AGENDA 1968

February 1968


03. February 1968 – Symbol of India; Bath in Divine Consciousness

"India has become the symbolic representation of all the difficulties of modern mankind.

"India will be the land of its resurrection — the resurrection to a higher and truer life."

And the clear vision: the same thing which in the history of the universe made the earth the symbolic representation of the universe so as to concentrate the work on one point, the same phenomenon is now taking place: India is the representation of all human difficulties on earth, and it is in India that the... cure will be found. And then, that is why — THAT IS WHY I was made to start Auroville.

It came and it was so clear, so tremendously powerful!

So I wrote it down. I didn't tell them how or why, I told them, "Put this at the beginning of your paper, whatever it is; you can say whatever you like, but put this first."

(silence)

It was very interesting. It remained the whole time, for more than an hour, such a strong and clear vision, as if suddenly everything became clear. I often used to wonder about it (not "wonder," but there was a tension to understand why things, here in India, have become such a chaos, with such sordid difficulties, and all of it piling up), and instantly, everything became clear, like that. It was really interesting. And immediately there was: "Here is why you have made Auroville." I didn't know it, you understand, I did the thing under pressure, and it took larger and larger proportions (it's becoming really worldwide), and I would wonder why.... For a time I thought it was the only present possibility to prevent a war,[^2] but it seemed to me a somewhat superficial explanation. Then it came all of a sudden: "Ah! That's why."

[^2]: See Agenda 7, September 21, 1966.

And as that whole power was in it, I said, "Put it." We'll see — they won't understand anything, but that doesn't matter, it will act.

Soon afterwards

Then, I sent you a little note the other day....[^3] And this morning (all the early hours of the morning, till I came into contact with people), there was something. I noted it down so as to tell you, because I knew it was going... not to evaporate, but to fade out (Mother reads):

[^3]: "Instead of the consciousness being inside the body, it is the body which is inside the consciousness, yet it is still the body consciousness."

"The body is bathed in the Divine Consciousness...

It's like floating in water. That's the impression: the Divine Consciousness is everywhere, very strong — very strong — powerful, and the body is as if bathed in it; and the impression is of something which is still... a bit tough — that's it, a bit tough, somewhat like bark, a bit tough but beginning to be supple, beginning to have that suppleness, that plasticity. And the two things are like that, closely mingled. And this body, its state of consciousness, its state of being, its way of being, is like that (Mother resumes reading her note):

"It does its best to be translucent and transparent and not to obstruct or distort this Consciousness in its action."

That's really the point: not exactly "transparent," because transparent... a glass, for instance, is transparent, but it remains hard. It's an effort to melt — to melt, to identify like that, to melt. To such a point that when I am very quiet, not moving — when nothing moves inside, nothing moves outside, when I sit quietly and everything inside keeps still, there seems to be a dilation — a dilation — and like something that would want to melt. A very, very strong impression. And throughout the cells it brings about an extraordinary power of vibration! Something wholly out of proportion to the human body, you know — tremendous! And it goes through [the body] like that.

I've had a few times that experience with people: you know that when they come, I always want to give them a "bath of the Lord," as I call it, but some respond and "pull"; and at such times (it has happened once or twice), all the cells seem to swell, like something growing very, very big, huge like this, and there is such a... an almost awesome vibration, you know. And when it comes, when I look, some people melt (not many, very few), but others are terrified! They get up and run away. And there are those who are struck with awe, as they say in English — they get dazed. I've noticed that several times. I simply used to think, "The Lord is doing his action" — but it's not that! It's... it's that there really is something changing in the body.

But now it has become clear, conscious, and the body... I just have to stop my activities even two or three seconds, one or two minutes at the most, for the body to feel as if it's floating, floating like that, floating.... You see an immensity, like an ocean of this vibrating, luminous, golden, powerful Consciousness, and the body floats in it.... I tell you, it's still somewhat like a piece of bark, but some parts are crumbling away. It's like a piece of bark that clumsily covers certain spots: they are the things that... still feel the identification; it's not perfect identification because it's still felt — but felt in such a bliss!...

