{"id":2966,"date":"2013-07-13T01:44:57","date_gmt":"2013-07-13T01:44:57","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/localhost\/?p=2966"},"modified":"2013-07-13T01:44:57","modified_gmt":"2013-07-13T01:44:57","slug":"22-the-mother-as-guru-and-guide-vol-32-the-mother-with-letters-on-the-mother","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/worksofthemotherandsriaurobindo.org\/index.php\/01-works-of-sri-aurobindo\/03-cwsa\/32-the-mother-with-letters-on-the-mother\/22-the-mother-as-guru-and-guide-vol-32-the-mother-with-letters-on-the-mother","title":{"rendered":"-22_The Mother as Guru and Guide.htm"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n\n\n
\n

\n\t
\n\tThe Mother as Guru and Guide
\n<\/font><\/b>
\n\t<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n\t
\n\tThe Mother’s Way of Dealing with Sadhaks
\n\t<\/a> <\/b>
\n\t<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n\tThe difficulty about meeting your demand that the Mother
\nshould plan out and fix a routine for you in everything which you must follow is that this is quite contrary to the Mother’s way
\nof working in most matters. In the most physical things you have to fix a programme in order to deal with time, otherwise
\nall becomes a sea of confusion and haphazard. Fixed rules have also to be made for the management of material things so long
\nas people are not sufficiently developed to deal with them in the right way without rules. But these things of which you write
\nare different; they are concerned with your inner development, your sadhana. In fact, even in outward things the Mother does
\nnot plan with her mind and make a mental map and rule of what is to be done; she sees what is to be done in each case
\nand organises and develops it according to the nature of each case. In matters of the inner development and the sadhana, it is
\nstill more impossible to map out a plan fixed in every detail and say, “Every time you shall step here, there, in this way, on that
\nline and no other.” Things would become so tied up and rigid that nothing could be done; there could be no true and effective
\nmovement. <\/span> <\/p>\n

\n\tIf the Mother asked you to tell her everything, it was not in
\norder that she might give you directions in every detail which you must obey. It was in order, first, that there might grow up the
\ncomplete intimacy in which you would be entirely open to her, so that she might pour more and more and continuously and at
\nevery point the Divine Force into you which would increase the Light in you, perfect your action, deliver and develop your nature. It is this that was important; all else is secondary, important only so far as it helps this or hinders. In addition it would help
\nher to give wherever needed the necessary touch, the necessary
\n\t<\/span> <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n
\nPage <\/font>\u2013 345<\/font><\/span><\/p>\n

\n

\n

\ndirection, the necessary help or warning, not always by words, more often by a silent intervention and pressure. This is her way
\nof dealing with those who are open to her; it is not necessary to give express orders at every moment and in every detail.
\nEspecially if the psychic consciousness is open and one lives fully in that, it gets the intimation at once and sees things clearly
\nand receives the help, the intervention, the necessary direction or warning. That was what was happening to a great extent
\nwhen your psychic consciousness was very active, but there was a vital part in which you were not open and which was coming
\nup repeatedly, and it is this that has created the confusion and the trouble.
\n<\/span> <\/p>\n

\nEverything depends on the inner condition and the outward action is only useful as a means and a help for expressing or confirming the inner condition and making it dynamic and effective. If you do or say a thing with the psychic uppermost or with the
\nright inner touch, it will be effective; if you do or say the same thing out of the mind or the vital or with a wrong or mixed
\natmosphere, it may be quite ineffective. To do the right thing, in the right way in each case and at each moment one must be in
\nthe right consciousness  \u2014it can’t be done by following a fixed mental rule which under some circumstances might fit in and
\nunder others might not fit in at all. A general principle can be laid down if it is in consonance with the Truth, but its application
\nmust be determined by the inner consciousness seeing at each step what is to be done or not done. If the psychic is uppermost,
\nif the being is entirely turned towards the Mother and follows the psychic, this can be increasingly done.
\n<\/span> <\/p>\n

\nAll depends therefore not on a mental rule to follow in practice, but on getting the psychic consciousness back and putting
\nits light into this vital part, and making that part turn wholly to the Mother. It is not that the question of your going too
\nmuch to your sisters is of no importance,  \u2014it is of considerable importance 
\n\u2014but to limit the contact is effective only as a means
\nof helping your vital part to withdraw from this servitude to old movements. It is the same everywhere.
\n<\/span> <\/p>\n

\nThe kind of outward obedience you lay stress on, asking
\n\t<\/span> <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n
\nPage <\/font>\u2013 346<\/font><\/span><\/p>\n

\n

\n

\nfor a direction in every detail, is not the essence of surrender, although obedience is the natural fruit and outward body of
\nsurrender. Surrender is from within, opening and giving mind, vital, physical, all to the Mother for her to take them as her
\nown and recreate them in their true being which is a portion of the Divine; all the rest follows as a consequence. It would
\nnot then be necessary to ask her word and order outwardly in every detail; the being would feel and act according to her will;
\nher sanction would be sought but as the seal of that inner unity, receptiveness of her will and obedience.
\n<\/span> <\/p>\n

\n11 June 1932 <\/span> <\/p>\n

\n

 <\/p>\n

\n\t*<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n\t <\/p>\n

<\/span><\/p>\n

\nYour letter of the morning came entirely from the disturbed and wounded vital; that was why I was in no hurry to answer. I
\ndo not know why you are so ready to believe that myself or the Mother act from ordinary movements of anger, vexation or
\ndispleasure; there was nothing of the kind in what I wrote. You had been repeatedly falling from your attained level of a higher
\nconsciousness and, in spite of our suggestions to you to see what was pulling you down, your only reply was that you could see
\nnothing. We knew perfectly well that it was part of the vital which did not want to change and, not wanting to change, was
\nhiding itself from the mind and the mind itself did not seem very willing to see, 
\n\u2014so we thought it necessary when you gave us
\na chance by what you wrote to indicate plainly and strongly the nature of the obstacle 
\n\u2014on one side your old sentiment
\n <\/i> persisting in the viparita <\/i>form of anger, resentment and wounded
\nfeeling, on the other the vital’s habit of self \u2014esteem, censorious judgment of
\nothers, a sense of superiority in sadhana or in other respects, a wish to appear
\nwell before others and before yourself also. This especially has a blinding
\ninfluence and prevents the clear examination of oneself and the perception of
\nthe obstacles that are interfering with the spiritual progress. Even if the mind
\naspires to know and change, a habit of that kind acting concealed in the vital
\nis quite enough to stand in the way and prevent both the knowledge and the
\nchange. I was therefore careful to speak plainly of vanity and self
\n\u2014righteousness  \u2014so that this part of the<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n
\nPage <\/font>\u2013 347<\/font><\/span><\/p>\n

\n

\n

\nvital might not try not to see. The Mother speaks or writes much more pointedly and sharply to those whom she wishes to push
\nrapidly on the way because they are capable of it and they do not resent or suffer but are glad of the pressure and the plainness,
\nbecause they know by experience that it helps them to see their obstacles and change. If you wish to progress rapidly, you must
\n <\/i> get rid of this vital reaction of abhimana<\/i>, suffering, wounded
\nfeeling, seeking for arguments of self \u2014justification, outcry against the touch that is intended to liberate, 
\n\u2014for so long as you have
\nthese, it is difficult for us to deal openly and firmly with the obstacles created by the vital nature.
\n<\/span> <\/p>\n

