BANDE MATARAM

 

SRI AUROBINDO

 

Contents

 

PRE CONTENT

 India Renascent

1890-92

New Lamps For Old

1893-94

Unity-An Open Letter

 

Bhawani Mandir

 

An Organisation

 

The Proposed Reconstruction Of Bengal- Partition Or Annihilation?

 

Bandemataram

 A Note On  "Bande Mataram"

 

The Doctrine Of Passive Resistance

 

 I. Introduction

11-04-1907

 II. Its Objects 

12-04-1907

III.Its Necessity

13-04-1907

IV. Its Methods 

17-04-1907

V. Its Obligations 

18/19-04-1907

VI. Its Limits

20-04-1907

VII.  Conclusions

23-04-1907

The Morality Of Boycott 

 

 

  

Bandemataram

Daily

Darkness In "Light"

20-08-1906

Our Rip Van Winkles

  20-08-1906

Indian Abroad

20-08-1906

Officials On The Fall Of  Fuller

20-08-1906

Cow - Killing

20-08-1906

National Education And The Congress

22-08-1906

A Pusillanimous Proposal

25-08-1906

By The Way

27-08-1906

The "Mirror" And Mr. Tilak

28-08-1906

Leaders In Council

28-08-1906

By The Way

30-08-1906

Lessons At  Jamalpur

1-9-1906

By The Way

1-9-1906

By The Way

3-9-1906

English Enterprise And  Swadeshi

4-9-1906

Jamalpur

4-9-1906

By The Way

4-9-1906

The Times On Congress Reforms

8-9-1906

By The Way

8-9-1906

The "Sanjibani" On Mr. Tilak

10-9-1906

Secret Tactics

10-9-1906

By The Way

10-9-1906

The Question Of  The Hour

11-9-1906

A Criticism

11-9-1906

The Old Policy And The New

12-9-1906

 

Is A Conflict Necessary?

12-9-1906

The Charge Of  Vilification

12-9-1906

Autocratic Trickery

12-9-1906

The Bhagalpur Meeting

12-9-1906

By The Way

12-9-1906

Strange Speculations

13-9-1906

The "Statesman" Under Inspiration

13-9-1906

A Disingenuous Defence

14-9-1906

The Friend Found Out

17-9-1906

Stopgap Won't Do

17-9-1906

By The Way

17-9-1906

Is Mendicancy Successful?

18-9-1906

By The Way

18-9-1906

Mischievous Writings

20-9-1906

A Luminous Line

20-9-1906

By The Way

20-9-1906

By The Way

1-10-1906

By The Way

10-10-1906

By The Way

11-10-1906

The Coming Congress

13-10-1906

Statesman's Sympathy Brand

29-10-1906

By The Way : News From Nowhere

29-10-1906

 

The Man Of The Past And The Man Of The  Future

26-12-1906

The Results Of  The Congress

31-12-1906

Yet There Is Method In It

25-2-1906

Mr  Gokhale's  Disloyalty

28-2-1906

The  Comilla Incident

15-3-1907

British Protection Or Self-Protection

18-3-1907

By The Way

21-3-1907

The Berhampur  Conference

29-3-1907

The President Of The Berhampur  Conference

2-4-1907

Peace And The Autocrats

3-4-1907

Many Delusions

5-4-1907

Omissions And Commissions At Berhampur

6-4-1907

The Writing On The Wall

8-4-1907

A Nil- Admirari  Admirer

9-4-1907

Pherozshahi  At  Surat

10-4-1907

The Situation In East Bengal

11-4-1907

The Proverbial Offspring

12-4-1907

By The Way

12-4-1907

By The Way

13-4-1907

The Old Year

16-4-1907

A Vilifier On Vilification

17-4-1907

By The Way: A Mouse In A Flutter

17-4-1907

Simple, Not Rigorous

18-4-1907

British Interests And British Conscience

18-4-1907

A Recommendation

18-4-1907

An Ineffectual Sedition Clause

19-4-1907

The "Englishman" As A Statesman

19-4-1907

The Gospel According to Surendranath

22-4-1907

A Man Of  Second Sight

23-4-1907

Passive Resistance In The Punjab

23-4-1907

By The Way

24-4-1907

Bureaucracy At  Jamalpur

25-4-1907

Is This Your Lion Of  Bengal?