From a practical point of view, if something goes wrong anywhere for any reason (most often under the influence of something coming from outside unexpectedly: a pain here, something wrong there, and so on), with that, almost instantly — almost instantly — the trouble disappears, and if I patiently remain in that state, the MEMORY of the trouble disappears. And that's how disorders which had become habits gradually disappear.

Sri Aurobindo said it several times: as soon as the being is annulled, the essence, the essential purpose of individualization immediately reappears WITHOUT the ego's limits. But what you are speaking of, that sort of anguish that makes one stop, is a necessary movement till the whole being is ready, because if that annulment of the personality, of the individual, took place before all the elements of the body, or even of the vital or the mind, were ready... you understand, it would be dissolved, and then there's no knowing what would happen. So this need to get a grip on oneself occurs until one is entirely ready — when one is ready, one can let oneself go. And as soon as the fusion is done... (what can I call it?) not the "law" but what we might call the raison d'être [of individualization] comes back, and without the ego's limitations.

I had that experience in the vital and in the mind; now I see that it's the same in the body, that there is still a recall because this or that part, this or that element isn't yet ready and one has to wait until it's ready. But in fact, in this morning's experience, all that remained was like pieces of bark floating about.

Which means that the work is being done very fast.

But when the body is ready, it will be able to let itself go like that WITHOUT BEING DISSOLVED. And that's the work of preparation. The movement, yes, is to let oneself melt entirely. But the result is the ego's abolition, that is to say, an UNKNOWN state, you understand, which we may call "physically unrealized," because all those who sought Nirvana did so by giving up their body, whereas our work is to make the body, the material substance, capable of melting; but then, the principle of individualization remains, and all the ego's drawbacks disappear. That's the present attempt. How to keep the form without the ego's presence? — that's the problem. Well, that's how it takes place, little by little, little by little. That's why it takes time: each element is taken up again, transformed.... That's the marvel, that is it (for the ordinary consciousness, it's a miracle): it's keeping the form while entirely losing the ego. For the vital and the mind, it's easier to understand (for most people it's very difficult, but still for those who are ready, it's easy to understand, and then the action can be much more rapid), but HERE, this (Mother points to her body), for it not to be dissolved by this movement of fusion...? Well, that's precisely the experience, that's it. And there is a slight movement of patience, a movement of... it's really the deep essence of compassion: the minimum wastage for the maximum effect. That is, one goes as fast as one can, but delays arise from the need to prepare the various elements.

That's precisely the so interesting curve at present unfolding. At times, you feel as if everything, everything is dissolving, getting disorganized; and I have observed closely: at first the physical consciousness wasn't sufficiently enlightened, and when those inner preparations took place, it would feel, "Ah, this must be what heralds death"; then, little by little, came the knowledge that it wasn't that at all, it was only the inner preparation to be capable, capable of identification. And then, on the contrary, the very clear vision of this plasticity so particular, this suppleness so extraordinary that if it were realized... once it's realized, it obviously means the abolition of the necessity of death.

This morning's experience was... Everything was an immense ocean of luminous consciousness, and so powerful! Tremendously powerful. And something so sweet at the same time, so compassionate, but causeless — there was no cause: just like that. Like Divine Love which is without object, it's like that. So this body starts floating in that, lighter and lighter, more and more transparent, and still remains... the impression is of bark, but not even all over. It's a strange impression of something that still has contradictions. But not deliberate contradictions, it's not that: incapacities — spots of powerlessness, a lack of receptivity. But little by little, gradually, slowly, that gets cured.

Each experience — and now it's going fast — each experience points to a great step forward.

(silence)

Every time the rule or domination of Nature's ordinary laws is, on one point or another, replaced (or must be or is going to be replaced on any point) by the authority of the Divine Consciousness, that creates a state of transition with all the appearances of a tremendous disorder and a very great danger. And as long as the body doesn't know, as long as it's in its state of ignorance, it gets panic-stricken (which is what happens in almost everyone), panic-stricken, it thinks it's a serious illness, and sometimes, with the help of imagination, it may even result in an illness. But originally it's not that: it's a withdrawal, the withdrawal of Nature's ordinary law with its adjunct of personal vital and mental law (but Nature's law in the body is generally much stronger than the mind's and the vital's law); well, it's the withdrawal of that law and its replacement by the other. So there is a moment when it's neither this nor that, and that moment is critical. But if the body begins to know, it remains still and has faith — trust and faith; it remains still, then all goes well. The difficulty soon passes and all goes well. So long as the body doesn't know... its reactions are disastrous. But for it to know automatically and spontaneously, it means that a large part of its elements must already be conscious and transformed. Now, it's all right. Not so long ago it was still necessary to stop, to fall silent, concentrate, to call the Presence, call on its faith, then everything was back in order. Now the movement is spontaneous.

