Tara Jauhar's recollections of her close proximity, guidance and love from The Mother through personal contact & through letters & correspondence.
The Mother : Contact
THEME/S
Sweet Mother,
In the Physical Education section, you have made all the necessary arrangements so that by physical training we may be able to develop our bodies in every possible way and thus become ready to participate in the great work of integral transformation.
We have been teaching games, sports and all sorts of physical activities for several years, but we find that most of our students cannot catch the fundamental spirit. They are usually distracted by amusement, excitement, impulsive moods and all kinds of likes and dislikes. As a result the discipline, the will, the determination, the hard work and the right attitude which ensure our progress are lacking on the whole. A football match or an exciting game arouses a lot of enthusiasm, but a conscientious and concentrated effort that will help us to master certain physical qualities and correct certain defects is always done without much eagerness. The great majority of students, big and small, suffer from this malady. Very few approach physical education with the right attitude. How can we learn to make it our normal practice?
The contents of the consciousness must change, the level of the consciousness must be raised, the quality of the consciousness must progress.
Things are as you have described them, only because most children have their consciousness centred in the physical which is tamasic and reluctant to make any effort. They want an easy life, and only the excitement or the rivalry of a game or a competition awakens enough interest in them so that they consent to make an effort. For this, a vital passion has to be aroused to intensify the will.
The idea of progress belongs to the intelligent will which is active only in the very few who are in contact with their psychic being, and later on, in those who are mentally more developed and begin to understand the need to develop and control themselves.
I said that the remedy is to raise the consciousness to a higher level. But, naturally, one must start with the level of the consciousness of the captains and instructors themselves.
First of all, they should have a clear conception of what they want to obtain from those for whom they are responsible; and not only that, but they should also have realised in themselves the qualities they demand from others. Over and above these qualities, they should have developed in their character and action a great deal of patience, endurance, kindness, understanding and impartiality. They should have no likes or dislikes, no attractions or repulsions.
That is why the new group of captains must really be an elite group in order to set a good example to the pupils and students, if we want them in their turn to adopt the true attitude.
Therefore I say to all: set to work sincerely and sooner or later the obstacles will be overcome.
5 July 1961
* * *
Some activities in our physical education programme are of a more serious nature than others and call for greater concentration; these activities tend to become boring for the children. Should the captains organise their groups in such a way that everything they teach is interesting and enjoyable, or should the children try to create an interest in themselves?
Both are indispensable and, as far as possible, should always be present.
With a little imagination and inventive flexibility, the instructors should give charm and novelty to what they teach.
On their part, the children, by cultivating in themselves the will and inclination for progress, should create a constant interest in what they do.
In the meanwhile, the captains can partly entrust to the children the responsibility for organising their own exercises, using as far as possible whatever ingenious ideas may occur to them.
If the sense of collaboration and responsibility is awakened in the children, then they will take an interest in what they do and do it with pleasure.
21 July 1961
We have a minute of concentration before and after group every day. What should we try to do during this concentration?
Before, make an offering to the Divine of what you are going to do, so that it may be done in a spirit of consecration.
Afterwards, ask the Divine to increase the will for progress in us, so that we may become instruments that are more and more capable of serving Him.
You may also, before starting, offer yourselves to the Divine in silence.
And at the end, give thanks to the Divine in silence. I mean a movement of the heart without any words in the head.
24 July 1961
Yesterday I read my last question and your reply to the children of our group (A1). It was our combatives day, and though most of the children usually don’t enjoy doing it very much, yesterday they did it with great enthusiasm and zest.
Sweet Mother, I feel that there is this lack of interest because we captains cannot guide them in the true direction, and they don’t even have the direct contact with You that we had before.
Mother, if you could give us something in writing from time to time, something we could try to do in group when we are together, that would push us forward. I think it would be good for the children and we also would learn to do our work better.
I am writing this because I wanted you to know the result. Today they will type it out and distribute it to the captains so that they can read it out to their groups.
26 July 1961
This evening we heard one of the tapes of your Wednesday class regarding the same physical education programme for boys and girls. It was for our captains’ class. But as we were listening to your voice, a number of others came to attend. It is not often these days that we have the opportunity to listen to your voice, except sometimes during the meditation. And today we were very inspired, and we even felt your presence, just as before at the playground during your classes.