25-4-1907

Anglo-Indian Blunderers

25-4-1907

The Leverage Of Faith

25-4-1907

Graduated Boycott

26-4-1907

Instinctive Loyalty

26-4-1907

Nationalism Not Extremism

26-4-1907

Shall India Be Free?  The Loyalist Gospel

27-4-1907

The Mask  Is Off

27-4-1907

A Loyalist In A Panic

27-4-1907

Shall India Be Free? National Development And Foreign Rule

29-4-1907

Shall India Be Free?

30-4-1907

Moonshine For Bombay Consumption

1-5-1907

The "Reformer" On Moderation

1-5-1907

Shall India Be Free?  Unity And British Rule

2-5-1907

Extremism In The "Bengalee"

2-5-1907

Hare Or Another

3-5-1907

Look On This Picture, Then On That

3-5-1907

Curzonism For The University

8-5-1907

 

By The Way

9-5-1907

The Crisis

11-5-1907

In Praise Of The Government

13-5-1907

How To Meet The Ordinance

15-5-1907

The Latest Phase Of  Morleyism

15-5-1907

An Old Parrot Cry Repeated

15-5-1907

Mr Morley's Pronouncement

16-5-1907

What Does Mr.  Hare Mean

16-5-1907

The "Statesman" Unmasks

17-5-1907

Sui  Generis

17-5-1907

The "Statesman" On Mr. Mudholkar

20-5-1907

Silent Leaders

20-5-1907

The Government Plan Of Campaign

22-5-1907

And Still It Moves

23-5-1907

An Irish Example

24-5-1907

The East Bengal Disturbances

25-5-1907

Newmania

25-5-1907

Mr. Gokhale On Deportation

25-5-1907

The Gilded Sham Again

27-5-1907

National Volunteers

27-5-1907

Bande Mataram

Daily

Weekly

The True Meaning Of  The Risley Circular

28-5-1907

2-6-1097

The Effect Of  Petitionary Politics

29-5-1907

 

The Ordinance And After

30-5-1907

 

Common Sense In An Unexpected Quarter

30-5-1907

 

Drifting Away   

30-5-1907

 

The Question Of  The Hour

1-6-1907

2-6-1907

Regulated Independence

4-6-1907

9-6-1907

A Consistent "Patriot"

4-6-1907

 

Wanted, A Policy

5-6-1907

9-6-1907

Preparing The Explosion

5-6-1907

 

A Statement

6-6-1907

9-6-1907

Defying The Circular

7-6-1907

9-6-1907

By The Way:  When Shall We  Three Meet Again?

7-6-1907

9-6-1907

The Strength Of The Idea

8-6-1907

9-6-1907

Comic Opera Reforms

8-6-1907

9-6-1907

Paradoxical Advice

8-6-1907

9-6-1907

An Out Of Date Reformer

12-6-1907

16-6-1907

The Sphinx

14-6-1907

 

Slow But Sure

17-6-1907

 

The Rawalpindi Sufferers

18-6-1907

 

The Main Feeder Of  Patriotism

19-6-1907

23-6-1907

Concerted Action

20-6-1907

 

The Bengal Government's Letter

20-6-1907

23-6-1907

British Justice

21-6-1907

23-6-1907

 

The Moral  Of  The Coconada  Strike

21-6-1907

23-6-1907

The "Statesman" On Shooting

21-6-1907

23-6-1907

Mr. A. Chowdhury's Policy-

22-6-1907

23-6-1907

A Current Dodge

22-6-1907

 

More About British Justice

24-6-1907

30-6-1907

Morleyism Analysed

25-6-1907

30-6-1907

Political Or Non-Political

25-6-1907

30-6-1907

The "Statesman" On Mr. Chowdhuri

26-6-1907

 

