Fan Sweet Mother, Would it be possible to have an electric fan? X promised me one three years ago, but now he advises me to ask you. You may have one if there is one or if you can find one. But do you think it will help you to find the Divine? The Mother 16: 296

Excess Excess in any direction is violence; and only in peace, poise and harmony can the truth be discovered and lived. The Mother 10: 322

Questions And Answers Sweet Mother, There are too many tight knots in the immense organisation of this Ashram. When will the promised day come when there will be nothing by unmixed harmony, joy and peace? If each one were more concerned with correcting his own faults that with criticising those of others, the work would go more quickly. (29 September 1962) - The Mother (CWM 16-273) * Sweet Mother, In a discussion with a friend about our physical education programme and the countless other activities we, have here, he asked me: "Can you give me a valid example

A Dream There should be somewhere on earth a place Which no nation could claim as its own, where all human beings of goodwill who have a sincere 'aspiration could live freely as citizens of the world and obey one single authority, that-of the supreme truth; a place of peace, concord and harmony where all the fighting instincts of man would be used exclusively to conquer the causes of his sufferings and miseries, to surmount his weaknesses and ignorance, to triumph over his limitations and incapacities; a place where the needs of the spirit and the concern for progress would take precedence over the satisfaction of desires and pas

Persistent Practice All of you who have come here have been told many things; you have been put in contact with a world of truth, you live in it, the air you breathe is full of it. And yet how few of you talow that these truths have value only when they are put into practice and that it is useless to talk about consciousness, knowledge, equality, universality, infinity, eternity, supreme truth, the divine presence and all sorts of things like that, if you yourselves don't make an effort to live these things .and feel them concretely in you. And don't tell yourselves, " Oh, I have been here so many years! Oh, I would really like to see some result

Physical Education Some, of course, might ask why any sports at all in an Ashram which ought to be concerned only with meditation and inner experiences and the escape from life into Brahman. But that applies only to the ordinary kind of Ashram to which we have got accustomed and this is not that orthodox kind of Ashram. It includes life in Yoga, and once we admit life we can include anything that we find useful for life's ultimate and immediate purpose and not iconsistent with the works of the Spirit. After all, the orthodox Ashram came into being only after Brahman began to shun all connection with the world and the shadow of

Money From the beginning Mother used to count the money offered, carefully separating the notes according to the denominations, clipping them and so on. She would arrange notes in a uniform manner - heads up, same size notes in one bundle etc. If anyone had put together notes topsy turvy and somehow packeted them, she would at times exclaim: Clumsy ways of people! She said that she herself was handling money because when it was so treated, money tended to flow in more and more. ‘Champaklal Speaks’ P. 36

Dining Room Food Some one had complained to the Mother that some people were taking their food in carriers and sharing it with unauthorised persons in their rooms. Mother: People are dishonest. (She repeated this remark thrice and showed her displeasure by her expression.) She remained quiet. After some time that day I asked: Suppose I take my loaf which comes to me as my quota, I give it to somebody who has permission to stay here but is so poor that he cannot afford to pay for food from Dining Room. The person is very anxious to stay here. If I give my share to him, under these circumstances, is it still dishonest, is it stealing? Mother: Yes. C: Mot

Waste Food … A strong, ardent, sincere campaign against the waste of food is essential and full-heartedly I approve of it. Let the inmates of the Ashram show their goodwill and collaboration in never eating more than they can digest and never asking for more than they can eat. The Mother 17:270

Refusal I asked “Prosperity" for two hard-cover notebooks, but they weren’t given. Did You refuse them? No, I didn’t refuse anything; they must have run out of note-books and new ones will have to be made. But to tell the truth, you use a fantastic number of notebooks. I am sure that you have a large number of them in which only a few pages are written on, and they could well be used for something else. It is never good to waste things --- too many people in the world do not have what they need. The Mother 17:154