The Spiritual Significance of Flowers

Mother, when flowers are brought to you, how do you give them a significance?

By entering into contact with the nature of the flower, its inner truth. Then one knows what it represents.

Mother, how do you give a significance to a flower?

By entering into contact with it and giving a meaning, more or less precise, to what I feel.

Mother, each flower has its own significance, doesn't it?

Not as we understand it mentally. There is a mental projection when one gives a precise significance to a flower. ... A flower does not have the equivalent of a mental consciousness. ... It is rather like the movement of a little baby, neither a sensation nor a feeling, but something of both; it is a spontaneous movement, a very special vibration. Well, if one is in contact with this vibration, if one feels it, one receives an impression which may be translated by a thought. This is how I give a significance to flowers and plants. There is a kind of identification with the vibration, a perception of the quality it represents, and gradually through a kind of approximation (sometimes it comes suddenly, occasionally it takes time) there is a convergence of these vibrations, which are of a vital-emotional order, and the vibration of mental thought, and if there is sufficient accord one has a direct perception of what the plant may signify.

THE MOTHER

The Mother was born Mirra Alfassa on 21 February 1878 in Paris. A student at the Academie Julian, she became an accomplished artist. Gifted from an early age with a capacity for spiritual and occult experience, she went to Tlemcen, Algeria, in 1906 and 1907 to study occultism with the adept Max Theon and his wife. Between 1911 and 1913 she gave a number of talks to various groups of seekers in Paris and began to record her deepening communion with the Divine in the diary later published as Prayers and Meditations.

In 1914 the Mother voyaged to Pondicherry, South India, to meet the Indian mystic Sri Aurobindo. After a stay of eleven months, she was obliged by the outbreak of the First World War to return to France. A year later she went to Japan, where she remained for four years. In April 1920 the Mother rejoined Sri Aurobindo in Pondicherry. Six years later, when the Sri Aurobindo Ashram was founded, Sri Aurobindo entrusted its material and spiritual charge to her, for he considered her not a disciple but his spiritual equal and collaborator. Under her guidance the Ashram grew into a large, many-faceted spiritual community. She also established a school, the Sri Aurobindo International Centre of Education, in 1952, and an international township, Auroville, in 1968. The Mother passed away on 17 November 1973.

Chapter 1

Aditi and Avatar

The red lotus is the Avatar.
The white lotus is the Divine Consciousness.    THE MOTHER

The red lotus represents Sri Aurobindo, the white one represents me.
In a general way the lotus is the flower of the Divine Wisdom, whatever its colour. But red signifies the Avatar, the Divine incarnated in matter, and white signifies the Divine Consciousness manifested upon earth.    THE MOTHER

ADITI

Aditi — The Mother. Aditi is the indivisible consciousness, force and Ananda of the Supreme; the Mother, its living dynamis, the supreme Love, Wisdom, Power.    SRI AUROBINDO

According to the Truth of things . . . the worlds are brought forth from the divine consciousness, from Aditi, goddess of infinite being, mother of the gods, the indivisible consciousness, the Light that cannot be impaired. . . .

SRI AUROBINDO

The Divine Mother is the Consciousness and Force of the Divine — which is the Mother of all things.    SRI AUROBINDO

The One whom we adore as the Mother is the divine Conscious Force that dominates all existence. ...    SRI AUROBINDO

All is created by the Supreme Goddess, the Supreme and Original Mahashakti, all proceeds from her, all lives by her, all lives in her, even as she lives in all. All wisdom and knowledge are her wisdom and knowledge; all power is her power, all will and force her will and force, all action is her action, all movement her movement. All beings are portions of her power of existence.    SRI AUROBINDO

At the head she stands of birth and toil and fate,
In their slow round the cycles turn to her call;
Alone her hands can change Time's dragon base.
Hers is the mystery the Night conceals;
The spirit's alchemist energy is hers;
She is the golden bridge, the wonderful fire.
The luminous heart of the Unknown is she,
A power of silence in the depths of God;
She is the Force, the inevitable Word,
The magnet of our difficult ascent,
The Sun from which we kindle all our suns,
The Light that leans from the unrealised Vasts,
The joy that beckons from the impossible,
The Might of all that never yet came down.

SRI AUROBINDO

 
1 Aditi - the Divine Consciousness
Pure, immaculate, gloriously powerful.
Nelumbo nucifera 'Alba'. White

The word Avatara means a descent; it is a coming down of the Divine below the line which divides the divine from the human world or status.    Sri Aurobindo

 
An Avatar is an emanation of the Supreme Lord who assumes a human body on earth.    The Mother

An Avatar, roughly speaking, is one who is conscious of the presence and power of the Divine born in him or descended into him and governing from within his will and life and action; he feels identified inwardly with this divine power and presence.    SRI AUROBINDO

 
The reason for which the Avatars descend is to raise up man again and again, developing in him a higher and ever-higher humanity, a greater and yet greater development of divine being, bringing more and more of heaven again and again upon the earth until our toil is done, our work accomplished and Sachchidananda fulfilled in all even here, even in this material universe.

Sri Aurobindo

The Avatar comes to reveal the divine nature in man above this lower nature and to show what are the divine works, free, unegoistic, disinterested, impersonal, universal, full of the divine light, the divine power and the divine love. He comes as the divine personality which shall fill the consciousness of the human being and replace the limited egoistic personality, so that it shall be liberated out of ego into infinity and universality, out of birth into immortality. He comes as the divine power and love which calls men to itself, so that they may take refuge in that and no longer in the insufficiency of their human wills and the strife of their human fear, wrath and passion, and liberated from all this unquiet and suffering may live in the calm and bliss of the Divine.

Sri Aurobindo

 
Surely for the earth-consciousness the very fact that the Divine manifests himself is the greatest of all splendours. Consider the obscurity here and what it would be if the Divine did not directly intervene and the Light of Lights did not break out of the obscurity — for that is the meaning of the manifestation.    Sri Aurobindo

His was a spirit that stooped from larger spheres
Into our province of ephemeral sight,
A colonist from immortality. . . .
His human self like a translucent cloak
Covered the All-Wise who leads the unseeing world.
Affiliated to cosmic Space and Time
And paying here God's debt to earth and man
A greater sonship was his divine right.

Sri Aurobindo

 
2 Avatar — the Supreme manifest on earth in a body
The red lotus is Sri Aurobindo's flower.
Nelumbo nucifera. Pinkish red

Chapter 2

The Divine

The Divine is that from which all comes, in which all lives, and to return to the truth of the Divine now clouded over by Ignorance is the soul's aim in life. In its supreme Truth, the Divine is absolute and infinite peace, consciousness, existence, power and Ananda.    Sri Aurobindo

The Divine has three aspects for us:

1. It is the Cosmic Self and Spirit that is in and behind all things and beings, from which and in which all is manifested in the universe — although it is now a manifestation in the Ignorance.

2. It is the Spirit and Master of our own being within us whom we have to serve and learn to express his will in all our movements so that we may grow out of the Ignorance into the Light.

3. The Divine is transcendent Being and Spirit, all bliss and light and divine knowledge and power, and towards that highest divine existence and its Light we have to rise and bring down the reality of it more and more into our consciousness and life.

Sri Aurobindo

SACHCHIDANANDA

 
God is Sachchidananda. He manifests Himself as infinite existence of which the essentiality is consciousness, of which again the essentiality is bliss, is self-delight.    Sri Aurobindo

 
The Supreme is Pure Being, Absolute Existence, sat....
The Supreme is also Pure Awareness, Absolute Consciousness, cit....
The Supreme is, finally, Pure Ecstasy, Absolute Bliss, ananda.

Sri Aurobindo

 
That which has thrown itself out into forms is a triune Existence-Consciousness-Bliss, Sachchidananda, whose consciousness is in its nature a creative or rather a self-expressive Force capable of infinite variation in phenomenon and form of its self-conscious being and endlessly enjoying the delight of that variation. It follows that all things that exist are what they are as terms of that existence, terms of that conscious force, terms of that delight of being.    Sri Aurobindo

3 Sachchidananda
Strong and pure, it stands erect in its creative power.
Hedychium. White

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DIVINE PRESENCE

It is intended by the word Presence to indicate the sense and perception of the Divine as a Being, felt as present in one's existence and consciousness or in relation with it, without the necessity of any further qualification or description. Thus, of the "ineffable Presence" it can only be said that it is there and nothing more can or need be said about it, although at the same time one knows that all is there, personality and impersonality, Power and Light and Ananda and everything else, and that all these flow from that indescribable Presence. . . . That is always the fundamental significance, - the essential perception of the essential Presence supporting everything else.    Sri Aurobindo

It is the Divine Presence that gives value to life. This Presence is the source of all peace, all joy, all security.    The Mother

His laughter of beauty breaks out in green trees,
His moments of beauty triumph in a flower;
The blue sea's chant, the rivulet's wandering voice
Are murmurs falling from the Eternal's harp.
This world is God fulfilled in outwardness.

Sri Aurobindo

4 Divine Presence
It hides from the ignorant eye its ever-present magnificence.
Tradescantia spathacea. White

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5 Presence
Consciousness in quest of the Presence.
Plumbago auriculata 'Alba'. White

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6 Divine Ananda
Abundant, succulent, nourishing, full of vigour.
Vitis vinifera. Several colours

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DIVINE ANANDA

Ananda is Beatitude, the bliss of pure conscious existence and energy....

Sri Aurobindo

The world lives in and by Ananda. From Ananda, says the Veda, we were born, by Ananda we live, to Ananda we return, and it adds that no man could even have the strength to draw in his breath and throw it out again if there were not this heaven of Bliss embracing our existence as ether embraces our bodies, nourishing us with its eternal substance and strength and supporting the life and the activity.     Sri Aurobindo

According to our own philosophy the whole world came out of ananda and returns into ananda, and the triple term in which ananda may be stated is Joy, Love, Beauty. To see divine beauty in the whole world, man, life, nature, to love that which we have seen and to have pure unalloyed bliss in that love and that beauty is the appointed road by which mankind as a race must climb to God.

Sri Aurobindo

 
7 Divine Love
A flower that is said to blossom even in the desert.
Punica granatum. Orange red, double

DIVINE LOVE

A supreme divine Love is a creative Power and, even though it can exist in itself silent and unchangeable, yet rejoices in external form and expression and is not condemned to be a speechless and bodiless godhead. It has even been said that creation itself was an act of love or at least the building up of a field in which Divine Love could devise its symbols and fulfil itself in act of mutuality and self-giving and, if not the initial nature of creation, this may well be its ultimate object and motive.    

Sri Aurobindo

 
To bring the Divine Love and Beauty and Ananda into the world is, indeed, the whole crown and essence of our yoga.    Sri Aurobindo

 
Divine Love... is again not something ethereal, cold and far, but a love absolutely intense, intimate and full of unity, closeness and rapture using all the nature for its expression.      Sri Aurobindo

The Divine Love may not be able yet to manifest on the physical plane, humanity being what it is, as fully and freely as it would otherwise do, but that does not make it less close or intense than the human.    

Sri Aurobindo

Love is with all, working for the progress of each one equally — but it triumphs in those who care for it.     

The Mother

DIVINE SACRIFICE

The Divine's sacrifice is the descent of the Divine into the obscurity of the unconsciousness.     The Mother

The manifestation of the love of the Divine in the world was the great holocaust, the supreme self-giving. The Perfect Consciousness accepted to be merged and absorbed into the unconsciousness of matter, so that consciousness might be awakened in the depths of its obscurity and little by little a Divine Power might rise in it and make the whole of this manifested universe a highest expression of the Divine Consciousness and the Divine love.     The Mother

The law of sacrifice is the common divine action that was thrown out into the world in its beginning as a symbol of the solidarity of the universe. It is by the attraction of this law that a divinising, a saving power descends to limit and correct and gradually to eliminate the errors of an egoistic and self-divided creation. This descent, this sacrifice of the Purusha, the Divine Soul submitting itself to Force and Matter so that it may inform and illuminate them, is the seed of redemption of this world of Inconscience and Ignorance.     Sri Aurobindo

8 Divine Sacrifice

Is it not a supreme sacrifice for the Divine to renounce the beatitude of His Unity in order to create the painful multiplicity of the world?

Punica granatum. Brilliant orange

9 Divine Love spreading over the world

Innumerable, succulent, it gives strength and life tirelessly.

Punica granatum. Yellow tinged red

10 Unmanifest Divine Love

The splendour of the marvellous love that the Divine keeps for the pure heart.

Punica granatum. White

AN OLD CHALDEAN LEGEND

Long, long ago, in the arid land which is now Arabia, a divine being incarnated upon earth in order to awaken there the supreme love. As one might expect, he was persecuted by men, misunderstood, suspected, hunted after. Mortally wounded by his assailants, he wished to die quietly in solitude so that his work might be accomplished, and being pursued, he fled. Suddenly, on the broad barren plain a little pomegranate bush appeared. The saviour crept in under the low branches in order to leave his body in peace; and immediately the bush expanded miraculously, grew wider, became thick and luxuriant, so that when the pursuers passed by they did not even suspect that the One whom they were chasing was hidden there, and they went their way. While drop by drop the sacred blood fell, fertilising the soil, the bush was covered with marvellous flowers, scarlet, large, crowded with petals, innumerable drops of blood. These are the flowers that for us express and contain the Divine Love.     The Mother

11 Divine Love governing the world
A beautiful and happy world for which we all aspire.
Brownea coccinea. Brilliant orange red

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12 Call of the Divine Grace

Not loud but persistent and very perceptible to those who know how to listen.

Operculina turpethum. Light brown

DIVINE GRACE

Grace is something spontaneous which wells out from the Divine Consciousness as a free flow of its being.    Sri Aurobindo

No matter how great your faith and trust in the Divine Grace, no matter how great your capacity to see it at work in all circumstances, at every moment, at every point in life, you will never succeed in understanding the marvellous immensity of its action and the precision, the exactness with which this action is accomplished; you will never be able to grasp the extent to which the Grace does everything, is behind everything, organises everything, manages everything so that the march forward to the divine realisation may be as swift, as complete, as total and harmonious as possible, considering the circumstances of the world.

As soon as you are in contact with it, there is not a second in time, not a point in space which does not show you dazzlingly this perpetual work of the Grace, this constant intervention of the Grace.

And once you have seen this, you feel that you are never equal to it, for you should never forget it, never have any fear, any anxiety, any regret, any shrinking ... or even any suffering. If you were in union with this Grace, if you saw it everywhere, you would begin living a life of exultation, of omnipotence, of infinite happiness.    The Mother

DIVINE SMILE

You know, when I say, "The Lord smiles", that means something; it is not that I see a smiling face, but it is . . . it is a solar vibration. You know, the sun is flat and dull and cold and almost black in comparison.

The Mother

But this Presence in all things ... it is a vibration, but it is a vibration that contains everything, a vibration that contains a kind of infinite power, infinite delight, infinite peace, and vastness, vastness, vastness: there are no limits. And how often, how often the impression . . . there is no form - there is a form and there is no form, it cannot be put into words. And the impression of a look and there are no eyes — there is no look, but there is a look, a look and a smile, and there is no mouth, there is no face! And yet there is a smile and there is a look. . . .
But He laughs, you laugh, you are happy.

The Mother

An incense floated in the quivering air,
A mystic happiness trembled in the breast
As if the invisible Beloved had come
Assuming the sudden loveliness of a face
And close glad hands could seize his fugitive feet
And the world change with the beauty of a smile.

Sri Aurobindo

13 Divine smile

We can behold the divine smile when we have conquered our ego.

Michelia alba. Ivory white

SRI AUROBINDO'S COMPASSION

The truth of Sri Aurobindo is a truth of love and light and mercy. He is good, great, compassionate and divine. And it is he who will have the final victory.    The Mother

I always saw him with a perfectly peaceful and smiling face, and above all, the dominant expression was one of compassion. That was what stood out in his appearance. An expression of compassion so ... so peaceful, so tranquil, oh, magnificent.    The Mother

14 Sri Aurobindo's compassion

Innumerable, ever present, and effective in every instance.

Portulaca grandiflora. Many colours

DIVINE HELP

Give yourself to the Divine absolutely, and the Divine Help will always be with you.

The Mother

The help is always there. It is you who must keep your receptivity living. The Divine Help is much vaster than what any human being is able to receive.    The Mother

15 Divine help

Modest in appearance, powerful in action.

Malvaviscus arboreus. Bright red

16 Divine solicitude
Always active, even when we do not perceive it.
Malvaviscus arboreus. Red

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17 Divine solicitude rightly understood
To understand and receive with gratitude this
divine solicitude so often misunderstood.
Malvaviscus arboreus. Pale pink

DIVINE SOLICITUDE

Divine solicitude (in the sense of solicitude for others, a tender and affectionate and watchful care for their need and their good), the care of the Divine for the sadhaka.    Sri Aurobindo

BLESSINGS

[My blessings are] for the Will of the Lord to be done, with full force and power. So it is not necessary that there should always be a success. There might be a failure also, if such is the Will of the Lord. And the Will is for the progress, I mean the inner progress. So whatever will happen will be for the best.    The Mother

PROTECTION

When we are in close contact with the Divine, a protection can come which helps or directly guides or moves us; it does not throw aside all difficulties, sufferings or dangers, but it carries us through them and out of them — except where for a special purpose there is need of the opposite.     Sri Aurobindo

When you think of the Lord's Peace it acts as a call, and the more you think of it the more you surround yourself with it, which is the most powerful protection.    The Mother

24 Protection
Let us give ourselves entirely and sincerely to the Divine and we shall enjoy His protection.
Bougainvillea. Many colours

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25 Attempt at protection
Irregular and not always effective efforts.
Bougainvillea 'Mahara'. Bright magenta

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26 Discreet protection
Does its work discreetly, without attracting attention.
Bougainvillea 'Trinidad'. Very pale lavender

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27 Psychic protection
The protection resulting from surrender to the Divine.
Bougainvillea. Pink

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28 Emotional protection

Surrender to the Divine is the best emotional protection.

Bougainvillea. Light lavender pink

29 Vital protection

Surrender to the Divine is the best vital protection.

Bougainvillea 'Formosa'. Violet

30 Physical protection

Is possible only with a total surrender to the Divine and the absence of all desire.

Bougainvillea. Red

31 Triple protection

Protection in the mind, vital and physical.

Bougainvillea 'Blondie'.

Pale lavender pink to soft orange

32 Integral protection

That which can be given only by the Divine.

Bougainvillea. White

33 Manifold protection

A protection that acts not only on life as a whole but on each of its details.

