On the Path

1967

May I make the choice,

constantly, sincerely and integrally,

as the Divine Mother may wish.

Pranam.

A good year of great progress towards the Light and total consecration.

With my blessings.

1.1.1967

In 1958 the Mother said, "If things go on advancing at this speed, it seems more than possible, almost evident, that what Sri Aurobindo wrote in a letter is a prophetic announcement: The supramental consciousness will enter a phase of realising power in 1967. "¹

Have things advanced at the required speed?

Yes.

2.1.1967

May I try to make my nights conscious? I pray for guidance.

¹ Questions and Answers 1957-58 (1977), p. ^315.

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1) A short concentration before going to sleep, with an aspiration to remember your activities of the night when you wake up.

2) When you wake up, do not make any sudden movement of the head, but keep still for a few minutes, with a concentration to remember what happened during the sleep.

3) Repeat these exercises every day until you begin to perceive a result.

18.1.1967

*

Something within me rushes towards You and wishes to remain at Your feet. This occurs repeatedly, almost spontaneously, without emotion. Is there a significance?

(Mother underlined the word "Something" and answered:)

It is your psychic being, the individualisation of your soul that wants to realise the divine life during its human life.

28.1.1967

In the human being, is the psychic being the entire soul or do both the psychic being and the soul {in its essence, as a divine spark in all creatures) exist together?

The soul is the eternal essence at the centre of the psychic being. The soul is in fact like a divine spark which puts on many states of being of increasing density, down to the most material, and is inside the body, in the interior, so to

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say, of the solar plexus. These states of being take form and develop, progress, become individualised and perfected in the course of a great number of earthly lives and form the psychic being. When the psychic being is fully formed it is aware of the consciousness of the soul and manifests it perfectly.

1.2.1967

The spiritual goal that You have shown me for my present life is very high and very far. On the other hand, I have wasted much time and energy leading the ordinary life and my aspiration is not yet constant. But I feel that if the Mother is with me, I will attain the goal.

I pray that You be with me.

I am with you and I will take you to the goal. Have an unshakable faith and all will go well. Blessings.

6.2.1967

When I concentrate on You in my heart, sometimes Your image disappears and I see only a Light. This transition takes place instantly but very smoothly. I have begun to love this Light. Its colour is white but sometimes it has a blue tinge. What' do the two colours Signify?

The white is integrality, totality, It is Mahashakti's

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light. When tinged with blue, it indicates Sri Aurobindo's presence.

9.2.1967

The "Savitri" exhibition is full of pictures depicting Savitri, the ascent of the being, the descent of divinity, and the divine play. The pictures radiate a light which is as beautiful as strong, similar to that which I feel near you.

Is this my imagination or true?

(Letter written after seeing the exhibition on "Savitri" at the Ashram)

It is quite true and I am glad that you saw it.

13.2.1967

As soon as I meet or see certain people, certain lower and wrong vibrations arise in me. This is an invariable habit, in spite of the fact that I want to get rid of these reactions. What should I do?

The radical method is to cut off all mental and vital connection with these people; but until you know how to do this, you must persistently eliminate from your consciousness the effect that is produced by their influence.

18.2.1967

You have said: "The Divine is with you according to your aspirations. Naturally, this does not mean that

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he gives way to the fancies of your outer nature — I am speaking here of the truth of your being. Moreover, he sometimes models himself on your outer aspirations, and if you live like the devotees who alternate between periods of estrangement and embrace, of ecstasy and despair, the Divine too will be more distant or closer to you, depending on what you believe. The attitude is therefore very important, even the outer attitude."

What is the meaning of "outer aspiration" and "outer attitude"? What is the best outer attitude?

Unless one practises Yoga in the physical being (outer being), it remains ignorant and even its aspiration is ignorant and so also is its goodwill; all its movements are ignorant and so they distort and disfigure the Divine Presence.

That is why the Yoga of the body-cells is indispensable.

25.2.1967

When I see Your symbol, be it by the physical eyes or by its appearance during meditation, mostly I see it in movement like a disc. Mother, why the movement?

