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object:0.10 - Letters to a Young Captain
book class:Some Answers From The Mother
author class:The Mother
subject class:Integral Yoga
class:chapter

Series Ten

Series Ten
Letters to a Young Captain
To a young captain in the Sri Aurobindo Ashram Department
of Physical Education. He began writing to the Mother at the
age of nineteen.

Sweet Mother,
On the night of Friday the 8th, I had a very peculiar
dream. As I could not tell it to You at the Playground, I
am going to tell You now.
It was a very fine day — very special. There was an
important meeting at the Playground, so I was hurrying there. But near the Playground in front of Standard
Stores, the road was covered with innumerable snakes.
I was taken aback and rather afraid. So I was about to
go round by another way to the Playground. But just
then something spoke to me within: “What! Are you
afraid of snakes? Come, take courage and walk through
them. They will not harm you.” I walked through them
quite confidently. Not one of them disturbed me nor
did I disturb them. When I reached the Playground, I
started talking to a friend. Suddenly he jumped back
in fright and said: “Be careful, there is a snake coiled
around your arm, and another around your other arm,
and others around your legs and ankles.” Though I had
not felt their presence till then, I was not in the least
alarmed. I took them off one by one and threw them
away. One snake was dead because I had stepped on it.
This is all I can remember clearly. I cannot remember
exactly what happened at the Playground afterwards.
Mother, what do You think of this dream?




The dream is indeed very interesting. Snakes usually signify bad
thoughts or bad will from people around you — or an adverse
attack that can manifest as an illness. But, as you clearly experienced in your dream, if you are not frightened and go on your
way unperturbed, nothing bad will happen to you.
With my blessings.
13 October 1954

*
Sweet Mother,
From time to time there is an upsurge of bad
thoughts; the mind becomes like a mire of passions
and I wallow in it like a worm. After a while I wake up
and regret my thoughts. But this kind of struggle keeps
on recurring. Please help me to get out of it.
You must continue to fight against the bad thoughts until you
gain a total victory. My help is always with you as well as my
blessings.
26 January 1961

*
Sweet Mother,
Here our activities are so varied that it is difficult to
stick to one thing till the end. Perhaps that is why we
are not able to go beyond a mediocre average. Or is it
because of our lack of solid concentration?
The cause of mediocre work is neither the variety nor the number
of activities, but the lack of power of concentration.
One must learn to concentrate and do all that one does with
full concentration.
4 July 1961

*


Series Ten – To a Young Captain

Sweet Mother,
It really is a problem to know how to create interest
in the students, whether in games, athletics or gymnastics. Even our own enthusiasm dwindles when we see
their lack of interest in everything.
The interest of the students is proportionate to the true capacity
of the teacher.
12 July 1961

*
(Regarding The Lost Footsteps by Silviu Craciunas) This
book shows how Sri Aurobindo is working in every corner of the world. We who are here in the Ashram still
haven’t even had a glimpse of him.
There are people here who see him and are constantly in contact
with him. They are those who love him sincerely and sufficiently
to live according to his ideal.
14 July 1961

*
(Regarding the Mother’s message of March 1961 to the
captains; in it she asks them to “be the elite”) We are very
far from what You ask of us, at least I am. It is a most
arduous task and it will take time, a long time, but what
can be done at present! To change our consciousness and
become an elite will take a lot of time. At present, we
are on the same level as our students, so the immediate
problem is not solved. How can we create an interest in
them for each thing and every day?
This is even more impossible than to change and become an
elite. So the best thing to do is to set to work immediately. The
rest is simply an excuse that our laziness gives to itself.
15 July 1961

*




Sweet Mother,
I went to work only for one hour, because I had too
much work at home.
This is not good; the collective work should not suffer because
of personal work.
19 July 1961

*
Sweet Mother,
When I came to You this evening for “Prosperity”,1
I felt a sort of uneasiness — as if I had done something
wrong — instead of feeling joy at seeing You. One ought
to be eager to receive Your blessings, but why do I not
have that feeling?
There must still be some insincerity in your being, hidden in
a dark corner, something that does not want to change and is
afraid of the Light.
1 August 1961

*
Sweet Mother,
Today I did not have that feeling of apprehension
about coming to You, but I was in a passive state. I
want, on the contrary, to feel an intense joy, a moment
of ecstasy. How can I obtain it?
Come with the aspiration to give yourself, to offer your whole
being, without reserve, to the Divine Grace, and you will feel
the felicity for which you aspire.
6 August 1961

*

On the first of each month, the sadhaks received “Prosperity” — their basic material
requirements.



Series Ten – To a Young Captain

Sweet Mother,
I want an electric lamp in the corridor of my room.
It would be more proper to write (and above all, to think):
“Would it be possible to have an electric lamp in the corridor?”
The ego would do well to become a little more modest.
13 August 1961

*
Sweet Mother,
I have certain things to confess to You, but I cannot
bring myself to do it. What shall I do? Confess or let
past things be effaced by forgetting the past?
If you can really allow them to be effaced and cease to exist,
even in your memory, it is better.
3 September 1961

*
Sweet Mother,
You told us: “All of you here are taking life very
lightly, you are amusing yourselves all the time, you are
so self-centred.” It is quite true that we are taking life
very lightly, and it has become so natural that we believe
it to be the right attitude. And we are self-centred. How
can we get out of this trap? In any case, the dose You
gave us this morning was really just right. I feel very
happy.
The first point is not to place oneself in thought, feeling or
action at the centre of the universe so that it exists only in terms
of oneself — one is part of the universe. One can unite with it,
but the Supreme Lord alone is its centre because He surpasses
and contains it.
19 September 1961

*




Sweet Mother,
In Aphorism 95, Sri Aurobindo says that it is only
by renunciation or by perfect satisfaction of desire that
one can have the total experience of God.2 But isn’t
the second method (perfect satisfaction of desire) very
dangerous, for is it possible to satisfy man’s desire?
Elsewhere he says explicitly that it is useless to try to satisfy
desire, for desire is insatiable and can never be satisfied.
What he writes ought not to be taken separately; it is always
part of a whole which is a synthesis of all opposites.
27 September 1961

*
Sweet Mother,
We speak very often of the psychic and the soul, but
I understand nothing about them. What are these two
things and how can one experience them?
Sri Aurobindo has written a lot on this subject (in his letters)
and I too have explained everything in the book Education. One
has to read, study and, above all, practise.
4 October 1961

*
Sweet Mother,
I have noticed one thing: When I sit for a few minutes and make an effort to concentrate before going
to sleep, the next day I wake up quite early and am
quite fresh. I concentrate on the tiny luminous tip of an

“Only by perfect renunciation of desire or by perfect satisfaction of desire can the
utter embrace of God be experienced, for in both ways the essential precondition is
effected, — desire perishes.”
Thoughts and Aphorisms, in SABCL, Vol. 17, p. 89.



Series Ten – To a Young Captain

incense-stick. But how is it that I wake up early because
of that? There is no relation between these two things!
On the contrary, there is a very concrete relation. When you
concentrate before sleeping, then in your sleep you remain in
contact with the Divine force; but when you fall heavily to sleep
without any preliminary concentration, you sink into the inconscient and the sleep is more tiring than restful, and it is difficult
to come out of this sluggishness.
8 October 1961

*
I would like you to look attentively into yourself and try to
explain to me what exactly it is that you enjoy in detective
stories.
16 October 1961

*
Sweet Mother,
I read them as a relaxation. In detective stories —
especially Perry Mason — there is always a courtroom
scene in which the lawyer Perry Mason seems certain
to lose his case; his client is accused of murder, all the
evidence is against him, but the master-stroke of the
lawyer Perry Mason changes the situation. Throughout
the story there are mysteries, and the trial is like the
mental acrobatics of a master gymnast. But each time I
finish one of his books, I feel that I have gained nothing,
learned nothing new — that it was a waste of time.
It is not absolutely useless. You probably had a great deal of
tamas in your mind, and the mental acrobatics of the author
shakes up this tamas a little and awakens the mind. But this
cannot last for long and soon you must turn to higher things.
16 October 1961

*




(After seeing the Mother on Lakshmi Puja Day) I await
the day when this joy and this felicity will be established
in me for ever. Now, it is only a dream and a passing
experience like today’s. But I hope to realise it for ever
with Your Help.
Persist in your aspiration and the dream will be realised.
23 October 1961

*
Sweet Mother,
I have noticed something which applies to all of us;
it is that we take part in as many items as possible in the
2nd December programme.3 Would it not be better to
choose one or two items and give a very good demonstration in them, rather than to do several in a mediocre way?
Each one acts according to his nature and if he (or she) courageously and sincerely follows the law of that nature, he or she
acts according to truth. Thus, it is impossible to judge and decide
for others. One can know only for oneself, and even then one
has to be very sincere so as not to deceive oneself.
4 November 1961

*
Sweet Mother,
In Aphorism 133, Sri Aurobindo says that “the gods
were able to accept only the pleasant burden of His love
and kindlier rapture.”4 So the gods are cowards! Where
then is their greatness and their splendour? Why do we

The annual demonstration of physical culture, held at the Ashram Sportsground.


“The Titans are stronger than the gods because they have agreed with God to front
and bear the burden of His wrath and enmity; the gods were able to accept only the
pleasant burden of His love and kindlier rapture.”
Thoughts and Aphorisms, in SABCL, Vol. 17, p. 94.



Series Ten – To a Young Captain

worship inferior entities? And the Titans must be the
most lovable sons of the Divine!
What Sri Aurobindo writes here is a paradox to awaken sleepy
minds. But we must understand all the irony in these sayings, and
especially the intention behind his words. Moreover, cowards or
not, I see no need for us to worship the gods, great or small. Our
adoration ought to go only to the Supreme Lord, who is one in
all things and all beings.
6 November 1961

*
Sweet Mother,
For a long time I have noticed that I am rather shy.
I always have an inferiority complex. I think I am afraid
that people will discover my ignorance. Why am I like
that? And how can I come out of it?
Behind all that and this famous inferiority complex, there is the
ego and its vanity which wants to cut a good figure and be
appreciated by others. But if all your activity were an offering
to the Divine, you would not care at all about the appreciation
of others.
14 November 1961

*
Sweet Mother,
You have often told us that our activities should be
an offering to the Divine. What does this mean exactly,
and how can it be done? For instance, when we play
tennis or basketball, how can we do it as an offering?
Mental formations are not enough, of course!
It means that what you do should not be done with a personal,
egoistic aim, for success, for glory, for gain, for material profit or
out of pride, but as a service and an offering, in order to become




more conscious of the divine will and to give yourself more
entirely to it, until you have made enough progress to know
and to feel that it is the Divine who acts in you, His force that
impels you and His will that supports you — not just a mental
knowledge, but the sincerity of a state of consciousness and the
power of a living experience.
For that to be possible, all egoistic motives and all egoistic
reactions must disappear.
20 November 1961

*
Sweet Mother,
I pray to You, on behalf of everyone, that this
evening’s demonstration may be a success. Everyone
thinks it will be the opposite. It is true that our performance is not up to the mark. I hope and I pray to You
that the performance this evening may be at its best.
Sweet Mother, take our actions and guide us. You told
us You would be there — if only I had eyes to see You!
What I saw on the 26th was satisfactory (of course it can always
be better) and I have heard a great many compliments about
the 2nd December performance. You should not listen to people
who only know how to criticise. Exaggerated criticism is not an
aid to progress.
2 December 1961

*
Sweet Mother,
I am very lazy and I lack the fervour and perseverance to continue on the chosen path. I am like a flame
that is roused by the wind and rises upwards, but falls
back dead or dying as soon as the wind drops. Vigilant,
that is what I should be. But how?
All the psychological qualities can be cultivated as the muscles


Series Ten – To a Young Captain

are — by regular, daily exercise. Above all, turn towards the
Divine Force in a sincere aspiration and implore It to deliver
you from your limitations. If you are sincere in your will to
progress, you are sure to advance.
21 January 1962

*
Sweet Mother,
I was surprised to see this new ritual, “Sri Aurobindo sharanam mama”,5 introduced into the cemetery
ceremonies. X stands in meditation in front of the body
and pronounces the phrase, “Sri Aurobindo sharanam
mama”, and the others, standing round the body, must
repeat it after him. This is done a hundred times. Personally, I don’t like this ceremony. I find it empty of feeling.
I don’t like Sri Aurobindo’s name to be invoked without
feeling and turned into a ritual. It is much better to read
one of Your prayers and then invoke the Divine Grace
in silence, each in his own way, for the departed person,
as was done before. That is my opinion.
The ceremony in itself is only of secondary importance. It is
merely a form and more a matter of custom than anything else.
What is important is to infuse into whatever ceremony one
adopts the sincere fervour and ardent aspiration which give life
to any ceremony, whatever it may be, and yet do not depend
on it.
6 February 1962

*
Sweet Mother,
Sri Aurobindo says that five thousand years have
passed since the great battle of Kurukshetra was fought.
But the benign influence of Sri Krishna’s political genius


Sri Aurobindo is my refuge.

ended only yesterday with Rani Lakshmibai.6 After that,
to protect India and the world anew, there had to be a
Purna Avatar.7 This Avatar will awaken the Brahmatej8,
which is dormant. Sri Aurobindo also says that it is only
in the Kaliyuga9 that the Divine manifests fully because
man is in great danger in this age. And here he is! He
himself reveals the great secret: the Divine has fully manifested in India. But he has the modesty not to say that
he himself is this manifestation!
Those who accomplish the work are not in the habit of boasting.
They keep their energy for the task and leave the glory of the
results to the Eternal Lord.
6 March 1962

*
Sweet Mother,
I can tell You this without vanity: I am much better
than I was before; but all the same I am quite far, perhaps
very far, from the Ideal You have given us. This does not
discourage me, for I have full confidence in You.
Yes, you must persevere with courage and sincerity. You are sure
to succeed one day.
2 September 1962

*
Sweet Mother,
We have had a discussion among friends about the
problem and various possible methods of physical education. The fundamental problem is this: how can we


The Queen of Jhansi who died on the battlefield in 1858 while fighting British
troops.

