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Sri Aurobindo Ashram
Sri Aurobindo was living in Pondicherry with four or five disciples from 1910 to 1920. In 1914 the Mother came from France (with Paul Richard) and Sri Aurobindo began to edit the Arya, which continued up to January 1920. In April 1920 the Mother came back from Japan and gradually, as the number of people increased, the Ashram was founded in 1926.
Although there is a certain charm and poetry in the fact that there is no formal date for the creation of our Ashram, could it be said from the occult point of view that the Ashram was born with the Mother’s arrival?
The Ashram was born a few years after my return from Japan, in 1926. 17 April 1967 The 21st February is the Mother’s¹ birthday. The 29th March is the anniversary of her first meeting with Sri Aurobindo. The 4th April is the Ashram New Year, date of Sri Aurobindo’s arrival in Pondicherry. The 24th April is the date of the Mother’s final return to Pondicherry in 1920. The 15th August is Sri Aurobindo’s birthday. The 24th November is called the day of Victory in remembrance of a very important spiritual event which took place in 1926. 1938 ¹Here Mother is writing about herself in the third person Page – 109
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The usual sadhanas have for aim the union with the Supreme Consciousness (Sat-chit-ananda). And those who reach there are satisfied with their own liberation and leave the world to its unhappy plight. On the contrary Sri Aurobindo’s sadhana starts where the others end. Once the union with the Supreme is realised one must bring down that realisation to the exterior world and change the conditions of life upon the earth until a total transformation is accomplished. In accordance with this aim, the sadhaks of the integral yoga do not retire from the world to lead a life of contemplation and meditation. Each one must devote at least one-third of his time to a useful work. All activities are represented in the Ashram and each one chooses the work most congenial to his nature, but must do it in a spirit of service and unselfishness, keeping always in view the aim of integral transformation. To make this purpose possible the Ashram is organised so that all its inmates find their reasonable needs satisfied and have not to worry about their subsistence. Page – 111 The rules are very few so that each one can enjoy the freedom needed for his development but a few things are strictly forbidden: they are ― (1) politics, (2) smoking, (3) alcoholic drink and (4) sex enjoyment. Great care is taken for the maintenance of good health and the welfare and normal growth of the body of all, small and big, young and old. 24 September 1953 Appearances and rules change, but our faith and our aim remain the same. 30 October 1954
Ours is neither a political nor a social but a spiritual goal. What we want is a transformation of the individual consciousness, not a change of regime or government. For reaching that goal we put no confidence in any human means, however powerful; our trust is in the Divine Grace alone.
For us here there is only one thing that counts. We aspire for the Divine, live for the Divine, act for the Divine. July 1956 It is ages of ardent aspiration that have brought us here to do the Divine’s Work.
Sweet Mother, we are told that the conditions were much more strict and the discipline more rigorous Page – 112 before children came to the Ashram. How and why have these conditions changed now?
Before the children came, only those who wanted to do sadhana were admitted to the Ashram and the only habits and activities tolerated were those that were useful for the practice of sadhana. But as it would be unreasonable to demand that children should do sadhana, this rigidity had to disappear the moment the children were introduced into the Ashram. January 1961
None of the present achievements of humanity, however great they are, can be for us an ideal to follow. The wide world is there as a field of experiment for human ideals. Our purpose is quite different and if our chances of success are small just now, we are sure that we are working to prepare the future. I know that from the external point of view we are below many of the present achievements in this world, but our aim is not a perfection in accordance with the human standards. We are endeavouring for something else which belongs to the future. The Ashram has been founded and is meant to be the cradle of the new world. The inspiration is from above, the guiding force is from above, the creative power is from above, at work for the descent of the new realisation. It is only by its shortcomings, its deficiencies and its failures that the Ashram belongs to the present world. None of the present achievements of humanity have the power to pull the Ashram out of its difficulties. It is only a total conversion of all its members and an integral opening to the descending Light of Truth that can help it to realise itself. Page – 113 The task, no doubt, is a formidable one, but we received the command to accomplish it and we are upon earth for that purpose alone. We shall continue up to the end with an unfailing trust in the Will and the Help of the Supreme. The door is open and will always remain open to all those who decide to give their life for that purpose. 13 June 1964
There is something here which is so much better than the appearances, something like a warm and living sun in the heart and in the spirit.
This is true discernment and I congratulate you. Those who see only the appearances are unable to discern in them the differences, subtle but of capital importance, which arise from the presence of a true and luminous consciousness. 11 June 1967
Here we do not have religion. We replace religion by the spiritual life, which is truer, deeper and higher at the same time, that is to say, closer to the Divine. For the Divine is in everything, but we are not conscious of it. This is the immense progress that man must make. 19 March 1973 Page – 114 |
