5 March 1951                Mother reads a passage about natural calami- ties (Questions and Answers 1929, 5 May).                              Why do disasters occur? Because a higher consciousness wants to manifest it- self in the world, and man and Nature resist it. This is partly true. But I don't think Nature has this feeling. When there is an earthquake, for instance, or a volcano erupts, if there are men staying nearby and these events cause their death, obviously it is for these men a catastrophe, but we could very well imagine that for Nature it is good fun ! We say, “What a terrible wind !” Naturally, for men it is “terrible”, but not

-00_Publisher^s Note.htm Publisher's Note This volume contains the Mother's talks from December 1950 to May 1951. It is worth noting how they originated. The Ashram school was founded in 1943 and by 1950 the first students had learned French fairly well, By this time many more children had come and there were not enough teachers of French. So, when the school year commenced in December 1950, the Mother decided to take the highest class in French three times a week. This was the beginning of these gatherings, which came to be called "Mother's classes". The Mother usually began by reading a passage from her own writings or from the French translations of Sri

13 January 1951 “An aimless life is always a miserable life.” “The Science of Living”, On Education * Why? If one has an aim, one can follow quietly the way which leads to the goal. It is not necessary to have a goal in order to follow the way quietly. So many men who have no goal follow quite calmly the course of their daily round without making any effort! An aim gives joy. Sometimes it takes an entire lifetime to attain one's aim; one would then find joy only at the end of one's life! An aim is an ideal and an ideal is an enrichment. Yes, but one may have an altogether material ideal; it is not the ideal which gives joy.

31 March 1951                Mother reads a question asked during her talk in 1929:              “Can all physical ailments be traced to some disorder in the mind?” Questions and Answers 1929 (16 June) * If there is one mental disorder which can bring about all illnesses, it is fear. But, each man can make his own experiment. If one has a bad throat, this may be due to the fact that the day before one was in a state of depression. Or perhaps one is very unhappy, dissatisfied, one finds everything very bad, and the next day one gets a cold in the head... Everyone must make his own observations. “Each spot of the body is symbolical o

5 April 1951 “Everything here is followed by the supermind; the mind movements and not less the vital, the material movements, all the play of the universe have for it a very deep interest, but of another kind. It is about the same difference as that between the interest taken in a puppet-play by one who holds the strings and knows what the puppets are to do and the will that moves them and knows that they can do only what it moves them to do, and the interest taken by another who observes the play but sees only what is happening from moment to moment and knows nothing else. The one who follows the play and is outside

17 April 1951 “The spiritual life reveals the one essence in all, but reveals too its infinite diversity; it works for diversity in oneness and for perfection in that diversity.” Questions and Answers 1929 (4 August) * This is the very motive of the creation of the universe, that is to say, all are one, all is one in its origin, but each thing, each element, each being has as its mission the revealing of one part of this unity to itself, and it is this particularity which must be developed in everyone, while awakening at the same time the sense of the original unity. This is “to work for unity in diversity”. And the perfection in that diversity lies

20 January 1951 “To complete this movement of inner discovery, it is good not to neglect the mental development. For the mental instrument can be equally a great help or a great hindrance. In its natural state the human mind is always limited in its vision, narrow in its under- standing, rigid in its conceptions, and a certain effort is needed to enlarge it, make it supple and deep.” “The Science of Living”, On Education * Unfortunately, most people, the more they think, the more they believe themselves superior. The mind is satisfied with itself and does not aspire much for progress – thinks it knows everything. And many pe

14 March 1951 “When you come to the Divine, you must abandon all mental conceptions; but, instead of doing that, you throw your conceptions upon the Divine and want the Divine to obey them. The only true attitude for a Yogi is to be plastic and ready to obey the Divine command whatever it may be...” Questions and Answers 1929 (19 May) * What is “plasticity”?                              That which can easily change its form is “plastic”. Figuratively, it is suppleness, a capacity of adaptation to circumstances and necessities. When I ask you to be plastic in relation to the Divine, I mean not to resist the Divine with the ri

10 March 1951 “The power of money is at present under the influence or in the hands of the forces and beings of the vital world. It is because of this influence that you never see money going in any considerable amount to the cause of Truth. Always it goes astray, because it is in the clutch of the hostile forces and is one of the prin- cipal means by which they keep their grip upon the earth. The hold of the hostile forces upon money- power is powerfully, completely and thoroughly organ- ised and to extract anything out of this compact organisation is a most difficult task. Each time that you try to draw a little of th

14 April 1951                Mother reads a question asked during her talk in 1929:              “Is not surrender the same as sacrifice ?” Questions and Answers 1929 (4 August) * Who is going to answer? What is the difference? Surrender comes spontaneously.                              I congratulate those whose surrender is spontaneous ! It is not so easy. No, that is not the difference. Sacrifice diminishes the being.                               That is true, but why ? One thing is so, so simple – is the very meaning of the word. To sacrifice means to give up something to which one clings. To sacrifice one's life is