\nIn regard to the difference between you and X<\/i>, the Mother’s warning to you against the undesirability of too much talk, loose
\nchat and gossip, social self \u2014dispersion was entirely meant and stands; when you indulge in these things, you throw yourself
\nout into a very small and ignorant consciousness in which your vital defects get free play and this is likely to bring you out
\nof what you have developed in your inner consciousness. That was why we said that if you felt a reaction against these things
\nwhen you went to X<\/i>‘s, it was a sign of (psychic) sensitiveness coming into you 
\n\u2014into your vital and nervous being  \u2014and we
\nmeant that it was all for the good. But in dealing with others, in withdrawing from these things you should not allow any sense
\nof superiority to creep in or force on them by your manner or spirit a sense of disapproval or condemnation or pressure on
\nthem to change. It is for your personal inward need that you draw back from these things, that is all. As for them what they
\ndo in these matters, right or wrong, is their affair  \u2014and ours; we will deal with them according to what we see as necessary and
\npossible for them at the moment and for that purpose we can not only deal quite differently with different people, allowing for
\none what we forbid for another, but we may deal differently with the same person at different times, allowing or even encouraging
\ntoday what we shall forbid tomorrow. X<\/i>‘s case is quite different from yours, for there is no resemblance in your natures. I told
\nyou that or something like it long ago and I emphasised in my letter to X
\n<\/i>that what might be the rule for myself or Y <\/i>was not to<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n
\nPage <\/font>\u2013 348<\/font><\/span><\/p>\n

\n

\n

\nbe applied or going to be applied to his case. To deal otherwise would be to create difficulties in his sadhana and not to make
\nit easier for him or swifter. I have also told him quite clearly in my letter that the attempt at meeting and mixing with others 
\n\u2014which in the ordinary human life is attempted by sociableness and other contacts 
\n\u2014has to be realised in Yoga on another plane
\nof consciousness and without the lower mixture  \u2014for a higher unity with all on a spiritual and psychic basis. But the way, the
\ntime, the order of movements by which this is done, need not be the same for everybody. If he attempted to force himself it
\nwould lead to gloom, despondency and an artificial movement which would not be the true way to success. A human soul and
\nnature cannot be dealt with by a set of mental rules applicable to everybody in the same way; if it were so, there would be no
\nneed of a Guru, each could set his chart of Yogic rules before him like the rules of Sandow’s exercise and follow them till he
\nbecame the perfect siddha! <\/span> <\/p>\n

\n\tI have said so much in order to let you understand why we
\ndo not deal in the same way with X <\/i>as with you or another. The tendency to take what I lay down for one and apply it
\nwithout discrimination to another is responsible for much misunderstanding. A general statement too, true in itself, cannot
\nbe applied to everyone alike or applied now and immediately without consideration of condition or circumstance or person
\nor time. I may say generally that to bring down the supermind is my aim in the yoga or that to do that one has first to rise out of
\nmind into overmind, but if on the strength of that, anybody and everybody began trying to pull down the supermind or force his
\nway immediately out of mind into overmind, the result would be disaster.
\n<\/span> <\/p>\n

\nTherefore concern yourself with your own progress and follow there the lead the Mother gives you. Leave
\nX <\/i>or others to do the same; the Mother is there to guide and help them
\naccording to their need and their nature. It does not in the least matter if the
\nway she follows with him seems different or the opposite of that which she takes
\nwith you. That is the right one for him as this is the right one for you.<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n
\nPage <\/font>\u2013 349<\/font><\/span><\/p>\n

\n

\n

\nYou have now begun to see the difficulties that are still there in your vital; keep to that clear perception, let it grow clearer
\nand more precise. Concentrate on what you have to do and do not let yourself be distracted this way and that by irrelevant
\npreoccupations or any other influence.<\/span><\/p>\n

\n

\n\t25 October 1932
\n<\/span> <\/p>\n

\n

 <\/p>\n

\n\t*<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n\t 
\n <\/span>
\n <\/p>\n

\n\tX <\/span> <\/i>would like to see the Mother and place his difficulties before
\nher. His chief difficulty is how to reconcile the Bliss, Harmony and Unity (Sachchidananda) with the discord, strength and
\nrapaciousness that one finds in the actual world. <\/span> <\/p>\n

\n\tYou can tell him Mother does not discuss these mental problems
\neven with the disciples. It is quite useless trying to reconcile these things with the intellect. For there are two things, the Ignorance
\nfrom which the struggle and discord come and the secret Light, Unity, Bliss and Harmony. The intellect belongs to the Ignorance.
\nIt is only by getting into another consciousness that one can live in the Light and Bliss and Unity and not be touched by the
\noutward discord and struggle. That change of consciousness therefore is the only thing that matters; to reconcile with the
\nintellect would make no difference. <\/span> <\/p>\n

\n\tIf he likes, you can lend him the Conversations
\n<\/i> \u2014as he
\nwants to converse with the Mother.<\/span><\/p>\n

\n

\n\t11 November 1932
\n<\/span> <\/p>\n

\n

 <\/p>\n

\n\t*<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n\t 
\n <\/span><\/p>\n

\n\tDoes the Divine turn away its eyes from people like X<\/i>, who
\ndisobeys the Mother, and allow them to do whatever they like?
\n<\/span> <\/p>\n

\nThat is the Mother’s business. She alone can say what is the right way to deal with people. If she were to deal with people only
\naccording to their defects, there would be hardly half a dozen people left in the Asram.
\n<\/span> <\/p>\n

\n26 March 1933 <\/span> <\/p>\n

\n

 <\/p>\n

\n\t*<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n\t <\/p>\n

<\/span><\/p>\n

\nI am sure there are reasons for everything the Mother does and that what she
\ndoes is suited to the needs of each one, but the vital does not believe it, and
\nit is not yet well established
\n\t<\/span> <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n
\nPage <\/font>\u2013 350<\/font><\/span><\/p>\n

\n

\n

\nin the mind. How can I make my vital being understand that the Mother is never partial?
\n<\/span> <\/p>\n

\nOne way is to have entire faith in the Mother 
\n\u2014the other is to believe that she is wiser than yourself and must have reasons for everything she does which are better than your mind’s judgments.
\n<\/span> <\/p>\n

\nAnd how can this understanding be firmly established in my mind, so that it does not yield to any temptation?
\n<\/span> <\/p>\n

\nIt should be established 
\n\u2014that is all. So long as the vital or mental think themselves wiser than the Mother and able to judge
\nher how do you expect these stupidities to disappear?<\/span><\/p>\n

\n

\n\t22 March 1934
\n<\/span> <\/p>\n

\n

 <\/p>\n

\n\t*<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n\t 
\n <\/span><\/p>\n

\n\tThe Mother’s injunction to work in peace and harmony with the
\nothers concerned those whom you meet for work, not a personal relation such as you had with
\nX<\/i>.
\n<\/span> <\/p>\n

\nThe Mother is the sole judge of what is necessary for each and she is not bound to apply the same rule to everybody. The
\nGuru deals with each disciple in a different way and does not keep one law for all. You were allowed to mix with
\nX <\/i>for a long
\ntime like Y <\/i>with Z <\/i>and A <\/i>with B <\/i> \u2014in all cases it has been bad for those who do not give up the special relation, preventing
\nthem from being successful in the Yoga for which they came. The Mother does not interfere decisively for a time but only lets
\neach know that it is better for them not to mix in a specially intimate way and she waits for them to realise it. When one or
\nother of the two or both realises or begins to realise that it is better to break the special connection, then Mother intervenes. If
\nyou went back to X<\/i>, all possibility of Yoga for you would cease. Even your going to the Dispensary has disturbed the progress
\nyou were making and brought back the old habits of thought and reactions.
\n<\/span> <\/p>\n

\nYour one hope of doing anything in sadhana is really and truly and definitely to
\nturn to the Mother alone and follow her<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n
\nPage <\/font>\u2013 351<\/font><\/span><\/p>\n

\n

\n

\nwill. There is no going back to the old things 
\n\u2014the Mother will not sanction it. If you are sincere in what you have written (in
\nEnglish), then you must also forget the past and live for the Divine and the sadhana.
\n<\/span> <\/p>\n

\n10 April 1934 <\/span> <\/p>\n

\n

 <\/p>\n

\n\t*<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n\t <\/p>\n

<\/span><\/p>\n

\nSince the day my sadhana began to come down to the lower levels, some parts of my being have felt that the Mother has
\nrestricted the former physical manifestation of her love. But I am sure that this change was meant for the good of my
\nsadhana. <\/span> <\/p>\n

