6. The Mother and The Ashram
7. Samadhi Darshan
8. Mother’s Life in the Ashram
9. Coconut Garden
10. Ph.D. Thesis
The
Mother joined Sri Aurobindo in the hope she could work for divinisation of life on earth.
Sri Aurobindo Ashram was founded by her in 1926 for this purpose. The occasion for
founding the Ashram was the retirement of Sri Aurobindo on November 24, 1926, when his
yoga moved into the final stages of realisation.
The
aim of Integral Yoga is not moksha, release of the soul from the body, but the
conversion of human life into a Life Divine. When She founded the Ashram, devotees and
disciples began to gather around Her. Though She threw the door of the Ashram open to
everyone, irrespective of position, creed, religion, sex, or nationality, She made a very
careful selection in matters of admission. Decades later She disclosed that everyone in
the Ashram had been with her and Sri Aurobindo in their previous births, working for the
same ideal. She indicated that Sri Aurobindo had been Napoleon and Leonardo da Vinci in
previous births and was Krishna, too. Among the disciples She once said there were people
who were rishis and emperors in their previous births. She described Sri Aurobindo
Ashram as the cradle of the new civilisation composed of the new race of supermen. It was
an experiment to evolve the Superman from humanity, and for this purpose man had to
conquer his human nature. The civilised man conquers his behaviour while his inner
feelings remain the same. The cultured man changes his inner feelings and character, too.
But even in him his consciousness remains the same as the animals from which he evolved.
Especially his subconscious is the untamed brute. To convert human life into a divine
life, it is not enough to change the behaviour or character. It is also essential to
change this basic animal consciousness into a higher consciousness. This, She calls
transformation. It is not given to man to bring about this change. Only the Divine can do
this miracle. All that is asked of man is a total surrender of all that he is.
Mother
once said that until the number in the Ashram grew beyond 150, she guided and controlled
every inner and outer movement of each sadhak. In other words, She herself took charge of
their sadhana and guided them. It is said that a rishi or a yogi could
bless, at a time, one person seeking his grace. The greatest known rishi is said to
be capable of blessing seven persons at a time. In her public Darshans Mother used to emanate the vibrations of
her Grace, meant individually for everyone, to all the three thousand devotees gathered.
That is why no one, not even her permanent attendants, would miss this public Darshan.
She
said she held herself responsible for everyone She had seen even for a minute. She is the
Mother, not only to human beings but to all life on earth. Trees in her garden used to
complain to her, if they were not watered. Animals under her care have always sent their
silent messages to her. The sea god himself listened to her and obeyed her commands. She
is the Mother of all life on earth, and she showered her love and blessings and Grace on
all. She does the sadhana in all, too. She loved India and said India would be the Guru of
the world. When the French settlements merged with India, She sought Indian citizenship
and secured it. She felt France and India have a common destiny. The ideal of the Ashram
was extended in founding Auroville, where the yogic experiment was extended to a wider
cross-section of people.
The
whole world is her Ashram, as she sought to kindle the light in the heart of every living
being. On the evening of November 17, 1973, a sadhak saw a huge light breaking into a
million sparks and shooting to all sides of the earth. Finally each spark lodged itself in
the heart of a person. He couldn’t understand the meaning. Next morning he heard from
All India Radio that Mother had attained Mahasamadhi. She loved all of humanity and lives
in its heart.
We
go to temples on auspicious days like Fridays or during festivals. Many visit temples on
their “janma Nakshatra” to conduct an archana. When we go there,
we carry coconuts, camphor, flowers, etc., known as the articles of archana. We pay
a dakshina to the priest to recite our name, nakshatra, and conduct an archana
in our name. Normally we visit the temple during the daily puja, after which the
priest distributes prasad and thirtam. All this we know, as it is our
tradition. We hear of The Mother and Sri Aurobindo, their Ashram, their Samadhi and
conceive of going there, impelled by faith and bhakti in these avatara purushas.