Some of us discussed the possibility of being able to listen regularly to tapes of your classes, at least once a week.
If you give me permission, Sweet Mother, I will take the initiative to arrange everything, and I am sure that many young boys and girls will come to attend and will profit from it.
It is very good. The idea is good and you have my full approval.
With my love and blessings.
30 July 1965
How should we choose the kind of things that we ought or ought not to read? Is it good to do “light reading”—newspapers and magazines, for instance?
Ordinary newspapers, magazines and books such as novels are meant for lazy-minded people who do not read in order to learn anything, but simply for amusement and relaxation. This is a pursuit for people who take life as it comes and are quite unconcerned about progress or a deeper understanding of things.
Some people read to find out what is going on in the world and is indicative of human progress; in addition to reading, they may go to the cinema and listen to the radio.
People who read in order to develop a good style ought to read a lot, and they should choose books of literary merit.
Some people read in order to learn. They should choose instructive books on the subject or subjects they are interested in: philosophy, science, art, etc.
And then there are the very few who want to understand life, its purpose and its goal. For them, Sri Aurobindo’s books are the best reading of all.
Blessings.
10 September 1969
Some children ask me what is the best way of spending their holidays here.
It is an excellent opportunity to do some interesting work, to learn something new or develop some weak point in their nature or their studies.
It is an excellent opportunity to choose some activity freely and thus discover the true capacities of their being.
1 November 1969
Do you approve of students going to spend their holidays at home or elsewhere?
Rather one could say that what the children do during their holidays shows what they are and how far they are capable of profiting from their stay here. Thus it is different for each one and the quality of his reactions indicates the quality of his character.
Truly speaking, only those who would rather stay here than do anything else, are ready to take full advantage of their education here and are capable of fully understanding the ideal they are taught.
2 November 1969
Does this mean that those who go out are incapable of fully understanding the ideal they are taught, or are we unable to make them understand the ideal?
I do not say that the teaching here is perfect and exactly what it should be. But it is certain that a number of students are very interested and understand very well that there is something here which is not to be found elsewhere.
So, it is those students who should remain here, and as we do not have enough room to accept all the applications, the choice would be easier.
3 November 1969
Is it possible to teach the ideal to those who do not understand it, and how can it be taught to them? Are we, instructors and teachers, worthy of this formidable task?
What we want to teach is not merely a mental ideal but a new conception of life and a realisation of consciousness. This realisation is new for everyone, and the only true way to teach others is to live according to this new consciousness oneself and allow oneself to be transformed by it. There is no better lesson than that of an example. To tell others, “Do not be selfish”, is not much use, but if somebody is free from all selfishness, he becomes a wonderful example to others; and someone who sincerely aspires to act according to the Supreme Truth, creates a kind of contagion for those around him. So the first duty of those who are teachers or instructors is to give an example of the qualities they are teaching to others.
And if, among these teachers and instructors, some are not worthy of their position, because by their character they are giving a bad example, their first duty is to become worthy by changing their character and their behaviour; there is no other way.
4 November 1969
What qualifications do you consider essential for an instructor or a teacher in the Ashram? Wouldn’t it be better not to do this work if one feels incapable of doing it well? For then it is the children who suffer because of us, isn’t it?
Whatever imperfections the teachers and instructors here may have, they will always be better than those from outside. For all who are working here do so without remuneration and in the service of a higher cause. It is understood that each one, whatever his worth or capacity, can and must always progress to realise an ideal that is still much higher than the present realisation of humanity.
But if one is truly eager to do one’s best, it is by doing the work that one progresses and learns to do it better and better.
Criticism is seldom useful. It discourages more than it helps. And all goodwill deserves encouragement, for with patience and endurance, there is no progress that cannot be made.
The main thing is to keep the certitude that whatever may have been accomplished, one can always do better if one wants to.
The ideal to attain is an unwavering equality of soul and conduct, an unfailing patience and, of course, the absence of any preference or desire.
It is obvious that for one who teaches, the essential condition for the proper fulfilment of his task is the absence of all egoism; and no human being is exempt from the necessity of this effort.
