The Symbolism of Colours The significances of the colours below are based upon the works of Sri Aurobindo and the Mother. The significances given here are general indications only, for the meaning of a colour may vary, as Sri Aurobindo noted, "with the field, the combinations, the character and shades of the colour, the play of forces". Moreover, a colour may have several meanings, since there is more than one order of things that colours indicate. "There is an order of significances", Sri Aurobindo observed, "in which they indicate various psychological dynamisms, e.g., faith, love, protection, etc. There is another order of significances in which they in

Glossary of Philosophical and Psychological Terms The definitions of the terms below are based upon the writings of Sri Aurobindo and the Mother. ADHAR. Support, receptacle; the mental-vital- physical system as a vessel in which the consciousness is contained. ADITI. The Divine Mother; the divine consciousness; the indivisible consciousness, force and Ananda of the Supreme. AGNI. Fire; the godhead of fire; the fire of aspiration, purification, Tapasya, transformation. AJNA CHAKRA. The centre of consciousness between the eyebrows which governs the dynamic mind, will, vision, mental formation. ANANDA. Deligh

April 12, 1961 (The disciple asks for permission to poison some cats who have been disturbing him every night. Mother replies.) I once had a cat with almost a child's consciousness, and someone poisoned it. And when he came back poisoned, dying, I cursed all people who poison cats. And that's serious, so you mustn't do it. It was a real curse - I was with Sri Aurobindo, so it was serious - so don't do it. But there is a way.... Page 158 You know, I made a pact with cats, with the King of the Cats - it goes back very, very far. And it's extraordinary (it happened in Tlemcen, entirely on the occult plane), extraordinary! For certain reasons, the King of the Cats gave me a pow

July 26, 1961 (Satprem reads several passages from the July 15th conversation where Mother says that Sri Aurobindo left before saying what he had been doing, and that it was a path through a virgin forest: 'Eyes blindfolded, knowing nothing, one plods on....') It's still true. When shall we see the end? In a hundred years? Page 276 (For an instant Mother remains pensive) It came fleetingly: twenty years. I give it to you for whatever it's worth! Page 277

July 28, 1961 Here is something important. Sri Aurobindo says that everything is involved down here - the mind, the vital, the supermind - and that what is involved evolves. But if everything is involved, including the supermind, what is the need for a 'descent'? Can't things evolve by themselves? Ah! He has explained this somewhere. But I don't remember seeing anything that satisfied me. Isn't it in the Essays on the Gita ? He explains what Krishna says and how the two [descent and evolution] are combined. I read it not long ago because I was interested in this very question. And I even said something myself about the difference between what evolves (what emerges from this

May May 2, 1961 There is obviously a force at work.... When Sri Aurobindo was here, the work was done in another way; there was such an impression of hovering above difficulties, of acting on them from above. It was so strong that even rebellious elements, even things which were not going well, even ... they were dominated from above and they could not manifest - they stayed like that. And as they could not manifest, they faded quietly away. I have seen people (people from outside) who were enemies - all their enmity was pacified, pacified, pacified. They were unable to do any harm, even when they wanted to. Everything was made innocuous in that way. And it was the same thing here i

August 18, 1961 (Satprem began his book on Sri Aurobindo on August 15.) Have you been working? Yes. Ah! ... Good. Here (Mother gives some flowers), this is the Generosity [[Balsam. Also called 'Impatiens' because of the fruit's irritability: the instant it is touched, it explodes and projects its seeds far and wide. ]] of inspiration, and this is the crowning achievement [Divine Love [[Punica granatum (Pomegranate flower). ]] ]. So, petit, everything all right? ... Yes? A little difficult. That (pointing to the forehead) must remain silent.... Well, yes. ... Let it come from here (pointing to the heart). I am fully confident. Even if there is so

February 18, 1961 (Mother gives Satprem a flower she has named 'Supramental Action.' [[Barringtonia speciosa. ]] ) Don't you find it beautiful? How living, vibrant! Isn't it lovely! Oh, the other day I had some zinnias (Endurance) - literally works of art, as though each petal had been painted, and all together so harmonious and so varied at the same time. Oh, Nature is wonderful! ... In the end, we are just copycats, and clumsy ones at that. (after a moment of silence) Well, that's all. The situation remains the same. And your legs? Right in the subconscient, a subconscient ... oh, hopelessly weak and dull and ... (how to put it?) enslaved to a host of thin

July 12, 1961 (Regarding the last conversation, where Mother spoke of divine Perfection and of the series of invocations in her japa imploring the Lord to manifest his various aspects.) ... But Perfection is only one side, one special way of approaching the Divine. There are innumerable sides, angles, aspects - innumerable ways to approach the Divine. When I am walking, for example, doing japa, I have the sense of Unity (I have spoken to you of all the things I mention when I am upstairs walking: will, truth, purity, perfection, unity, immortality, eternity, infinity, silence, peace, existence, consciousness - the list goes on). And when one follows a particular tack and does suc

September 30, 1961 (Mother gives Satprem a flower she has recently named 'Unostentatious Certitude': Platycodon grandiflorum) This is the complete negation of 'bluff.' I find it very beautiful. When I saw this flower, it struck me as something very profound, very calm - absolutely sure, immobile. I don't know why, but the longer I looked at it, the more it gave that impression and when I was asked its significance, I said, 'Unostentatious Certitude.' It's what one might call a superlative good-taste in the realm of spiritual experience: something with greater content than it expresses. * (Following the letter Satprem had written to Mother the previous day regarding the book o