\n\tWhatever is done by the Mother is for the good of the sadhak
\nand the sadhana.<\/span><\/p>\n

\n

\n\t9 December 1935
\n<\/span> <\/p>\n

\n

 <\/p>\n

\n\t*<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n\t 
\n <\/span>
\n <\/p>\n

\n\tX <\/span> <\/i>wonders why people like Y <\/i>are allowed here when it is
\nobvious that they have no spiritual possibility in them. But unless X <\/i>has some understanding of the higher manifestation,
\nsuch comments are just expressions of his own ignorance. <\/span> <\/p>\n

\n\tObviously. Neither Nature nor Destiny nor the Divine work in
\nthe mental way or by the law of the mind or according to its standards  \u2014that is why even to the scientist and the philosopher
\nNature, Destiny, the way of the Divine all seem a mystery. The Mother does not act by the mind, so to judge her action with
\nthe mind is futile. But why should X <\/i>or anyone assume that Y<\/i> will have no profit for her spiritual future from her stay here?
\n\t<\/span> <\/p>\n

\n5 May 1936 <\/span> <\/p>\n

\n

 <\/p>\n

\n\t*<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n\t <\/p>\n

<\/span><\/p>\n

\nCan the physical mind have a correct understanding of the Mother’s dealings?
\n<\/span> <\/p>\n

\nNot until it is enlightened by the true consciousness and knowledge from above.
\n<\/span> <\/p>\n

\n4 July 1936 <\/span> <\/p>\n

\n

 <\/p>\n

\n\t*<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n\t <\/p>\n

<\/span><\/p>\n

\nWhy should the Mother be obliged to treat everybody in the same way? It would be
\na most imbecile thing for her to do that.<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n
\nPage <\/font>\u2013 352<\/font><\/span><\/p>\n

\n

\n

\nThe Mahakali Method
\n<\/a>
\n<\/b>
\n\t<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n\tAll these things depend on the person, the condition, the circumstances. The Mother uses the method you speak of, the Mahakali method, (1) with those in whom there is a great eagerness to
\nprogress and a fundamental sincerity somewhere even in the vital, (2) with those whom she meets intimately and who, she
\nknows, will not resent or misunderstand her severity or take it for a withdrawal of kindness or grace but will regard it as a
\ntrue grace and a help to their sadhana. There are others who cannot bear this method 
\n\t\u2014if it was continued they would run
\na thousand miles away in misunderstanding, revolt and despair. What the Mother wants is for people to have their full chance for
\ntheir souls, be the method short and swift or long and tortuous. Each she must treat according to his nature.
\n\t<\/span> <\/p>\n

\n9 May 1933 <\/span> <\/p>\n

\n

 <\/p>\n

\n\t*<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n\t <\/p>\n

<\/span><\/p>\n

\nAll these years I have been hesitant to write all the details of my life for fear that the Mother will scold me. Now I have
\nbecome a bit stronger and along with her scoldings I can feel her force working inside me. By her infinite compassion, I am
\nout of the fear. <\/span> <\/p>\n

\n\tIf you are afraid of the Mother’s scoldings, how will you
\nprogress? Those who want to progress quickly, welcome even the blows of Mahakali because that pushes them more rapidly
\non the way.<\/span><\/p>\n

\n

\n\t28 September 1933
\n<\/span> <\/p>\n

\n

 <\/p>\n

\n\t*<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n\t 
\n <\/span><\/p>\n

\n\tIs it true that when I realise the Divine Consciousness there
\nwill be no difference between the Mother’s will and mine? I would like her to tell me whatever her will is, even if it is
\nunpalatable to me  \u2014not to say “If you like” or “As you like”, but to say “Do this” or “Do not do this.”
\n\t<\/span> <\/p>\n

\nCertainly, when the Divine Consciousness is fully realised, there will be no difference between the Mother’s will and the
\nsadhaka’s. <\/span> <\/p>\n

\n\tFor a relation to exist in which Mother can do as you say, the<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n
\nPage <\/font>\u2013 353<\/font><\/span><\/p>\n

\n

\n

\nsadhak must not be afraid of the Mahakali aspect and ask only for sweetness. He must be able to take the blows of Mahakali as
\na blessing. He must also believe in her vision and judgment and word, otherwise when she says or does something unpleasant
\nto his ego that ego will go sulking, justifying itself, calling her names etc. as is the habit with so many in the Asram when
\nshe does not do what they like. There are very few here who can take this attitude even imperfectly, but it is with them that
\nthe Mother has this relation. With others, who have a different nature, she cannot but behave differently 
\n\u2014for she has to act
\nwith each according to his nature.
\n\t<\/span> <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n\t
\n\tUnderstanding the Mother’s Actions
\n\t<\/a>
\n<\/b>
\n\t<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n\tDuring my talk with X<\/i>, he spoke about Mother’s preferences, about her taking more care of some and paying more attention
\nto them. But it seems absurd and foolish to think that anybody knows more about people than Mother.
\n\t<\/span> <\/p>\n

\nIt is a favourite form of criticism and quite natural to the human mind which knows nothing about the play of forces through
\nwhich the Divine Movement has to make its way under the conditions laid down by the play of the Ignorance.
\n<\/span> <\/p>\n

\n7 May 1933 <\/span> <\/p>\n

\n

 <\/p>\n

\n\t*<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n\t <\/p>\n

<\/span><\/p>\n

\nI am often guilty of a feeling of ingratitude towards the Mother. I cannot find the way to remove the misunderstanding
\nabout her smile or her seeing some persons often or treating European sadhaks specially and other such things which
\nindicate partiality. With reasoning it is easy to understand, but the feeling persists.
\n<\/span> <\/p>\n

\nBut why indulge a feeling which has not truth or good sense or reason at its back? This accusation of partiality rests first
\non feelings of egoistic vital demand, jealousy etc. which are no doubt fairly universal in human nature as it is, but not
\nthe more respectworthy for that. It supports itself on a crude idea of
\n"equality" of treatment which in practice comes to this
\n\t<\/span> <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n
\nPage <\/font>\u2013 354<\/font><\/span><\/p>\n

\n

\n

\nthat everyone should be treated in just the same way, which is about as impossible a thing as could be demanded in this world
\nand would make all action and all direction of either work or sadhana impossible. The Mother extends the divine love and
\nprotection to all, but the form she gives to her action must vary with the different nature and need of each, the demands
\nof the work, the necessities of their sadhana. The idea about Europeans is quite wrong 
\n\u2014since with the exception of
\nX <\/i>and
\nY <\/i>all those who see most of the Mother or are given special positions of confidence are Indians. If one starts comparisons
\neach has something which another has not. And to have that something does not prevent complaints of being worse treated
\nthan others. These feelings therefore are merely the product of the restless discontent of the vital and there is nothing to be
\ndone with them except to send them away whenever they come as useless disturbers of happiness and progress.
\n<\/span> <\/p>\n

\n27 December 1933 <\/span> <\/p>\n

\n

 <\/p>\n

\n\t*<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n\t <\/p>\n

<\/span><\/p>\n

\nMany sadhaks try to judge the Mother from her outer actions without some inner or higher basis.
\n<\/span> <\/p>\n

\nYes, that is the mistake all the sadhaks make. How can they understand the Mother’s actions unless they are united in consciousness with the Mother, have in fact the same consciousness as hers?
\n<\/span> <\/p>\n

