November 2, 1968
Anything?
I got a letter from P.L. But it’s not complete.
How do you mean?
I’d written to him and told him V.’s vision, with the description
of the person doing magic at the Vatican, and I’d asked him,
"Look silently and see if it corresponds to someone." He writes,
"Yes! I know who it is."
Oh, he said yes.
Yes, he says, “I know who it is and I’ll send you his photo.” I
am waiting for the photo…. Here’s what he writes: “V.’s vision
has come to show me the accuracy of the person’s description:
it is Msgr. Z, archbishop in the Holy See’s State Secretariat,
an intimate friend of the Holy Father’s and his private collabo
rator….
Oh!
“I am looking for his photo to send it to you….”
Oh, but he is a dangerous man.
And P.L. says: “That vision comes to me the very day when I
am told that the Holy Father has given instructions to his
closest collaborators for the formation of a program of action
to shake the lethargy of millions of Catholics asleep in the
routine of unconscious religious practice. [[This is the beginning of the Roman Catholic Church's great reforms. ]] Here are the most
important names in the committee: X Italy’s cardinal; Y,
France’s cardinal; Z, the Pope’s factotum; then Msgr. Z…
That same man.
“… and me!… The meetings will take place ‘sub secreto
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specialissimo,’ a formula equivalent to ‘top secret.’”
Oh, he’ll be in it!
Yes, he will, that’s the extraordinary thing!
It’s interesting.
It’s quite extraordinary. And this Msgr. Z will also be in it.
P.L.’s letter goes on: “You may remember that I had been told
about a promotion at the Vatican; that promotion, announced
while I was in Pondicherry, gave rise to the basest intrigues, so
that the nomination was stopped. And paradoxically, I have
been given its duties without the title…. They have decided to
test me, and to do so for a period of at least four years…. The
struggle for power in this milieu is frightening. But I see all
that from such a distance! I have the sensation that it’s all
about someone else, not me, and that embarrasses those around
me, for I do not react to injustice. (And what injustice! – If they
knew how indifferent I am to this little world.) There is the sad
panorama. You will now realize why the Samadhi’s peace and
sweetness are so dear to me and intimate to my soul. At times I
feel like a feather blown here or there by the wind, and my
whole effort is anchored in the light Sweet Mother has put into
my psyche. Right from the first moment of the day my tender
ness rises towards her, and then I see that what I do is not
important, but the MANNER is…."
(long silence)
How many Catholics does he say there are?
Five hundred million, I think.
!!! That’s half the population of the earth?
Not quite, I think, but…
(Mother remains in meditation
for a long time)
Still, that you should have a man in this gang is a victory.
Yes.
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I was looking at this: what can we do? (Mother shakes her head) Adopt his [the Pope's] program? Awaken those …?
Five hundred million.
I don’t see what we can do. Unless they construct something false, but then it won’t have any force. “Christ’s reincarnation”? (Mother shakes her head) To find something, they should move a little away from tradition – they can’t.
(silence)
The basis should be the manifestation of supramental forces…. Only, there’s no question of anything like that in religion, of course. If there had been any question of a Force or a Light or a change in the atmosphere announcing Christ’s reincarnation, they could have gone along in that direction, but there’s nothing of that sort. [[Let us note that Mother does not mind in the least speaking of "Christ's reincarnation" rather than Sri Aurobindo's - as long as men move on. ]]
There are some vague Scriptures that mention it. But they’re regarded as crank esotericism.
(silence)
I don’t know if I was right, but I nevertheless advised P. L. not to
distribute Sri Aurobindo around like that and to remain quiet.
It would be no use.
The only result would be to have him blacklisted.
Yes.
(Mother remains in meditation)
It’s still a period of transition.
(long silence)
One wonders what it will take to shake all this?
(Mother goes again into a
meditation, then gives a start)
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There was in my hand a vase containing Divine Love [pomegranate] flowers; I wanted to hand it to you, and when it came above my knees … Did you see that movement?
Yes.
It was the vase falling on my knees. It didn’t fall on the floor, it fell here….
What does it mean?
(long silence)
I don’t know what it means.
At-any rate, I have a clear feeling that we can’t do anything. We can be witnesses, but without any active manifestation. We can’t do anything.
It’s the same thing with Sri Aurobindo in France. I told you I
had sent the translation of The Human Cycle; the publisher
has finally answered me that it was “good for publishing
houses specialized in this sort of subject.” A second publisher
told me the same thing. And I am waiting for a reply from a
third ….[[ It is only in 1973 that France's doors will abruptly open. ]]
Yes, that’s it. Exactly.
(silence)
There is the feeling that things are moving, but it’s still a subconscious action. Any conscious, outer action would only make a mess. Nothing to be done.
(silence)
The Power goes on and on and on increasing, but it doesn’t want any precise, outer manifestation – none of that. Like this: action in silence.
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