But, I repeat, this effort is easier to make here than anywhere else.
5 November 1969
Should those who are strongly attracted by the pleasures of ordinary life, such as cinemas, restaurants, social life, etc., come to study in our school? For, as a rule, one feels that this is why most of our students go out during the holidays, and each time they come back they take quite a long time to re-adjust themselves here.
Those who are strongly attached to ordinary life and its excitement should not come here, for they are out of their element and create disorder.
But it is difficult to know this before they come, for most of them are very young and their character is not yet well formed.
But as soon as they are caught by the frenzy of the world, it would be better, for themselves and for others, that they return to their parents and their habits.
There are a number of children here who are sent by their parents only for their education. This idea that they are only students and will go away from here after their studies, is already firmly fixed in their minds.
Once we know that these children have a clear idea of what they want to do is it not better to advise them officially to go and study elsewhere? Or because they have already been accepted, should we allow them to remain and finish their studies here?
Unfortunately, there are many parents who send their children here not because they think that they will have a special education here but because the Ashram does not ask money for their studies and therefore the parents need to spend much less money here than elsewhere.
But the poor children are not responsible for this commercial bargaining and we must give them a chance to develop fully if they are capable of it. Thus we accept them if we see a possibility in them. It is only when they clearly show that they are unable to benefit from their education here that we are ready to let them go if they want to.
15 November 1969
Sweet Mother ,
For the students who know that they will go away from here after their studies, isn’t it necessary for them to go out from time to time in order to be able to adjust themselves later to ordinary life?
There is no difficulty in adapting to ordinary life; it is a bondage to which one is subjected from birth, for all carry it in themselves by atavism, and even those who are born to be free have to struggle seriously and continually to get rid of this atavism in order to be truly free.
16 November 1969
What do you expect of those students who are going to leave after their studies here? Surely there must be a great difference between them and ordinary people. What is the difference?
Often, as soon as they find themselves in the midst of ordinary life, many of them realise the difference and regret what they have lost. Few of them have the courage to give up the comforts they find in their ordinary surroundings, but even the others no longer face life with the same unconsciousness as those who have never been in contact with the Ashram.
The work we are doing is not done with the expectation of something in return, but simply to help the progress of humanity.
18 November 1969
How far do you consider it the duty of a teacher or an instructor to impose discipline on the students?
To prevent the students from being irregular, unmannerly or negligent is obviously indispensable; unkind and harmful mischief cannot be tolerated.
But in general and as an absolute rule, the teachers and especially the physical education instructors must be a constant living example of the qualities demanded from the students; discipline, regularity, good manners, courage, endurance, patience in effort, are taught much more by example than by words. And as an absolute rule: never do in front of a child what you forbid him to do.
For the rest, each case implies its own solution, and one must act with tact and discernment.
That is why to be a teacher or an instructor is the best of all disciplines, if one knows how to comply with it.
20 November 1969
A child ought to stop being naughty because he learns to be ashamed of being naughty, not because he is afraid of punishment.*
In the first case, he makes real progress.
In the second, he falls down a step in human consciousness, for fear is a degradation of consciousness.
\ The Mother commented orally*: This is the first step. When he has come this far, he can then make further progress and learn the joy of being good.
21 November 1969
Do the responsibilities of a teacher or an instructor cease after his working hours in the school or the playground?
I am asking this because our children usually behave very badly in the streets. They walk where they like, they chat in the middle of the road, and the most difficult problem is when they ride their bicycles without lights or brakes, or double [In Pondicherry the traffic rules at that time did not permit double riding on cycles]. None of us bother about all this because it is outside our working hours.
And as nothing is being done to stop this, indifference to the law has become so widespread that one even sees responsible people disregarding these laws.
The best remedy for this sorry state of affairs would be, when all the children are assembled (probably at the playground), to give them a short lesson on how to behave in the street—what one may do and what one should not do. Someone who knows how to speak to them and tell them this in an interesting way, and if possible even an amusing way, could surely obtain a result.
Does this mean that once we have explained properly to the children how to behave in the street, we no longer have any responsibility for what they do outside our working hours?
