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

The Championship Badge  During the Athletic Championships of the J.S.A.S.A. which were held this quarter, the champion of each sub-group received as a prize a badge of championship. This badge is in the form of a golden tortoise with a full circle of red in the centre from which radiate twelve white rays. The form and colour of the badge have an occult significance and may be interpreted as follows: The tortoise is the symbol of terrestrial immortality, that is, the immortality of the physical body on this earth. The red centre symbolises the illumined physical and from this radiate the twelve white rays of the integral Light of Truth. The rays are curved to indica

PART TWO MESSAGE, LETTERS AND CONVERSATIONS I SRI AUROBINDO INTERNATIONAL CENTRE OF EDUCATION During the 1920s and 1930s, the Mother's educational guidance was limited to instructing a few individuals in French and offering general counsel in other courses of study. At that time, children were not permitted, as a rule, to live in the Ashram. In the early 1940s, a number of families were admitted to the Ashram and instruction was initiated for the children. On 2 December 1943, the Mother formally opened a school for about twenty children. She herself was one of the teachers. The number of pupils gradually increa

Part One ARTICLES In these articles I am trying to put into ordinary terms the whole yogic terminology, for these Bulletins are meant more for people who lead an ordinary life, though also for students of yoga – I mean people who are primarily inter- ested in a purely physical material life but who try to attain more perfection in their physical life than is usual in ordinary conditions. It is a very difficult task but it is a kind of yoga. These people call themselves “materialists” and they are apt to get agitated or irritated if yogic terms are used, so one must speak their language avoiding terms likely to shock them. But I have known

TESTS Sometime I would like to know, Mother, Your inten- tions with regard to regrouping these classes in the new year, whether with an examination or without. I consider an examination as quite necessary. In any case there will be one in French. My love and blessings.  29 October 1946 *   * It is not by conventional examinations that students can be selected for a class. It is only by developing in oneself the true psychological sense. Select children who want to learn, not those who want to push themselves forward.   29 October 1965 * (Concerning cheating in tests) What should I do? Must we do what is done out- side put three teac

Tournaments January, February, March and April are for us the months of tournaments. Small and big, all participate with the same ardour, but, I must say, not in the spirit of the ordinary competitors. For we always strive, not to win, but to play the best we can and open thus the way to a new progress. We are not aiming at success – our aim is perfection. We are not seeking fame or reputation; we want to prepare ourselves for a Divine manifestation. That is why we can boldly say: It is better to be than to seem. We need not appear to be good if our sincerity is perfect. And by perfect sincerity we mean that all our thoughts, feelings, sensations