Personal Advice
SHORT REPLIES
My mind is so entirely clouded by doubts and
other lower influences that I feel if my body passed away just now, it would be
so much for the better! In spite of all that, as a Purusha
I am indifferent to any such absurd movements.
Yes, they are
absurd − shake it off.
With my blessings.
1933
I don’t know why for some time I have not
been feeling well. My mind is troubled, my vital is sad and my body is sick.
Do not worry,
remain quiet, keep your faith intact. It will pass.
1 February 1933
I don’t know how thoughts that are harmful
to my consecration slip into my mind and upset me. I try my best to drive them
away and to remain absorbed in contemplation of You, but very often they
return. Why are they repeated, and where do they come from? Do they belong to
the universal nature which is not yet purified, and will they keep on returning
until my entire human nature is transformed?
Yes, they belong
to the unregenerate universal Nature. But to the extent that we ourselves are
transformed, we can keep them
Page - 253
at a distance and
they no longer trouble us.
Always to prefer what belongs to others is a vital movement. Do not pay
any attention to it.
2 June 1934
Do you mean that only your mind is open to
my action? That would not be correct, because I act on you through the heart
much more than through the mind.
4 June 1934
We are always unconscious of the real
inner cause of our actions and movements.
Yes, the movements
of the being are always very complex.
5 June 1934
My physical being thirsts for Your love;
do not delay, Mother. You know that the child will not listen to reason, he
only wants to remain on his Mother’s breast.
You know very well
that I am always with you and in you, in the physical consciousness as in the
others.
10 July 1934
Yes, the outer nature must become calm and
quiet and turn towards the Divine.
21 December 1936
Page - 254
We are at least mentally convinced about
our misunderstanding and error and we are determined to give a vital push for their
rectification and we believe by Your Gracious Power it will be materialised rapidly. Of course, it may not be within a
very short time, but surely it will come.
Why should it not
be at once? With good will and faith nothing is impossible.
6 July 1939
Mother, when someone asks me what I have
done during all the years I have been here, I say that I have served with
devotion, and that is my sadhana. I do not understand
anything else. It is true that it has taken me a long time to understand this,
and that I have sometimes been anxious. By Mother’s Grace I understand a little
about Her service, and in it I feel Her Force and Her Love, and I find that it
is quite sufficient for me. Isn’t it so, Mother?
Certainly you
understand and you act better and better, with a consciousness that is
progressing towards a total light.
It is rather difficult to refuse when
anyone asks me for something. I think it is a failing in my nature. Isn’t it
so, Mother?
It all depends on how
you look at it and the spirit in which it is done.
Page - 255
Mother, today I made a fan out of these
shavings. I offer it at Your feet, but I don’t know if You will accept it for
its artistic merits, because it does not have any − I must admit it in
all sincerity. Mother, I believe You will accept it as a symbol of my physical
offering. For my part, I consider that more important than the other qualities
of any work we do. Of course, I do not mean that artistic beauty should be
neglected. Mother, am I right?
Yes, you are
right, and besides the fan is not unattractive, it has a charm of its own.
I feel very sorry that I have created an
impression that I am pulling at money and diverting it from where it `should go
− to the Mother. My endeavour is that all
wealth belongs to the Mother and we must use it as directed by Her. Wherever I
have a say I do this, and feel sorry that I have created an opposite
impression. I write this to take a certain burden off my mind.
I do not know who
has spread this rumour, but I can assure you that I
know it is not true. So, do not worry and let peace settle in your heart with
my blessings.
What you seek is always there ready for
you. Let the psychic turn grow complete and it will of itself bring you to that
for which you aspire.
My love and blessings.
15 February 1939
Page - 256
At times I seriously think about but do
not understand what my being wants. How is it that I do not feel a sense of a real
being which is and which has the delight of being and becoming? Why do I not
feel any real interest in any creative activity? My mind is active, it wants to
understand and become luminous and see and know the truth of things, and I feel
my mind is growing in this direction. At times I feel an urge of the heart to
seize something which can really satisfy my self, but the urge does not last
long. It disappears into some flat state of existence. What do you think my
real being wants?
THE DIVINE.
I also felt that you were not quite
satisfied with me.
Nothing of the
kind. Each one has his difficulties and I am here to help him out of them.
My love and blessings.