\n6 April 1935 <\/span> <\/p>\n

\n

 <\/p>\n

\n\t*<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n\t <\/p>\n

<\/span><\/p>\n

\nI am uneasy about the treatment accorded to me by the Mother. Several times I have noted that she has acted against
\nme. When I proposed something for Bushy the cat’s treatment, she found some tricky replies and then asked
\nX <\/i>to treat her.
\nWhen Y <\/i>wanted to join our class, Mother told me she would try to find
\nsomeone to replace him at work so he could attend, but then she wrote to him
\nabout the class, "It is not necessary." I have other examples also, and each one
\nadds to the wounds she has dealt me. After all, what has she done for me since I
\ncame here? I have done my best, I have put the best of my<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n
\nPage <\/font>\u2013 355<\/font><\/span><\/p>\n

\n

\n

\nenergy into the work, but not once can I remember that she has cared for me as she cares for others.
\n<\/span> <\/p>\n

\nI do not know what right you have to invent false imputations against the Mother without even knowing all the facts out of
\nyour ignorant egoistic mind and insulting her with these falsehoods calling her a liar and a trickster.
\nX <\/i>treated Bushy without
\nasking the Mother; she was not even informed and she only knew of it when she heard the poor beast screaming and asked
\nwhat was the matter. That is how the sadhaks treat the Mother and afterwards they insult and kick her. As for
\nY<\/i>, he had already
\nasked and the Mother said no because he works in the night and she thought a class in addition would be too much strain for
\nhim. Afterwards when you wrote that he was enthusiastic about it she tried to find someone who would relieve him but she has
\nfound no one. That is all. Even when she tries to meet your requests, you seize on it as an occasion for insulting her and
\nputting the most base, vile and sinister motives on her simplest actions. There is no reason for throwing the blame for your
\ncondition off your own shoulders and attacking the Mother.<\/span><\/p>\n

\n

\n\t11 January 1936
\n<\/span> <\/p>\n

\n
\nMisunderstanding the Mother’s Words
\n<\/a> <\/b>
\n\t<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n\tWhy does the Mother not speak directly to me and tell me
\nwhat she wants? Does she not know that I truly want to do nothing but her will?
\n\t<\/span> <\/p>\n

\nWhat the Mother said was perfectly just and reasonable. It is because your mind was confused and excited and hostile that
\nit put its own imagined words and interpretations and tried to support and justify its hostility by its own inventions and
\ninferences. This trick of putting into the Mother’s mouth words that she had not spoken 
\n\u2014often the very reverse of what she had
\nsaid,  \u2014or of twisting her words and acts to mean something that she had never intended, is a constant habit of the forces of
\nfalsehood when they want to turn the sadhaks from the right way or use them
\nagainst the Truth and against the Mother. If<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n
\nPage <\/font>\u2013 356<\/font><\/span><\/p>\n

\n

\n

\nyou thus make yourself the instrument of a falsehood, how can you expect not to fall away from peace and light and the true
\npsychic condition? You were constantly doing that before and it was the cause of all your troubles, putting yourself on the side
\nof the obscure and false and hostile forces. If you want to get free, you must cease listening to them, justifying them, throwing
\nthem against the Mother. <\/span> <\/p>\n

\n\tWe are perfectly ready to correct you and have no intention
\nof leaving you to your ignorance,  \u2014that is another absurd imagination, 
\n\t\u2014but you must also correct yourself as soon as your
\nmind starts this kind of thing; for otherwise you will not be truly ready to receive the correction and will start again believing the
\nMother to be false and deceptive and the rest of it, as soon as the hostile forces can create or invent an excuse.
\n\t<\/span> <\/p>\n

\n1 May 1932 <\/span> <\/p>\n

\n

 <\/p>\n

\n\t*<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n\t <\/p>\n

<\/span><\/p>\n

\nI find it rather surprising that you should regard what the Mother said to you or what I wrote as a recommendation to relax
\naspiration or postpone the idea of any kind of siddhi till the Greek Kalends! It was not so intended in the least 
\n\u2014nor do
\nI think either of us said or wrote anything which could justly bear such an interpretation. I said expressly that in the way
\nof meditating of which we spoke, aspiration, prayer, concentration, intensity were a natural part of it; this way was put
\nbefore you because our experience has been that those who take it go quicker and develop their sadhana, once they get
\nfixed in it, much more easily as well as smoothly than by a distressed, doubtful and anxious straining with revulsions of
\ndespondency and turning away from hope and endeavour. We spoke of a steady opening to the Divine with a flow of the
\nforce doing its work in the adhar, a poised opening with a quiet mind and heart full of trust and the sunlight of confidence;
\nwhere do you find that we said a helpless waiting must be your programme?
\n<\/span> <\/p>\n

\nAs for light \u2014heartedness and insouciance, the Mother never spoke of insouciance 
\n\u2014a light don’t \u2014care attitude is the last thing she would recommend to anybody.
\nShe spoke of cheerfulness, <\/span> <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n
\nPage <\/font>\u2013 357<\/font><\/span><\/p>\n

\n

\n

\nand if she used the word light
\n\u2014hearted it was not in the sense of anything lightly or frivolously gay and careless 
\n\u2014although a
\ndeeper and finer gaiety can have its place as one element of the Yogic character. What she meant was a glad equanimity even in
\nthe face of difficulties and there is nothing in that contrary to Yogic teaching or to her own practice. The vital nature on the
\nsurface (the depths of the true vital are different) is attached on the one side to a superficial mirth and enjoyment, on the other
\nto sorrow and despair and gloom and tragedy,  \u2014for these are for it the cherished lights and shades of life; but a bright or wide
\n <\/i> and free peace or an anandamaya <\/i>intensity or, best, a fusing of
\nboth in one is the true poise of both the soul and the mind  \u2014and of the true vital also 
\n\u2014in Yoga. It is perfectly possible for a
\nquite human sadhak to get to such a poise, it is not necessary to be divine before one can attain it.
\n<\/span> <\/p>\n

\n8 May 1932 <\/span> <\/p>\n

\n

 <\/p>\n

\n\t*<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n\t <\/p>\n

<\/span><\/p>\n

\nThere is no doubt that at times the idea enters the thinking elements among the members of the Asram that the Mother
\nhas lost her grip on the physical, and thus she says things that are contradictory or not factual.
\n<\/span> <\/p>\n

\nIt is rather surprising that the Asram does not break down altogether, if the Mother has no grasp of the physical world 
\n\u2014those
\nwho are in that lamentable condition are not usually able to run anything on the physical plane; but perhaps it is the great grip of
\nthe thinking elements here on the physical world that keeps the Asram going in spite of the imbecility of myself and the Mother.
\nWhat I notice however is that when the Mother says something, the thinking elements very often understand the exact opposite.
\n<\/span> <\/p>\n

\nYou write of being responsive to the Mother. You seem to be saying: Don’t concern yourself with whether something is true,
\nwhether it is a fact, whether it hurts you  \u2014always respond as the Mother leads.
\n<\/span> <\/p>\n

\nIt is not quite like that. Those who respond find on the contrary that the Mother has a greater grasp of truth than they have and
\n  <\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n
\nPage <\/font>\u2013 358<\/font><\/span><\/p>\n

\n

\n

\ndo not judge her by their fallible intellects but try to see that truth and follow it.
\n<\/span> <\/p>\n

\nFebruary 1933 <\/span> <\/p>\n

\n

 <\/p>\n

\n\t*<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n\t <\/p>\n

<\/span><\/p>\n

\nIt is not X <\/i>alone, but many or most who turn things [spoken by<\/i>
\nthe Mother<\/i>] in that way  \u2014the tendency is almost universal in
\nhuman nature. It is not from dishonesty that he or others do it  \u2014it is because when they listen, their minds are not silent but active
\nand the thought of their minds mixes with what they have heard and gives it another turn or shape or colour. Often also the vital
\ninterferes and exaggerates or reshapes according to the desire or the convenience. This is much more often unconsciously than
\nconsciously done.
\n\t<\/span> <\/p>\n

