I feel that it is the book that will give a new orientation there. That's why I am insisting. And Russia.... Russia, changed to the right side, it would be wonderful!... I don't know why.... Naturally I was Russian in a recent incarnation, when I was.... Is it Catherine? Catherine, yes. And that's very much alive in me. My impression is that if the whole Russian bloc were to turn to the right side, it would be a tremendous support.... And they are not satisfied; you know, they're in the state in which you're capable of doing something because you're not satisfied -- they are NOT satisfied. Their experience ... basically they

The power of this Titan comes from an Asura. There are four Asuras. Two have already been converted, and the other two, the Lord of Death and the Lord of Falsehood, made an attempt at conversion by taking on a physical body - they have been intimately associated with my life. The story of these Asuras would be very interesting to recount ... The Lord of Death disappeared; he lost his physical body, and I don't know what has become of him.' As for the other, the Lord of Falsehood, the one who now rules over this earth, he tried hard to be converted, but he found it disgusting! At times he calls himself the 'Lord of Nations.' It is he who se

There is a problem I'd like to put to you. What problem? A practical problem, not a yogic one! It's about Italy, N. and the publication of the book on Sri Aurobindo ["The Adventure of Consciousness"]. N. translated it and gave it to his friend S. to look after the publication in Italy. S. saw a publisher, who asked to read the book in French and found it interesting. And then, I don't know whether on the publisher's suggestion or S.'s, they are asking if it wouldn't be better to publish first a book by Sri Aurobindo like, for instance, "The Guide to Yoga." That doesn't exist! Yes, you know, fragments of letters were use

Do you object to my doing some pranayama [[Pranayama: breathing exercises. ]] before I begin working? I think it would do you good, mon petit. I began three days ago, but I keep getting entangled with the traditional formation around it: "Oh, it's dangerous, it's dangerous, be careful." So this morning I thought I'd better speak to you about it. Are you doing it without instructions? There's a traditional way of doing it, I know the formula. How does it go? The time varies. You inhale through the left nostril for let's say 4 seconds, then you hold your breath for 16 seconds, raising the dia

(Regarding a Playground Talk of March 17, 1951, published in the latest "Bulletin," in which Mother says that when she returned from Japan in 1920, she felt Sri Aurobindo's atmosphere two nautical miles away from Pondicherry:) It appears that in 1958 we said one thing and that this time we said another, so they ask me which is correct. It's about Sri Aurobindo's atmosphere which I felt at sea. So in 1958 (I probably remembered more precisely then) I said ten nautical miles (I remember having asked on the ship, just so I would know), and it appears that this time I said two miles. So they tell me ... What does it matter!

You haven't spoken of Sri Aurobindo in a long time. Me, I have nothing to say. What about Sri Aurobindo, is he saying anything? (after a silence) He's very busy with ... (gesture to the north) with everything happening in the country. It's serious, you know. But what is India waiting for? Waiting for what? Well, to recognize that country.[[To recognize officially the "provisional government" of Bangladesh under the leadership of Sheikh Mujibur. Only eight months later, on December 6, would India recognize Bangladesh. ]] Oh, she has recognized it!

When the mind came down upon earth, something like a million years went by between the manifestation of the mind in the earth atmosphere and the appearance of the first man. But it will go faster this time because man is waiting for something, he has a vague idea: he is awaiting in some way or another the advent of the superman. Whereas the apes were certainly not awaiting the birth of man, they never thought of it - for the excellent reason that they probably don't think very much! But man has thought about it and is waiting, so it will go faster. But faster probably still means thousands of years. We shall speak of this again in a few thousand years! page

In this respect, you say somewhere that the gods too must incarnate to become fully conscious. Yes, because.... How is this possible? Aren't the gods already fully conscious?! No, they have no psychic being, so that whole side of life does not exist for them. In all the traditions here in India (and in other countries and other religions as well), most of the time these gods behave impossibly! This is simply because they have no psychic being. The psychic being is the one thing belonging specifically to terrestrial life; it has been given as a grace ... to repair, to undo what had been done.