One does not know what to take with him or what to expect there or what to do. When he
finally gets to the Ashram, he finds no deity, no puja or prasad, and has no
way of conducting an archana in his name. He finds a Samadhi covered with flowers
and a meditation hall with a bed at one end. It has the touch of Chidambar Rahasyam.
This vast difference is there simply because temples are created to organise religious
worship for the masses, whereas the Ashram was founded for the spiritual realisation of
the soul. Religion carries with it the deity, puja, worship, archana etc.,
whereas spiritual realisation is by the opening of the human soul to the Divine reality.
The Ashram does the latter.
“Gopura
darsanam papa vimochanam” (“The sight of the temple tower
will deliver you from sin”) is the old adage. A visit to the samadhi gives the
individual the opportunity to open his soul to the Supreme. Mother has said that the Samadhi
is a place of realisation. A young unmarried girl during her first visit to the Ashram was
part of a group going to Sri Aurobindo’s Room. As the room would be open only at
11:45 a.m. and there were fifteen minutes more, she sat at the Samadhi and simply
became lost within. The party became concerned after it passed 11:50, but still she did
not open her eyes. As it was not proper to disturb someone lost in meditation, nothing
could be done. The silent calls of the party finally made her open her eyes, and she got
up. She explained, “I was lost in ecstasy and had no desire to open my eyes. As you
called out my name I awoke and came away.” Indeed, no one had called her name. She
‘heard’ the calls of the party. She heard like that because she was at the Samadhi.
That is the power of the Samadhi.
If
you plan to visit the Ashram, it is best to make it an exclusive visit to the Ashram, so
that the heart will be focussed on it. A simple, pure, silent aspiration qualifies a
person to wish for a visit. The two articles that are taken to the Samadhi are
flowers and incense.
As
the Presence of Sri Aurobindo extends to seven miles from the Ashram, one can feel the
spiritual peace before reaching Pondicherry, as Nehru felt it and as an American devotee
felt in the plane even when he crossed over Indian soil. On reaching the Ashram one can
visit the Samadhi in which the bodies of the Mother and Sri Aurobindo are interred
and also visit the meditation hall.
Mother
says that, when Sri Aurobindo was there, he took charge of her yoga, and she looked after
his needs and the Ashram management. She adds that in those thirty years she was able to
manage the affairs of the Ashram without the least trouble.
In
1920, the ‘Ashram’ was a dozen disciples around Sri Aurobindo. One who was there
at that time says, “The first thing Mother taught us was how to keep our books and
things in a proper order. In those days we had no shelves and kept the books on the
floor.” This shows the magnitude of the
work she had to do, especially when she had to start with the merest physical details. It
was she who did the cooking and the serving too! Those
were the days before the Ashram was officially formed, and there were only a few houses in
which the disciples lived. Only in 1926 when Sri Aurobindo retired into silence did the
Ashram come into official existence, and Mother took charge of the disciples’ sadhana
along with the material-physical management of daily affairs.
In
those days the present rule that disciples should wake up at 3 a.m. was introduced. Each
had his own round of activities woven around the schedule Mother had given. Mother used to
appear at the Ashram balcony at the rear of the Ashram building at 6.15 a.m. All the
disciples would gather on the road to receive her blessings. She used to stand there,
meditating, invoking Grace on the day’s activities. She would silently give each
sadhak a special help for the daily work. This came to be known as the Balcony Darshan, which she continued till 1962 when she
retired into her own room where she stayed until 1973.
Whenever
work demanded, she even undertook journeys to Cuddalore and Chidambaram or places around
Pondicherry itself. I remember Alampoondi Bashyam Reddiar narrating the visit of Mother to
his house at Cuddalore in the 30s. He was coming to her till his old age and met her on
his birthday a few days before his death. She once visited a timber shop at Cuddalore to
buy rosewood and teakwood for making new furniture for Sri Aurobindo. Generally in the
afternoon She undertook those visits.
