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LIFE AND TEACHINGS OF SRI AUROBINDO AND THE MOTHER |
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5. PARC-A-CHARBON, BANYAN TREE, GANESH TEMPLE Mother had subtle vision, subtle hearing and all other subtle powers. Often when She saw a person She did not see his physical form. Instead She saw what he would be ten years later or in his next birth or what he was in a previous birth. Inanimate objects communicated with Her. The gods were in relation with Her. One evening at 6 o’clock, She asked to see a certain sadhak. He was not available. She asked for someone else. He too was away on work. Then she asked for anyone available to come see her urgently. An elderly sadhak presented himself and offered to do any work that was required of him. She spoke to him saying, “The Banyan tree near the Matrimandir in Auroville is in pain. Just now the tree came to me and complained. Please rush to the spot and relieve the distress of the tree and report to me.” Auroville is five miles away from the Ashram and the Matrimandir is at its centre. The Banyan tree is very old and has spread its roots all around. It is very close to the Matrimandir, standing between the foundation stone of Auroville, which contains the soil of all the world’s nations, and the Matrimandir. The Aurovillians all worked to build the Matrimandir, which was under construction, and their houses were around the Banyan tree. Since the tree is centrally located and people live close by and work there during the day, nothing can happen there which will escape the notice of the sadhaks. The elderly sadhak rushed to the Banyan tree, wondering what it could all be about. It was already dark. There were no lights around the tree. He was an old man who could not climb up the tree. What was he to look for? What kind of distress could a tree feel? If it were anything that could be seen by people, it would have already been noticed. If it was something subtle or something on top of the tree, what could this old man do there in the dark? Soon he reached the spot. At the foot of the tree, a worker had fixed his axe. When workers want to keep their hatchets or axes, they have the habit of hitting a tree trunk with the sharp edge to lodge the instrument there. Someone, as was his wont, had fixed his axe in the foot of this tree. The moment the sadhak saw the axe fixed into the tree, it became clear to him. He quickly removed the axe, searched for the owner and while giving the instrument back to him, instructed him not to do that anymore. He returned to the Ashram at once with joy and reported to Mother. When he told her at what time he had removed the axe, She replied that exactly at that moment She had felt the relief of the tree. One day some years ago She called a trustee of the Ashram and said She wanted to give a small piece of land from the backyard of one of her buildings to a Pillaiyar (Ganesh) temple which was adjacent to the building. The trustee explained to Her that for some months the trustees of the temple had been wanting some space. It was a small temple situated in the midst of residential buildings. During the days of the French rule, the temple was dilapidated and very few visited it. Legend says that some Frenchman was annoyed at the superstitions of the Indians and one day took it into his head that he must save these ignorant Indians from superstitious worship. He removed the idol of Vinayagar (Ganesh) and drowned it in the sea. The next morning there was a sensation in the temple area and a crowd gathered. People were outraged at the improper high-handed behaviour of the Frenchman but were helpless to prevent him. The following day they gathered in a large number and found the Vinayagar idol back in the temple intact, as if nothing had happened. After this incident the temple became very popular and streams of worshippers began visiting there. Now it was time to renovate the place. Because of a lack of space in front of the temple, the authorities had built a mandapam across the road with the traffic passing underneath. They needed some more space for devotees to do pradakshina around the temple. It is for this purpose the authorities of the temple tried to acquire more space on any one side of the temple. Being a residential place, their attempts had met with failure everywhere. Their attempts with the Ashram had also met with no success. Mother listened to the explanations about the temple with interest. She said the previous night, while she was in meditation, Ganesh had come to her and said he needed some space from her building. She said she had decided to give the space and passed orders to that effect. About 50 years ago Selvaraj Chettiar was the Mayor of Pondicherry. He was an import merchant. As a mayor he was very influential in France and with the French Government. He had a coal godown right on the beach. Sea waves lashed against the compound wall and washed it away. He re-erected the wall a few times, but each time it was washed away. The Mayor consulted the French engineers, who were the leading marine engineers in the world. French engineers had built the Suez Canal. As he was influential and wealthy, he availed of the best consultation from the leading engineers and with their advice put up the compound wall again. But again it was washed away. It became clear that the sea erosion could no longer be contained. The godown was very big and was a very valuable property in those days. This work was the talk of the town, and there was no question of its being a secret. The Mayor decided to sell the property as early as possible. No buyer showed up and things came to a standstill. It was clear that the longer the sale was delayed, the worse it would be for the seller. The Mayor sent word to Mother asking whether She was interested in buying the godown. Her sadhaks all knew what had happened, but as a duty reported the request of the Mayor to Mother. She had no idea of what had gone on. The sadhaks told her the entire story of the Mayor’s failure. No one wanted the property to be bought but it was not for them to give such suggestions to Mother. Having given the offer and answered her questions on the history of the earlier attempts to put up a wall, they awaited Her decision. After some consideration, Mother asked them to buy the property. Everyone who heard her decision was dismayed and certain that in a few years the entire godown would be washed away. But every sadhak also had faith in Mother. So they went happily and bought the godown. After the purchase was over, they asked for her guidance. She asked them to build a compound wall. They did, but it was washed away. They repeated this a few times, and each time it was washed away. Finally they reported the results to Mother. She asked them to stop the work and She would come to visit the place. One evening she went to the site and sat for a while on a chair. She asked the sadhaks to re-erect the wall. The next day the wall was put up. Today it is still there. She explained later that on the day She came to the spot, the sea god came to her and announced his decision to enter into that area. Mother told the sea god that she wanted the place for herself and he must not come in. Mother said that these beings always used to obey her. But the sea god started a discussion and Mother had to stay there a while. She explained to him that she had important work in the Ashram and in that place, so he must not come there. At last, She said, he agreed. 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. 8. MOTHER’S LIFE IN THE ASHRAM 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. |