Bougainvillea 'Mary Palmer'.

Bright purple pink and white

34 Protection of the gods

Luminous and clear-visioned.

Bougainvillea. Yellow and golden

Chapter 3

The New Creation

The really new thing is that a new world is born, born, born. It is not the old one transforming itself, it is a new world that is born. And we are right in the midst of this period of transition where the two are entangled — where the old still persists all-powerful, entirely dominating the ordinary consciousness, but where the new one is quietly slipping in, still very modest, unnoticed — unnoticed to the extent that outwardly it doesn't disturb anything very much for the time being, and in the consciousness of most people it is even quite imperceptible. And yet it is working, it is growing — until the time comes when it will be strong enough to assert itself visibly.

The Mother

 
There are people who love adventure. It is these I call, and I tell them this: "I invite you to the great adventure."
It is not a question of repeating spiritually what others have done before us, for our adventure begins beyond that. It is a question of a new creation, entirely new, with all the unforeseen events, the risks, the hazards it entails — a real adventure whose goal is certain victory, but whose road is unknown and must be traced out step by step in the unexplored. Something that has never been in this present universe and that will never again be in the same way. If that interests you . . . well, let us embark. What will happen to you tomorrow, I don't know.    The Mother

SIGN OF THE SPIRIT

 
What we mean by Spirit is self-existent being with an infinite power of consciousness and unconditioned delight in its being.

Sri Aurobindo

Spirit is Sat or pure existence, pure in self-awareness (Chit), pure in self-delight (Ananda). Therefore Spirit can be regarded as a triune basis of all conscious being.

Sri Aurobindo

All things here are expression, form, energy, action of the Spirit; matter itself is but form of Spirit, life but power of being of the Spirit, mind but working out of consciousness of the Spirit. All Nature is a display and a play of God, power and action and self-creation of the one spiritual Being.    Sri Aurobindo

This world is, no doubt, based ostensibly upon Matter, but its summit is Spirit and the ascent towards Spirit must be the aim and justification of its existence and the pointer to its meaning and purpose.    Sri Aurobindo

 
35 Sign of the Spirit
The Spirit says, "I am here!"
Viscum album. White

PROMISE

I know with absolute certitude that the supramental is a truth and that its advent is in the very nature of things inevitable.    

Sri Aurobindo

The manifestation of the Supramental upon earth is no more a promise but a living fact, a reality.    The Mother

What Sri Aurobindo promised and what naturally interests us, we who are here now, is that the time has come when some beings among the elite of humanity, who fulfil the conditions necessary for spiritualisation, will be able to transform their bodies with the help of the supramental Force, Consciousness and Light, so as no longer to be animal-men but become supermen.    The Mother

36 Promise
The future is full of promise.
Abutilon Xhybridum. Several colours

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37 Mental promise
The assurance that the supramental goal will be realised.
Abutilon indicum. Bright yellow

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38 Vital promise
The vital is full of possibilities ready to be developed.
Abutilon Xhybridum. Deep reddish purple

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39 Promise of realisation
The best encouragement.
Tropaeolum majus. Several colours

40 Promise of realisation in the mind
The mind must become silent in order to let the Supramental Consciousness take its place.
Tropaeolum majus. Yellow

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41 Promise of realisation in the physical mind
A good encouragement for the necessary effort.
Tropaeolum majus. Light yellow and red

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42 Promise of realisation in the physical
Courage to face the long labour.
Tropaeolum majus. Yellow and maroon

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43 Promise of realisation in Matter
The best encouragement for doing what is necessary.
Tropaeolum majus. Dark red to maroon

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PROMISE OF REALISATION

There is another aspect of the Divine Grace, the aspect of a progress that will be victorious over all obstacles, the aspect that will propel humanity to a new realisation, that will open the doors of a new world and make it possible not only for a chosen few to benefit by the divine realisation but for their influence, their example, their power to bring a new and better condition to the rest of humanity.
This opens up roads of realisation in the future, possibilities that are already foreseen, when an entire portion of humanity, the one that has opened itself consciously or unconsciously to the new forces, will be lifted up, as it were, into a higher, more harmonious, more perfect life.     The Mother

44 Promise of renewal
May ugliness disappear from the world.
Galanthus nivalis 'Viridapicis'. White

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45 Creative Word
Belongs only to the Divine.
Leucanthemum Xsuperbum. White

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46 Descent of the Light
It flows towards the earth in harmonious waves.
Laburnum anagyroides. Golden yellow

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CREATIVE WORD

[The Creative Word] is the word which creates. There are all kinds of old traditions, old Hindu traditions, old Chaldean traditions, in which the Divine in the form of the Creator, that is, in His aspect as Creator, utters a word that has the power to create. So it is this . . . And it is the origin of the mantra. The mantra is the spoken word that has a creative power. An invocation is made and there is an answer to the invocation; or one makes a prayer and the prayer is granted. This is the Word, the Word that, in its sound ... it is not only the idea, it is in the sound that there is a power of creation. It is the origin of the mantra. In Indian mythology the creator God is Brahma, and I think that it was precisely his power which has been symbolised by this flower, the "Creative Word". And when one is in contact with it, the words spoken have a power of evocation, of creation, of formation or of transformation; the words . . . sound always has a power; it has much more power than men think.

The Mother

NEW WORLD

The situation we are in is very special, extremely special, without precedent. We are witnessing the birth of a new world; it is very young, very weak — not in its essence but in its outer manifestation — not yet recognised, not even sensed, denied by the majority. But it is here. It is here, making an effort to grow, absolutely sure of the result. But the road to it is a completely new road that has never been mapped out before — nobody has gone there, nobody has done that! It is a beginning, a universal beginning. So it is an absolutely unexpected and unpredictable adventure.

The Mother

47 New world
The result of transformation.
Bixa orellana. Pale lavender pink

NEW CREATION

The only creation for which there is any place here is the supramental, the bringing of the divine Truth down on the earth, not only into the mind and vital but into the body and into Matter.    Sri Aurobindo

For centuries and centuries humanity has waited for this time. It has come. But it is difficult. I don't simply tell you we are here upon earth to rest and enjoy ourselves - now is not the time for that. We are here ... to prepare the way for the new creation.
You must strive, you must conquer all your weaknesses and limitations; above all you must tell your ego: "Your time is over." We want a race that has no ego, that has in place of the ego the Divine Consciousness. That is what we want: the Divine Consciousness which will enable the race to develop itself and the supramental being to take birth.   

The Mother

48 New creation
Strong, lasting and fragrant, it rises straight towards the sky.
Polianthes tuberosa. White

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49 Perfect new creation
Clustered, complete, manifold, it affirms its right to be.
Polianthes tuberosa. White, double

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SUCCESSFUL FUTURE

Do you know what the flower which we have called "Successful Future" signifies when given to you? It signifies the hope — nay, even the promise — that you will participate in the descent of the supramental world. . . . Once the world-conditions are ready the full descent [of the Supramental] will take place carrying everything before it. Its presence will be unmistakable, its force will brook no resistance, doubts and difficulties will not torture you any longer. For the Divine will stand manifest — unveiled in its total perfection. I do not, however, mean to say that the whole world will at once feel its presence or be transformed; but I do mean that a part of humanity will know and participate in its descent.   

The Mother

50 The future
A promise not yet realised.
Salix discolor.  Pearl grey

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51 Successful future
Full of promise and joyful surprises.
Gaillardia pulchella.
Several colours

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52 Successful future under the supramental influence
(No comment)
Gaillardia pulchella.  Red and yellow

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SUPERHUMANITY

 
When superman is born as Nature's king
His presence shall transfigure Matter's world:
He shall light up Truth's fire in Nature's night,
He shall lay upon the earth Truth's greater law;
Man too shall turn towards the Spirit's call.
Awake to his hidden possibility,
Awake to all that slept within his heart
And all that Nature meant when earth was formed
And the Spirit made this ignorant world his home,
He shall aspire to Truth and God and Bliss.

Sri Aurobindo

 
53 Superhumanity
The aim of our aspirations.
Dahlia.  White

SUPERHUMANITY

In a profound sense it is the call and attraction of the future that makes the past and present, and that future will be more and more seen to be the growth of the godhead in the human being which is the high fate of this race that thinks and wills and labours towards its own perfection. This is a strain that we shall hear more and more, the song of the growing godhead of the kind, of human unity, of spiritual freedom, of the coming supermanhood of man, of the divine ideal seeking to actualise itself in the life of the earth, of the call to the individual to rise to his godlike possibility. . . .

Sri Aurobindo

 
If a spiritual unfolding on earth is the hidden truth of our birth into Matter, if it is fundamentally an evolution of consciousness that has been taking place in Nature, then man as he is cannot be the last term of that evolution: he is too imperfect an expression of the Spirit, Mind itself a too limited form and instrumentation; Mind is only a middle term of consciousness, the mental being can only be a transitional being. If, then, man is incapable of exceeding mentality, he must be surpassed and Supermind and superman must manifest and take the lead of the creation. But if his mind is capable of opening to what exceeds it, then there is no reason why man himself should not arrive at supermind and supermanhood or at least lend his mentality, life and body to an evolution of that greater term of the Spirit manifesting in Nature.    Sri Aurobindo

54 Radiation of the manifestation

The divine manifestation is spreading.

Strophanthus.  White and purple

Each time we try not to be ordinary men, not to live the ordinary life, to express in our movements, our actions and reactions the divine Truth, when we are governed by that Truth instead of being governed by the general ignorance, we are apprentice-supermen, and according to the success of our efforts, well, we are more or less able apprentices, more or less advanced on the way.    The Mother

MIRACLE

A miracle is nothing but a sudden descent, a bursting forth of another consciousness and its powers . . . into this plane of matter. There is a precipitation, upon the material mechanism, of the mechanism of a higher plane. It is as though a lightning flash tore through the cloud of our ordinary consciousness and poured into it other forces, other movements and sequences.... If we have eyes and know how to observe we can see miracles in abundance. Especially must they be constant among those who are endeavouring to bring down the higher reaches into the earth-consciousness below.

The Mother

At every moment all the unforeseen, the unexpected, the unknown is before us — and what happens to us depends mostly on the intensity and purity of our faith.   The Mother

55 Miracle (Air of Auroville)
Marvellous, strange, unexpected.
Memecylon tinctorium. Intense blue

Chapter 4

Living for the Divine

We are united towards the same goal and for the same accomplishment — for a work, unique and new, that the Divine Grace has given us to accomplish. I hope that more and more you will understand the exceptional importance of this work and that you will feel in yourselves the sublime joy that the accomplishment will give you.
The divine force is with you — feel its presence more and more and be careful never to betray it. Feel, wish, act, that you may be new beings for the realisation of a new world, and for this my blessings shall always be with you.    The Mother

Some give their soul to the Divine, some their life, some offer their work, some their money. A few consecrate all of themselves and all they have - soul, life, work, wealth; these are the true children of God.    The Mother

56 To live only for the Divine
This means to have overcome all the difficulties of individual life.
Myrtus communis.  White

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57 Attachment to the Divine
(No comment)
Belamcanda chinensis.  Deep orange

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ATTACHMENT TO THE DIVINE

There is only one salvation: to cling to the Divine like this (gesture with two fists).
Not to cling to what one thinks of the Divine, not even to what one feels of the Divine ... to an aspiration, an aspiration as sincere as possible.
And to cling to that.    The Mother

58 Attachment to the Divine
Wraps itself around the Divine and takes all its support in Him, so as to be sure of never leaving Him.
Orchids. All colours

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59 Attachment to the Divine
Wraps itself around the Divine and takes all its support in Him, so as to be sure of never leaving Him. Offers itself spontaneously to the Divine.
Cattleya. Many colours

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60 The aim of existence is realised
Exists only by and for the Divine.
Cattleya. White

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61 Beauty of attachment to the Divine
When the physical world manifests the splendour of the Divine, all will become marvellous.
Cattleya.  Lavender pink

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71 Trust in the Divine

Most indispensable for the impulsive vital.

Asystasia gangetica. Several colours

72 Aspiration for trust in the Divine

An intense need for the immutable peace that is given by the certitude of the Divine Grace.

Asystasia dalzelliana. Purple

73 Mental trust in the Divine

Firm and definitive, does not question.

Asystasia gangetica. Cream yellow

74 Trust of the vital mind in the Divine

Opens itself to the Divine Consciousness, without trying to hide anything from It.

Asystasia gangetica. Pale yellow with lavender

75 Trust of the emotional vital in the Divine

Smiling and sweet, it is sheltered from grief.

Asystasia gangetica. White with lavender

76 Vital trust in the Divine

Full of courage and energy, it no longer fears anything.

Asystasia gangetica. Lavender

77 Integral trust in the Divine

The trust that gives the true support to life.

Asystasia gangetica. White

TRUST IN THE DIVINE

Trust is the mind's and heart's complete reliance on the Divine and its guidance and protection.

Sri Aurobindo

 
The core of the inner surrender is trust and confidence in the Divine. One takes the attitude: "I want the Divine and nothing else. I want to give myself entirely to him and since my soul wants that, it cannot be but that I shall meet and realise him. I ask nothing but that and his action in me to bring me to him, his action secret or open, veiled or manifest. I do not insist on my own time and way; let him do all in his own time and way; I shall believe in him, accept his will, aspire steadily for his light and presence and joy, go through all difficulties and delays, relying on him and never giving up. Let my mind be quiet and trust him and let him open it to his light; let my vital be quiet and turn to him alone and let him open it to his calm and joy. All for him and myself for him. Whatever happens, I will keep to this aspiration and self-giving and go on in perfect reliance that it will be done."

Sri Aurobindo

 
Who trusts the Divine never leaves the loving arms of the Divine wherever his body may be.

The Mother

FRIENDSHIP WITH THE DIVINE

And finally, isn't the best friend you can have the Divine, he to whom you can say everything, reveal everything? For there indeed is the source of all compassion, of all power to efface an error when it is no longer repeated, to open the way to true realisation. It is he who can understand all, heal all, help you always on the path, help you not to fail, not to stumble, not to fall, but to walk straight to the goal. He is the true friend, the friend of good and of bad days, he who can understand, who can heal, who is always there when you need him. When you call him sincerely, he is always there to guide and uphold you — and to love you in the true way.

The Mother

 
78 Friendship with the Divine
Delicate, attentive and faithful, always ready to respond to the slightest request.
Canna indica. Glowing red

79 Progressive friendship with the Divine
As we progress and purify ourselves of our egoism, our friendship with the Divine becomes more and more clear and conscious.
Canna indica. Bright reddish orange

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80 Supramental friendship with the Divine
Luminous and light, always smiling.
Canna indica. Bright yellow

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81 Intimacy with the Divine
Complete surrender to the Divine and total receptivity to His influence are the conditions for this intimacy.
Lagerstroemia indica. Several colours

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82 Intimacy with the Divine in the psychic
The natural state of the fully developed psychic.
Lagerstroemia indica. Lavender pink

INTIMACY WITH THE DIVINE

There are relations, personal, intimate as life itself, sweet as love, encompassing like the sky, deep like deep waters. A friend walks at our side; a Lover is with us in our heart's secrecy; a Master of the Work and the Ordeal points our way; a Creator of things uses us as his instrument; we are in the arms of the eternal Mother.

Sri Aurobindo

 
The more you give yourself to the Divine, the more He is with you totally, constantly, at every minute, in all your thoughts, all your needs, and there is not an aspiration which does not receive an immediate answer, and you have the sense of a complete and constant intimacy, of a total nearness. It is as though you carried ... as though the Divine were with you all the time; you walk and He walks with you, you sleep and He sleeps with you, you eat and He eats with you, you think and He thinks with you, you love and He is the love you have. But for this you must give yourself entirely, totally, exclusively.

The Mother

83 Intimacy with the Divine in the vital
Only a pure, calm and desireless vital can hope to enter this marvellous state.
Lagerstroemia indica. Light purple

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84 Intimacy with the Divine in the physical
Is possible only for him who lives exclusively by the Divine and for the Divine.
Lagerstroemia indica. Pinkish red

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85 Integral intimacy with the Divine
The whole being vibrates only to the divine touch.
Lagerstroemia indica. White

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86 Intimacy with universal Nature
This intimacy is possible only for those who are vast and without preferences or repulsions.
Lagerstroemia speciosa. Rose purple

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LOVE FOR THE DIVINE

Love is the source of the Universe and the power that unites the manifestation to its Creator. Aspire sincerely and one day you will feel and be the LOVE.

The Mother

Love is a mighty vibration coming straight from the One, and only the very pure and very strong are capable of receiving and manifesting it.    The Mother

Love is the one emotion in us which can be entirely motiveless and self-existent; love need have no other motive than love. . . . Love is that by which we can enter directly into possession of the self-existent delight of the divine Being. Divine love is indeed itself that possession and, as it were, the body of the Ananda.

