This Is My Mother By Chali Grinnell The shock of hearing my father crying for the first time in my life, was nothing compared to the shock of the words that came over the phone line with numbing clarity: "There was nothing the surgeon could do. With the operation, she has three more months of life; without it she would have had just three weeks. What am I going to do, Chal?" I was stunned. As I tried to offer some feeble reassuranc

Remembering Arthur C. Clarke March 23, 2008 In the mid 1970’s when Mary Helen and I visited botanical gardens around the world to collect rare and unique plants for the Matrimandir, a close friend introduced us to Dorothy Fernando who lived in Colombo, Sri Lanka. Dorothy was an artist who specialized in painting plumerias whose spiritual significance given by the Mother is ‘Psychological Perfection’. In a garden in Colombo we first discovered and collected seeds of the lovely pink form of Caesalpinia pulcherrima and brought them back to India. They are now ubiquitous in Indian gardens. Mother had named the orange flowered form ‘Fire’ and the yellow, ‘Fire in the Mind’. The p

Rose of God The poem Rose of God by Sri Aurobindo, one of the most beautiful and powerful of his shorter poems, was set to music by Ida Patterson. Ida founded the Sri Aurobindo Center in Minneapolis under her careful and devoted care, many people learned of Mother and Sri Aurobindo. During my first stay in the Ashram I was asked to sing Rose of God as a private concert for Nolini. I practiced with Olga, a stalwart of the Ashram school as a teacher and pianist. Nolini sent a message that he would come on a certain day. Thi

Mona’s Kiss.htm Mona's Kiss I have told some friends about this extraordinary experience and thought I had written about it but now see that I had not. It was a day when I brought Dakshina to meet Mona upstairs at their home on Balcony Street. Mona was sitting at her small desk and greeted us both with a great smile of love. She then began by asking Dakshina to tell her (Mona) her Christian name. Dakshina replied, 'My name is Dakshina'.

Erythrina indica - A Humorous Remembrance Erythrina indica, commonly known as the Indian Coral Tree has dark red to bright orange-red flowers in one-side dense racemes. Mother has revealed its message to us and it is a most important one, Beginning of Realisation in Matter. Mother has commented, 'Matter responds to the Divine's influence'. In the early days of Auroville, around 1970-1972, we planted this tree in the Matrimandir Nursery and it bloomed profusely. It

The Passing of Alan Klass On Monday, Feb. 12, Alan Klass, a long-time Aurovilian who worked in the Matrimandir Gardens and was responsible for building the magnificent orchid collection, passed away at his home in Crestone, Colorado. Alan's love of orchids was unparalleled. He devoted many hours a day to their study and cultivation, learned the techniques of transplanting them from flasks, fertilization and cultivation and studied their ind

Arabinda Basu A Tribute to a Friend and Guide He has left and joined the great ones at Their Feet. Narad Many of you will have read the reverent homage of Shraddhavan which includes some historical facts about Arindam. This tribute, th

Meeting with Arabinda Basu – February 28.htm Meeting with Arabinda Basu – February 28, 2008 You have not failed the Mother (in not receiving the vision of the Gardens of the Matrimandir), the time is not yet come. Do not work too hard. Very important. Follow your breathing – 5 minutes per day. Do not tell anyone about health issues, it is only a possibility in 6 months to one year – do not think about it or think about the past. Do things in a small way. No splash. This is always what Mother and Sri Aurobindo wanted. The Supramental is at work breaking up the past. There will be much more destruction. People will suffer but what can you do. The Supermind will not accept the ment

Two Remembrances of Arabinda Basu - Shared with Narad Nirodbaran and Arabinda Basu were close friends and Arabinda would come to Nirod's room regularly. Nirod recounted the following to him one day. Very gently Sri Aurobindo asked Nirodbaran (paraphrased) "Please do not put anything on top of Savitri, it is my body." Arabinda ended with a remembrance from Dilip Kumar Roy. Mother asked Nolini to go to Dilip and tell him that She wished to see him. Nolini went and Dilip said he wouldn't go, tha

Themi - Mother's Letters on Art.htm TEHMI— LETTERS FROM THE MOTHER—ON ART (Mother India - July 2006) Tehmi's letter to the Mother: Sweet Mother, Could I offer You this little thing? (Is it called a stole or a shawl?) It is very, very old, but it is just a few days ago that Maman had someone bring it from Bombay. I know well that it is not worthy of You, Sweet Mother—nothing is— but the moment I saw it I thought of You. So, I place it at Your feet with all my love. Will You use it. Sweet Mother?