February 14, 1961 Sri Aurobindo speaks here of the 'higher soul.' [[The Synthesis of Yoga, Cent. Ed., Vol. XX, p. 303. ]] Yet we can't translate it by 'âme supérieure,' as if there were an 'inferior soul,' can we? Sri Aurobindo wants to make the distinction between the progressive soul (the soul which has experiences and progresses from life to life), what can be called the 'lower soul,' and the higher soul, that is, the eternal, immutable and divine soul - essentially divine. He wrote this when he was in contact with certain Theosophical writings, before I introduced Theon's vocabulary to him. For Theon, there is the 'divine center' which is the eternal soul, and the 'psych

March 17, 1961 Aphorism 57 -Because the tiger acts according to his nature and knows not anything else, therefore he is divine and there is no evil in him. If he questioned himself, then he would be a criminal. What might be man's true, 'natural' state? Why does he question himself? Man on earth [[Satprem later asked if this 'on earth' wasn't superfluous and Mother replied: 'This precision is not superfluous; I said "on earth" meaning that man does not belong only to the earth: in his essence, man is a universal being, but he has a special manifestation on earth.' ]] is a transitional being and as a consequence, in the course of his evolution, he has had several successive na

August 8, 1961 X has written expressing his 'gratitude for all the revelations OF THE SUPREME' he has had during his meditations with me. This is something new he has accepted, because the Supreme doesn't usually appear in tantrism - they are in contact with the Shakti and don't bother about the Supreme. But here he has come to accept it. He has tried very hard to understand. But his spiritual conception has remained like this: one can - one MUST - master life, and in life, to some extent, a certain adaptation to the higher forces can be achieved; but there is no question of transformation: the physical world remains the physical world. It can be a little better organized, more

March 7, 1961 (Mother arrives late ... as usual. Crossing the corridor was like crossing through a jungle and has taken her almost one hour.) How long it has taken me ... oh, it's disgraceful! I'll have to start coming down at 9 a.m., but then I won't get anything done upstairs, that's the problem. Page 114 But Mother, the earlier you come down, the more of your time they'll take! Anyway.... I have brought you a whole discourse! (Mother gives Satprem some flowers) First, the goal of the Vedas: Immortality. [[Gomphrena globosa (purple Amaranth). ]] That was their goal: the Truth that led to Immortality. Immortality was their ambition. I don't think it was physical

April 18, 1961 The subconscient is seething.... We shall see. And you? I stumbled upon a sentence from Sri Aurobindo yesterday or the day before. From the occult standpoint it has to do with a rather important problem, and I would really like some light on this question: 'The man who slays is only an occasion, the instrument by which the thing done behind the veil becomes the thing done on this side of it.' It means exactly this (I am going back to the preceding sentence): Who can protect the one whom God has already slain? [['Whom God protects who shall slay? Whom God has slain who shall protect?' (The Ideal of the Karmayogin, Cent. Ed., Vol. III p. 354) ]] He has already been

January 12, 1961 What is the next aphorism? 50 - To hate the sinner is the worst sin, for it is hating God; yet he who commits it glories in his superior virtue. Do you have a question? When we enter a certain state of consciousness, we plainly see that we are capable of anything and that ultimately there is no 'sin' not potentially our own. Is this impression correct? And yet certain things make us rebel or disgust us. We always reach some inadmissible point. Why? What is the true, effective attitude when confronted with Evil? There is no sin not our own.... [23] You have this experience when for some reason or other, depending on the case, you come into contact wi

April 29, 1961 (Some fragments of this conversation were originally published in Mother's 'Commentaries on the Aphorisms' of Sri Aurobindo. Considering it too personal, Mother had not wanted the unabridged text to appear even in her Agenda. However, we felt it should be kept. This conversation's starting point was the following aphorism.) 59 - One of the greatest comforts of religion is that you can get hold of God sometimes and give him a satisfactory beating. People mock at the folly of savages who beat their gods when their prayers are not answered; but it is the mockers who are the fools and the savages. Poor T.! She asked me, 'What does it mean (laughing) to give God a "sati

November 12, 1961 (Mother improvises on the harmonium to 'say' something, or perhaps to calm Satprem's nerves, then continues:) Sri Aurobindo was telling me, 'Satprem has a headache and is tired because he's trying to do an unnecessary work.' Page 385 No, it's not me, I didn't think that myself, but it came to me several times. So I wondered if inspiration was coming, after all, but you Were fighting against it. That would be more than enough to make you tired! But you see, Id been struggling for four or five days with no results. Well, this morning.... I was angry yesterday, angry with you ... (Unperturbed) Yes. ... because it wasn't coming. Yes (laughing),

August August 2, 1961 When one descends into the subconscient, a time comes when it's no longer personal - the whole world is there! Then what can we do? I'm not speaking of you, but what can people like us do to change it? It's a Sisyphean labor! Vibrations from the whole world keep coming in at each instant. How can we change it? No, you have to approach the problem from the other direction. Evolution begins with the Inconscient, complete Inconscience; and from this Inconscient a Subconscient gradually emerges - that is, a half or quarter-consciousness.... There are two different things here. Consider life on earth (because the process is slightly different in the universe); ea

September 16, 1961 (Satprem complains of his difficulties in writing the book on Sri Aurobindo. He says in particular that he has a feeling of being 'blocked') I have asked Sri Aurobindo to help you. You know, we are surrounded by complications, but there is always a place where it all opens out simple and straight - this is a fact of my experience. You go around in circles, seeking, working at it, and you feel stuck; then something in the inner attitude gives way, and all of a sudden it opens out - quite simply. I have had this experience very often. So I have asked Sri Aurobindo to give it to you. And he says repeatedly, insistently: Be simple, be simple. Say simply what