July 17, 1968
(Mother is running a temperature, breathing with difficulty
and coughing. She hasn’t eaten anything. She receives Satprem
lying on her couch.)
It’s the same thing going on…. Do you have news?
I have news of P.L. and of Msgr. R…. But won’t it tire you?
No, no! It doesn’t tire me.
There’s a letter from Msgr. R. to you. It was sent through J.
Here’s what he writes J.: “Let me first thank you – once again
- for Satprem’s book on Sri Aurobindo. I have finished reading
it. This book has and will have a considerable influence on my
life. Secondly, I thank you for the help you gave my dear P.L.
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He has come back transformed, purified, illuminated. Lastly,
may I ask you to hand over to Mother the enclosed letter…."
What does he say?
"Mother, it is without the least reservation that I give you
this name of Mother, to you who have given life back to
my favorite son…. His stay at the Ashram has marked
an essential stage. There has been in his inmost being a
radical upheaval…. May I add that I myself feel your
powerful and benevolent protection? I have the impres
sion of being understood by you, and I feel I am the
inheritor – along with your numerous sons, daughters
and disciples – of the spiritual treasures accumulated
each day by your fidelity to the mission entrusted to you.
With my deep and intense gratitude, may you accept,
Mother, the token of my respectful and filial piety."
Do you have this man’s photo?… No? And P.L., what does he say?
It doesn’t tire you? Shall I read it to you?… He answers my
last letter, in which I had conveyed your message:
"I have tears in my eyes: a commotion of immense joy
has shot through my whole being when I read your letter,
and Mother’s words which you repeat for me…. I cannot
find words to describe my psychological state – I let you
guess it. I feel so small, so insignificant before the hori
zons you make me glimpse. All this incites me to serious
work, to the ‘abdication of the little personality’ so as to
be worthy of HER. These feelings in my soul are very
different from all my previous religious experiences….
(Mother nods her head
in approval)
"… I feel all luminous, the Divine Grace is so powerful
that at times I think my body is incapable of holding it;
Mother’s Presence is so real; the bliss is so serene, so
tranquil…. The little ADVENTURE begun at the Samadhi
becomes so worthy of being lived, the CONSCIOUSNESS
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has widened so much…. Darkness, fear, scruples,
mortifications are so far away! A few weeks ago, I had a
very painful dream: my body was being torn apart, the
pain was excruciating; my feet, my hands, my head were
being pulled apart…. Today, when I read your letter, I
understood the meaning: I had to grow…. Just two
words to inform you about my situation. As I told you, I
found two currents in the Vatican, the first one quite
raging against me; we thought that my assuming a new
post would calm them down … but a few days later,
they managed to demand a Collegiate examination (by a
neurologist, who, I believe, had been ordered to declare
me ‘ill,’ an endocrinologist, an expert in general medi
cine, and the Pope’s physician] hence the cry of the child
running to his mother: my telegram asking for Mother’s
protection. On Sunday the 7th, I had a dream: Mother
came into a sort of huge warehouse, where I was lying
on the ground, and told me, ‘Quick, get away and leave
me your place.’ I flew away (without my body, which
was still on the ground): it was my soul that went away,
and, from on high, very high up, I saw Mother taking
possession of my body, entering it, and staying put. Sud
denly an army of doctors in white robes makes a beeline
for my body (in which Mother is still hidden); no sooner
have they surrounded and begun examining it than a
terrible explosion sends them flying into the air….
(Mother laughs)
“… I woke up at the blast…. You must have received
my telegram: ‘Perfect diagnosis.’ Thus the group that
was trying to eliminate me from the Vatican is every day
losing its strength and weapons, its intrigues neutralized.
The other group, which is favorable to me, on the con
trary sees my transformation with pleasure, and I am
cautiously beginning to give it Aurobindo’s message. I
told you that Msgr. R. is enthusiastic. Now, knowing that
Mother replied, ‘Oh, yes! It’s good that way, he must stay
and do his work. He must stay…. It’s absolutely true
that I am with trim,’ I am wholly at peace, full of desire
to be ‘the instrument of this great divine work.’"
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It’s good. He is fine, this man.
(Mother goes on contemplating)
Then I have new questions from T.F.’s class…. The children have a very small thought, very small.
(Mother sends for the letter)
It’s not very exciting, but anyway!
(Mother laughs, and Satprem reads)
"Is the will to progress sufficient to prevent the
deterioration that stems from time? How can the
physical being prevent this deterioration?"
That’s just what the body’s transformation is about! It’s when the physical cells become not only conscious, but RECEPTIVE to the true Consciousness-Force, that is, when they allow the working of that higher Consciousness. That’s the work of transformation…. Not so easy!
The other question: "How does the central Will
and Light, which is nonmaterial, act on the gross
matter of the cells?"
It’s exactly like asking, “How does the Will act on Matter?…” The whole Life is like that! It should be explained to these children that their whole existence is the result of the action of the Will; that without the Will, Matter would be inert and motionless, and the fact that the vibration of the Will has an action on Matter is precisely what permits Life, otherwise there wouldn’t be any Life.
If they want a scientific answer, the how, that’s more difficult, but the FACT is there, it’s a fact that can be seen every second.
(long silence)
Tell P. L. I appreciate very much and am with him. I find it’s very good.
And the other [Msgr. R.] …?
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Normally, your reply to him should be conveyed by J. (Mother goes into a long contemplation)
I keep having the same impression…. You know, the beginning of something very important.
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