And the surface, the very part that gives the sense of bark, is what will change last — what's going to happen? I don't know... I don't know. But it will change last.

There are amusing little details. When I am in the presence of someone who, for some reason or other, gets a shock or feels uneasy because now I am stooped (someone who knew me before), it creates an atmosphere that gives the body a sort of regret for this appearance — not a "regret," but rather a disapproval of this appearance of decay (I am giving one example among many others). Then, almost immediately, there is the very clear vision of what can cure this, of the STATE OF CONSCIOUSNESS that can cure this. But to be constant, this state has to be spontaneous.... There will be a moment of transition for this as for all the rest, and it will probably be dangerous. The state of truth-consciousness must be sufficiently ESTABLISHED to be spontaneous: there should be no need of a concentration and a will, you understand, the state should be spontaneous. Then it will be possible for the transition to occur.

In my life, I have been given so many, so many experiences, as proof that EVERYTHING is possible. For instance, when I was twenty-two, one night, after an experience I had in the night (I forget the details of it)... at the time women wore dresses that exactly touched the ground, just touched it without resting on it (gesture of skimming the ground), and in my experience at night, I had grown tall — in the morning, there was one inch between the dress and the ground! Which means that the body had grown one inch WITH THE NIGHT'S EXPERIENCE. You see, in the night's experience I had grown tall (I don't remember the details), and in the morning... And I've been given that material verification for many such experiences, so as to be sure, so the body may be convinced without having to repeat the experiences over and over again. So it KNOWS, it knows there is nothing impossible, it knows "impossible" doesn't mean anything.... But it doesn't depend on an individual will, you understand. The Consciousness which rules things is a marvel of wisdom, patience, compassion, endurance. When there is destruction or disorder, it means it's absolutely unavoidable, absolutely — because matter's resistance in the individual or in things is so strong that it quite naturally brings about disorder or destruction. But that doesn't form part of the Action, the supreme Action, which is a marvel. The body has understood that; it has understood, it is patient. Only, from time to time... (how can I put it?)... There are people whom I prevent from dying — several people. I don't yet have the consciousness, the conscious power to cure them, but the possibility is there and I maintain it above them. That is to say, it's not all-powerful in the sense that a certain receptivity, a certain response, a certain attitude are necessary which aren't always there (human natures are very fluctuating, there are ups and downs and more ups and downs, and that makes the work very difficult), but at times, during a down spell, when a being suffers or sags, there is something in the consciousness [of Mother], a compassion... (how can I explain that?)... Affliction and all those movements are movements of weakness, but "that" is something at once very strong and very sweet, almost like sorrow, and the whole, entire consciousness in the body rises like a prayer and an aspiration — a pure prayer: "Why are things still in this pitiful state, why? Why?" And it instantly has an effect [in the sick person]. Unfortunately, the effect doesn't last; it doesn't last because certain conditions in others are still necessary. But... it's wonderful, you know! It's something so wonderful. And it makes one understand the necessity of a presence on this side, a presence capable of feeling, understanding still IN THE OTHER WAY, so the suffering of others may... be a reality. And that also is taken into account, that also means time is needed, patience is needed. Now the body knows it — there's no longer any impatience; there is only, now and then, that sort of sorrow, especially when beings are full of aspiration, goodwill, faith, and in spite of it this suffering is still there, clinging. That on one side, and on the other, one thing: there is still a sort of horror and reprobation of acts of cruelty, of THE cruelty; that's... And then, there is this awesome Power — you feel, you can feel that a mere nothing, a simple little movement would, oh, bring about a catastrophe. So you have to keep that still, still, still... so what happens may always be the best.

