quite suitable for a young woman's mind. But it would have been easy to make these cuts, and the rest is very good. (The French teacher continued her search for texts and suggested La France d'aujourd'hui by Marc Blanc- pain.) I have just been looking at the book, with interest. This time, it is very good.  May 1960 * Finding a Programme of Work (The French teacher outlined a study course on the history of civilisation for one of her students, a young Indian teacher, and submitted the project to Mother.) Yes, this work would be of interest, but only if it is based on Sri Aurobindo's The Human Cycle (it has

Reading Sweet Mother, You have said that I do not think well. How can one develop one's thought? You must read with great attention and concentration, not novels or dramas, but books that make you think. You must meditate on what you have read, reflect on a thought until you have understood it. Talk little, remain quiet and concentrated and speak only when it is indispensable.  31 May 1960 * I am reading a book on motor-cars, but I read it hastily; I skip the descriptions of complicated mecha- nisms. If you don't want to learn a thing thoroughly, conscientiously and in all its details, it is better not to take it up at all. It is a great mistake t

Messages for Competitions Athletics Competition 1959 Behind the appearances that the physical eyes can see, there is a reality much more concrete and lasting. It is in this reality that I am with you today and will be during all the athletic season. The force, the power, the light and the consciousness will be in your midst constantly to give to each one, according to his receptivity, the success in his endeavour and the progress which is the crowning result of all sincere effort.  19 July 1959 * Gymnastics Competition 1959 What I told you at the opening of the athletics stands good for the Gymnastic Competition; I will be with you all th

Languages To unite East and West, to give the best of one to the other and make a true synthesis, a university will be established for all kinds of studies. Our school will form a nucleus of that university.  In our school I have put French as the medium of instruction. One of the reasons is that French is the cultural language of the world. The children can learn the Indian languages at a later stage. If more stress is laid upon Indian languages at present, then the natural tendency of the Indian mind will be to fall back upon the ancient literature, culture and religion. You know very well that we realise the value of ancient Indian things, but we are here to create something

11 November 19671 So? A: The reply you gave to B's recent letter2 has been interpreted in two different ways. Some lay emphasis on the first sentence which says, “It would be infinitely preferable that the division should disappear immediately,” and think that we should try to do away with this division at once, right down to the practical level, by adopting a single orga- nisation for the whole school, that is, either a general- isation of the existing free-progress classes or a com- promise. The others think that we should first clear up the psychological differences and spread the spirit of free progress. On the basis o

Concentration and Dispersion In sporting activities those who want to be successful choose a certain line or subject which appeals more to the  and suits their nature; they concentrate on their choice and take great care not to disperse their energies in different directions. As in life a man chooses his career and concentrates all his attention upon it, so the sportsman chooses a special activity and concentrates all his efforts to achieve as much perfection as he can in this line. This perfection comes usually by a building up of spontaneous reflex which is the result of constant repetition of the same movements. But this spontaneous reflex can be, with advantage, replaced by

CONDUCT What a Child Should Always Remember The necessity of an absolute sincerity. The certitude of Truth's final victory. The possibility of constant progress with the will to achieve.   An Ideal Child is good-tempered He does not become angry when things seem to go against him or decisions are not in his favour. is game Whatever he does he does it to the best of his capacity and keeps on doing in the face of almost certain failure. He always thinks straight and acts straight. is truthful He never fears to say the truth whatever may be the consequences. is patient He does not get disheartened if he has to

Aims   Why are we here in the Sri Aurobindo Ashram? There is an ascending evolution in nature which goes from the stone to the plant, from the plant to the animal, from the animal to man. Because man is, for the moment, the last rung at the summit of the ascending evolution, he considers himself as the final stage in this ascension and believes there can be nothing on earth superior to him. In that he is mistaken. In his physical nature he is yet almost wholly an animal, a thinking and speaking animal, but still an animal in his material habits and instincts. Undoubtedly, nature cannot be satisfied with such an imperfect result; she endeavours to bring out a being who will be t

An International University Centre 1 The conditions in which men live on earth are the result of their state of consciousness. To seek to change these conditions without changing the consciousness is a vain chimera. Those who have been able to perceive what could and ought to be done to improve the situation in the various domains of human life economic, political, social, financial, educational and sanitary are individuals who have, to a greater or lesser extent, developed their consciousness in an exceptional way and put themselves in contact with higher planes of consciousness. But their ideas have remained more or less theoretical or, if an attempt has been m

 The Problem of Woman I wish to speak to you about the problem of woman, a problem as old as mankind in appearance, but infinitely older in origin. For if we want to find the law that governs and solves it, we must go back to the origin of the universe, even beyond the creation. Some of the most ancient traditions, perhaps even the most ancient, ascribed the cause of the creation of the universe to the will of a Supreme Absolute to manifest by his own self-objectification; and the first act of this objectification was said to be the emanation of the creative Consciousness. Now, these ancient traditions usually speak of the Absolute in the masculine gender and of the C