At the epicentre         As we have already seen in passing, the world was in turmoil during the years of Mirra's marriage and Paris was the epicentre of the profound changes that would churn up humanity. We do not have any of her writings from that period — if she wrote anything at all — but it happens that we get a glimpse of these times in some of her later conversations.         Towards the end of the nineteenth century the second Industrial Revolution was in full swing, and accelerating. The main elements of the first Industrial Revolution had been coal, steam and iron. The Eiffel Tower, erected for the World Exhibition of 1889, may be seen as its symbol and apotheosis. Bu

The reclusive Masters         The righteous will shine like stars, but those who have guided others towards the truth will shine like suns, forever.13 — Max Théon         Max Théon was a mysterious figure and he chose to remain so. The Mother, however well she had known him, was not sure about his provenance. He never told her who he really was, where he was born, how old he was, or anything else. According to her supposition, he was a Polish or Russian Jew who had received initiation in India, knew Sanskrit, was knowledgeable about the Rig Veda, and had worked together with H.P. Blavatsky in Egypt.         The marriage certificate of Max Théon and Alma, dated 21 Mar

The transformation of the body       Much is needed to rise above the animal, much more than one thinks.7                                                                                                   — The Mother As mentioned before, the Mother's withdrawal had become a necessity because she was entering a new phase of the Yoga. Till now she had focused her effort on the realization of the overman, the transitional being between mental man, which we are, and the full-fledged supramental superman. From now onwards her effort would be concentrated on the transformation of the body — of her body and therefore of the body

May 1968         Almost immediately after the foundation of Auroville a kind of shock wave went through the youth of the world, with its main focus in France. On 22 March 1968 the students occupied Nanterre University in the suburbs Of Paris. A week later the authorities decided to suspend classes in Nanterre. On 1 May the trade unions organized a march in support of the students and to press for better wages. Two days later students held meetings in the Sorbonne University and the police entered that ancient institution for the first time in history. Two days later the first barricades went up in the Latin Quarter and the provincial universities were occupied by their students. Hug

The descent The Sadhana and the work were waiting for the Mother's coming.12  — Sri Aurobindo 'When I returned from Japan and we began to work together,' the Mother said, 'Sri Aurobindo had already brought the supramental Light into the mental world and was trying to transform the Mind. "It's strange," he said to me, "it's an endless work! Nothing seems to get done — everything is done and then constantly has to be done all over again." Then I gave him my personal impression, which went back to the old days with Théon: "It will be like that till we touch bottom." So instead of continuing to work Page-1

Matrimandir         Little by little the residents of Auroville arrived, still mainly from the West. These pioneers chose a tough task, trying to build the dream of the ideal City of the Future in a place which was little more than goat country, in the climatic extremes of a hot and clammy subtropical summer and lashing monsoon rains or calamitous monsoon failures, harassed by a plethora of snakes, scorpions and insects the subtropics had in store for them. The first Aurovillians were a bizarre mixture of idealists, temporarily interested visitors and adventurous or curious hippies. Few, if any, had real knowledge of or insight into Sri Aurobindo and the Mother's yogic efforts an

The launching of the Arya         In Mirra's diary entries of these weeks we find time and again allusions to the continuous and absorbing practical occupations in which she had to engage. Ever attentive, she soon understood that this harassing, aggressive outer world was the true terrain of the new Yoga, not the undisturbed, holy heights of meditation and withdrawal as recommended in all the traditional spiritual paths.         The volume of activity undertaken by the Richards in the first months of their stay in Pondicherry is amazing. They had arrived on 29 March and the elections were to be held on 26 April, less than a month later. Trying to make an impact so tha

Five 'dreams'                        A new spirit of oneness will take hold of the human race.18                                                                                                            — Sri Aurobindo         The Trichinopoly station of All India Radio had asked Sri Aurobindo for a message, to be read by a newsreader and broadcast on India's Day of Independence. His message began as follows:* 'August 15th, 1947 is the         * The passages quoted here, published in On Himself, (SABCL 26:404ft) are from the second version, the broadcast one. The first version had been 'little too long for the time allotted for the message.' Page-313 birthday of fre

Founding the City of Dawn: Auroville         When she founded Auroville, the Mother did not act on a sudden idea or impulse, not even a spiritual one: she allowed to become realized on Earth what already existed in another dimension. 'The conception of Auroville is purely divine and has preceded its execution by many years.'38 And as early as 1966, she said: 'It's certain to work, I know that it exists — the city is already there (for many, many years). What is interesting is that I had made a creation with Sri Aurobindo at the centre. Then, when Sri Aurobindo left, I dropped the whole idea, I didn't budge any more. And suddenly it began to come back, as if I were

The early sadhana (continued)         If the Mother stressed one thing about this period in her life, it is the fact that she was an inveterate atheist, positivist and materialist, just like her parents. She accepted only what she could touch and see, and she never sought for explanations elsewhere than on a material basis. This did not prevent the inner experiences from happening, nor did it inhibit her from feeling that inner 'Presence' for which she had no name and about which she could talk to nobody. She most certainly would not have called it God. 'The feeling I have had all my life long was that ['God'] was a [mere] word, and a word with which people covered a lot of very und