Full or perfect Divine incarnation.

Power of the Spirit.

The “Iron Age” in which we live.



Series Ten – To a Young Captain

establish a programme that will satisfy everyone and
be as effective as possible for all the members? Are the
tournaments necessary? Should there be no compulsion
whatever? And if complete freedom is given, will it be
practical? And so on. It is a subject on which it is not
easy to find a solution satisfactory enough for everyone,
unless the Mother Herself intervenes.
It is impossible. Each one has his own taste and his own temperament. Nothing can be done without discipline — the whole of
life is a discipline.
20 September 1962

*
Sweet Mother,
Is it bad to go to the cinema in town?
For those who want to do yoga, it is very bad. Moreover, I have
already said this a considerable number of times, and if you do
not know it, it is because you find it more convenient to forget it.
27 September 1962

*
Sweet Mother,
There are too many tight knots in the immense organisation of this Ashram. When will the promised day
come when there will be nothing but unmixed harmony,
joy and peace?
If each one were more concerned with correcting his own faults
than with criticising those of others, the work would go more
quickly.
29 September 1962

*




A little sincere and regular practice is worth more than a lot of
short-lived resolutions.
2 October 1962

*
Sweet Mother,
I heard this morning that X was very severely beaten
by Y. I don’t think it is fair at all.
One can speak only of what one has seen with one’s own eyes —
and even then... What knowledge do you possess that gives you
the right to judge? Only the Lord sees and knows — He alone is
the Truth.
You ought to study Sri Aurobindo’s aphorisms a little more
carefully. It would cure you of passing judgments.
15 October 1962

*
Sweet Mother,
I had written a letter to the Mother asking why She
had not given Her darshan to Z. But now I am afraid
that Mother may be angry at my audacity in writing such
a letter. Because it is none of my business!
I read your letter and I was not at all angry. But Z was not at all
ready for a darshan.
19 October 1962

*
(Regarding a threat by China to occupy disputed borderland in northern Kashmir and northeastern India)
Sometimes I have the impression that our leaders do not
seem to have the sort of backbone displayed by Kennedy
with his decision about Cuba.


Series Ten – To a Young Captain

This kind of comment is quite out of place at the moment. One
should never criticise someone unless one has proved beyond
dispute that in the same circumstances one can do better than he.
Do you feel capable of being an unequalled Prime Minister
of India? I reply: “Certainly not”, and I advise you to keep silent
and remain calm.
24 October 1962

*
(Regarding a prayer for Kali Puja Day)
It is all right, my children, but it is not enough to pray; you must
also make a persevering effort.
26 October 1962

*
Sweet Mother,
In a discussion with a friend about our physical
education programme and the countless other activities we have here, he asked me: “Can you give me a
valid example of even one person who takes part in so
many activities and maintains a fairly high standard —
one single person in the whole world?”
Do not forget — all of you who are here — that we want to
realise something which does not yet exist upon earth; so it is
absurd to seek elsewhere for an example of what we want to do.
*
He also told me this: “Mother says that there is full
freedom and every facility for those who are gifted in
a particular subject and want to pursue it to the full.
But where is this freedom to become, for instance, a




great musician?” Sweet Mother, can you please say a
few words on the subject of this freedom?
The freedom I speak of is the freedom to follow the will of the
soul, not all the whims of the mind and vital.
The freedom I speak of is an austere truth which strives to
surmount all the weaknesses and desires of the lower, ignorant
being.
The freedom I speak of is the freedom to consecrate oneself
wholly and without reserve to one’s highest, noblest, divinest
aspiration.
Who among you sincerely follows this path? It is easy to
judge, but more difficult to understand, and far more difficult
still to realise.
18 November 1962

*
(Regarding the captain’s estimate of someone)
Remember that all these individual virtues and faults are only the
deceptive appearance of a great play of universal forces which
one does not understand.
5 January 1963

*
(Regarding a friend)
Find your happiness and your joy in the very fact of loving, and
it will help you in your inner progress; because if you are sincere,
you will one day realise that it is the Divine in her that you love
and that the outer person is merely a pretext.
27 January 1963

*


Series Ten – To a Young Captain

Sweet Mother,
What is the difference between meditating here in
my room and going to meditate at the Playground with
everyone else?
Is it better to meditate there or here in my room?
Meditate where you meditate best — that is to say, wherever you
are most silent and calm.
31 January 1963

*
(Regarding a bad dream)
I call that mental fermentation. As soon as your waking consciousness falls asleep or leaves your body, the brain-cells you
have not taken the trouble to quiet down begin to fidget restlessly
and produce what is called a dream, but it is nothing more than
disorderly activity. It has no meaning and can serve only one
purpose: to make you aware of what goes on in your head.
19 March 1963

*
Sweet Mother,
I have received a certain sum of money. I want to
offer it to You, and if I need anything I will ask You for it;
in that way You can decide what is necessary or best for
me. But I am advised to keep as much as I want for my
personal needs and to offer the rest to You. Otherwise
people will say that I ask for anything I want just because
I have given You a little money. Mother, what do You
want me to do?
Do as you feel — and you may be sure that whatever you do,
people will always have something to say.




Besides, who is perfectly disinterested? One should not pretend to be what one is not. It is better to be frank than hypocritical.
12 April 1963

*
Sweet Mother,
Is it right to pray to the Mother for little things and
selfish gains?
It all depends on one’s point of view. It is quite possible that
one will obtain the thing one has prayed for. But for spiritual
progress, it is harmful.
4 May 1963

*
Sweet Mother,
What is the true significance of marriage?
It has hardly any true significance — it is a social custom for the
perpetuation of the species.
10 May 1963

*
Sweet Mother,
We see too many films these days and I fail to see
how they educate us!
When one has the true attitude, everything can be an opportunity
to learn.
In any case, this abundance should make you understand
that the desire to see films, which is so imperious in some people,
is just as pernicious as any other desire.
11 May 1963

*


Series Ten – To a Young Captain

Sweet Mother,
Each time I have encountered an obstacle in my
life, each time I have been deprived of some happiness
— some apparent happiness — a consolation has come
immediately to dispel my psychological pain. For something tells me: “All that happens is done for your own
good and is done by the Divine Grace.” Is it good, is it
healthy to think like this?
Not only is it right, good and healthy to think like this, but it
is an absolutely indispensable attitude if one wants to advance
on the spiritual path. As a matter of fact, it is the first step
without which one cannot advance at all. That is why I always
say: “Whatever you do, do the best you can, and leave the result
to the Lord; then your heart will be at peace.”
13 May 1963

*
Sweet Mother,
Can the lines of our hands reflect our past, present
and future life?
Yes, certainly, for someone who knows how to see, and X is very
gifted.
15 May 1963

*
Sweet Mother,
I have often noticed that the work we do is done
much better and more quickly than if it were done by
paid workers. I don’t know why!
Because you are more conscious, or rather less unconscious.
23 May 1963

*




Sweet Mother,
Girls are always at a disadvantage: they cannot do
what they want, as boys can.
Why not?
There are hundreds of proofs to the contrary.
31 May 1963

*
Sweet Mother,
What is the best relationship between two human
beings? Mother and son? Brother, friend or lover, etc?
All the relationships are good in principle and each one expresses
a mode of the Eternal. But each can be perverted and become
bad due to the selfish falsehood of human nature which prevents
the vibrations of love from manifesting in their purity.
4 June 1963

*
Sweet Mother,
About the hero of the film Reach for the Sky, I said
that nothing could ever discourage him. For even after
having lost both legs in an accident, he vowed that he
would continue his career as a pilot. He is a man of
fantastic vitality, full of energy...
That is exactly the kind of determination one must have to
practise the yoga of integral perfection.
7 June 1963

*


Series Ten – To a Young Captain

Sweet Mother,
There are moments when I feel it would be better
to sit silently instead of reading or doing something else.
But I am afraid of wasting time. What should I do?
It all depends on the quality of the silence — if it is a luminous
silence, full of force and conscious concentration, it is good. If
it is a tamasic and unconscious silence, it is harmful.
10 June 1963

*
Sweet Mother,
After a long time I had a beautiful dream in which I
saw the Mother and received Her Blessings.
It is not a dream, but the result of the preceding meditation and
of your aspiration.
12 June 1963

*
Sweet Mother,
I have too much “grey” matter in my head, which
prevents me from thinking clearly and grasping new
ideas quickly. How can I free myself from this?
By studying much, by reflecting much, by doing intellectual exercises. For instance, state a general idea clearly, then state the
opposite idea, then look for the synthesis of both — that is, find
a third idea which harmonises the other two.
25 June 1963

*
(On reading novels)
Why do you read novels? It is a stupid occupation and a waste
of time. It is certainly one of the reasons why your brain is still
in a muddle and lacks clarity.
27 June 1963

*




Sweet Mother,
Man is so weak that he is influenced even by the
wind that blows about him, by a book he reads or a
picture he sees. He is most vulnerable.
That happens when he has not taken care to organise his conscious being around the psychic centre, which is the Truth of his
being.
28 June 1963

*
Sweet Mother,
Most people here quote the Mother to suit their own
convenience.
Before criticising others, it is better to be sure that one is perfectly
sincere oneself.
30 June 1963

*
Sweet Mother,
A few days ago I noticed something very odd in
the children of Group A2: the boys don’t want to work
with the girls; they don’t even want to stand side by
side. They cannot work together. How did this idea of
difference come to these little children who are barely
eleven years old! It is strange.
It is atavistic and comes from the subconscient.
This instinct is based both on masculine pride, the foolish
idea of superiority, and on the still more foolish fear due to the
idea that woman is a dangerous being who entices you into sin.
In children, all this is still subconscious, but it influences their
actions.
3 July 1963

*


Series Ten – To a Young Captain

Sweet Mother,
I caused a sensation with my new clothes! Blue
shorts and a grey shirt. X was shocked to see me dressed
like that.
How frivolous and superficial people must be to attach importance to such things!! Even so, if you wore those clothes in
your capacity as a captain, you did wrong, for the captains
have a uniform which they should wear when they are acting as
captains.
4 July 1963

*
Sweet Mother,
There are moments when one feels a kind of emptiness within; one is dejected and lonely — it is because
one wants to be loved.
Or better, it is because one is awaking to the need of knowing
one’s soul and uniting with the Divine.
5 July 1963

*
Sweet Mother,
I sit down every day to meditate, but I am afraid
that this ten minutes’ meditation has become merely mechanical. I want a dynamic meditation, but how to have
it?
Become sincere.
6 July 1963

*
Sweet Mother,
This creation has a purpose — therefore is it possible
that even the most “insignificant” individual has come




upon earth to fulfil a mission? That is not my conception
— what are beggars and people like that doing?
Who said that? And what “mission” are you referring to? The
creation is a single whole advancing as a totality towards its
single goal — the Divine — through a collective evolution which
is continuous and endless.
7 July 1963

*
Sweet Mother,
I have heard that You have written somewhere that
each person here in the Ashram represents a particular
human difficulty, and that this difficulty will be mastered
and transformed in him in his lifetime.10
I have never made this statement.
Things are not so cut and dried as the mind thinks and even
desires in order to simplify the problem.
There is an almost infinite variety of shades and combinations of character, and although there are categories of very
similar types, no two cases are identical.
One is aware of one’s difficulties only insofar as one can
change them and at the moment when one can make the change.
8 July 1963

*
Sweet Mother,
Suddenly I feel very happy, my heart is filled with an
inexpressible joy, but this experience does not last very


The Mother underlined the phrase “in his lifetime”.