"Legitimate Patriotism"

27-6-1907

 

Personal Rule And Freedom Of Speech And Writing

28-6-1907

30-6-1907

The Acclamation Of The House

2-7-1907

 

Europe And Asia

3-7-1907

7-7-1907

English Obduracy And Its Reason

11-7-1907

14-7-1907

Work And Speech

*12-7-1907

14-7-1907

From Phantom To Reality

13-7-1907

14-7-1907

Swadeshi In Education

13-7-1907

14-7-1907

Boycott And After

15-7-1907

21-7-1907

The Khulna Comedy

20-7-1907

21-7-1907

The Korean Crisis

22-7-1907

22-7-1907

One More For The Altar

25-7-1907

28-7-1907

The Issue

29-7-1907

4-8-1907

The 7th Of August

6-8-1907

11-8-1907

The "Indian Patriot" On Ourselves

6-8-1907

11-8-1907

To Organise

6-8-1907

11-8-1907

A Compliment And Some Misconceptions

12-8-1907

 

Pal On The Brain

12-8-1907

 

To Organise Boycott

14-8-1907

14-8-1907

The Foundations Of Nationality

14-8-1907

18-8-1907

Barbarities At Rawalpindi

*19-8-1907

25-8-1907

The High Court Miracles

*19-8-1907

25-8-1907

Justice Mitter And Swaraj

*19-8-1907

25-8-1907

Advice To National College Students(Speech)

25-8-1907

 

Sankharitola's Apologia

24-8-1907

25-8-1907

Our False Friends

26-8-1907

 

Repression And Unity

*27-8-1907

1-9-1907

The Three Unities Of  Sankharitola

*11-8-1907

1-9-1907

Eastern Renascence

3-9-1907

8-9-1907

The Martyrdom Of Bepin Chandra

12-9-1907

15-9-1907

The Unhindu Spirit Of Caste Rigidity

20-9-1907

22-9-1907

Caste And Democracy

22-9-1907

22-9-1907

Impartial Hospitality

23-9-1907

 

Free Speech

24-9-1907

29-9-1907

"Bande Mataram" Prosecution

25-9-1907

29-9-1907

The Chowringhee Pecksniff And Ourselves

26-9-1907

29-9-1907

The "Statesman" In Retreat

28-9-1907

6-10-1907

True Swadeshi

4-10-1907

 

Novel Ways To Peace

5-10-1907

6-10-1907

"Armenian Horrors"

5-10-1907

6-109-1907

The Vanity Of Reaction

7-10-1907

13-10-1907

The Price Of A Friend

7-10-1907

13-10-1907

A New Literary Departure

7-10-1907

13-10-1907

Mr. Keir Hardie And India

8-10-1907

8-10-1907

The Nagpur Affair And True Unity

23-10-1907

27-10-1907

The Nagpur Imbroglio

29-10-1907

3-11-1907

English Democracy Shown Up

31-10-1907

3-11-1907

How To Meet The Inevitable Repression

2-11-1907

 

Difficulties At Nagpur

4-11-1907

10-11-1907

Mr.  Tilak And The Presidentship

5-11-1907

10-11-1907

Nagpur And Loyalist Methods

16-11-1907

17-11-1907

The Life Of Nationalism

16-11-1907

17-11-1907

By The Way: In Praise Of Honest John

18-11-1907

24-11-1907

Bureaucratic Policy

19-11-1907

24-11-1907

The New Faith

30-11-1907

1-12-1907

About Unity

2-12-1907

8-12-1907

Personality Or Principle

3-12-1907

8-12-1907

Persian Democracy

3-12-1907

8-12-1907

More About Unity

4-12-1907

8-12-1907

By The Way

5-12-1907

8-12-1907

Caste And Representation

6-12-1907

8-12-1907

About Unmistakable Terms

12-12-1907

15-12-1907

The Surat Congress

13-12-1907

15-12-1907

Reasons Of  Secession

14-12-1907

15-12-1907

The Awakening Of Gujerat

17-12-1907

22-12-1907

"Capturing The Congress"

