India - the Mother

December 20, 1961

(About a French publisher who has just rejected the manuscript of a book on Sri Aurobindo by Satprem.)

Seen from the European angle, Sri Aurobindo represents an immense spiritual revolution that rehabilitates Matter and the creation, which to the Christian religion is basically a fall. It's not very clear how what came out of God could have become so bad (!), but anyway, better not ask for too much logic. It's a fall. The creation is a fall. And that's why they [the Europeans] are far more easily convinced by Buddhism.... While Sri Aurobindo says (in simple terms), "God created the world for the Delight of the creation," or rather, "He brought forth the world from Himself for the Delight of living an objective life."...

To the whole European mind, the whole Christian spirit, the world is reprehensible.... So the very normal, natural reaction against this attitude is to negate the spiritual life: let's take the world as it is, brutally, materially, "short and sweet" (since it all comes to an end with this short life), let's do all we can to enjoy ourselves now, suffer as little as possible, and let's not think of anything else. That is the normal conclusion of having said that life is a condemned, reprehensible, antidivine thing. Then what to do?... They don't want to do away with life, so they do away with the Divine.

Mother's Agenda: December 20, 1961