September 21, 1966
(This conversation came about following a personal question of Satprem’s, who asked Mother if he should not refuse an amount of money offered to him by the French government: a war pension. Satprem’s intention was to refuse that pension, not wanting to feel tied to any government and any country for any amount of money. Mother advised him to accept that money for the divine Work.)
I had a revelation, in the sense that it was more on the order of a vision.
For external reasons, I was looking at the sorry state in which all countries find themselves, the truly painful and dangerous conditions of the earth, and there was a sort of all-embracing vision
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showing how nations (men taken as nations) have acted and are increasingly acting in a growing Falsehood, and how they have used all their creative power to create such formidable means of destruction, with, at the back of their minds, the really childish notion that the destruction would be so terrible that no one would want to use them. But they don’t know (they ought to know, but they don’t) that things have a consciousness and a force of manifestation, and that all those means of destruction are pressing to be used; and even though men may not want to use them, a force stronger than they will be pushing them to do so.
Then, seeing all this, the imminence of the catastrophe, there was a sort of call or aspiration to bring down something that could at least neutralize that error. And it came, an answer … I can’t say I heard it with my ears, but it was so clear, so strong and precise that it was indisputable. I am obliged to translate it into words; if I translate it into words, I may say something like this: “That’s why you have created Auroville.”
And with the clear vision that Auroville was a center of force and creation, with … (how can I explain?) a seed of truth, and that if it could sprout and develop, the very movement of its growth would be a reaction against the catastrophic consequences of the error of armament.
I found this very interesting because this birth of Auroville wasn’t preceded by any thought; as always, it was simply a Force acting, like a sort of absolute manifesting, and it was so strong [when the idea of Auroville presented itself to Mother] that I could have told people, “Even if you don’t believe in it, even if all circumstances appear to be quite unfavorable, I KNOW THAT AUROVILLE WILL BE. It may be in a hundred years, it may be in a thousand years, I don’t know, but Auroville will be, because it has been decreed.” So it was decreed – and done quite simply, like that, in obedience to a Command, without any thought. And when I was told that (I say, “I was told,” but you understand what I mean), when I was told that, it was to tell me, “Here is why you have made Auroville; you are unaware of it, but that’s why….” Because it was the LAST HOPE to react against the imminent catastrophe. If some interest is awakened in all countries for this creation, little by little it will have the power to react against the error they have committed.
I found this very interesting, because I had never thought about it.
And naturally, when I was shown that, I understood; I perceived
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how the creation of Auroville has an action in the invisible, and what action. It’s not a material, outward action: it’s an action in the invisible. And since then, I have been trying to make countries understand it, of course not outwardly because they all think they’re much too clever to be taught anything, but inwardly, in the invisible.
It’s fairly recent, it dates from two or three days ago. I had never been told this. It was said very clearly – “said,” I mean seen, shown like this (gesture of a scene offered to the sight). So my interest in Auroville has considerably increased since then. Because I have understood that it isn’t just a creation of idealism, but quite a practical phenomenon, in the hope … in the will, rather, to thwart and counterbalance the effects – the frightful effects – of the psychological error of believing that fear can save you from a danger! Fear attracts the danger much more than it saves you from it. And all these countries, all these governments commit blunder upon blunder because of that fear of the catastrophe.
All this is simply to tell you that if nations collaborate in the work of Auroville, even to a very modest extent [such as this offer of money from the French government], it will do them good – it can do them a lot of good, a good that can be out of proportion to the appearance of their actions.
You speak of the imminence of a catastrophe, but still Auroville will take some time to be realized?
No! I am speaking of the countries’ collaboration in CREATING something. It’s not when Auroville has been completed: it’s the nations’ collaboration in creating something – but creating something founded on the Truth instead of a rivalry in Falsehood’s creation. It’s not when Auroville is ready – when Auroville is ready, it will be one town among all other towns and it’s only its own capacity of truth that will have power, but that … remains to be seen.
No, the point is a combined interest in building something founded on the Truth. They have had a combined interest (combined without any mutual liking, of course) in creating a power of destruction built on Falsehood; well, Auroville means diverting a little of that force (the quantity is minor, but the quality is superior). It’s truly a hope – it’s founded on a hope – of doing something that can be the beginning of a harmony.
No, it’s RIGHT NOW, right now. The force of propagation is far
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greater, it’s out of proportion to the transmitting center [Mother], which, on a world scale, is so to say unknown and almost nonexistent. But the center, the power of radiation and propagation is out of proportion, it’s rather remarkable: the response [to Auroville] is everywhere, everywhere; a response from new Africa, a response in France, a response in Russia, a response in America, a response in Canada, and a response in numerous countries, in Italy … everywhere, everywhere. And not just individuals: groups, tendencies, movements, even in governments.
What’s proving to be the most refractory (and the irony of it is wonderful) is … the United Nations! Those people are outdated, oh! … They haven’t yet gone beyond the “materialistic, antireligious movement,” and they made a derogatory remark about the Auroville brochure, saying it was “mystic,” with “religious” tendency. The irony is lovely!