\n\tIn the present instance, the Mother spoke quite generally,
\nnot about Y <\/i>or what had happened in Z<\/i>‘s case, and she meant that what ought to be remembered is not remembered because of
\nsome strong immediate desire which pushes the memory behind until the desire is fulfilled and then only, if at all, the recollection
\ncomes. X <\/i>evidently added his own ideas, applied it specially to Y<\/i>‘s action and thought that the Mother had said it was consciously done 
\n\t\u2014that Y <\/i>remembered and yet went against her conscious sense of right in order to fulfil her desire. That was
\nnot what the Mother said or meant by her general statement.<\/span><\/p>\n

\n

\n\t30 March 1933
\n<\/span> <\/p>\n

\n

 <\/p>\n

\n\t*<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n\t 
\n <\/span><\/p>\n

\n\tIs it not the Mother who often tells us things indirectly,
\nthrough the discriminating mind or the psychic? <\/span> <\/p>\n

\n\tIt is only when the Mother speaks directly that you can say
\n“The Mother has said”.<\/span><\/p>\n

\n

\n\t9 July 1933
\n<\/span> <\/p>\n

\n

 <\/p>\n

\n\t*<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n\t 
\n <\/span><\/p>\n

\n\tIt is good if you have freed yourself from this bondage [a rigid<\/i>
\ninsistence that one must always do what one has said one will<\/i> do<\/i>].
\n\tLove of Truth is divine, but this kind of truth is a very mixed product
\n\taccompanied as it is by hardness or a fierce anger. Truth does not insist on
\n\ta blind adherence to the spoken word  \u2014as<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n
\nPage <\/font>\u2013 359<\/font><\/span><\/p>\n

\n

\n

\nfor instance, if a man says that he will kill another under the impression that that other has done him a grievous wrong and
\nafterwards carries out his word even when he has found out that the other was innocent and no wrong done. That is what literal
\nadhesion to the spoken word would come to, if scrupulously held as a principle. Truth on the contrary demands that a man
\nshall cleave to the principle of Truth in things only, and in the case above the principle of Truth would demand that he should
\nbreak his vow and not keep it. If a man pledges himself to something that is against the principle of Truth, e.g. against the
\nprinciple of Love and Compassion or against that of obedience and surrender to the Divine, it is not Truth to keep that pledge 
\n\u2014for it would be a pledge to follow falsehood and how can truth be rooted in allegiance to falsehood? That would be an
\nAsuric, not a divine Truthfulness. <\/span> <\/p>\n

\n\tAs for the Mother, you will not find in her this blind adherence to an arrangement once made. If, for instance, she told someone, next time you yield to sex
\n\t\u2014passion in any way, you
\nwill have to leave the Asram and if the man did it and repented, she too might relent and not insist in following out her menace. These matters of interviews are not promises, contracts or engagements, 
\n\t\u2014they are arrangements only and can be altered.
\nIf she has arranged for half an hour she can make it in fact 3
\n\u00ad of an hour  \u2014or diminish it to twenty minutes. There is a 4
\nplasticity needed in the movement of time and the Shakti of life cannot afford to be rigid in its movements; otherwise Life would
\neither be turned into a mere mechanism or break to pieces. But in this case there was no intention; it was a pure accident; by
\nsome oversight your name had not been written in the morning list and Mother came to the door when those on the list were
\nfinished. She could not go back because it was extremely late and it had been a long and exhausting morning spent in a continual
\nstruggle with adverse forces and she had to come in, do what still she had to do and come to me to report what had happened.
\n\t<\/span> <\/p>\n

\nBut even if she had intended it for some reason not known to you, your reaction
\nwas not the right one. For the basis you have taken for your Yoga is to obey the
\nWill whatever it may
\n\t<\/span> <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n
\nPage <\/font>\u2013 360<\/font><\/span><\/p>\n

\n

\n

\nbe. These things, seemingly accidental, happen when they are predestined and they come in as an ordeal for something in the
\nvital which has by this painful process to accept change.<\/span><\/p>\n

\n

\n\t28 September 1933
\n<\/span> <\/p>\n

\n

 <\/p>\n

\n\t*<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n\t 
\n <\/span><\/p>\n

\n\tThe Mother told me in an interview one year ago that the
\npsychic is quite strong in me. Did she say this to bring pride in me? It gave me a sense of superiority to persons like
\nX <\/i>and
\nY <\/i>and many others. But now it would seem I am full of vital difficulties. Did the Mother ever look at the vital difficulties
\nof others as severely as she seems to be looking at mine? <\/span> <\/p>\n

\n\tMother told you about your psychic because she saw it 
\n\t\u2014but
\nshe never told you that you were superior in that respect to X<\/i> and Y<\/i>. It was not said to bring pride in you, but to encourage
\nyou to rely on your psychic and bring it out so that it might get full control on the vital. I may add that the psychic being strong
\ndoes not necessarily mean that it is in full control of the vital or cannot be clouded over. The condition some of those you
\nmentioned have attained now is that the psychic is in control of the vital so that doubts and revolts are not possible or are rapidly
\nrejected  \u2014and that was the condition to which you were coming before this (it seems to me quite causeless and accidental) lapse.
\nSo I wrote that there was no reason why you should not speedily have the same psychic consciousness which would prevent all
\ndoubt or any radical disturbance.<\/span><\/p>\n

\n

\n\t7 May 1934
\n<\/span> <\/p>\n

\n

 <\/p>\n

\n\t*<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n\t 
\n <\/span>
\n <\/p>\n

\n\tX <\/span> <\/i>has often quoted things that the Mother told him, not only
\nabout me but about others. He says that she tells him these private things because she trusts him so much. But so many
\nthings are said in the Mother’s name! Often I have thought about how serious it is when someone says: “Mother said
\nthese things.” <\/span> <\/p>\n

\n\tPeople have put thousands of things in the Mother’s mouth that she never
\n\tsaid. I have known them to say this and that to Mother and then go about
\n\tputting it in Mother’s mouth, saying "Mother <\/span> <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n
\nPage <\/font>\u2013 361<\/font><\/span><\/p>\n

\n

\n

\nsaid to me.” Also things that they have not said to her and she never said. You should put no reliance on these statements.
\n<\/span> <\/p>\n

\n15 January 1935 <\/span> <\/p>\n

\n

 <\/p>\n

\n\t*<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n\t <\/p>\n

<\/span><\/p>\n

\nA lie is a lie whoever speaks it. If you give credit to what someone or another thinks or says as Mother’s motive in an action, take
\nher statement of her motive as untrue and somebody else’s who cannot know as sound and true and on that challenge Mother for
\nwant of frankness, is the resulting upset our fault? It is a question of greater confidence in the Mother than in the statements or
\ninterpretations of sadhaks or the hasty assumptions or inferences of your mind or the feelings of your vital made without having
\nthe needed information. If you could get rid of that movement, things would be easier.
\n<\/span> <\/p>\n

\n15 May 1936 <\/span> <\/p>\n

\n

 <\/p>\n

\n\t*<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n\t <\/p>\n

<\/span><\/p>\n

\nHow can the maxim “a lie is a lie” apply to all? If a higher motive demands concealing or misrepresenting something by
\nwords, I would hardly call it a lie  \u2014the motive is superhuman and cannot fall in the same category as an ordinary lie. I think
\nKrishna did not always speak the exact truth and his half \u2014lies always provoke an understanding smile in all who listen to his
\nstories. <\/span> <\/p>\n

\n\tIf the Mother did a thing for one reason and said that she did
\nit for quite another she did not have, I fail to see how it can be anything but a falsehood. No superhuman motive can make a
\nfalsehood not a falsehood. Moreover, if you really believe that the Divine can speak what is not true without being untrue and
\nthat that is a part of divinity, why do you resent it when you think the Mother has done it and grow sorrowful and indignant
\nover her supposed unfair and uncandid treatment of you and say she ought to have been frank etc.? You ought rather to think she
\nis acting from superhuman motives and accept gladly whatever she does. At least that seems to be the logic of such a position.
\n\t<\/span> <\/p>\n