Sri Aurobindo

87 Love for the Divine
The vegetal kingdom gathers its most beautiful possibilities to offer them to the Divine.
Rosa. Many colours

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88 Integral love for the Divine
Pure, complete, irrevocable, a love that gives itself for ever.
Rosa. White

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89 Psychic love
Strong and faithful, it has a beauty that does not belie.
Rosa. Reddish pink

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90 Flaming love for the Divine
Ready for any heroism and any sacrifice.
Rosa. Orange

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LOVE FOR THE DIVINE

For there is, concealed behind individual love, obscured by its ignorant human figure, a mystery which the mind cannot seize, the mystery of the body of the Divine, the secret of a mystic form of the Infinite which we can approach only through the ecstasy of the heart and the passion of the pure and sublimated sense, and its attraction which is the call of the divine Flute-player, the mastering compulsion of the All-Beautiful, can only be seized and seize us through an occult love and yearning which in the end makes one the Form and the Formless, and identifies Spirit and Matter. It is that which the spirit in Love is seeking here in the darkness of the Ignorance and it is that which it finds when individual human love is changed into the love of the Immanent Divine incarnate in the material universe.    Sri Aurobindo

91 Affection for the Divine
A sweet and trusting tenderness that gives itself unfailingly to the Divine.
Rosa. White tinged pink

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92 Tenderness for the Divine
Sweetness, a charming hue, a delicate form, a smile that gladdens.
Rosa chinensis. Very light pink

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LOVE FOR THE DIVINE

Love in all forms of adoration is a spiritual force. Love of the highest and the total surrender are the straight and swift way to the Divine oneness.    Sri Aurobindo

For me sadhana consists in loving the Divine more and more integrally, more and more absolutely, with a love so total that it leads to identification.    The Mother

93 Humility in the love for the Divine
Delicate, effective and surrendered, but very persistent in its feeling.
Rosa. Lavender or mauve

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94 Timidity in attachment to the Divine
Full of life, but does not know how to turn this life into
an offering to the Divine.
Rosa chinensis 'Viridiflora'. Green, double

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95 Surrender
To will what the Divine wills is the supreme wisdom.
Rosa 'Edward'. Pink, double

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96 Loving surrender
A state that can be obtained by surrendering to the Divine.
Rosa. Pink, double

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97 Detailed surrender
A surrender that neglects nothing.
Rosa chinensis 'Minima'. Pink, double

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98 Pure spiritual surrender
Candid, simple, spontaneous and complete in its multiplicity.
Rosa 'Prosperity'. Ivory white tinged pink

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99 Perfect surrender
The indispensable condition for identification.
Rosa 'Paul Neyron'. Deep pink, double

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SURRENDER

By surrender we mean ... a spontaneous self-giving, a giving of all yourself to the Divine, to a greater Consciousness of which you are a part. Surrender will not diminish, but increase, it will not lessen or weaken or destroy your personality, it will fortify and aggrandise it. Surrender means a free total giving with all the delight of the giving. . . . True surrender enlarges you; it increases your capacity; it gives you a greater measure in quality and in quantity which you could not have had by yourself. This new greater measure of quality and quantity is different from anything you could attain before: you enter into another world, into a wideness which you could not have entered if you did not surrender. It is as when a drop of water falls into the sea; if it still kept there its separate identity, it would remain a little drop of water and nothing more, a little drop crushed by all the immensity around, because it has not surrendered. But, surrendering, it unites with the sea and participates in the nature and power and vastness of the whole sea.    The Mother

Surrender is the decision taken to hand over the responsibility of your life to the Divine. Without this decision nothing is at all possible; if you do not surrender, the Yoga is entirely out of the question. Everything else comes naturally after it, for the whole process starts with surrender. You can surrender either through knowledge or through devotion. You may have a strong intuition that the Divine alone is the truth and a luminous conviction that without the Divine you cannot manage. Or you may have a spontaneous feeling that this line is the only way of being happy, a strong psychic desire to belong exclusively to the Divine: "I do not belong to myself," you say, and give up the responsibility of your being to the Truth. Then comes self-offering: "Here I am, a creature of various qualities, good and bad, dark and enlightened. I offer myself as I am to you, take me up with all my ups and downs, conflicting impulses and tendencies — do whatever you like with me."    The Mother

100 Mental surrender

Occurs when the mind has understood that it is only an instrument.

Rosa. Yellow tinged orange

101 Mental love for the Divine
The nature offers its love in a fragrant blossoming.
Rosa. Yellow

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102 Mental love under the psychic influence
The mind influenced by the psychic knows how to express its love for the Divine in magnificent terms.
Rosa. Cream or yellow tinged pink

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103 Human passions changed into love for the Divine
Let them become a real fact and their abundance will save the world.
Rosa. Red

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105 Beauty offers itself in service to the Divine
Incomparable splendour, becomes a modest servitor.
Rosa. Salmon

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106 Psychic soaring of Nature
Nature has a soul that blossoms in a lovely way.
Rosa canina. Light pink

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LOVE FROM THE DIVINE

There is only one true love, the love from the Divine, which, in human beings, turns into love for the Divine.

The Mother

 
107 Supramental attachment to the Divine
Manifold and smiling, repeating itself endlessly.
Rosa 'Father's Day'. Light orange, double

108 Communion with the Divine
For one who truly has it, all circumstances can become an occasion for it.
Rosa Xrehderana. Several colours

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109 Love from the Divine
A vibration of love that the Supreme directs upon a particular point (a person or thing).
Rosa. White tinged pink and yellow

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Chapter 5

Road to the Divine

Reveal, who know, the road that I must tread ...    Sri Aurobindo

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.    The Mother

It is true that the path is very long, but for one who follows it with sincerity, it is really very interesting. . . .    The Mother

110 Road to the Divine

Always long, apparently dry at times, but always abundant in its results.

Drimiopsis kirkii. White

111 Perfect path
For each one it is the path that leads fastest to the Divine.
Coffea. White

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Road to the Divine

 
This is what we mean by "Divine": all the knowledge we have to acquire, all the power we have to obtain, all the love we have to become, all the perfection we have to achieve, all the harmonious and progressive poise we have to make manifest in light and joy, all the new and unknown splendours we have to realise.    The Mother
Whatever we see of this Divine and fix our concentrated effort on it, that we can become or grow into some kind of unity with it or at the lowest into tune and harmony with it. . . . Whatever of it we see, we can create or reveal in our conscious nature and being and can grow into it....    Sri Aurobindo

THE PATH

What do you want the Yoga for? To get power? To attain to peace and calm? To serve humanity?
None of these motives is sufficient to show that you are meant for the Path.
The question you are to answer is this: Do you want the Yoga for the sake of the Divine? Is the Divine the supreme fact of your life, so much so that it is simply impossible for you to do without it? Do you feel that your very raison d'ȇtre is the Divine and without it there is no meaning in your existence? If so, then only can it be said that you have a call for the path.    The Mother

When you come to the Yoga, you must be ready to have all your mental buildings and all your vital scaffoldings shattered to pieces. You must be prepared to be suspended in the air with nothing to support you except your faith. You will have to forget your past self and its clingings altogether, to pluck it out of your consciousness and be born anew, free from every kind of bondage. Think not of what you were, but of what you aspire to be; be altogether in what you want to realise. Turn from your dead past and look straight towards the future.    The Mother 

HOPE

Our hopes are never too great for manifestation. We cannot conceive of anything that cannot be done.

The Mother

Yes, you are right to have hope; it is hope that builds happy futures.    The Mother

112 Hope
Paves life's way.
Jacquemontia pentantha. Violet blue

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113 Repentance

The first step towards correcting mistakes.

Chloris barbata. Reddish brown

114 Return
The salvation of those who have gone astray.
Cordyline terminalis. Pale mauve

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115 Stages to the Supreme
We will go through as many stages as necessary, but we will arrive.
Lupinus. All colours

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ASCENSION

There must be an ascension of the whole being, an ascension of spirit chained here and trammelled by its instruments and its environment to sheer Spirit free above, an ascension of soul towards some blissful Super-soul, an ascension of mind towards some luminous Supermind, an ascension of life towards some vast Super-life, an ascension of our very physicality to join its origin in some pure and plastic spirit-substance. And this cannot be a single swift upsoaring but, like the ascent of the sacrifice described in the Veda, a climbing from peak to peak in which from each summit one looks up to the much more that has still to be done.    Sri Aurobindo

 
SOARING

A being free from all bondages, flying from height to height in a happy seeking for divine transformation.

The Mother

116 Ascension

Stage by stage one climbs towards the Consciousness.

Leonotis nepetifolia. Orange

117 Soaring

Take your flight towards the heights.

Delphinium. Several colours

118 Aspiration

Innumerable, obstinate, repeating itself tirelessly.

Nyctanthes arbor-tristis. White with orange

119 Elan of aspiration
Nothing is too high, nothing too far for its insatiable ardour.
Cleome hasslerana. Pink

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ASPIRATION

[Aspiration] is the call of the being for higher things — for the Divine, for all that belongs to the higher or Divine Consciousness.   Sri Aurobindo

This taste for supreme adventure is aspiration — an aspiration that takes hold of you completely and flings you, without calculation and without reserve and without any possibility of withdrawal, into the great adventure of the divine discovery, the great adventure of the divine meeting, the yet greater adventure of the divine realisation. . . .    The Mother

ASPIRATION

Aspiration is like an arrow.... So you aspire, you want very earnestly to understand, to know, to enter into the Truth. Yes? And then with that aspiration you do this (gesture upwards). Your aspiration rises, rises, rises, rises straight up, very strong and then it strikes against a kind of — how to put it? — a lid which is there, hard like iron and extremely thick, and it does not pass through. And then you say, "See, what's the use of aspiring? It brings nothing at all. I meet with something hard and cannot pass!" But you know about the drop of water which falls on the rock, it ends up by making a chasm: it cuts the rock from top to bottom. Your aspiration is a drop of water which, instead of falling, rises . . . and when it makes the hole suddenly it springs up out of this lid and enters an immensity of light.    The Mother

120 Flame of aspiration
A flame that illumines but does not burn.
Acer. Autumnal colourings

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121 Aspiration for purity

Purity is perfect sincerity and one can obtain it only when the being is entirely consecrated to the Divine.

Spathiphyllum. Cream white to pale green

122 Aspiration for integral immortality

An organised, tenacious and methodical development of the consciousness.

Aerva tomentosa. White

123 Aspiration for the Divine Consciousness

Blossom, O precious flower, and never close again.

Vernonia eleagnaefolia. Pale mauve

124 Triple aspiration
Love, life and light, recognising their Master, respond to Sachchidananda.
Capparis brevispina. White with yellow

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125 Power of collective aspiration
A harmonious collective aspiration can change the course of circumstances.
Hoya carnosa. Pale pink

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ASPIRATION IN THE PHYSICAL

Have you never watched a forest with all its countless trees and plants simply struggling to catch the light — twisting and trying in a hundred possible ways just to be in the sun? That is precisely the feeling of aspiration in the physical — the urge, the movement, the push towards the light. Plants have more of it in their physical being than men. Their whole life is a worship of light. Light is of course the material symbol of the Divine, and the sun represents, under material conditions, the Supreme Consciousness. The plants have felt it quite distinctly in their own simple, blind way. Their aspiration is intense, if you know how to become aware of it.

The Mother

126 Psychic aspiration
Constant, regular, organised, gentle and patient at the same time, resists all opposition, overcomes all difficulties.
Ixora chinensis. Pink

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127 Mental aspiration
Its expression is precise and clear and very reasonable.
Ixora coccinea. Light yellow

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128 Aspiration in the physical
Manifold, simple and joyful.
Ixora coccinea. Deep red

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129 Aspiration in the physical for the Supramental Light
Clustered, persistent, obstinate, organised, methodical.
Ixora javanica. Orange

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130 Prayer
Self-giving is true prayer.
Zephyranthes. Several colours

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131 Psychic prayer
Spontaneous and fervent.
Zephyranthes. Light pink

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132 Mental prayer
Spontaneous in a mind that is aspiring for transformation.
Zephyranthes. Yellow

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133 Vital prayer
The vital prays to be purified.
Zephyranthes. Deep pink

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134 Integral prayer
The whole being is concentrated in a single prayer to the Divine.
Zephyranthes. White

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135 Supramental invocation
The spontaneous attitude of the Supermind towards the Divine.
Sternbergia lutea. Golden yellow

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PRAYER

Prayer is only a particular form given to . . . will, aspiration and faith. ... Its power and sense is to put the will, aspiration and faith of man into touch with the divine Will as that of a conscious Being with whom we can enter into conscious and living relations.... In spiritual matters and in the seeking of spiritual gains, this conscious relation is a great power; it is a much greater power than our own entirely self-reliant struggle and effort and it brings a fuller spiritual growth and experience.

Sri Aurobindo

Here is my constant prayer to our Lord:
"O my beloved Lord, let Thy Will be done, Thy Will alone, without any resistance or opposition. Thy Will is our happiness and our security."    The Mother

RELIGIOUS THOUGHT

Religion's real business is to prepare man's mind, life and bodily existence for the spiritual consciousness to take it up; it has to lead him to that point where the inner spiritual light begins fully to emerge. It is at this point that religion must learn to subordinate itself, not to insist on its outer characters, but give full scope to the inner spirit itself to develop its own truth and reality. In the meanwhile it has to take up as much of man's mentality, vitality, physicality as it can and give all his activities a turn towards the spiritual direction, the revelation of a spiritual meaning in them, the imprint of a spiritual refinement, the beginning of a spiritual character.    Sri Aurobindo

136 Religious thought
Can only be utilised when it is freed from the influence of religions.
Wrightia tinctoria. White

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137 True worship
Total and constant, without demand or claim.
Leucas aspera. White

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ADORATION

Worship is only the first step on the path of devotion. Where external worship changes into the inner adoration, real Bhakti begins; that deepens into the intensity of divine love; that love leads to the joy of closeness in our relations with the Divine; the joy of closeness passes into the bliss of union.

Sri Aurobindo

The aim of Yoga being union, its beginning must always be a seeking after the Divine, a longing after some kind of touch, closeness or possession. When this comes on us, . . . adoration becomes always primarily an inner worship; we begin to make ourselves a temple of the Divine, our thoughts and feelings a constant prayer of aspiration and seeking, our whole life an external service and worship.    Sri Aurobindo

138 Adoration
Manifold, smiling, regular, it offers itself tirelessly.
Cordia sebestena. Orange

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DEVOTION

In love for the Divine or for one whom one feels to be divine, the Bhakta feels an intense reverence for the Lord, a sense of something of immense greatness, beauty or value and for himself a strong impression of his own comparative unworthiness and a passionate desire to grow into likeness with that which one adores.

Sri Aurobindo

The final demand of the Bhakta is simply that his Bhakti may never cease nor diminish. He does not ask for heaven or for liberation from birth or for any other object, but only that his love may be eternal and absolute.

Sri Aurobindo

 
139 Devotional attitude
Modest and self-effacing, it yields remarkable fruit.
Aegle marmelos. Greenish white

140 Devotion
Modest and fragrant, it gives itself without asking anything in return.
Ocimum tenuiflorum. Pale greenish white

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141 Conquering fervour
An ardour that fears no obstacles.
Ocimum americanum. White

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142 Joy of union with the Divine
Abundantly scented, it fills the heart with joy.
Ocimum basilicum. White

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JOY OF UNION WITH THE DIVINE

To see nothing but the Divine, to be at every moment in union with him, to love him in all creatures and have the delight of him in all things is the whole condition of [the God lover's] existence. . . . The joy of heaven and the joy of earth are only a small shadow of his possessions; for as he grows into the Divine, the Divine too flows out upon him with all the light, power and joy of an infinite existence.    Sri Aurobindo

SEEKING SUPPORT ONLY IN THE DIVINE

Never seek support elsewhere than in the Divine. Never seek satisfaction elsewhere than in the Divine. Never seek the satisfaction of your needs in anyone else than the Divine — never, for anything at all. All your needs can be satisfied only by the Divine. All your weaknesses can be borne and healed only by the Divine. He alone is capable of giving you what you need in everything, always.    The Mother

 
143 Right use of the granted Grace
No deformation, no diminution, no exaggeration, a clear sincerity.
Saponaria officinalis. White or pink

144 Seeking for support only in the Divine
The Divine is the only support that never fails.
Solanum seaforthianum. Light lavender

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145 Offering
The only offering that truly enriches is one that is made to the Divine.
Alcea rosea. Several colours

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146 Offering of all obscurities
Offer your obscurities sincerely to the Divine and you will be able to receive the Light.
Alcea rosea. Dark purple

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147 Psychic offering
This is the spontaneous attitude of the psychic towards the Divine.
Alcea rosea. Light pink

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148 Offering of the emotions
Emotions placed at the service of progress.
Alcea rosea. Lavender pink

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149 Offering of the vital
The immediate result of conversion.
Alcea rosea. Dark red

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150 Integral offering of the vital
An important stage on the way to transformation.
Alcea rosea. White and lavender

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151 Offering of the material vital
Indispensable for conversion.
Alcea rosea. Reddish violet

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152 Offering of the most material vital
The first step towards transformation.
Alcea rosea. Very dark red

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153 Offering of the physical
The proof of the resolution to liberate oneself from the ego. Let the physical offer itself sincerely to the Divine and it will be transformed.
Alcea rosea. Red

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154 Combined offering of two parts of the being
This heralds the progress and effectiveness of the being.
Alcea rosea. Bicoloured

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155 Integral offering
The surest way to realisation.
Alcea rosea. White

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OFFERING

Yoga means union with the Divine, and the union is effected through offering — it is founded on the offering of yourself to the Divine. . . . You must feel at every step that you belong to the Divine; you must have the constant experience that, in whatever you think or do, it is always the Divine Consciousness that is acting through you. You have no longer anything that you can call your own; you feel everything as coming from the Divine, and you have to offer it back to its source. When you can realise that, then even the smallest thing to which you do not usually pay much attention or care, ceases to be trivial and insignificant; it becomes full of meaning and it opens up a vast horizon beyond.

The Mother

ENTIRE SELF-GIVING

The Divine gives itself to those who give themselves without reserve and in all their parts to the Divine. For them the calm, the light, the power, the bliss, the freedom, the wideness, the heights of knowledge, the seas of Ananda.    Sri Aurobindo

[The soul's inherent aspiration] is what comes up when there is the sheer self-giving, when "I seek you for this, I seek you for that" changes to a sheer "I seek you for you." It is that marvellous and ineffable absolute in the Divine that X means when he says, "Not knowledge nor this nor that, bur Krishna." The pull of that is indeed a categorical imperative, the self in us drawn to the Divine because of the imperative call of the greater Self, the soul ineffably drawn towards the object of its adoration because it cannot be otherwise, because it is it and He is He. That is all about it.

Sri Aurobindo

156 Unconditional integral offering
The joy of self-offering without asking anything in return.
Ipomoea tricolor 'Pearly Gates'. White

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157 Entire self-giving
Completely open, clear and pure.
Ipomoea alba. White

REMEMBRANCE

It is by the constant remembrance that the being is prepared for the full opening. By the opening of the heart the Mother's presence begins to be felt and, by the opening to her Power above, the Force of the higher consciousness comes down into the body and works there to change the whole nature.    Sri Aurobindo

REMEMBRANCE OF SRI AUROBINDO

Sri Aurobindo came to tell the world of the beauty of the future that must be realised.
He came to give not a hope but a certitude of the splendour towards which the world moves. The world is not an unfortunate accident, it is a marvel which moves towards its expression.
The world needs the certitude of the beauty of the future. And Sri Aurobindo has given that assurance.

