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Section Five
On Three Works of the Mother
On Prières et Méditations de la Mère
General Comments on the Mother's Prieres1
There are some prayers of the Mother written before she came here in 1914 in which there are ideas of transformation and manifestation. Did she have these ideas long before she came here? The Mother had been spiritually conscious from her youth, even from her childhood, upward and she had done sadhana and developed this knowledge very long before she came to India. 23 December 1933
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In some of the Mother's prayers which are addressed to "divin Maitre" I find the words: "avec notre divine Mere". How can the Mother and "divin Maitre" have a "divine Mere"? It is as if the Mother was not the "divine Mere" and there was some other Mother, and the "divin Maitre" was not the Transcendent and had also a "divine Mere"! Or is it that all these are addressed to something impersonal? The Prayers are mostly written in an identification with the earth —consciousness. It is the Mother in the lower nature addressing the Mother in the higher nature, the Mother herself carrying on the sadhana of the earth —consciousness for the transformation praying to herself above from whom the forces of transformation come. This continues till the identification of the earth —consciousness and the higher consciousness is effected. The word "notre" is general, I believe, referring to all born into the earth —consciousness —it does not mean "the Mother of
1 First published in 1932 as Prières et Meditations de la Mere, this book is now published as Prières et Meditations (Pondicherry: Sri Aurobindo Ashram, 1990). The page numbers given after phrases quoted from the prayers in this subsection refer to the 1990 edition. Translations of the French words are given in the Note on the Texts. —Ed.
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the `Divin Maitre' and myself". It is the Divine who is always referred to as Divin Maitre and Seigneur. There is the Mother who is carrying on the sadhana and the Divine Mother, both being one but in different poises, and both turn to the Seigneur or Divine Master. This kind of prayer from the Divine to the Divine you will find also in the Ramayan and the Mahabharat. 21 August 1936
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Mother, I have started reading your prayers in the French original with X. May I get one copy for myself? The rule is that Mother never gives a copy unless she gets a letter in French written by the person without help asking for it. He must know enough French to do that. 14 September 1936
In her prayer of 17 May 1914, the Mother says, "Telles furent les deux phrases que j'écrivis hier par une sorte de nécessité absolue. La première, comme si la puissance de la prière ne serait complète que si elle était tracee sur le papier." [p. 158]
Is it true that a prayer is less powerful when it is kept within oneself and not expressed in speech or writing? Is its expression necessary to make it completely powerful? It was not meant as a general rule —it was only a necessity felt with regard to that particular prayer and that experience. It all depends on the person, the condition, the need of the moment or of that stage or phase of the consciousness. These things in spiritual experience are always plastic and variable. In some conditions or in one phase or at one moment expression may be needed to bring out the effectuating force of the prayer or the stability of the experience; in another condition or phase or at another moment it may be the opposite, expression would rather disperse the force or break the stability. 21 June 1936
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Nothing seems more important to me than that "Ta splendeur
Page – 602 veut rayonner" [p. 192], as the Mother says in her prayer of 16 June 1914. Ideas of sadhana or of perfection for oneself or of being an instrument seem flat and insipid. After all, the individual does not really exist when considered from the standpoint of the vast universal movement of consciousness. It is correct. Perfection for oneself is not the true ideal; sadhana and instrumentation are only useful as a means for the "rayon — nement". 22 April 1936
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The passage in the Prières that came up tonight is this: "et le raisonnement est une faculté humaine, c'est —à —dire individu — elle" [p. 201]. I am not able to see what it points to. When the divine consciousness is veiled, one has to fall back on the reason, but the human reason is an individual action quite unreliable. That is the sense. 18 June 1932
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The Mother says in her prayer of 31 July 1914 that spiritual experience is willed ("elle est consciente, voulue" [p. 231]) by the Divine. Am I then to suppose that the dearth or abundance of experiences in any given case is willed by the Divine? To say so has no value unless you realise all things as coming from the Divine. One who has realised as the Mother had realised in the midst of terrible sufferings and difficulties that even these came from the Divine and were preparing her for her work can make spiritual use of such an attitude. For others it may lead to wrong conclusions. 10 May 1934
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The Mother, in her prayer of 4 August 1914, says: "Les hommes, pousses par le conflit des forces, accomplissent un sublime sacrifice" [p. 235]. Apparently she refers to the great war; but as a result of that war, has any "pure lumiere" filled the hearts of men or the "Force Divine" spread on earth as she says later in the same prayer; has anything beneficial come