Series Ten – To a Young Captain

long. I have often tried to observe and find out the cause
of this fleeting joy, but in vain.
Because you are looking for the cause outside, around you,
whereas it is within.
11 July 1963

*
Sweet Mother,
You have explained that this separation of girls and
boys is atavistic, but it remains to ask You what we captains should do about it. Personally, I think it is better to
close one’s eyes to it, but there are others who prefer to
give advice or even to scold. I think that by closing one’s
eyes to it, one minimises the importance of the problem
and thus this idea of difference between girls and boys
will be less striking. What do You think?
One cannot make a general rule; everything depends on the
case and the occasion. Both methods have their good and bad
points, their advantages and drawbacks. For the captains, the
main thing is to have tact and sufficient inner perception to
intervene when necessary or to close one’s eyes when it is
preferable not to see.
15 July 1963

*
Sweet Mother,
What do You mean by “an ignorant goodwill and
an indolent energy”?
(1) Goodwill means wanting to do good always. The only
true “good” is the will of the Supreme Lord. Do you know
what the Lord’s will is, always, at every moment and in all
circumstances? No, so you are ignorant of what “good” is —
therefore: ignorant goodwill.




(2) The very nature of energy is to be inexhaustible, unfailing, tireless. Are you never tired? Yes, very often — therefore:
indolent energy.
17 July 1963

*
Sweet Mother,
Would it not be better to have a basic discipline here
instead of so much freedom, a freedom we are not able
to profit by?
You say this, but you are one of those who revolt (at least in
thought) against the very little discipline that is demanded when
it is utterly indispensable, as in physical education, for example.
21 July 1963

*
Sweet Mother,
Why do I hesitate to ask You for money? What prevents me from doing so? Am I still not intimate enough
with You, or is there another reason? I do not understand
myself.
It is probably a kind of inner discretion; it is rather a good
sign, because this kind of discretion comes from the psychic
consciousness which would rather give than ask.
24 July 1963

*
Sweet Mother,
I still lack confidence in my work. I am too shy.
I think that in order to progress one should be a little
bolder.
It is not bolder you should be, but persistent and persevering.
27 July 1963

*


Series Ten – To a Young Captain

Sweet Mother,
X told us the favourite story of Dr. Y, the mathematics teacher: “A sculptor was working on a block of
stone near a village. One by one the villagers gathered
round the sculptor, curious to see why he was breaking
the stone. After much labour the work was finished and
a masterpiece came to light — a dancing goddess instead
of a block of stone stood there in front of the sculptor.
All the villagers around him who had watched him work
were astonished, and they marvelled at the sight of the
beautiful figure which had emerged from the stone. So
they asked the sculptor: “How did you know that this
figure was there in the stone?”
The question is admirable — and if the sculptor had been witty,
he would have replied: “Because I saw it inside.”
11 August 1963

*
Sweet Mother,
Your remarks often amuse me.
You would do better to make an effort to understand them,
for behind the words there is always something profound to be
understood.
12 August 1963

*
Sweet Mother,
This morning I saw a man with protruding ribs,
deeply depressed hips and twisted legs. It was a pitiful
sight. One wonders why God has made all these deformations in Nature. The only answer — which answers




nothing — is that it is “the Divine’s play”. It is incomprehensible.
That is an easy answer which one gives when one will not or
cannot take the trouble to understand.
But if one rises above the individual mentality and enters
into the consciousness of Unity, then one can understand.
18 August 1963

*
Sweet Mother,
What does “Yoga” mean and how many among us
are practising it?
Why do you ask me this question? All those who are here should
at least know what yoga means — as for practising it, that is
another matter!...
19 August 1963

*
Sweet Mother,
I feel miserable because I asked the Mother for incense. It would be much better to buy it from the market,
for She does not like her children to beg.
To ask from me is not begging and you may do so whenever
you really need something. But at the same time, you must be
prepared not to receive it and not to get upset if I fail to give it.
In this case, I said that you should be given some incense, but
I am not sure if it has been done. It is X who keeps it and you
should ask him for it.
22 August 1963

*


Series Ten – To a Young Captain

Sweet Mother,
Our teacher Y gave us a talk in a grave and significant tone: “Be prepared to go through hard tests, we are
on the eve of something very difficult and dangerous.”
But he did not explain.
It is a pity he did not explain his thought, because I don’t know
what he wanted to say — probably he wanted to caution you
against your light-heartedness, your air of indifference, your
carelessness and laxity.
All of you young people here have had a very easy life, and
instead of taking advantage of it to concentrate your efforts on
spiritual progress, you have enjoyed yourselves as much as you
could without creating too much scandal, and your vigilance
has been lulled to sleep.
Y probably spoke as he did in order to reawaken it.
27 August 1963

*
(Regarding someone’s observations on the captain’s
character)
Everything people say is of little importance, because human
judgments are always partial and therefore ignorant.
To know oneself, one must look at oneself with a higher
and deeper consciousness which can discern the true causes of
reactions and feelings.
A superficial observation cannot help. And so long as one
is not in contact with one’s psychic being, it would be better to
strive always to do as well as possible and be as good as one
can, instead of passing one’s time in useless analysis.
12 September 1963

*




(Regarding X, who related her misfortunes to the captain, blaming herself for all her troubles) To console her,
I told her that blaming oneself was perhaps not always
saintly or healthy.
It is X who is spiritually right and you who are wrong with a
superficial and ignorant so-called “reason”.
When something goes wrong, one must always find the reason in oneself, not superficially but deep inside oneself, and not
in order to uselessly bewail the fault, but to cure it by calling to
one’s aid the all-powerful force of the Divine.
To be sure of making myself clearly understood, I will add
that it is not due to any fault of hers that he is inconstant and
fickle — it is his nature to be like that and he acts according to
his nature — but if she suffers and is unhappy because of what
he does, then it is her own fault, for it means that her own feeling
is tainted with egoism. It is this egoism that she must conquer,
and as soon as she does she will no longer suffer.
17 September 1963

*
Sweet Mother,
I have again received an invitation for dinner. One
cannot refuse if one is invited, can one?
No, unless there are serious reasons for doing so. I am not
speaking of the outward act — whether one eats here or there
comes to the same thing — I am speaking of the inner attitude,
of the excessive importance one gives to food, and of greediness.
21 September 1963

*
Sweet Mother,
If I look at my whole life and its circumstances,
I am very happy, but I am not satisfied. Often I am


Series Ten – To a Young Captain

plunged into an unbearable melancholy. What should I
do?
True happiness does not depend on the external circumstances
of life. One can obtain true happiness and keep it constantly
only by discovering one’s psychic being and uniting with it.
22 September 1963

*
Sweet Mother,
I often remember a poem by Francis Thompson and
its refrain:
“For though I knew His love who followèd
Yet was I sore adread
Lest having Him, I must have naught beside.”
That is our malady!
Yes, that is what Sri Aurobindo has written many times; man
clings to his misery, his pettiness, his weakness, his ignorance
and his limits — that is why he does not change.
24 September 1963

*
Sweet Mother,
I am not properly prepared for the 1st December
performance,11 and, what is more, I don’t feel at all
enthusiastic.
From the moment one has decided and accepted to do something, it must be done as well as one can.
One can find in everything a chance to progress in consciousness and self-mastery. And this effort for progress immediately
makes the thing interesting, no matter what it is.
26 September 1963

*


The annual cultural programme.

Sweet Mother,
In Aphorism 172, Sri Aurobindo has said: “Law
released into freedom is the liberator.”12 What does that
mean? How can law be released into freedom? By law we
understand something determined and fixed. Or is it a
flexibility that is required, as opposed to rigidity: law that
will be free to mould itself according to circumstances?
I regret to have to tell you that you have understood absolutely
nothing of what Sri Aurobindo has written — for you have tried
to understand with your superficial mind, while what Sri Aurobindo has said comes from the highest intellectual light, far
above the mind. All I can tell you, which perhaps will put you
on the right track, is that behind law there is a spirit of order
and organisation. But law itself is something fixed and therefore
contrary to the highest truth. If the same spirit of order and
organisation is put at the service of freedom, it can become a
means of attaining liberation, that is to say, union with the Truth.
29 September 1963

*
Sweet Mother,
Sri Aurobindo writes in one of his aphorisms:
“Those who are deficient in the free, full and intelligent
observation of a self-imposed law, must be placed in
subjection to the will of others.”13 Mother, I am one of
those. Will You take me and discipline me?
My child, that is exactly what I have been trying to do for quite


“Law cannot save the world, therefore Moses’ ordinances are dead for humanity
and the Shastra of the Brahmins is corrupt and dying. Law released into freedom is the
liberator. Not the Pundit, but the Yogin, not monasticism, but the inner renunciation of
desire and ignorance and egoism.”
Thoughts and Aphorisms, in SABCL, Vol. 17, p. 100.

Thoughts and Aphorisms, in SABCL, Vol. 17, p. 99.



Series Ten – To a Young Captain

a long time, especially since I have been receiving your notebook
and correcting it.
It is with that disciplinary aim that I asked you to write one
single sentence a day — it did not have to be long, but it ought
to have been free from mistakes — alas!
Up till now, I have hardly succeeded — your sentences are
often long and unclear, others are short, but all contain mistakes
and often, very often, the same mistakes of gender, agreement
and conjugation which I have corrected many times.
One would think that even if you read your notebook when
I return it to you, you do not study it and try to use it as a means
to make progress.
To discipline one’s life is not easy, even for those who are
strong, severe with themselves, courageous and enduring.
But before trying to discipline one’s whole life, one should
at least try to discipline one activity, and persist until one succeeds.
13 October 1963

*
Sweet Mother,
I have formed the bad habit of nearly always being
late everywhere.
There is no habit that cannot be changed.
14 October 1963

*
Sweet Mother,
It seems that a list of books (English classics) was
sent to You for Your approval, but that You wish only
the works of the Mother and Sri Aurobindo to be read.
You have even remarked that to read these old classics
is to lower the level of one’s consciousness.




Mother, do You advise this only for those who are
practising yoga or for everybody?
First of all, what has been reported is not correct. Secondly, the
advice is adapted to each case and cannot be made a general
rule.
12 November 1963

*
(Written by the Mother at the beginning of a notebook
containing quotations from Sri Aurobindo’s Savitri)
Some extracts from Savitri, that marvellous prophetic poem
which will be humanity’s guide towards its future realisation.
27 November 1963

*
Sweet Mother,
I am very irregular in my studies; I don’t know what
to do.
Shake off your “tamas” a little — otherwise you will become a
blockhead!
27 December 1963

*
Sweet Mother,
The ardour of making an effort is waning. I feel
contented. But time passes so quickly that one feels one
has not made the most out of what is given to us.
That proves that life is too easy here and that for the most part
you are all too tamasic to make an effort unless goaded by the
difficulties of ordinary life. Only a very ardent aspiration can
remedy this deadly condition. But the aspiration is absent and
your soul is asleep!
2 January 1964

*


Series Ten – To a Young Captain

1964
Bonne Année
I hope that this new year will see the reawakening of your soul
and the awakening in your consciousness of a will to progress.
3 January 1964

*
I have kept your notebook in the hope of finding time to read and
correct it. But the weeks go by and I see that it is impossible. I
am therefore returning it to you without having read it, and I ask
you not to send it again until it is possible for me to start looking
at it once more. Continue your translation of the Aphorisms; I
shall send you more at a time for correction.
My blessings are always with you.
17 February 1964

*
Sweet Mother,
You blessed me that I may be born to the true life,
but what are the conditions needed to be born to that
life and how can they be fulfilled?
The first condition is to decide not to live for oneself any more,
but to live exclusively for the Divine.
Naturally, this decision should be renewed every day and
manifested in a constant and effective will.
29 April 1964

*
Sweet Mother,
“Not to live for oneself” is understandable and one
can try to put it into practice; but what does “to live
exclusively for the Divine” mean exactly? For me it is




only an idea mechanically repeated by the mind; but,
Mother, what can one do to realise it?
To live for the Divine means to offer all that one does to the
Divine without desiring a personal result from what one does.
Certainly at the beginning, when the Divine is only a word or
at most an idea and not an experience, the whole thing remains
purely mental. But if one makes a sincere and repeated effort, one
day the experience comes and one feels that the offering made is
made to something real, tangible, concrete and beneficent. The
more sincere and assiduous one is, the sooner the experience
comes and the longer it remains.
For each person the way differs in its details, but sincerity
and perseverance are equally indispensable for all.
6 May 1964

*
Sweet Mother,
Would it be possible to have an electric fan? X
promised me one three years ago, but now he advises
me to ask You.
You may have one if there is one or if you can find one. But do
you think it will help you to find the Divine?
7 May 1964

*
Sweet Mother,
Regarding the fan, I don’t think it will help me to
find the Divine, but is it an obstacle? If You think it
is better for me not to have it, all right, I accept Your
decision without complaint.
What is an obstacle to the spiritual life is to attach importance to
material comfort and to take one’s desires for needs — in other
words, self-deception. Now, if you have a fan and wish to use


Series Ten – To a Young Captain

it, you may do so, knowing that it will not help you in any way
to make progress — that it will only give your body the illusion
of being more comfortable.
These things ought to have no importance in life.
13 May 1964

*
Sweet Mother,
One is often afraid of doing what is new; the body
refuses to act in a new way, such as trying a new gymnastic figure or another kind of dive. Where does this
fear come from? How can one get rid of it? And again,
how can one encourage others to do so?
The body is afraid of anything new because its very base is
inertia, tamas; it is the vital which brings in a dominant note of
rajas, activity. That is why, as a general rule, the intrusion of the
vital in the form of ambition, emulation and vanity, compels the
body to shake off the tamas and make the necessary effort to
progress.
Naturally, those in whom the mind is dominant can lecture
their body and provide it with all the reasons needed to overcome
its fear.
The best way for everyone is self-giving to the Divine and
trust in His infinite Grace.
13 May 1964