The Mother

 
158 Remembrance
Constant remembrance of the Divine is indispensable for transformation.
Lycianthes rantonnei. Mauve

159 Constant remembrance of the Divine
Spontaneous and joyful. The ideal condition.
Lonicera japonica. Ivory white

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160 Remembrance of Sri Aurobindo
Let us strive to realise the ideal of life he has set before us.
Lobelia erinus 'Cambridge Blue'. Blue

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161 Glad remembrance
In activity and in silence, in taking and in giving, always the glad remembrance of Thee.
Clarkia unguiculata 'Rosea plena'. Several colours

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162 Lasting remembrance
The remembrance of that which has helped the being to progress.
Myosotis sylvatica. Sky blue

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163 Emotional remembrance
Only the circumstances that have helped us in our search for the Divine should be the object of this remembrance.
Dicentra spectabilis. Rose pink

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165 Opening
The help is constant in all domains. It is for us to know how to benefit from it.
Barleria. Many colours

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166 Mental opening
The first step of the mind towards transformation.
Barleria prionitis. Golden yellow

 
167 Emotional opening
The progress of the emotions towards the Divine.
Barleria cristata. White and lavender

168 Opening of the emotional vital
One of the first steps on the way to transformation.
Barleria cristata. Pink

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169 Vital opening to the Supramental Light
(No comment) Barleria. Bluish purple

 
170 Integral opening of the being to the Divine
The first step of the ascent.
Barleria cristata. White

OPENING

Opening is a release of the consciousness by which it begins to admit into itself the working of the Divine Light and Power.

The Mother

 
In this yoga the whole principle is to open oneself to the Divine Influence. It is there above you and, if you can once become conscious of it, you have then to call it down into you. It descends into the mind and into the body as Peace, as a Light, as a Force that works, as the Presence of the Divine with or without form, as Ananda.    Sri Aurobindo

 
What you should do is to throw the doors of your being wide open to the Divine. The moment you conceal something, you step straight into Falsehood. The least suppression on your part pulls you immediately down into unconsciousness. If you want to be fully conscious, be always in front of the Truth - completely open yourself and try your utmost to let it see deep inside you, into every corner of your being. That alone will bring into you light and consciousness and all that is most true.    The Mother

 
Widen yourself to the extreme limit of the universe . . . and beyond.
Always take upon yourself all the necessities of progress, and resolve them in the ecstasy of Unity. Then you will be divine.    The Mother

171 Opening to Sri Aurobindo's Force
Sri Aurobindo's help is constant. It is for us to know how to receive it.
Thunbergia kirkii. Lavender

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172 Opening to the Light
Harmonises with all that can lead towards the Light.
Thunbergia erecta. Several colours

 
173 Opening of the higher vital to the Light
The vital existing only for the Divine. The vital knowing no other master than the Divine.
Thunbergia erecta. Lavender and white

 
174 Opening of the material vital to the Light
One of the essential conditions for peace.
Thunbergia erecta. Deep violet

 
175 Integral opening to the Light
The assurance of the coming peace and joy.
Thunbergia erecta 'Alba'. White

176 Receptivity
Conscious of the Divine Will and surrendered to it.
Gladiolus Xhortulanus. Many colours

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177 Psychic receptivity
The psychic responds joyfully to the ascending force.
Gladiolus Xhortulanus. Pink or rose pink

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178 Receptivity of the supramentalised psychic
This is what happens to the psychic that continues to progress.
Gladiolus Xhortulanus. Pink and orange

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179 Mental receptivity
Always ready to learn.
Gladiolus Xhortulanus. Yellow

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180 Emotional receptivity
Emotions wanting to be divinised.
Gladiolus Xhortulanus. Lavender pink or mauve

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181 Vital receptivity
Happens only when the vital understands that it must be transformed. The vital blossoms in aspiration for the Divine.
Gladiolus Xhortulanus. Dark red or deep violet

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182 Physical receptivity
One should have it only towards the Divine.
Gladiolus Xhortulanus. Bright red

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183 Integral receptivity
The whole being perceives the Divine Will and obeys it.
Gladiolus Xhortulanus. White

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184 Manifold receptivity
Nothing resists the Light.
Gladiolus Xhortulanus. Multicoloured

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185 Supramentalised receptivity
The receptivity of tomorrow.
Gladiolus Xhortulanus. Orange

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186 Broadening of the being
All the parts of the being broaden in order to progress.
Sinningia speciosa. Many colours

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187 Organised emotional broadening
The broadening should not be the result of an instinctive impulse but of a conscious organisation.
Sinningia speciosa. White and purple

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188 Broadening of the most material vital
The limitations of the ego begin to be shaken.
Sinningia speciosa. Purple

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189 Blossoming
The result of trust and success.
Tulipa. All colours

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RECEPTIVITY

Receptivity - the power to receive the Divine Force and to feel its presence and the presence of the Mother in it and allow it to work, guiding one's sight and will and action.    Sri Aurobindo

BROADENING

When the consciousness is narrow and personal or shut in the body, it is difficult to receive from the Divine — the wider it expands, the more it can receive. A time comes when it feels as wide as the world and able to receive all the Divine into itself.     Sri Aurobindo

190 Concentration
Does not aim at effect, but is simple and persistent.
Euphorbia milii. Bright red

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CONCENTRATION

It is well known that the value of a man is in proportion to his capacity of concentrated attention; the greater the concentration the more exceptional is the result, to the extent that a perfect and unfailing concentrated attention sets the stamp of genius on what is produced.

The Mother

 
Concentration is a state one must be in continually, whatever the outer activity. By concentration I mean that all the energy, all the will, all the aspiration must be turned only towards the Divine and His integral realisation in our consciousness.    The Mother

Our one objective must be the Divine himself to whom, knowingly or unknowingly, something always aspires in our secret nature. There must be a large, many-sided yet single concentration of the thought on the idea, the perception, the vision, the awakening touch, the soul's realisation of the one Divine. There must be a flaming concentration of the heart on the All and Eternal and, when once we have found him, a deep plunging and immersion in the possession and ecstasy of the All-Beautiful. There must be a strong and immovable concentration of the will on the attainment and fulfilment of all that the Divine is and a free and plastic opening of it to all that he intends to manifest in us.

Sri Aurobindo

 
TAPASYA

Tapasya is a strong concentration of the energies for a result - but usually concentration of them in the practice of some discipline for a spiritual result.

Sri Aurobindo

Tapasya is the concentration of the will to get the results of sadhana and to conquer the lower nature.

Sri Aurobindo  

When the will and energy are concentrated and used to control the mind, vital and physical and change them or to bring down the higher consciousness or for any other yogic purpose or high purpose, that is called Tapasya.

Sri Aurobindo

 
191 Tapasya
A discipline with the aim of realising the Divine.
Datura. White

192 Mental tapasya
The process leading to the goal.
Datura. Yellow

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193 Vital tapasya
The vital undergoes a rigorous discipline in order to transform itself.
Datura. White tinged violet

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194 Integral tapasya
The whole being lives only to know and serve the Divine.
Datura. White, double

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195 Perfect tapasya
That which will reach its goal.
Brugmansia suaveolens. White

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196 Detachment from all that is not the Divine
A single occupation, a single aim, a single joy - the Divine.
Ipomoea cairica. Light rose purple or light mauve

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DETACHMENT FROM ALL THAT IS NOT THE DIVINE

Detachment [from the imperfections and weaknesses of one's nature] means that one stands back from them, does not identify oneself with them or get upset or troubled because they are there, but rather looks on them as something foreign to one's true consciousness and true self, rejects them and calls in the Mother's force into these movements to eliminate them and bring the true consciousness and its movements there.

Sri Aurobindo

 
You must always step back into yourself - learn to go deep within — step back and you will be safe. Do not lend yourself to the superficial forces which move in the outside world. Even if you are in a hurry to do something, step back for a while and you will discover to your surprise how much sooner and with what greater success your work can be done. If someone is angry with you, do not be caught in his vibrations but simply step back and his anger, finding no support or response, will vanish. Always keep your peace, resist all temptation to lose it. Never decide anything without stepping back, never speak a word without stepping back, never throw yourself into action without stepping back. All that belongs to the ordinary world is impermanent and fugitive, so there is nothing in it worth getting upset about. What is lasting, eternal, immortal and infinite - that indeed is worth having, worth conquering, worth possessing. It is Divine Light, Divine Love, Divine Life - it is also Supreme Peace, Perfect Joy and All-Mastery upon earth. . . .    The Mother

RENUNCIATION OF DESIRES

Our renunciation must obviously be an inward renunciation; especially and above all, a renunciation of attachment and the craving of desire in the senses and the heart, of self-will in the thought and action and of egoism in the centre of the consciousness. For these things are the three knots by which we are bound to our lower nature and if we can renounce these utterly, there is nothing else that can bind us.    Sri Aurobindo

197 Renunciation of desires
The essential condition for realisation.
Tectona grandis. Cream white

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198 Renunciation of emotional desires
Indispensable for transformation.
Angelonia salicariifolia. White with purple

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199 Renunciation of vital desires
It has understood the futility of desires.
Angelonia salicariifolia. Purple

 
200 Integral renunciation of vital desires
An indispensable condition for true progress.
Angelonia salicariifolia. White

201 Absence of desire
Luminous and fragrant, it expresses both peace and joy.
Atalantia monophylla. White

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RENUNCIATION

There is a sovereign royalty in taking no thought for oneself. To have needs is to assert a weakness; to claim something proves that we lack what we claim. To desire is to be impotent; it is to recognise our limitations and confess our incapacity to overcome them.

If only from the point of view of a legitimate pride, man should be noble enough to renounce desire.

The Mother
All renunciation is for a greater joy yet ungrasped. Some renounce for the joy of duty done, some for the joy of peace, some for the joy of God and some for the joy of self-torture, but renounce rather as a passage to the freedom and untroubled rapture beyond.    Sri Aurobindo

ABOLITION OF THE EGO

What we call ourself is only the ego. Our true self is the Divine.    The Mother

Human nature is shot through in all its stuff with the thread of the ego; even when one tries to get away from it, it is in front or could be behind all the thoughts and actions like a shadow. To see that is the first step, to discern the falsity and absurdity of the ego-movements is the second, to discourage and refuse it at each step is the third, — but it goes entirely only when one sees, experiences and lives the One in everything and equally everywhere.    Sri Aurobindo

Our ego, boasting of freedom, is at every moment the slave, toy and puppet of countless beings, powers, forces, influences in universal Nature. The self-abnegation of the ego in the Divine is its self-fulfilment; its surrender to that which transcends it is its liberation from bonds and limits and its perfect freedom.    Sri Aurobindo

There is no happiness in smallness of the being, says the Scripture, it is with the large being that happiness comes. The ego is by its nature a smallness of being; it brings contraction of the consciousness and with the contraction limitation of knowledge, disabling ignorance. . . . To recover what is lost we must break out of the worlds of ego.    Sri Aurobindo

202 Unselfishness
Deeply open so as not to refuse anything.
Beaumontia jerdoniana. White

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203 Abolition of the ego
One exists only by the Divine and for the Divine.
Eucalyptus. Cream white

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204 Chastity
A little austere and proud, it is very reserved.
Citrus limon. White

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205 Continence
Control over oneself.
Citrus maxima. White

CONTINENCE

To be continent is to allow no other movements in the being (mental, vital and physical) than those strictly indispensable to manifest the Divine's Will.

The Mother

CONTROL

First learn to know yourself perfectly and then to control yourself perfectly. You will be able to do it by aspiring at every moment. It is never too early to begin, never too late to continue.    The Mother

You may be sure that becoming conscious of the Divine Presence in oneself considerably changes one's whole way of being and gives an exceptional control over all activities, mental, vital and physical.
And this control is infinitely more powerful and luminous than anything one can obtain through external means.

The Mother

206 Control
Control over the lower impulses is the first step towards realisation.
Pitcairnia museosa. Bright red

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DISCIPLINE

Without character, without some kind of high or strong discipline, there is no enduring power of life.    Sri Aurobindo

Discipline is indispensable to progress. It is only when one imposes a rigorous and enlightened discipline on oneself that one can be free from the discipline of others. The supreme discipline is integral surrender to the Divine and to allow nothing else either in one's feelings or one's activities. Nothing should ever be omitted from this surrender — this is the supreme and most rigorous discipline.

The Mother

It can be said that any discipline whatsoever, if it is followed strictly, sincerely, deliberately, is of considerable help, for it makes the earthly life reach its goal more rapidly and prepares it to receive the new life. To discipline oneself is to hasten the arrival of this new life and the contact with the supramental reality.

The Mother

207 Exclusivism
The inability to do several things at the same time.
Nerine sarniensis. Bright red

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208 Discipline
Sets the example and hopes to be followed.
Ocimum basilicum. White

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209 Determination
Knows what it wants and does it.
Kopsia fruiticosa. Light pink

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210 Resolution

Nothing can stop its development.

Brunfelsia americana. White

211 Steadfastness

What it has chosen it keeps and does not like to change.

Psidium guajava. White

212 Application

Modest but harmonious.

Fittonia vershaffeltii. Pale yellow

REGULARITY

 
To be able to be regular is a great force, one becomes master of one's time and one's movements.    Sri Aurobindo

213 Regularity
Indispensable for all serious accomplishment.
Martynia annua. Pale pink

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214 Regularity
Indispensable for all serious accomplishment.
Digitalis. Several colours

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215 Thoroughness
Indispensable for all true progress.
Verbena Xhybrida. Many colours

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216 Psychic thoroughness
With tireless patience it works for the perfection of the being.
Verbena Xhybrida. Pink

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217 Vital thoroughness
The vital must become calm and docile.
Verbena Xhybrida. Mauve

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218 Physical thoroughness
Takes great care of details in the execution of work.
Verbena Xhybrida. Dark red

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219 Integral thoroughness
Nothing is neglected in order to reach the divine goal.
Verbena Xhybrida. White

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220 Artistic thoroughness
Neglects nothing in its search for perfection.
Verbena Xhybrida. Soft red

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221 Continuity
To know how to persist in one's effort.
Acalypha. Several colours

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222 Attempt towards continuity
Vigorous and repeated, but not lasting.
Acalypha wilkesiana 'Godseffiana'. Pale green tinged red

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223 Vital continuity
Rich, abundant, persistent.
Acalypha wilkesiana. Soft pink

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224 Physical continuity
Prolongs and prolongs itself and never comes to an end.
Acalypha hispida. Red or purple

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225 Material continuity
Powerful, enduring, solid.
Acalypha godseffiana. Dull red

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226 Endurance
Going to the end of the effort without fatigue or relaxation.
Zinnia elegans. Many colours

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227 Courageous endurance
Strong and energetic, never complains.
Zinnia elegans. Royal purple

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228 Victorious endurance
It will endure till the end of the battle.
Zinnia elegans. Orange

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229 Spontaneous endurance
Natural, effortless, smiling.
Zinnia elegans. Light green

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230 Joyful endurance
Whatever happens, it keeps on smiling.
Zinnia elegans. Bright coral pink

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231 Ananda of endurance
To know how to bear and endure undoubtedly creates a strong and lasting joy.
Zinnia elegans. Cream with red

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232 Supramentalised endurance
The attitude is such that difficulties lose their power to harrass.
Zinnia elegans. Golden yellow

 
233 Psychic endurance
It will smile at life whatever its difficulties may be.
Zinnia elegans. Pink

 
234 Mental endurance
The difficulty of the problems to be solved will never discourage it.
Zinnia elegans. Yellow

235 Endurance of the higher vital
Whatever the circumstances, it never fails.
Zinnia elegans. Pinkish mauve

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236 Vital endurance
Whatever the obstacles, we shall always go forward!
Zinnia elegans. Violet red

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237 Physical endurance
Knows neither fatigue nor exhaustion.
Zinnia elegans. Dark red

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238 Integral endurance
It will go on unfailingly till the end of its task.
Zinnia elegans. White

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239 Manifold endurance
Whatever the endurance needed, it is always there to do its duty.
Zinnia elegans. Multicoloured

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240 Detailed endurance
Nothing is too small to be neglected; all circumstances are met with the same care.
Zinnia angustifolia. Several colours

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241 Power of perfect endurance
Manifests rarely, but is very precious.
Strobilanthes kunthianus. Bluish violet

ENDURANCE

Let endurance be your watchword: teach the life-force in you - your vital being — not to complain but to put up with all the conditions necessary for great achievement. The body is a very enduring servant, it bears the stress of circumstance tamely like a beast of burden. It is the vital being that is always grumbling and uneasy. . . . The very essence of endurance is that the vital should learn to give up its capricious likes and dislikes and preserve an equanimity in the midst of the most trying conditions. . . .
Nothing great is ever accomplished without endurance.

The Mother

 
PERSEVERANCE

The most essential quality is perseverance, endurance, and a — how to put it? — a kind of inner good mood that helps you not to get discouraged, not to become sad, and to face all difficulties with a smile. There is an English word which expresses this very well — cheerfulness. If you can keep this within you, you resist much better, you fight much better, in the Light, these bad influences which try to prevent you from progressing.    The Mother

It is by persevering that one conquers difficulties, not by running away from them. One who perseveres is sure to triumph. Victory goes to the most enduring.

The Mother

Perseverance is patience in action.    The Mother

PATIENCE

Patience is the capacity to wait steadily for the realisation to come.    The Mother

To know how to wait is to put Time on your side.

The Mother

By having patience under all kinds of pressure you lay the foundations of peace.    Sri Aurobindo

SERVICE

You have to regard yourself as a soul and body created for [the Divine Mother's] service, one who does all for her sake. Even if the idea of the separate worker is strong in you and you feel that it is you who do the act, yet it must be done for her. . . . There must be no demand for fruit and no seeking for reward; the only fruit for you is the pleasure of the Divine Mother and the fulfilment of her work, your only reward a constant progression in divine consciousness and calm and strength and bliss. The joy of service and the joy of inner growth through works is the sufficient recompense of the selfless worker.    Sri Aurobindo

 
There is no greater joy than to serve the Divine.    The Mother

246 Service
To be at the service of the Divine is the surest way to attain realisation.
Peltophorum pterocarpum. Yellow

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WORK

To do the work that one does in all sincerity, as perfectly as one can, is certainly one of the best ways to serve the Divine.    The Mother

Work is part of the Yoga and it gives the best opportunity for calling down the Presence, the Light and the Power into the vital and its activities; it increases also the field and the opportunity of surrender.   

Sri Aurobindo

WORKS OF LOVE

The one true reward of the works of love is to grow ever in capacity and delight of love up to the ecstasy of the spirit's all-seizing embrace and universal passion....

Sri Aurobindo

247 Work
Let us offer our work to the Divine — this is the sure way to progress.
Acacia auriculiformis. Deep yellow

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248 Works of love
The best condition for work.
Impatiens wallerana. Many colours

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249 Cheerfulness in work for the Divine
Work for the Divine and you will feel an ineffable joy filling your being.
Coreopsis tinctoria. Several colours

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250 Disinterested work done for the Divine
The surest way to progress.
Crinum. White

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251 Disinterested work done for the Divine in the vital
Calm and powerful, it reaches its goal.
Crinum. White with reddish purple

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CHEERFULNESS IN WORK FOR THE DIVINE

Try to enjoy everything you do.