25 February 1942
A thought came to me that even when I do
not get any direct suggestion or direction from you, I should, in the interest
of your work, do whatever I myself can, to serve you in my own way¹ and to the
best of my ability. Graciously enlighten me and correct me if I am wrong.
This is always
dangerous. One must learn to serve the Divine not in one’s own way but in
the Divine’s way.
Blessings.
10 April 1947
¹ Mother underlined these four words.
Page - 257
For taking decisions I have found a trick.
I postpone the matter and put it to you inwardly. Automatically a solution
comes.
This is indeed the
true way and ought to be used in all cases.
Let me be able to do what you want me to
do, knowingly or unknowingly.
This is the right
thing and the very best.
My dear child, you have indeed passed from
one life to another; but it is in your body that this new birth took place, and
now the road is wide open before you for a new progress.
With my love and blessings.
19 April 1960
“I
know the path, but what can I do if the robbers rob me on the way?” — Maulana Azad.
Call the Lord to
Catch the robbers.
26 October 1963
I seek the Mother’s light on the following
question. The world being what it is, we have to work under the existing
conditions. Why not use the available conditions, gather strength and then endeavour to manifest the Divine Will in its purity?
Page - 258
But the very fact
of living upon earth means that we are “using the available conditions”,
otherwise it would be impossible to live.
Blessings.
18 March 1965
Divine Mother,
If I should have
an attack of any kind in the future, could I send you a note immediately,
instead of people just taking me off to the hospital?
Surely, let me
know at once, so that I can help.
Love.
30 September 1966
Divine Mother,
I am having some difficulty in my vital.
Would you please help me.
If you were to do
some work?…
Blessings.
25 May 1967
Divine Mother,
What I want is to move all of my being
into the future. Will you help me with those parts that need a push?
This is quite a
good resolution. The push is and will be given.
Now, do not resist.
Love and blessings.
20 May 1968
Page - 259
Divine Mother,
I am ready.
Start.
Blessings.
1 July 1969
Since yesterday’s darshan
I feel something revolting in me against a spiritual life. I am afraid of this
revolt. What shall I do?
What revolted in you
when you were in front of me is exactly what prevents you from leading a
spiritual life. Now that you are conscious of the enemy you can throw him out
of you if so you decide.
21 November 1969
I had collected some money for books. One
day I passed it on to you. Immediately afterwards somebody presented me with
all those books that I wanted and more!
This kind of thing
has happened hundreds of times and is happening more and more − but to me
it seems quite “natural”, although I am unwilling to explain.
X is very pleased to have the photographs
of You and Sri Aurobindo. He told me that he felt a
distinct change in the atmosphere of his room after he had opened them. Mother,
when I kept in my room that
Page - 260
photograph of Sri Aurobindo,
which I received from Your hands, I too felt that it was vibrating with life.
Isn’t this because of Your touch?
Sri Aurobindo and I always put a force into the photographs we
sign. In the present case Sri Aurobindo had also looked
at the frame and admired it.
(About difficulty in writing)
Be receptive and it will be all right.
Go on writing. How do you know if the inspiration is not ready, waiting to
come to you?
Inspiration brings its manifold gifts to
the one who knows how to receive them.
Sweet Mother,
A young man who
has finished the Higher Course came to see me a few days ago and said he wanted
to study The Life Divine with me. As I have not read the book except
in bits and pieces, I told him that I could not help him. But he was very
insistent and I had eventually to agree to his request.
He asks me questions, some of them quite
difficult, from the book.
Page - 261
And though I do not know the
answers, I give them as they come to me. Both of us have found out the answers
are correct, and quite often the language of my answers is very nearly the same
as Sri Aurobindo’s own in the book.
I
wish to know: (1)
Is this intuition? (2) Is there a plane where all knowledge exists,
and if one can open to that plane, he can get whatever knowledge he needs? (3)
If teaching is my vocation, what should I
do to develop the receptivity?
You are in
conscious connection with Sri Aurobindo’s teaching,
which is universal and immortal, in the higher mental world.
The more you are silently attentive, the
more clearly you will receive it.
Blessings.
13 June 1968
(The Sri Aurobindo Research Academy was established on 24 April 1970 to provide guidance to research scholars
intending to study the works of Sri Aurobindo and the
Mother at an advanced level. When the Academy was first proposed, Mother wrote
to its founder:)
Anything that is
done can contribute to the progress of humanity, but all depends on the way of
doing it.
My blessings are with you and your
project.
March 1970
Page - 262