Now stupidity, imbecility, ignorance, all those things are looked at with a patience... which waits for them to grow. But bad will and cruelty — especially viciousness, cruelty, what LOVES to cause suffering — that's still difficult, one still has to keep a hold on oneself. In figurative language (not "language," but a way of being), it's Kali that wants to strike, and I have to tell her, "Keep still, keep still." But that's a human transcription. All those gods, all those beings are real, they exist, but... it's a transcription. True truth is beyond all that.

07. February 1968 – Flowers and Auroville’s charter

Something very amusing has happened to me with flowers. I had arranged roses; I had selected roses to give people, and when they came, I took a rose I had kept aside. But it had opened too much, it didn't look so nice anymore, so I looked, I thought, "Is it nice enough to be given?" I was holding it loosely, like that.... under my very eyes it turned around and stuck its thorn into my finger!

I've had other examples of consciousness in flowers, but this one was remarkable. When I take them and tell them that they're pretty and sweet, they open out — that often happens; but this one turned around (of course I wasn't holding it tight), it turned around and stuck its thorn into my finger!

I had another example, a very amusing one. You know that I keep hibiscus flowers there, under the lamp; I had kept two flowers, "Supramental Consciousness," and another, pale pink, "Supramental Beauty," there, under the lamp. Then someone sent me a "Power," a hibiscus this big, all white, with a dark red center — a marvel! Big as this. I put it there; the other flower... (it was lasting very well, it had lasted the whole morning), it instantly dropped down, furious — it didn't "drop," it threw itself to the ground, like that!

I've noticed that: jealousy among flowers. Some roses, if you put other flowers with them, wither instantly.

But it's the first time I've seen anger.

And the best part of the story is that I kept the rose and gave it away! (Laughing) It got what it wanted!

There is someone to whom I send flowers and who sends me flowers every day, someone who does the yoga in earnest. He wrote to me (he sends me some of these golden hibiscuses, "Supramental Beauty"), he wrote to me that he told one of these flowers, "You are going to see Mother," and the flower smiled. It opened out, it was happy, and it smiled. "It smiled at me," he said.

I don't know if it's our perception that progresses, or if really, as Sri Aurobindo said, "When the supramental Force comes on the earth, there will be a response EVERYWHERE." It seems to me to be that, because these flowers are so, so vibrant, full of life. In the morning I always arrange them (it's a work that takes me at least three quarters of an hour, there are more than a hundred flowers in different vases that I have to arrange, and to each person I give a special sort of flower — I arrange all that), and in the vases, some flowers say, "Me!" And indeed they are just what I need. They call out to me to say, "Me!"...But that's not new, because when I was in Japan, I had a large garden and I had cultivated part of it to grow vegetables; in the morning I would go down to the garden to get the vegetables to be eaten that day, and some of them here, there, there (scattered gesture) would say, "Me! Me! Me!" Like that. So I would go and pick them. They literally called me, they called me.

That's a long time ago, nineteen hundred and... when was it? It was in 1916-17, so that's... forty years ago.

But now, in the morning, I just have not to think, to remain quiet, and I go straight to the flowers, they say, "Me! Me!..." In spite of myself I am surprised, I say, "Wonderful, this is just what I wanted!"

1) We solemnly found this city as the first center of a planetary society...

Ah!

...tomorrow's society.

2) We solemnly dedicate this city as the constantly renewed synthesis of the latest conquests of science and the most ancient wisdom.

3) We solemnly set as the chief function of this city the preparation of every child to his highest spiritual and planetary...

There you are!

...destiny, that this city may become the cradle of a new humanity.

Is that all? It's better, but that's not it.

As for me, I didn't put any solemnities.... I didn't write it [at one go], because it's never mental, so it's not organized (Mother looks for scattered scraps of paper). From a mental point of view, it's worthless, it's not organized, but a few things did come. It's in fragments, it doesn't hang together (Mother goes on sorting out her scraps of paper). I don't even remember what I said.... It's not organized, I don't know in which order I am going to put it... Ah! (Mother pulls out a piece of paper)... First there is a material point which G. clumsily tried to express: it's that everyone is a citizen of Auroville. Here is the true thing (we won't put any solemnities, it's not necessary)...