\nYou base yourself evidently on the position that the Divine Consciousness is
\nabove good and evil. But that does not mean
\n\t<\/span> <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n
\nPage <\/font>\u2013 362<\/font><\/span><\/p>\n

\n

\n

\nthat it does evil and good impartially. It can only mean that it acts from a light that is beyond that level of human consciousness
\nwhich makes the human standard of these things. It acts for and from a greater good than the apparent good men follow after. It
\nacts also according to a greater Truth than men conceive. It is for this reason that the human mind cannot understand the divine
\naction and its motives  \u2014he must first rise into a higher consciousness and be in spiritual contact or union with the Divine.
\n<\/span> <\/p>\n

\nBut if anyone recognises that, he can no longer judge the divine action with his human mind and from a human point of view.
\nThe two things would be quite incompatible. But this does not fall under any such explanation. To allege
\na false motive cannot be a movement of a greater Truth and consciousness. To keep silence and not reveal one’s motives is
\none thing  \u2014to say I did not act from that motive when I actually did so, is not silence, it is falsehood. It is a matter not of moral,
\nbut spiritual importance. The Mother cares for the Truth and she has always said that lying and falsehood create a serious
\nobstacle to realisation. How then can she herself do that? <\/span> <\/p>\n

\n\tI do not remember any lies or half
\n\t\u2014lies told by Krishna, so
\nI can say nothing on that point. But if he did according to the Mahabharat or the Bhagwat, we are not bound either by that
\nrecord or by that example. I think Rama and Buddha told none.<\/span><\/p>\n

\n

\n\t17 May 1936
\n<\/span> <\/p>\n

\nAsking Questions to the Mother
\n<\/a>
\n<\/b>
\n\t<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n\tWhen I think about myself I begin to doubt whether I will ever
\nget any realisation. I go on wishing the Mother would speak to me on this subject so that I may understand. But when I
\nget the knowledge, I also feel that my wish was a way of not accepting the light.
\n\t<\/span> <\/p>\n

\nQuite so. <\/span> <\/p>\n

\n\tLast night at the meditation, I got the same desire for knowledge. Then I
\n\tsaw the Mother closing her eyes and it was as though her mind was pressing
\n\tmy mind on all sides. Then my <\/span> <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n
\nPage <\/font>\u2013 363<\/font><\/span><\/p>\n

\n

\n

\nmind became still and I felt the contact of the Mother’s mind even in the cells. After that I felt that all my questions were
\nanswered and it was no use asking anything at all. <\/span> <\/p>\n

\n\tThat is the right way. Union with the Mother’s consciousness is
\nthe true way for knowledge to come. <\/span> <\/p>\n

\n\tBut always I get this desire for knowledge and feel that it
\nwould be a great help if I could know some things. <\/span> <\/p>\n

\n\tYou should throw away this feeling. It is not by asking questions
\nto the Mother that you can get the knowledge, but by keeping your mind open to her.
\n\t<\/span> <\/p>\n

\n25 June 1930 <\/span> <\/p>\n

\n\t
\n\tWriting to the Mother
\n<\/a>
\n<\/b>
\n\t<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n\tOn reading my letter of this morning, I felt as if the Mother was not pleased with me for writing about the bad thoughts I
\nhad about X <\/i>and Y<\/i>. <\/span> <\/p>\n

\n\tYour writing these things does not give any displeasure to
\nMother. It is better to write if you have them, than to be silent about it.
\n\t<\/span> <\/p>\n

\n9 June 1933 <\/span> <\/p>\n

\n

 <\/p>\n

\n\t*<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n\t <\/p>\n

<\/span><\/p>\n

\nToday a thought came to me: “Why are you forcing yourself so much with regard to the control of the vital being? Better
\nnot bother about opening your thoughts and desires to the Mother; rather leave her to work on you.”
\n<\/span> <\/p>\n

\nIf you want the Mother to work through you, you must lay before her your thoughts and desires and reject them.
\n<\/span> <\/p>\n

\n3 September 1933 <\/span> <\/p>\n

\n

 <\/p>\n

\n\t*<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n\t <\/p>\n

<\/span><\/p>\n

\nYou have asked why I stopped writing to the Mother. When I write I ask about the
\nsmall things that bother me, but often she does not answer. This confuses me,
\nbecause if she does not explain these things to me, who will?
\n\t<\/span> <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n
\nPage <\/font>\u2013 364<\/font><\/span><\/p>\n

\n

\n

\nWhen the sadhaks write to the Mother, it is not to get answers from her about the small things of daily life 
\n\t\u2014sometimes they do
\nit when necessary, and Mother sometimes answers, sometimes not. The main object of writing is to put themselves before
\nthe Mother, their experiences, their progress, their lives, so as to create a constant connection and invite her presence, force, help,
\nguidance in everything that calls for her intervention. But it is not necessary that the Mother’s response should take the form
\nof a written answer. It would not even be physically possible in the course of 24 hours to answer all the correspondence that is
\naddressed to us.<\/span><\/p>\n

\n

\n\t13 October 1933
\n<\/span> <\/p>\n

\n

 <\/p>\n

\n\t*<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n\t 
\n <\/span><\/p>\n

\n\tWhen the consciousness is open, to put things (difficulties, needs)
\nbefore the Mother in a clear form written or otherwise (even if it is not submitted bodily to her), brings very often an immediate
\nrelief or response.<\/span><\/p>\n

\n

\n\t27 December 1933
\n<\/span> <\/p>\n

\n

 <\/p>\n

\n\t*<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n\t 
\n <\/span><\/p>\n

\n\tThe experience of being with the Mother and speaking to her is
\none that one can easily have when one is writing to her and is true because some part of the being does actually meet with her
\nand open itself to her when one writes one’s experiences.<\/span><\/p>\n

\n

\n\t23 December 1935
\n<\/span> <\/p>\n

\n

 <\/p>\n

\n\t*<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n\t 
\n <\/span><\/p>\n

\n\tI find that when I start to write I feel a greater pressure and a
\ndeeper concentration on the higher Force. <\/span> <\/p>\n

\n\tI suppose it is because in the act of writing or rather beginning
\nto write you enter into contact with the Mother and the Force.<\/span><\/p>\n

\n

\n\t5 May 1936
\n<\/span> <\/p>\n

\n

 <\/p>\n

\n\t*<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n\t 
\n <\/span><\/p>\n

\n\tYou did well to speak to X <\/i>and also to write to Mother. Of
\ncourse Mother had observed X<\/i>‘s difficulties,  \u2014it is correct that
\n\tthe difficulty is the lack of a certain free opening  \u2014otherwise all
\n\tthat could be removed quickly and the necessary change of<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n
\nPage <\/font>\u2013 365<\/font><\/span><\/p>\n

\n

\n

\nnature (mind, ego etc.) carried on by smooth gradations. To write as you do is helpful for opening oneself and for receiving the precise touch. X<\/i>‘s logic about the Mother knowing and therefore there being no need to write is applicable if there is a
\nfree or at least a sufficient flow of giving and reception between the Mother and the sadhak, but when a serious difficulty comes,
\nthis logic is not so applicable. Naturally, we shall do our best to help him in his struggle.
\n<\/span> <\/p>\n

\n14 May 1936 <\/span> <\/p>\n

\n\t
\n\tLeaving the Mother and the Ashram
\n\t<\/a>
\n<\/b>
\n\t<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n\tIf you were seeking for a way of making it impossible for me to refuse you the money for going away, you have certainly found
\nit this time. After the letter you have written and the accusations it contains, I am bound to give you the Rs. 50 you ask for.
\n\t<\/span> <\/p>\n

