18 June 1969

[Nirod-da narrates the Mother's story of the boy whom She had taught to put his fists in his pocket whenever he was angry, so that he wouldn't respond violently. ]

I'm sure many of you here are boys of this sort; about the girls I don't know! Mother surely doesn't mean here the practice of non-violence. What she means, I think, is control over one's passions. Control of passions is one thing, non-violence another. Those who are apostles of non-violence will ask you to practise it in all circumstances; but, as you know, Mother and Sri Aurobindo don't hold this view. There are some occasions when the use of the fist is necessary. If a ruffian comes, then you have to use the fist - your love and compassion will not have any effect.

Buddha said: by love conquer anger, by honesty conquer dishonesty, and conquer the miser by generosity. So here too Buddha upholds non-violence in a way, but I may warn you that he's not an ordinary human being but a great yogi, so he does not fit into the category of ordinary men. What he does by his soul-force, we can't. Here is an example of it: his cousin was very jealous of him, always tried to harm him. Once he let loose a mad elephant when Buddha was coming with his disciples. Buddha was unperturbed, the elephant rushed towards him, but he remained calm and quiet, and the mad elephant became calm.

Mahatma Gandhi was a great advocate of non-violence in all circumstances and there was a great difference of opinion between our Lord and him. You know - those who are acquainted with politics -that Gandhi said, "If the Japanese come to India, we shall not fight - just lie down prostrate at their feet, they'll go back." Another time, he said about Hitler, "I'll try to convert Hitler by my force of nonviolence. If he comes to India, I'll do that." [Reading from Evening Talks with Sri Aurobindo by A BPurani, Sri Aurobindo Ashram Trust, Pondicherry: 1982 (3rd edition), 159):

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Sri Aurobindo: Someone told Jean Herbert³⁷ that the Mother had described Hitler as possessed by a demon. He was greatly shocked and replied that the Mother could not have said so. Of course, the Mother had simply said that he was 'possessed.'

P: That Russian S³⁸ also took Hitler to be a great man; he was full of admiration for him. He said that the Germans of today are the most cultured nation.

Sri Aurobindo: What culture do they have? I should think on the contrary that Getmany before Hitler was more cultured than the present Germany. That reported interview with the Kaiser expressed the contrast very well.

P: Yes, he said the Nazis were a gang of ruffians and blackguards, without God, tradition and dynasty.

If you read Essays on the Gita, you'll see what type of non-violence it preaches. You can, by your common sense, know what Japan would have done if the whole country lay prostrate - they'd have wanted nothing better than that!

Here is a story of non-violence that Sri Ramakrishna used to tell: One day, a sadhu³⁹ was passing through a wood and he met a venomous serpent that would bite any passerby - the serpent had no respect for anybody! When the sadhu came, he was asked not to go that way, but being a sadhu, he went and met the serpent. It was on the point of biting him when he said: "Have I done you any harm? If you continue biting, you'll go to hell, and if you stop doing so, you'll go to heaven." The cobra said, "What shall I do?" The sadhu replied: "Practise non-violence. When somebody comes, don't bite him, just keep still." So many years passed.

One day, the sadhu passed by the same wood and remembered the snake. He looked for it and at last found it in a hole. It had become lean and thin like a skeleton. "What's the matter?" asked the sadhu. "No

37A French author of some repute, interested in the religions of the East, in the Bhagavad Gita, and in the teachings of Sri Aurobindo. He came to Pondicherry and was given permission to translate The Life Divine into French. Sri Aurobindo gave him the Indian name of Vishwabandhu.

38Stalin.

39A wandering hermit pursuing a spiritual life and, often, wearing ochre clothes as a mark of his vocation.

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food?" The snake said, "Well, you asked me to practise non-violence! When all the boys came and played with me, twisting and turning me, I did nothing." "Don't be so foolish," said the sadhu. "I asked you not to bite. But I did not forbid you from hissing to frighten away those who would harm you!" So, this story has shown you some ideas on non-violence which you may practise in suitable circumstances. Of course, it is a sign of great cowardice to beat a man who is inferior, weaker than you - it's no sign of courage.

Now we move on to the next experience of the Mother, on occultism. [Reading from Srinvantu (24 April 1969), 60]:

Towards the beginning of the present century, I went to the town of Tlemsen in Algeria (North Africa). To the north of this town is Algeria proper, to the south is the Sahara desert, Morocco being in the west and Tunisia in the east. During summer, the place becomes unimaginably hot - so hot that you cannot imagine it. I had been there to learn occultism from a great master, Monsieur Theon, who was probably a Polish Jew. During the hot noon, I used to sit under an olive tree daily for meditation. I could endure the heat all right. One day, during deep meditation, I suddenly began to feel uneasy, and, opening my eyes, found a big cobra standing erect about 3 or 4 cubits in front of me, swaying its expanded hood at me and making a hissing sound. These cobras are locally called naga, and their deadly poison kills instantly. At first, I could not understand why he is so enraged at me. Then I thought that 1 must have sat there closing his hole or retreat; there was a hollow in the tree just behind where I sat. But what should I do now? If I move a little, he will at once strike. I did not move, neither became afraid. I just steadily looked at his eyes with a fixed stare, and exerted my will force to the utmost. After some time, the hissing ceased and he appeared a bit softened down. Now very slowly I drew away my legs one after the other, still keeping my stare fixed and exerting will force. At last the vicious snake suddenly lowered its hood and quickly turning round jumped into the waters of the nearby tank. Later I told this incident to Theon. He told me that we all know that the snake lives there in the hole. After his bath it wanted to go to its abode, but since you barred the passage, that's why he was angry. If you give him some milk, he will at once be your friend. Since then, all fear of snakes has left me. Formerly I used to shrink at the sight of a snake; I had an acute aversion that I could not check. But that has left me for good.

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Theon said that Mother was the Supreme Occultist, the greatest occultist ever born. Let me say in parenthesis that, of all things, I'm most afraid of snakes - even ghosts I can stand, but snakes - they're so sneaky, you know! Now here is the story of the toad that came to listen to the Mother playing the piano:

The sitting room was upstairs in Theon's house (the house was built on a hillside) and it was connected by large open doors to a small terrace that sat almost on top of the hill. I played the piano in this room every day. And one day, what did I see hopping in through the open bay windows but an enormous black toad covered with warts - enormous! He sat down on his backside right in the entrance and puffed up his throat: poff! poff! And for the whole time I played, he stayed there going 'Poff! Poff!', as though in a state of delight! When I finished, I turned around and he gave me one last 'Poff'! and hopped away, it was comical!

That reminds me: in the North of Italy, they're very fond of music, like the Tamil people here. Mother was playing on the organ in a church and forgot all time and place, and when She finished, She heard a big applause. She found that many people had gathered behind Her and were enthusiastic in appreciation. They're such music-lovers! She used to practise eight to ten hours a day. This is called tapasya.⁴⁰ You might ask, "Where was the time ?!"