(Mother unrolls a big parchment on her windowsill, facing the Samadhi. Perched on a low stool and armed with a huge black felt-pen that draws cuneiform-like letters, she starts copying Auroville's Charter while commenting on it.)

1) Auroville belongs to nobody in particular. Auroville belongs to humanity as a whole....

So this is the material fact. Auroville belongs... I didn't put "to no nation" because India would have been furious. I put "belongs to nobody" — "nobody" is a vague term which I used precisely so as not to say "to no human being" or "to no nation." And I put "Auroville belongs to humanity AS A WHOLE because it amounts to nothing! Since people can't agree together, the thing is impossible! I did it deliberately.

Then I don't say anything about "citizens" and all that, I say:

...But to live in Auroville one must be a willing servitor of the Divine Consciousness.

They will all balk at "Divine," but I don't care! You understand, it's the explanation of the Matrimandir[^1] at the center. The Matrimandir represents the Divine Consciousness. All that goes unsaid, but it's like that.

[^1]: The "temple of the Mother" at the center of Auroville.

Then:

2) Auroville will be the place of an unending education, of constant progress, and a youth that never ages.

And then:

3) Auroville wants to be the bridge between the past and the future. Taking advantage of all discoveries...

All discoveries, that is, philosophical, spiritual, moral, scientific, everything — taking advantage of the past.

...of all discoveries from without and from within, Auroville will boldly spring towards future realisations.

And finally, there are two versions: "4. Auroville will be a site of research for knowledge and means of existence leading to a human unity based on mutual understanding and goodwill."

On another piece of paper, we have, "To give a living body to an actual human Unity."

So we'll alter a little.

4) Auroville will be a site of material and spiritual researches for a living embodiment of an actual Human Unity.

There.

(Mother steps down from her stool)

It's not me who wrote all this.... I noticed something so interesting: when it comes it's imperative, there's no room for arguing; I write it down — whatever I may be doing I am FORCED to write it down. But when it's not there, it's just not there! Even if I try to remember, nothing comes, it's not there! So it's clear that it doesn't come from here: it comes from somewhere above.

(Auroville, the free international township. No army, no police.)

10. February 1968 – An all-powerful Will

It's absolutely obvious, absolutely indisputable that all this, that is, all the circumstances of life, all that happens, has been willed, decided on, organized. And it's the best possible training for the body. It's to give it three things:

The first is (one more English word) a reliance — that is, it should lean on the Divine ALONE for support, for the source of its strength, its health, its capacity; it means that all material rules and laws are rejected and must cease to have any importance.

That's the body's experience almost every minute.

This first: the only support is the Divine — food, rest, etc., none of those things exist anymore. They no longer exist — in fact, they don't exist, but they no longer exist as a factor of importance.

Then, two things, which seem to be contradictory (in the ordinary consciousness they are), but which in fact are only complementary. A surrender (there's no other word), a total abdication — total, immediate, complete. That is to say, equality and acceptance — not even "acceptance": everything, everything is good, everything is good. Which means that if death were to come tomorrow, it would cause no trouble, and if life must last forever, it causes no trouble — like that, you understand (perfectly equal and sovereign gesture): SPONTANEOUS, spontaneous, effortless acceptance, without reasoning, without... spontaneous and total, like that (same gesture). That's the second point.

And the third: a tremendous will! Every moment it expresses itself as... For instance, something is thrown out of gear, it hurts; then, with that background... it isn't a "background," it's a BASE, a base of equality ("equality" is still seen from the other side! It's not that, it is... an adherence, a spontaneous adherence), on that base, there is a tremendous will — tremendous — to be... WHAT THE DIVINE WILLS, but not with the idea that it might be like this or like that. Well, to express it truly, we should say, "To be divine" — to be divine. That is, to dominate all situations, all wills, all circumstances, like that (same perfectly equal and sovereign gesture).

So those three things are simultaneous and constantly present. And all that is going on in the body.

