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PHYSICAL NEARNESS
Whether I see you or not makes no difference to the help. It will always be there.
You must remove two falsehoods from your mind. 1) What you get from me has nothing at all to do with what the others have or have not. My relation with you depends on you alone; I give you according to your true need and capacity. Even here, already you were alone with me; if there were no others you would receive nothing more. 2) It is a great mistake to think that physical nearness is the one thing indispensable for the progress. It will do nothing for you if you do not establish the inner contact, for without that you could remain from morning to night with me and yet you will never truly meet me. It is only by the inner opening and contact that you can realise my presence.
The Mother's retirement¹ has posed a question of great importance for us. Is it going to widen the physical distance that was already existing between her and most Ashramites? And can the affairs of the Ashram be managed without her constant guidance? Do not the true interests of the sadhaks suffer during her retirement? Will she take the same usual care of us as she did before?
You ought not to forget that each one meets in life the exact
¹From 20 March 1962 Mother remained in her rooms upstairs in the Ashram, retiring from a daily routine in which everyone could see her regularly; thereafter she continued to meet persons, but by appointment. Page – 80 expression of what he is himself. Grace and blessings are always with you. Not one day have I stopped taking the usual care of those who depend on my force. 22 May 1962
Do the work ― my inspiration and guidance will always be with you; and when it is necessary I shall see you physically. But I am working to lessen more and more this necessity. Because to be able to receive the inner guidance is indispensable for the perfection of the work. 21 December 1964
Now that you are here, the only thing to do is to forget the past and to concentrate on your work here. It is true that for the moment I cannot see you regularly, but you must learn to get the inner contact (it is one of the chief reasons of my retirement) and then you will know that I am always with you to guide you and to help you and that you can have no better conditions than here to do properly your sadhana.
It would be more correct to say that certain thoughts, certain feelings and certain actions take people away from me or create a separation between someone and me in spite of all physical proximity. 1 May 1968 We feel that we are separated from Your presence; but this separation is only an illusion, isn't it, my Mother?
There is no real separation, but if the consciousness takes a Page – 81 wrong attitude, it puts itself into a state in which it has the sensation or the feeling of separation.
Is a physical contact with you indispensable?
No, this physical contact is not indispensable. Certainly for those who have the true attitude, the physical contact helps the body to follow the movement of transformation, but the body is rarely in a state to profit by it. Generally on birthdays it is more receptive. September 1971 I am no more living an active life; if you are open, help is bound to come. 14 December 1972
If you are quite sincere, you will agree with me that you are complaining of my being not too Divine but not Divine enough. For if in my physical body I had assumed, for instance, the appearance cherished by the ancient Indian tradition, how convenient it would be! Imagine, if having several heads and a great number of arms, possessing the power of ubiquity, when X comes to manicure my hands and so unceremoniously knocks at the door to inform me that she is there, (I cannot tell her not to knock because she is very busy) I could send her a pair of hands for her work and still be in my small room to answer to Y who is sitting with me there, how nice it would be!.. Page – 82 So, you see, I fear I have accepted to become too human, too much bound by the human laws of time and space, and thus not capable of doing half a dozen things at the same time! 12 January 1932
Lord, I lament my limitations… but it is through them, by virtue of them, that men can approach Thee. Without them, Thou wouldst be as remote, as inaccessible to men as if Thou hadst not put on a body of flesh. This is why each progress they make represents a true liberation for me, for each step they take towards Thee gives me the right to cast away one of these limitations and to manifest Thee more truly, more perfectly. And yet these limitations could have been dispensed with. But then it would have been necessary to keep near us only those who have experienced the Divine, who have identified themselves with Thee, Lord, even if only once, either within themselves or in the universe. For this identification is the indispensable basis of our Yoga; it is its starting-point. 17 July 1932
It is their own mental and vital formation of me that they love, not myself. More and more I am confronted with this fact. Each one has made his own image of me for himself in conformity with his needs and desires, and it is with this image that he is in relation, through that he receives the little amount of universal forces and the still smaller amount of supramental forces that manage to filter through all these formations. Unfortunately, they cling to my physical presence, otherwise I could withdraw into my inner solitude and do my work quietly and freely from there; but this physical presence is a symbol for them and that is why they cling to it, for in fact they have very little real contact with what my body truly is or with the tremendous accumulation of conscious energy that it represents. Page – 83 And now, O Higher Force, that You are descending into me and penetrating more and more totally all the atoms of my body, the distance between myself and everything around me seems to be increasing more and more, and more and more I feel myself floating in an atmosphere of radiant consciousness that is totally beyond their understanding. 11 June 1954
Since I love only You, O Lord, it is You alone whom I love in all and in each one; and by dint of loving You in them, I shall end up by making them a little conscious of You. For them, the real thing is to know how to let themselves be loved without any preference and obstruction. But, not only do they not want to be loved except in their own way, they do not want even to open themselves to love unless it comes to them through the intermediary of their choice… and what could be done in a few hours, a few months or a few years takes centuries to be accomplished.
