Other Subjects

Some, of course, might ask why any sports at all in an Ashram which ought to be concerned only with meditation and inner experiences and the escape from life into Brahman. But that applies only to the ordinary kind of Ashram to which we have got accustomed and this is not that orthodox kind of Ashram. It includes life in Yoga, and once we admit life we can include anything that we find useful for life's ultimate and immediate purpose and not iconsistent with the works of the Spirit. After all, the orthodox Ashram came into being only after Brahman began to shun all connection with the world and the shadow of Buddism stalked over all the land and the Ashrams turned into monasteries. The old Ashrams were not entirely like that; the boys and young things belonging to life . . . . (10 July 1948)

*

It might be better to remind you that we are here for a special work, a work which is done nowhere else. We want to come in contact with the supreme consciousness, the universal consciousness, we want to bring it down in ourselves and to manifest it. But for that we must have a very solid base; our base is our physical being, our body. Therefore we have to build up a body solid, healthy, enduring, skilful, agile strong, ready for everything. There is no better way to prepare the body that physical exercise: sports, athletics, gymnastics, and all games are the best means to develop and strengthen the body.

Therefore I call you to go through the competitions beginning today, full-heartedly with all your energy and all you will. (1 April 1966)

*

On this occasion of our physical education and sportive activities; I must tell you once more that for us spiritual life does not mean contempt for Matter but its divinisation. We do not want to reject the body but to transform it. For this physical education is one of the means most directly effective.

So I invite you to participate in the programme beginning today with enthusiasm and discipline- discipline, because it is the indispensable condition of order; enthusiasm because it is the essential condition of success. (1 April 1967)

*

Do not forget that to succeed in our yoga one must have a strong and healthy body.

For this, the body must do exercise, have an active and regular life, work physically, eat well, and sleep well.

It is in good health that the way towards transformation is found. (18 April 1971)

Physical culture is the best way of developing the consciousness of the body, and the more the body is consious, 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)

Questions And Answers

Sweet Mother,

There are too many tight knots in the immense organisation of this Ashram. When will the promised day come when there will be nothing by unmixed harmony, joy and peace?

If each one were more concerned with correcting his own faults that with criticising those of others, the work would go more quickly. (29 September 1962)

*

Sweet Mother,

In a discussion with a friend about our physical education programme and the countless other activities we, have here, he asked me: "Can you give me a valid example of even one person who takes part in so many activities: and maintains a fairly high standard one single person in the whole world?"

Do not forget—all of you who are here—that we want to realise something that does not yet exist upon earth; so it is absurd to seek elsewhere for an example of what we want to do.

He also told me this: "Mother says that there is full freedom and every facility for those who are gifted in a. particular subject and want to pursue it to the full. But where is this freedom to become, for instance, a great musician?" Sweet Mother, can you please.'say a few words on the subject of this freedom ?

The freedom I speak of is the freedom to follow the will Of the soul, not all the whims-of the mind and vital.

The freedom I speak of is an-austere truth that strives to overcome all the weaknesses and desires of the lower, ignorant being.

The freedom I speak of is the freedom to consecrate oneself wholly and without reserve to the highest, noblest, divines' aspiration in oneself. Who among you sincerely follows this path? It is easy to judge, but more difficult to understand, and far more difficult still to realise. 18 November 1962

- The Mother

(CWM 16:275-76)

Sweet Mother,

When a stranger asks us what the Ashram is, how can we give him a reply that is both short and correct?

The Ashram is the cradle of a new world, of the creation of tomorrow. And if other questions are put to you, the only reply to be made is: you must read the books and study the teaching. 29 July 1964

- The Mother

(CWM 16:301-02)

*

Sweet Mother,

We see many people leaving the Ashram' either to seek a career or to study; and they are mostly those who have been here since childhood. There is a kind of uncertainty in our young people when they see others leave here and they say cautiously: "Who knows whether it won't be my turn some day! " I feel there is a force behind all this. What is it?