When you are interested in what you do, you enjoy doing it.

To be interested in what you do, you must try to do it better and better.

In progress lies great joy.    The Mother

DISINTERESTED WORK

All action must be in [the integral Yoga] part of the God-life, our acts of knowledge, our acts of power and production and creation, our acts of joy and beauty and the soul's pleasure, our acts of will and endeavour and strength and not our acts only of love and beneficent service. Its way to do these things will be not outward and mental, but inward and spiritual, and to that end it will bring into all activities, whatever they are, the spirit of divine love, the spirit of adoration and worship, the spirit of happiness in the Divine and in the beauty of the Divine so as to make all life a sacrifice of the works of the soul's love to the Divine, its cult of the Master of its existence.     Sri Aurobindo

Disinterested work is work done with no other motive than that of doing as well as possible the Divine's work.

The Mother

 
252 Power aspiring to become an instrument for the divine work
Power, opening to a higher consciousness, awakens to the need of being at the service of the Divine.
Passiflora vitifolia. Bright red

253 Mahasaraswati's perfection in work
Is not satisfied with makeshift.
Rondeletia odorata. Bright orange or deep pink

MAHASARASWATI

Mahasaraswati is the [supreme] Mother's Power of Work and her spirit of perfection and order. . . . Of all the Mother's powers she is the most long-suffering with men and his thousand imperfections. Kind, smiling, close and helpful, nor easily turned away or discouraged, insistent even after repeated failure, her hand sustains our every step on condition that we are single in our will and straightforward and sincere; for a double mind she will not tolerate and her revealing irony is merciless to drama and histrionics and self-deceit and pretense. A mother to our wants, a friend in our difficulties, a persistent and tranquil counsellor and mentor, chasing away with her radiant smile the clouds of gloom and fretfulness and depression, reminding always of the ever-present help, pointing to the eternal sunshine, she is firm, quiet and persevering in the deep and continuous urge that drives us towards the integrality of the higher nature.

Sri Aurobindo

 
For [Mahasaraswati] everything must be done down to the last detail, and done in an absolutely perfect way. And she wants, she insists that it should be done physically, totally, materially, that it should not remain in the air, you see, like a mental or vital action, but that it should be a physical realisation in all its details, and all the details should be perfect, that nothing should be neglected.    The Mother

Mahasaraswati [is] the goddess of divine skill and of the works of the Spirit, and hers is the Yoga that is skill in works, yogah karmasu kaushalam, and the utilities of divine knowledge and the self-application of the spirit to life and the happiness of its harmonies.

Sri Aurobindo

SKILL IN WORK

 
Yoga, says the Gita, is skill in works, and by this phrase the ancient Scripture meant that the transformation of mind and being to which it gave the name of Yoga brought with it a perfect inner state and faculty out of which the right principle of action and the right spiritual and divine result of works emerged naturally like a tree out of its seed.    Sri Aurobindo

254 Skill in work
Must be used consciously.
Phlox drummondii. Many colours

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255 Skill in psychic work
Listen silently to the command that comes from the Supreme Lord and you will have the capacity to carry it out.
Phlox drummondii. Pink with white

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256 Skill in mental work
To know how to observe in silence is the source of skilfulness.
Phlox drummondii. Yellow

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257 Emotional skill in work
When work becomes attractive and is done with joy, how much better it is done.
Phlox drummondii. White and mauve

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258 Skill in vital work
The seat of all capacities and all skills, which have only to be disciplined in order to be realised.
Phlox drummondii. Purple

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259 Physical skill in work
Skilful hands, a clear vision, concentrated attention, tireless patience, and what one does is done well.
Phlox drummondii. Carmine red

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260 Skill in material work
Skilful hands, precise care, sustained attention, and one compels Matter to obey the Spirit.
Phlox drummondii. Bright red

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261 Skill in integral work
All that is done is done well, whatever the work undertaken.
Phlox drummondii. White

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262 Artistic work
All work at the service of beauty.
Phlox drummondii. Very light pink

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263 Radiating skill in work
When the instruments of work (hands, eyes etc.) become conscious and the attention is controlled, the capacity for work seems to be limitless.
Phlox drummondii. Many colours

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ORDER

 
There must be order and harmony in work. Even what is apparently the most insignificant thing must be done with perfect perfection, with a sense of cleanliness, beauty, harmony and order.    The Mother

 
ORGANISATION

A clear and precise vision of what is to be done and a steady, calm and firm will to have it done are the essential conditions for an organisation to be run properly.

The Mother

It is necessary to organise one's own affairs. . . . And those who can do this are usually people who can put their ideas in order and can also organise their character and finally can control their movements.... If one can take life in this way, it becomes truly interesting. If one lives in confusion, in disorder, in an inner and outer chaos in which everything is mixed up and one is conscious of nothing and still less in command of things, that is not living.

The Mother

264 Order
To put each thing in its place gives it its true value.
Randia speciosa. Cream white

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265 Organisation
Indispensable for all good work.
Pseuderanthemum. Several colours

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266 Aspiration for organisation
Neat and methodical, order at the expense of multiplicity.
Pseuderanthemum. White and reddish purple

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267 Organisation in the vital
Indispensable for all realisation.
Pseuderanthemum. White and pink

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268 Material organisation
Manifold and well-arranged in order to face difficulties.
Pseuderanthemum. White and purplish red

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269 Integral organisation
Preliminary necessity for transformation.
Pseuderanthemum. White

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270 Organisation of details
Indispensable for all lasting accomplishment.
Pseuderanthemum. White and reddish purple

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271 Result of harmonious organisation
More effective than showy. An effective simplicity.
Pseuderanthemum. White and maroon

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273 Grouping
Indispensable for collective action.
Clerodendrum paniculatum. Reddish orange

272 Organised team-work
Each one in his place and all together.
Averrhoa carambola. Rose purple

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HELP

One cannot help others to overcome their sorrows and sufferings unless one has overcome all this in oneself and is master of one's feelings and reactions.

The Mother

The best way of helping others is to transform oneself. Be perfect and you will be in a position to bring perfection to the world.    The Mother

The best way to help the world is to transform ownself by an integral and intensive yoga.    The Mother

275 Help
You bring help to him who knows how to use you.
Cymbopogon citratus. Greenish purple

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274 Perfect planning of work
Can only be obtained with the consciousness of the Divine.
Clerodendrum inerme. White

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276 Collaboration

Always ready to help and knows how to do it.

Dianthus caryophyllus. Many colours

277 Obedience

To learn to obey is good; to obey only the Divine is better.

Dianthus chinensis. Several colours

278 Detailed obedience

The obedience to the Divine Will ought to be total.

Dianthus barbatus. Several colours

279 Perfect obedience

Without agitation or reserve, in every domain, joyous obedience to the divine command.

Dianthus chinensis. Several colours, double

COLLABORATION

Collaboration and reciprocal goodwill are indispensable for good work.    The Mother

It is only in harmonious collaboration that effective work can be done. The important thing is to find the point on which you can all agree — and after this is firmly established, each one must be ready to yield his personal will in order to keep intact this point of harmony.    The Mother

OBEDIENCE

Obedience is necessary so as to get away from one's own mind and vital and learn to follow the Truth.    SRI AUROBINDO

In yoga obedience to the Guru or to the Divine and the law of the Truth as declared by the Guru is the foundation of discipline.    SRI AUROBINDO

280 Cheerful endeavour
The joy that one finds in the effort towards the Divine.
Arctotis venusta. White

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281 Thirst to understand
Very useful for transformation.
Crossostephium artemisioides. Yellow

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282 Thirst to learn
One of the qualities that facilitate integral progress.
Ipomoea lobata. Bright red

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283 Progress
This is why we are on earth.
Catharanthus roseus. Several colours

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284 Uninterrupted but spasmodic progress
Now here, now there, apparently very impulsive.
Catharanthus roseus. Rose violet with white

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285 Vital progress
Organisation around the Divine Will and progressive surrender to that Will.
Catharanthus roseus. Light rose violet

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286 Integral progress in the vital
The vital consents to be purified.
Catharanthus roseus. White with violet

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287 Constant progress in Matter
The result of an ardent aspiration.
Catharanthus roseus. Light pink with red

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288 Integral progress in Matter
Matter awakens to consciousness.
Catharanthus roseus. White with red

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289 Integral progress
Can only be satisfied by integrality. The best way to go fast.
Catharanthus roseus 'Albus'. White

PROGRESS

Give up all personal seeking for comfort, satisfaction, enjoyment or happiness. Be only a burning fire for progress, take whatever comes to you as an aid to your progress and immediately make whatever progress is required.    The Mother

 
It is especially the will for progress and self-purification that lights the fire. The will for progress. When those who have a strong will turn it towards spiritual progress and purification, they automatically light the fire within themselves.    The Mother

 
The thirst for progress, the thirst to know, the thirst to transform yourself, and above all the thirst for Love and Truth — if you keep that, you go faster. Truly a thirst, a need, you know, a need. All the rest has no importance, what you need is that.
No more bonds - free, free, free, free! Always ready to change everything, except one thing: to aspire. That thirst.
The "Something" we need, the Perfection we need, the Light we need, the Love we need, the Truth we need, the supreme Perfection we need — and that's all. The formulas — the fewer the formulas, the better. A need, a need, a need ... which only the Thing can satisfy, nothing else, no half measure. Only That. And then, move on, move on! Your path will be your path, it doesn't matter; any path, any path whatever.    The Mother

Chapter 6

Bases of Spiritual Life

The earliest preoccupation of man in his awakened thoughts and, as it seems, his inevitable and ultimate preoccupation ... is also the highest which his thought can envisage. It manifests itself in the divination of Godhead, the impulse towards perfection, the search after pure Truth and unmixed Bliss, the sense of a secret immortality. The ancient dawns of human knowledge have left us their witness to this constant aspiration; today we see a humanity satiated but not satisfied by victorious analysis of the externalities of Nature preparing to return to its primeval longings. The earliest formula of Wisdom promises to be its last, — God, Light, Freedom, Immortality.    Sri Aurobindo

The spiritual life, the life of Yoga, has for its object to grow into the divine consciousness and for its result to purify, intensify, glorify and perfect what is in you. It makes you a power of manifestation of the Divine; it raises the character of each personality to its full value and brings it to its maximum expression; for this is part of the Divine plan.    The Mother

But the very spirit of Yoga is this, to make the exceptional normal, and to turn that which is above us and greater than our normal selves into our own constant consciousness. Therefore we should not hesitate to open ourselves more steadily to whatever experience of the Infinite we have, to purify and intensify it, to make it our object of constant thought and contemplation.    Sri Aurobindo

SINCERITY

Sincerity means more than mere honesty. It means that you mean what you say, feel what you profess, are earnest in your will. As the sadhak aspires to be an instrument of the Divine and one with the Divine, sincerity in him means that he is really in earnest in his aspiration and refuses all other will or impulse except the Divine's.    Sri Aurobindo

True sincerity consists in following the way because you cannot do otherwise, in consecrating yourself to the divine life because you cannot do otherwise, in striving to transform your being and emerge into the Light because you cannot do otherwise, because it is the very reason for which you live.

The Mother

A sincere heart is worth all the extraordinary powers in the world.    Sri Aurobindo

Sincerity is the key to the divine doors.    The Mother

290 Simple sincerity

The beginning of all progress.

Aster amellus. White

291 Emotional sincerity

Does not try to falsify the emotions.

Aster amellus. Lavender pink

292 Sincerity in the vital

The sure way to realisation.

Aster amellus. Lavender blue

293 Transparency
Can only come as a result of perfect sincerity.
Callistephus chinensis. Many colours

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294 Psychic transparency
Manifests fully only when the psychic is perfectly developed.
Callistephus chinensis. Pink, semidouble

 
295 Supramentalised psychic activity
Luminous, manifold, balanced, it meets all needs.
Callistephus chinensis. Pink, double

 
296 Transparency of the emotional vital
At once the condition and the result of the abolition of the ego.
Callistephus chinensis. Very light lavender, semidouble

 
297 Vital transparency
Indispensable for conversion.
Callistephus chinensis. Deep mauve to violet, semidouble

 
298 Supramentalised vital transparency
One of the results of conversion.
Callistephus chinensis. Violet, double

 
299 Transparency in the physical
The physical is preparing itself to be transformed.
Callistephus chinensis. Red, semidouble

 
300 Integral transparency
It is the result of goodwill and perfect sincerity.
Callistephus chinensis. White, double

 
301 Illumined transparency
An effect of the Divine Grace.
Callistephus chinensis. White, semidouble

PURITY

This is purity, to accept no other influence but only the influence of the Divine.    The Mother

One is truly perfectly pure only when the whole being, in all its elements and all its movements, adheres fully and exclusively to the Divine Will. That is total purity. It does not depend on any moral or social law, any mental convention of any kind. It depends exclusively on this: when all the elements and all the movements of the being adhere exclusively and totally to the Divine Will.

The Mother

What I call purity, the true purity, is not all those things that morality teaches: it is non-ego.
There must be nothing but Him.
Him not only because we have given Him everything and consecrated ourselves totally to Him (that is not enough), but Him because He has taken total possession of the human instrument.    The Mother

302 Purity

True purity has a lovely fragrance.

Jasminum. White

303 Psychic purity

The condition natural to the psychic.

Jasminum. White, semidouble

304 Integral purity

The whole being is purified of the ego.

Jasminum sambac 'Grand Duke of Tuscany'. White, double

305 Divine purity
It is happy just to be, in all simplicity.
Hippobroma longiflora. White

 
306 Purity arising from perfect consecration
If one lives only for the Divine and by the Divine, the result is perfect purity.
Lilium candidum. Pearl white

 
307 Power of purity
Purity is the best of powers.
Convallaria majalis. White

PURITY

There is a force of purity, not the purity of the moralist, but an essential purity of spirit, in the very substance of the being.    Sri Aurobindo

308 Radiating purity
It charms and fascinates. It makes Nature fragrant.
Gardenia augusta. White

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309 Perfect radiating purity
Nothing escapes its action.
Gardenia augusta. White, double

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310 Purity in action
When action is initiated by the Divine Will, it is pure.
Stemmadenia litoralis. White

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311 Collective purity
A very precious achievement, but difficult to obtain.
Viburnum plicatum. White

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312 Spring purity
The charm and freshness of youth.
Crataegus. White

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SIMPLICITY

As soon as all effort disappears from a manifestation, it becomes very simple, with the simplicity of a flower opening, manifesting its beauty and spreading its fragrance without clamour or vehement gesture. And in this simplicity lies the greatest power, the power which is least mixed and least gives rise to harmful reactions.

Simplicity, simplicity! How sweet is the purity of Thy Presence!

The Mother

Sri Aurobindo's answer is always the same: Be simple, be simple, very simple.
And I know what he means: to deny entry to regulating, organising, prescriptive, judgmental thought — he wants none of all that.
What he calls being simple is a joyful spontaneity; in action, in expression, in movement, in life, be simple, be simple, be simple. A joyful spontaneity.    The Mother

313 Integral simplicity
The simplicity that comes from perfect sincerity.
Vittadinia cuneata. White

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314 Beauty in collective simplicity
Each element plays its part in the whole.
Ornithogalum umbellatum. White

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315 Humility
Adorable in its simplicity.
Agrostis nebulosa. Pale greenish white

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316 Modesty
Is satisfied with its charm and does not attract attention.
Viola odorata. Deep violet

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317 Correct self-estimation
Simple and modest, does not try to put itself forward.
Jasminum humile. Yellow

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HUMILITY

 
[Humility is] the recognition that one does not know, that one knows nothing, and that there may be something beyond what presently appears to us as being truest, noblest, most disinterested. True humility consists in referring oneself constantly to the Lord, in placing everything before Him.

The Mother

It is very simple: when you tell people, "Be humble", they immediately think of being humble before other men, and that humility is bad. True humility is humility before the Divine — that is, the precise, exact, living sense that one is nothing, can do nothing, understands nothing without the Divine, that even if one is an exceptionally intelligent and capable person, one is nothing in comparison with the Divine Consciousness. And one has to keep that always, because always one has the true attitude of receptivity, a humble receptivity which does not put personal pretension in the way of the Divine.

The Mother

EQUANIMITY

The more a person is quiet in front of all occurrences, equal in all circumstances, and keeps a perfect mastery of himself and remains peaceful in the presence of whatever happens, the more he has progressed towards the goal.

The Mother

Equanimity and peace in all conditions, in all parts of the being is the first foundation of the yogic status. Either Light (bringing with it knowledge) or Force (bringing strength and dynamism of many kinds) or Ananda (bringing love and joy of existence) can come next according to the trend of the nature. But peace is the first condition without which nothing else can be stable.    Sri Aurobindo

318 Equanimity
Immutable peace and calm.
Iberis. Several colours

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PEACE

Peace was the very first thing that the yogis and seekers of old asked for and it was a quiet and silent mind — and that always brings peace — that they declared to be the best condition for realising the Divine.

Sri Aurobindo

Peace is a deep quietude where no disturbance can come — a quietude with a sense of established security and release.    Sri Aurobindo

Peace is a calm deepened into something that is very positive amounting almost to a tranquil waveless Ananda.

Sri Aurobindo

319 Peace
To want what You want always and in every circumstance is the only way to enjoy an unshakable peace.
Curcuma zedoaria. Yellow

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320 Joy of integral peace
Calm and tranquil, an unfailing smile.
Crinum. White with light pink

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SILENCE

Silence is the condition of the being when it listens to the Divine.

The Mother

In silence lies the greatest receptivity. And in an immobile silence the vastest action is done. Let us learn to be silent so that the Lord may make use of us.    The Mother

With words one can at times understand, but only in silence one knows.    The Mother

321 Silence
The ideal condition for progress. Rich, profound, multiple.
Passiflora incarnata Xcincinnata 'Incense'. Royal purple

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This power of silence is a capacity and not an incapacity, a power and not a weakness. It is a profound and pregnant stillness. Only when the mind is thus entirely still, like clear, motionless and level water, in a perfect purity and peace of the whole being and the soul transcends thought, can the Self which exceeds and originates all activities and becomings, the Silence from which all words are born, the Absolute of which all relativities are partial reflections manifest itself in the pure essence of our being. In a complete silence only is the Silence heard; in a pure peace only is its Being revealed. Therefore to us the name of That is the Silence and the Peace.