The movement is the symbol of progressive evolution of the creation.

1.3.1967

"The Dawn that never ends"¹: what spiritual state does this marvelous dawn represent?

¹ Prayers and Meditations (24 August 1914).

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Perpetual renewal.

6.3.1967

This is how I understand the Purusha:

The Lord is the Supreme Purusha, the Purushottama.

The Atman is the universal Purusha,

The Jivatman is the individual Purusha and the physical Purusha, the vital Purusha, the mental Purusha and the secret Purusha in the heart are projections of it.

The soul is the Purusha that enters into the evolution.

Is my understanding correct ?

This is one way of putting it. Mental definitions are never more than approximations, ways of speaking.

10.3.1967

My body is very weak and full of unconsciousness and tamas. How can this body become Your good instrument?

At the centre of each cell lies the Divine Consciousness. By aspiration and repeated self-giving the cells must be made transparent.

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"To be aware of the consciousness of the soul": is this the same thing as uniting with the Divine ?

To become aware of the consciousness of the soul is the surest and easiest way of uniting with the Divine.

25.3.1967

The region below my heart harbours very dark and recalcitrant parts of my being. I feel that for more than three months You have been acting specially on this region and, in spite of the lack of collaboration on my side, You have awakened a flame there. It has to be guarded and strengthened. Is my feeling right?

Yes, it is right. It is the flame of Agni that I have kindled, the flame of psychic aspiration that opens the way leading to the Divine. Without this flame of Agni no spiritual progress is possible. Now you are beginning to advance on the way.

1.4.1967

You give everything we need but my capacity to receive is very limited and it takes me a long time to assimilate even the little I am able to receive.

Untroubled, I pray: How can the situation be improved?

This difficulty usually comes from a lack of unification of the being. Certain parts are recalcitrant and refuse to

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receive. They have to be educated little by little, just as one educates;educates a child — and little by little too the situation will improve.

7.4.1967

Looking at the present state of the world we can say that the worst has already happened. We await the day when the Lord will take the earth into His arms and "the earth will be transformed". Is that day drawing near?

It may very well be that this is what is happening now — but it is not on the human scale.

One moment of the Lord probably means many years for us!...

12.4.1967

Although there is a certain charm and poetry in the fact that there is no formal date for the creation of our Ashram, could it be said from the occult point of view that the Ashram was born with the Mother's arrival?

The Ashram was born a few years after my return from Japan, in 1926.

17.4.1967

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The Lord told You: "One day thou wilt be my head but for the moment turn thy gaze towards the earth. "¹

Sweet Mother, what does "thou wilt be my head" mean ?

The head is the original conceiving Consciousness.

22.4.1967

One morning I saw a white light tinged with blue rising from below which enveloped You gradually like the petals of a lotus. The light was solid and fluid at the same time.

What does it mean, sweet Mother?

It was undoubtedly an aspiration going up from the subconscient.

27.4.1967

When I want to be closer to You, I see that I must conquer my ego. But when I think of conquering my ego, I see that I must be closer to You. How can I solve this problem ?

The Grace is there to solve it.

1.5.1967

¹ Prayers and Meditations (17 May 1914).

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How can I become Your good child?

By being yourself, quite simply, very simply. . . .

When I am able to offer You money or some object it brings me much joy, and when some part of my being offers itself to You the joy I feel is greater still. But in spite of this experience my whole being is not offered to You. What stupidity! How can I change this?

We are made up of many different parts which must be unified around the psychic being, if we are conscious of it, or at least around the central aspiration. If this unification is not done we carry this division within us.

To do this, each thought, each feeling, each sensation, each impulse, each reaction, as it manifests, must be presented in the consciousness to the central being or its aspiration. What is in accord is accepted, what is not in accord is refused, rejected or transformed.

It is a long task which may take many years — but once it is done the unification is achieved and the path becomes easy and swift.

10.5.1967

In silence I prayed to You to accept me, me as I am, with all my imperfections.

