"I
am with you." What does it mean exactly?
When
we pray or struggle with a problem within ourselves, are we really heard,
always, in spite of our clumsiness and imperfection, in spite even of our bad
will and our error? And who hears? You who are with us?
And
is it you in your supreme consciousness, an impersonal divine force, the force
of Yoga, or you, Mother in a body, with your physical consciousness? A personal
presence that really knows each thought and each act and not some anonymous
force? Can you tell us how, in what way you are present with us?
Sri
Aurobindo and you, it is said, form one and the same consciousness, but is
there a personal presence of Sri Aurobindo and your personal presence, two
things distinct, each playing its own particular role?
I
am with you because I am you or you are me.
I am with you, that signifies a world of things, because I am with you on all levels, on all planes, from the supreme consciousness down to my most physical consciousness. Here, in Pondicherry, you cannot breathe without breathing my consciousness. It saturates the atmosphere almost materially, in the subtle physical, and extends to the Lake, ten kilometres from here. Farther, my consciousness can be felt in the material vital, then on the mental plane and the other higher planes, everywhere. When I came here for the first time, I felt the atmosphere of Sri Aurobindo, felt it materially at a distance of ten miles, ten nautical miles, not kilometres. It was very sudden, very concrete, an atmosphere pure, luminous, light, light that lifts you up.
I am with you, that signifies a world of things, because I am with you on all levels, on all planes, from the supreme consciousness down to my most physical consciousness. Here, in Pondicherry, you cannot breathe without breathing my consciousness. It saturates the atmosphere almost materially, in the subtle physical, and extends to the Lake, ten kilometres from here. Farther, my consciousness can be felt in the material vital, then on the mental plane and the other higher planes, everywhere. When I came here for the first time, I felt the atmosphere of Sri Aurobindo, felt it materially at a distance of ten miles, ten nautical miles, not kilometres. It was very sudden, very concrete, an atmosphere pure, luminous, light, light that lifts you up.
It
is now long since Sri Aurobindo has put up everywhere in the Ashram this
reminder that you all know: "Always behave as if the Mother was looking at
you, because she is, indeed, always present."
This
is not a mere phrase, not simply words, it is a fact. I am with you in a very
concrete manner and they who have a subtle vision can see me.
In
a general way my Force is there constantly at work, constantly shifting the
psychological elements of your being to put them in new relations and defining
to yourself the different facets of your nature so that you may see what should
be changed, developed, rejected.
But
that apart, there is a special personal tie between you and me, between all who
have turned to the teaching of Sri Aurobindo and myself,—and, it is well
understood, distance does not count here, you may be in France, you may be at
the other end of the world or in Pondicherry, this tie is always true and
living. And each time there comes a call, each time there is a need for me to
know so that I may send out a force, an inspiration, a protection or any other
thing, a sort of message comes to me all of a sudden and I do the needful.
These communications reach me evidently at any moment, and you must have seen
me more than once stop suddenly in the middle of a sentence or work; it is
because something comes to me, a communication and I concentrate.
With
those whom I have accepted as disciples, to whom I have said Yes, there is more
than a tie, there is an emanation of me. This emanation warns me whenever it is
necessary and tells me what is happening. Indeed I receive intimations
constantly, but not all are recorded in my active memory, I would be flooded;
the physical consciousness acts like a filter. Things are recorded on a subtle
plane, they are there in a latent state, something like a piece of music that
is recorded without being played, and when I need to know with my physical
consciousness, I make contact with this subtle physical plane and the disc
begins to turn. Then I see how things are, their development in time, the
actual result.
And
if for some reason you write to me asking for my help and I answer "I am with you",
it means that the communication with you becomes active, you come into my
active consciousness for a time, for the time necessary.
And
this tie between you and me is never cut. There are people who have long ago
left the Ashram, in a state of revolt, and yet I keep myself informed of them,
I attend to them. You are never abandoned.
In
truth, I hold myself responsible for everyone, even for those whom I have met
only for one second in my life.
Now
remember one thing. Sri Aurobindo and myself are one and the same
consciousness, one and the same person. Only, when this force or this presence,
which is the same, passes through your individual consciousness, it puts on a
form, an appearance which differs according to your temperament, your
aspiration, your need, the particular turn of your being. Your individual
consciousness is like a filter, a pointer, if I may say so; it makes a choice
and fixes one possibility out of the infinity of divine possibilities. In
reality, the Divine gives to each individual exactly what he expects of Him. If
you believe that the Divine is far away and cruel, He will be far away and
cruel, because it will be necessary for your ultimate good that you feel the
wrath of God; He will be Kali for the worshippers of Kali and Beatitude for the
Bhakta. And He will be the All-knowledge of the seeker of Knowledge, the
transcendent Impersonal of the illusionist; He will be atheist with the atheist
and the love of the lover. He will be brotherly and close, a friend always
faithful, always ready to succour, for those who feel Him as the inner guide of
each movement, at every moment. And if you believe that He can wipe away
everything, He will wipe away all your faults, all your errors, tirelessly, and
at every moment you can feel His infinite Grace. The Divine is indeed what you
expect of Him in your deepest aspiration.
And
when you enter into this consciousness where you see all things in a single
look, the infinite multitude of relations between the Divine and men, you see
how wonderful all that is, in all details. You can look at the history of
mankind and see how much the Divine has evolved according to what men have
understood, desired, hoped, dreamed and how He was materialist with the
materialist and how He grows every day and becomes nearer, more luminous
according as human consciousness widens itself. Each one is free to choose. The
perfection of this endless variety of relations of man with God throughout the
history of the world is an ineffable marvel. And all that together is only one
second of the total manifestation of the Divine.
The
Divine is with you according to your aspiration. Naturally that does not mean
that He bends to the caprices of your outer nature,—I speak here of the truth
of your being. And yet, sometimes he does fashion himself according to your
outer aspirations, and if, like the devotees, you live alternately in separation
and union, ecstasy and despair, the Divine also will separate from you and
unite with you, according as you believe. The attitude is thus very important,
even the outer attitude. People do not know how important is faith, how faith
is miracle, creator of miracles. If you expect at every moment to be lifted up
and pulled towards the Divine, He will come to lift you and He will be there,
quite close, closer, ever closer. - The Mother.
Words of the Mother – I.
[VOLUME
13. COLLECTED WORKS OF THE MOTHER. Pages 72 – 76. ]
