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(Concerning two teachers at the Ashram's Center of Education who wrote Mother asking if 'only' Sri Aurobindo should be studied. Pavitra was present during this conversation.) An eight page letter - nothing but passion. (Pavitra:) Yes, Mother. It's all from up here (Mother touches her forehead). (Pavitra:) Passion and reactions. Passion, passion - but this passion and these reactions are the same, thing. And then they stuff into it what they consider intellectual reasonings, but their intellectuality is not so terribly luminous - anyway ... (Mother shows the letter) Here, I'll read this to you for your edification (!).'And finally, Sweet Mother, what I would really like to know is the purpose of our Center of Education. Is it to teach the works of Sri Aurobindo? And only these? All the works or some only? Or is it to prepare the students to read the works of Sri Aurobindo and the Mother? Is it to prepare them for the Ashram life or for 'outside' occupations as well? So many opinions are floating in the air, and even the old disciples from whom we expect some knowledge make so many contradictory statements ... (Laughing, to Pavitra:) I suppose that's for you! 'that we no longer know what to believe nor on what to base ourselves. So what should be our foundation upon which to work in the absence of a true and certain knowledge? Please enlighten us, Mother.' I answered. The letters must have left. I wrote (in English) that it's not so much a question of organization as of attitude - to begin with. Then I said, 'It seems to me that unless the teachers themselves get out of this ordinary intellectuality (!), they will never be able to fulfill their duty.' And this is what I wrote to Z (Mother reads): 'It is not a question of preparing students to read these or some other works. It is a question of drawing all those who are capable of it out of the usual human routine of thought, feelings, action; of giving those who are here every opportunity to reject the slavery of the human way of thinking and acting; of teaching all those who want to listen that there is another, truer way of living, and that Sri Aurobindo taught us to become and to live the true being - and that the purpose of education here is to prepare the children for this life and to make them capable of it. As for all the others, all those who want the human way of thinking and living, the world is vast and there is place there for everyone. We do not want large numbers; we want a selection. We do not want brilliant students; we want living souls.' Once I've drummed that into their heads long enough, they may end up understanding. page 404-405 - Mother's Agenda , volume 1 , 10th Aug. - 1960 |
Then Z asks about languages: should they choose ONE language or ... I
don't know. And then, if only ONE language, which language? ... She
said, 'Should it be a common or international language, or their [the students'] vernacular?' I answered her, 'If only ONE language is known [well], it is better (international or common). "
These are matters of common sense - I don't even know why they bring them up.
Then they asked some questions about teaching literature and poetry. I answered them. And then, at the bottom, I added this:
'If you carefully study what Sri Aurobindo has written on every subject ...He wrote on EVERYTHING, there is not one subject on which he has not written! The point is to find it everywhere. ... a complete knowledge of the things of the world can be easily achieved.'What I call 'studying' is to take Sri Aurobindo's books, where he quotes or speaks of one thing or another, then have the corresponding books - when he quotes something, you must take the book it corresponds to; when he speaks of something, you must study the writings on that subject. This is what I call 'studying.' Then, after having read the corresponding works, you compare them with what Sri Aurobindo has said, and in this way there may be a beginning of understanding. If someone is very studious, he can 'review' all that has ever been written or taught by going through Sri Aurobindo's books. I mean this for someone who loves working. I SEE this state of mind, this mental attitude ... Oh! It's ... it's so repugnant. People are so afraid of taking sides, so afraid of appearing biased; they are so afraid of appearing to have faith, so afraid ... Oh, it's disgraceful. And I will keep hammering that into your heads till I enter right into them. page 406 - Mother's Agenda , volume 1 , 10th Aug. - 1960 |
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The experience occurred in a place corresponding to ours [the main
Ashram building], but immense: the rooms were ten times bigger, but
absolutely ... one can't say empty - they were barren. Not that there
was nothing in them, but nothing was in order, everything was just where
it shouldn't be. There wasn't any furniture so things were strewn here and there - a dreadful disarray!
Things were being put to uses they weren't made for, yet nothing needed
for a particular purpose could be found. The whole section having to do
with education [the Ashram School] was in almost total darkness: the
lights were out with no way to switch them on, and people were wandering
about and coming to me with incoherent, stupid proposals. I tried to
find a comer where I could rest (not because I was tired; I simply
wanted to concentrate a little and get a clear vision in the midst of it
all), but it was impossible, no one would leave me alone. Finally I put
a tottering armchair and a footstool end-to-end and tried to 'rest';
but someone immediately came up (I know who, I'm purposely not giving
names) and said, 'Oh! This won't do at all! It CAN'T be arranged like
that! Then he began making noise, commotion, disorder - well, it was
awful.
