January 27, 1971
(Mother hands to Satprem a note that she sent
to an Aurovillian)
“It is the old methods of yoga that demand silence and solitude.
The yoga of tomorrow is to find the Divine in work and in contact with the world.”
* * *
(Then a quotation from Sri Aurobindo that Mother wants to include in the next “Bulletin.”)
“The power that works in this yoga is of a thorough-
going character and tolerates in the end nothing great or
small that is an obstacle to the Truth and its realisation.”
Sri Aurobindo
Letters on Yoga, XXIII. 803
* * *
Tell me, the introduction to your book[[On the Way to Supermanhood. ]] was supposed to be published in January…. But now January is almost over.
It was sent to France to the publisher of “Planète" [a magazine
devoted to occultism and parapsychology] — I still don’t know
if they’re going to take it, but it was sent to them.
In America it’s doing VERY WELL. It’s already been sent to many people. And so now you’ve got an enthusiastic reader, R.! She’s absolutely fervent, she told me she’s transformed. So she’s going to work very vigorously over there in America.
N. on his side is pressing to have it translated into Spanish and Italian. Some people want to do it in Portuguese.
But when I saw the effect on R…. You know R. is a person who is not easily carried away — she was transformed, literally transformed, and she told me it was like the revelation of her life for
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her…. That was the chapter on the "New Consciousness."
I would like her to hear the end…. If you sit here (gesture to Mother’s right), I think I can hear you.
As you like, Mother. I think there were six chapters left to read.
Yes, six. We had read the tenth.
Yes! What a memory you have!
(Smiling) That….
Your memory works when it wants to!
No, it depends on the place things occupy in the consciousness. It’s a memory of consciousness, not a mechanical memory.
A lot of things have happened recently, haven’t they?
Yes, a lot. A lot.
But above all I am expecting the book to have a tremendous impact in America, ESPECIALLY there…. I don’t think I am wrong.
To tell you the truth, I wish this book could be translated into American English by an American.
Yes.
Because they really don’t have the same language as the English.
Yes.
British English is too polished, too neutral, it’s not direct
enough.
Perhaps you could see R. and ask her if she knows someone in America who could translate it…. It should be an Americanizing American, I mean someone full of conviction. There’s S., who was here for a long time and went back to America…. She’s really American; I don’t know how literary she is, but she knows some people.
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I had thought of N.D.’s granddaughter, Debbie, I must say.
Oh!
That girl has something.
You mean the one who was here?
Yes. She came here. She’s quite young.
Yes, quite young. It’s very good. It’s much better to have someone young, much better. Yes, that’s excellent.
To translate into British English…. For me England is a country half-dead … but that doesn’t matter, many countries speak English. But a special translation for America is a very good idea.
I haven’t concerned myself with anything for a long time, but now I am all right.
You’re all right?
Yes, I am all right.
Now we should get the book moving.
It is supposed to come out [in the Ashram] in French next
month.
All the more reason we should work on it everywhere — everywhere.
There are the northern European countries…. We have someone from there who has just been called back to his post in Sweden or Norway…. He could do some work over there. He should be given the introduction and the book when it appears.
Yes, we should get it moving. I have the feeling this is the book that is going to electrify America. And when I saw the effect on R., I saw I wasn’t wrong, because she represents the intellectual element of that country. She was so enthusiastic that if they are taken by it … it can create a tremendous movement over there.
I am counting on it.
(Then Satprem reads to Mother a letter
from the friend in the Vatican.)
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” … When the Pope was traveling [in the Pacific], there were two assassination attempts on him — they didn’t succeed. I consider the Pope as being especially protected by me, through me. Twice they tried to kill him, and twice they failed.
I don’t know why they want to kill him…. If there is anyone who is understanding in this whole mess, it’s he.”
(silence)
Well, do you have the next chapter?
Yes, Mother. I’ve called it “The Sociology of the Superman.”
It’s Auroville without naming it.
Ah!…
But a very ideal Auroville!
Yes! (Laughing) Far from what it is.
(Satprem reads a few pages
of the chapter)
Oh, it’s splendid, mon petit!
On the way to conquering the world….
You see, it really has come. I called and called and called, and it has come (gesture of descent). It has come. I am very happy.
It’s splendid…. I personally have the feeling there is a close and invisible connection between America’s aspiration, as it is now, and the book. I have the feeling that’s where the center of transformation will be. The European countries are old.
Old, that’s right.
They’ve lost the enthusiasm that makes you act without thinking about consequences. They’re constantly weighing the consequences of everything they do. In America there’s an aspiration. That’s where the push will be, that’s where (pointing to the manuscript) … the bomb must go off! (laughter)
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