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out of that chaos? Since the nations are once more preparing for war and are in a state of constant conflict, there seems to be no indication of any change in the inner condition of men. People want war. Even people in a country like India seem to secretly wish for another great war. Hardly anyone seems to require Peace, Light or Love. There has been a change for the worse —the descent of the vital world into the human. On the other hand except in the "possessed" nations there is a greater longing for peace and feeling that such things ought not to happen. India did not get any real touch of the war. However what the Mother was thinking of was an opening to the spiritual truth. That has at least tried to come. There is a widespread dissatisfaction with the old material civilisation, a seeking for some deeper light and truth —only unfortunately it is being taken advantage of by the old religions and only a very small minority is consciously searching for the new Light. 9 June 1936
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You say that after the great war there was "the descent of the vital world into the human". But did not the vital world already descend on earth —in Matter —even before human beings came? What other vital world remained yet to descend into the human? And how is it that it decided to come down just at present —to prevent the higher Light from coming down or finding room in the human world? When there is a pressure on the vital world due to the preparing Descent from above, that world usually precipitates something of itself into the human. The vital world is very large and far exceeds the human in extent. But usually it dominates by influence not by descent. Of course the effort of this part of the vital world is always to maintain humanity under its sway and prevent the higher Light. 9 June 1936
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If, as you say, there has been a "change for the worse" due to the descent of the vital world, would it not make the
Page – 604 supramental descent in the earth —consciousness impossible or postpone its coming to some distant future instead of here and now? Moreover, the "possessed" nations are endowed with all the possible material power, making it difficult for any movement of peace to be successful. Except for their egoistic plans, nothing will be allowed to succeed. The vital descent cannot prevent the supramental —still less can the possessed nations do it by their material power, since the supramental descent is primarily a spiritual fact which will bear its necessary outward consequences. What previous vital descents have done is to falsify the Light that came down as in the history of Christianity where it took possession of the teaching and distorted it and deprived it of any widespread fulfilment. But the supermind is by definition a Light that cannot be distorted if it acts in its own right and by its own presence. It is only when it holds itself back and allows inferior Powers of consciousness to use a diminished and already deflected Truth that the knowledge can be seized by the vital Forces and made to serve their own purpose. 12 June 1936
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In her prayer of 16 August 1914, the Mother refers to "chacun des grands etres Asouriques qui ont resolu d'etre Tes servi — teurs" [p. 244]. How is it that the Asuras have determined to be the servants of the Divine? Is it exploitation or a "coup de diplomatie"? It was in reference to Asuras who had taken birth in human bodies —a thing they usually avoid if they can, for they prefer to possess human beings without taking birth —with the claim that they wanted to regenerate themselves by serving the Divine and doing his work. It did not succeed very well. 15 June 1936
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Who are the "grands etres Asouriques" mentioned by the Mother who had taken birth in human bodies claiming to serve the Divine? Since they are "grands" they must have been well —known persons. I can see only one —Rasputin. Hitler,
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Stalin and Co. do not claim to serve the Divine. Mother was not speaking of these but of others met by herself. But "grands" here does not mean great in the worldly sense, that is incarnating in famous people, but powerful in the vital world. 20 June 1936
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In her prayer of 8 October 1914, the Mother says: "La joie contenue dans l'activite est compensee et equilibrée par la joie plus grande peut —être encore contenue dans le retrait de toute activite" [p. 286]. This state of "greater joy" ("la joie plus grande"), Mother explains, is that of Sachchidananda. Does this not suggest that there is a joy in non —activity superseding that of activity? If such be the case, one would naturally aspire for this greater joy, since an ever greater joy is the aim of our sadhana. Is it not so? Do you think the Mother has a rigid mind like you people and was laying down a hard and fast rule for all time and all people and all conditions? It refers to a certain stage when the consciousness is sometimes in activity and when not in activity is withdrawn in itself. Afterwards comes a stage when the Sachchidananda condition is there in work also. There is a still farther stage when both are as it were one, but that is the supramental. The two states are the silent Brahman and the active Brahman and they can alternate (1st stage), coexist (2d stage), fuse (3d stage). If you reach even the first stage then you can think of applying Mother's dictum, but why misapply it now? My question is this: can this state of greater joy, Sachchidananda, be realised while one is actually doing work? Certainly it is realisable in work. Good Lord! how could the integral Yoga exist if it were not? 22 December 1934