This uncertainty and these departures are due to the lower nature, which resists the influence of the yogic power and tries to slow down the divine action, not out of ill-will but in order to be sure that nothing is forgotten or neglected in the haste to reach the goal. Few are ready for a total consecration. Many children who have studied here need to come to grips with life before they can be ready for the divine work, and that is why they leave to undergo the test of ordinary life. 11 November 1964

- The Mother

(CWM 16:309)

Sweet Mother,

How can one make use of every moment of this unique privilege of living here in the Ashram?

Never forget where you are.

Never forget where you are living and the true aim of life. Remember this at every moment and in all circumstances. In this way you will make the best use of your existence. (30 December! 964)

- The Mother

(CWM 16:312)

*

Sweet Mother,

Somebody asked me this question: "Is it not a great loss for human society if persons endowed with an exceptional capacity to serve mankind, such as a gifted doctor or lawyer, come to stay here in the Ashramfor their own salvation? They could perhaps serve the Divine better by serving men and the world! "

Nobody comes here for his own salvation because Sri Aurobindo does not believe in salvation', for us salvation is a meaningless word. We are here to prepare for the transformation of the earth and men so that the new creation may take place, and if we make individual efforts to progress, it is because this progress is indispensable for the accomplishment of the work. 24 February 1965

- The Mother

(CWM 16:314)

Sweet Mother,

When department heads or superiors make mistakes or commit an injustice towards their subordinates, what should be the attitude of those affected by these errors?

Should one keep silent and say, "It is none of my business", or should one try to point out the mistake to them?

Neither the one nor the other.

First and always, we must ask ourselves what our instrument of judgment is. One must ask, "What is my judgment based on? Do I have perfect 'knowledge? What in me is judging? Do I have the divine consciousness? Am I completely disinterested in this matter? Am I free of all desire and all ego?"

And since the answer to all these questions 'will be the same, namely, "NO", the honest and sincere conclusion must be: "I cannot judge, I do not have the elements needed for a true judgment; therefore I Will not judge, I will keep quiet. 19May l965

- The Mother

(CWM 16:320-21)

Sweet Mother,

I really feel that there is a great lack of harmony and cooperation here among us and among the various departments. This results in a great waste of money and energy. Where does this disharmony come from and when will it be set right? Or is this feeling I have only a reflection of my own nature!

Here is the best answer to your questions, written by Sri Aurobindo:

Each one carries in himself the seeds of this disharmony, and his most urgent work is to purify himself of it by a constant aspiration. (1 September 1965)

- The Mother

(CWM 16:326)

Sweet Mother,

Formerly you were very strict about permitting people to come and live in the Ashram. Now it is no longer so. Why?

As long as the Ashram was reserved for those who wanted to practise yoga, it was natural to be strict.

As soon as children were admitted here, it was no longer possible to be strict and the nature of the life changed. Now the Ashram has become a symbolic representation of life on earth and everything can find a place in it, provided it has the will to progress towards a diviner life. (19 January 1966)

- The Mother

(CWM 16:332-33)

Sweet Mother,

We are supposed to be attempting something that no one has ever tried before. But, Mother, isn't it true that we now tend to direct our lives and activities more and more towards the principles and ways of ordinary life ? In that case, aren't we straying from the true path ?

You are still in the old nit that separates spirituality from life. Whereas Sri Aurobindo has declared, "All life is Yoga", and affirmed that it is in life that one must do Yoga. You seem to have forgotten this. (30March 1966)

- The Mother

(CWM 16:335)

Sweet Mother,

lsn't this immense freedom we are given dangerous for those of us who are not yet awake, who are still unconscious? What is the explanation for this opportunity, this good fortune we have been granted? Danger and risk are part of every forward movement. Without them nothing would ever stir; and also they are indispensable for moulding the character of those who want to progress. (13 April 1966)

- The Mother

(CWM 16:335)

*

Sweet Mother,

I feel it is most shameful on our part to waste the Divine Grace, to misuse this unique privilege granted to us here. But, Mother, why do we do this? For, each one of us has surely felt and enjoyed—at least once in his life, in a blessed moment—the infinite Splendour which is within our reach and awaits us. Yet there are so few of us who take the yoga seriously. Why?