It is difficult to interfere in an incident one has not witnessed. Gossip is always suspect. But if one of the instructors personally witnesses the bad behaviour of one of his students, his intervention becomes appropriate, provided, of course, that his relation with the student is friendly and affectionate.
Don’t you think that as a part of our education children should be taught to do some disinterested work for the Ashram, at least once a week?
It is always good to do some disinterested work. But it becomes much better if this work becomes enjoyable and not a boring task.
26 November 1969
Every year we give a special prize to the best students of groups A1 and A2 . This year there is a boy Ashok Manvi (A2) who has worked very well throughout the year, but now he has gone home for the holidays and hasn’t taken part in the Demonstration of 2nd December. Do you think he should still be given the prize for this year?
The others who are receiving the prize are:
Kanu Mistry (A1)
Ajit Kothari (A1)
Aditi Dhandhania (A2)
All depends on how he left: whether it was to obey his parents or whether he wanted to go himself. If he wanted to leave, whatever his outer merit, it would perhaps be better not to give him the prize, because that would mean that we attach no importance to the inner attitude and to the student’s understanding of the aim we pursue—to prepare the men of tomorrow for the new creation.
Is it good to give prizes to the children or reward them in order to make them work or to create some sort of interest?
It is obviously better for the children to study in order to develop their consciousness and learn a little of all they do not know; but to give prizes to those who have been particularly studious, disciplined and attentive, is not bad.
17 December 1969
Don’t you think that to become a teacher or an instructor here, especially of the little ones, it is necessary to have lived in the Ashram for a certain length of time?
It is a certain attitude of consciousness that is necessary— and unfortunately, living even several years in the Ashram does not always lead to this right attitude.
Truly speaking, teachers should be taken on trial to see if they can acquire this right attitude and adapt themselves to the needs of their task.
Blessings .
18 December 1969
What do you mean by “a certain attitude of consciousness?”
The attitude of consciousness which is required is an inner certitude that, in comparison with all that has to be known, one knows nothing, and that at every moment one must be ready to learn in order to be able to teach. This is the first indispensable point.
There is a second one. It is that outer life, as we know it, is more or less a false appearance and that we must constantly keep a living aspiration for the Truth.
19 December 1969
What is the role of parents or guardians in the Ashram? How should they contribute to a better education of their children?
Here, the first duty of the parents or guardians is not to contradict either by word or example the education that is given to their children.
In a positive way, the best thing they can do is to encourage the children to be willing and disciplined.
24 December 1969
What is your opinion about fashion, dress and ornaments?
What do you consider to be in good taste in our Ashram life?
Thank God, I have no opinions.
For me good taste means to be simple and sincere.
These days I don’t have any interest in my group activities. I am doing the work simply as a duty, without any enthusiasm. Wouldn’t it be better to let someone else take my place? I feel it is not fair to the children if I cannot give my best. I will do what You tell me.
You have the knowledge and the experience; they are indispensable conditions for teaching well. I believe that you are a very good teacher and that the children would lose a great deal if you stopped teaching them. Continue, and you will see that soon you will begin to enjoy it again.
Love and blessings.
16 June 1971
Physical culture is the best way of developing the consciousness of the body, and the more the body is conscious, the more it is capable of receiving the divine forces that are at work to transform it and give birth to the new race.
15 December 1971
Give us faith in a glorious future and the capacity to realise it.
30 December 1971
Lord, Supreme Truth,
We aspire to know You and to serve You.
Help us to become children worthy of You.
And for this, make us conscious of Your constant blessings, so that gratitude may fill our hearts and govern our lives.
2 January 1972
How can we teach the children to organise the freedom that you give us here?
Children have everything to learn. This should be their main preoccupation in order to prepare themselves for a useful and productive life.
At the same time, as they grow up, they should discover in themselves the thing or things that interest them most and that they are capable of doing well. There are latent capacities to be developed. There are also capacities to be discovered.
Children should be taught to enjoy overcoming difficulties and also that this gives a special value to life; when one knows how to do it, it destroys boredom for ever and gives a completely new interest to life.
We are on earth to progress and we have everything to learn.
14 January 1971
Yesterday you wrote: “There are latent capacities to be developed. There are also capacities to be discovered.”