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In her prayer of 3 November 1914, the Mother says that "dans tous les coins du monde une de Tes divines pierres est posee par la puissance de la pensee consciente et formatrice"
Page – 606 [p. 296]. Is this not similar to the fact that when Rama came he had with him some Devas and other higher beings to assist him in his work on the earth? I believe there are various such "divine stones" ("divines pierres") now in various countries who will be gradually called to assist in the work of manifestation. Perhaps just now they are not awakened and called. It is very probable. But at present it is only in France that anyone is awake, with some movement towards it in America. People from other parts have sometimes come and gone, but they were evidently not the stones chosen. 5 September 1936
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The Mother's prayer of 12 December 1914 begins: "Il faut a chaque instant savoir tout perdre pour tout gagner" [p. 311]. . The Isha Upanishad says: "tena tyaktena bhuñjithah". To gain all by losing all comes to the same thing as to enjoy by renouncing. Both ideas seem to have the same source in the depths. Yes, certainly. It is essentially the same truth put in different ways. It might be put in a negative form —"if we cling to things as they are in their imperfection in the Ignorance, we cannot have them in their truth and perfection in the Divine Light, Harmony and Ananda." 16 August 1935
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[In her prayer of 20 December 1916, the Mother wrote out a long "communication" she received in her evening meditation from Cakya —Mouni (pp. 366 67). A disciple asked who this ¸ was.] Cakya —Mouni is a name of Buddha —"the sage of the Cakyas" —the clan to which Buddha belonged by birth and of which his father was the "king".
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Last night I was reading the Mother's prayer of 21 December 1916 and I was struck by this: "Il [mon être] sait que cet etat
Page – 607 d'amour actif doit être constant et impersonnel, c'est —à —dire tout à fait indépendant des circonstances et des personnes, puisqu'il ne peut et ne doit étre concentré sur aucune en parti — culier" [p. 369]. This gave me a sort of key to the ever —stormy trouble in my own nature. I always expect some sort of return when I do anything for anybody. That should go. I should neither have a clinging for such returns nor any attachment to human contacts, however soothing. Without a repudiation of the human way of approach, I can never establish any harmony within which is "independent of circumstances or persons". The difficulty, of course, is that Divine Love appears to me too impersonal and cold, that is, lacking in warmth though not a cold harmony. But perhaps Divine Love is not like that. Love cannot be cold —for there is no such thing as cold love, but the love of which the Mother speaks in that passage is something very pure, fixed and constant; it does not leap like fire and sink for want of fuel, but is steady and all —embracing and selfexistent like the light of the sun. There is also a divine love that is personal, but it is not like the ordinary personal human love dependent on any return from the person —it is personal but not egoistic, —it goes from the real being in the one to the real being in the other. But to find that, liberation from the ordinary human way of approach is necessary. 21 November 1936
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X has given me a book, Eveillez —vous, in which there are some ideas similar to our own. For example, there are some lines about "someone coming down", put in a Theosophical way. And there is the idea that when the Awakening comes, there will be strong resistance from those who are opposed to evolution; in other words the idea of hostile beings is there. Also the sentence, "La Paix regnera sur terre" —has the author not copied these words from the Mother's prayers? Not necessarily, as the phrase can easily come to one who has read the Bible and the English are very biblical. The idea of the hostile beings also is not new, in fact it is as old as the Veda. The expectation of the Advent is also pretty widespread, as according
Page – 608 to the old prophecies it must be when the Advent is due. 16 September 1935 Hearing the Mother Read Her Prières
Today as I sat on the staircase hearing the Mother read from Prières et Meditations, I felt a thrilling sensation, as if all the parts of my being —body, mental, vital and psychic —were aspiring. How did this thrilling sensation come? When an intense Power is put out, it will naturally give a thrill to those who receive it.
While reading Mother's Prières I feel as if I am not reading the words or thoughts but contacting something quiet, pleasant and formless behind them. Yes, it is so. The words are only a vehicle. When the consciousness opens one feels all that is behind the words. 11 March 1933
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