4   Money is the visible sign of a universal force, and this force in its manifestation on earth works on the vital and physical planes and is indispensable to the fullness of the outer life. In its origin and its true action it belongs to the Divine. But like other powers of the Divine it is delegated here and in the ignorance of the lower Nature can be usurped for the uses of the ego or held by Asuric influences and perverted to their purpose. This is indeed one of the three forces — power, wealth, sex — that have the strongest attraction for the human ego and the Asura and are most generally misheld and misused by those who retain them. The seekers or keepers of wealth are more often

      NOTE ON THE TEXTS         Part One: The Mother by Sri Aurobindo The Mother consists of six chapters or sections. The first section, written in 1927, was published as a Darshan message on 21 February of that year. The second, third, fourth and fifth sections were written separately as letters to disciples. The sixth section, which includes the descriptions of the four aspects of the Mother, was, like the first, "written independently and not as a letter". These six sections were first published together as a book in 1928. Since then the book has gone through numerous editions. The present text is taken from the 1999 edition.         Part Two: The Mot

          Sweet Mother, what is the difference between a servant and a worker?   I don't think there is much difference; it is almost the same thing. Perhaps the attitude is not quite the same, but there is not much of a difference. In "servant" there seems to be something more: it is the joy of serving. The worker — he has only the joy of the work. But the work that is done as a service brings still greater joy.             What does "self-love" mean?   I think self-love is a pleasant word for vanity. Self-love means that one loves oneself more than anything else; and what he implies by this, you see, are exactly those reactions of a vanity which is vexed when

5    If you want to be a true doer of divine works, your first aim must be to be totally free from all desire and self-regarding ego. All your life must be an offering and a sacrifice to the Supreme; your only object in action shall be to serve, to receive, to fulfil, to become a manifesting instrument of the Divine Shakti in her works. You must grow in the divine consciousness till there is no difference between your will and hers, no motive except her impulsion in you, no action that is not her conscious action in you and through you.       Until you are capable of this complete dynamic identification, you have to regard yourself as a soul and body created for her service, one who

Comments on Chapter 5         "If you want to be a true doer of divine works, your first aim must be to be totally free from all desire and self-regarding ego."       Sri Aurobindo, The Mother         Sometimes we go to the bazaar to buy our things. Is that good?   One cannot make general rules. This depends on the spirit in which you make your purchases. It is said that you should have no desires — if this is not a desire, it is all right. You understand, there is no movement, no action which in itself is good or bad; it depends absolutely on the spirit in which it is done. If, for instance, you are in a state of total indifference about what you h

3   To walk through life armoured against all fear, peril and disaster, only two things are needed, two that go always together — the Grace of the Divine Mother and on your side an inner state made up of faith, sincerity and surrender. Let your faith be pure, candid and perfect. An egoistic faith in the mental and vital being tainted by ambition, pride, vanity, mental arrogance, vital self-will, personal demand, desire for the petty satisfactions of the lower nature is a low and smoke-obscured flame that cannot burn upwards to heaven. Regard your life as given you only for the divine work and to help in the divine manifestation. Desire nothing but the purity, force, light, wide-ness, ca

THE MOTHER   by Sri Aurobindo   with the Mother's Comments                 SRI AUROBINDO ASHRAM PONDICHERRY       First edition 2002 (Typeset in 10.5/13 Sabon)                 Rs. 60.00 ISBN 81-7058-671-2  © Sri Aurobindo Ashram Trust 2002 Published by Sri Aurobindo Ashram Publication Department, Pondicherry - 605 002 Printed at Sri Aurobindo Ashram Press, Pondicherry PRINTED IN INDIA    PUBLISHER'S NOTE   This book contains The Mother by Sri Aurobindo and the Mother's spoken comments on passages from that book. First published in 1928, The Mothe

Comments on Chapter 1         "Reject too the false and indolent expectation that the divine Power will do even the surrender for you. The Supreme demands your surrender to her, but does not impose it: you are free at every moment, till the irrevocable transformation comes, to deny and to reject the Divine or to recall your self-giving, if you are willing to suffer the spiritual consequence. "         Sri Aurobindo, The Mother       What does an "irrevocable transformation" mean?         The transformation is irrevocable when your consciousness is transformed in such a way that you can no longer go back to your old condition. There is a moment when the change

Comments on Chapter 2   This talk could not be recorded very clearly because of the noise of the fireworks celebrating the French Republic Day. Sweet Mother, does Sri Aurobindo make a difference between the Divine and the Shakti? Here he speaks of "surrender of oneself and all one is and has and every plane of the consciousness and every movement to the Divine and the Shakti". He has said that the Divine is the Supreme. That's the origin. He has said, hasn't he, at the very beginning of this chapter, I think, he has said, "The Divine..."            (The child reads the text) "... through his Shakti is behind all action..."'   He takes the Sha

-013Comment on Chapter 6(continued 1)       Comments on Chapter 6       (Continued)   "Harmony and beauty of the mind and soul, harmony and beauty of the thoughts and feelings, harmony and beauty in every outward act and movement, harmony and beauty of the life and surroundings, this is the demand of Mahalakshmi.... Where love and beauty are not or are reluctant to be born, she does not come."      Sri Aurobindo, The Mother   When the surroundings, circumstances, atmosphere, the way of living and above all the inner attitude are altogether of a low kind, vulgar, gross, egoistic, sordid, love is reluctant to come, that is, it always hesitates to manifest itself and generally does