CHAPTER - 2

"India will not be overrun, because the

Supermind has descended"

Extract from the book 'A Divine Life in a Divine Body'

by Navajata Bhaiji

I first heard of the Mother and Sri Aurobindo in 1929 when I was only seven years old. Even then something in me, in a childlike manner, spontaneously accepted Them as my masters. Physically, Sri Aurobindo was not accessible to us except on Darshan days or through correspondence, so it was usually to the Mother that we referred problems and experiences - spiritual and material - of ourselves and of others. Her guidance invariably brought a ray of Her Divine Consciousness in our everyday lives.

Let me share with you a few - very few - of these reminiscences as far as I can recollect them, spread as they are over a wide span of forty-four years. In this brief talk I will try to cover some aspects of Her multifaceted personality. It is enjoined on us not to narrate our spiritual experiences, so I shall confine myself to some of those events which can be spoken of and which occupy a permanent place in my heart.

Long before I joined the Ashram, I used to visit here very frequently and seek Her guidance on a wide range of apparently difficult matters. For example, one day I asked Her, "Mother, is everything predetermined? What freedom has man and to what extent? In my own life I do not see any freedom. It is as though some forces beyond us always govern our lives and yet it is not possible to believe that life is just mechanical." Quietly and slowly came the reply, "One has several destinies. The plane of

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consciousness in which you dwell determines the destiny which becomes applicable to you. When you unite with the Divine Consciousness you are free. Prayers also change destinies. It is like a fruit falling from a tree to the ground; if you put a hand in the way, you can stop its fall. " I was satisfied but returned to this topic after some days and asked further, "Is the putting out of the hand itself predetermined?" She explained, "It depends upon the plane of consciousness from which you see it. " Again, on another occasion She remarked "I tell you things can change. "

Her answers to our questions despite the incomplete information placed before Her were invariably correct. One day I was reading a letter while waiting for Her. She came and I prayed, "Mother, a relative of mine is ill. The doctors are unable to diagnose what is wrong." She remarked, "It is the medicine ", and walked away. The family sent for another doctor. He found that, indeed, it was the medicine that was harming the patient. The medication was changed and the patient recovered completely. This took place in Calcutta. She would sometimes see the photographs of persons who were to be given responsible positions for work. At other times devotees sent photographs of couples proposed for marriage to enquire whether a particular match had Her approval and Her blessings. So I queried, "Mother, how do you judge a person by his photograph?" She replied, "There is no written rule about it. When I hold a person's photograph or his hand, the past, present and future of the person come to me. "

I worried that I was taking too much of Her time by asking such questions. So I prayed to Her, "How do you always give the right answer? If I had this capacity I would not bother you with so many questions," and for the first time She taught me how to quieten the mind and seek guidance from deep within.

Her way of working was unique. Once, some work of the Ashram had to be attended to in Bombay. The Mother instructed me to tell a friend of mine to look after it. This friend was in Calcutta, while I was actually going to Delhi and had no plan to

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meet him. In those days the Delhi plane used to stop at Hyderabad. When I landed there, I learnt that my friend would also be landing at Hyderabad ten minutes later, though his plane had been scheduled to arrive much before ours. I was surprised, if his plane had been on schedule, he would have gone into town and I would have missed meeting him at the airport; if he had arrived later, my plane would already have left for Delhi. It was amazing how the Mother had arranged the meeting! We met and I conveyed to him the Mother's instructions. He already had plans to go to Bombay, so everything just fitted in. Experiences of this type were very common in our working with the Mother.

When the Auroville project was approved by Her, we had neither money nor manpower. In answer to questions like who was directing Auroville, who was financing it, She wrote: "The Supreme Divine "! One day in answer to a question on Auroville, She took a paper, drew a circular design and marked a spot on it. Everything was finished in two or three minutes. The architects however, designed the town on the pattern of a square. After one year and much research, they found that the circular design was more satisfactory. They were intrigued that the Mother should have given in two minutes this design to which they arrived at after so many trials and errors. As a result they decided to learn to get inspiration from a deeper plane. Once when our chief architect took the design of a model village to the Mother, She remarked, "He got it exactly as I saw it. "

At one time, many years back, in my sadhana I was not sure whether I should meditate on the Sakara, the form of the Divine, or on the Nirakara the formless. So, as usual, I turned to Her for guidance. I asked Her, "Mother, on what should I meditate - your physical body or the Nirakara, the formless Divine?" She answered, " What is the difference? If you think this body is the Mother, you are limiting my force to twenty-five percent. When people ask me questions, they get conveyed to the Supreme Consciousness and the answers come from there."

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On another occasion I pleaded with Her, "Mother, please tell me my defects so that I may improve myself." "No, no, my child" came the Motherly reply, "I shall show you your qualities so that you may improve yourself. " I wish all parents and teachers would apply this key to progress.

She sometimes assigned me duties which entailed travelling outside Pondicherry. So I enquired if I should return during the Darshan days. She replied, "It is better to come. But if you cannot, you have only to concentrate and you will see me there. "

She knew all that was necessary to know about us. At an international photography competition, the judges requested the Mother to select the photographs for the first three prizes. They had already made a preliminary selection and the selected photographs were arranged in a room. The Mother was giving us Her blessings before going to this room. I was keen to be present, but was too shy to ask Her. She quietly came to me and without my having asked, whispered, "You can come." Later I enquired, "Mother, how did you know?" and She replied, "I always know. But I keep quiet when it suits me. "

Just before the Chinese attack, an Indian yogi conveyed to the Mother his apprehension that China would attack and overrun India. The Mother asked me to tell him, "India will not be overrun, because the Supermind has descended. "

A few days before She retired, I told Her that it had come to me in meditation that we should have a world magazine in all languages. She nodded, and Champaklal gave Her a paper and She wrote down, the Next Future, and then asked for another paper and wrote in French, Le Prochain Avenir.

And now when She has left Her physical body, I feel that, as in a drama, She has only gone behind the curtain, so that the next scene, the next future may follow. What this next future is going to be depends on Her Grace.

The Supreme Mother personified Herself in the physical body as the Mother of Pondicherry and manifested the Divine Perfection possible on earth.

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Blessed is the earth that Her Feet have touched.

Courtesy: Sri Aurobindo Society, Puducherry

(Navajata Bhaiji (1922 to 1980) : With the Mother as the President, he started Sri Aurobindo Society. He was its General Secretary and Treasurer till 1973 and after the Mother s passing, became Chairman. As a man of vision and action he was instrumental in launching many projects for Ashram, Society and Auroville)

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