In silence and in Your mercifulness, You gave me Your acceptance.

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This acceptance, as I have understood later, calls for my aspiration to be more and more pure and worthy of Your Grace.

I write this letter to verify my reception of Your response.

Certainly I have accepted you as you are, and this acceptance means that I will take you towards your divine goal in spite of all difficulties and all obstacles.

Blessings.

14.5.1967

How can I get rid of the habitual feeling that I own the material things that belong to me?

If you belong entirely and totally to the Divine, then all that belongs to you, all that forms part of your physical being, belongs to the Divine.

16.5.1967

Sometimes I think that the Agni You have kindled in me will burn everything that separates me from You. What should I do to contribute to its fulfillment?

Each time that you discover in yourself something that denies or resists, throw it into the flame of Agni which is the fire of aspiration.

19.5.1967

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Is it possible to make my hands conscious in such a way that they do nothing imperfect, incorrect or wrong ?

What is the way to do it, Divine Mother?

It is quite possible, by concentrating on the hands when they are doing something.

The hands of painters, sculptors, musicians (especially pianists) are usually very conscious and always skilful. It is a question of training.

I want to overcome a difficulty: it is that when I see a fault or a weakness in myself, something tries to justify it or to prevent me from attending to it.

This "something" is the insincerity of ignorant self-esteem which has not yet understood that it is nobler and loftier to recognize one's faults in order to correct them, than to conceal them in the hope that they will not be noticed.

As for all psychological problems, here too sincerity, a total and uncompromising sincerity, is the true remedy.

1.6.1967

I want to offer You my being like a beautiful rose. But alas! as soon as I make the gesture I see many a thorn in it and I cannot accomplish the offering.

The thorns have to be pulled out, O Mother, the thorns have to be pulled out.

Perhaps the offering itself is the means for it.

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Yes, gradually the thorns fall away. It is by the constant -renewal of the offering that they disappear. Blessings.

7.6.1967

Please tell me how I can get rid of the past which is so heavy and sticky.

To get rid of the past is something so difficult that it seems almost impossible.

But if you give yourself entirely and without reserve to the future, if this self-giving is constantly renewed, the past will fall off by itself and will no longer encumber you.

14.6.1967

Although I am very far from the state where I could always remain at Your feet, I pray to You to lead me there.

The quickest way is to unite more and more with your psychic being, because your psychic being is near to me very intimately.

20.6.1967

One morning as I was reading Your book Prayers and Meditations Iwished to know which movement comes first, "to live in Thee" or "to live for Thee".

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Before the mind could set to work to find the answer, the reply that came to me spontaneously was this: "The two states are complementary to each other."

Yes, the two states are complementary but that does not necessarily mean that they are simultaneous. Most often "to live for Thee" comes first and if the being is unified and sincere, "to live in Thee" soon follows.

But of course, for the first to be perfect the second must be present.

24.6.1967

From yesterday the lower vital has been raising its evil head and I am trying to reject its movements. I pray to You to enable me to act radically and without pity.

The direct fight is sometimes difficult. But to let the impulse fall down while concentrating one's energies in the psychic aspiration is a very effective means.

1.7.1967

Your hands are open to give everything but I can only receive a small part of it because I am not receptive enough.

This is the exact image of the state of the world which suffers because it is not receptive whereas it could live in beatitude if it would open to the Divine Love.

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But there is a remedy:

Sincere and constant aspiration.

6.7.1967

Your Grace has calmed the vital, the clouds disappear.

I pray that the future be a sunlit path. Panama and gratitude.

Have confidence. The Light is with you and will never leave you.

9.7.1967

I have begun to see that both the personal effort of the sadhak and its result depend on the Divine Grace.

About this one could say humorously: We are all divine but we are hardly aware of it, and that in us which is unaware that it is divine, is what we call "ourselves".

13.7.1967

A divine face, the eyes radiating two rays of light, the rays being white, vertical and immobile—what is its significance, sweet Mother?