\nAs to your other reproaches and accusations, I do not think it is necessary for me to reply. I send you the money you ask for
\nand so fulfil the promise which you so imperatively demand that I should fulfil. I do not send you away or give my sanction for
\nyour going; it is for you to decide in all freedom whether you will go or stay. But if you stay, there must be no more reproaches of
\nthis kind, since you will be staying entirely by your own free will and under no pressure from us. Nor can I allow the claim you
\nseem to have made that the Mother must do what you want and she must not say to you or do anything that does not please you.
\nThat is a relation which is not allowed to others and it cannot be allowed to you either. The Mother has shown you every possible
\nfavour and kindness; more she cannot do.<\/span><\/p>\n

\n

\n\t12 June 1930
\n<\/span> <\/p>\n

\n

 <\/p>\n

\n\t*<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n\t 
\n <\/span><\/p>\n

\n\tIt is not possible for the Mother to tell you to remain, if you are
\nyourself in your mind and vital eager to go. It is from within yourself that there must come the clear will on one side or the
\nother.<\/span><\/p>\n

\n

\n\t24 February 1932
\n<\/span> <\/p>\n

\n

 <\/p>\n

\n\t*<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n\t 
\n <\/span><\/p>\n

\n\tMy family would like me to go back with them to Bombay<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n
\nPage <\/font>\u2013 366<\/font><\/span><\/p>\n

\n

\n

\nand stay there for some time. I don’t find myself bound by any sense of obligation, but there is a dull yet persistent desire in
\nme to go. But as I am not a frigid mental machine, I would much prefer if the Mother spoke to me in a personal interview
\ninstead of replying in writing. <\/span> <\/p>\n

\n\tBut you have already had a personal interview with the Mother
\nin which the question was spoken of for an hour or thereabouts and she told you very positively that she considered it would
\nbe harmful, dangerous to you for your sadhana. She cannot say more or otherwise than she did that time. As for these dull
\npersistent desires, it is not by indulging them that they disappear  \u2014on the contrary: the only way is to grow out of them or let
\nthem die.<\/span><\/p>\n

\n

\n\t7 February 1933
\n<\/span> <\/p>\n

\n

 <\/p>\n

\n\t*<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n\t 
\n <\/span><\/p>\n

\n\tCan sadhaks who leave the Mother totally forget her Grace
\nafter receiving it for so many years while living at her feet? <\/span> <\/p>\n

\n\tSome of them seem to forget.
\n<\/span> <\/p>\n

\nIs there any possibility for them to return again to live at the Mother’s feet?
\n<\/span> <\/p>\n

\nIt depends on the person. <\/span> <\/p>\n

\n\tHow is it possible for someone who feels aspiration and the
\nDivine call in his heart to come to live at the Mother’s feet and then afterwards to leave them? Is it through vital depression
\nor something else? <\/span> <\/p>\n

\n\tThrough the suggestions of the hostile forces, because of pride,
\negoism, ambition, sexual desire, vanity, greed or any other vital impulse used by the hostile Powers.
\n\t<\/span> <\/p>\n

\nIs it because the vital forces are so strong that even if a person has a clear aspiration and a Divine call they can lead him away
\nfrom the Mother and the Asram? <\/span> <\/p>\n

\n\tEvery man is free at every moment to consent to the Divine call<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n
\nPage <\/font>\u2013 367<\/font><\/span><\/p>\n

\n

\n

\nor not consent 
\n\u2014to follow the lower nature or to follow his soul.
\n<\/span> <\/p>\n

\nWhen a person leaves the path, does it not prove that he was unable to judge whether his call for the Divine was true or
\nnot? <\/span> <\/p>\n

\n\tAll this about judging is nonsense 
\n\t\u2014you feel the call or you do
\nnot and, if you feel the call, you follow it without calculating or counting risks or asking whether you are fit or not.
\n\t<\/span> <\/p>\n

\nWhen people feel the urge to leave the Mother’s feet and go away from her, what is the best way for them to cling to the
\nMother with faith and not go away? <\/span> <\/p>\n

\n\tBy understanding that it is the Devil who tempts them and not
\nlistening to the Devil.<\/span><\/p>\n

\n

\n\t6 May 1933
\n<\/span> <\/p>\n

\n

 <\/p>\n

\n\t*<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n\t 
\n <\/span>
\n <\/p>\n

\n\tX <\/span> <\/i>had almost decided to go away this morning. He thinks the
\nMother is angry at him and putting pressure on him  \u2014and even the general pressure in the atmosphere he cannot bear.
\n\t<\/span> <\/p>\n

\nThe Mother is not at all angry with him and has not been at any time 
\n\u2014that is a sheer imagination. As for the pressure, the
\nonly pressure now is to bring down the supramental, but that is a pressure on Nature and not on the sadhaks. For the sadhaks,
\nthe only thing given is help, not a pressure.<\/span><\/p>\n

\n

\n\t3 October 1934
\n<\/span> <\/p>\n

\n

 <\/p>\n

\n\t*<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n\t 
\n <\/span><\/p>\n

\n\tIf you insist on going, the Mother cannot say no, as it is only
\nwith your own will that we can keep you here. Your difficulty only comes because you cannot recognise
\n\tthat whatever the Mother arranges for you is out of desire for your good and
\n\tin love for you. This is because you have your own ideas and preferences and
\n\tif she does something contrary to that you think she does not love you. The
\n\tMother’s love is always there, but it is through confidence and surrender
\n\tthat you can feel it. You need to recover your health and strength and we
\n\twanted you to do<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n
\nPage <\/font>\u2013 368<\/font><\/span><\/p>\n

\n

\n

\nthe necessary things for that for a sufficiently long time 
\n\u2014food, rest, treatment with the Mother’s force behind all that to make
\nit successful. But a full confidence in the Mother and acceptance of her decisions and her guidance is necessary; if you have and
\nkeep that, then you can recover your strength and capacity for work and progress in Yoga.
\n<\/span> <\/p>\n

\n3 December 1934 <\/span> <\/p>\n

\n

 <\/p>\n

\n\t*<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n\t <\/p>\n

<\/span><\/p>\n

\nThe Mother cannot tell you to go because there is no true cause why you should go and it would be very bad for you to do so
\nas well as bad for the work and everything else. The reasons for your not giving up the work are just the same as before and not
\nin the least changed by anything that has happened. Jealousy is no doubt a great defect of the nature, but many here have
\nit; almost everyone has some serious defect in his nature which stands in his way and gives trouble. But it is not a remedy for
\nthis to give up work and sadhana and abandon the Mother. You have to go on working and doing the sadhana with the Mother’s
\naid behind you until this and all other obstacles are got rid of. We have told you already that these things cannot be got rid of
\nin a day, but if you persevere and rely on the Mother they will yet disappear. Do not allow an adverse Force to mislead you;
\nreject all depression and go straight forward till you reach the goal.
\n<\/span> <\/p>\n

\n17 July 1935 <\/span> <\/p>\n

\n

 <\/p>\n

\n\t*<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n\t <\/p>\n

<\/span><\/p>\n

\nMother has no wish to abandon you and it has never been her will that you should go away from her. You must put yourself in
\nharmony with her will and then all will go right. Her love will guide you and her protection will be effective.
\n<\/span> <\/p>\n

\nRest until you are well. Do not be in a hurry to go to work before you have recovered your strength.
\n<\/span> <\/p>\n

\n19 July 1935 <\/span> <\/p>\n

\n

 <\/p>\n

\n\t*<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n\t <\/p>\n

<\/span><\/p>\n

\nWhat you have seen is quite correct. When the psychic being has been once fully awake as it was all these days in you, then
\nit is not possible for the sadhak to revolt and go away; for if<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n
\nPage <\/font>\u2013 369<\/font><\/span><\/p>\n

\n

\n

\nhe does, he leaves his soul behind him with the Mother and it is only the outer being that lives for a while elsewhere. But that
\nis too painful a condition; one has either to come back or life becomes hardly worth living. But there is no danger of that for
\nyou, now you have understood and have the true feeling. <\/span> <\/p>\n