Sri Aurobindo

 
322 Integral silence
The source of true force.
Passiflora foetida. White

323 Expressive silence
Certain silences are revealing and more expressive than words.
Linaria maroccana. Several colours

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324 Gratitude
It is you who open all the closed doors and
allow the saving Grace to enter.
Ipomoea carnea. White to pale pink

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GRATITUDE

There is nothing that gives you a joy equal to that of gratitude. You hear a bird sing, you see a lovely flower, you look at a little child, observe an act of generosity, read a beautiful sentence, look at the setting sun, anything whatever: suddenly this comes upon you, this kind of emotion, so deep, so intense, that the world manifests the Divine, that there is something behind the world which is the Divine.    The Mother

And yet, of all movements, the one that perhaps gives the most joy - an unalloyed joy, untainted by egoism - is spontaneous gratitude.
It is something very special. It isn't love, it isn't self-giving. It is a very full joy. Very full.
It is a very special vibration unlike anything other than itself. It is something that widens you, that fills you, that is so fervent!
Of all the movements within the reach of human consciousness, it is certainly the one that draws you most out of your ego. . . .
When you can enter this vibration in its purity, you realise immediately that it has the same quality as the vibration of Love: it is directionless. . . . Ultimately, gratitude is only a very slightly coloured shade of the essential vibration of Love.    The Mother

325 Detailed gratitude

The gratitude that awakens in us all the details of the Divine Grace.

Merremia quinquefolia. White

326 Mental gratitude

The gratitude of the mind for what makes it progress.

Merremia tuberosa. Golden yellow

327 Integral gratitude

The whole being offers itself to the Lord with absolute trust.

Operculina turpethum. White

328 Happy heart
Smiling, peaceful, radiant, without a shadow.
Ravenia spectabilis. Bright rose pink

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329 Cheerfulness
A joyful smile of Nature.
Gaillardia pulchella. Orange red

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330 Mental cheerfulness
It knows how to enjoy everything.
Gaillardia pulchella. Yellow

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331 Optimism
More helpful than its opposite.
Erysimum cheiri. Yellow to orange

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HAPPY HEART

For your heart to remain happy keep it always filled with gratefulness. Gratefulness is the surest way to the Divine.    The Mother

CHEERFULNESS

 
There is nothing spiritually wrong with being glad and cheerful, on the contrary it is the right thing.

Sri Aurobindo

Cheerfulness is the salt of the sadhana. It is a thousand times better than gloominess.

Sri Aurobindo

332 Joy's call
It is modest and rarely makes itself heard.
Campanula medium. Blue

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333 Without grief
The contemplation that leads you beyond suffering.
Saraca indica. Orange

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A hidden Bliss is at the root of things.
A mute Delight regards Time's countless works:
To house God's joy in things Space gave wide room,
To house God's joy in self our souls were born.
This universe an old enchantment guards;
Its objects are carved cups of World-Delight
Whose charmed wine is some deep soul's rapture-drink:
The All-Wonderful has packed heaven with his dreams,
He has made blank ancient Space his marvel-house;
He spilled his spirit into Matter's signs:
His fires of grandeur burn in the great sun,
He glides through heaven shimmering in the moon;
He is beauty carolling in the fields of sound;
He chants the stanzas of the odes of Wind;
He is silence watching in the stars at night;
He wakes at dawn and calls from every bough,
Lies stunned in the stone and dreams in flower and tree.

Sri Aurobindo

334 Gentleness
Always gracious and loves to please.
Lathyrus odoratus. Several colours

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335 Vital gentleness
(No comment)
Lathyrus odoratus. Mauve

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336 Sweetness
Adds its smiling touch to life without making a fuss.
Momordica charantia. Light yellow

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337 Goodwill
Modest in appearance, does not make a show but is always ready to be useful.
Lobularia maritima. White

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338 Courageous goodwill
Fears neither inclemency nor cold, is solid and resistant.
Ilex. White

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339 Benevolence
Makes life fragrant without attracting attention.
Reseda odorata. Yellowish white or greenish yellow

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340 Good temper
(No comment)
Linum grandiflorum. Bright crimson

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341 Balance
Each seeks his own balance in order to stabilise himself.
Begonia. Several colours

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342 Perfect balance
One of the most important conditions of a growing peace.
Begonia. Several colours, medium

 
343 Psychic balance
Under the psychic influence all activity becomes balanced.
Begonia. Pink, small

 
344 Perfect psychic balance
On the way to transformation.
Begonia. Pink, medium

 
345 Mental balance
Mind governed by reason.
Begonia. Yellow, small

346 Perfect mental balance

Indispensable for facing the difficulties of life.

Begonia. Yellow, medium

347 Integral balance

It multiplies itself so as not to be static.

Begonia. White, small

348 Perfect integral balance

One is ready for transformation.

Begonia. White, medium

349 Balanced use of integral power

In truth, power can only become integral when it is used in a balanced way.

Sinningia speciosa. White

HARMONY

For all problems of existence are essentially problems of harmony. They arise from the perception of an unsolved discord and the instinct of an undiscovered agreement or unity. To rest content with an unsolved discord is possible for the practical and more animal part of man, but impossible for his fully awakened mind, and usually even his practical parts only escape from the general necessity either by shutting out the problem or by accepting a rough, utilitarian and unillumined compromise. For essentially, all Nature seeks a harmony, life and matter in their own sphere as much as mind in the arrangement of its perceptions.    Sri Aurobindo

This manifestation of beauty and harmony is part of the Divine realisation upon earth, perhaps even its greatest part.    The Mother

350 Harmony
Let us work for the day when this will become both the means and the end.
Antigonon. Several colours

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351 Harmony in the vital
To harmonise the vital is a psychological masterpiece. Happy is he who accomplishes it.
Antigonon leptopus. Bright pink

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352 Harmony in the material vital
No disputes, no quarrels — the sweetness of a life without clashes.
Antigonon leptopus. Deep pink

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353 Integral harmony
Harmony between things, harmony between persons, harmony of circumstances and, above all, harmony of aspirations — all leading to the Supreme Truth.
Antigonon leptopus 'Album'. White

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CHARITY

Yes, there is a sublime charity, one which rises from a happy heart, from a serene soul.
One who has won inner peace is a herald of deliverance wherever he goes, a bearer of hope and joy. Is not this what poor and suffering humanity needs above all things?
Yes, there are certain men whose thoughts are all love, who radiate love, and the mere presence of these individuals is a charity more active, more real than any other.
Though they utter no word and make no gesture, yet the sick are relieved, the tormented are soothed, the ignorant are enlightened, the wicked are appeased, those who suffer are consoled. These individuals who, out of love, give themselves to all, who become the servants of all, are the living symbols of the supreme Charity.

The Mother

354 Collective harmony
Collective harmony is the work undertaken by the Divine Consciousness; it alone has the power to realise it.
Hydrangea. Several colours

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355 Conciliation
Likes smooth contacts.
Sesamum indicum. White

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356 Charity
Simple and sweet, attentive to the needs of all.
Commelina. Sky blue

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GENEROSITY

I was holding one of these flowers [Integral generosity] in my hand when I saw Z, and I explained to him what I meant by it. The effect of the ego, I told him, is to shrivel the being. This is the cause of aging, it shrivels you up like a fading flower, it dries you up. . . . I know that at one point I was talking about the difference between the two states, between the person, the individual personal being, turning towards the Lord, imploring Him to reveal His Will, and then this experience of becoming — by extending oneself, by opening, enlarging, merging into the creation — of becoming the Lord's Will, the Supreme Will.    The Mother

357 Generosity
Gives and gives itself without bargaining.
Impatiens balsamina. Several colours

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358 Psychic generosity
Gives for the joy of giving.
Impatiens balsamina. Pink

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359 Generosity in the vital
Gives itself unstintingly.
Impatiens balsamina. Rose purple

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360 Perfect generosity in the vital
(No comment)
Impatiens balsamina. Rose purple, double

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361 Psycho-physical generosity
Generosity of thought and act.
Impatiens balsamina. Pink and red

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362 Generosity in the physical
Loves abundance and loves to give it.
Impatiens balsamina. Red

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363 Manifold generosity
All in Nature is spontaneously generous.
Impatiens balsamina. Bicoloured

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FAITHFULNESS

This is faithfulness, to admit and to manifest no other movements but only the movements prompted and guided by the Divine.    The Mother

When I spoke of being faithful to the light of the soul and the divine Call, ... I was simply affirming the great need in all crises and attacks, - to refuse to listen to any suggestions, impulses, lures and to oppose to them all the call of the Truth, the imperative beckoning of the Light. In all doubt and depression, to say, "I belong to the Divine, I cannot fail"; to all suggestions of impurity and unfitness, to reply, "I am a child of Immortality chosen by the Divine; I have but to be true to myself and to Him — the victory is sure; even if I fell, I would rise again"; to all impulses to depart and serve some smaller ideal, to reply, "This is the greatest, this is the Truth that alone can satisfy the soul within me; I will endure through all tests and tribulations to the very end of the divine journey". This is what I mean by faithfulness to the Light and the Call.    Sri Aurobindo

364 Faithfulness
We can count on You; You never fail us when we need You.
Quisqualis indica. White, pink and red

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365 Incorruptible faithfulness
Nothing can turn you from the duty you have chosen.
Carlina acaulis. White or reddish

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366 Peace of integral faithfulness
Be faithful to the Divine and you will enjoy constant peace.
Portlandia grandiflora. White

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367 Joy of integral faithfulness
That bond of love which makes all faithfulness so easy.
Portlandia grandiflora. White with pink

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368 Belief
Simple and candid, does not question.
Clerodendrum. Cream white

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369 Aspiration for the right attitude
Energetic, willing, determined.
Clerodendrum Xspeciosum. Red, green calyx

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370 Aspiration for the right attitude
Energetic, willing, determined.
Clerodendrum thomsoniae. Red, white calyx

 
371 Right attitude
Simple and open, without complications.
Clerodendrum speciosissimum. Bright orange

 
372 Right attitude established
There is a moment when the right attitude comes spontaneously and effortlessly.
Clerodendrum splendens. Red orange

RIGHT ATTITUDE

To lead the Divine Life does not depend on any exterior activity or circumstances. Whatever you do from the highest work to the most ordinary, you can lead the Divine Life if you are in the true consciousness and the right attitude.    The Mother

If, in the presence of circumstances that are about to take place, you can take the highest attitude possible — that is, if you put your consciousness in contact with the highest consciousness within reach, you can be absolutely sure that in that case it is the best that can happen to you. . . . I even go so far as to assert that in each one's zone of immediate influence, the right attitude not only has the power to turn every circumstance to advantage but can change the very circumstance itself.    The Mother

373 Enthusiasm
True enthusiasm is full of a peaceful endurance.
Petunia Xhybrida. Many colours

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374 Cheerful enthusiasm
The best way of facing life. Joy unites with enthusiasm in action.
Petunia Xhybrida. Many colours, double

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375 Enthusiasm in action
All actions are done with energy and ardour.
Petunia Xhybrida. Bicoloured

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376 Cheerful enthusiasm in action
Action will become joyfully enthusiastic when it is governed by the Supermind.
Petunia Xhybrida. Bicoloured, double

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377 Psychic enthusiasm
A state that only the Divine can awaken.
Petunia Xhybrida. Light pink

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378 Cheerful psychic enthusiasm
An assurance of success in spite of obstacles.
Petunia Xhybrida. Light pink, double

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379 Enthusiasm in the higher vital
The vital being takes a lively interest in what it does.
Petunia Xhybrida. Pale lavender blue

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380 Cheerful enthusiasm in the higher vital
The result of perfect surrender to the Divine.
Petunia Xhybrida. Pale lavender blue, double

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381 Vital enthusiasm
Care must be taken that it be in the right direction.
Petunia Xhybrida. Pinkish mauve

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382 Cheerful vital enthusiasm
Very precious if it persists in spite of difficulties.
Petunia Xhybrida. Pinkish mauve, double

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383 Enthusiasm in the most material vital
Needed to face the difficulties of life successfully.
Petunia Xhybrida. Deep purple

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384 Cheerful enthusiasm in the most material vital
The most material vital will find its joy in enthusiastic action when it is governed by the Supermind.
Petunia Xhybrida. Deep purple, double

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385 Physical enthusiasm
The body takes a lively interest in life and action.
Petunia Xhybrida. Red

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386 Cheerful physical enthusiasm
The whole being lives only to serve the Divine.
Petunia Xhybrida. Red, double

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387 Integral enthusiasm
The whole being does whatever it does with ardour.
Petunia Xhybrida. White

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388 Cheerful integral enthusiasm
To ardour is added the joy of doing things well.
Petunia Xhybrida. White, double

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389 Life energy
Powerful and manifold, meets all needs.
Dendranthema Xgrandiflorum. Many colours

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390 Purified dynamic life energy
Superb, indomitable, all-powerful in its purity.
Dendranthema Xgrandiflorum. White

 
391 Supramentalised life energy
Manifold and supple, it has an immortal resistance.
Dendranthema Xgrandiflorum. Orange yellow

 
392 Life energy in the vital
Supple and resistant, it is tireless.
Dendranthema Xgrandiflorum. Light mauve

 
393 Life energy in the material
(No comment)
Dendranthema Xgrandiflorum. Golden red

 
394 Specialised detailed energy
Nothing is too small to merit its attention.
Chrysanthemum. Several colours

LIFE ENERGY

[Life energy], life-force is not physical in itself; it is not material energy, but rather a different principle supporting Matter and involved in it. It supports and occupies all forms and without it no physical form could have come into being or could remain in being. It acts in all material forces such as electricity and is nearest to self-manifestation in those that are nearest to pure force; no material force could exist or act without it, for from it they derive their energy and movement and they are its vehicles.    Sri Aurobindo

The true Life-Force too reveals itself as no longer this troubled harassed divided striving surface energy, but a great and radiant Divine Power, full of peace and strength and bliss, a wide-wayed Angel of life with its wings of Might unfolding the universe.

Sri Aurobindo

 
395 Organised material energy
Clustered, compact and methodical, it is powerful through its organisation.
Schefflera actinophylla. Dull red

396 Energy turned towards the Divine
The power of realisation offers itself in service to the Divine.
Lawsonia inermis. Cream yellow or red

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397 Plasticity
Always ready for the necessary progress.
Tagetes. Several colours

 
398 Mental plasticity
Indispensable for true knowledge.
Tagetes erecta. Yellow

 
399 Energy of a plastic mind
Does not draw back from any effort to progress.
Tagetes erecta 'Spun Yellow'. Bright yellow

 
400 Physical plasticity
One of the important conditions for transformation.
Tagetes erecta. Yellow or orange with maroon

 
401 Detailed plasticity
The plasticity needed to constantly progress.
Tagetes patula. Several colours

PLASTICITY

That which can easily change its form is "plastic". Figuratively, it is suppleness, the capacity to adapt to circumstances or necessities. When I ask you to be plastic in relation to the Divine, I mean not to resist the Divine with the rigidity of preconceived ideas and fixed principles.    The Mother

 
The physical being and physical consciousness must be very plastic to be able to lend themselves to all the necessary changes, so as to be one way one day, another way the next, and so on.    The Mother

 
Supramental plasticity is an attribute of finally transformed Matter. The supramental body which has to be brought into being here has four main attributes: lightness, adaptability, plasticity and luminosity. . . . Supramental plasticity will enable it to stand the attack of every hostile force which strives to pierce it: it will present no dull resistance to the attack but will be, on the contrary, so pliant as to nullify the force by giving way to it to pass off. Thus it will suffer no harmful consequences and the most deadly attacks will leave it unscathed.    The Mother

402 Supramentalised plasticity
One of the stages on the way to transformation.
Tagetes erecta. Orange to orange yellow

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COURAGE

True courage, in its deepest sense, is to be able to face everything, everything in life, from the smallest things to the greatest, from material things to things of the spirit, without a shudder, without physically . . . without the heart beginning to beat faster, without the nerves trembling, without the slightest emotion in any part of the being. Face everything with a constant awareness of the Divine Presence, a total self-giving to the Divine, and the whole being unified in this will; then you can go forward in life and face anything whatever.    The Mother

 
403 Courage
Bold, it faces all dangers.
Calotropis gigantea. Mauve

404 Integral courage
Whatever the domain, whatever the danger, the attitude remains the same — calm and assured.
Calotropis gigantea. White

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405 Vital courage
Must be controlled to be beneficial.
Solanum melongena. Purple

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FEARLESSNESS

Fear is an impurity, one of the greatest impurities, one of those which come most directly from the anti-divine forces which want to destroy the divine action on earth; and the first duty of those who really want to do yoga is to eliminate from their consciousness, with all the might, all the sincerity, all the endurance they are capable of, even the shadow of fear.    The Mother

406 Bravery
Fears nothing and knows how to stand up against adversaries.
Amaranthus tricolor 'Molten Fire'. Deep mauve

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407 Fearlessness in action
Manifold, unfettered and fearless.
Amaranthus caudatus. Dull magenta

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408 Fearlessness
Without fear or hesitation, it will obey the Divine's command.
Solanum torvum. White

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409 Fearlessness in the vital
Goes straight to its goal and fears no inclemency.
Solanum melongena. Light lavender and white

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411 Boldness
Do fearlessly what has to be done, dreading no difficulty.
Celosia argentea. Many colours

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412 Spontaneous boldness
One of the results of perfect trust in the Divine.
Celosia argentea. Green

 
413 Mental boldness
May our mind be capable of foreseeing the perfections of tomorrow.
Celosia argentea. Yellow

 
414 Vital boldness
Should submit to reason.
Celosia argentea. Dark red

 
415 Physical boldness
Nothing seems impossible in its consecration to the Divine.
Celosia argentea. Red

EFFORT TOWARDS THE TRUTH

Truth is the door of the spirit's Ananda, its beatific nature.    Sri Aurobindo

The Truth is not a dogma one can learn once and for all and impose as a rule. The Truth is infinite like the Supreme Lord, and it manifests at every moment to those who are sincere and attentive.