When the beings or forces of invisible worlds manifest themselves before an individual consciousness, they put on

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forms suitable to the symbolism of each one—that is what makes it difficult to explain the visions of someone unless his symbolism is known in detail.

However, according to the description, it could be a force or an entity manifesting the light of Truth.

16.7.1967

To establish the reign of the Divine on earth, who is slower—man or the Divine Himself?

To man the Divine seems slow.

In the eyes of the Divine man is slow indeed!

But in these two cases the slowness is perhaps not the same.

20.7.1967

Material and useless thoughts have become boring, but to enter they do not wait for my invitation or permission, they simply come. . . A strong sentinel has to be placed.

The conscious will of silence is the sentinel.

But in order that it be quite effective, the silence must be quite immobile and attentive, turned upwards, like a white and virgin plaque, to receive the light that comes from above.

23.7.1967

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This was written yesterday and sent in a closed envelope. It has been just brought to me as a new letter. I open the envelope and find my letter!

24.7.1967

From yesterday the prayer "May I melt in You" has been rising sometimes from my heart. I hope you have already heard it.

The prayer came straight towards me, not only in words, but with the warmth of the consciousness.

27.7.1967

May I know whether it is true that after death, a dead man very often returns in his daughter's child?

First the dead man must have a daughter in order to be reborn in her child. . . .

It is not an absolute rule, far from it; but the case is quite frequent in India where the belief in frequent reincarnations is still quite common.

30.7.1967

When I offer You money it is the "I" that spoils the offering. May the "I" disappear, O Divine Mother. .. may the pure and true consciousness install itself in Your child.

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That he knows it is already very good. He is en route for liberation.

1.8.1967

Each time that I go to You to make Pranam, You do something in my consciousness and my entire consciousness is bathed in Your Joy and Sweetness.

I return. . .some days pass, and soon the yearning to bow down again before You and to be blessed by Your divine hands becomes a thirst, an aspiration...

When you feel so, why not come in the afternoon about 3.30—I will always have a minute to see you and bless you.

3.8.1967

I am infinitely grateful to You for Your answer. Indeed You are opening a new chapter in my life. If my whole being could surrender itself to You, always more and more, what fortune. . .!

My blessings are with you.

4.8.1967

I asked myself, "How can one express the inexpressible?" The reply came, "By living it, by becoming it, by being it." What does the Mother say?

That is correct.

7.8.1967

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One thing is beyond my understanding: how can You find time to do all that You do ? Perhaps physical time does not exist for You!

The body is able to bear the pressure of time because it knows and feels quite concretely that it is not itself that lives and acts but only the Supreme Lord exists and only He lives and acts.

This, moreover, is the secret of all endurance.

12.8.1967

Instead of fighting against my impurities I would like to make them fall down like dust or burn them in the flame of Agni.

It is good.

But the most potent remedy is to open oneself more and more completely to Divine Love which is changed in our consciousness into love for the Divine and which by its mere presence consumes all impurities.

19.8.1967

Here is an amusing phrase from an anonymous author: "Thank God, I am an atheist."

The phrase would be even more amusing if he had written:

"Thank God for making me an atheist."

22.8.1967

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From what I understand, You said that the psychic beings of the disciples of the Ashram all belong to the same family.

In spite of this, there is often a lack of collaboration among ourselves. Why is it so, Mother?

If I did say this (probably not quite in these words), it could only refer to a universal family open to all differences and even all divergences. . . .

But in any case, mutual misunderstanding and lack of collaboration can only come from the outer, physical and vital being which is formed in this life and is not yet under the rule and influence of the psychic. As soon as one is united with one's psychic, all the conflicts of clashing bad wills can no longer exist.

24.8.1967

(Mother asked me to formulate four prayers and I wrote;)

The four prayers are formulated thus:

May the psychic dominate my entire being.

May the divine purity flood me.

May I belong to You alone, and integrally.

May I unite with the Divine.

Now it is Your turn, isn't it, O Divine Mother, to grant them, to make me succeed!

