you do one thing: try to find out if you have done anything wrong on your side (the Mother put a stress in her voice on "your"), if you find any such thing then you must feel happy and pleased to have found something which you have to overcome and conquer now. And if you find that nothing wrong has been done by you, then what does it matter whether anybody says anything?" Saying this she gave me a good shake holding both my hands with a smile full of her unspeakable tenderness.

Now a meeting on another day. I was staying with a

sadhika in a house where we had adjoining rooms. She had cats. In those days the Mother not only encouraged the keeping of cats but herself arranged food for them — boiled fish and pudding (made of milk and flour) — cooked somewhere in the Ashram. We used to have a maid-servant to bring the meals of the cats every day, and keep them in the right place. Anyhow, I went to the Mother and said to her, "Mother, I feel terribly disturbed because of the noise of the cats' quarrelling with each other at night. I cannot sleep. Will you kindly give me a room somewhere else, Mother?" She replied, "Look here, Sahana, my dear child, I can give you another room, but suppose the same thing happens, then what will you do? After all, there are cats in the street." After saying this she kept quiet for some time, then looking at me with the same compassion and smile of encouragement, but with a voice very deep and solemn, she slowly brought out the words, "One has to rise above all these things — do you understand, my child?" I came back with her voice ringing in my ears.

Now about the book — "Some Letters of the Mother and Sri Aurobindo", which I am publishing. The letters deal generally with very small, mostly personal matters, they may seem uninteresting, unimportant, trifling, etc. etc. But it is beyond one's imagination how much time Sri Aurobindo gave to write such letters, with what patience, compassion, kindness, consideration, love and care, above all the encouragement to go forward, whatever might be the matter, not to be disheartened in any way. From every line I drew the strength to go ahead and not to break the divine journey. In these letters I have found the Light of the Mother and Sri Aurobindo always pointing an approach to the Beyond. With the grace of the Mother

and Sri Aurobindo I have realised that nothing is small, everything is inwardly important. I offer my infinite gratitude to them for giving me the opportunity of this divine means to realise what they wanted me to realise from these letters.

I thank Amal Kiran (K. D. Sethna) whole-heartedly for checking with so much love and care each copied letter with the original. I am grateful to him for all he has done for the publication of this book.

SAHANA