It's a terrible slavery to the lower mind, and so widespread! Oh, all these goings-on at the School, my child, all the teaching, all the teachers .... [[Here, Mother had a passage deleted. ]] Terrible, terrible, terrible! I was trying to turn on the switches to give some light and not one of them worked! Of course, these scenes are slightly exaggerated because they are seen in isolation from the rest; within the whole many things crisscross and complete each other, diminishing each other's importance. But in an experience like last night's, things are taken singly and shown in isolation, as through a magnifying glass. And after all ... it's a good lesson. page 129 , 132 - Mother's Agenda , volume - 2 , 17th March 1961 |
At the beginning of this conversation Mother has Pavitra called in to discuss certain letters and controversies concerning a teacher at the Ashram School. You know how children get together and play court or school or army ... you know how serious they can be, don't you? (Pavitra.) Yes, Mother.And if someone makes a mistake, how he's punished! ... Well, that's exactly how you all seem to me - children at play! That's the trouble. So I just start laughing, I can't take you seriously. You are all too serious to be taken seriously! That's the trouble. I took your papers very seriously; I wanted to be done with it all and I tried.... But as soon as I began to read your letters, your reports, I immediately pictured children on a playground (Mother takes on a solemn tone): "Now we are going to play court ... now we are going to play school...." That's what I saw. "It's like this and NOT like that and be sure you don't make any mistakes. This is serious business!" (Pavitra:) But Mother, I had no intention of making any decision; but when S. sends one letter, two letters, and then asks for Mother's reply, I have no other option but to turn to you.But Mother does NOT WANT to make a decision because ... because the solution doesn't depend on any decision from me. I can tell you how it is (you didn't ask me, but it doesn't matter - I will tell you anyway): S.'s interests lie elsewhere; he is interested in something different and that's his own business - I know it, we all know it. He holds his class at the school as a kind of duty, to do something "for the Ashram"; he does it in all seriousness, using what he knows (he has knowledge), but rigidly - work is work, no fooling around. Besides, he has no real liking for the students or any interest in whether they comprehend or make progress or not. That's how it is. He browbeats them in class, and the students are bored. (Pavitra:) Yes, Mother, it's true.The problem isn't what he teaches, but how he teaches it - and what are you going to do about that? (Pavitra.) I'm going to leave it as it is and simply tell him you said we should continue as before. No, I find his proposal reasonable, because if we say "the course is optional," no one will attend. (Mother explains certain things)If you tell him that, it should probably work out. So go and keep your faith (with an ironic smile): may God bless you! Yes, Mother. (Pavitra leaves.)page 113-114 - Mother's Agenda , volume 3 , 6th March 1962 |
Mother writes a note on the windowsill It's the answer to a question. Have you heard what I said to the School's teachers?...[[See note in Addendum. ]] They've asked me another question. This is the beginning of my answer: "It is the division between 'ordinary life' and 'spiritual life' which is antiquated and obsolete...." page 96 , Mother's Agenda , volume 8 , 5th April - 1967 |
(Mother's answer in English to the School's teachers when she was told that the new special afternoon classes at the library had chosen as a first research theme "India's spiritual History.") No! It won't do. It is not to be done that way. You should begin with a big "BANG'! You were trying to show the continuity of History, with Sri Aurobindo as the outcome, the culmination - it is false, entirely. Sri Aurobindo does not belong to History; he is outside and beyond History. Till the birth of Sri Aurobindo, religions and spiritualities were always centered on past figures, and they were showing as "the goal" the negation of life upon earth. So, you had a choice between two alternatives: either a life in this world with its round of petty pleasures and pains, joys and sufferings, threatened by hell if you were not behaving properly; or an escape into another world, heaven, nirvana, moksha [liberation].... Between these two there is nothing much to choose, they are equally bad. Sri Aurobindo has told us that this was a fundamental mistake which accounts for the weakness and degradation of India. Buddhism, Jainism, Illusionism were sufficient to sap all energy out of the country. True, India is the only place in the world which is still aware that something else than matter exists. The other countries have quite forgotten it: Europe, America and elsewhere.... That is why she still has a message to preserve and deliver to the world. But at present she is splashing and floundering in the muddle. Sri Aurobindo has shown that the truth does not lie in running away from earthly life but in remaining in it, to transform it, divinize it, so that the Divine can manifest HERE, in this PHYSICAL WORLD. You should tell all this at the first sitting. You should be square and frank. Then, when this is told, strongly, squarely, and there is no doubt about it - and then only - you can go on and amuse them with the history of religions and religious or spiritual leaders. Then - and then only - you will be able to show the seed of weakness and falsehood that they have harbored and proclaimed. Then - and then only - you will be able to discern, from time to time, from place to place, an "intuition" that something else is possible: in the Vedas, for instance (the injunction to descend deep into the cave of the Panis); in the Tantras also ... a little light burning. I may add that you could adopt as motto for your first project this quotation of Sri Aurobindo: "We do not belong to the past dawns, but to the noons of the future."(Essays on the Gita) *** Message from Mother to the School: "Sri Aurobindo does not belong to the past nor to history. "Sri Aurobindo is the Future advancing towards its realization. "Thus we must shelter the eternal youth required for a speedy advance, in order not to become laggards on the way."page 102-03 , Mother's Agenda , volume 8 , 5th April - 1967 |
