25 January 1951 “The vital being in us is the seat of impulses and de- sires, of enthusiasm and violence, of dynamic energy and desperate depression, of passions and revolt. It can set in motion everything, build up and realise, it can also destroy and mar everything. It seems to be, in the human being, the most difficult part to train. It is a long labour requiring great patience, and it de- mands a perfect sincerity, for without sincerity one will deceive oneself from the very first step, and all endeavour for progress will go in vain.” “The Science of Living”, On Education * It is very difficult to find the bo

11 January 1951 Mother comments upon some of the qualities enumerated in her article “What a Child Should Always Remember” (On Education). “To be modest” This is to take oneself at one's true worth.  Generally people pass from an excessive appreciation of their personal value to an equally excessive discouragement. One day they say, “I am wonderful”, and the next day, “Oh! I am good for nothing, I can do nothing.” That is like a pendulum, isn't it? There is nothing more difficult than knowing exactly what one is; one must neither overrate oneself nor depreciate oneself, but understand one's limits and know how to advance towards the ideal

7 April 1951                Mother reads a question put to her in 1929 by an English disciple: “If the Divine that is all love is the source of the crea- tion, whence have come all the evils that abound upon earth?” Questions and Answers 1929 (30 June) *                              Whence come the evils ?... Who is going to answer me ? A philosophic answer, a scientific answer, a psychological answer and a poetic answer ! They come from the same source as ignorance and obscurity.                              A mystic answer, a religious answer. Oh ! You have no imagination ! In order that the work on earth may b

19 February 1951 To be able to enter the “earth-memory” consciously, a discipline is needed.¹ What discipline?                              A discipline much more difficult than the discipline of yoga! It is an occult discipline.  First of all, one must learn to go out of one's body consciously and to enter into another more subtle body; to use one's will to go where one wants to go, never to fear and sometimes to face unexpected and even terrible things; to remain calm, to develop the mind's visual sense, to accustom one's mind to be altogether peaceful and quiet...You know, the list is long and I could continue like this for hours!           Who am

15 January 1951 “It is only by observing these movements (of our being) with great care, by bringing them, as it were, before the tribunal of our highest ideal, with a sincere will to submit to its judgment, that we can hope to educate in us a discernment which does not err.” “The Science of Living”, On Education * One must be clearly aware of the origin of one's movements because there are contradictory velleities in the being – some pushing you here, others pushing you there, and that obviously creates a chaos in life. If you observe yourself, you will see that as soon as you do something which disturbs you a little, the mind immediatel

1 March 1951 “There is a plane of divine consciousness in which all is known absolutely, and the whole plan of things foreseen and predetermined. That way of seeing lives in the highest reaches of the Supramental; it is the Su- preme's own vision. But when we do not possess that consciousness, it is useless to speak in terms that hold good only in that region and are not our present ef- fective way of seeing things. For at a lower level of consciousness nothing is realised or fixed beforehand; all is in the process of making. Here there are no settled facts, there is only the play of possibilities; out of the clash of

24 February 1951              The other day I said that most of the time people do not have their psychic being within them. I would like to explain this in greater detail...You must remember that the inner beings are not in the third dimension. If you open up your body you will find only the viscera of the body which are in the third dimension. The inner beings are in another dimension, and when I say that some men do not have their psychic being within them, I do not mean that it is not at the centre of their being, but that their outer consciousness is so small, so limited, so obscure that it is not able to keep a contact, not only conscious but intimate, with the psychi

30 December 1950 “We are not aiming at success – our aim is perfec- tion. “We are not seeking fame or reputation; we want to prepare ourselves for a Divine manifestation.” “Tournaments”, On Education * What is perfection? Some people put perfection at the apex. It is generally thought that perfection is the maximum one can do. But I say that perfection is not the apex, it is not an extreme. There is no extreme – whatever you may do, there is always the possibility of something better, and it is exactly this possibility of something better which is the very meaning of progress.  Since there is no extreme, how can we attain perfection?

Questions And Answers 1950-51 21 December 1950 “O Consciousness, immobile and serene, Thou watch- est at the confines of the world like a sphinx of eter- nity. And yet to some Thou confidest Thy secret. These can become Thy sovereign will which chooses without preference, executes without desire.”   Prayers and Meditations, 10 November 1914  * This immobile Consciousness is the “Mother of Dreams”,¹ the sphinx of eternity who keeps vigil on the confines of the world like an enigma to be solved. This enigma is the problem of our life, the very raison d’être of the universe. The problem of our life is to realise the Divine or ra

5 May 1951 “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, p. 15 * 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 abou