The Buddha, you know, was deeply shocked by the impermanence of things - the impermanence of the whole creation, that there was nothing permanent anywhere. That was the starting point of his quest, when he saw that nothing was permanent - constant and permanent - hence there was nothing one could call "forever." That's what shocked him, and he felt he had to find something permanent, and in his quest for the Permanent he came upon Nothingness. So his conclusion ran something like this: "Only one thing is permanent - Nothingness. As soon as there's creation, it's impermanent." Why did he object to impermanence? That, I don't know - a question of tem

Today the doctor is leaving for America for a brain operation. [[It consists in inserting a "needle" into a very specific area of the brain in order to destroy a group of contagious cells. ]] It's far from being a safe affair, it's too new, there are still too many unknown elements. There have been a number of really very interesting things with him, but it's a sort of microscopic work, so it can't be told.... For instance, the way the auras, the vibrations, are mingled - it's very interesting. I hope he is going to pull through? He told me he wasn't afraid. But actually it's nothing but an adventure into the un

You see, personal surrender and devotion is an excellent solution for the individual, but it doesn't work for the collectivity. For example, as soon as I am alone and lying on my bed - peace! (Ah, I forgot! They had invented yet another thing: making my heartbeats irregular. Every three or four beats it would stop; then it would start up again, pounding as if I had been struck. Three, four beats, a faint little beat, then stop ... then, bang! Blow after blow.... One more of their extraordinary inventions!) But, as soon as I stretch out and make a total surrender of all the cells - no more activity, nothing - everything goes well. But I am well

(Two Americans have brought Mother photos of a former disciple who left for the United States:) Do you remember C.? He has become a great guru there, with a group, and it seems he hypnotizes people.... And two Americans have come here (very nice people, one is a painter, the other is a sculptor); one was in C.'s clutches and it's the other who saved him by keeping him, almost brutally, materially far from C. for three days - the third day, he was free (which does seem to prove that he has a hypnotic influence) - and by telling him, "We're leaving for Pondicherry, you don't need an intermediary between the Mother and you." Because C. plays the gr

It was not by choice that I met all the four Asuras - it was a decision of the Supreme. The first one, whom religions call Satan, the Asura of Consciousness, was converted and is still at work. The second [the Asura of Suffering] annulled himself in the Supreme. The third was the Lord of Death (that was Theon). And the fourth, the Master of the world, was the Lord of Falsehood. page 367 - Mother's Agenda, volume 2, 5th Nov. - 1961 I have had other similar experiences - on Durga's day, for instance, when Sri Aurobindo was still here (you know, that's the day when Durga masters an asura; she doesn't kill him, she mast

All this came to me yesterday. I kept Z with me for more than half an hour, nearly 45 minutes. He told me some very interesting things. What he said was quite good and I encouraged him a great deal - some action on the right lines which will be quite useful, and then a book ... unfortunately mixed with an influence from that artificial world (but actually, even that can be used as a link to attract people). He must have spoken to you about this. He wants to write a kind of dialogue to introduce Sri Aurobindo's ideas - it's a good idea - like the conversations in Les Hommes de Bonne Volonté by Jules Romain. He wants to do it, and I told him it was an excellent

The story narrated in the film went like this: Narada, as usual, was having fun. (Narada is a demigod with a divine position - that is, he can communicate with man and with the gods as he pleases, and he serves as an intermediary, but then he likes to have fun!) So he was quarrelling with one of the goddesses, I no longer recall which one, and he told her ... (Ah, yes! The quarrel was with Saraswati.) Saraswati was telling him that knowledge is much greater than love (much greater in that it is much more powerful than love), and he replied to her, 'You don't know what you're talking about! (Mother laughs) Love is much more powerful than knowledge.' So she challen

-268_The Mother's body.html I was at the Origin - I WAS the Origin. For more than two hours, consciously, here on this bed, I was the Origin. And it was like gusts - like great gusts ending in explosions. And each one of these gusts was a span of the universe. It was Love in its supreme essence - which has nothing to do with what people normally understand by that word. And each gust of this essence of Love was dividing and spreading out ... but they weren't forces, it was far beyond the realm of forces. The universe as we know it no longer existed; it was a sort of bizarre illusion, bearing no relation to THAT. There was only the truth of the un

Did I tell you that in Italy a veterinarian has found a cure for cancer? ... This man has discovered that goats, the goat species (male and female), never have cancer! They even went as far as trying to make them have cancer, and they didn't succeed. Conclusion: in their makeup, there's something opposed to cancer; they've discovered that something in the stomach (I forget the details), and he made a serum. As he is a veterinarian, he doesn't have the right to give it, but he has doctor friends, and those doctors (a dozen or so) have tried it out - extraordinary cure, without fail. But with a difference: the female goat cures certain cases, while the male cu

These last few days I have had a very strong impression that ... I don't know if you remember (were you even born?) when Emile Zola said, "Truth is on the march." You weren't born. He told the court-martial a few home truths and it caused quite a row, and he was advised to leave France because he would have been put in jail. And once he reached England, he said, "It doesn't matter, Truth is on the march." It caused a resounding stir. And I still remember the impression - I was young, but still I was twenty.... There is more than twenty years' distance between us - how old are you? Forty? page 194-95 - Mother's Agenda , volume 6, 24th July - 1965