61 – There is nothing finite. It is only the Infinite who can create for Himself limits. The finite can have no beginning nor end, for the very act of conceiving its beginning and end declares its infinity. How can we have the experience of the Infinite? The only way is to come out of the consciousness of the finite. It is in the hope of achieving this that all yogic disciplines have been developed and undertaken from time immemorial until now. Much has been written on the subject, but little has been done. Only a very small number of individuals have so far succeeded in escaping from the finite to plunge into the Infinite. And yet, as Sri Aurobin

154 – Hell and Heaven exist only in the soul's con- sciousness. Ay, but so does the earth and its lands and seas and fields and deserts and mountains and rivers. All world is nothing but arrangement of the Soul's seeing. 155 – There is only one soul and one existence; there- fore we all see one objectivity only; but there are many knots of mind and ego in the one soul-existence, therefore we all see the one Object in different lights and shadows. 156 – The Idealist errs; it is not Mind which created the worlds, but that which created mind has created them. Mind only mis-sees, because it sees partially and

essential truth, the truth of essential Love- and cling to it. 25 December 1965 115 – The world is a long recurring decimal with Brahman for its integer. The period seems to begin and end, but the fraction is eternal; it will never have an end and never had any real beginning. 116 – The beginning and end of things is a conventional term of our experience; in their true existence these terms have no reality, there is no end and no begin- ning.   Only last week there was a whole development of this experience. In fact, it is the same thing for worlds as for individuals, for universes as for worlds. Only the duration is different –

BHAKTI (Devotion) Fourth Period of Commentaries (1969 -1970) Bhakti (Devotion) Devotion is the key which opens the door to liberation. The Mother 408 − I am not a Bhakta, for I have not renounced the world for God. How can I renounce what He took from me by force and gave back to me against my will? These things are too hard for me. 409 − I am not a Bhakta, I am not a Jnani, I am not a worker for the Lord. What am I then? A tool in the hands of my Master, a flute blown upon by the divine Herd-Boy, a leaf driven by the breath of the Lord. 410 − Devotion is not utterly fulfilled till it becomes

83 – Shame has admirable results and both in aesthetics and in morality we could ill spare it; but for all that it is a badge of weakness and the proof of ignor- ance. One might ask how taking things seriously has pre- vented life from being more perfect. Virtue has always spent its time eliminating whatever it found bad in life, and if all the virtues of the various countries of the world had been put together, very few things would remain in existence. Virtue claims to seek perfection, but perfection is a totality. So the two movements contradict each other. A virtue that eliminates, reduces, fixes limits, and a perfection that accepts eve

* THE MOTHER - 1960

290 – There are many kinds of forbearance. I saw a coward hold out his cheek to the smiter; I saw a physical weakling struck by a strong and self-approving bully look quietly and intently at the aggressor; I saw God incarnate smile lovingly on those who stoned him. The first was ridiculous, the second terrible, the third divine and holy. Sri Aurobindo tells us that to radiate love in all circumstances is a sign of the Divine who has equal love for the one who strikes him and the one who worships him – what a lesson for humanity ! 17 January 1970 * 291 – It is noble to pardon thine own injurers, but not so noble to pardon wro

76 – Europe prides herself on her practical and scientific organisation and efficiency. I am waiting till her organisation is perfect; then a child shall destroy her.¹ When these Aphorisms were published in the Bulletin you said that this one should be omitted. It is a rather mysterious Aphorism, which I would very much like to understand. But I would like to know whether now we should publish it or not? Where did Sri Aurobindo write that? In the Aphorisms. Yes, but he did not write a special book; these texts were collected from here and there. No, no, not at all. Sri Aurobindo had a special note- book in which he wrote

Karma (Works) Fourth Period of Commentaries (1969 -1970) Karma (Works)   Self-development and spiritual aspiration enable one to master one's karma. 25 November 1969 * To learn is good. To become is better. 25 November 1969 * 206 – God leads man while man is misleading himself; the higher nature watches over the stumblings of his lower mortality; this is the tangle and contradic- tion out of which we have to escape into the self-unity to which alone is possible a clear knowledge and a faultless action. The only safety in life, the only way to escape from the consequences of past errors, is

43 – If God draw me towards Heaven, then, even if His other hand strive to keep me in Hell, yet must I struggle upwards. Does not God know what He wants for us? Why should He want to pull us in two opposite directions? God knows perfectly well what He wants for us. He wants to bring us all back to Him in a perfect union. The goal is one, the same for all; but the means, the methods and the procedures for reaching it are innumerable. There are just as many as there are beings on earth; and each one of these means is an exact expression of the will of the Supreme Lord, who, in his integral vision and perfect wisdom, does what is needful for each person.