The body (this is becoming interesting) has the same experiences on the heights of the consciousness, the same experiences (supramental ones, we could say, because, well, there, it's really supramental) as the vital, the mind and the inner beings had previously.

It's going through the same experiences — the body itself.

That happened the last few nights: it suddenly remembered the time (some twenty years ago, for instance) when those experiences were experiences of the vital, the mind, the psychic being and above. It was the way of being there (gesture above), but the body was left out: it was in a different way, in its own way. But now, it's the body: the same experiences, the very same, come back to it like that, and with a certitude and solidity in their base that are incomparable!

There are still, in a subconscious background, bad habits — all the bad habits: defeatism, doubt, pessimism, all that (it's a way of being of that region), but it has gone underground, and when it does come through (more out of habit than out of bad will), when it... in English I would say bubbles out, it gets such a slap!

I clearly see that when this state of will (there is really only one way to put it and it looks like a masquerade, but it's "to be divine," like that, an all-powerful will), when that becomes the normal and spontaneous way of being, then we'll begin to have serious results.

There is still something that watches itself be — which means there is still much that isn't as it should be.

But there are slight oscillations between the old habit of yielding, of being human (with all that it entails), and the other way of being. The other way is vigilant, it's on the alert and says, "No, no! No more of that, no more! The time for that is over." Because, very clearly, that means a slide towards death; the other way is the ascent towards... we won't yet say "immortality" because that's difficult for this substance, but life at will.

We'll see.

There's a very clear vision, now, very clear and certain, that death is the acceptance of defeat, so... But everywhere, and for everybody.

Previously, it was an inescapable habit (Mother draws a circle), the inevitable outcome — it's no longer that at all, no longer at all! It's still the memory of a disastrous past.

14. February 1968 – Man creates all his difficulties

...But it's very, very instructive. I mean, it's not anything new to me, but it's the wholly clear, precise, evident picture that it's man who creates all his difficulties. Things would be simple and easy if there weren't all these ego reactions: reactions of ambition, reactions of self-esteem — not to speak of deceit: when that comes... (gesture underhand). Yes, these three things: ambition, with the need to show off, to dominate; self-esteem or vanity (being hurt when you aren't appreciated at your true value: then you lose your temper, you quarrel, there's grating and friction); and, last, the thirst for money, greed, the desire to possess, cupidity: you want to "make the most" of the occasion — "I want to profit, I want to profit...." With these three things, everything is muddled.

So long as it all comes out in the open ingenuously and frankly, you smile, but when it turns into duplicity, when people use all kinds of tricks in the hope of deceiving, of hiding their motives while pretending to have others — all that in various combinations — then, it won't do anymore.

And immediately — immediately, everything is disorganized.

And with proofs, you know, obvious proofs — one has to be absolutely blind not to see that. But the blindness is deliberate: one doesn't want to know the cause [of the disorganization], one isn't in the least anxious to know... because if one knew, one would be forced to change.

Instantly, instantly, everything is disorganized.

Ah! (Mother raises her two hands upward in a gesture of offering)

It's far easier to say and believe that the world cannot be changed and must be left to its own decomposition — you just go away peacefully. How easy!... How easy.

(silence)

Do you know how the Hindu spiritual tradition was convinced — was forced to be convinced — of the multiplicity of souls (they don't say "souls"), of the divine being in individuals? Because those people were very logical: had there been a single soul, that is, a single supreme consciousness, anywhere, at any time, once it had experienced liberation (flight into Nirvana, the renunciation of everything, the whole illusion of life and creation), if there had been only one soul, the whole thing would have been over! But as it happens, a number of beings went through the experience, and it made no difference to the world (as a whole, at any rate). So they reached the conclusion that there were perhaps as many souls as there were individuals, and that they communicate only up above, not down here.

When someone said that to me, it quite amused me!

And in all that, there's nothing true! Neither on one side nor on the other. It's only one aspect.

Because there's only ONE.

So long as it's not exclusive, that is, so long as the man or woman (whoever they are), the guru, doesn't come and say, "I alone am the Truth" (meaning the others don't know, I alone know), so long as they're not like that, it's quite all right. And when they're enlightened enough to tell you, "Yes, I've caught hold of one little bit, I am giving it to you, but all other little bits are good"... But even if you put all the bits together, you are still far from THE Truth.