18-12-1907

22-12-1907

Lala Lajpat Rai's Refusal

18-12-1907

22-12-1907

The Delegates' Fund

18-12-1907

22-12-1907

The Present Situation (Speech)

19-1-1908

 

Bande Mataram (Speech)

29-1-1908

 

Revolutions And Leadership

6-2-1908

9-2-1908

 

The Slaying Of Congress (A Tragedy In Three Acts)

*11-15-2-1908

16-23-2-1908

Swaraj

18-2-1908

23-2-1908

The Future Of The Movement

19-2-1908

 

Work And Ideal

20-2-1908

23-2-1908

By The Way

20-2-1908

23-2-1908

The Latest Sedition Trial

21-2-1908

23-2-1908

The Soul And India's Mission

21-2-1908

1-3-1908

The Glory Of God In Man

22-2-1908

1-3-1908

A National University

24-2-1908

1-3-1908

A Misconception

24-2-1908

1-3-1908

Mustafa Kamil Pasha

3-3-1908

8-3-1908

A Great Opportunity

4-3-1908

8-3-1908

The Strike At Tuticorin

4-3-1908

8-3-1908

Swaraj And The Coming Anarchy

5-3-1908

8-3-1908

Back To The Land

6-3-1908

8-3-1908

The Village And The Nation

*8-3-1908

 

Welcome To The Prophet Of Nationalism

10-3-1908

 

The Voice Of  The Martyrs

11-3-1908

 

Constitution-Making

11-3-1908

 

What Committee?

11-3-1908

15-3-1908

A Great Message

12-3-1908

15-3-1908

The Tuticorin Victory

13-3-1908

15-3-1908

Perpetuate The Split!

14-3-1908

15-3-1908

Loyalty To Order

14-3-1908

15-3-1908

Asiatic Democracy

16-3-1908

22-3-1908

Charter Or No Charter

16-3-1908

 

The Warning From Madras

17-3-1908

22-3-1908

The Need Of The Moment

18-3-1908

22-3-1908

The Early Indian Polity

20-3-1908

22-3-1908

The Fund For  Sj. Pal

21-3-1908

22-3-1908

The Weapon Of Secession

23-3-1908

29-3-1908

Sleeping  Sirkar And Waking People

23-3-1908

29-3-1908

Anti- Swadeshi In Madras

23-3-1908

29-3-1908

Exclusion Or Unity?

24-3-1908

 

Biparita Buddhi

24-3-1908

 

Oligarchy Or Democracy?

25-3-1908

29-3-1908

Freedom Of  Speech

26-3-1908

29-3-1908

The Comedy Of Repression

26-3-1908

29-3-1908

Tomorrow's Meeting

27-3-1908

29-3-1908

Well Done, Chidambaram!

27-3-1908

29-3-1908

The Anti-Swadeshi Campaign

27-3-1908

29-3-1908

Spirituality And Nationalism

28-3-1908

29-3-1908

The Struggle In Madras

30-3-1908

 

A Misunderstanding

30-3-1908

 

The Next Step

31-3-1908

5-4-1908

A Strange Expectation

31-3-1908

5-4-1908

A Prayer

31-3-1908

 

India And The Mongolian

1-4-1908

 

Religion And The Bureaucracy

1-4-1908

 

The Milk Of  Putana

1-4-1908

 

Oligarchy Rampant

2-4-1908

 

The Question Of  The President

3-4-1908

5-4-1908

Convention And Conference

4-4-1908

5-4-1908

By The Way

4-4-1908

5-4-1908

The Constitution Of The Subjects Committee

6-4-1908

 

The New Ideal

7-4-1908

12-4-1908

The "Indu And The Dhulia Conference

8-4-1908

 

The Asiatic Role

9-4-1908

12-4-1908

Love Me Or Die

9-4-1908

 