*
Sweet Mother,
Self-deception has a thousand faces and a thousand
ways of disguising itself in us. How can one discover it
and get rid of it?
It is a long, slow task which can only be accomplished by a
perfect sincerity. One must be very attentive, always on guard,




watch all one’s emotional movements and vital reactions, never
close one’s eyes with indulgence to one’s own weaknesses, and
catch oneself each time one makes a mistake, even a small one.
If one continues with persistence, this becomes very interesting and gets easier and easier.
20 May 1964

*
Sweet Mother,
What is the difference between pleasure, joy, happiness, ecstasy and Ananda? Can we find one in the
other?
Ananda belongs to the Supreme Lord.
Ecstasy belongs to the perfected yogi.
Joy belongs to the desireless man.
Pleasure is within the reach of all living beings, but with its
inevitable accompaniment of suffering.
27 May 1964

*
Sweet Mother,
Your answers last week were very succinct. Isn’t a
perfected yogi identified with the Supreme Lord? Isn’t a
desireless man a sincere sadhak?
My answers are given in order to open your mind and to make
you exceed, little by little, your present mental limits.
The Supreme Lord can give his Ananda to whomever He
wants and as He wants.
A sadhak is one who has chosen a yogic discipline and
practises it. There are desireless men who are not pursuing any
yoga.
Widen your thought — it is very necessary!
3 June 1964

*


Series Ten – To a Young Captain

(Regarding love) How can one direct this human love
towards the ideal love, the true love?
There is only one true love — it is the Divine Love; all other loves
are diminutions, limitations and deformations of that Love. Even
the love of the bhakta for his God is a diminution and often is
tainted by egoism. But as one tends quite naturally to become
like what one loves, the bhakta, if he is sincere, begins to become
like the Divine whom he adores, and thus his love becomes purer
and purer. To adore the Divine in the one whom one loves has
often been suggested as a solution, but unless one’s heart and
thought are very pure, it can lead to deplorable abasements.
It would seem that in your situation, the best solution would
be to use your mutual attachment to unite your efforts in a
common and combined aspiration to attain the Divine, and in
perfect sincerity to let each bring to the other, as far as possible,
what the other needs to attain that goal.
10 June 1964

*
Sweet Mother,
How can one know the other’s need and help him?
I was not speaking of external things and mental faculties! True
love is in the soul (all the rest is vital attraction or mental and
physical attachment, nothing else) and the soul (the psychic being) knows instinctively what the other needs to receive and is
always ready to give it to him.
17 June 1964

*
Sweet Mother,
Is it because we have defects in ourselves that we
cannot tolerate them in others? What is the origin of the
shock we feel?




Yes, in a general way it is the defects you have in yourselves
which seem to you most shocking in others.
Later on, you come to understand that others are a mirror
reflecting the image of what you are.
24 June 1964

*
Sweet Mother,
Just as there are tangible and concrete bodily exercises and disciplines for physical culture, is there not
something tangible and concrete for the progress of the
soul and the consciousness?
Since the most ancient times, each system of yoga has developed
its own discipline in all its details. All that can be studied, learned
and practised. But according to Sri Aurobindo’s teaching, each
of these practices has its limitations and gives only a partial
result. That is why he advised those who want to follow the
integral yoga to find their own discipline, based on the ancient
knowledge but adapted to the needs and the condition of each
individual.
1 July 1964

*
Sweet Mother,
I thought that illness came from some impurity or
weakness in the being, but what does this epidemic in
the Ashram mean? Even X was a victim. Where does
this epidemic come from?
An epidemic is a collective illness and comes from a collective
impurity. The Ashram as a whole is evidently very far from
what it should be to be equal to its task and give to the world
the example of a total consecration to the Divine Work and the


Series Ten – To a Young Captain

preparation of the future. The forms of illness vary according to
the condition of each person and his link with the whole.
8 July 1964

*
Sweet Mother,
I am trying to concentrate in the heart and to enter
deep within as You advised me to do, but in vain. The
only result is that I get a headache, a kind of dizziness,
but as soon as I open my eyes everything becomes normal
again. What should I do?
This means that you are not yet ready for a spiritual discipline
and that you must wait until life has moulded you a little more
and your psychic consciousness awakens from the slumber in
which it lies.
15 July 1964

*
Sweet Mother,
Until I am ready for a spiritual discipline, what
should I do, apart from aspiring that the Mother may
pull me out of the slumber and awaken my psychic
consciousness?
To develop your intelligence, read the teachings of Sri Aurobindo
regularly and very attentively. To develop and master your vital,
carefully observe your movements and reactions with a will to
overcome desires, and aspire to find your psychic being and unite
with it. Physically, continue with what you are doing, develop
and control your body methodically, make yourself useful by
working at the Playground and your place of work, and try to
do it as selflessly as possible.
If you are sincere and scrupulously honest, my help is certainly with you and one day you will become aware of it.
22 July 1964

*




Sweet Mother,
When a stranger asks us what the Sri Aurobindo
Ashram is, how can we give him a reply that is both
short and correct?
The Ashram is the cradle of a new world, of the creation of
tomorrow.
And if other questions are put to you, the only reply to be
made is: you must read the books and study the teaching.
29 July 1964

*
Sweet Mother,
Are there really any tragedies in life, since everything
leads to the Divine?
They are tragedies for those who take them tragically — the
immense majority of human beings.
One must live in the consciousness of the Divine Unity to
see the Grace behind everything.
5 August 1964

*
Sweet Mother,
People often say that our food does not contain
enough vitamins and protein. The doctors claim that this
is why we have so much physical and bodily suffering.14
Is it really the cause? Does food have such an important
place in life?
For those whose consciousness is centred in the body, who live
for the body, its desires and satisfactions, those for whom the
truth begins and ends with the body, it is evident that food is of
capital importance since they live to eat.


Beside this sentence, the Mother wrote: “So much as that???”



Series Ten – To a Young Captain

The doctors are always anxious to throw the responsibility
for their incompetence to cure on the external conditions of life.
If one wants to see the truth of the problem, it is this: only
an enlightened body, balanced and free from all vital desire and
mental preconception, is capable of knowing what it needs in
regard to quantity and kind of food — and it is so exceptional
to find such a body that we need not speak of it.
Apart from that, one must act for the best and not attach
too much importance to it.
Let those who have confidence in doctors do as they advise
and see if it helps them to suffer less!
12 August 1964

*
Sweet Mother,
There are times when I feel like abandoning all my
activities — the Playground, band, studies, etc. — and
devoting all my time to work. But my logic does not
accept this. Where does this idea come from and why?
In this case your logic is right. In the outer nature there is often
a tamasic tendency to simplify the conditions of life in order to
avoid the effort of organising more complicated circumstances.
But when one wants to progress in the integrality of the being,
this simplification is hardly advisable.
19 August 1964

*
Sweet Mother,
What is the most effective way of overcoming desires
and attachments: to cut them off all at one stroke, even
at the risk of breaking down, or to advance slowly and
surely by eliminating them carefully one by one?




Both these ways are equally ineffective. The normal result of
both these methods is that you deceive yourself, you delude
yourself that you have overcome your desires, whereas at best
you are merely sitting on them — they remain repressed in the
subconscient until they explode there and cause an upheaval in
the whole being.
It is from within that you must become master of your lower
nature by establishing your consciousness firmly in a domain
that is free of all desire and attachment because it is under the
influence of the divine Light and Force. It is a long and exacting
labour which must be undertaken with an unfailing sincerity
and a tireless perseverance.
In any case, you should never pretend to be more perfect
than you are, and still less should you be satisfied with false
appearances.
26 August 1964

*
Sweet Mother,
When one is very sensitive, one easily suffers. Since
this sensitivity is the sign of a strong ego, how can one
eliminate the ego?
Why do you say that sensitivity is the sign of a strong ego? It
does not seem to be evident at all. Moreover, there are many
different kinds of sensitivity: some stem from weakness, others
— the best — are the result of refinement. The ego generally
governs the development of the individual, but the most developed individualities are not necessarily those in whom the ego is
strongest — on the contrary. As the individuality perfects itself,
the power of the ego diminishes, and indeed it is by perfecting
himself that the individual arrives at that state of divinisation
which liberates him from the ego.
2 September 1964

*


Series Ten – To a Young Captain

Sweet Mother,
How can one know whether we are progressing or
not, individually and collectively?
It is always preferable not to try to assess the progress one is making because it does not help one to make it — on the contrary.
Aspiration for progress, if it is SINCERE, is sure to have an effect.
But whatever the progress made, individually or collectively, the
progress still remaining to be made is so considerable that there
is no reason to stop on the way to assess the ground one has
covered.
The perception that some progress has been made should
come spontaneously, by the sudden and unexpected awareness
of what one is in comparison with what one was some time
before. That is all — but that in itself requires a fairly high degree
of development of the consciousness.
9 September 1964

*
Sweet Mother,
I put my question badly last time. I did not mean
the progress one has made, that is to say, the results of
the past, but the state one is in. I do not want to assess
the ground I have covered, but to know whether I am
advancing on the path continually, without stoppage.
The advance is rarely in a straight and continuous line because a
human being is made up of many different parts, and generally
one part or another progresses in its turn while the other parts
remain quiescent until their turn comes. It is only when the
consciousness grows enough to have an overall view that one
can see exactly what is happening. But in order to be sure of
advancing progressively and regularly, one must always keep
alive the flame of one’s aspiration.
16 September 1964

*




Sweet Mother,
What is the use of Japa?15 Is it a good method to
repeat words like “Silence” and “Peace” in order to establish silence and peace in oneself when one sits down
to meditate?
A mere repetition of words cannot have much effect.
There are classical or traditional Japas which are intended
to subdue the lower mind and establish a connection with higher
forces or with deities. These Japas must be given by the Guru,
who at the same time infuses them with the power of realisation.
They are useful only for those who want to do an intensive yoga
and spend five or six hours a day in yogic practices.
Japa such as you describe it cannot have much effect except
to create a tamasic dullness, which should not be mistaken for
mental silence.
23 September 1964

*
Sweet Mother,
I heard that an astrologer has predicted that in six
months’ time Lal Bahadur Shastri will no longer be
Prime Minister and that he will be replaced by Indira
Gandhi, but only for a fortnight. Then a period of chaos
in the Government will follow. After that, a young man
will appear on the scene who will be guided by a divine
force coming from a woman of great spiritual power.
What do You think about it?
People say many things — especially astrologers!
We have only to wait; we shall surely see what happens.
30 September 1964

*


Japa: continuous repetition of a mantra.



Series Ten – To a Young Captain

Sweet Mother,
Is a mistake or a bad action pardonable if one is sure
that what one is doing is right and that one is sincere?
How can one know that one is mistaken?
The very fact of being mistaken proves that one is not sincere
in some part of the being. For the psychic being knows and is
not mistaken; but more often than not, we do not listen to what
it says because it speaks without violence or insistence — it is a
murmur in the depths of our heart which is easy to ignore.
However, there are cases where one acts wrongly out of
ignorance, and this error is effaced as soon as the ignorance is replaced by knowledge and the way of acting completely changed.
What man in his ignorance calls “pardon” is the effacement, the
dissolution of errors committed.
7 October 1964

*
Sweet Mother,
There are moments when, in spite of myself, a little
black cloud of jealousy comes and upsets my activities
during my working hours. I dispel it immediately by
reasoning, but all the same its effect remains and makes
me a little sullen and very touchy.
How can one get rid of this?
By widening one’s consciousness and making it universal.
There is another way, but it is still more difficult. It is by
realising the supreme Unity.
14 October 1964

*
Sweet Mother,
People often ask us this question: “What are you doing for society or even for the people of Pondicherry? You
are preoccupied with your own community, your own




progress. Nothing exists for you outside the Ashram.
Isn’t this a kind of isolation, a form of egoism?”
To this rather silly kind of question, Sri Aurobindo always used
to reply:
“The greatest egoist is the Supreme Lord because He never
bothers about anything but Himself!”
27 October 1964

*
Sweet Mother,
There are moments during meditation when I feel
that something in me wants to soar aloft and enjoy full
freedom. There is a kind of enthusiasm in the soul (I do
not know whether it comes from the soul) to enjoy the
supreme Ananda and forget life as it really is. What does
all this mean?
It is the natural and indispensable counterpart of the moments
— so numerous and so frequent! — when you are attached to
the physical life and you understand and appreciate only that.
The two extremes always alternate in experience until one has
found the poise of the total and synthetic truth.
That alone can give the true Freedom which is experienced
in all circumstances.
28 October 1964

*
Sweet Mother,
Although one part of the being aspires and wants
the Divine, the other part is so tamasic and heavy! How
can it be awakened? What blows does it need? It is not
that this part is against the Divine — it does not even
seem to be interested in Him (which is perhaps worse).
That is indeed an indication of complete inertia. Sri Aurobindo
has written: “If you cannot love God, at least find a way to fight