It is settled, the prayers are granted. As for the rapidity of the success, it depends on the sincerity of the aspiration; that is to say that all the being should participate in it as a whole and in all its parts.

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Blessings.

26.8.1967

Can I know how is it that out of all godheads it is Ganesh whose statue is there on Your table?

Because Ganesh is a friend who during 12 consecutive years gave me very concrete proofs of his friendship. It is a story I will tell you one day when there will be time.

29.8.1967

How can one use shadow to realize the Light?

Painters use shadow to bring out the light.

Shadow is the symbol of the inconscient. This is where men rest at night from the effort of the day to become conscious. When consciousness becomes all-powerful, shadow will no longer be necessary and will disappear.

4.9.1967

To come down from Your room is to fall into another world, and to go from the Ashram to other towns is to fall into yet another world.

How to construct a bridge between the three?

It is you (like all those who are conscious and consecrated) who are the bridge.

17.9.1967

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It is said that there are certain methods in the Tantras to open the chakras from below, whereas in the integral yoga the chakrasopen from above by the descent of the Mother's force.

What is the difference between the results of the opening of the cakras in these two systems?

In Sri Aurobindo's integral yoga, there are no such rigid rules and distinctions. Each one follows his path and has his own experiences. Nevertheless, Sri Aurobindo often said and wrote that his yoga begins where the others end.

This is to say that yoga ordinarily consists in awakening the physical consciousness and making it rise gradually towards the Divine. Whereas Sri Aurobindo has said that in order to do his yoga, one must have already found the Divine and be united with Him, and then the consciousness descends through all the states of being down to the most material, bringing the Divine Force with it so that the Force can transform the whole being and finally divinise the physical body.

20.9.1967

In the message for the radio You substituted the word "union" for the word "unity."¹

May I know, Sweet Mother, why this change was made?

¹ "O India, land of light and spiritual knowledge! Wake up to your true mission in the world, show the way to union and harmony." — Message for the inauguration of All India Radio, Pondicherry, 23 September 1967.

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Because most people, when they hear the word "unity", understand uniformity and nothing can be further from the truth.

25.9.1967

Does spontaneity come spontaneously or does one have to follow a discipline to obtain it ?

Spontaneity in feelings and action comes from a permanent contact with the psychic, which brings order into the thoughts and automatically controls the vital impulses.

30.9.1967

This afternoon I forgot one thing.

The day before yesterday I spontaneously prayed to You to strike with lightning all that is hostile in me, as Durga kills the Assures.

(Mother underlined the last three words and wrote.)

Durga does not kill the Asuras; she dominates them and makes it impossible for them to destroy.

In the essence all is the Supreme Lord and has to return to the Supreme Lord for an ultimate transformation.

Death is only an expediency, submission is a victory.

11.10.1967

I await the day when my ignorant "I" 'will be changed by You into "That".

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"That" is quite at the bottom of the "I". Dig deep and you will find Him.

16.10.1967

You taught me the importance of awakening the divine consciousness in the body, and now I pray to You to make my body aspire for You.

The body-cells thirst for the Divine Consciousness and when they are brought into contact with It their aspiration becomes very intense.

21.10.1967

It seems that my ambitions no longer exist.

Now there is an aspiration to be simply what you want.

That is the best state for advancing swiftly on the path.

26.10.1967

O Mother Divine!

May Your Grace make me live more and more in the true consciousness.

So it be!

With my blessings

in Light and Joy.

2.11.1967

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One morning when I was reading in "Prayers and Meditations":

"My soul is in prayer. . . and my body also, and my thought falls silent in a mute ecstasy."

something entered into my very body. I hope that it will stay and go forward.

The work is getting done all the time and one goes forward even when one does not know it. But now, for you, the progress is rapid.

6.11.1967

Two extremely rich men who claim to be very religious and virtuous, are not paying what they owe even according to their accounts. One of them refuses to speak to me about it and the other says, "Have trust in God, you will not lose your money."

If the Mother could make these two men honest (even temporarily, while they deal with this matter). . .