What is the role of the teacher or the instructor in the discovery of these capacities?
The teacher should not be a book that is read aloud, the same for everyone, no matter what his nature and character.
The first duty of the teacher is to help the student to know himself and to discover what he is capable of doing.
For that one must observe his games, the activities he is drawn to naturally and spontaneously and also what he likes to learn, whether his intelligence is awake, the stories he enjoys, the activities that interest him, the human achievements that attract him.
The teacher must find out the category to which each of the children in his care belongs. And if he discovers, after careful observation, two or three exceptional children who are eager to learn and love to progress, he should help them to make use of their energies for this purpose by giving them the freedom of choice that encourages individual growth.
The old method of the seated class to which the teacher gives the same lesson for all, is certainly economical and easy, but also very ineffective, and so time is wasted for everybody.
15 January 1972
You have written: “If after careful observation, he (the teacher) discovers two or three exceptional children who are eager to learn and love to progress, he should help them to make use of their energies for this purpose by giving them the freedom of choice that encourages individual growth.”
Do you mean that freedom of choice should be given only to exceptional children? What about the others?
I said we should give freedom of choice to exceptional children because for them it is absolutely indispensable if we truly want to help them to develop fully.
Of course this freedom of choice can be given to all the children, and after all it is a good way to find their true nature; but most of them will prove to be lazy and not very interested in studies. But, on the other hand, they may be skilful with their hands and willingly learn to make things. This should also be encouraged. In this way the children will find their true place in society, and will be ready to fulfil it when they grow up.
Everyone should be taught the joy of doing well whatever he does, whether it is intellectual, artistic or manual work and, above all, the dignity of any work, whatever it may be, when it is done with care and skill.
16 January 1972
For the exceptional children, do you think that we should turn their energies towards their special talent or is it better to direct them towards an overall development?
It depends entirely on the child and his capacities.
18 January 1972
Once I asked you whether, in our programme of education, we should teach the children to do some disinterested work for the Ashram, at least once a week. And you answered:
“It is always good to do some disinterested work. But it becomes much better if this work becomes enjoyable and not a boring task.”
Could you suggest how we could introduce this into our programme?
If the children were able to see the different kinds of work they can do, the inclination to do one thing or another would awaken in them and it would become as enjoyable as a game for them, if they are really intelligent.
When you said that we should observe the games of the children, what age did you have in mind?
It depends entirely on the child. Some are already awake at the age of seven, some take longer.
What is important is to give the children the opportunity to see and judge for themselves.
The following took place orally:
Mother, from seven to what age?
One could say about eighteen. It depends on the case. Some children are fully developed at the age of fourteen or fifteen. It is different for each one. It depends on the case.
You have written: “The teacher must find out the category to which each of the children in his care belongs.”
How can we distinguish the categories of children?
By watching them live.
To be able to classify the children one must come to know their character by observing their habits and reactions.
The teacher must not be a machine for reciting lessons, he must be a psychologist and an observer.
19 January 1972
Should we group the children of each category together?
That has both advantages and disadvantages. The grouping of students should be made according to the resources at our disposal and the facilities we have. The arrangement should be flexible so that it can be improved upon if necessary.
To be a good teacher one must have the insight and knowledge of a Guru with unfailing patience.
You have said: “The first duty of the teacher is to help the student to know himself.”
How can we help a student to know himself? For that, isn’t it necessary for us to have attained a higher level of consciousness ourselves?
Oral comment: Oh yes, certainly!
The attitude of the teacher must be one of a constant will to progress, not only in order to know ever better what he wants to teach the students, but above all to be a living example to show them what they can become.
(After five minutes of meditation She wrote again) The teacher must be a living example of what he asks the students to become.
Is this the only way of teaching the students to know themselves?
The Mother commented: It is the only right way. You see, if a teacher tells them, “You must not lie” and then he lies himself or “You must not lose your temper” and then loses it himself, what will the result be? The children will not only lose confidence in the teacher but also in what he teaches.
Mother,
Every day I type out what you write, and Promesse takes it to the School to show it to the other teachers, and they like it very much. And now some teachers are giving me questions to ask you.
The Mother laughed and said: Good ! It is very good !
