The Mother was once asked when and how she became conscious of her mission, when and how she came to meet Sri Aurobindo. Let me give her answer in her own words:
“For the knowledge of the mission, it is difficult to say when it came to me. It is as though I was born with it, and following the growth of the mind and brain, the precision and completeness of this consciousness grew also.
Between 11 and 13 a series of psychic and spiritual experiences revealed to me not only the existence of God but man’s possibility of meeting with Him, or revealing Him integrally in consciousness and action, of manifesting Him upon earth in a life divine. This, along with a practical discipline for its fulfilment, was given to me during my body’s sleep by several teachers, some of whom I met afterwards on the physical plane. Later on, as the interior and exterior development proceeded, the spiritual and physical relation with one of these beings became more and more clear and pregnant, and although I knew little of the Indian philosophies and religions at that time, I was led to call him Krishna and thenceforth I was aware that it was with him (whom I should meet on earth one day) that the divine work was to be done… As soon as I saw Sri Aurobindo, I recognised him as the well-known being whom I used to call Krishna… and this is enough to explain why I am fully convinced that my place and my work are near him in India.”
And to India she came in 1914. She collaborated with Sri Aurobindo in starting the journal Arya which spelled out the Gospel of Divine Life and the way to build it through the Yoga of Self-Perfection. The Ideal included the perfection, of society and the unity of the Human Race. The Mother had to leave after the outbreak of the First World War, but returned in 1920 and has been here ever since carrying on her divine ministry of bringing solace to suffering humanity, implanting aspiration for a higher and diviner life, accepting and helping those who seek the opportunity to perfect themselves in the ways of Truth, Love, Harmony.
It is a unique Ashram that she has organised for the practice and development of a divine life, for the establishment of a centre of a divine manifestation. Tracing the origins of this community she once narrated in a reminiscent mood – let me quote:
“At the beginning of my present earthly existence I was put into touch with many people who said they had a great inner aspiration, an urge towards something, deeper and truer, but were tied down, subjected, slaves of that brutal necessity of earning their living, and that this weighed down upon them so much, took away so much of their time and energy that they could not engage in any other activity, inner or outer. I heard that very often. I was very young at that time, and always I used to tell myself that if ever I could do it, I would try to create a little world – oh! quite a small one, but still a small world where people would be able to live without having to be preoccupied by problems of food and lodging and clothing and the imperious necessities of life, to see if all the energies freed by this certainty of an assured material living, would spontaneously be turned towards the divine life and inner realisation. Well, towards the middle of my life–at least, what is generally considered the middle of human life–the means was given to me and I could realise this, that is, create these conditions of living.”
This is the Sri Aurobindo Ashram created by the Mother where more than 1500 seekers are given facilities to grow out of the normal human life of ignorance, limitation and suffering into one of knowledge, freedom and joy. The central core consists of Sadhaks who have consecrated their lives to the realisation of life divine in their day-to-day existence. The spiritual endeavour, however, is not confined to the soul development alone. In addition to facilities and guidance for yoga, meditation, prayer, concentration, adoration and other ways of physical self-conversion, provision is made for the growth of the mind in the healthy climate of spiritual knowledge. The vast extent of the Master’s writings, the Mother’s talks, and the expositions by various disciples in different languages are there open before the aspirant. Necessary help is given by the seniors by way of holding classes, study groups etc., to expand the mind and help it to acclimatise itself to the vibrations of mind-transcending knowledge. Next, there is a large field for Karmayoga, disinterested service as a necessary part of Sadhana. Almost all the different departments of life are organised in this community and each one undertakes to contribute his share to the work as his consecration to the Master of Works. Work is welcomed not only as a means for the growth of the spirit of self-consecration but also as a testing ground for the extent of the change in one’s consciousness. One gets plenty of opportunities in such a collective organisation to see for oneself how far one is able to function in a yogic spirit. And, lastly, there is the claim of the physical body. Due care is taken to ensure the development of the physical body and, what is more, to promote the awakening of consciousness in the body. Thus it is a four-pronged movement from the human to the Divine.
In sum, the pattern of life that is being shaped by her, leads towards a many-sided perfection: harmony and beauty in the material order, perception of a living consciousness in material things and cherishing them with utmost care; full development of will and power by consecrating them to the Divine; enlargement of the faculties of knowledge and opening up of the higher ranges of the mind leading to a Truth-Consciousness; the dynamisation of the centre of Love in the heart.
Around the inner circle, so to say, of the Sadhaks who are seriously engaged in yogic pursuit, there is a large belt of devotees who have gathered in order to breathe the sacred atmosphere of the Masters and prepare themselves for Yoga in the fullness of time. There is next a growing community of students who are being trained at the Ashram’s Centre of Education which provides for teaching in arts, sciences, applied branches of learning with a special stress on the growth of the soul of the taught. This scheme is designed to ensure complete liberty for the child under a careful, unseen supervision, it precludes imposition from outside and encourages self-initiation and progress.
In keeping with the dictum of the Master that All Life is Yoga, the Mother has encouraged Ashram extensions into fields of business, commerce and industries in a small way. This experiment is intended to demonstrate how it is possible to work in these spheres of life keeping to the high standard of honesty and rectitude that are expected of the seeker for Truth.
This pilot project for the experiment of a spiritual society accepting the burden of life in a full measure, is now being extended to a larger range i.e. Auroville, the City of Dawn, where arrangements are under way to provide for nearly a hundred thousand persons from all over the world to pursue this quest of Life Divine in full freedom, in conditions that permit an ideal equation of man and society.
Countless devotees and disciples of the Mother in various countries have found a new Light wherewith to guide themselves in the person and the teaching of the Mother. Her way is the way of illumined Nature. She insists upon freedom in all walks of life. She promotes equality of sexes: whether men or women, they have the same divine soul.
The Mother has been working with Sri Aurobindo for the advent of a New Life for humanity which is possible only with the development of a new consciousness in man – higher than the mental consciousness that he has at present. This is the next stage in human evolution and the Mother has successfully embodied this Truth-Consciousness in herself thereby making it possible for others to do likewise. The work is still on. The change from the human to the divine Nature is being incessantly organised in herself and steadily built up in those who are open to this truth of the Divine Manifestation.
Her life has been one of endless patience, quenchless hope and tireless work for the transformation of the earthly conditions of humanity. She has taken upon herself the load of the cosmic problem and tackled it at its roots. Of her Sri Aurobindo wrote more than 50 years ago, and all who have come under her radiant influence have realised it to be so true:
She is above all, bound by nothing, attached to nothing in the universe. Yet has she more than any other the heart of the universal Mother. For her compassion is endless and inexhaustible…. But her compassion does not blind her wisdom or turn her action from the course decreed; for the Truth of things is her one concern, knowledge her centre of power and to build our soul and our nature into the divine Truth her mission and her labour.
M.P.Pandit
(M.P. Pandit came to the Ashram at a very young age. He is the author of a large number of books and articles on Integral Yoga and the Indian spiritual tradition. He was the Chairman of World Union International.)
(Written in October 1973 and taken from The Mother and her Mission)