Series Ten – To a Young Captain

with Him so that He may be your enemy”16 (implying that you
are sure to be conquered by Him). It is a humorous remark, but
it means that of all conditions, inertia is the worst.
Aspiration is the only remedy — an aspiration that rises
constantly like a clear flame burning up all the impurities of
the being.
4 November 1964

*
Sweet Mother,
We see many people leaving the Ashram, either to
seek a career or to study; and they are mostly those
who have been here since childhood. There is a kind
of uncertainty in our young people when they see others
leave here and they say cautiously: “Who knows whether
it won’t be my turn some day!” I feel there is a force
behind all this. What is it?
This uncertainty and these departures are due to the lower nature, which resists the influence of the yogic power and tries to
slow down the divine action, not out of ill-will but in order to
be sure that nothing is forgotten or neglected in the haste to
reach the goal. Few are ready for a total consecration. Many
children who have studied here need to come to grips with life
before they can be ready for the divine work, and that is why
they leave to undergo the test of ordinary life.
11 November 1964

*
Sweet Mother,
I have a habit of blaming myself, of making myself
responsible for all misunderstandings; this is a weakness


“If you cannot make God love you, make Him fight you. If He will not give you the
embrace of the lover, compel Him to give you the embrace of the wrestler.”
Thoughts and Aphorisms, in SABCL, Vol. 17, p. 130.

rather than a virtue, for I feel that I take them upon
myself in order to end the matter as quickly as possible
— it is a kind of escapism.
Mother, I also feel that I have a very strong inferiority complex.
Where does all this come from and how can I get
rid of it?
All this comes from your ego which is very much occupied with
itself and far prefers to blame and criticise itself than to think of
something else... (the Divine for example) and forget itself.
18 November 1964

*
Sweet Mother,
What is the meaning of one’s birthday, apart from its
commemorative character? How can one take advantage
of this occasion?
Because of the rhythm of the universal forces, a person is supposed to have a special receptivity on his birthday each year.
He can therefore take advantage of this receptivity by making good resolutions and fresh progress on the path of his
integral development.
25 November 1964

*
Sweet Mother,
Often when I read Sri Aurobindo’s works or listen
to his words, I am wonder-struck: how can this eternal
truth, this beauty of expression escape people! It is really
strange that he is not yet recognised, at least as a supreme
creator, a pure artist, a poet par excellence! So I tell myself that my judgments, my appreciations are influenced
by my devotion for the Master — and not everyone is


Series Ten – To a Young Captain

devoted. I do not think this is true. But then, why are
men’s hearts not yet enchanted by His Words?
Who can understand Sri Aurobindo? He is as vast as the universe
and his teaching is limitless...
The only way to come a little close to him is to love him
sincerely and give oneself unreservedly to his work. In that
way, each one does his best and contributes as much as he can
to the transformation of the world which Sri Aurobindo has
predicted.
2 December 1964

*
Sweet Mother,
How can one empty the mind of all thought? When
one tries during meditation, the thought that one must
not think of anything is always there.
It is not during meditation that one must learn to be silent,
because the very fact of trying makes a noise.
One must learn to concentrate one’s energies in the heart
— then, when one succeeds in that, silence comes automatically.
9 December 1964

*
Sweet Mother,
Sri Aurobindo has said somewhere that if we surrender to the Divine Grace, it will do everything for us.
Then what is the value of tapasya?
If you want to know what Sri Aurobindo has said on a given
subject, you must at least read all he has written on that subject.
You will then see that he seems to have said the most contradictory things. But when one has read everything and understood




a little, one sees that all the contradictions complement one
another and are organised and unified in an integral synthesis.
Here is another quotation by Sri Aurobindo which will show
you that your question is an ignorant one. There are many others
which you could read to advantage and which will make your
intelligence more supple:
“If there is not a complete surrender, then it is not possible to adopt the baby cat attitude, — it becomes mere tamasic
passivity calling itself surrender. If a complete surrender is not
possible in the beginning, it follows that personal effort is necessary.”17
16 December 1964

*
Sweet Mother,
Often after a long meditation (an effort to meditate),
I feel very tired and want to rest. Why is this and how
can I feel differently?
So long as you are making an effort, it is not meditation and
there is not much use in prolonging this state.
To obtain mental silence, one must learn to relax, to let
oneself float on the waves of the universal force as a plank floats
on water, motionless but relaxed.
Effort is never silent.
23 December 1964

*
Sweet Mother,
How can one make use of every moment of this
unique privilege of living here in the Ashram?
Never forget where you are.


Letters on Yoga, SABCL, Vol. 23, pp. 593 – 94.



Series Ten – To a Young Captain

Never forget where you are living and the true aim of life.
Remember this at every moment and in all circumstances. In this
way you will make the best use of your existence.
Happy New Year for 1965.
30 December 1964

*
Sweet Mother,
What is the eternal truth behind this sympathy or
attraction of man for woman and of woman for man?
The relationship between Purusha and Prakriti.
You have only to read what Sri Aurobindo has written on
this subject.
5 January 1965

*
Sweet Mother,
You have said in Your New Year message for this
year: “Salute to the advent of Truth.” Is it therefore very
near? What must we do during 1965 to prepare ourselves
to recognise it and receive it?
The best thing to do is to distinguish in oneself the origin of all
one’s movements — those that come from the light of truth and
those that come from the old inertia and falsehood — in order
to accept the first and to refuse or reject the others.
With practice one learns to distinguish more and more
clearly, but one can establish as a general rule that all that
tends towards disharmony, disorder and inertia comes from
the falsehood and all that favours union, harmony, order and
consciousness comes from the Truth.
This is only a hint, nothing more, about how to take the
first steps on the path.
13 January 1965

*




Sweet Mother,
Does Your message for this year announce an Age
of Truth — what is called the Satya Yuga in the ancient
Scriptures (the Mahabharata)?
An age of truth is sure to come before the earth is transformed.
21 January 1965

*
Sweet Mother,
What does this extraordinary Asuric attack on the
Ashram mean?18 Are we responsible for it because of our
faults and because we disobey the Supreme Truth in our
daily lives?
Very certainly such a thing has been made possible because the
atmosphere of the Ashram is not pure enough to be invulnerable
to falsehood.
17 February 1965

*
Sweet Mother,
Somebody asked me this question: “Is it not a great
loss for human society if persons endowed with an exceptional capacity to serve mankind, such as a gifted
doctor or barrister, come to stay here in the Ashram
for their own salvation? They could perhaps serve the
Divine better by serving men and the world!”
Nobody comes here for his own salvation because Sri Aurobindo
does not believe in salvation; for us salvation is a meaningless
word. We are here to prepare the transformation of the earth
and men so that the new creation may take place, and if we


On the evening of February 11, many Ashram buildings were stoned, burned or
looted, ostensibly as part of an anti-Hindi agitation.



Series Ten – To a Young Captain

make individual efforts to progress, it is because this progress is
indispensable for the accomplishment of the work.
I am surprised that after having lived in the Ashram for
so long, you can still think in this way and be open to this
Sunday-school drivel.
I am sending you a quotation from Sri Aurobindo which
will perhaps help to enlighten your thought.
“It is equally ignorant and one thousand miles away from
my teaching to find it in your relations with human beings or in
the nobility of the human character or an idea that we are here
to establish mental and moral and social Truth and justice on
human and egoistic lines. I have never promised to do anything
of the kind. Human nature is made up of imperfections, even
its righteousness and virtue are pretensions, imperfections and
prancings of self-approbatory egoism.... What is aimed at by us
is a spiritual truth as the basis of life, the first words of which
are surrender and union with the Divine and the transcendence
of ego. So long as that basis is not established, a sadhak is only
an ignorant and imperfect human being struggling with the evils
of the lower nature.... What is created by spiritual progress is an
inner closeness and intimacy in the inner being, the sense of the
Mother’s love and presence etc.”
24 February 1965

*
Sweet Mother,
What is the best way of expressing one’s gratitude
towards man and towards the Divine?
Why do you put man and the Divine together?
It is true that man is essentially divine, but at present, apart
from a few very rare exceptions, man is quite unconscious of the
Divine he carries within him; and it is just this unconsciousness
which constitutes the falsehood of the material world.




I have already written to you that our gratitude should go
to the Divine and that as for men what is required is an attitude
of goodwill, understanding and mutual help.
To feel deeply, intensely and constantly a total gratitude
towards the Divine is the best way to be happy and peaceful.
And the only true way of expressing one’s gratitude to the
Divine is to identify with Him.
3 March 1965

*
Sweet Mother,
When can one say with certitude that one has started
Sri Aurobindo’s yoga? What is the sure sign of it?
It is impossible to say, because for each person it is different.
It depends on the part of one’s being that awakens first and
responds to Sri Aurobindo’s influence.
And no one can tell about another person.
10 March 1965

*
Sweet Mother,
I aspire to live the yoga of Sri Aurobindo, the life
divine. But I feel that I am in a virgin forest in which I
have lost my sense of direction. Where exactly am I?
I would like to have an indication, a way to get out,
onto the right path, the path leading to the Divine.
Generally, the starting-point must be an experience, however
small, which serves as a compass on the way, an experience one
refers to in order to be sure of not going astray, until one is ready
for another more important and conclusive experience.
The real landmarks on the way are the spontaneous experiences, not those that come from a mental formation and are
always unreliable.


Series Ten – To a Young Captain

The experience must come first and the explanation afterwards. That is why Sri Aurobindo has said: Never distrust your
experience; but you may distrust your explanation, which is a
mental activity.19
It is very important to take note of one’s experiences and
remember them. To construct a system of development is secondary and sometimes harmful.
17 March 1965

*
Sweet Mother,
How can one distinguish a dream from an experience?
In a general way, a dream leaves a confused and fleeting impression, whereas an experience awakens a deep and lasting
feeling.
But the shades of difference are subtle and many, and it is
by a very attentive and sincere observation (that is to say, free
from bias and preference) that one gradually learns to discern
the one from the other.
24 March 1965

*
Sweet Mother,
Just as there is a methodical progression of exercises
for mental and physical education, isn’t there a similar
method to progress towards Sri Aurobindo’s yoga? It
should vary with each individual. Could you make a
step-by-step programme for me to follow daily?
The mechanical regularity of a fixed programme is indispensable
for physical, mental and vital development; but this mechanical


“Experience in thy soul the truth of the Scripture; afterwards, if thou wilt, reason
and state thy experience intellectually and even then distrust thy statement; but distrust
never thy experience.”
Thoughts and Aphorisms, in SABCL, Vol. 17, p. 89

rigidity has little or no effect on spiritual development where the
spontaneity of an absolute sincerity is indispensable.
Sri Aurobindo has written very clearly on this subject. And
what he has written on it has appeared in The Synthesis of Yoga.
However, as an initial help to set you on the path, I can tell
you: (1) that on getting up, before starting the day, it is good
to make an offering of this day to the Divine, an offering of all
that one thinks, all that one is, all that one will do; (2) and at
night, before going to sleep, it is good to review the day, taking
note of all the times one has forgotten or neglected to make an
offering of one’s self or one’s action, and to aspire or pray that
these lapses do not recur.
This is a minimum, a very small beginning — and it should
increase with the sincerity of your consecration.
31 March 1965

*
Sweet Mother,
How can one increase single-mindedness and willpower? They are so necessary for doing anything.
Through regular, persevering, obstinate, unflagging exercise — I
mean exercise of concentration and will.
*
Mother, I have started reading French books — X has
given me a list.
It is good for you to read a lot of French; it will teach you how
to write.
7 April 1965

*


Series Ten – To a Young Captain

Sweet Mother,
You have written: “Of all renunciations, the most
difficult is to renounce one’s good habits.” What exactly
do you mean by this? Does it suggest that good habits
are not necessary in the yoga?
Good habits are indispensable so long as one acts out of habit.
But to attain the supreme goal of yoga, one must abandon all
ties, whatever they may be. And good habits are also a tie which
must one day be abandoned when one wants to obey and is able
to obey nothing but the one supreme impulse, the Will of the
Supreme.
14 April 1965

*
Sweet Mother,
You have written: “So long as you have to renounce
anything, you are not on this path.”20 But doesn’t all
renunciation begin when one is on the path?
What I call “being on the path” is being in a state of consciousness in which only union with the Divine has any value — this
union is the only thing worth living, the sole object of aspiration.
Everything else has lost all value and is not worth seeking, so
there is no longer any question of renouncing it because it is no
longer an object of desire.
As long as union with the Divine is not the thing for which
one lives, one is not yet on the path.
21 April 1965

*
Sweet Mother,
Why is India, which has such a rich past and the
promise of such a brilliant future, in such a miserable


Questions and Answers 1929 – 1931, CWM, Vol. 3, p. 128.

condition at present? When will she emerge from this
pitiful condition and reaffirm her greatness?
When she renounces falsehood and lives in the Truth.
28 April 1965

*
Sweet Mother,
Why did Sri Aurobindo advise India’s leaders to accept the Cripps Proposal in 1942, when He knew fully
well that they would not?21
The Divine often advises or tries to guide man,
knowing very well that His help will be refused. Why
then does He do it?
The Divine always informs, but it is rare indeed for men to listen
to Him. Either they do not hear Him or do not believe Him.
Men always complain of not being helped, but the truth is
that they refuse the help which is always with them.
5 May 1965

*
Sweet Mother,
You say that to hope to partake of the new realisation, “you must feel that this world is ugly, stupid, brutal
and full of intolerable suffering”.22 But what would be
the state of one who feels that everything here is the play


Sri Aurobindo sent a special messenger to Delhi advising Indian leaders to accept,
as a first step towards independence, Sir Stafford Cripps’ proposal of Dominion status
for India. Sri Aurobindo held that this proposal conferred essential independence on
India by putting her on a par with the various Dominions already associated with the
United Kingdom. Had his advice been heeded, the partition of India might have been
avoided.

