4 November 1953 Before beginning the class Mother spoke for a few minutes about the “sphere with spirals” which the children had constructed to give an idea of what She had explained the preceding week: .. The sphere is touched only by a part of the curve, the rest is evolved inside. It cannot be made. This one is opaque. But it was.. there was at the centre of the sphere an intersection of all the spirals. What you have done there makes it flat, the way it is done. It is flat. As I saw it, the edge was touched by a section of the curve. Each curve has one part of the edge as section. And the colours were seen distinctly and one could see right throu

13 October 1954 This talk is based upon Sri Aurobindo's Bases of Yoga, Chapter 1, “Calm – Peace – Equality”. Sweet Mother, what does “the reduction of the men- tal being to the position of a witness” mean? Have you never felt this? As though you were a little behind or above things, and were looking at them taking place but were not doing anything yourself? Witness means an observer, someone who looks on and does not act himself. So, when the mind is very quiet, one can withdraw a little in this way from circumstances and look at things as though he were a witness, a spectator, and not participating in the action himself. This gives you a great detachm

8 December 1954 This talk is based upon Sri Aurobindo's Bases of Yoga, Chapter 2, “Faith – Aspiration – Surrender”. Sweet Mother, what is the meaning of “the psychic surrender in the physical”? Why, we spoke about it last time, didn't we? I think so. It is the psychic surrender expressing itself in the physical consciousness; that is, the physical consciousness takes an attitude of psychic surrender. The physical consciousness receives the influence of the psychic and takes the attitude which psychic surrender gives. We said that; I am sure I said something very much the same. (To a child) And you, you said you had something? Here it is sai

25 August 1954 This talk is based upon Chapter 6 of The Mother by Sri Aurobindo. “There are other great Personalities of the Divine Mother, but they were more difficult to bring down and have not stood out in front with so much promi- nence in the evolution of the earth-spirit. There are among them Presences indispensable for the supramen- tal realisation, – most of all one who is her Person- ality of that mysterious and powerful ecstasy and Ananda which flows from a supreme divine Love, the Ananda that alone can heal the gulf between the high- est heights of the supramental spirit and the lowest abysses of Matter, the Ananda that holds the k

27 January 1954 This talk is based upon Mother's essay “Physical Education”. Mother, does a person's body-formation express his character? No. Even the character itself is not a simple affair, that is, the character of a person is not the expression of his true being but the result of many things. For example, atavism may be expressed, that is, what comes from the father, the mother, from both together which may have a different result; from what has gone before them – the past history, grandfathers, great-grandfathers, etc., and then from the environment in which people have lived when they were very young and had no independence at all. That has a consid

21 July 1954 This talk is based upon Chapter 3 of The Mother by Sri Aurobindo. Which of you did not ask questions last time?...  The first one! What is the difference between “the divine, spiritual and supramental Truth?” If I could only hear what you are saying, it would be easier! (The child repeats the same questions more distinctly.) The divine truth...   “...spiritual and supramental.” I don't think there is much difference! Sweet Mother, what does a “candid” faith mean? Candid? It is simple, sincere and does not doubt. We speak mostly of the candour of a child, who has a simple faith without any doubts. Sweet Mo

24 February 1954 This talk is based upon Mother's essay “Psychic Education and Spiritual Education”. Sweet Mother, here you have said: “From beyond the frontiers of form a new force can be evoked, a power of consciousness which is as yet unexpressed and which, by its emergence, will be able to change the course of things and give birth to a new world.” Is the force you are speaking about the Divine? What do you call the Divine? Give me your definition of the Divine. We have already dealt with this here once. All that is upon earth is the expression of the Divine? No, I am asking you what you call the Divine. You have an ide

9 June 1954 This talk is based upon Sri Aurobindo's Elements of Yoga, Chapter 11, “Transformations”. “Q: When a sadhak gets dreams signifying some spirit- ual truth, does it not indicate that his nature is getting transformed?” “A: Not necessarily. It shows that he has more con- sciousness than ordinary people, but dreams do not transform the nature.” If you read a book it will help you to transform yourself. But it is not the book which will transform you. A dream is an indication, it gives you the exact picture of what is going on within you, of the state you are in, of the state of your surroundings, and with these indications you can do wh

22 December 1954 This talk is based upon Sri Aurobindo's Bases of Yoga, Chapter 3, “In Difficulty”. When a being is possessed by a hostile force, what becomes of his psychic? It depends on the degree of the possession. Usually it is something progressive. First there is an influence under which one comes, and comes in a fragmentary way, not even totally in his being, but in certain parts and for a time. This is the first stage. The second: the influence becomes permanent and there is one part of the being which deteriorates, which is constantly under this influence and expresses it. After this, the being which has cast this influence tries to enter that part.

28 July 1954 This talk is based upon Chapter 4 of The Mother by Sri Aurobindo. “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 be- longs 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.” How does money manifest on other planes? What other planes? He speaks of the vital and physical, doesn't he?... that it i