When we try to organise the children into categories based on their capacity for initiative, we see that there is a mixture of levels of academic achievement in various subjects. That makes the work very difficult for certain teachers who are in the habit of taking ordinary classes in the old conventional way.
We are here to do difficult things. If we repeat what others do, it is not worth the trouble; there are already many schools in the world.
Men have tried to cure the ignorance of the masses by adopting the easiest methods. But now we have passed that stage and humanity is ready to learn better and more fully. It is up to those who are in the lead to show the way so that others can follow.
How do you envisage the organisation of our education, so that the children may discover their capacities and then follow the path of their individual development?
Oral Comment: This is what we are trying to do here. It depends on the teacher. I do not have a theory one could put down on paper.
This is what we are trying to do here. But doing it well depends on the teacher, on the trouble he takes, and on his power of psychological understanding. He must be capable of recognising the character and possibilities of the student, so that he can adapt his teaching to the needs of each one.
22 January 1972
Should the teachers be classified by the subject they teach? Is that the best way?
Classification by subject is important when one wants to study one or several subjects in depth, once an overall grounding that is useful for everyone has already been provided equally to all: for example, reading and writing, speaking at least one language correctly, a little general geography, a general outline of modern science and a few indispensable rules of conduct for group or communal living.
For a detailed and thorough study of one subject the appropriate age depends on the child and his capacity to learn.
The precocious ones can start at the age of twelve. For most it will be more like fifteen and even seventeen or eighteen.
And when one wants to master a particular subject, especially a scientific or philosophical subject, one must be ready to spend one’s whole life learning; one must never stop studying.
I come back to the same question What do you mean exactly by “categories of children”? Do these categories correspond only to their character or also to their interests?
The categories of character.
In assessing the possibilities of a child, ordinary moral notions are not of much use. Natures that are rebellious, indisciplined, obstinate, often conceal qualities that no one has understood how to use. Indolent natures may also have a great potential for calm and patience.
It is a whole world to discover and easy solutions are not of much use. The teacher must be even more hard-working than the student in order to learn how to distinguish and make the best use of different characters.
23 January 1972
Yesterday you mentioned rules of conduct. What rules of conduct do you consider indispensable in our community?
Patience, perseverance, generosity, broad-mindedness, insight, calm and understanding firmness, and control over the ego until it is completely mastered or even abolished.
Mother, this is not exactly what I wanted to ask. What I understood by rules of conduct was “etiquette” or “manners”.
Etiquettes belong to the moral rules of ordinary life and have no value from our point of view.
You have spoken of arranging students according to categories of character. In our present state of ignorance, if we try to impose a classification, will it not be something very arbitrary and even a dangerous game for the growing child?
Naturally, it is better not to take arbitrary and ignorant decisions. It would be disastrous for the children.
What I have said is for those who are capable of recognising characters and assessing them properly, otherwise the result would be awful and more harmful than the usual mechanical teaching.
24 January 1972
To be able to do what You have asked of us, isn’t it the teacher’s first duty to do an intense and sincere yoga instead of acting in a hasty and arbitrary manner?
Certainly! (Oral comment)
She wrote:
What I have written is an ideal to be realised; you must prepare yourselves to be able to do it.
To be able to adopt this method, the teacher must be a perceptive psychologist and that requires time and experience.
You have said that the teacher must be a perceptive psychologist, a Guru. You know very well that we are far from being that. The teachers being what they are, how should the system of education be organised in order to improve our way of teaching?
By doing what they can, knowing that they have everything to learn. In this way they will gain experience and do things better and better. That is the best way to learn, and if they do it in all sincerity, in two or three years they will become experts and will be truly useful.
Naturally, work done in this way becomes really interesting and makes the teachers as well as the students progress.
25 January 1972
Should we also have categories for the teachers as we do for the children — according to their way of teaching, of seeing things, and their affinity for certain subjects?
For that, the teacher who organises the studies must be a perceptive psychologist, observant and full of goodwill, knowing that he too has to learn and progress.
The true attitude is to take life as a field of perpetual study, where one must never stop learning and think that one knows everything there is to know. One can always know more and understand better.
If the children want to do practical work from the age of nine in the field of electronics or technology, should they be encouraged?