Questions and Answers 1929 – 1931, CWM, Vol. 3, p. 128.



Series Ten – To a Young Captain

of a benevolent God? Would he not also participate in
this new realisation?
It is in the depths of the consciousness, beyond the mind, that one
can in all sincerity have the experience that all is the Divine and
that only the Divine exists. But the manifestation is progressive,
and in order to have the strength to advance by rejecting what
ought to disappear, one must strongly feel one’s unworthiness
and incapacity to express the divine perfection.
The two states of consciousness should be simultaneous and
complementary, not successive and contradictory, and this too is
possible only when the seat of consciousness is beyond the mind
and its limitations.
12 May 1965

*
Sweet Mother,
When department heads or superiors make mistakes
or commit an injustice towards their subordinates, what
should be the attitude of those affected by these errors?
Should one keep silent and say, “It is none of my business”, or should one try to point out the mistake to them?
Neither the one nor the other.
First and always, we must ask ourselves what our instrument
of judgment is. One must ask, “What is my judgment based on?
Do I have perfect knowledge? What in me is judging? Do I have
the divine consciousness? Am I completely disinterested in this
matter? Am I free of all desire and all ego?”
And since the answer to all these questions will be the same,
namely, “NO”, the honest and sincere conclusion must be: “I
cannot judge, I do not have the elements needed for a true
judgment; therefore I will not judge, I will keep quiet.”
19 May 1965

*




Sweet Mother,
Being far from the Truth-Consciousness, must one
always remain silent, even though as an individual one
is obliged to make decisions and give opinions?
What constitutes an individuality?
An individuality is a conscious being organised around a divine
centre. All the divine centres are essentially One in their origin,
but they act as separate beings in the manifestation.
The individual must make decisions in order to live, but it
is not indispensable that he should have opinions, and still less
that he should air them.
It is ignorance that has opinions.
Knowledge knows.
26 May 1965

*
Sweet Mother,
The descent of the Supermind, which You announced on the 29th of February 1956, is still only
“something one hears about” for most people here.
When shall we feel and see this supreme and radical
change of the whole nature which You have predicted?
The descent of the forerunners of the supramental forces is a
fact (not a prediction). The incapacity of the vast majority of
human beings to become conscious of it is a fact which can in
no way affect the fact of the advent of these forces and powers
in the physical world.
The “supreme and radical” change of the whole nature
can only come about after a long and slow preparation, and
men will perceive it only when their consciousness has become
enlightened.
2 June 1965

*


Series Ten – To a Young Captain

Sweet Mother,
The resolutions I make lose their intensity and ardour after a time. How can I keep this enthusiasm and
increase it more and more?
BY WANTING TO.
9 June 1965

*
Sweet Mother,
You have written: “The force which, when absorbed
in the Ignorance, assumes the form of vital desires is the
same which, in its pure form, constitutes the dynamis
towards transformation.”23
Is this dynamis that of aspiration? If so, could one
say that aspiration is a purified desire?
One can say whatever one likes, provided one knows what one
is talking about.
The words are of little importance; it is the experience and
the sincerity of the experience that count.
23 June 1965

*
Sweet Mother,
You speak (in Conversations) of the plunge we must
take in order to have the true spiritual experience. Is it
possible to achieve it by aspiration alone, or is there a
method or discipline to be followed?
Everything is possible. All paths lead to the goal provided they
are followed with persistence and sincerity.


Questions and Answers 1929 – 1931, CWM, Vol. 3, p. 133.

It is best for each person to find his own path, but for this
the aspiration must be ardent, the will unshakable, the patience
unfailing.
30 June 1965

*
Sweet Mother,
Are illnesses and accidents the result of something
bad one has thought or done, of a fall in one’s consciousness? If the cause is a mistake one has made, how can
one find out what it is?
It has nothing to do with punishment; it is the natural and
normal consequence of an error, shortcoming or fault which
necessarily has consequences. Actually, everything in the world
is a question of equilibrium or disequilibrium, of harmony or
disorder. Vibrations of harmony attract and encourage harmonious events; vibrations of disequilibrium create, as it were, a
disequilibrium in circumstances (illnesses, accidents, etc.). This
may be collective or individual, but the principle is the same
— and so is the remedy: to cultivate in oneself order and harmony, peace and equilibrium by surrendering unreservedly to
the Divine Will.
7 July 1965

*
Sweet Mother,
Sri Aurobindo says: “If the transformation of
the body is complete, that means no subjection to
death.... One creates a new body for oneself when
one wants to change....”24
Mother, what does he mean by “One creates a new
body for oneself when one wants to change”? Does this
change take place in the present body or does one have


Letters on Yoga, SABCL, Vol. 22, p. 11.



Series Ten – To a Young Captain

to leave it? If one has to leave the body, there seems to
be death. So...?
What he means is that when one will have the power to withdraw the physical body from the influence of death, the power of
transformation will be such that one will also be able to change
the form of that body at will.
14 July 1965

*
Sweet Mother,
What do You mean by “to change the form of that
body at will”? For example, will a hundred-year old man
be able to renew his body and become a young man of
twenty-five?
Those who have a supramentalised body will not be subject to
the law of aging; consequently the question of age will not arise
for them.
21 July 1965

*
Sweet Mother,
Once, in one of Your Wednesday classes, You said
that in order not to feel pain one must, so to speak, cut
the nerve that conveys this sensation to the brain. How
can this be done?
I did not say “cut the nerve” — that would be a surgical operation! I said, cut the conscious connection with the brain.
It is an occult operation, certainly more difficult than the
other for those who don’t know how to do it, but less dangerous.
28 July 1965

*




Sweet Mother,
Does every person who comes to earth have a definite goal he must achieve in this life, and does he achieve
it unconsciously in spite of himself?
YES.
11 August 1965

*
Sweet Mother,
People who come to the Ashram for the first time
are often delighted with their visit and full of praise
for the efficient administration of this organisation. But
when they get to know the Ashram and the sadhaks
better, their admiration begins to wane and they find that
Ashram people are far more egoistic than people from
outside, more arrogant, lacking any sympathy, incapable
of cooperation, etc. What do You say to all this, Mother?
Sometimes it is like that, as a matter of fact, and sometimes it is
the opposite: at first a total incomprehension, but later, little by
little, one comes to understand and appreciate.
Both are equally true and equally incomplete.
In the world as it is now, everything is mixed and each one
sees and feels that which corresponds to his own nature.
To tell the truth, it doesn’t matter at all.
25 August 1965

*
Sweet Mother,
I really feel that there is a great lack of harmony
and cooperation here among us and among the various departments. This results in a great waste of money
and energy. Where does this disharmony come from and
when will it be set right?


Series Ten – To a Young Captain

Or is this feeling I have only a reflection of my own
nature!
Here is the best answer to your questions, written by Sri Aurobindo:
Each one carries in himself the seeds of this disharmony,
and his most urgent work is to purify himself of it by a constant
aspiration.
1 September 1965

*
Sweet Mother,
Sri Aurobindo writes in His Essays on the Gita: “The
law of Vishnu cannot prevail till the debt to Rudra is
paid.” What does this mean?
Mother, is the present situation in India25 like the
debt that must be paid to Rudra?
Here is the whole quotation which I had prepared in advance for
those who want to know the reason for the present situation. I
am sending it to you so that your question becomes unnecessary.
“No real peace can be till the heart of man deserves peace;
the law of Vishnu cannot prevail till the debt to Rudra is paid.
To turn aside then and preach to a still unevolved mankind
the law of love and oneness? Teachers of the law of love and
oneness there must be, for by that way must come the ultimate
salvation. But not till the Time-Spirit in man is ready, can the
inner and ultimate prevail over the outer and immediate reality.
Christ and Buddha have come and gone but it is Rudra who still
holds the world in the hollow of his hand. And meanwhile the
fierce forward labour of mankind tormented and oppressed by
the powers that are profiteers of egoistic force and their servants


On September 1, Pakistan invaded India’s border at Jammu-Kashmir.

cries for the sword of the Hero of the struggle and the word of
its prophet.”26
8 September 1965

*
Sweet Mother,
In spite of Your message of September 16 to the
Prime Minister and the Army Chief of Staff, was not our
Government’s acceptance of the cease-fire the best that
could be done under the circumstances?27
They could not do otherwise.
29 September 1965

*
Sweet Mother,
I often feel, and very concretely too, that You are
constantly protecting me from all the misfortunes of life.
But I very often ask myself: “Why does Mother protect
me and keep me in such happiness, I who so little deserve
it?”
Because it is not a question of merit but of Grace.
6 October 1965

*
Sweet Mother,
One sees that the world as a whole is presently in
a sort of disequilibrium and chaos. Does this mean that
it is preparing for the manifestation of a new force, for
the descent of the Truth, or is it the result of the action

Sri Aurobindo, Essays on the Gita, SABCL, Vol. 13, p. 372.


The Indo-Pakistan conflict ended in a cease-fire on September 22. The Mother’s
message, sent six days prior to the cease-fire, was: “It is for the sake and the triumph
of Truth that India is fighting and must fight until India and Pakistan have become One
because that is the truth of their being.”



Series Ten – To a Young Captain

of hostile forces in revolt against this descent? And what
place does India occupy in all this?
It is both at the same time — a chaotic means of preparation.
India ought to be the spiritual guide who explains what is happening and helps to hasten the movement. But unfortunately,
in her blind ambition to imitate the West, she has become
materialistic and neglectful of her soul.
13 October 1965

*
Sweet Mother,
We know that we should not do certain things and
we do not really want to do them, but still we do them.
Why does this happen? How can we avoid it?
That’s how it is when one is lacking in will and in force of
consciousness.
Both of these can be acquired if one is sincere in one’s
aspiration.
20 October 1965

*
Sweet Mother,
About individual transformation and social transformation You say: “Since the environment reacts upon
the individual and, on the other hand, the value of the
environment depends upon the value of the individual,
the two works should proceed side by side. But this
can be done only through division of labour, and that
necessitates the formation of a group, hierarchicised, if
possible.”28


Words of Long Ago, CWM, Vol. 2, p. 50.

Mother, I do not understand what You mean by the
formation of a hierarchicised group.
A hierarchicised group means a group in which the activities
and functions are organised according to individual ability, with
a leader at the centre. A military organisation, for example, is a
hierarchy.
Here is a diagram of the ancient
traditional hierarchies.
[diagram]
1 — 4 — 8 — 16
and so on.
27 October 1965

Sweet Mother,
Is there a hierarchicised group here in the Ashram?
Mother, I want to know more about it, but I don’t know
how to formulate it.
Every group, if it is a real one — that is, one made up according to the ability of the individuals who compose it — must
necessarily be hierarchical.
But there are considerable obstacles to the realisation of this
hierarchy:
(1) First, when the group is incomplete — that is, when
it does not have all the members necessary to constitute the
hierarchy and certain functions or intermediaries are missing.
(2) The indiscipline of certain members refusing wholly or
in part to occupy the place assigned to them.
When order and harmony are established, the hierarchy is
organised quite naturally and spontaneously.
3 November 1965

*


Series Ten – To a Young Captain

Sweet Mother,
Why does one feel afraid? Where does fear come
from?
Fear is an invention of the hostile forces who have created it as
the best means of dominating living beings, animals and men.
Those who are pure — that is to say, exclusively under the
Divine influence — have no fear.
10 November 1965

*
Sweet Mother,
You write in Your Conversations: “Each time that
something of the Divine Truth and the Divine Force
comes down to manifest upon earth, some change is
effected in the earth’s atmosphere.”29
(1) Is this change always violent and destructive,
such as a revolution or a war?
Not necessarily. What expresses itself as a war or a revolution
is the resistance in the human consciousness to the New Force.
When the resistance is less, everything takes place harmoniously.
*
(2) And is the converse always valid: if there is a war or
a revolution, is it the sign of a descent of the Truth?
Not necessarily. Human folly takes advantage of the slightest
cause to manifest itself.
17 November 1965

*


Questions and Answers 1929 – 1931, CWM, Vol. 3, p. 79.

