September September 5, 1962 (Before reading his manuscript on Sri Aurobindo to Mother, Satprem asks her to correct any inaccuracies in the text, since he doesn't have the direct experience of everything he speaks of.) I don't have the experience of some of these things. Neither do I; I don't have every experience. Oh, come on now.... (Laughing) I've had a number of them, but.... In principle, after a few thousand births, one should have every possible experience, provided one goes to the trouble of remembering. That would be the advantage of reincarnation; you can't do everything in one lifetime, but with a few thousand lives, it's possible to pass through all the st

September 15, 1962 (Satprem reads a passage from his manuscript in which he mentions the difference in luminosity of the various planes of consciousness. Mother interrupts him to add.) Somewhere in the overmind (beyond the higher mind and from the overmind onwards), things are luminous IN THEMSELVES. Light doesn't have to strike them: things themselves are luminous. And this makes a considerable difference in vision. Things are no longer lit from outside, they are luminous in themselves. This is the main difference in the quality of the light. It has even come to the point where things lit from outside seem artificial to me. They have lost their light. There may be a very di

July 21, 1962 The other day, speaking of Europe, you said that the "Old World is truly old...." Ah, look at this - yesterday someone read me a letter Sri Aurobindo wrote to Barin in April 1920, a few days before I returned from Japan. It was written in Bengali - tremendously interesting! He speaks of the state of the world, particularly India, and of how he envisaged a certain part of his action after completing his yoga. It's extremely interesting. And there's some very high praise for Europe. Sri Aurobindo says something like this: Page 267 "You all think Europe is over and done with, but that's not true, it's not finished yet." In other words, its power is still alive. Thi

June 23, 1962 One or two days ago, I am not sure when, but anyway after our last meeting, suddenly, without thinking about it or wishing it or anything (I was walking or doing something or other), I suddenly became, or saw, a tall being, all white, with a kind of halberd in its hand and an expression of iron will. And it seemed as if the world were being told: "Enough shilly-shallying, enough wavering, now it is time: the thing must be done." And the body's activities hadn't the least importance; whatever I did, that remained. I was seeing that tall being from above, like a great transformative power in the vital. A huge being, very calm and powerful - with no violence in it of course,

M o t h e r's   A g e n d a   1962-10-27 October 27, 1962 (An unfortunate series of power cuts prevented the recording of most of this conversation, except for a few passages. Satprem noted down the missing parts from memory, and Mother then supplemented his notes with a number of comments and additions.) We're going to build a little room on the terrace for the harmonium. I feel like making some experiments.... There used to be a bad attitude in the body, which always hampered my playing, and now that it has gone, I would like to see what happens. It was something in the subconscient standing in the way: everything you learn when you study music, that you can't play this note with that note and so

September 8, 1962 (Mother looks unwell. She seems to have been having some fainting spells, but this is not clear.) Are you tired? A little bit, yes. For three days it's been battle, battle, battle. (long silence) It's hard to know if it's a coincidence.... I don't believe in coincidences. Yes, I was wondering if it might coincide with X's arrival. He came yesterday. The meditation was good in that it was very concentrated and silent, and he had an ascent like this (gesture of an upright triangle), with a point that was supreme (for him) and a descent of light. Very calm, very silent. Page 338 The doctor says he has the flu - maybe he gave it to me ... I do

October 20, 1962 I was wondering.... Concerning whether people should be burned or buried, you said, "A week ago, I would unhesitatingly have said 'buried'.... Now, because of 'this,' I can't say any more." Which experience are you referring to? Page 384 It's because of what I am beginning to be aware of. Do you mean that what you are learning tends to show you that it's not necessarily best to be buried? Yes. It depends on the case, on the country, on all kinds of things. There are people in Europe who ask to be burned because they're afraid of being buried alive. Here, when people are convinced that a person is conscious, he's buried instead of burned. Actually,

May 13, 1962 (This is the first conversation with Mother in two months. She is still reclining on her chaise longue. She looks quite pale and fragile, almost translucent. She enlarges upon the experience she had a month earlier, on April 13. The following text was not taped but noted down from memory and then read out to Mother.) Page 137 I was at the Origin - I WAS the Origin. For more than two hours, consciously, here on this bed, I was the Origin. And it was like gusts - like great gusts ending in explosions. And each one of these gusts was a span of the universe. It was Love in its supreme essence - which has nothing to do with what people normally understand by that word.

May 27, 1962 (Concerning the "wave movement" in the experience of April 13.) ... What I say there is quite true. When I don't observe, formulate or explain, the state is absolutely tranquil, peaceful, contented, sufficient unto itself. And out of it, I can see that something will definitely emerge. But as soon as I try to make it emerge, it all fades away - meaning it isn't ripe yet. It's a very impersonal sort of state in which that whole habit of reacting to outside things, the things around me, has completely vanished. But nothing has come to replace it. It is ... an undulation. That's all. When will it change into something else? I don't know. You can't, you just can'

April April 3, 1962 (Since March 16, Mother has been going through a grave ordeal that threatened her physical existence. Even so, she went down to the balcony on the 18th and 20th of March, which were to be the last times. She has not left her room since then. All her conversations with Satprem will henceforth take place in her upstairs room. The latest attack occurred the previous night, April 2-3, and took the form of a total cardiac arrest. Despite her condition, this morning Mother has found the strength to speak. She speaks in English. Her words have been noted down from memory.) Just between eleven and twelve [last night] I had an experience by which I discovered that there i