Finance To find the necessary funds for Auroville one could proceed in the following manner: Find in every coun- try a very wealthy person who would be the centre for collecting funds for Auroville. Advantages: Such a person would carry weight, would be an example for the others and would never give the impression of begging. In principle this way is all right. But in practice, and to avoid all possibility of failure (because failure would have a deplorable effect), we must wait for an indication from circumstances of which I will be immediately informed. And then I will give the signal to go ahead. November 1965 * Mother, Will X play

Sri Aurobindo Ashram Sri Aurobindo was living in Pondicherry with four or five disciples from 1910 to 1920. In 1914 the Mother came from France (with Paul Richard) and Sri Aurobindo began to edit the Arya, which continued up to January 1920. In April 1920 the Mother came back from Japan and gradually, as the number of people increased, the Ashram was founded in 1926. Although there is a certain charm and poetry in the fact that there is no formal date for the creation of our Ashram, could it be said from the occult point of view that the Ashram was born with the Mother's arrival? The Ashram was born a few years after my return from Japan,

No Politics We are not here to do politics but to serve the Divine. Sri Aurobindo thinks that it is not possible for us to intervene by a wire in a political matter of this kind. At most you might write to X your private opinion about the best course for him to take in these painful and difficult circumstances. With love and blessings. 24 February 1939 * I have received X's letter. You can write to him: “It is absolutely out of the question for anyone connected with the Ashram to intervene in politics of any kind.” He must not go to Y (it would be useless in any case). If he went and Y spoke to us of it, we would be obliged to disavow his action as not sanction

Community Affairs GENERAL Auromodele is an attempt and an experiment. As it develops the organisation will be modified according to the need. Every organisation should remain supple and flexible so as to progress constantly and modify itself when the need arises. 12 February 1963 * Mother, May I write in answer to X's letter that any copy for a brochure or pamphlet written either in America or at the Ashram regarding the American Pavilion [to be built in Auroville] must first be approved by you? Nothing on any Auroville project can be published without my approval. Blessings. 22 March 1966  * Dear Mother, Our vegetable c

Matrimandir The Matrimandir wants to be the symbol of the Divine's answer to man's aspiration for perfection. Union with the Divine manifesting in a progressive human unity. 14 August 1970 * The Matrimandir wants to be the symbol of the Universal Mother according to Sri Aurobindo's teaching.   The Matrimandir will be the soul of Auroville. The sooner the soul is there, the better it will be for everybody and especially for the Aurovilians. 15 November 1970 * For the construction of the Matrimandir, will only Aurovilians do the work or will there also be hired workers and other people of goodwill? It is preferable that the work be or

General What is the Divine? The Divine is what you adore in Sri Aurobindo. 28 March 1932 How beautiful is the day when one can offer one's devotion to Sri Aurobindo. You must feel that Sri Aurobindo is looking at you. It is not a question of disobedience. I know nothing about your additions to the Life Sketch of the sources from which they were taken. My point of view is this, that anything written by a sadhak about Sri Aurobindo which brings him down to an ordinary level and admits the reader to a sort of gossiping familiarity with him is an unfaithfulness to Him and His work. Good intentions are not sufficient; it is necessary that this should be understood

Last Talk 30 March 1972 Since we have set aside all conventions, immediately everybody thinks: “Ah! Nice place to satisfy our desires.” And they nearly all come with that intention. And because I built a maternity clinic for the children of people I was obliged to send away from the Ashram, so that they would have a place to have their children, people think that the maternity clinic is intended for all illegitimate children. I am not concerned about legality, I am not concerned about laws or conventions. But what I do want is a more divine life and not an animal life. And they turn freedom into license, they use it to satisfy their desires. And all the things that

* The Mother and Sri Aurobindo Darshan Day, 24 April 1950

PHYSICAL NEARNESS Whether I see you or not makes no difference to the help. It will always be there. You must remove two falsehoods from your mind. 1) What you get from me has nothing at all to do with what the others have or have not. My relation with you depends on you alone; I give you according to your true need and capacity. Even here, already you were alone with me; if there were no others you would receive nothing more. 2) It is a great mistake to think that physical nearness is the one thing indispensable for the progress. It will do nothing for you if you do not establish the inner contact, for without that you could remain from morning to night with

Comfort and Happiness Each one carries his capacity of happiness in himself but I am convinced that those who cannot be happy here can be happy nowhere. 14 April 1936 * People must be happy when they are here, otherwise they cannot have the full advantage of the exceptional opportunity. I am always happy to receive and to help those who wish for harmony and conciliation, and are ready to correct their mistakes and to progress. But I can be of no help to those who throw all the blame on the others for they are inapt to see the truth and to act accordingly. But it goes without saying that those who are here and are ready to face some difficulties in ord