Yes, of course.
In this method of work, the teacher must devote sufficient time to each one individually. But the teachers are few in number. How can we respect the needs of each one as fully as possible and at the same time satisfy all those who ask for help?
One cannot make a theory. It depends on each case, on the possibilities and circumstances. What the teacher must have is an attitude that he must apply as well as he can, and better and better if possible .
26 January 1972
You said the other day that there were teachers who were not capable, and that they should stop teaching. What is the criterion for assessing the capacity of a teacher?
The Mother answered orally: First, he must understand, he must know what we want to do and understand well how to do it.
Secondly, he must have a power of psychological discernment in dealing with the students, he must understand his students and what they are capable of doing.
Naturally, he must know the subject he is teaching. If he is teaching French, he must know French . If he is teaching English,
Geography, Science, he must know what he is teaching.
But the most important thing is that he must have psychological discernment ...
31 January 1972
Nowadays in schools elsewhere, especially in the West, much importance is given to “sex-education”.
The Mother said: What is “sex-education”? What do they teach?
Myself, I don’t like people to be preoccupied with these things. In my time we were never preoccupied with these things. Now the children talk about them all the time—it is in their minds, it is in their feelings. It is disgusting. It is difficult, very difficult.
But if they talk about it elsewhere, we have to talk about it here too. We should tell them the consequences of these things. Especially the girls should be told that the consequences can be disastrous. When I was young, we never spoke about all that, we never paid attention to those things. In those days, we didn’t talk about all that. Here, I did not want this subject to be discussed. But if everyone outside is talking about it, we also have to talk about it here.
This is why we do physical culture. In this way the energies are used to develop strength, beauty, skill and all that; and one is more capable of control. You will see, those who do a lot of physical culture are much more capable of controlling their impulses.
(After meditation ) The energies that human beings use for reproduction, which take such a predominant place in their lives, should instead be sublimated and used for progress and higher development, to prepare the advent of the new race. But first the vital and the physical must be freed from all desire; otherwise there is a great risk of disaster.
1 February 1972
What is the essential difference between the behaviour and responsibility of a teacher towards young children and towards older students (over fourteen or fifteen, for instance)?
Naturally, as the consciousness and intelligence develop in the children, it is more and more through them that we have to deal with the children.
3 February 1972
Should one punish a child?
The Mother said: Punish? What do you mean by punish? If a child is noisy in class and prevents the others form working, you must tell him to behave himself; and if he continues, you can send him out of the class. That is not a punishment, it is a natural consequence of his actions. But to punish! To punish! You have no right to punish. Are you the Divine? Who has given you the right to punish? The children can also punish you for your actions. Are you perfect yourselves? Do you know what is good or what is bad? Only the Divine knows. Only the Divine has the right to punish.
She wrote: The vibrations you put forth put you in contact with corresponding vibrations. If you put forth harmful and destructive vibrations, quite naturally you draw similar vibrations towards yourself, and that is the real punishment, if you want to use the word; but it does not correspond at all to the divine organisation of the world.
Every action has its consequences, good or bad, but the idea of reward and punishment is a purely human idea and does not at all correspond to the way the Truth-Consciousness acts. If the Consciousness that rules the world acted according to human principles of punishment and reward, there would have been no men left on earth for a long time.
When men become pure enough to transmit the divine vibrations without distorting them, then suffering will be abolished from the world. That is the only way.
The Mother told me: Some teachers have written to me that they have read what I wrote for you and that it had done them a lot of good. So you can continue showing them.
This prayer Mother?
Yes, if you type this out on a piece of paper:
“We want to be true servitors of the Divine.”
And then the prayer:
“Supreme Lord, Perfect Consciousness, You alone know truly what we are, what we can do, what progress we must make to be capable and worthy of serving You as we would. Make us conscious of our possibilities, but also of our difficulties, so that we may overcome them in order to serve You faithfully.”
And then this, the conclusion:
“The supreme happiness is to be true servitors of the Divine.”
There are people whom it helps. Did you show them your notebook?
I don’t show this (Meditation) notebook to everyone. I type out the questions on education from the other notebook and give them to the school. But I don’t show this notebook to everybody.