After establishing a conscious contact with each person present, I merge with the Supreme Lord and then my body is nothing but a channel through which He pours out upon all His Light, His Consciousness and His Joy, to each one according to his capacity.
I take the greatest care to open the door within all of you, so that if you have just a small movement of concentration within you, you do not have to wait for long periods in front of a closed door that will not move, to which you have no key and which you do not know how to open. Page – 84 The door is open, only you must look in that direction. You must not turn your back on it.
I am not eager to be the Guru of anyone. It is more spontaneously natural for me to feel the Mother of all and to carry them forward silently through the power of love. 19 September 1961
I am not eager to be the Guru of anyone. It is more spontaneously natural for me to be the universal Mother and to act in silence through love. But as you put the question, I shall answer. From the time you started using a mantra, I had put in it the power to make it effective. Now that you have stated what is the word of this mantra, I am confirming the power into it.
How do you conceive of my relation with you?
Are you not the son of the universal Mother? 25 July 1970
Until now, my spontaneous attitude was that of the supreme Mother who carries the universe in her loving arms, and I was dealing with each one as with the child from whom she tolerates everything equally; and all that the people here were doing to please me I was taking as a token of their love and I was very grateful for it. Today I have learnt that many, if not most, are looking at me as their Guru and that they are eager Page – 85 to please me because to please the Guru is the best way to acquire merit on the path. And then I have understood that the duty of the Guru is to encourage from each one only that which can lead him quickly to the Lord and serve His Divine Purpose, ― and I am very grateful for the lesson.
Everyone has to follow his own path which, necessarily, is the best and the swiftest for reaching the goal. As I happen to know the way, it is my duty to show it to them. When I say that I have initiated someone, I mean that I have revealed myself to this person, without words, and that he was capable of seeing, feeling and knowing What I am.
I want only what You think best.
When people suggest two alternative things and ask me which one to do, I answer “As you like” when neither is better than the other. 17 January 1933
“If you want” obviously implies that there is a risk that the Page – 86 consequences of what you want to do may not be very good for your sadhana, but also that perhaps you are not ready to make the necessary progress which would enable you not to do what you wish to do. 29 March 1933
It seems that you are far too complex and complicated to understand my straight direct simplicity. When I say, “this is the best” I mean that it is the best and consequently that it is the thing to be done. And what I call surrender is not to make a counter-proposal in answer to my arrangement but to accept it full-heartedly. You ask for peace as if I was withdrawing it but when I wrote to you with the best feelings of kindness, trust and consideration, “this is the best thing to do”, if you had answered at once “Yes, Mother, let it be done”, you would have certainly felt a greater peace in you and even a sweet joy. 26 July 1939
Your last letter, in reply to mine which explained what I thought of doing, runs: “Do as you like. But as you ask my opinion I must say that it is silly.” Is it silly because there is a feeling in me that circumstances are compulsive? Another thing: why have you omitted those words which mean so much to me and which you have always ended with: “Love and blessings”?
My “it is silly” covered many sides of the question, including the most exterior one. What you suggest as the foolishness of believing that circumstances are compelling when they are not, is part of it. It is purposely that I have omitted the words “love and Page – 87 blessings”, because I did not wish you to think that I am blessing your enterprise I do not just because I find it silly. So, do not be mistaken if I end by love and blessings. These words are for your soul of which you are not just now very conscious, and not for your exterior being. 18 June 1942
Why do I feel so much fear?