Sweet Mother,
You write: “Each one here represents an impossibility to be solved.”30 Could You explain to me what this
means exactly?
It is an ironic way of saying that the most difficult cases, from
the standpoint of transformation, are gathered here to concretise
and synthesise the work of transforming the earth in order to
prepare the new creation.
1 December 1965

*
Sweet Mother,
You told me to enter within, into the depths of my
heart, to find You seated there. But, Mother, I cannot
manage to enter into the heart. I feel during meditation
that my consciousness is flying around an impenetrable
fortress. What should I do to succeed in what You have
told me?
This happens because you are trying to enter with a superficial
consciousness which does not have contact with the inner states
of being. You have to go out of this external consciousness and
penetrate into a subtler consciousness; then the fortress will no
longer be impenetrable.
22 December 1965

*
Sweet Mother,
What must we do to serve the Truth? Must it first of
all be lived?
To serve It, you must live it.
To live it, you must necessarily serve it.


Words of the Mother – II, CWM, Vol. 14, p. 84.



Series Ten – To a Young Captain

And for both, you must want it with sincerity and persistence.
5 January 1966

*
Sweet Mother,
There is a tendency among most of us here to conduct our lives and programmes according to the customs
of society. We say: “We must also think of the opinion of
people from outside. Since we live in society, we must be
reasonable and lead a life in keeping with theirs.” Sweet
Mother, what do You say to all this and what should our
attitude be towards the customs and laws of society?
If most people here think and feel like that, it is an obvious proof
that most are not at all ready for the new life, nor even ready to
prepare for the new life. And to tell the truth, they would do far
better to return to the ordinary life and experience it, instead of
taking advantage of the exceptional conditions of existence they
have here, without being worthy of enjoying them.
12 January 1966

*
Sweet Mother,
Formerly, You were very strict about permitting people to come and live in the Ashram. Now it is no longer
so. Why?
So long as the Ashram was reserved for those who wanted to
practise the yoga, it was natural to be strict.
As soon as the children were admitted here, it was no longer
possible to be strict and the nature of the life changed.
Now the Ashram has become a symbolic representation of
life on earth and everything can find a place in it, provided it
has the will to progress towards a diviner life.
19 January 1966

*




Sweet Mother,
I ask myself whether I am practising yoga! But the
answer is not sure. Can You tell me where I am and how
I can progress on this path?
By the very fact that you are living on earth, you are doing a
yoga, even if you do not know it; and by the very fact that you
are living here, you are helped in your yoga to the utmost of
your possibilities. The only thing you lack is being conscious.
2 February 1966

*
Sweet Mother,
You say that “by the very fact that you are living
on earth, you are doing a yoga” and You also told me
that “the Ashram was reserved for those who wanted
to practise the yoga”; and again, I believe you have
said somewhere, “Not everyone here is meant for yoga.”
So... ?
Poor boy! Now you are perplexed...
Well, all three are true, but on different planes, and to understand something of the problem one has to reach the domain
where the three complement one another and unite.
9 February 1966

*
Sweet Mother,
When You say:
(1) “By the very fact that you are living on earth,
you are doing a yoga” — do You mean that it is the yoga
of the natural and inevitable progress of evolution?
(2) “The Ashram was reserved for those who wanted
to practise the yoga” — that is to say, only for those who
are practising consciously?


Series Ten – To a Young Captain

(3) “Not everyone here is meant for yoga” — that
is, they are incapable of doing it consciously?
YES.
16 February 1966

*
Sweet Mother,
How can one increase one’s receptivity?
Receptivity is proportionate to self-giving.
2 March 1966

*
Sweet Mother,
There was a time when I used to see You often in my
dreams and sometimes I even saw Sri Aurobindo too. But
I haven’t enjoyed this happiness for a long time. Why?
What does it mean?
The best way of seeing us in your dreams is to concentrate on us
before going to sleep. Do you do this now as you used to before?
This is also the way to avoid going to undesirable places during
your sleep, for in those places you are sure not to meet us. Try,
and you will see the result.
23 March 1966

*
Sweet Mother,
We are supposed to be attempting something that
no one has ever tried before. But, Mother, isn’t it true
that we now tend to direct our lives and activities more
and more towards the principles and ways of ordinary
life? In that case, aren’t we straying from the true path?
You are still in the old rut that separates spirituality from life.
Whereas Sri Aurobindo has declared, “All life is Yoga” and




affirmed that it is in life that one must do Yoga. You seem to
have forgotten this.
30 March 1966

*
Sweet Mother,
Isn’t this immense freedom we are given dangerous
for those of us who are not yet awake, who are still unconscious? What is the explanation for this opportunity,
this good fortune we have been granted?
Danger and risk are part of every forward movement. Without
them nothing would ever stir; and also they are indispensable
for moulding the character of those who want to progress.
13 April 1966

*
Sweet Mother,
How should I prepare myself for the April 24th
Darshan?
Look attentively into yourself to find out what for you is the
most important thing, the thing you feel that you couldn’t do
without.
It is an interesting discovery.
19 April 1966

*
Sweet Mother,
Why does anger exist?
I suppose you are asking where anger comes from.
Anger is a violent reaction of the vital to some shock that
is unpleasant to it; and when it involves words or thoughts,


Series Ten – To a Young Captain

the mind responds to the influence of the vital and also reacts violently. Any expression of anger is the sign of a lack of
self-control.
11 May 1966

*
Sweet Mother,
Two days ago I was with You in my dream and You
spoke with me for quite a long time. I don’t remember
the whole conversation, but the impression that remains
is that You are not very pleased with the questions I ask
You every Wednesday. Is this true?
That you saw and heard me is a sign of progress, and with this I
am pleased. But it is true that I find you mentally a bit lazy and
indifferent to the opportunity I give you each week to ask me
a question. Your questions are rather commonplace and don’t
give the impression that you are really searching for the secrets
of life and the world.
18 May 1966

*
Sweet Mother,
Are mental indifference and lack of curiosity a sort
of mental inertia?
Usually they are due to mental inertia, unless one has obtained
this calm and indifference through a very intense sadhana resulting in a perfect equality for which good and bad, pleasant
and unpleasant no longer exist. But in that case, mental activity
is replaced by an intuitive activity of a much higher kind.
25 May 1966

*




Sweet Mother,
How can one get out of this mental laziness and
inertia?
By wanting to do so, with persistence and obstinacy. By doing every day a mental exercise of reading, organisation and
development.
This should alternate in the course of the day with exercises
of mental silence in concentration.
1 June 1966

*
Sweet Mother,
Are the presence and intervention of the Americans
in Vietnam justifiable?
From what point of view are you asking this question?
If it is from the political point of view, politics is steeped in
falsehood, and I am not interested in it.
If it is from the moral point of view, morality is a shield
which ordinary men flourish to protect themselves from the
Truth.
If it is from the spiritual point of view, the Divine Will alone
is justifiable, and it is That which men travesty and deform in
all their actions.
6 July 1966

*
Sweet Mother,
I had asked my last question from the spiritual point
of view and from Your answer I conclude that the American action is not at all justifiable. But, Mother, isn’t the
world in danger of being swallowed by the Communists
and isn’t that why the Americans and their Allies are


Series Ten – To a Young Captain

engaged in safeguarding the freedom of man? Is that the
Divine Will?
The opinion you express is the opinion of the Americans and
of a large number of human beings who think like them.
But the Communists and all those who have faith in the
Communist ideal have the opposite opinion, not to mention
all the many and varied opinions on social and political subjects. All these are only OPINIONS and have no value at all
from the Divine point of view — the Divine who does not
have an opinion but a total vision of everything as a whole
and of the goal to be achieved, which is the only thing that
matters.
Everything mental is necessarily an opinion and expresses
only an infinitesimal fraction of the Truth.
13 July 1966

*
Sweet Mother,
Some say that You have stated: “Among the 1500
people who are here, there are only 250 or so who understand Sri Aurobindo’s yoga, only forty-five who practise
it, five who are capable of realisation and only one who
can be transformed.” What is the truth?
I may have said something of the kind. But the exactness of the
numbers is certainly fanciful.
It is true that the number of those who take the yoga
seriously is not considerable...
But the Divine Grace is infinite!
20 July 1966

*
Sweet Mother,
I feel it is most shameful on our part to waste the
Divine Grace, to misuse this unique privilege granted to




us here. But, Mother, why do we do this? For, each one
of us has surely felt and enjoyed — at least once in his
life, in a blessed moment — the infinite Splendour which
is within our reach and awaits us. Yet there are so few
of us who take the yoga seriously. Why?
It is quite simply unconsciousness, incoercible TAMAS.
27 July 1966

*
(Regarding an invitation to the captain to follow a course
of practical studies in Calcutta)
Those who sincerely want to learn have all the possibilities to
do so here. The only thing that one has outside, but does not
have here, is the moral constraint of an external discipline.
Here one is free and the only constraint is the one that one
puts on oneself when one is SINCERE.
Now it is for you to decide.
3 August 1966

*
Sweet Mother,
I was very happy to receive Your reply and I have
decided not to go. In any case I doubted that You would
approve of this proposal, but all the same I had the
following reasons when I asked You if I could accept the
invitation. (Here the reasons are enumerated.)
From your letter I can see that you really have a great desire to
accept the invitation... I do not want, then, to deprive you of
this experience and I say to you: “You may go.”
This decision is final.
4 August 1966

*


Series Ten – To a Young Captain

Sweet Mother,
May I have photographs of Sri Aurobindo and You,
with Your blessings, to keep with me when I am far from
Pondicherry?
Do you really want to go?
22 August 1966

*
Sweet Mother,
One final note on this famous affair of the invitation which has created a lot of misunderstandings
everywhere.
Mother, I do not understand You! On one occasion
You say to me: “You may go. This decision is final”;
later when I come to You, You affirm it once again
and send me away with the assurance that You will
be with me always, that I can go without fear, that it
will do me good, etc., in spite of my insistence that I
no longer feel like going after having received Your first
letter.
Naturally, after that, I go and make all the necessary
arrangements. X arranges for my departure. But later
on, You reply to X that You have given me permission
because You learned from me that he approves of my
going there. Strange!
Truly, I understand nothing about all this except
that You are not enthusiastic about my going. But why
all this complication? I don’t know what X thinks of me,
but it is true that I have got him into a very complicated
situation and I regret it.
Mother, after Your last question, I no longer feel
like going. I WILL NOT GO. This is my final decision.
This famous chapter is closed.




Very good. And everything I did was precisely to bring you to
this decision!
23 August 1966

*
Sweet Mother,
India is supposed to be the Guru of the world in
order to establish the spiritual life on earth. But, Mother,
in order to occupy this high position she must be worthy
politically, morally and physically, mustn’t she?
Without any doubt — and just now, there is much to be done!
7 September 1966

*
Sweet Mother,
Why this chaotic condition in our present government? Is it the sign of a change for the better, for the
reign of Truth?
It is the pressure of the force of Truth on the whole earth
which is causing disorder, confusion and falsehood to spring
up everywhere in a refusal to be transformed.
The victory of the Truth is certain, but it is difficult to say
when and how it will come about.
14 September 1966

*
Sweet Mother,
How can one practise yogic disciplines without believing in God or the Divine?31
Why? It is very easy. Because these are only words. When one
practises without believing in God or the Divine, one practises


The Mother replied to this question orally; she was speaking to someone other than
the captain.