She
spent the forenoon in meeting all the sadhaks
once again, receiving the heads of departments to whom she allotted work, and receiving
those sadhaks whose birthday fell on that day.
The Ashram later developed over 50 departments of activity, but all of them grew
gradually. She met each department head periodically to discuss the work. Some of them,
such as the manager of the Ashram, secretary, and cashier, met Mother everyday. As the
Ashram later came to own 100 buildings and to rent about 300 more, as well as owning a
press, a workshop, a woodworking unit, a cement casting factory, 2,000 acres of land,
several guest houses, an international school, a book shop, photo studios, sports ground,
restaurants, etc., the daily load of work for Mother was considerable.
Mother
considers the birthday of a sadhak as a special occasion. She says during that day and
around that day his capacity to receive the Divine Blessings is greatest. Therefore,
birthdays are special occasions in the Ashram. Each sadhak would meet Mother with a
bouquet of flowers on his birthday. She would bless him with flowers, a birthday card on
which she wrote her blessings and signature, and any special gift, such as a book that she
wanted to present to him. Sadhaks cherished
their birthdays and Mother’s blessings to them on that day.
In
the evening Mother would go to the tennis ground to play tennis for a while. Until she was
80, she was playing tennis. After this exercise, she would go to the playground, where the
sadhaks do their physical exercise. At the end
of those activities, the sadhaks used to file
past Mother, receiving Her blessings once again. She conducted meditations in the
playground on Wednesdays and Saturdays. She started classes on yoga for children on those
days. Of course, every sadhak joined the classes for children, as all are truly her
children.
On
every first of the month sadhaks used to receive
their personal requirements such as paper, pencils, ink, soap, toothpaste, etc. Mother
distributed these items herself. Those days came to be called ‘prosperity days’
in the Ashram. She would distribute clothes to the sadhaks
on a Sunday preceding each of the four Darshan
days. As sarees were given to the ladies and napkins to men, these came to be called
‘saree distribution’ days.
The four Darshan days were February 21st,
Mother’s birthday; April 24th, Mother’s final arrival day at
Pondicherry; August 15th, Sri Aurobindo’s birthday; and November 24th,
Sri Aurobindo’s siddhi day. During the days of Sri Aurobindo, Darshan on these days meant Darshan of both Mother and Sri Aurobindo. Outside
his room where he did his yoga sadhana for 24 years, they sat together on a sofa in a
small room. The queue of sadhaks and visitors
filed past through his room and came for Darshan
one by one. The disciples that were with Sri Aurobindo would explain who the next person
approaching was—his name, age, and any special detail—before the person came in
front of them. The disciples came before them and made pranams. Sri Aurobindo would put his hand on the
head of the disciple and bless him. All that took one or two minutes for each person. It
was a solemn occasion and a new birth for many.
Mouni
Sadhu, a member of Ramanashram, once came to a Darshan.
Before coming in front of Mother and Sri Aurobindo, he had to pass through Sri
Aurobindo’s room. On entering the room, he said, his mind went blank and silent. Even
if he had wanted to talk, he said, he could not have done so.
Once an
American wrote to Sri Aurobindo asking for an interview. He was asked to come on a Darshan day. On seeing the line and learning that
he would have only one minute with Sri Aurobindo, he said to a nearby sadhak in a tone of
disappointment, “I have come from 12,000 miles away, can I not be given some time to
meet him?” When he had his Darshan of a minute and came downstairs, the same
sadhak went to him and found him filled with peace, silence and richness. The American had
apparently lost his speech and was so full inside that he could barely talk. The sadhak
asked him, “Was it too short?” He
replied, “The one minute was too much.” Such
was the spiritual power Sri Aurobindo transmitted in a minute.