The Work Before Us

10-4-1908

12-4-1908

Campbell-Bannerman Retires

10-4-1908

12-4-1908

United Congress (Speech)

10-4-1908

 

The Demand Of The Mother

11-4-1908

12-4-1908

Baruipur Speech

12-4-1908

 

Peace And Exclusion

13-4-1908

 

Indian Resurgence And Europe

14-4-1908

19-4-1908

Om Shantih

14-4-1908

19-4-1908

Conventionalist And Nationalists

18-4-1908

19-4-1908

The Future And The Nationalists

22-4-1908

26-4-1908

The Wheat And The Chaff

23-4-1908

26-4-1908

Party And The Country

24-4-1908

26-4-1908

The "Bengalee" Facing-Both-Ways

24-4-1908

26-4-1908

Providence And Perorations

24-4-1908

26-4-1908

The One Thing Needful

25-4-1908

26-4-1908

Palli Samiti (Speech)

26-4-1908

 

New Conditions

29-4-1908

3-5-1908

Whom To Believe?

29-4-1908

3-5-1908

By The Way: The Parable Of Sati

29-4-1908

3-5-1908

Leaders And A Conscience

30-4-1908

3-5-1908

An Ostrich In Colootola

30-4-1908

3-5-1908

I Cannot Join

30-4-1908

3-5-1908

By The Way

30-4-1908

 

Ideals Face To Face

*1-5-1908

3-5-1908

The New Nationalism

 

 

 

Bibliographical Note

Contents arranged subjectwise

 

January 1, 1914

 

TO Thee, Supreme Dispenser of all boons, to Thee who justifiest life by making it pure, beautify and good, to Thee, Master of our destinies and goal of our aspirations, was consecrated the first minute of this new year.

May it be wholly glorified by this consecration; may those who hope to attain Thee seek Thee in the right way; may those who seek Thee find Thee, and may those who suffer without knowing where lies the remedy feel Thy life piercing little by little the hard crust of their obscure consciousness,

I bow down with a deep devotion and limitless gratitude before Thy beneficent splendour, in the

name of the earth, I thank Thee for manifesting Thyself, in her name, I implore Thee that Thou mayst  manifest ever more, in an uninterrupted increase of Light and Love.

Be the Sovereign Master of our thoughts, our feelings and our acts.

Thou art the reality of our being, the sole Reality

Outside Thee all is falsehood and illusion, all is mournful obscurity.

 

In Thee is life, light and joy.

In Thee is the sovereign Peace.

Page- 32


January 2, 1914

 

THIS marvellous silence manifests Thee, inspite of  the folly of human agitation, - the immutable and constant silence so living in every thing that one has only to listen in order to hear it, in opposition to all that is futile noise, vain agitation, useless dispersion  of energies. Let it flower in our being as a generator of light and peace, and let its power radiate on all in beneficent waves.

Thou art the savour of all life and the reason of  all activity, the goal of our thoughts.

 

 January 3, 1914 

 

IT is always good to look within ourselves from time to time and see that we are nothing and can do nothing, but we must then turn our look towards Thee, knowing that Thou art all and that Thou canst do all.

 

 Thou art the life of our life and the light of our being,

Thou art the master of our destiny.

Page - 33


January 4, 1914

 

THE tide of material thoughts lies always in wait for the least weakness, and if we relax our vigilance even for a moment, if we are negligent, to however flood the result of innumerable efforts. Then the being enters into a sort of torpor, its physical needs of food and sleep increase, its intelligence is obscured, its inner vision is veiled, and in spite of its feeling little real interest in these superficial activities, they occupy him almost exclusively. This condition is very troublesome and fatiguing, for nothing is more fatiguing than thoughts about material things, and the wearied mind suffers like a caged bird unable to spread its wings yet aspiring for the power to take its free flight,

But perhaps in this condition there is a utility which I do not see. In any case, I do not struggle at all; and like a child in the arms of its mother like a fervent disciple at the feet of his master, I confide in Thee and surrender myself to Thy guidance, sure of Thy victory.