It is said that Christ healed the sick and even raised the dead. One day an idiot was brought to him to be cured. But Christ slipped away, saying that to make a stupid man intelligent is an impossibility.

To make a dishonest man honest is an even more impossible miracle....

Which is swifter for transformation: Divine Love or Mahakali's force?

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Kali's force is necessary only for those who are not yet open to Divine Love. For one who is open to Divine Love, nothing more is needed.

11.11.1967

Before going to sleep I remember You and when I get up I remember You. But during sleep I go astray . . .I move away far from Your feet.

Let me be with you in your excursions in the vital world, and all will go well.

15.11.1967

The fall in consciousness is being felt more often and becoming more disagreeable, but I am not able to prevent it.

This perception is the proof of a big progress in the consciousness and the sign that one is going to find the remedy soon.

20.11.1967

From the beginning of this week sometimes I see around You a light which is white, bluish and golden .. . rather there is a rain of this light!

It proves that you are open to Sri Aurobindo's presence.

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By Your Grace my body is now collaborating to get rid of its laziness. It is a new experience for me that even the body has a will of its own.

When the body is converted, it knows how to collaborate.

29.11.1967

Who emerged first in the manifestation, the Gods or the Asuras?

The oldest tradition says that the first four emanations of the Mahashakti—Consciousness, Love, Truth and Life—cut themselves off (separated themselves) from their Supreme Origin and became Unconsciousness, Suffering, Falsehood and Death.

Then a second emanation was made to repair the damage. They are the Gods.

Naturally, this is a way of speaking which corresponds to a Reality that is difficult to put into words.

2.12.1967

Transformation demands a very high degree of aspiration, surrender and receptivity, doesn't it?

Transformation demands a total and integral consecration. But isn't that the aspiration of every sincere sadhak?

Total means vertically in all the states of the being, from the most material to the most subtle.

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Integral means horizontally in all the different and often contradictory parts which make up the outer being (physical, vital and mental).

4.12.1967

When I contemplate Sri Aurobindo, sometimes it is Your image that appears, and when I concentrate on You, sometimes it is the image of Sri Aurobindo that appears.

This phenomenon is altogether natural.

6.12.1967

In the heart a rose surrounded with red flames, what does it signify?

An intense aspiration full of love.

9.12.1967

I await the state where all my being will be an ardent brazier of Agni.

It is coming, it is on the way. With a persistent will and a constant remembrance, one can hasten its arrival a great deal.

11.12.1967

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The fragrance of the flowers given by the Mother is often something extraordinary.

Flowers are very receptive and they are happy when

loved.

15.12.1967

I forgot the Divine for long in this life and in the earlier ones. But a drop of Your Grace can enable me to make up for all the lost time.

Whatever the past may have been, it is not time that is needed to establish the contact with the Divine but sincerity of aspiration.

19.12.1967

Can one's aspiration for the Divine have the required intensity and sincerity without the tears and anguish that are mentioned in nearly all the old legends of the saints?

Tears and anguish indicate the presence of a weak and paltry nature still unable to receive the Divine in all his power and glory. Not only are they unnecessary, they are useless and an obstacle to realization

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. You put something in Your words which enables us to see the Truth that words cannot convey. What is it that accompanies Your words?

Consciousness.

27.12.1967

Consciousness is just the problem when I translate Sri Aurobindo's and Mother's works into Hindi. How to bring the true consciousness into the translation ?

Mother explained while drawing the illustration that to pass directly from English to Hindi was bad, and to go up in the consciousness starting from English and then to come down towards Hindi was good.

27.12.1967

28.12.1967

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Sometimes I see You in the sky, in the moon, in the sun. . .And in all these places lam there at Your feet.

An audacious fantasy of Your child who is so mediocre!

It is not a fantasy. It corresponds to something true. All human being feels itself to be mediocre as soon as it endeavors to become divine.

29.12.1967

Was Sri Aurobindo's presence very concrete during the Darshan last evening?

Yes.

30.12.1967

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