After He
left his body, She alone sat on a single seat at the opposite end of the same veranda and
blessed the sadhaks and disciples on the same
four days. Apart from that, she gave Darshan
to the sadhaks on January 6th every
year. She also gave Darshan on days dedicated
to Maheswari, Mahalaxmi, Mahakali, and Mahasaraswati, and on Deepavali. On December
5th, when Sri Aurobindo attained Mahasamadhi, and December 9th,
when his body was laid in the Samadhi, she also gave Darshan. Christmas was another Darshan day when Mother used to sit under a big
illuminated Christmas tree and distribute several presents to the children. On that day
she gave cakes and gifts to the elders too.
New Year
day has always been the merriest day at the Ashram. Mother herself used to distribute
calendars to the sadhaks. It was the prosperity
day of the year at the Ashram. Calendars always carried her picture with a special message
from her chosen for the occasion. Until 1962 she carried on all these activities
personally. From 1962 until 1973, she continued most of them from her room. In 1973 on
November 17th she attained Mahasamadhi.
One day on
my way to Pondicherry I reached the bus stand where I happened to see a friend standing
with another man. I stopped for a moment and enquired why he was waiting near the bus
stand, more to make conversation than to elicit any information. My friend introduced the
other man and said they were on their way to the Ashram. I happily invited them to join
me. The other man tried to be very friendly and started a conversation. He said it would
be his first visit to the Ashram. In reply I said it would be good if he remembered this
date one year later and took stock of his position, as anyone who came to Mother would not
remain in the same position after a year.
After
about a year these two people called on me at my house. I was very happy to see them. The
man explained that it was the same day the previous year we had met and reminded me of my
earlier statement. He said he had a shop, a good extent of lands, a business in Singapore,
a coconut garden and some shares in a few other businesses. He was happy and said that my
statement the previous year about Mother’s devotees not remaining in the same station
of life for more than a year was true. He summarised his position saying, “Every
establishment of mine is doing twice as well. Now I see the truth of what you said. Only
in the coconut garden it doesn’t work.”
His
coconut garden was situated at the junction of three rural roads and surrounded by paddy
fields. As it was a one acre garden, it was not economical to employ a full-time watchman
to live there day and night. As long as his father was alive, things were different.
Coconut harvests were regular and plentiful. Since his father’s death a few years
before, he had expanded his activities to more than one field, and there was no one who
could fill the place left vacant by his father. Since then, he had not had a single
harvest of nuts, as all the nuts were stolen. He started harvesting them as tender
coconuts with a view to salvaging as much as he could. I explained to him that apart from
his father’s prestige it must be true that now attention to the coconut garden must
be less. He agreed. He was in a difficult situation. He could neither appoint a full-time
watchman with his family living in the garden, nor was it possible to prevent pilferage in
view of its location. As the pilferage now reached 100% of the harvest, apart from the
loss, it was not nice to have one’s produce stolen like that month after month. There
was no advice I could offer him in terms of farm management, as he seemed to be more
experienced in these matters than I.
Besides
all this, I said, trees love attention. Now his attention was diverted to many other
establishments. The thieves were constantly thinking of the trees and nuts. Therefore the
coconut plants responded to their ‘attention’ by yielding their nuts to these
rogues. I asked him to pay a visit to the garden at least once a week for an hour and
evince keen interest in their upkeep. Also I suggested that he should remember the garden
as often as possible wherever he was. If he could do both these things and pray to Mother
that the pilferage should stop, it would be good, I said. About a month later he came to
me bringing some coconuts. He said that it was the very first harvest after many years.
The theft had stopped suddenly and mysteriously. One day after he had started the prayer,
two men came to him and requested an appointment in his fields. They were apologetic. He
could not understand their behaviour until they disclosed the full story. They had been
part of a gang of four that was stealing his coconuts month after month. Recently their
chief had suffered an electric shock, while climbing an electric post, and his fingers
were so mutilated that he could not climb coconut trees anymore. Another one of them was
caught by his own villagers and beaten for being a shame to the hamlet. They threatened to
hand him over to the police, if he resorted to stealing anymore. Now that the gang had
broken up, the other two, being camp followers, were on the lookout for jobs.