 

January 5, 1914

 

I HAVE been sitting since a long time before this blank page unable to make up my mind to write

Page - 34


all in me being so mediocre, without value or savour, hopelessly commonplace. Not a single idea in my head, not one feeling in my heart, a complete indifference towards everything and an insurmountable dullness.

How can such a condition be of any use?

I am a veritable zero in the world.

For the rest, all that has no importance. And provided Thy work is accomplished. Thy manifestation  takes place and the earth becomes more and more Thy harmonious and fruitful kingdom, it matters little whether I accomplish the Work or not. And as it is sure that it will be done, I should have no reason to trouble myself even if I felt so disposed. From the depths up to the outermost surface all this my being, is but a little dust; it is only natural that it should be scattered to the winds without leaving a trace.

 

January 6, 1914

 

THOU art the sole goal of my life and the centre of my aspiration, the pivot of my thoughts, the key of my synthesis; and as Thou art beyond all sensation, all feeling and all thought. Thou art the living but ineffable experience, the Reality lived in the depths of the being but untranslatable into our poor words; and it is because the human mind is powerless to reduce Thee to a formula, that some—with a little

Page - 35


disdain—treat as "sentiment" the knowledge which it is possible to have  of Thee, but which is certainly as far from sentiment it is from thought. So long as we have not attained to this supreme knowledge, we have no solid base and no enduring center for a mental and emotional synthesis, and all other intellectual construction can not but be arbitrary, artificial and futile,

Thou art, in so far as we can perceive Thee, eternal silence and perfect peace.

Thou art all the perfection that we have to acquire all the marvels that are to be realised, all the splendour that is to be manifested.

And all our words are only the prattle of children when we venture to speak of Thee.

:In silence is the greatest respect,

 

January 7, 1914

 

GIVE peace and light to them all, O Lord, open their blinded eyes and their obscured understanding calm their useless torments and futile cares. Turn their regard away from themselves and give them the joy of consecration to Thy work without calculation or mental reserve. Let Thy beauty blossom in everything, awaken Thy love in all hearts, so that Thy eternally progressive order may be realised upon

Page - 36


earth and Thy harmony spread till the day when all will be Thyself in perfect purity and peace.

Oh! may all tears be dried, all sufferings relieved, as we have not attained to this supreme knowledge all anguish disappear, and may a calm serenity dwell in the hearts of men and a potent certitude strengthen their mind. May Thy life circulate in all as a regenerating flood and may all turn towards Thee to draw in this contemplation energy for every victory.

 

 January 8, 1914

 

LET us shun the P^ which ar6 too easy and without effort, those paths which engender in us the illusion that we have arrived; let us shun the negligence which opens the door to every fall; let us shun the complacent self-admiration which leads towards every abyss. We must learn that whatever our efforts, compared with the path still to be traversed what we have already travelled is nothing, and that all are equalinfinitesimal particle of dust or the same divine starsin face of Eternity.

 

But Thou art the conqueror of all obstacles, the Light which illumines all ignorance, the Love which overcomes all pride, And no error can persist before Thee.

Page - 37


January 9, 1914

 

O LORD, unseizable reality. Thou who constantly escapest before our conquering advance even though it is effective, and who wilt always be the Unknown  inspite of all that we shall learn to know of Thee, inspite of all that we shall have ravished from Thy eternal mystery, we would, with a complete and constant effort, combining the multiple paths which lead towards Thee, advance like a rising and indomitable  flood, breaking all obstacles, crossing all barriers, lifting all veils, dispersing all clouds, piercing- all darknesses, advance towards Thee, always towards Thee with a movement so powerful, so irresistible, that a whole multitude will be swept on behind us, and the earth conscious of Thy new and eternal Presence will understand at last what are her true ends and live in the harmony and peace of Thy sovereign realisation.

 

Teach us ever more,

Enlighten us more and more,

Dispel our ignorance,

Illumine our minds,

Transfigure our hearts,

 

And give us that Love which never fades and make.