But Z has done experiments like that. He told me the story of a girl at the School who had no imagination: when she was asked a question she could only answer what she had learned, and when she was given a problem she was never able to solve it. She was like that, blocked above. And he taught her to try and make contact precisely with that intuitive zone, by keeping quiet, falling silent and listening. And it seems that after some time, she had extraordinary results in that way, by falling silent and listening - answers which were really remarkable and certainly came from the region of intuition. And that's a practical fact, he did it at the School. Well, that's what should be done, it's much more important.Far more important than a machine. page 169 , Mother's Agenda , volume 8 , 3rd June - 1967 |
Because at the School they play music every Saturday, and they've begun quarreling about the kind of music that should be played; then one boy said, "As for me, I LOVE light music, I find it VERY amusing." (Mother laughs) So they looked down on him scornfully! And they wrote to ask me. So that's what I replied! "Light" music! Of course, jazz music ... but even there, there are very nice passages, one can't say. One can't say. page 229 , Mother's Agenda , volume 8 , 22th July - 1967 |
Yesterday evening, Pavitra asked me for a message for the opening of the School today. I wasn't in too good a mood (!) and sent him back. This morning, at five, a message came, and I wrote it down. I had barely written it down when three others came! So I wrote the four of them, and at seven sent them to K., saying that each teacher or class should choose (they are all on the same subject and with the same idea, but shown from different angles). And at eight, everyone already knew! Things spread very fast.... N. told me, "But the messages are for different classes and they haven't been selected!" I said, "No! It's not for me to select, but for the teacher in every class." And I added, "That's much more fun for me!" And with that I sent him away! It's true: the same idea (it's not an "idea"), the same aspiration, the same need, depending on the state you are in, on your state of consciousness (or, for ordinary people, their turn of mind), you approach from one side or another. I don't at all remember what I wrote.... As usual it's a call to the Truth.[[1. May the Truth be your master and your guide. 2. We aspire to the Truth and its triumph in our being and our activities. 3. May aspiration to the Truth be the motive power of our efforts. 4. 0 Truth, we want to be guided by you. May your reign come upon earth. December 16, 1967 ]] page 413 , Mother's Agenda , volume 8 , 16th Dec - 1967 |
(Mother reads three different versions of a message she wants to give for the opening of the School. Then she selects the first one.) They came in succession. It's the experience I had at that moment: "When one lives in the Truth, one is above all contradictions." The other two came afterwards: "Living in the Truth means being above all contradictions." Then: "He who lives in the Truth is above all contra dictions and all oppositions." It's completely silent here (gesture to the forehead); I just turn (gesture upward) and wait, and I think what comes first is the purest, that is, the least mixed with activities; afterwards, it's as if here in the atmosphere it got mixed with mental vibrations.page 347 , Mother's Agenda , volume 9 , 14th Dec - 1968 |
(Then Mother listens to a series of questions about death,asked by pupils of the School.) The first question: "What should we do in our daily life to haltthe process of death?"Well, as Sri Aurobindo has just said, the process is, rather than remain wholly attached to the body, to attach ourselves to the Spirit, and to bring the Spirit down into the body's cells. The process is to detach one's consciousness from the body and to concentrate it on the deeper life so as to bring this deeper consciousness into the body. Second question: "If the sense of 'I-ness' has identified more with the mind in life, is it the same sense of 'I-ness' that has all the experiences after death, that is to say, which retains at the same time the memories of its life? I ask the question with regard to the mind, since after death it remains formed a little longer than the other parts do."That's not true. It's not true that the mind lasts longer. Read it again. " ... Is it the same sense of 'I-ness' that has all the experiencesafter death?"No, not at all. The psychic consciousness that has identified with the small part of the physical is what comes out of this small physical person. Insofar as that consciousness has fashioned one's life, it remembers what it has fashioned, and the memory is closely linked with the psychic consciousness in the past events: whenever the psychic consciousness did not participate in the events, no memory is retained. It's only the psychic consciousness that can continue. It's not the mind that retains the memories, that's quite wrong. page 43-44 , Mother's Agenda , volume 10 , 1st feb - 1969 |
One must have lived To speak of the new consciousness, its secrets to you. For only then
To leap into the new consciousness, All that one has learned externallyPage 465-66 , Mother's Agenda , volume 10 , 10th Dec - 1969 |
(Text of Mother's message to the teacher:) "We (human beings) are not living for the satisfaction of our ego; we live to fulfill God's will. Bu t to be able to perceive and to know the will of God, we must be without desires and preferences. Other wise we mistake for God's will our own limited ideas and principles.page 118 - Mother's Agenda , volume 12 , 29th Apr - 1971 |