No, this one is for you. But you can copy things like this which are for everybody. You can show it to all those who have goodwill. I have received several letters telling me that it had done them a lot of good. So you can continue.
Yes, Mother, I don’t show this (Meditation) notebook to anyone because I thought that you wanted to use it immediately for the Bulletin.
Not all of it. For example, I wouldn’t put this in the Bulletin.
14 February 1972
Concerning the categories you have mentioned for the school, should there also be similar categories for physical education?
For physical exercises, it all depends on the body and its capacities. Easy exercises that are not tiring can be given to everyone.
Afterwards, it all depends on the body, on its strength, its health, its resistance to fatigue, and so on.
Exercises should be given according to capacity and the children should be grouped according to these capacities. It is a matter of experience and observation.
To be a good teacher of physical culture one must know anatomy, the various functions of the body, their development and their functioning.
16 February 1972
Could you write something on discipline for us?
Discipline is indispensable to physical life. The proper functioning of the organs is based on discipline. It is precisely when an organ or a part of the body does not obey the general discipline of the body that one falls ill.
Discipline is indispensable to progress.
It is only when one imposes a rigorous and enlightened discipline on oneself that one can be free from the discipline of others.
The supreme discipline is integral surrender to the Divine and to allow nothing else either in one’s feelings or one’s activities. Nothing should be omitted from this surrender. It is the supreme rigorous discipline.
17 February 1972
Yesterday You wrote on discipline. But what attitude should we take towards the imposed discipline to which we must conform in communal life?
Communal life must necessarily have a discipline so that the weaker are not bullied by the stronger; and this discipline must be respected by all those who want to live in that community.
But for the community to be happy, this discipline should be set by the most broad-minded person or persons, if possible the person or persons who are conscious of the Divine Presence and are surrendered to it.
For the world to be happy, power should only be in the hands of those who are conscious of the Divine Will. But for the time being this is impossible because the number of those who are truly conscious of the Divine Will is very small, and because they necessarily have no ambition.
To tell the truth, when the time comes for this realisation, it will take place quite naturally.
The duty of each one is to prepare himself for it as completely as he can.
18 February 1972
Some people criticise the fact that we have too many rules in our physical education and that we impose too much discipline on the children.
There can be no physical education without discipline. The body itself could not function without a strict discipline. Actually, the failure to recognise this fact is the principal cause of illness.
She added orally: Digestion, growth, circulation of the blood, everything, everything is a discipline. Thoughts, movements, gestures, everything is a discipline, and if there is no discipline people immediately fall ill.
The students, especially the adolescents, often complain that they have to do even the physical exercises that they don’t like or do not find interesting. Would you reply to this, Mother?
We are not on earth to follow our own sweet will but to progress.
Physical exercises are not done for fun or to satisfy one’s whims, but as a methodical discipline to develop and strengthen the body.
The true wisdom is to take pleasure in everything one does and this is possible if one takes everything one does as a way to progress. Perfection is difficult to attain and there is always a great deal of progress to be made in order to achieve it.
To seek pleasure is certainly the best way to make yourself miserable.
If you truly want peace and happiness, your constant preoccupation should be:
“What progress must I make in order to be able to know and serve the Divine?”
The Mother then added: Show this to C. She should not have listened to what the children say. She has been here a long time. She should know this.
That “To seek pleasure is certainly the best way to make yourself miserable” is an absolute truth. It states that if you want to satisfy your little ego, you are sure to be unhappy. For sure! It is the best way to make yourself miserable. To say: “Oh, that bores me; oh, I must do what I like; oh, that person isn’t nice to me; oh, life isn’t giving me what I want. Oh!”
“Am I what I should be?”
“Am I doing what I should be doing?”
“Am I progressing as much as I should?”
That becomes interesting! Yes!
“What must I learn to make fresh progress? What weakness do I have to cure? What shortcoming do I have to overcome? What weakness do I have to get rid of?”
And then naturally, at once comes: “How can I become capable of understanding and serving the Divine?”
I have written it down specially so that you can show it to C.
Yes, Mother, she knows, but she wanted to know how to explain it to the children.
The Mother said: Yes, that is all there is to say.
19 February 1972
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