It is quite simply unconsciousness, incoercible TAMAS. (27 July 1966)

- The Mother

(CWM 16:338-9)

Sweet Mother,

For several years now, we have been hearing that the Ashram is in a terrible financial condition, and from time to time we clearly see this for ourselves. But, Mother, we also see extravagant spending by certain individuals and departments. Moreover, these expenditures are possible only through your generosity. So how can it be said that the Ashram is undergoing afinancial crisis?

But perhaps it is just because certain individuals and departments are spending extravagantly that there is a financial crisis!...

Otherwise all is well. 30 November 1966

- The Mother

(CWM 16:344)

*

There is something here that is so much better than the appearances, something like a warm and living sun in the heart and in the spirit.

This is true discernment and I congratulate you. Those who see only the appearances are unable to discern in them the differences, subtle but of capital importance, which arise from the presence of a true and luminous consciousness. (11 June 1967)

- The Mother

(CWM 13:114)

On the occasion of Sri Aurobindo's centenary, many people will come to the Ashram. What can we do to show them the reality of the Ashram?

Live it. Live this reality. All the rest — talking, etc.—is of no use.

How to prepare ourselves for it?

By communion with the psychic being, the incarnate Divine, deep within us,

an intense aspiration,

a perfect concentration,

a constant dedication.

- The Mother

(CWM 13:153)

A Dream

There should be somewhere on earth a place Which no nation could claim as its own, where all human beings of goodwill who have a sincere 'aspiration could live freely as citizens of the world and obey one single authority, that-of the supreme truth; a place of peace, concord and harmony where all the fighting instincts of man would be used exclusively to conquer the causes of his sufferings and miseries, to surmount his weaknesses and ignorance, to triumph over his limitations and incapacities; a place where the needs of the spirit and the concern for progress would take precedence over the satisfaction of desires and passions, the search for-pleasure and material enjoyment. In this place, children would be able to grow and develop integrally without losing contact with their souls; education would be given not for passing examinations or obtaining certificates and posts but to enrich existing faculties and bring forth new ones. In this place, titles and positions would be replaced by opportunities to serve and organise; the bodily needs of each one would be equally provided for, and intellectual, moral and spiritual superiority would be expressed in the general organisation not by an increase in the pleasures and powers of life but by increased duties and responsibilities. Beauty in all its artistic forms, painting, sculpture, music, literature, would be equally accessible to all; the ability to share in the joy it brings would be limited only by the capacities of each one and not by social or financial position. For in this ideal place money would no longer be the sovereign lord; individual worth would have a far greater importance than that of material wealth and social standing. There, work would not be a way to earn one's living but a way to express oneself and to develop one's capacities and possibilities while being of service to the community as a whole, which, for its own part, would provide for each individual's subsistence and sphere of action. In short, it would be a place where human relationships, which are normally based almost exclusively on competition and strife, would be replaced by relationships of emulation in doing well, of collaboration and real brotherhood. The earth is certainly not ready to realise such an ideal, for mankind does not yet possess sufficient knowledge to understand and adopt it nor the conscious force that is indispensable in order to execute it; that is why I call it a dream.

And yet this dream is in the course of becoming a reality; this is what we are striving for in Sri Aurobindo's Ashram, on a very small scale, in proportion to our limited means. The realisation is certainly far from perfect, but it is progressive; little by little we are advancing towards our goal which we hope we may one day be able to present to the world as a practical and effective way to emerge from the present chaos, to be born into a new life that is more harmonious and true. (1954)