Besides, even quite outwardly, that fight between India and Pakistan [[Mother is referring to last year's conflict of September 1965, on the occasion of which Mother had publicly encouraged India to fight to the end. ]] was clearly … (how can I put it? … The words that come to me are English) initiated and driven, that is to say, set in motion by and under the impulsion of the forces of Truth that wanted to create a great “Asian Federation” with the power to counterbalance Red China and its movement. It was a federation that, as a matter of fact, needed the return of Pakistan and all those regions, and which includes Nepal, Tibet, also Burma, and in the south, Ceylon. A great federation with each country having its autonomous development, perfectly free, but which would be united in a common single aspiration for peace and fight against the invasion of forces of dissolution. That was very clear, it was willed – and it’s the intervention of this United Nations that stopped everything.[[ Under United Nations' pressure, India gave up its advantage over Pakistan and "surrendered" at Tashkent. ]]
I am not saying anything officially; because I have said and always repeat that politics is in complete Falsehood, based on Falsehood, and I am not dealing with it, meaning that I am not in politics, I don’t want to be – but that doesn’t stop me from seeing clearly! … People have come and asked me (from every side, by the way) for my opinion, view or advice; I said, "No, I don’t deal in politics." You see, all diplomacy is absolutely based on a DELIBERATE Falsehood. As long as it is like that, there’s no hope: the inspirations will always come from the wrong side; inspirations, impulsions, ideas, everything will always come from the wrong
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side – which means the inescapable blunder, for everyone. A few rare individuals feel that and are aware of it, and they are half desperate because nobody listens to them.
Unfortunately, following the present tendencies, for Auroville they are trying to get UNESCO’S support (!) I, of course, knew beforehand that those [UNESCO] people couldn’t understand, but … they are trying. Because everywhere people (it’s a sort of superstition), everywhere people say, “No, I’ll open my purse strings only with UNESCO’s approval and encouragement” – I am talking about those whose contribution matters, lots of people, so …
Only, to me, all this is the crust, the quite superficial experience – the crust; and things have to happen underneath, beneath that crust. It’s just an appearance.
I said that to those who look after Auroville, I told them, “Those people [of UNESCO] are two hundred years behind the earth’s march, so there’s little hope they’ll understand.” But anyway, I didn’t tell them not to deal with them – I don’t give any advice.
But tiny details such as the one we spoke of just before [the French government's offer of a pension] are an indication: it’s countries collaborating in the Truth without knowing it. And it’s very good, it will do them good. It’s good for them. It doesn’t matter if they aren’t aware of it (smiling): they won’t have the pleasure of having done it, that’s all!
(silence)
But I was the first to be very interested, because it came like that (gesture of irresistible descent), with all-powerful authority: “That’s why Auroville has been created.”
(Mother goes into a contemplation, then resumes)
I see all kinds of very amusing things pass by; just now, this reflection: “Ah, it’s a Tower of Babel in reverse.” (Mother laughs) That’s interesting! They united and divided in the construction, so now, they come together to unite in the construction. That’s it: a Tower of Babel … in reverse!
(Mother stops for an instant, as if she saw something)
One suddenly sees … It’s a certain region, there, a region in the earth atmosphere, vast and imperishable, where things take on a
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new importance, which sometimes belies appearances, and one sees a sort of great, immense current carrying circumstances and events along towards a goal … always the same goal, and through very unexpected paths. It becomes very vast, and despite the horror of details, as a whole it takes on a very smiling Rhythm….
Now I know, I remember, this whole experience came after I saw a book that was published quite recently in India, in English, which they entitled The Roll of Honour, and in which there is a photo and a short biography of all those who died in the fight against the British, for India’s freedom. There were photos everywhere, lots of them (some were only photos the police took after they had just been killed and were lying on the ground). And it all brought a certain atmosphere: the atmosphere of those disinterested goodwilled people who meet with a tragic fate. It had the same impression on me as the horrors of the Germans during the war over there. These things are obviously under the direct influence of certain adverse forces, but we know that the adverse forces are, so to say, permitted to work – through the sense of horror, in fact – in order to hasten the awakening of consciousness. So then, that experience, which was very strong and was very like the one I had when I saw the photographs of German atrocities in France, put me in contact with the vision of the human, terrestrial, modern error (it’s modern: it began these last one thousand years and has become more and more acute in the last hundred years), with the aspiration to counterbalance that: How to do it?… What is to be done?… And the answer: “That’s why you have created Auroville.”
There is a perception of forces – the forces that act directly in events, material events, which are … illusory and deceptive. For instance, the man who fought for his country’s freedom, who has just been assassinated because he is a rebel, and who looks defeated, lying there on the edge of the road – he is the real victor. That’s how it is, it clearly shows the kind of relationship between the truth and the expression. Then, if you enter the consciousness in which you perceive the play of forces and see the world in that light, it’s very interesting. And that’s how, when I was in that state, I was told, clearly shown (it’s inexpressible because it isn’t with words, but these are facts): “That’s why you have created Auroville….” It’s the same thing as with that photo. [[Mother gestures to show the man shot lying victorious on the roadside, implying that Auroville's modest appearances are quite out of proportion to its true role in the invisible. ]]
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There, you’ll keep this.
***
A note on Auroville by Mother:
“Humanity is not the last rung of terrestrial
creation. Evolution continues and man will be
surpassed. It is for each one to know whether he
wants to participate in the advent of the new
species. For those who are satisfied with the
world as it is, Auroville obviously has no raison
d’être."
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