Thy sweet law blossom in every being.

 

We are Thine to all eternity.

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January IO, 1914

 

MY aspiration rises towards Thee always the same in its form, infantile and almost commonplace in its simplicity, but my call is more and more ardent, and behind the maladroit words, there is all the fervour of my concentrated will. And I implore Thee, O Lord inspite of the naiveté of this expression which so lacks all intellectuality, I implore Thee for more light, more purity, more true sincerity and love, and that for all, for the multitude which constitutes what I call my being, and for the multitude which constitutes  the universal being; I implore Thee, knowing however that to implore is quite useless, since it is we alone, in our ignorance and ill-will, who can be an obstacle to Thy glorious and total manifestation, but something infantile in me finds a support in this mental attitude; I implore Thee that the peace of Thy reign may spread, upon earth.

O inaccessible summit which we scale incessantly without ever attaining to Thee, sole Reality of our being which we believe we have discovered only to find that Thou escapest us at once, marvellous state which we think we have seized but which leads us farther, and always farther, into depths and immensities  ever-unexplored; none can say: "I have known Thee", and yet all carry Thee in themselves, and in the silence of the soul can hear the echo of Thy voice; but this silence itself is progressive, and whatever may be the perfection of the union we have

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realised, so long as by our body we belong to the world of relativities, this union with Thee will be always capable of a greater perfection.

But all the words by which we speak of Thee are but a vain babbling. Grant that I may become

Thy faithful servitor.

 

January 11, 1914

 

AT every minute all the unforeseen, the unexpected, the unknown is before us, at every minute the universe is recreated in its totality and in each of its parts. And if we had a truly living faith, if we had that absolute certitude of Thy almighty power and Thy sole reality. Thy manifestation could at every minute be so evident that the whole universe would be transformed by it. But we are such slaves of all that surrounds us and has preceded us, we are so much determined by the whole mass of what is manifested, and our faith is so feeble that we are still incapable of serving as intermediaries in the great miracle of transfiguration... But, O Lord, I know that it will come one day. I know that a day will come when Thou wilt transform all those who approach us; Thou wilt transform them so radically that, totally liberated from the ties of the past, they will begin to live in Thee with a life quite new, a

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life solely made of Thee, of which Thou shalt be the sovereign Lord. And also all troubles will be transformed into serenity, all anguish into peace, all doubts into certitude, all ugliness into harmony, all egoisms into self-giving, all darknesses into light and all sufferings into unchanging happiness.

But art Thou not already accomplishing this glorious miracle? I see it everywhere blossoming around us!

Oh! divine law of love and beauty, supreme liberator, there is no obstacle to Thy power. It is only our blindness that deprives us of the fortifying spectacle of Thy constant victory.

My heart sings a hymn of gladness and my thought is illumined with joy.

Thy transcendent. Thy marvellous love is the sovereign Master of the world.

 

January 12, 1914

 

A TEACHING can be profitable only if it is perfectly sincere, that is to say, if it is lived at the time when it is imparted, and words often. repeated, thoughts often expressed can no longer be sincere.

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January 13, 1914

 

THOU hast passed over my life, O Lord, like a great wave of love, and when I was immersed in it, I knew in a way integral and intense that I had offered to Thee—when ? I do not know, at no precise moment and, doubtless, always—my thoughts, my heart and my flesh in a living holocaust.

And in that great love which enveloped me, and in that consciousness of the renunciation made, there was" an immense serenity vaster than the universe and a sweetness so intense and so full of an infinite compassion that a flow of tears came slowly from my eyes. Nothing could be farther removed at once from suffering and from happiness, it was an ineffable peace.

O Sublime Love, centre of our life. Marvel of marvels, I find Thee again at last and I live once again in Thee, but how much 'more powerfully, how much more consciously than before. How much better I know and understand Thee. Each time I find Thee again, my communion with Thee is more integral, more complete, more definitive.