\n\tMoreover these attacks that now come are not like those
\nthat came before when the psychic was still not fully awake. Then each time they came, they increased their force of attack;
\nnow they are only spending what force is left to them and losing it. Besides once the psychic being is awake, it is bound to recover control and confirm the mind in the truth so that the true consciousness in the being becomes each time stronger.
\n\t<\/span> <\/p>\n

\nAll is well. The Mother’s child will always grow more in you and the Mother’s little star burn brighter and brighter.
\n<\/span> <\/p>\n

\n20 November 1935 <\/span> <\/p>\n

\n

 <\/p>\n

\n\t*<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n\t <\/p>\n

<\/span><\/p>\n

\nIt is a question between the continuity of your concentrated spiritual life and the call of old demands belonging to the
\nconsciousness that you have left behind you. The Mother, as you well know, does not favour even a brief return to the old
\natmosphere once one is in the spiritual life. For one who has not yet really begun or is living as yet only a tepid half
\n\u2014formed
\nsurface sadhana, it might be different. The old life always pulls to have the sadhak back, to renew its ties, to get a fresh
\nlease of control over his vital. If one yields it will redouble its importunities, bring new occasions for calling again; the
\nsadhana here gets broken and has to be picked up again with effort. All the same if people insist on going or have a strong
\ndesire to go, they are allowed sometimes to do so at their own risk, but the Mother never sends anybody 
\n\u2014unless there is her
\nwork to do. That is the position.<\/span><\/p>\n

\n

\n\t15 January 1937
\n<\/span> <\/p>\n

\n

 <\/p>\n

\n\t*<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n\t 
\n <\/span><\/p>\n

\n\tAs for going out, the Asram has seen X <\/i>go out twice and return
\nwith full permission, it has recently seen Y <\/i>and Z <\/i>go with the
\n\tMother’s permission, both with the full intention of returning<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n
\nPage <\/font>\u2013 370<\/font><\/span><\/p>\n

\n

\n

\n \u2014to say nothing of others. As for A <\/i>you yourself were entirely against her going.
\nA <\/i>herself always took the position that she
\nought not to go and asked for help against the other tendency in her. If she had decided to go and told us so, nobody would
\nhave stood in her way, although we would not have been lost in admiration at the spiritual wisdom of her choice. Our view
\nis that once the full separate spiritual life is chosen, to cling and turn back to the ordinary one is an error. But if there are circumstances that make the (temporary) departure either harmless or psychologically or otherwise inevitable then we give permission.
\nIf the sadhak goes in a spirit of revolt and defiance or goes back to the ordinary life out of egoistic ambition as
\nB <\/i>and others
\ndid then of course Mother does not wish them to come back (so long as that remains) and refuses to allow it. Also if there is
\ntreachery, as in C<\/i>‘s case  \u2014a fact which you yourself asserted and I don’t see that it can be denied 
\n\u2014unless he atoned or changed,
\nthere was no reason why he should return, especially as he said his sadhana was going on admirably there. Mother knew his
\nreturn with an uncorrected spirit would not be good for him and events showed that she was perfectly right. But I have always
\nnoticed that whatever untoward thing happens to a sadhak, many consider that it is we whose bad qualities are to blame for
\nit. And yet they go on accepting us as Gurus and addressing us as Divine! That is truly baffling to the reason. Perhaps it shows
\nthat there is something really supramental here!! <\/span> <\/p>\n

\n\tIn your case I have given the reasons why we accept your
\ngoing out. There is no ground therefore why we should not support you in your music and other undertakings there. In
\nthese respects at least you allow that you have been supported and the support has been effective 
\n\t\u2014there is no reason why
\nthat shall not continue  \u2014the more so if you keep us informed as others at a distance do when they want some help in any
\nendeavour.<\/span><\/p>\n

\n

\n\t9 March 1937
\n<\/span> <\/p>\n

\n

 <\/p>\n

\n\t*<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n\t 
\n <\/span><\/p>\n

\n\tYou have been able to make progress because you had a certain freedom from
\n\tdemand and repining, an equability and<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n
\nPage <\/font>\u2013 371<\/font><\/span><\/p>\n

\n

\n

\nconfidence in turning towards the Mother. This is your main strength and you must not allow it to be disturbed or taken
\naway from you. The attitude described in the birthday poem is the right one for you. It is because you have opened and are on
\nthe way that the opposite forces are trying to put in suggestions of dissatisfaction or the impulse to go away. They want to create
\nthe same “habit of depression and trouble” that there has been in X <\/i>and many others so as to use it as a lever against you;
\nbut there is no reason why you should allow it. The idea that we are driving away and will drive many by the pressure of
\nour Yoga force is a silly notion among the many silly notions current in the Asram invented by the too idly active brains of
\nthe sadhaks. We do not press on anybody to go away  \u2014our action has been the opposite. It is a contrary undivine Force
\nwhich presses on sadhaks to go away from here so that they may lose their chances of sadhana. If their vital is very unquiet,
\nthey accept the suggestions of this Force and begin to long to go away; if they long too much, we may have to let them go,
\nfor it is not possible to force the Divine on those who do not want him or are not willing to follow the path to the end or
\ndecide that sex, fame, pleasure or other things of the kind are preferable.
\n<\/span> <\/p>\n

\n31 March 1937 <\/span> <\/p>\n

\n

 <\/p>\n

\n\t*<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n\t <\/p>\n

<\/span><\/p>\n

\nThe Mother certainly would not give you money for going away, for she could not approve of or sanction such a step which
\nhas no real ground and for which the only reasons you allege  <\/i>
\nare a quite unreasonable despondency and a pique (abhimana<\/i>) which is also
\nwithout true cause. The Mother has not in the least changed towards you 
\n\u2014she has neither withdrawn her affection nor felt nor expressed any
\ndisappointment about your sadhana; her support has not been withdrawn either
\nfrom your singing. The only thing we can make out in this connection is that the
\nimpression was created in your vital by her having discouraged a movement of ego
\nin you, pressed on the removal of some defects which you yourself had admitted
\nand wished to overcome, put aside some suggestions with regard to one<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n
\nPage <\/font>\u2013 372<\/font><\/span><\/p>\n

\n

\n

\noccasion for your music which did not seem to her suitable. But these things she
\nhas done before and you used to be very much pleased at her pointing out or
\nletting you understand where you had to change. You yourself wanted to get rid
\nof ego and change the resistant part and had taken steps towards it; it would
\nnot have been helpful for your purpose that the Mother should support or indulge
\nany movements coming from there. I can only gather from your recent letters that
\nthe resisting part has revolted against the pressure you yourself had put on it
\nand thrown up the impression that it could not change, that the demand on it was
\nmore than it could face and it would rather go and that in your depression you
\nhave identified yourself with its feeling and misinterpreted the Mother’s
\nmotives and her attitude  \u2014a thing that in your clearer consciousness you
\nwould either not have done or else soon corrected the mistake. I hope that this
\nclearer part of you which is the larger part will quickly reassert itself and
\ngive you back your former right vision and attitude. I shall do and do always
\nwhat I can to help towards that and towards the psychic victory in you and your
\nspiritual progress. Your departure and renunciation of the sadhana is a thing
\nwhich nothing in us accepts for a moment.<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n
\nPage <\/font>\u2013 373<\/font><\/span><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/table>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The Mother as Guru and Guide   The Mother’s Way of Dealing with Sadhaks   The difficulty about meeting your demand that the Mother should…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[56],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2966","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-32-the-mother-with-letters-on-the-mother","wpcat-56-id"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/worksofthemotherandsriaurobindo.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2966","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/worksofthemotherandsriaurobindo.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/worksofthemotherandsriaurobindo.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/worksofthemotherandsriaurobindo.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/worksofthemotherandsriaurobindo.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2966"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/worksofthemotherandsriaurobindo.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2966\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/worksofthemotherandsriaurobindo.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2966"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/worksofthemotherandsriaurobindo.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2966"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/worksofthemotherandsriaurobindo.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2966"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}