THE HOLY MOTHER
PROF. T. M. P. MAHADEVAN
Numerous spiritual
aspirants all over the world would have felt a deep personal loss when they
heard the passing away of the Mother of the Sri Aurobindo Ashram in
Pondicherry. Although one knows that all that is made must at one time or
another disappear; although one is convinced that spiritual guidance may come
through non-physical means, one feels nevertheless forlorn when the physical frame
through which spiritual light had been radiating is suddenly withdrawn. A long
life spent in collaboration with one of the great spiritual leaders of this
country in his mission of spreading the benefits of integral Yoga has come to
an end. The one who was the Mother to thousands of Sadhakas is no longer in the
realm of physical existence.
Great as was the vacuum
apparently created by the demise of Sri Aurobindo in 1958, it was soon filled
by the Mother who assured the world that although Sri Aurobindo had left
his body, he had not left earth’s atmosphere and that he would be there to see
the work begun, completed. One may apply the same words in the case of the
Mother, too. In fact, the universal salvation ‘Sarvamukti’ is the ultimate
goal, the cumulative guidance of all the saints and sages must be available to
humanity till the end.
The Mother was the focal
point of an immense organisation in Pondicherry. Even a casual visitor to the
Ashram was struck by the perfect order that prevailed there by the precision
and thoroughness that marked every aspect of the Ashram life. One saw how the
inward life could be pursued unhampered in modern establishment of vast
dimensions, and how through disinterested dedication and real quest for
spiritual progress, the most ordinary functions of corporate life could be
lifted beyond their limitations.
Both Sri Aurobindo and
the Mother taught that the aspirant should overcome the external conditions
that prevail in the world through his inner horizon. One of the sayings of the
Mother is to this effect: “He who lives to serve the truth is not affected by
outward circumstances.” One may reasonably expect the Ashram affected as it is,
by this latest outward
circumstance, to grow out of it and continues its service in the cause of spirituality, in the way laid down by Sri Aurobindo
and the Mother.
There
was the occult side to their lives which is after all not so important. These
leaders, like all the other
great ones, have warned their followers against the lure of the occult. Most people, who are in the pursuit
of the occult, have as their
aim, the acquisition of super-normal power and the gaining of temporal and
earthly advantage by the exercise of such power.
But
this has nothing to do with spirituality. It is the realisation of the non-dual spirit that should be the
goal of every aspirant and not occult display.
Apart
from the rapid advance in one’s spiritual life, the Mother has placed before
the aspirants many corporate goals. In
fact, the latter are but aids
to spiritual progress. One of the basic corporate objectives is to make
available to children the ideal type of education. Many of the woes from which
the world suffers today are the fruits of mal-education. Sri Aurobindo set down
the principle of true education in the Words. “The child’s education ought to be an outbringing of all that is
best, most powerful, most intimate and living in his nature. The mould into
which the man’s actions and development ought to run is that of his innate
quality and power. He must acquire new things, but he will acquire them best, most wholly, on the basis of his own
developed type and in-born force. The chief aim of education should be to help
the growing soul to draw out that in itself which is best and make it perfect
for a noble use.” The education pattern generally in the world at present is
far from being in consonance with the true aim of education. The Mother started
in the Ashram the new experiment in education and bestowed upon it her constant
and personal care. Not only should
this experiment succeed there, but it must become pervasive and even universal,
in order that a new human race could evolve.
Related
to Sri Aurobindo’s concept of education is the ideal of human unity that he
placed before man. Human progress is intimately connected with the evolution of
‘one world.’
While
physical barriers between countries also nations have almost been banished, the
mental barricades are still there making for strife and disharmony largely
because of wrong education. The nations should realise that they are all
members of one human race. What should govern their conduct towards one another
is the principle of free and harmonious mutuality? It was to serve as a model
to the world in harmonious living that the Mother conceived of and laid the
foundations for Auroville. When the experiment is completed, it will
undoubtedly serve as a living memorial to Sri Aurobindo and the Mother.
India
has been the chosen land for showing to the world in a consistent and eminent
way, the value of inward life. This does not mean that there have not been
backslidings on the part of the nation and periods of oblivion, stupor and
sloth. But there have appeared in this country, from time to time, great seers
and saints who have repeatedly held aloft before the people, the glory of the
life of the spirit. To this luminous line of true leaders belongs Sri
Aurobindo. In 1914, the Mother met him and in 1920, she came to live in
Pondicherry. Since then, India became her spiritual home. The greatest homage
that we could pay to her is by striving to become worth, of the precious
heritage that is India’s.
–Courtesy Akashvani
“Only
he who loves can recognise love. Those who are incapable of giving themselves
in a sincere love, will never recognise love anywhere, and the more the love is
divine, that is to say unselfish, the less they can recognise it.”
–Mother