O Presence of ineffable beauty, O thought of supreme redemption, sovereign power of salvation, with what joy all my being feels Thee living in itself, sole principle of its life and of all life, marvellous constructor of all thought, all will, all consciousness, Upon this world of illusion, this sombre nightmare, Thou hast bestowed Thy divine reality, and

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 each atom of matter contains something of Thy absolute. Thou art, Thou livest. Thou art radiant and reignest.

 

January 19, 1914

 

O LORD, divine Master of Love, Thou art the eternal victor, and those who put themselves in. perfect accord with Thee, those who live only for Thee and by Thee cannot but win all the victories; for in Thee is the supreme force, the force of complete disinterestedness, of perfect clairvoyance, of sovereign kindness.

In Thee, by Thee, all is transfigured and glorified; in Thee is found the key of all mysteries and all powers. But we attain to Thee only if we desire nothing else than to live in Thee, to serve Thee, to make Thy divine work triumph more rapidly for the salvation of a greater number.

O Lord, Thou alone art real and all else is illusion; for when we live in Thee we see and understand all things, nothing escapes Thy perfect knowledge, but everything puts on another appearance; for all is Thou in essence, since all is the fruit of Thy work, of Thy magnanimous intervention, and in the most sinister darkness Thou hast lit a star!

May our devotion go on always increasing.

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May our consecration go on always perfecting. itself, And mayst Thou who art already the real sovereign become in effect the sovereign of life.

 

January 24, 1914

 

THOU, who art the sole reality of our being, O sublime Master of love. Redeemer of life, let me have no longer any other consciousness than of Thee at every instant and in . each being. When I do not live solely with Thy life, I agonise, I sink slowly towards extinction; for Thou art my only reason for existence, my one goal, my single support. I am like a timid bird not yet sure of its wings and hesitating to take its flight; let me soar to reach definitive identity with Thee.

 

January 29, 1914

 

IT is because of Thy presence in each being, O divine Master of love, that every man, even the most cruel, can be accessible to pity and that even the vilest respects, as if inspite of himself, honour and justice. It is Thou who from beyond all conventions and prejudices lightest with a special light, divine and pure, all that we are and all that we do, and showest

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us the difference between what we realise and what we could be.

Thou art the insuperable limit opposed to the excess of evil, to the darkness and the ill-will; Thou art the living hope in every heart of possible and future perfections.

To Thee all the fervour of my adoration.

Thou art the door, accessible to our conception, which leads towards unsuspected and inconceivable splendours, the splendours which will be progressively revealed to us.

 

 January 30, 1914

 

ALL that is conscious in me belongs to Thee without  restriction, and I shall strive to conquer little by little and always better the subconscient, the bed-rock still obscure.

Divine Master of love, eternal Teacher, Thou guidest our lives. It is in Thee alone and for Thee alone that we would live; enlighten our consciousness, guide our steps, and grant that we may do the maximum of what we can do, utilising all our energies solely to serve Thee.

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January 31, 1914

 

MAY every morning our thought rise with fervour towards Thee, asking Thee what is the    best we can do to manifest and serve Thee. May at each moment amid the    many kinds of multiple choice which we can make and which, inspite of their apparent insignificance, are always of a great importance—since according to our decision we submit to one category of determinism or another—may at each moment our attitude be such that it may be Thy divine will which determines our choice and thus it may be Thou who givest the    direction to ail our life. According to the consciousness in which we are at the moment when we take a decision, we submit to the determinism of the order of the    realities in which we are conscious; whence ail the    consequences, often unforeseen and unfortunate, contradictory to the    general orientation of life and forming obstacles, sometimes terrible, which have afterwards to be surmounted. We would, therefore,O Lord, Divine Master of love, be conscious of Thee and Thee alone, be identified with Thy supreme law each time that we decide, each time we choose, so that it may be Thy Will which determines us; and our life may thus be effectively and integrally consecrated to Thee.

In Thy light we shall see, in Thy knowledge we shall know, in Thy will we shall realise.

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