Have you seen Bharatidi? [[A long-time disciple (Suzanne Karpeles) and a member of the École Française l'Extrème Orient. ]]
No, you know how I am, I don't go out.She saw your publishers in Paris and they told her they are impatiently awaiting (Mother is mocking) your book on Sri Aurobindo.... page 90 - Mother's Agenda , volume 2 , 14th Feb 1961 |
(Later, about a disciple who is very talkative but full of ironic wit - Bharatidi.) ... She kept me almost an hour! She told me, "The next time, I won't chatter." So this time it was only half an hour! But she has a very pleasant way of saying things. And there is a strange phenomenon, which took place some two or three years ago, I don't remember now.... It was after the consciousness had entirely spread all over the world (all over the earth, in reality), but as if progressively, in the sense that it's more intense close at hand and less intense farther away. But then, with Bharatidi, it's not just a physical closeness: it's a sort of closeness of vibration in a certain domain; and in her, the closeness lay in a certain ... ironically benevolent observation. And while talking with someone, I don't know how many times I have caught myself having Bharatidi's voice and using her words! And in my ingenuousness, I told her, "Do you know, we have such an intimate relationship that at times - very often - when I speak I have your intonation and use your words." Ah, mon petit, since then ... But she isn't a bore! You can spend an hour with her without getting bored, which is remarkable.page 300 , Mother's Agenda , volume 6 , 20th Nov - 1965 |
(Regarding a visit paid by Satprem to Bharatidi, an old French disciple, at the Vellore hospital where she is to be operated on. Bharatidi, a member of France's Far East College, is well known for her sparkling wit and liveliness and her biting irony.) So did you go and see Bharatidi?Yes, Mother. She is fine, this Bharatidi, what force she has! And what sense of humor - she is really a queen.Yes. There's a great nobleness in that woman.Oh, yes. Did you give her my note? Yes, tears came to her eyes.They're going to operate on her tomorrow. Tomorrow morning.But I wondered if it was really indispensable. They don't even know if it's cancer. It's a tumor, which may be cancerous or a simple tumor.Anyway, she is making arrangements, she has already distributed all her money. They say that if they don't operate, it will go from bad to worse.Yes. How old is she? [[Suzanne Karpelès, or Bharatidi, was born on March 17, 1890, in Paris. ]] Over seventy, I think. They're preparing her with blood trans fusions. She's physically very weak, emaciated. But she has that energy....She didn't know she had that? No.... But it's heartening to see a human being with such dignity ...Oh, yes. ... and recounting with humor the visit of missionaries and sisterstrying to convert her (because it's a Protestant hospital)....Is it? So there are bishops, nuns, and once they came into her roomto try and convert her. She tells the story with such humor: "I am not afraid of death, I know we are born more than once!" So the others have nothing left to say.Yes, she sent me a message through M.: "I am not afraid of dying because I know we do not die." It's good. (long silence) There was a strange relationship between my mind and hers.... When I used to observe things and talk about them, I would have Bharatidi's voice and manner of speaking and seeing! I always wondered why, until I looked: there was a life when we were together, in a single body. That was very long ago. Strange. It was very interesting.... All of a sudden, I would speak with her voice: the sound, the words, everything was quite like her. [[See in Addendum a letter from Mother to Bharatidi, showing well enough the sort of relationship that existed between Mother and Bharatidi. ]] Yes, she has a lovely mind, really lovely. Before coming here, she was Buddhist [[Bharatidi was a specialist of Pali (used by the southern schools of Buddhism) and Sanskrit. ]] and Communist - fervently Communist.page 303-04 , Mother's Agenda , volume 9 , 6th Nov - 1968 |
ADDENDUM (A letter from Mother to Bharatidi written about 1963, at a time when Mother was not receiving any disciple, except sometimes people about to marry. Bharatidi, then seventy-three, had written to Mother to ask her if she should marry to be entitled to see her....) O Bharatidi, our dearest friend! Do not marry, that would be such a great pity for all - for you would have to leave the Ashram, at least during the honeymoon.... Let me tell you the truth. If I do not see you, it is because I cannot speak, and worse still, cannot hear, and how could I see you without hearing all the very interesting things you always have to tell me? My program is generally five minutes' meditation, sometimes even less - how can I ask you to climb two flights for that? If you do not mind, let us wait a little until the pressure (not the blood's!) has subsided. As for me, you know this, I have the great advantage of being with you without need of the physical presence, and your voice often resonates to my inner hearing - and I always answer in silence. I now add this long written discourse to send you my best wishes for the new year.With all my tenderness Signed: Mother page 309 , Mother's Agenda , volume 9 , 6th Nov - 1968 |
When I said goodbye to her, she had magnificent eyes. Shelooked at me ... luminous eyes, with such force, such beauty.She knew she wouldn't see you again. Oh, those magnificent eyes ... She knew she wouldn't see you again. page 311 , Mother's Agenda , volume 9 , 9th Nov - 1968 |