April 14, 1964 (All of Satprem's letters to Mother having disappeared, as we already said, under lock and key in Pondicherry, we thought it fit to throw light on this journey to France by publishing, along with Mother's letters, a few fragments of Satprem's letters to Sujata.) (From Satprem to Sujata) Paris For the past three days, I don't know how I've lived; I feel somewhat like a sleepwalker jostled about here, there and everywhere, walking, walking without quite knowing how, in a thick darkness - all I know is the Force, which I hold on to like a drowning Page 111 man.... All that is left is the feeling of being far from home, far from all that is true, good, rest

March 25, 1964 101 - In God's sight there is no near or distant, no present, past or future. These things are only a convenient perspective for His world-picture. 102 - To the senses it is always true that the sun moves round the earth; this is false to the reason. To the reason it is always true that the earth moves round the sun; this is false to the supreme vision. Neither earth moves nor sun; there is only a change in the relation of sun-consciousness and earth-consciousness. (long silence) Impossible, I can't say anything. It implies that our habitual perception of the physical world is a false perception. Yes, naturally. Page 89 But then, what would the true

August August 5, 1964 (D., a disciple, sent Mother an eighteenth-century account by a Japanese monk of the Zen Buddhist sect describing a method called "Introspection," which enables one to overcome cold and hunger and attain physical immortality.[[Hermes magazine, Spring 1963. ]] Mother reads a few pages, then gives up.) It's better to work out your OWN system - if you want to work one out at all. That's what people have always reproached Sri Aurobindo for, because he doesn't tell you, "Do this in this way and that in that way...." And that's precisely what made me feel that there was the Truth. People cannot live without reducing things to a mental system. They need a me

August 29, 1964 (Regarding the definitive break between Satprem and his Tantric guru, with whom he had worked for six years. The occasion for this break was a sort of repetition of what had happened two years earlier, i.e., a swarming little horde of businessmen and "disciples" in search of petty powers, against whom, once again, Satprem wanted to warn X, for he loved him in spite of everything. This break nearly cost Satprem his life, as will be seen later. Thus is it said that those things are fire.) ... I see in a very clear way that even in circumstances in which you seem to have made a mistake, even with things that betrayed a hope and give you proof that what you expected wasn'

December December 2, 1964 ... Letters are piling up in fantastic numbers, and I haven't answered. People should learn to receive: I answer very forcefully, very clearly, even with words, a precise sentence. If they learned to receive mentally, it would be good. I always answer. And when it's something important and I have some peace, when I have no external action, I even repeat my answer by making a very precise mental formation - they should receive it. (Mother picks up at random a letter from a Western disciple who asks to change her work or stop her external work, because, she says, it doesn't correspond to her nature. She also complains about her relationship with others and

February 22, 1964 (The day after Mother's eighty-sixth birthday. Mother first reads the translation of the message she gave on the 21st:) It was translated in an interesting way.... I read it, then I concentrated (A. was sitting here, not moving or saying anything), so first I said a word or two to him to "establish the atmosphere." Then I remained quiet, and it simply came - it isn't exactly a translation: Sa volonté solitaire affronta la loi du monde. Pour arrêter la roue fatale, cette Splendeur se leva ... Her single will opposed the cosmic rule. To stay the wheels of Doom this greatness rose. (Savitri, I.II.19) *** I had a strange night last night. The

March March 4, 1964 So, how are you? And you? Experiences ... I have nothing to say. It's too much and too little at the same time - too many things, details, innumerable little observations, innumerable little changes; but nothing sensational, nothing to make a "nice picture," no. But first, I had asked you to tell me if you saw something. I did see something, but I don't think it's very interesting, or collective either. I seemed to kind myself in an enormous plane, a very powerful one, which managed to take off (a takeoff which, besides, gave me a very pleasant sensation). It took off, but it was hedgehopping, that was dangerous. At first, the space before us was clear anyw

January 28, 1964 (The following conversation between Mother and a Bengali disciple, B., was not tape-recorded but only noted from memory in English:) (B.) I am going to Calcutta. There they will ask me one question regarding the present situation - communal riots.[[It may be recalled that at the time a continuous flood of Hindu refugees from East Pakistan (now Bangladesh) was pouring into Bengal, sparking off numerous reprisals against the Muslim communities there. ]] What is the solution? The solution is, of course, the change of consciousness. I know those other people [in Pakistan] behaved badly, like animals - even animals are better than human beings - but if people he

October 10, 1964 (For the past few months, Mother has often remarked that she could no longer see and was writing her replies without seeing. Once, she even said, "I am blind.") That's another odd thing. All of a sudden, for no apparent external reason, even for no apparent psychological reason, I'll see clearly, precisely - it lasts a few seconds, and then ... it's over. And it happens to me in entirely different circumstances. For instance, I'll pick up a piece of paper: I'll see as clearly as I did before; I'll notice that I am seeing clearly - and it's finished! It has happened a little more often lately. At times, on the contrary, I try; for instance, nobody is here to re

April April 4, 1964 You gave me two recordings of Wanda Landowska and I have listened to them. In one of them, there's a passage which is a pure marvel.[[It is the transcription, by W. Landowska, of a "popular Polish song." ]] Isn't it! It doesn't last long - it's like crystal. Yes, exactly! I found it extraordinary. It's so beautiful! I've never heard anything so pure. Pure, yes, absolutely pure! That's a divine means of expression. It's really a divine manifestation on earth.... Yes, very pure - and simple. I have always wondered why I wasn't born a musician.... You must have been a musician. It's really a regret in my life not to be a musician. Writing