Because you think I want to impose my will upon you; but this is wrong. On the contrary I want to leave you quite free to decide for yourself. Only I can know and foresee what you cannot know and do not foresee and I tell you what I see, that is all. It is up to you to make use of my knowledge or not. Your decision to wait for one year is wise and I am happy you have taken it. 13 February 1954
Nobody ever thought of forcing you to do yoga. If you want to do it in order to acquire the power over the circumstances, it is not a very noble or high motive, and you cannot count upon me to help you there. I can help you only if your motive is to discover the Truth (not to postulate a priori that what you think is the truth) and to surrender entirely to the Truth. So the decision is in your hands. 1 December 1961
Now I am obliged to tell you that I neither approve nor disapprove ― no like and no dislike, no desire and no personal will. Each case is seen individually, and the answer given for the best of each one from the spiritual point of view. Go to your parents and at the same time you will be able Page – 88 to see and decide if sincerely you want the Divine Life more than anything else. 8 October 1966 I am not in the habit of imposing my will on others. If they, themselves, ask for help, the help will be given. 24 October 1967
You were having these bad suggestions (that I do not love you and that you want to go away), because you were disobeying me. But now that you have taken the resolution to act according to my will, the bad suggestions will disappear. Nobody has told anything against you to me. 24 December 1931
You ought to drop altogether and once and for all this idea that I get displeased ― it sounds to me so strange! If I would get thus displeased in the presence of the human weaknesses, I would certainly not be fit to do the work I am doing, and my coming upon earth would have no meaning. 14 January 1933
I have never noticed anything bad in you when you come for pranam. Your aspiration is very clear and I always answer it. Do not worry about what other people may say ― I am Page – 89 entirely satisfied with you and my blessings are always with you. 15 January 1937 I felt that you were not quite satisfied with me.
Nothing of the kind. Each one has his difficulties and I am here to help him out of them. My love and blessings. 25 February 1942
Perhaps you have not found time or you have not found it necessary to answer my letter. There was something in your look which I could not fathom today. It looked like a rebuke. If it is so, I do not know what the reason can be. With Pranam.
Nothing of a rebuke. I had sent what I considered as the most important answer through X and I expected you to acknowledge it ― hence my look. I may add that in all human relations there is always such a coating of vital attractions and impulses over what can be hidden there of a psychic movement that one is never too much on one's guard. Blessings. 11 January 1944 Mother, For the last three days I have not been able to read the expression in your eyes when I come for Pranam. I feel you are displeased with me. I may be wrong, but if there is anything I wish you to tell me. With Pranam. Page – 90 I am not aware of any change in my attitude towards you and also there is no reason for a change. The only thing I see is that I was thinking of Y when you came and I was wondering how far you are informed of the state of affairs. As for being displeased with you, there is no sign of it anywhere and I can safely say that I am not displeased. With my love and blessings. 5 September 1945 My dear Mother, I feel I have displeased you. I am very sorry for whatever may be the reason for it. I am feeling very bad about it. I hardly need to tell you about my growing affection for you. With Pranam.
My dear child, Don't feel bad and don't worry ― I am not at all displeased. Others may have been a little upset by what seems to be a somewhat light talk, but I do not hold you responsible for it. It has become a habit in the Ashram to speak lightly and inconsiderately of many things that are beyond the usual understanding of people. It would need a great strength and endurance to resist successfully this influence. However I have hope that this strength and endurance will grow in all those of goodwill. Meanwhile my love and blessings are with all. Be sure that I am quite aware of the growing love and devotion in you and they meet with the full response they can duly expect. With my love and blessings. 22 September 1947 Once more this is a perfectly gratuitous shock.... I never knew that it was your sitar you were asking back from X; from Page – 91 what he told me, it seemed clear that it was his own sitar that was in question. I see that it is a mistake and he must give it back to you if you need it. But for your own sake I must tell you that you are bound to receive shocks and hard blows too so long as you indulge in such false ideas as “my taking sides” with one or another, etc. This is completely wrong and baseless and you must get rid of this way of thinking altogether if you wish to feel close to the Divine. With my love and blessing. 5 November 1947
You must learn once and for all that whatever mistakes people commit, it cannot vex me nor displease me. If there is bad will or revolt, Kali may come and chastise but she always does it with love. 23 March 1954 Page – 92 |