November 21, 1970 (Mother translates a few extracts from Savitri, listens to half of the tenth chapter of Super-manhood and remains absorbed most of the time.) It goes on inside. *** (To Sujata, after Satprem has left.) On December 5 and 9, you two will come after the [collective] meditation. I won't translate, but I want to listen to Supermanhood. [[Satprem will not see Mother on those days: on December 3, she will fall seriously "ill." It will be another dangerous turning point. ]] It's very good.... It's more than very good: it opens the door to the future. Page 374

October 10, 1970 (Mother gives "Transformation" flowers and slips one into her buttonhole, then mentions again the translation of the introduction of On the Way to Supermanhood.) I also thought I would ask Shu-Hu to do it in Chinese. That would be good. Shall I ask him for you? Yes, tell him that I ask him to do it, if he wants to. If we could send it to China ... There's a Chinese in Santiniketan, but I am no longer in touch with him (he gave all his goods to Communist China, and he's staying there). He's a philosopher, a very intelligent man.... But anyway, for the translation it should be Shu-Hu. For the German, I don't know.... We have many Germans, but I don't

April 22, 1970 So, have you brought questions? (Laughing) No! And you? (silence) Page 159 Outwardly, sick people, difficulties, complications.... Very difficult ... very difficult... It has almost come to look like a relentless fury. The only thing is Sri Aurobindos Aphorisms, which are more and more amusing. Have you received them? (Satprem reads) 483 - Sin is a trick and a disguise of Krishna to conceal Himself from the gaze of the virtuous. Behold, O Pharisee, God in the sinner, sin in thyself purifying thy heart; clasp thy brother. "Sin in thy heart," it looks like ... Isn't it a joke? Is the word "sinning" or "fishing"?! [[The two words are

September 5, 1970 The terrible Agenda (Mother looks exhausted. She speaks with great difficulty, as if out of breath.) Me, I have nothing to say; if you have something to ask, I can speak a little. (long silence Mother pants for breath) So then, what do you say? Last time, when you spoke of that long period, you said thatwhat happened was something prodigious and ... almost "idiotic," so simple is it - almost idiotic, you said. I don't remember. Prodigious and at the same time ...so simple that it's almostidiotic. Only there was ... For the first time, the brain was affected, in the sense that I had uncontrolled movements. I can manage to contr

August 22, 1970 (Since August 6, when Mother's attendant went away to be operated on for cancer, Mother has been in a very difficult state of health. Several times Satprem could not see her, and when he did, she signaled that she could not speak. So too this time, except for this question:) Do you have something to say? I've begun writing the new book. Oh, that's good! And what is it called? Page 299 "La Genèse du Surhomme."[[Literally, "The Genesis of the Superman." Later Mother will propose the title On the Way to Supermanhood for the English translation. ]] (Mother nods approvingly and remains long concentrated on Satprem) Page 300

October 17, 1970 I have a letter from Dr. V, he asks a question about something Sri Aurobindo said. (Satprem reads) "In The Synthesis of Yoga, Sri Aurobindo writesabout the perfection of the lower mind, the psychic prana ... What's that? I think it's the vital substance Sri Aurobindo calls like that. "... and its tyrannical demands that represent the chief natural obstacle invading the whole action of the being. "Where does this psychic prana come from? Is it part of the psychic as the word is understood in India's psychological language?... Yes, at that time Sri Aurobindo used the phrase "psychic prana," but it's not at all the psych

April 29, 1970 (Mother has had several heart attacks since the April 24 darshan. Satprem could not see her on the preceding Saturday.) The darshan day was chosen for the transfer of the heart. I thought I would be unable to go to the balcony. But I went just the same. So then, the day after ... (Mother looks quite shaken). And it's not over. Interesting. Nothing pleasant to tell. What about you, do you have questions? I wonder, when those transfers take place in one part of the beingor another, it's not just the consciousness that changes, some thing in the substance changes too, doesn't it? Page 166 It's almost in the functioning. *** (Then M

February 4, 1970 (Mother looks tired.) Do you have something to say?... Neither do I.... I have nothing at all. Are you tired? Not that. Its difficult. (Mother goes into a long meditation which lasts the whole time) More and more, the sense of the uselessness of all one says, especially that. All words are an approximation - an approximation. Page 69

November 7, 1970 (Mother answers a question put by a young disciple.) "I have read a lot and heard about past and future lives, but I strongly feel that it is in this very life that we must realise our highest aspirations, as if it were the last chance given us. For me, allusions to other lives are intangible and aca demic rather than a help and a hope. It is not that I do not believe in reincarnation, but that thought recurs to my mind very often. Mother, is it a narrowness of vision on my part, or what?" The knowledge of past lives is interesting for a knowledge of one's nature and the mastery of one's imperfections. But to tell the truth, it has no cr

February 18, 1970 (Since early February Mother has been coughing a lot. On the 14th, Mother was unwell and could not see Satprem. The following conversation is very important as it marks the visible beginning of a conflict that might be called "medical" and was going to assume acute proportions with every passing year.) Page 81 I've never had such a cold in my whole life! Last night I had a kind of physical nightmare!... Never in my life have I had such things.... I can't say I was quite asleep, but ... How can I explain? It's a mixture between something that tries to find its true inner remedy, and the Doctor who says that if I don't take medicines it'll go on "