January 12, 1961 What is the next aphorism? 50 - To hate the sinner is the worst sin, for it is hating God; yet he who commits it glories in his superior virtue. Do you have a question? When we enter a certain state of consciousness, we plainly see that we are capable of anything and that ultimately there is no 'sin' not potentially our own. Is this impression correct? And yet certain things make us rebel or disgust us. We always reach some inadmissible point. Why? What is the true, effective attitude when confronted with Evil? There is no sin not our own.... [23] You have this experience when for some reason or other, depending on the case, you come into contact wi

April 29, 1961 (Some fragments of this conversation were originally published in Mother's 'Commentaries on the Aphorisms' of Sri Aurobindo. Considering it too personal, Mother had not wanted the unabridged text to appear even in her Agenda. However, we felt it should be kept. This conversation's starting point was the following aphorism.) 59 - One of the greatest comforts of religion is that you can get hold of God sometimes and give him a satisfactory beating. People mock at the folly of savages who beat their gods when their prayers are not answered; but it is the mockers who are the fools and the savages. Poor T.! She asked me, 'What does it mean (laughing) to give God a "sati

November 12, 1961 (Mother improvises on the harmonium to 'say' something, or perhaps to calm Satprem's nerves, then continues:) Sri Aurobindo was telling me, 'Satprem has a headache and is tired because he's trying to do an unnecessary work.' Page 385 No, it's not me, I didn't think that myself, but it came to me several times. So I wondered if inspiration was coming, after all, but you Were fighting against it. That would be more than enough to make you tired! But you see, Id been struggling for four or five days with no results. Well, this morning.... I was angry yesterday, angry with you ... (Unperturbed) Yes. ... because it wasn't coming. Yes (laughing),

August August 2, 1961 When one descends into the subconscient, a time comes when it's no longer personal - the whole world is there! Then what can we do? I'm not speaking of you, but what can people like us do to change it? It's a Sisyphean labor! Vibrations from the whole world keep coming in at each instant. How can we change it? No, you have to approach the problem from the other direction. Evolution begins with the Inconscient, complete Inconscience; and from this Inconscient a Subconscient gradually emerges - that is, a half or quarter-consciousness.... There are two different things here. Consider life on earth (because the process is slightly different in the universe); ea

September 16, 1961 (Satprem complains of his difficulties in writing the book on Sri Aurobindo. He says in particular that he has a feeling of being 'blocked') I have asked Sri Aurobindo to help you. You know, we are surrounded by complications, but there is always a place where it all opens out simple and straight - this is a fact of my experience. You go around in circles, seeking, working at it, and you feel stuck; then something in the inner attitude gives way, and all of a sudden it opens out - quite simply. I have had this experience very often. So I have asked Sri Aurobindo to give it to you. And he says repeatedly, insistently: Be simple, be simple. Say simply what

June June 2, 1961 (Regarding an earlier 'Questions and Answers' - March 13, 1957 - where Mother says: 'And finally, isn't the Divine the best friend one could have? The Divine to whom one can tell all, reveal all, because here is the source of all mercy, of all power to efface error when it no longer recurs....'Surprised, Satprem blurts out.) But there's no more problem when the error no longer recurs! Isn't it when the error recurs that it needs to be effaced? When one does not repeat one's past mistakes, the divine power, the power of the divine Grace, abolishes their consequences - their karma - in the being. But as long as mistakes are repeated nothing can be abolished, beca

May 19, 1961 (During the work, the difficulty of competently translating Sri Aurobindo comes up.) Something is inevitably lost in translating; we translate, we lose something. Not something - a great deal. A great deal. The more I see these texts, the more.... At first I had the impression of a certain nebulous quality in the English text, and that precisely this quality could be used to introduce the spirit of another language. Now I see that this nebulousness was in my head! It was not in what he wrote. Yes, I see what you mean - there's a sense in the way it is put. Every word, mon petit! Every word and the POSITION of the word in the sentence - even the position of

November 7, 1961 (Regarding Satprem's letter to Mother on the Veda:) This has confronted me with a problem.... You are asking about the process, aren't you? Yes. Page 377 My impression from the Veda is not the same as yours. You say that when they reached the heights they went into trance and then tried the other method. When I read the Veda ... at least what Sri Aurobindo translates for us, because otherwise I have no direct knowledge.... But they say nothing about this. I know my own experience and I can speak of it in detail; and according to what Sri Aurobindo told me, it was the same for him - although he NEVER wrote of it anywhere. But since it has been m

July 15, 1961 Before coming downstairs I felt like writing a few words. These words ... are the result of everything now being done. They almost expressed a protest. After all, I thought, to be a saint or a sage is not very difficult! (Mother laughs) But the supramental transformation is another affair. Oh! And it has become acute since .... [[Since Mother began reading Sri Aurobindo's letters in On Himself, which seemed to put her into contact with all the difficulties of the Work. ]] No, I don't read these days, because I've had a hemorrhage in this eye. There have been too many letters, and it's difficult for me to decipher handwriting - the result is this hemorrhage. So I have gone

January 7, 1961 I came down at 9:30 sharp, thinking half an hour would be enough to cross the corridor and get here. Apparently not! (Mother gives Satprem a rose.) This is the Tenderness of the Divine for ... for himself! The tenderness He has for his creation. 'Creation' ... I don't like that word, as if it all were created from nothing! It is He himself, creating with all his tenderness. Some of these roses get quite big; they're so lovely! And I am ... how to put it? Nothing we say is ever absolutely true, but, to stretch it a bit, while I am ... not worried, not perturbed, not discouraged, I feel I can't get anything done; I spend all my time, all my time, seeing people, re