17. February 1968 – Being a non-interfering witness

In the end, whatever happens in life, in action, is to make the movement of transformation and ascent as rapid as possible. Perhaps there are times — there is a rhythm, and there are times more favorable to harmony, but a stagnant harmony, and so one tries to do away with, or at any rate suppress, all dangerous movements that might stop the progress or even lead towards destruction; but there are other times when there is a very strong push towards transformation, and, I must say... with a risk of possible damage. Certainly since 1956, it's plainly visible that there has been something pushing and pushing and pushing to hasten the movement, and... it results in some very dangerous extravagances.

It's with this knowledge and this certainty — this vision of things — that most of the time I remain as a non-interfering witness. It's only if things take a really nasty turn — then one is forced to intervene.

20. February 1968 – The nerves remember

If there weren't people's thought, the collective suggestion, and maybe — maybe — a subconscious suggestion (the cells may possibly still be subject to a subconscious suggestion, that's possible...), otherwise, with a few seconds of... (gesture of drawing within), like that, plunging back into the Supreme Consciousness — everything is fine, I am never hungry (and don't feel the need to eat), I am never sleepy (and don't feel the need to sleep). Only, there is, still the old suggestion, and also people's whole thought that if I don't eat I'll become weak and fall ill; that if I don't sleep I'll get tired and fall ill — that sort of refrain. The cells don't believe in it but... You understand, they think they have a duty to eat and a duty to sleep, otherwise... And I clearly see that work isn't AT ALL what tires me: I am not more tired after having seen forty, forty-five, fifty people... than after having seen one ill-disposed person. Especially there are atmospheres that are corrupt, in the sense that those people instinctively loathe truth (there are such people — they aren't even aware of it), and it causes a malaise, it still causes a malaise. And one minute, just one minute of someone coming in with that atmosphere is enough, you understand — then I have to concentrate, to make an effort. Sometimes I have to... (gesture showing the Force coming down to strike), there are people to whom I "say," "You'd better keep still, otherwise something is going to happen to you." I don't even think it, you understand, but the Force goes like this (gesture). Not with many, but now and then there are such people.

But the nerves remember... You know that after living with Sri Aurobindo for a year, when I left at the time of the [first world] war, because of the war, all the nerves fell ill: they were in a state of irritated tension (I think they call it neuritis, when all, but all the nerves are ill). It's particularly painful, and everything is disorganized all over: the circulation was disorganized, the digestion was disorganized, everything was disorganized (it was in France, in southern France). The nerves remember that, and I don't know why, once when things here were very difficult, they remembered. Sri Aurobindo was there and I told him (I think I've already told you the story): I absolutely had the sense of a hand coming and taking the whole pain away like that — in one second it was gone. And it had never returned. Now, from time to time, when people are ill-disposed or their thoughts are bad, and when in addition there's no rest, no eating, no sleeping, then from time to time, here or there, the nerves get strained. It's a sharp pain at its height. In France, I had it for weeks. Sometimes it comes, and then I have to keep still and... melt... in the Divine Presence — then it's over, it goes away without a trace.

But when they feel ill at ease, they remember. They ask, "I don't know what should be done to erase this memory." I take them to task, I tell them they're stupid, but... Then they keep still.

But what I find interesting is this: there's no hunger and no sleepiness; that doesn't exist, it doesn't correspond to a sensation, not in the least. There is very clearly the sense of harmony and disharmony; when the atmosphere is harmonious, or at least of goodwill (there can always be a greater harmony, that goes without saying), then it's all right.

With some people, the minute they come in, there is a tremendous descent, very often of Kali's power or Maheshwari's power (not the Supreme, but what they understand best), very often — right away, instantly. Then everything is stilled. And it's very amusing, it's interesting: the Response (the Response, what responds) is what makes me very clearly realize the state people are in. It's not at all a mental perception: I know what they think only by inference, from what took place [i.e., the type of force that manifested in Mother]. Then, quite naturally, I know: they must be in this state of mind.

