A collection of short prose pieces on the Mother and her four great Aspects - Maheshwari, Mahakali, Mahalakshmi, Mahasaraswati, along with 'Letters on the Mother'.
Integral Yoga
This volume consists of two separate but related works: 'The Mother', a collection of short prose pieces on the Mother, and 'Letters on the Mother', a selection of letters by Sri Aurobindo in which he referred to the Mother in her transcendent, universal and individual aspects. In addition, the volume contains Sri Aurobindo's translations of selections from the Mother's 'Prières et Méditations' as well as his translation of 'Radha's Prayer'.
THEME/S
There is no such necessary precedence as that first one must feel the Presence and then only can one feel oneself the Mother's; it is more often the increase of the feeling that brings the Presence. For the feeling comes from the psychic consciousness and it is the growth of the psychic consciousness that makes the constant Presence at last possible. The feeling comes from the psychic and is true of the inner being―its not being yet fulfilled in the whole does not make it an imagination; on the contrary, the more it grows the more is the likelihood of the whole being fulfilling this truth; the inner bhāva takes more and more possession of the outer consciousness and remoulds it so as to make it a truth there also. This is the constant principle of action in the Yogic transformation―what is true within comes out and takes possession of the mind and heart and will and through them prevails over the ignorance of the outer members and brings the inner truth out there also.
16-9-1936
Q: I wrote to the Mother a prayer in French. Her answer to it was: "Ouvre ton cæur et tu me trouveras déjà là." ("Open your heart and you will find me already there.") What exactly does this signify?
A: What the Mother meant was this that when there is a certain opening of the heart, you find that there was always the eternal union there (the same that you experience always in the Self above).
2-7-1935
Q: Some Sadhaks say that they are in union with the Mother. I wonder if it is anything more than a feeling of nearness with the Mother which they sometimes have.
A: I suppose they are trying to feel the Mother's presence, so
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if they get some sort of feeling of nearness, they call it union. But of course that is only a step towards union. Union is much more than that.
5-3-1934
Q: You wrote yesterday, "Openness is not reckoned merely by visions." Quite so. But to have a fusion of the rays of sun and moon on each side of the body and to feel the descent and the Mother's presence in, behind and above oneself, is it not an exceptional vision and experience? Can it occur without sufficient opening to the Mother?
A: Why should it be exceptional to see the Sun and Moon on each side or to feel the Mother's presence everywhere around? There are plenty of Sadhaks who have had these or equivalent experiences. What could be exceptional is to feel the Mother's presence like that always. But occasional experiences like these many have had.
15-9-1936
Q: During meditation I feel a sort of oneness with the Mother's consciousness; but these days it is not possible to go deep in meditation at all. Is it not possible to have this feeling of oneness without meditating?
A: What is most important is the change of consciousness of which this feeling of oneness is a part. The going deep in meditation is only a means and it is not always necessary if the great experiences come easily without it.
8-4-1934
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