(Mother hands a box to Satprem) F. and R. have come and she brought me some candied chestnuts from Paris.... Yesterday, for instance, I had to see F. and R., since they had just arrived the day before. I spent three-quarters of an hour with them, and by the time it was over they had literally EMPTIED the atmosphere of all spiritual sense - it had become empty and hollow. It took me two or three minutes of concentration (which isn't so long) to bring it all back to normal. page 459 , Mother's Agenda , volume 3 , 19th Dec. 1962 |
A Polytechnician [[An engineer from the Ecole Polytechnique in Paris. ]] came here with R. [the architect of the future Auroville]. There were nine who came with R.; among them is a Polytechnician who sent me a note asking, "Are you God?" I had seen the man two days earlier: he is very fine. If I hadn't seen him I wouldn't have answered, but as I saw him and he happens to be fine, I suspected from the way he asked the question that he must be a-gentleman-born-in-a-Catholic-family. So I answered, "This question may be asked of EVERY human being, and the answer is, yes, potentially." And out of consideration for his goodwill, I added (I don't remember the exact words): "This is the task everyone must accomplish." Since then, he has been quite silent. page 172 , Mother's Agenda , volume 7 , 10th Aug - 1966 |
In this connection, yesterday R. [Auroville's architect] asked me questions so as to be able to answer people; he asked me if it was necessary to have organization and so on. And then it came, but in such an imperative manner; I replied that organization was discipline in action, and that to live, discipline is quite indispensable. I said that the body's whole functioning is a discipline, and if there is a part that no longer wants to follow the discipline - out of revolt or incapacity or ... for any reason - if it stops following the discipline, you fall ill. It came so clearly that I told him. That paper is with R., I've asked him to give it to me. [[We publish in addendum R.'s notes on Auroville's organization. ]] page 52 , Mother's Agenda , volume 10 , 8th feb - 1969 |
R. asked me to say what we mean by religion.... (Mother holds out a letter) Sweet Mother, the notion of religion is most often connected to that of the quest for God. Should we understand it in that perspective alone? Aren't there today, as a matter of fact, other forms of religion?I had written something BEFORE I received this question. It came in English: (Mother holds out a note) We call religion any concept of the world or the universewhich is presented as the exclusive Truth in which one must have an absolute faith, generally because this Truth is declared to be the result of a revelation. Most of the religions affirm the existence of a God and the rules to follow to obey Him, but there are also Godless name of an Ideal or the State, claim the same right to be obeyed. Man's right is a free pursuit of the Truth with the liberty to his discovery is good for him alone and it is not to be enforced upon others.page 188 - Mother's Agenda , volume 11 , 13th May - 1970 |