Flowers and Their Messages

The Mother - A Life Sketch

The Mother was born in Paris on 21 February 1878. Mirra, as the child was named, was the daughter of Maurice Alfassa, a banker, and his wife Mathilde. Her early education was given at home and at a private school. Later she attended an art studio in Paris belonging to the Academie Julian. She became an accomplished artist and some of her works were exhibited at the Paris Salon. She was also a talented pianist and writer.

Concerning her early spiritual life the Mother has written: "Between eleven and thirteen a series of psychic and spiritual experiences revealed to me not only the existence of God but man's possibility of uniting with him, of realising Him integrally in a life divine." In 1906 and 1907, while in her mid-twenties, the Mother voyaged to Tlemcen, Algeria, to study occultism with a Polish adept, Max Theon, and his wife Alma. Returning to Paris, she founded a group of spiritual seekers. Between 1911 and 1913 she gave many talks to various groups.

In 1914 the Mother sailed to Pondicherry, India, to meet Sri Aurobindo, Indian patriot, poet, philosopher and mystic. After a stay of eleven months, she returned to France for a year and then went to Japan for a period of nearly four years. Returning to Pondicherry in April 1920, the Mother became Sri Aurobindo's collaborator in his spiritual work. During the next few years the number of disciples around them gradually increased. This informal grouping eventually took shape as the Sri Aurobindo Ashram. From its inception in November 1926 Sri Aurobindo fully entrusted the full material and spiritual charge of the Ashram to the Mother. Under her guidance, which covered a span of nearly fifty years, the Ashram grew into a large, many-faceted community. A number of other groups have sprung all over the world inspired by the teachings of Sri Aurobindo and the Mother.

Among the Mother's visible achievements were the creation of the Sri Aurobindo International Centre of Education in 1952 and the founding of Auroville, the "City of Dawn", in 1968. This growing township, located six kilometres from Pondicherry, is a bold experiment in international living with a high spiritual ideal.

The Mother personally supervised the daily activities of the Ashram until the age of eighty-four. In March 1962 she retired to her room, but continued during the next decade to guide the Ashram and receive people regularly. On 17 November 1973, at the age of ninety-five, the Mother left her body.

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