The
story made me happy. I said Mother is great and Her ways are infinite. Also, I added, his
remembrance of the garden and weekly visits were a more powerful medium for Mother’s
Grace as it was the attention of an owner and hence superior in quality to the
‘attention’ of vile men.
He is a
scientist devoted to his subject. He used to glue himself to his microscope, often until
10 p.m. His profession was teaching in a college. He was not only respected by his
students but loved for his sweet, soft manners and devotion to his pupils. No strike,
however universal, would prevent him from taking his classes. He was a devoted scholar,
devoted to his subject, his students and his professors. After his M.Sc. he did his Ph.D.
The Principal of the College was his professor and guide. As ill luck would have it, this
man who was universally loved and respected, who identified himself with his duty and
fixed himself at his post of duty, who was soft spoken, had for some inexplicable reason
fallen out of favour with his Principal, who was also his guide. His course in Ph.D. was a
shining success. His expertise was in grapes, jasmine and tomato culture. His thesis came
out very well. Even before the thesis was out, his findings were recognised outside.
His guide
was more of an administrator than a scientist. When a thesis was written by a research
worker, it was necessary that the guide certify it as a bonafide work done under his
guidance before the thesis could be submitted to the university for evaluation. This
guide, for reasons best known to him, refused to certify this thesis as bonafide. The
scholar was dismayed. The entire campus felt outraged. Such a treatment to such a devoted
scientist over so valuable a research work! Soon
the Principal left the college for a higher job in the Central Government with his office
in North India. The statutory rules allow that any thesis may be submitted within four
years, though the work is only for two years. If a thesis is not submitted within that
four years, the whole work gets cancelled and procedure requires that the scholar must
start over again from scratch. For this scholar, the expiry date was only a few weeks
away. As he had already given up all hopes, his disappointment was less keen. His friend
brought this incidence to my notice at that moment and asked whether a way out was
possible. A way out was possible, I said, if the scholar agreed to pray to Mother.
A few
weeks later a stranger called on me. He introduced himself as one sent by a friend of
mine. I recognised the circumstances. I invited him in and asked where he was coming from.
Slowly he warmed up and said he was coming from the Ashram, where he had an occasion to
sit in meditation in the Room in which Sri Aurobindo had been in tapas for 24
years. After a while when we felt a little more comfortable and friendly towards each
other, he explained as follows.
“Your
friend returned from the Ashram and spoke to me about my thesis and asked me whether I
would pray to Mother. I know nothing about Mother, but I have often heard from him that
She is Divine. I had no difficulty in accepting the idea of prayer, but there was a great
practical difficulty. The last date for submission of the thesis was just two days away. I
had no idea where my guide was. As a last resort I left for the university office the next
day, having hurriedly collected all the relevant papers, certificates and documents in one
day. There I met the Registrar and told him my position. It was the very last day, 10
o’clock in the morning. The Registrar took a great interest in my case, appreciated
my difficulty and was willing to offer any help, but he said it was totally invalid
without the signature of my guide. I told him frankly that my guide refused to sign it and
I did not know where he was at that moment. The Registrar agreed to receive the thesis as
submitted on that day but also offered a suggestion. He told me that my guide was in the
city on that day and I could try my luck in obtaining his signature. I hesitated. He
explained that my guide was leaving for America that afternoon to receive an honorary
degree and, perhaps, in such a mood he might agree to sign. With a heart filled with
anxiety I went to his house. To my surprise, the guide was outside and received me with a
big smile. My greater surprise was when he asked me about my thesis and offered to certify
it. With a relief felt all over my body I held out my thesis. He readily signed and said
he was taking the 2 p.m. flight that day and it was nice I could come in time. From there
I went to the Ashram with a sense of wonder still hovering around me. That was my first
visit. I offered my gratitude to Mother, about whom I yet do not know much. Straight away
I am coming here.”
He was
really a very soft-spoken man and very cultured in his ways. Since then he has presided
over international conferences and has risen to the highest position in the university in
his own subject. Just now there are six professors working under him.
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