24 February 1973 A: For this evening I would like to read you a letter from X, which follows on from what you said the other day in reply to her question: “We have no- ticed that in some children there is a very strong vital movement which follows the physical gesture. For others, it is just a game. There is even one boy who marches up and down the veranda, announcing that he is going to be a soldier in `Mother's Army'. Have you any precise indication to give us about these various cases?” Marches what?             A: He marches on the veranda. Not on the edge?            A: No, no. And then he makes

Curriculum STUDY OF WORKS OF SRI AUROBINDO AND THE MOTHER Sweet Mother, how should one read your books and the books of Sri Aurobindo so that they might enter into our consciousness instead of being understood only by the mind? To read my books is not difficult because they are written in the simplest language, almost the spoken language. To draw profit from them, it is enough to read with attention and concentration and an attitude of inner goodwill with the desire to receive and to live what is taught. To read what Sri Aurobindo writes is more difficult because the expression is highly intellectual and the language is much more literary and philosoph

  Psychic Education and Spiritual Education             So far we have dealt only with the education that can be given to all children born upon earth and which is concerned with purely human faculties. But one need not inevitably stop there. Every human being carries hidden within him the possibility of a greater consciousness which goes beyond the bounds of his present life and enables him to share in a higher and a vaster life. Indeed, in all exceptional beings it is always this consciousness that governs their lives and organises both the circumstances of their existence and their individual reaction to these circumstances. What the human mental consciousness does n

  ABOUT TESTS Tests may be useful in giving you the academic worth of a child, but not his real worth. As for the real worth of a child, something else is to be found, but that will be for later on, and will be of a different nature. I am not opposing real worth to academic worth; they can coexist in the same individual, but it is a rather rare phenomenon which produces exceptional types of people. 1962 * (Mother's comments in the margin of a letter from a teacher about French in the school. The students were using work-sheets.) One of the reasons why the children do not make any progress in French is that the teachers do not

26 February 1973 A reads out to Mother a series of questions to be answered by the teachers. A: And now the last question that we have is: “Mother wrote that there should be no difference in the mind of the child between play and work, especially for young children, for whom the joy of learning should come from interest. How do you think things should be so that there is no difference between play and work? Do you have any suggestions to make?” The most important thing is the parents and their school… school...going to school. We could very well not tell them, “You are going to school...You are coming...Today we shall play such and

There is one thing that I must emphasise. Don't try to follow what is done in the universities outside. Don't try to pump into the students mere data and information. Don't give them so much work that they may not get time for anything else. You are not in a great hurry to ca h a train. Let the students understand what they learn. Let them assimilate it. Finishing the course should not be your goal. You should make the programme in such a way that the students may get time to attend the subjects they want to learn. They should have sufficient time for their physical exercises. I don't want them to be very good students, yet pale, thin, anaemic. Perhaps you will say that in this way they wi

14 February 1973    In connection with a question on the need for continuity in organising the work with young children, Mother made the following remarks: But there is one thing, one thing which is the main difficulty: it is the parents. When the children live with their parents I consider that it is hopeless, because the parents want their child to be educated as they were themselves, and they want them to get good jobs, to earn money – all the things that are contrary to our aspiration.  The children who are with their parents...really, I don't know what to do. The parents have such a great influence on them that in the end they ask to go away to a school

-74_The-Great-Secret-(b).htm The Great Secret (b) Then the voice of the Unknown Man is heard, calm, gentle, clear, full of a serene authority. THE  UNKNOWN  MAN What you want to know, I can tell you.  All of you have had a similar experience, although your activities are so different in their nature and scope. All six of you have come to a similar conclusion in spite of the success that has crowned your efforts. For you have been living in the surface consciousness, seeing only the appearance of things and unaware of the true reality of the universe.  You represent the 'elite of mankind, each one of you has achieved in his own sphere the utmost of what man is capable of; you are

kindliness that encourages what is good and does not severely emphasise what is bad. Grace is always closer to the truth than justice.    1961  * Mother, what should be done in a class when a child refuses to conform to a discipline? Should he be left to do as he likes? Generally speaking, above the age of twelve all children need discipline.     Some teachers believe that you are opposed to disci- pline.    For them, discipline is an arbitrary rule that they impose on the little ones, without conforming to it themselves. I am opposed to that kind of discipline.   So discipline is a rule which the child should impose on himself. How can

-57_Mother's-Action-in-a-Class-of-Aged-10 to 11.htm Yes, but for that the calm must be perfect in all parts of the being so that the power can express itself through him.           (The children's notebooks had been sent to Mother for her assessment.} I have put marks in the children's notebooks without making any classification. Is this classification really necessary? Each one has different merits and it is difficult to grade them.  June-July 1960 * (Extract from one of the teacher's letters:} I trust You and I trust the children because of You; as for myself, I know nothing and I want nothing, except what You want for us. Only show me a