But I wouldn't be able to say what they think; some people, for instance, can tell you very well, "This or that is what you are thinking," but I couldn't. All that is mental is quite foreign to me. But I could say very clearly what is their state of receptivity, of goodwill and aspiration — and automatically, without trying to know it, simply from what is created in the atmosphere.

(silence)

Sri Aurobindo is always there. At times he becomes very active, especially when people "pump" or pull or crush you under the weight of all their difficulties and all their desires. Then (these last few days have been like that), I might put it into the words he often used, but this is his attitude: "They accept the God only when they can crucify him."

I find that so interesting, you know!

They accept God — the Divine — only when they can crucify him. That is to say, they recognize the Divine in a body only if that body is fit to be crucified or tortured. And then, if things go wrong, "So he's not divine!"

He is not divine....

He always used to say, "The Divine takes care to veil himself so as not to crush them."

And it's true, I have noticed it: at times when the Force comes with really all its might, it's terrible! Even for those who are most used to it, even for the most courageous... it's hard. So it's always like that: it contains itself so as not to be... unbearable.

(Mother goes into a meditation)

You have before you, here (gesture at chest level), Sri Aurobindo's symbol. The descending triangle is of an almost white light, but with a golden hue, and the ascending part is of an intense dark violet — I don't know why.... The ascending triangle is dark violet (the color of vital power), an intense dark violet, very, very strong, and with the descending triangle, that makes Sri Aurobindo's symbol, here, in front of you, like that.

It's not luminous, but not dark: it has a rich and very intense color, a very intense violet.

The ascending triangle is the creation's aspiration; the descending triangle is the Divine's response. And the junction of the two makes the square of the manifestation.

28. February 1968 – Auroville’s charter

"Greetings from Auroville to all men of good will.

"Are invited to Auroville all those who thirst for progress and aspire to a higher and truer life."

(Then Mother reads out the Charter)

Auroville's Charter

1) Auroville belongs to nobody in particular. Auroville belongs to humanity as a whole. But to live in Auroville one must be a willing servitor of the Divine Consciousness.

2) Auroville will be the place of an unending education, of constant progress, and a youth that never ages.

3) Auroville wants to be the bridge between the past and the future. Taking advantage of all discoveries from without and from within, Auroville will boldly spring towards future realisations.

4) Auroville will be a site of material and spiritual researches for a living embodiment of an actual Human Unity.

I told you what Sri Aurobindo revealed to me about India's condition, which was the symbolic representation of the present condition of mankind; and that's why, Sri Aurobindo told me, that's why Auroville has been created. Then I understood. Since then, it has become very clear — "clear," I mean he seems to have made it spread and people seem to begin to understand.

ADDENDUM

(From a conversation between Mother and a disciple about Auroville.)

One needs to have an absolutely transparent sincerity. Lack of sincerity is at present the cause of difficulties.

Insincerity is in all men. There are perhaps a hundred totally sincere men on earth. Man's very nature is what makes him insincere. It's very complicated, for he is constantly cheating with himself, hiding the truth from himself, finding excuses for himself. Yoga is the way to become sincere in all the parts of one's being.

It is difficult to be sincere, but one can at least be mentally sincere — this is what one can demand from Aurovilians.

The Force is there, present as never before; what prevents it from descending and being felt is men's insincerity. The world is steeped in falsehood, all relationships between men have so far been based only on falsehood and deceit. Diplomacy between nations is based on falsehood. They claim they want peace and on the other hand arm themselves. A transparent sincerity in man and between nations will alone permit the coming of a transformed world.

Auroville is the first attempt in the experiment. A new world will be born if men consent to strive for transformation and the search for sincerity — it can be done. It took millennia to evolve from animal to man; today man, thanks to his mind, can accelerate things and will a transformation towards a man who will be God.

This transformation with the help of the mind, through self-analysis, is a first stage; afterwards, vital impulses must be transformed — which is far more difficult; then, most of all, the physical: each cell of our body will have to become conscious. It is the work I am doing here. It will allow the conquest of death. It's another story; that will be future mankind, perhaps in centuries, perhaps sooner. It will depend on men, on peoples.

Auroville is the first step towards this goal.