The Mother

We shall perceive that the truth we seek is made up of four major aspects: Love, Knowledge, Power and Beauty. These four attributes of the Truth will express themselves spontaneously in our being. The psychic will be the vehicle of true and pure love, the mind will be the vehicle of infallible knowledge, the vital will manifest an invincible power and strength, and the body will be the expression of a perfect beauty and harmony.    The Mother

 
420 Effort towards the Truth
Should exist in all men of goodwill.
Dillenia suffruiticosa. Lemon yellow

 
421 Absolute truthfulness
Must govern one's life if one wants to be close to the Divine.
Solandra maxima. Cream to light yellow

 
422 Straightforwardness
Shows itself as it is, without compromising.
Ixora pavetta. Off-white

 
423 Frankness
Says frankly what it has to say without caring for the result.
Gerbera jamesonii. Several colours

STRAIGHTFORWARDNESS

Those who are not straightforward cannot profit by the Mother's help, for they themselves turn it away. Unless they change, they cannot hope for the descent of the supramental Light and Truth into the lower vital and physical nature; they remain stuck in their own self-created mud and cannot progress.    Sri Aurobindo

NEVER TELL A LIE

It is never good to tell a lie, but here its results can only be disastrous, for falsehood is the very symbol of that which wants to oppose the divine work of Truth.    The Mother

To speak always the truth is the highest title of nobility.    The Mother

424 Never tell a lie
Absolute condition for safety on the path.
Pereskia. Pink

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425 Spiritual speech
All-powerful in its simplicity.
Asparagus densiflorus 'Sprengeri'. White

426 Power of expression
It is the power to manifest that which is latent.
Antirrhinum majus. Many colours

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427 Power of psychic expression
The psychic gets its power of expression when it governs the whole being.
Antirrhinum majus. Pink

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428 Power of mental expression
Has value only when it is at the service of the Divine.
Antirrhinum majus. Yellow

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429 Power of vital expression
Is useful only when the vital is converted.
Antirrhinum majus. Purple to violet

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430 Power of physical expression
One of the benefits of conversion.
Antirrhinum majus. Red

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431 Power of integral expression
Nothing is too difficult for it to say.
Antirrhinum majus. White with yellow

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432 Power of manifold expression
The result of suppleness and plasticity.
Antirrhinum majus. Multicoloured

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433 Progressive expression
What you cannot say today, you will know how to say tomorrow.
Antirrhinum majus. Many colours

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POWER OF EXPRESSION

The power of expression comes by getting in touch with the inner source from which these things come.    The Mother

 
For a certain state of consciousness there is not a word, not a gesture, not an action which does not express a deeper or higher reality, more lasting, more essential, more true; and once one has seen and felt this, everything takes on a meaning, and one sees more clearly how things ought to be organised, arranged so that a deeper truth may be expressed even better than it is at present.    The Mother

 
The truest expression comes out of an absolute inner silence.    Sri Aurobindo

434 Abundant expression
Has much to say and says it fully.
Celosia argentea. Golden yellow

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435 Joyful expression
It enjoys itself and gives enjoyment to others.
Celosia argentea. Golden orange

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436 Eloquence
We know how to express ourselves in a convincing way.
Alpinia zerumbet. White

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437 To know how to say what is needed
Neither too many words nor too few — just what is needed.
Alpinia galanga. White

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NO QUARRELS

All quarrels proceed from egoism which pushes its own opinion and affirms its own importance, considering that it is right and everybody else wrong and thus creates anger and sense of injury etc. These things must not be indulged, but rejected at once.    Sri Aurobindo

As for ill-will, jealousy, quarrels and reproaches, one must sincerely be above all that and reply with a benevolent smile to the bitterest words; and unless one is absolutely sure of oneself and one's reactions, it would be better, as a general rule, to keep silent.    The Mother

To be above offence or insult makes one truly great.    The Mother

438 No quarrels
A very important condition to fulfil in order to facilitate the advent of the Supermind.
Gloriosa superba. Greenish yellow

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439 Boastfulness
One of the greatest obstacles to progress. A stupidity one must carefully avoid if one aspires for true progress.
Parkia pedunculata. Brown

GOSSIP

The Mother's warning to you against the undesirability of too much talk, loose chat and gossip, social self-dispersion was entirely meant and stands; when you indulge in these things, you throw yourself out into a very small and ignorant consciousness in which your vital defects get free play and this is likely to bring you out of what you have developed in your inner consciousness.    Sri Aurobindo

I myself have had the experience that one can be fully concentrated and be in union with the Divine even while working physically with one's hands; but naturally this asks for a little practice, and for this the most important thing to avoid is useless talking. It is not work but useless talking that takes us away from the Divine.    The Mother

440 Gossip

Dark and pointed, this is a flower that wounds more than it charms.

Typhonium blumei. Deep maroon

441 Sharp tongue

Unfortunately too frequent.

Aphelandra tetragona. Orange

CARE

Always do what you do with care.

The Mother

Any work done with care becomes interesting. The Mother

 
The Divine is in things also and that is why they must be treated with care. The Mother

Yes, and we must take care of [material things], not because we are attracted to them, but because they too manifest something of the Divine Consciousness. The Mother

442 To know how to listen
To be attentive and silent.
Podranea ricasoliana. Light pink to lavender pink

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443 Observation
Likes to prolong its attention in order to see better.
Senecio. Yellow green

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444 Care
To be careful in what one does.
Chlorophytum comosum 'Vittatum'. White

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CERTITUDE

There is only one thing to do: to proceed on one's way keeping one's own faith and certitude, and not bother about contradictions and denials. There are people who need the support and trust and certitude of others to feel comfortable and to be at ease; they are always unhappy because, of course, they will always come across people who do not believe, and so they will be upset and it will trouble them. One must find one's own certitude within oneself, keep it in spite of everything and go one's way whatever the cost, to the very end. The victory is for the most enduring.
To maintain one's endurance in spite of all opposition, the support must be unshakable, and one support alone is unshakable, that of the Reality, the Supreme Truth.

The Mother

 
445 Prudence
Very useful for weakness since weakness needs prudence; strength does not need it.
Emilia sonchifolia. Scarlet

446 Enlightened prudence
Looks carefully before going forward.
Emilia sonchifolia 'Lutea'. Golden yellow

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447 Common sense
It is very practical and avoids many mistakes, but it lacks flight.
Nicotiana alata. Several colours

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448 Certitude
Assured and calm, it never argues.
Nicotiana plumbaginifolia. White

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UNOSTENTATIOUS CERTITUDE

[Unostentatious certitude] is the complete negation of "bluff". I find it very beautiful. When I saw this flower, it struck me as something very profound, very calm — and absolutely sure, something unmoving. I don't know why, but the longer I looked at it, the more it gave me that impression and when I was asked its significance, I said, "Unostentatious certitude". It is what one might call a superlative good taste in spiritual experience, something that contains more than it expresses.    The Mother

449 Unostentatious certitude
It does not attract attention or try to convince anyone.
Platycodon grandiflorus. Lavender blue

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Chapter 7

Spiritual Attainments

If mankind could but see though in a glimpse of fleeting experience what infinite enjoyments, what perfect forces, what luminous reaches of spontaneous knowledge, what wide calms of our being lie waiting for us in the tracts which our animal evolution has not yet conquered, they would leave all and never rest till they had gained these treasures. But the way is narrow, the doors are hard to force, and fear, distrust and scepticism are there, sentinels of Nature, to forbid the turning away of our feet from her ordinary pastures.    Sri Aurobindo

Spirituality is in its essence an awakening to the inner reality of our being, to a spirit, self, soul which is other than our mind, life and body, an inner aspiration to know, to feel, to be that, to enter into contact with the greater Reality beyond and pervading the universe which inhabits also our own being, to be in communion with It and union with It, and a turning, a conversion, a transformation of our whole being as a result of the aspiration, the contact, the union, a growth or waking into a new becoming or new being, a new self, a new nature.    Sri Aurobindo

450 Mastery
Know what the Divine wants and you will have mastery.
Syzygium jambos. White to greenish white

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MASTERY

Self-mastery is the greatest conquest, it is the basis of all enduring happiness.    The Mother

 
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.   The Mother

The mastery must be a true mastery, a very humble and austere mastery which starts from the very bottom and, step by step, establishes control. In fact, it is a battle against small things, very tiny things: habits of being, ways of thinking, feeling and reacting. When this mastery at the very bottom combines with the consciousness at the very top, then you can really begin to do work — not only work on yourself but work for all.    The Mother

KNOWLEDGE

By Knowledge we mean in yoga not thought or ideas about spiritual things but psychic understanding from within and spiritual illumination from above.    Sri Aurobindo

The knowledge that seems to come to you from outside is only an occasion for bringing out the knowledge that is within you. Let all circumstances, all happenings in life be occasions, constantly renewed, for learning always more and more.

The Mother

 
True knowledge is precisely knowledge by identity, and wisdom is the state one attains when one is in this true knowledge.   The Mother

 
INTUITIVE KNOWLEDGE

Intuition is always an edge or ray or outleap of a superior light.

Sri Aurobindo

451 Knowledge
Is conversant with all sides of a question, whatever it may be.
Leucaena leucocephala. Cream white

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452 Intuitive knowledge
Innumerable and vast for exploration, it is pure and fragrant.
Caesalpinia coriaria. Cream to greenish white

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453 Supramental knowledge
An infallible vision of problems.
Acacia farnesiana. Deep yellow

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454 Knowledge of details
Manifold and minute, it forgets nothing.
Acacia leucophloea. Cream white

 
WISDOM

 
Wisdom is the vision of truth in its essence and of its application in the manifestation.    The Mother

 
Wisdom looks behind the veil and sees.
Reason divides, fixes details and contrasts them;
Wisdom unifies, marries contrasts in a single harmony.   

Sri Aurobindo

 
455 Wisdom
Can only be acquired through union with the Divine Consciousness.
Albizia saman. Pink

456 Striving towards wisdom

A bit of wisdom is welcome.

Calliandra. Several colours

457 Striving towards integral wisdom

Like everything that belongs to the creation, wisdom is progressive.

Calliandra portoricensis. White

458 Wisdom in the physical mind

A first step towards the supramental manifestation upon earth.

Calliandra haematocephala. Red

459 Integral wisdom

The wisdom one obtains through union with the Divine.

Albizia lebbeck. Cream white

460 Inspiration

Brings its manifold gifts to him who knows how to receive them.

Aristolochia littoralis. Cream white and maroon

461 Lasting inspiration

Waits patiently to be received.

Aristolochia ringens. Yellow green

INSPIRATION

Inspiration is a slender river of brightness leaping from a vast and eternal knowledge; it exceeds reason more perfectly than reason exceeds the knowledge of the senses.

Sri Aurobindo

There are different kinds of knowledge. One is inspiration, i.e. something that comes out of the knowledge planes like a flash and opens up the mind to the Truth in a moment. That is inspiration. It easily takes the form of words as when a poet writes or a speaker speaks, as people say, from inspiration.    Sri Aurobindo

[Inspiration] is like a tiny little stream or a few falling drops and these drops are so pure, so brilliant, so complete in themselves, that they give you the sense of a marvellous inspiration, the impression that you have reached infinite domains and risen very high above the ordinary human condition. And yet this is nothing in comparison with what is still to be perceived.    The Mother

REVELATION

Revelation is the direct sight, the direct hearing or the inspired memory of Truth, drishti, shruti, smriti; it is the highest experience and always accessible to renewed experience. Not because God spoke it, but because the soul saw it, is the word of the Scriptures our supreme authority.    Sri Aurobindo

The Vedic seers seem to speak of two primary faculties of the "truth-conscious" soul; they are Sight and Hearing, by which is intended direct operations of an inherent Knowledge describable as truth-vision and truth-audition and reflected from far-off in our human mentality by the faculties of revelation and inspiration.    Sri Aurobindo

Revelation is greater than inspiration — it brings the direct knowledge and seeing; inspiration gives the expression, but the two are not always equal.    Sri Aurobindo

 
462 Revelation
The true revelation is the revelation of the Divine.
Costus speciosus. Rose purple

 
463 Integral revelation
Half-way to transformation.
Costus speciosus. White

CONSCIOUSNESS

Consciousness is a fundamental thing, the fundamental thing in existence — it is the energy, the motion, the movement of consciousness that creates the universe and all that is in it — not only the macrocosm but the microcosm is nothing but consciousness arranging itself.

Sri Aurobindo

 
Consciousness is made up of two elements, awareness of self and things and forces and conscious-power. Awareness is the first thing necessary, you have to be aware of things in the right consciousness, in the right way, seeing them in their truth; but awareness by itself is not enough. There must be a Will and a Force that make the consciousness effective.    Sri Aurobindo

The only thing that is truly effective is the change of consciousness; it is inner liberation through a close and constant union, absolute and inevitable, with the vibration of the supramental forces. The preoccupation of every second, the will of all the elements of the being, the aspiration of the whole being, including all the cells of the body, is this union with the supramental forces, the divine forces. And there is no longer any need at all to be concerned with what the consequences will be. What has to be in the play of the universal forces and their manifestation will be, quite naturally, spontaneously, automatically; there is no need to be concerned about it. The only thing that matters is the constant, total, complete contact — constant, yes, constant — with the Force, the Light, the Truth, the Power, and that ineffable delight of the supramental consciousness.

The Mother

464 Consciousness turned towards the Light
It thirsts for the light and cannot live without it.
Helianthus. Light to deep yellow

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465 Consciousness turned towards the Supramental Light
It thirsts for truth and will find its satisfaction only in the Truth.
Helianthus. Yellow orange

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466 Intensity of consciousness in the full Supramental Light
It is radiant and shining in order to illumine the world.
Helianthus. Yellow, double

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467 Body-consciousness undergoing the supramental transformation
Solid and resolute, it faces all difficulties.
Helianthus. Sienna with golden yellow

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468 Solid steadfastness in the material consciousness
The material consciousness has a firm and solid steadfastness.
Bombax ceiba. Deep red

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LIGHT

Light is not knowledge but the illumination that comes from above and liberates the being from obscurity and darkness.

Sri Aurobindo

469 Attraction for the Light
In its attraction it tries to imitate the stars.
Curculigo orchioides. Golden yellow

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470 Light
Light and airy, it radiates.
Cestrum diurnum. White

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471 Light in the vital
One of the first steps on the long way.
Cestrum elegans. Light purple

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LIGHT

Light is primarily a spiritual manifestation of the Divine Reality illuminative and creative; material light is a subsequent representation or conversion of it into Matter for the purposes of the material Energy.

Sri Aurobindo

LIGHT

Our sense by its incapacity has invented darkness. In truth there is nothing but Light, only it is a power of light either above or below our poor human vision's limited range.
For do not imagine that light is created by the Suns. The Suns are only physical concentrations of Light, but the splendour they concentrate for us is self-born and everywhere. God is everywhere and wherever God is, there is Light.    Sri Aurobindo

472 Movements in the Light
This is possible only with a great sincerity.
Pentas lanceolata. White

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473 Light in the vital movements
This certainly means the beginning of wisdom.
Pentas lanceolata. Mauve

 
474 Psychic light in the physical movements
The first step towards the transformation of the physical.
Pentas lanceolata. Vivid pink

 
475 Psychic light in the material movements
Essential condition for transformation.
Pentas lanceolata. Bright red

476 Light without obscurity
All-powerful in its simplicity.
Eucharis Xgrandiflora. White

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LIGHT WITHOUT OBSCURITY

Even if there is much darkness — and the world is full of it and the physical nature of man also — yet a ray of the true Light can prevail eventually against a tenfold darkness. Believe that and cleave to it always.     Sri Aurobindo

477 Obscurity offers itself to be transformed

Obscurity tired of being obscure.

Thunbergia alata. Yellow orange to orange

478 Transformation dispels obscurity

Obscurity will disappear more and more as the transformation progresses.

Thunbergia alata 'Julietta'. Golden yellow to deep orange

479 Alchemy

Supple and plastic, ready to take any form whatever.

Hymenocallis. White

480 Occultism

Truly blossoms only when it is surrendered to the Divine.

Pancratium zeylanicum. White

481 Initiation

It is unique in the whole existence of the plant.

Yucca. White

OCCULTISM

Occultism is the knowledge and right use of the hidden forces of Nature.
Occult forces are the forces that can only be known by going behind the veil of apparent phenomena — especially the forces of the subtle physical and supraphysical planes.

Sri Aurobindo

 
Occultism means rightly the use of the higher powers of our nature, soul, mind, life-force and the faculties of the subtle physical consciousness to bring about results on their own or on the material plane by some pressure of their own secret law and its potentialities, for manifestation and result in human or earthly mind and life and body or in objects and events in the world of Matter.

Sri Aurobindo

CONVERSION

Conversion: the turning of all the movements of the being towards the Divine.    The Mother

When [the psychic being] is awake, it begins to take hold of the rest of the being, to influence it and change it so that all may become the true expression of the inner soul. It is this change that is called the inner conversion. There can be no conversion without the awakening of the psychic being.   Sri Aurobindo

The spiritual conversion begins when the soul begins to insist on a deeper life and is complete when the psychic being becomes the basis or the leader of the consciousness and mind and vital and body are led by it and obey it.    Sri Aurobindo

 
482 Conversion of the aim of life from the ego to the Divine
Instead of seeking one's own satisfaction, to have service of the Divine as the aim of life.
Clivia miniata. Bright orange

483 Conversion
The starting-point of realisation.
Hippeastrum. Many colours

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484 Conversion of the mind
The mind has freed itself of its arrogance and knows that it is only an instrument.
Hippeastrum. Yellow

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485 Conversion of the physical mind
Ready to understand everything and to grow continually.
Hippeastrum. Salmon orange

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486 Conversion of the emotional being
It blossoms in a harmonious receptivity.
Hippeastrum. Light pink

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487 Conversion of the vital
Enthusiastic and spontaneous, it gives itself unstintingly.
Hippeastrum. Dark red

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488 Conversion of the physical
Compact and stable, without fluctuations.
Hippeastrum. Bright red

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489 Integral conversion
Above all conflicts and struggles, in a harmonious blossoming.
Hippeastrum. White

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490 Integral conversion with the help of the psychic
Sweetness mingles with resolution.
Hippeastrum. White with rose

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491 Total conversion
The whole being has given itself in all its movements.
Hippeastrum. Light red

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NEW BIRTH

When I speak of "New Birth" I am always speaking of the birth of a new consciousness.    The Mother

 
What is called "new birth" is the birth into the spiritual life, the spiritual consciousness; it is to carry in oneself something of the spirit which individually, through the soul, can begin to rule the life and be the master of existence.    The Mother

492 New birth

Birth into the true consciousness, that of the Divine Presence in us.

Origanum majorana. White

You become a new person, and whatever your path or its difficulties later on, that feeling never leaves you. It is not even something, like many other experiences, which recedes, passes into the background, leaving you externally with a kind of vague memory that is difficult to hold, a memory that grows faint and blurred — it is not that. You are a new person and you are definitively that, whatever happens. And even all the incapacities of the mind, all the difficulties of the vital, all the inertia of the physical are unable to change this new state — a new state that makes a decisive break in the life of the consciousness. The being one was before and the being one is after, are no longer the same. The position one has in the universe and in relation to it, in life and in relation to it, in understanding and in relation to it, is no longer the same: it is a true reversal which can never be undone again.