Series Ten – To a Young Captain

in order to attain some perfection, to make progress, for all sorts
of reasons.
Are there many people — I am not speaking of those who
have a religion: they learn a catechism when they are young and
that doesn’t mean much; but out of people taken as they are
— are there many who believe in the Divine? Not in Europe
anyway. But even here, there are quite a number who by tradition have a “family deity”, yet it doesn’t bother them at all
to take their deity and throw it into the Ganges when they get
displeased! It does happen — I know some people who did it.
They had a family Kali in their house, they actually did take
her and throw her into the Ganges because they were displeased
with her. If one believes in the Divine, one cannot do things like
that.
I don’t know — believe in the Divine? One thirsts for a certain perfection, perhaps even to transcend oneself, to arrive at
something higher than what one is; if one is a philanthropist,
one has an aspiration that mankind should become better, or
less unhappy, less miserable; all sorts of things like that. One
can practise yoga for that, but that is not believing. To believe is
to have the faith that there cannot be a world without the Divine,
that the very existence of the world proves the existence of the
Divine. And not just a “belief”, not something one has thought
out or been taught, nothing like that: faith. A faith that is a living
knowledge, not an acquired one, that the existence of the world
is enough to prove the Divine. Without the Divine, no world.
And this is so obvious, you see, that one has the impression that
in order to think otherwise, one has to be a bit dense. And the
“Divine” not in the sense of “purpose” or “goal” or “end”, not
that sort of thing: the world as it is proves the Divine. Because
it is the Divine under a certain aspect — a rather distorted one,
but still...
For me it is even stronger than that. I look at a rose, a
thing that contains such a concentration of spontaneous beauty
— not man-made: spontaneous, a blossoming; one has only to




see it to be sure that there is a Divine. It is a certainty. One
cannot... it is impossible not to believe. It is like those people
(this is fantastic!), those people who study Nature, really study it
thoroughly, how everything functions and is brought about and
exists — how can one study sincerely, with attention and care,
without being absolutely convinced that the Divine is there? We
call it the Divine — the Divine is tiny! (Mother laughs.) For me
existence is an incontestable proof that there is... that there is
nothing but That — something we cannot name, cannot define,
cannot describe, but something we can feel and can more and
more become. A Something that is more perfect than all the
perfections, more beautiful than all the beauties, more marvellous than all the marvels, so that even the totality of all that
exists cannot express it. And there is nothing but That. And it
is not a Something floating in nothingness: there is nothing but
That.
8 October 1966

*
Sweet Mother,
How can we know that our acts, our thoughts and
our aspirations are not tainted by vital desire, though
they may seem right to our common sense?
It is a question of inner sincerity. Common sense is not a judge
because it is a mental function of a rather inferior order.
Moreover, there is a very simple way of knowing. One has
only to imagine that the thing one wants to do will not be done,
and if this imagination creates the least uneasiness, then one can
be sure of the presence of desire.
12 October 1966

*


Series Ten – To a Young Captain

Sweet Mother,
In this integral yoga of Sri Aurobindo, work has a
place of capital importance, doesn’t it? This being the
case, what place does meditation have?
Work does not go on twenty-four hours a day.
There is room for many other activities which have their
purpose in an integral Yoga.
26 October 1966

*
Sweet Mother,
In the story You wrote, “The Virtues”, You describe
several virtues. Which is the most necessary?
SINCERITY.
2 November 1966

*
Sweet Mother,
For several years now, we have been hearing that the
Ashram is in a terrible financial condition, and from time
to time we clearly see this for ourselves. But, Mother, we
also see extravagant spending by certain individuals and
certain departments. Moreover, these expenditures are
possible only through Your generosity. So how can it be
said that the Ashram is undergoing a financial crisis?
But perhaps it is just because certain individuals and certain
departments are spending extravagantly that there is a financial
crisis!...
Otherwise all is well.
30 November 1966

*




Sweet Mother,
Your reply explains nothing, for isn’t it You who
orders these expenditures?
Not always.
At least You give Your consent.
Sometimes.
*
When one sits for meditation, one can sometimes succeed
in establishing mental silence. But how can one fix this as
a constant experience? Because the moment one throws
oneself into activity, the mental disturbance begins again!
One can have a quiet mind without being in a complete state
of silence; one can carry on an activity without being disturbed.
The ideal is to be able to act without coming out of the mental
quietude.
One can do everything while keeping the mind quiet, and
what one does is better done.
*
In order to achieve self-mastery, should one follow the
method of “widening the consciousness”?
Widening the consciousness is necessary for all who want to live
a free and intelligent life, even without there being any question
of Yoga or aspiration for the Divine Life.
7 December 1966

*


Series Ten – To a Young Captain

Sweet Mother,
When I heard that X was drowned in a lake at Gingee during the outing, I was unable to believe it or to be
shocked by this news. The only question that arose in me
was: How is it possible! Mother knew we were at Gingee,
so Her protection was with us. Then how is it possible?
The protection is over the group — and if the action of the group
is coordinated and disciplined, the protection acts. But when an
individual acts independently, the protection acts only in the
measure of his faith.
14 December 1966

*
Sweet Mother,
In the Darshan message of November 24th, Sri
Aurobindo speaks of the influence of the Divine Compassion and the Divine Grace.32 But what is the difference between the two?
The compassion seeks to relieve the suffering of all, whether
they deserve it or not.
The Grace does not recognise the right of suffering to exist
and abolishes it.
21 December 1966

*
Sweet Mother,
What are the qualities needed for one to be called
“a true child of the Ashram”?


“There are these three powers: (1) The Cosmic Law, of Karma or what else; (2) the
Divine Compassion acting on as many as it can reach through the nets of the Law and
giving them their chance; (3) the Divine Grace which acts more incalculably but also
more irresistibly than the others.” — Letters on Yoga, SABCL, Vol. 23, p. 609.

Sincerity, courage, discipline, endurance, absolute faith in the
Divine work and unshakable trust in the Divine Grace. All
this must be accompanied by a sustained, ardent, persevering
aspiration and a boundless patience.
Happy New Year
28 December 1966

*
Sweet Mother,
It is said that nothing is in us, everything comes from
outside. It is also said elsewhere that our vision of the
outside (of the world around us) is the reflection of our
inner being. Could you explain these two sentences a
little?
In order to understand these apparent contradictions, one has
to rise to the intellectual level on which all opposite ideas can be
set face to face and assembled in a comprehensive synthesis.
*
You once wrote to me that “others are a mirror reflecting
the image of what you are.” Can you explain this to me
a little?
The things that shock you most in others are those that you are
struggling against in yourself or trying to suppress in yourself.
Knowing this teaches you to be patient.
1 February 1967

*
Sweet Mother,
On the cards that You send to people on their birthdays, often You simply write: “Bonne fête to X, with
my blessings.” But sometimes You write various other
things, such as: “May he be born to the true life” or


Series Ten – To a Young Captain

“For a year of great progress”, etc. On what do all these
variations depend?
On the condition of the one to whom I write the card and on his
state of consciousness, which varies according to the moment
and the year.
8 February 1967

*
Sweet Mother,
The ordinary man is often guided in life by his conscience, isn’t he? So what becomes of one who has no
conscience, who has lost it by having disregarded it too
often?
What is usually called “conscience” is a mental formation based
on the idea of good and evil, a moral entity or rather an element of goodwill which tries to keep the individual on what is
commonly known as the straight path.
This element acts as a defence against the hostile forces
which can quite easily take possession of one who has disregarded the advice of his conscience.
But all this is a mental approximation of the Truth. It is not
the Truth itself.
15 February 1967

*
Sweet Mother,
Why is it that whenever one thinks of You one feels
a need for physical closeness? What is the value of this
physical contact?
(1) When one is more conscious in the physical than in the vital
and mental, the physical relation seems more real and tangible.
(2) For those who have seriously begun the yoga in the body,
the physical relation is of course a powerful aid.




I ask the first to make an effort to establish not only a psychic
relation (which is always there even when they are not conscious
of it) but also a mental and vital relation, which makes the outer
relation less indispensable.
I try to teach the others to widen their physical consciousness
so as to be able to benefit from my physical presence even at a
distance.
22 March 1967

*
Sweet Mother,
When one goes away from here, one feels a sort of
emptiness inside. Even if one has all the physical comforts, there is still something missing. One doesn’t feel
very joyful. One wants to come back as soon as possible.
Can You explain to me the reason for this feeling? Why
doesn’t one even feel free?
Perhaps it is because you have a soul.
12 April 1967

*
Sweet Mother,
What do You mean by Your last answer? Doesn’t
everyone have a soul?
Not everyone is conscious of his soul and very few are those
who are guided by their soul.
19 April 1967

*
Sweet Mother,
Normally, I feel quite happy with life as it is — time
passes quickly. But there are periods when I feel that I


Series Ten – To a Young Captain

am not making much progress. I am still in the rut of
old petty habits which do not allow me to be free.
The character can change and must change, but it is a long
and minute work which requires sustained effort and a great
sincerity.
26 April 1967

*
Sweet Mother,
People are saying many things about the 4th of
May33 — sometimes You too are quoted. But in spite
of all this, I have not quite understood its significance.
Is it necessary that it should have a significance?
Sri Aurobindo announced that from that date onwards
something would happen.34 And it did happen.
That is all that is needed.
21 June 1967

*
Sweet Mother,
It is said that the vibrations of the being develop
from one life to another, become richer and form the psychic personality behind the surface personality. But then
how does the psychic, weighed down by these vibrations
and memories, remain free?35
But why does he say “weighed down”?

The numerical sequence of this date is 4.5.67.


Sri Aurobindo wrote: “1.2.34. It is supposed to be always a year of manifestation.
2.3.45 is the year of power — when the thing manifested gets full force. 4.5.67 is the
year of complete realisation.” (Letter of 2 February 1934)

The Mother replied to this question orally; she was speaking to someone other than
the captain.

No, the psychic decants — that is exactly what happens.
The psychic does not retain things in their totality — it decants,
it gradually decants the vibrations.
The psychic memory is a decanted memory of events. For
example, in past lives there have been moments when, for some
reason or other, the psychic was present and participated; in that
case it retains the memory of the circumstance. But the memory
it retains is that of the psychic life of that moment; so even if it
retains the memory of the image, it is a simplified image such as
it is translated in the psychic consciousness and according to the
psychic vibration of all the people present.
He would not ask such a question if he had ever had a
psychic memory, because when one has one, it is quite evident.
Before knowing these things, I had had psychic memories
and always they struck me by their special character. It was as
if one had, one cannot exactly say an emotion, but a certain
emotional vibration of a circumstance; and that is what is solid,
what remains, what lasts. And so with that, one has a perception
— a little vague, a little blurred — of the people who were there,
of the circumstances, of the events, and that makes a psychic
memory; it is rarely the events that mentally are considered
as the most memorable or most important in a lifetime, but
the moments when the psychic has participated — consciously
participated — in the event. And that is what remains.
15 July 1967

*
Sweet Mother,
You are with us always and at every moment, only
we are not conscious of it. Only danger makes us recall
Your Presence so that we may have Your protection. But
the other day while we were on a long journey, we felt the
presence of someone other than ourselves in the car, and
it was very strong, even though we were not conscious


Series Ten – To a Young Captain

of any danger. Was there a possibility of danger on that
day? If so, why didn’t we sense it?
I was very strongly and consciously with you because X had
written to me that the tyres of the car were in poor condition.
You did not feel the danger because I did not want you to
feel it.
19 July 1967

*
Sweet Mother,
Why is it that in the Ashram itself people feel the
need to form little groups and societies: for example,
World Union, New Age Association, etc.? What is their
purpose?
It is because men still imagine that to do something useful, they
have to form groups.
It is the caricature of organisation.
20 September 1967

*
Sweet Mother,
Does the Divine punish injustice? Is it possible that
He ever punishes anyone?
16 October 1967

16 October 1967 – 25 July 1970
After all these years I have found the forgotten notebook, and I
reply:
The Divine does not see things as men do and has no need
to punish or reward.
All actions carry in themselves their fruits with their consequences.




According to its nature, an action brings one nearer to the
Divine or takes one farther from Him — and that is the supreme
consequence.
25 July 1970

*
Sweet Mother,
The other day I had a discussion with X about Sri
Aurobindo’s Action. He said that had there been an enlightened person like Vivekananda, the work could have
been done better, but that Mother has to do Her work
with the instruments She has at her disposal. Finally he
told me that he had no opinion on the subject. “My
business,” he said, “is to write.” And he asked me what
my “business” was. I replied that I didn’t know what
my “business” was — all I knew was that I had to concentrate on myself in order to perfect myself more and
more. Was that correct? Mother, what actually is my
“business”?
Certainly, the most important occupation is to develop and perfect oneself, but that can be done very well, and even better, while
working. It is for you to know what work it is that most interests
you, the one that opens for you a path towards perfection. It
may be something apparently very modest; it is not the apparent
importance of a work which gives it its real value for the yoga.
5 August 1970

*
Sweet Mother,
I have read and heard much about past and future
lives, but I feel very strongly that it is in this very life that
we must realise our highest aspirations, as if this were
the last chance given to us. For me, allusions to other
lives are intangible and academic rather than a help and


Series Ten – To a Young Captain

a hope. It is not that I don’t believe in reincarnation, but
this idea comes back to my mind very often. Mother, is
this a narrowness of vision on my part, or what?
Knowledge of past lives is interesting for an understanding of
one’s nature and a mastery of one’s imperfections. But to tell the
truth, it is not of capital importance, and it is far more important
to concentrate on the future, on the consciousness to be acquired
and on the development of the nature, which is almost unlimited
for those who know how to do it.
We are at an especially favourable moment in the universal
existence, a moment when, upon earth, everything is being prepared for a new creation, or rather, for a new manifestation in
the eternal creation.
7 November 1970

*
Sweet Mother,
When You are physically stricken, I always feel very
sad. I tell myself that it is not an ordinary illness, that
it is an experience leading towards physical transformation. But when I think of Your suffering body, I am
sad. And then, is this not part of the Sacrifice of the
Supreme spoken of by Sri Aurobindo? Are we worthy of
this Sacrifice?
Sweet Mother, at times like this, how should we be?
What is the best attitude on our part?
The best for each one is to progress as sincerely as he can. The
material difficulties are part of the work of transformation and
they should be accepted calmly.
14 November 1970

*




Sweet Mother,
I have the impression that Your Force responds according to the intensity of our prayer. But my case seems
to be different. Or am I not conscious of my prayers?
Or is everything done for me, for my good, in spite of
myself?
It is always that way for everyone. The difference lies in each
one’s state of consciousness. Some are entirely conscious of what
is done for them. Those who make an effort become conscious
of the answer they receive, and there are those whose aspiration is sufficiently strong and sincere for them to be constantly
conscious of the help they are given.
28 November 1970





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