The Mother

REALISATION

Realisation is . . . when something for which you are aspiring becomes real to you; e.g. you have the idea of the Divine in all, but it is only an idea, a belief; when you feel or see the Divine in all, it becomes a realisation.

Sri Aurobindo

In a more deep and spiritual sense a concrete realisation is that which makes the thing realised more real, dynamic, intimately present to the consciousness than any physical thing can be.    Sri Aurobindo

493 Beginning of realisation

Full of promise and hope, it radiates joy and confidence.

Sesbania grandiflora. Several colours

REALISATION

Realisations are the reception in the consciousness and the establishment there of the fundamental truths of the Divine, of the Higher or Divine Nature, of the world-consciousness and the play of its forces, of one's own self and real nature and the inner nature of things, the power of these things growing in one till they are a part of one's inner life and existence, — as for instance, the realisation of the Divine Presence, the descent and settling of the higher Peace, Light, Force, Ananda in the consciousness, their workings there, the realisation of the divine or spiritual love, . . . the clear perception of the relation of all these things to our present inferior nature and their action on it to change that lower nature.    Sri Aurobindo

LIBERATION

Liberation signifies an emergence into the true spiritual nature of being where all action is the automatic self-expression of that truth and there can be nothing else.

Sri Aurobindo

Deep, intense, convincing, common to all who have overstepped a certain limit of the active mind-belt into the horizonless inner space, this is the great experience of liberation, the consciousness of something within us that is behind and outside of the universe and all its forms, interests, aims, events and happenings, calm, untouched, unconcerned, illimitable, immobile, free....    Sri Aurobindo

 
496 Victory
Will triumph over all obstacles.
Allamanda cathartica. Bright yellow

 
497 Victory in the vital
In the vital even a little victory has great consequences.
Allamanda blanchetti. Soft pinkish purple

VICTORY

The first victory is to create an individuality. And then later, the second victory is to give this individuality to the Divine. And the third victory is that the Divine changes your individuality into a divine being.

There are three stages: the first is to become an individual; the second is to consecrate the individual so that he may surrender entirely to the Divine and be identified with Him; and the third is that the Divine takes possession of this individual and changes him into a being in His own image; that is, he too becomes divine.

The Mother

498 Joy of victory
It resembles victory without having its power.
Anemopaegma chamberlaynii. Bright golden yellow

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499 Certitude of victory
It is not noisy but it is sure.
Catesbaea spinosa. Greenish yellow

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CERTITUDE OF VICTORY

You must make grow in you the peace that is born of the certitude of victory.

Sri Aurobindo

 
No human will can finally prevail against the Divine's Will. Let us put ourselves deliberately and exclusively on the side of the Divine, and the Victory is ultimately certain.   The Mother

500 Transformation

The goal of creation.

Millingtonia hortensis. White

TRANSFORMATION

There are . . . different statuses of transformation. First is the psychic transformation, in which all is in contact with the Divine through the individual psychic consciousness. Next is the spiritual transformation in which all is merged in the Divine in the cosmic consciousness. Third is the supramental transformation in which all becomes supramentalised in the divine gnostic consciousness. It is only with the last that there can begin the complete transformation of mind, life and body — in my sense of completeness.

Sri Aurobindo

501 Attempt towards immortality
Persistent and coordinated.
Celosia argentea. Greenish white

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502 Aspiration for immortality
Pure, soaring, full of trust.
Celosia argentea. Many colours

 
503 Vital aspiration for immortality
Clustered, intense, but short-lived.
Celosia argentea. Purplish pink

 
504 Physical aspiration for immortality
Intense aspiration, but ignorant of the means.
Celosia argentea. Red

505 Immortality
Forms are in perpetual transformation. Identify yourself with the Immortal Consciousness and you will become it.
Gomphrena globosa. Cream white

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506 Vital immortality
It exists in its own domain, but depends on surrender to the Divine.
Gomphrena globosa. Magenta purple

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507 Conscious vital immortality
The immortality of an organised and conscious vital being.
Gomphrena globosa. Pale lavender pink

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508 Integral immortality
It is a promise; when will it be a material fact?
Gomphrena globosa. White

 
509 Supramental immortality
It is an established fact, but few human beings
have experienced it.
Gomphrena globosa. Bright orange

IMMORTALITY

By immortality is meant the consciousness which is beyond birth and death, beyond the chain of cause and effect, beyond all bondage and limitation, free, blissful, self-existent in conscious-being, the consciousness of the Lord, of the supreme Purusha, of Sachchidananda.   Sri Aurobindo

 
Immortality in its fundamental sense does not mean merely some kind of personal survival of the bodily death; we are immortal by the eternity of our self-existence without beginning or end, beyond the whole succession of physical births and deaths through which we pass, beyond the alternations of our existence in this and other worlds: the spirit's timeless existence is the true immortality.     Sri Aurobindo

510 Integral immortality
It is a promise; when will it be a material fact?
Alternanthera. White

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BEAUTY

Let Beauty be your constant ideal:
beauty of soul
beauty of sentiment
beauty of thought
beauty of action
beauty in work
so that nothing comes out of your hands which is not an expression of pure and harmonious beauty. And the divine help will always be with you.    The Mother

512 Static beauty
Transfixed in an immutable beauty.
Camellia japonica. Several colours

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511 Beauty arising from consecration
Be sincere and absolute in your consecration to the Divine and your life will become harmonious and beautiful.
Asparagus. White

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BEAUTY

In the world of forms a violation of Beauty is as great a fault as a violation of Truth in the world of ideas. For Beauty is the worship that Nature offers to the supreme Master of the universe; Beauty is the divine language in form. And a consciousness of the Divine that is not translated outwardly by an understanding and expression of Beauty would be an incomplete consciousness.    The Mother

513 Abundance of beauty
A beauty that blossoms freely and abundantly.
Rhododendron. Many colours

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514 Aristocracy of beauty

So perfectly formed that it compels admiration.

Dietes iridioides. Lavender and white

515 Aristocracy of beauty
So perfectly formed that it compels admiration.
Iris. Many colours

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516 Power of beauty
Beauty acquires its power only when it is surrendered to the Divine.
Narcissus. Yellow

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517 Beauty aspiring for the supramental realisation
Beauty is no longer sufficient unto itself; it wants to become divine.
Narcissus poeticus. White and yellow

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Page 177

518 Pride of beauty

Likes to show itself and be admired.

Hyacinthus orientalis. Several colours

519 Modesty of beauty
It blossoms without attracting attention.
Gypsophila elegans. White

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BEAUTY

Delight is the soul of existence, beauty the intense impression, the concentrated form of delight. . . .

Sri Aurobindo

Beauty is Ananda taking form - but the form need not be a physical shape. One speaks of a beautiful thought, a beautiful act, a beautiful soul. What we speak of as beauty is Ananda in manifestation....

Sri Aurobindo

Beauty is the special divine Manifestation in the physical as Truth is in the mind, Love in the heart, Power in the vital. Supramental beauty is the highest divine beauty manifesting in Matter.

Sri Aurobindo

525 Art

Living only to express beauty.

Fuchsia. Several colours

526 Beauty in art
A beauty that displays itself and allows itself to be contemplated.
Paeonia. Several colours

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ART

Art is discovery and revelation of Beauty....

Sri Aurobindo

Art is nothing less in its fundamental truth than the aspect of beauty of the Divine manifestation.    The Mother

If you want art to be the true and highest art, it must be the expression of a divine world brought down into this material world.    The Mother

In a sense spirituality is the highest art, the art of life; for it aims at creating a life of beauty pure in line, faultless in rhythm, replete with strength, illumined with light and vibrant with delight.    Sri Aurobindo

527 Artistic taste
Is pleased with beautiful things and is itself beautiful.
Ipomoea indica. Intense blue

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528 Artistic sensitivity
A powerful aid in fighting ugliness.
Ipomoea tricolor. Blue and white

529 Poetic ecstasy
Rare and charming is your presence.
Wisteria sinensis. Lavender

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530 Distinction
Of a refined beauty, sufficient to itself.
Syringa. Several colours

REFINEMENT

The preoccupation with universal beauty even in its aesthetic forms has an intense power for refining and subtilising the nature, and at its highest it is a great force for purification.

Sri Aurobindo

531 Refinement
Little by little, coarseness is eliminated from the being.
Buddleja davidii. Several colours

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532 Refinement of habits
Orderly, clean and well-organised.
Gliricidia sepium. Pink

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533 Refined taste
Pleasing and delicate, always avoids mistakes of bad taste.
Kaempferia pulchra. Pinkish lavender

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534 Delicacy
Charming to those of refined taste.
Coriandrum sativum. White

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535 Fragile elegance
Easily troubled, needs to take care of itself.
Anemone coronaria. White

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536 Sensitivity
One of the results of refinement of the being.
Malpighia glabra. Rose pink

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537 Sensitivity
One of the results of refinement of the being.
Malpighia coccigera. White

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538 Charm
Envelops and conquers by its unfailing sweetness.
Sambucus. Cream white

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539 Lightness
Charming, but prickly at times.
Parkinsonia aculeata. Light yellow

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540 Idealism
Delicate and harmonious, it gives elegance to life.
Centaurea cyanus. Blue

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ARISTOCRACY

Only a few, the rare aristocrats of the earth, can really and truly think. That is now the true aristocracy, not the aristocracy of the body and birth, not the aristocracy of vital superiority, wealth, pride and luxury, not the aristocracy of higher emotions, courage, energy, successful political instinct and the habit of mastery and rule, — though these latter cannot be neglected, — but the aristocracy of knowledge, undisturbed insight and intellectual ability.    Sri Aurobindo

DIGNITY

To do this yoga, one must have, at least a little, the sense of beauty. If one does not, one misses one of the most important aspects of the physical world.
There is this beauty, this dignity of soul — a thing about which I am very sensitive. It is a thing that moves me and evokes in me a great respect always.
Yes, this beauty of soul that is visible in the face, this kind of dignity, this harmony of integral realisation. When the soul becomes visible in the physical, it gives this dignity, this beauty, this majesty, the majesty that comes from one's being the Tabernacle. Then, even things that have no particular beauty put on a sense of eternal beauty, of the eternal beauty.

The Mother

541 Aristocracy
Incapable of baseness and pettiness, it asserts itself with dignity and authority.
Dahlia. Many colours

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542 Nobility
The incapacity for any pettiness of feeling or action.
Dahlia. Deep wine red

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543 Dignity
Affirms its worth, but asks for nothing.
Dahlia. Many colours

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544 Psychic dignity
Refuses all that lowers or debases.
Dahlia. Pink

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545 Supramentalised mental dignity
Tolerates no pettiness in thought turned towards the Truth.
Dahlia. Orange yellow

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546 Dignity of the emotions
Not to allow one's emotions to contradict the inner Divinity.
Dahlia. Mauve pink

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547 Dignity in the physical
Above bargaining.
Dahlia. Intense red

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548 Wealth
True wealth is the wealth that one offers to the Divine.
Nymphaea. Many colours

 
549 Supramentalised wealth
Wealth placed at the service of the Divine.
Nymphaea. Pink

 
550 Wealth in the Mind of Light
Open to all higher ideas.
Nymphaea. Blue

 
551 Wealth under the psychic influence
Wealth ready to return to its true possessor, the Divine.
Nymphaea. White shaded pink

552 Emotional wealth
The only true emotional wealth is love for the Divine.
Nymphaea. Lavender

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553 Wealth in the vital
Comes willingly to generous natures.
Nymphaea rubra. Vivid magenta pink

 
554 Wealth in the most material vital
Can be stable only after conversion.
Nymphaea. Deep rose red

 
555 Generous wealth
Likes to be given and spread far and wide.
Nymphaea. Yellow

556 Integral wealth of Mahalakshmi

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Wealth in all domains and all activities, intellectual, psychological, material, in feeling and action.
Nymphaea. White

WEALTH

All wealth belongs to the Divine and those who hold it are trustees, not possessors. It is with them today, tomorrow it may be elsewhere. All depends on the way they discharge their trust while it is with them, in what spirit, with what consciousness in their use of it, to what purpose.    Sri Aurobindo

Most spiritual disciplines insist on a complete self-control, detachment and renunciation of all bondage to wealth and of all personal and egoistic desire for its possession. Some even put a ban on money and riches and proclaim poverty and bareness of life as the only spiritual condition. But this is an error; it leaves the power in the hands of the hostile forces. To reconquer it for the Divine to whom it belongs and use it divinely for the divine life is the supramental way for the Sadhaka. . . .
The ideal Sadhaka in this kind is one who if required to live poorly can so live and no sense of want will affect him or interfere with the full inner play of the divine consciousness, and if he is required to live richly, can so live and never for a moment fall into desire or attachment to his wealth or to the things that he uses or servitude to self-indulgence or a weak bondage to the habits that the possession of riches creates. The divine Will is all for him and the divine Ananda.

Sri Aurobindo

557 First movement of riches towards the Divine

The sure sign of conversion.

Tithonia diversifolia. Deep golden yellow

558 Prosperity

Remains only with him who offers it to the Divine.

Couroupita guianensis. Light to deep red

559 Unselfish prosperity

He who receives it abundantly gives all that he has as he receives it.

Couroupita guianensis. Pink and white

560 Fortune

Very attractive, but beware - it pricks!

Cereus. White

561 Riches

It is the Divine to whom all riches belong. It is the Divine who lends them to living beings. It is He to whom they must naturally return.

Cactus. Many colours

562 Richness of feelings

No false show — sincere and concentrated.

Echinopsis oxygona. Light pink

563 Supramental riches
Riches that are at the disposal of the supramental being and still unknown to man.
Selenicereus. White

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Chapter 8

Power

Power means strength and force, Shakti, which enables one to face all that can happen and to stand and overcome, also to carry out what the Divine Will proposes. It can include many things, power over men, events, circumstances, means etc. But all this not of the mental or vital kind, but by an action through unity of consciousness with the Divine and with all things and all beings. It is not an individual strength depending on certain personal capacities, but the Divine Power using the individual as an instrument.    Sri Aurobindo

Force is the essential Shakti; Energy is the working drive of the Force, its active dynamism; Power is the capacity born of the Force; Strength is energy consolidated and stored in the Adhar.    Sri Aurobindo

All the planes have their own power, beauty, some kind of perfection realised even among their imperfections; God is everywhere in some power of Himself though not everywhere in His full power, and even if His face does not appear, the rays and glories from it do fall upon things and beings through the veil and bring something of what we call perfect and absolute.    Sri Aurobindo

GODHEAD

I use the word Godhead because it expresses at once the essence of Divinity and its powers — it opens the door on both the impersonal and the personal aspects without stressing either.    Sri Aurobindo

The Godhead with whom the soul of man has to enter into this closest oneness, is indeed in his supreme status a transcendent Unthinkable too great for any manifestation, Parabrahman; but he is at the same time the living supreme Soul of all things. He is the supreme Lord, the Master of works and universal nature. He at once exceeds and inhabits as its self the soul and mind and body of the creature. He is Purushottama, Parameshwara and Paramatman and in all these equal aspects the same single and eternal Godhead.
It is an awakening to this integral reconciling knowledge that is the wide gate to the utter release of the soul and an unimaginable perfection of the nature. It is this Godhead in the unity of all his aspects to whom our works and our adoration and our knowledge have to be directed as a constant inner sacrifice.

Sri Aurobindo

He is the one Existence: he is the original and universal Delight that constitutes all things and exceeds them: he is the one infinite Consciousness that composes all consciousnesses and informs all their movements; he is the one illimitable Being who sustains all action and experience; his will guides the evolution of things towards their yet unrealised but inevitable aim and plenitude. To him the heart can consecrate itself, approach him as the supreme Beloved, beat and move in him as in a universal sweetness of Love and a living sea of Delight. For his is the secret Joy that supports the soul in all its experiences and maintains even the errant ego in its ordeals and struggles till all sorrow and suffering shall cease. His is the Love and the Bliss of the infinite divine Lover who is drawing all things by their own path towards his happy oneness.    Sri Aurobindo

564 Godhead
Pure and perfect, puts forth its force in the world.
Hibiscus rosa-sinensis 'Cromwell'. Shell white

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DIVINE GRACE

An absolute faith and trust in the Grace is, in the last analysis, the Supreme Wisdom.    The Mother

The more complete your faith, sincerity and surrender, the more will grace and protection be with you. And when the grace and protection of the Divine Mother are with you, what is there that can touch you or whom need you fear? A little of it even will carry you through all difficulties, obstacles and dangers; surrounded by its full presence you can go securely on your way because it is hers, careless of all menace, unaffected by any hostility however powerful, whether from this world or from worlds invisible. Its touch can turn difficulties into opportunities, failure into success and weakness into unfaltering strength. For the grace of the Divine Mother is the sanction of the Supreme and now or tomorrow its effect is sure, a thing decreed, inevitable and irresistible.

Sri Aurobindo

ANANDA

Ananda is the secret delight from which all things are born, by which all is sustained in existence and to which all can rise in the spiritual culmination.    Sri Aurobindo

Ananda is the very essence of the Brahman, it is the supreme nature of the omnipresent Reality.

Sri Aurobindo

565 Ananda

Calm, tranquil, equal, smiling and very sweet in its truly simple austerity.

Hibiscus rosa-sinensis. Cream

566 Divine Grace

Thy kindness is infinite, we bow down before Thee in gratitude.

Hibiscus mutabilis. White changing to pink, double

Chapter 9

Planes of Consciousness and Parts of the Being

The soul of man soars as the Bird, the Hansa, past the shining firmaments of physical and mental consciousness, climbs as the traveller and fighter beyond earth of body and heaven of mind by the ascending path of the Truth to find this Godhead waiting for us, leaning down to us from the secrecy of the highest supreme. . . .

Sri Aurobindo

In the spiritual order of things, the higher we project our view and our aspiration, the greater the Truth that seeks to descend upon us, because it is already there within us and calls for its release from the covering that conceals it in manifested Nature.

Sri Aurobindo

By physical liberation (liberation from Karma) one becomes the master of his destiny.
By vital liberation (liberation from desires) the personal will gets identified with the Divine Will.
By emotional liberation (liberation from suffering) one realises the supramental unity.
By mental liberation (liberation from ignorance) one obtains the mind of light and the gnostic consciousness.    The Mother