Sri Aurobindo and the Mother

Mirra Alfassa, later Mirra Morisset and Mirra Richard (February 21, 1878 - November 17, 1973), also known as The Mother, was the spiritual collaborator of Sri Aurobindo.

She was born in Paris to Turkish and Egyptian parents and came to Sri Aurobindo's retreat on March 29, 1914 in Pondicherry, India to collaborate on editing the journal Arya (see also the general concept of Arya). Having to leave Pondicherry during World War I, she spent most of her time in Japan where she met the poet Rabindranath Tagore. Finally she returned to Pondicherry and settled there in 1920. After November 24, 1926, when Sri Aurobindo retired into seclusion, she founded his ashram (Sri Aurobindo Ashram), with a handful of disciples living around the Master. With Sri Aurobindo's full approval she became the leader of the community, a position she held until her death. The Trust she had registered after Sri Aurobindo's death in 1950 continues to look after the institution.

The experiences of the last thirty years of Alfassa's life were captured in the 13-volume work The Agenda. In those years she attempted the physical transformation of her body in order to become what she felt was the first of a new type of human individual by opening to the Supramental Truth Consciousness, a new power of spirit that Sri Aurobindo had allegedly discovered. Sri Aurobindo considered her an incarnation of the Mother Divine, hence her followers calling her "the Mother". The Divine Mother is believed by some Hindus to be the feminine aspect (Creative Energy) of the Divine consciousness and spirit.

Source, wikipedia

The Sri Aurobindo Ashram was founded by Sri Aurobindo on the 24 November 1926 (Siddhi Day). At the time there were no more than 24 disciples in the Ashram. In December of that year, Sri Aurobindo decided to withdraw from public view, and appointed his co-worker Mirra Alfassa, thenceforth known as The Mother in charge of the ashram.

The early ashram

In the early history of the ashram there was a regular routine. At 6:15 every morning The Mother appeared on the ashram balcony to initiate the day with her blessings. Sadhaks (spiritual aspirants), who got up at 3AM, finished their own meditations and a good portion of the day's work, and then assembled under the balcony to receive her blessings.

As the ashram grew, many departments sprang up: the office, library, dining room, press, workshops, playground, art gallery, dispensary, farms, dairies, flower gardens, guest houses, legal department, audit department, and many others, too. The heads of the departments met The Mother in the morning and took her blessings and orders. Again at 10 a.m. she used to meet all the sadhaks individually. Once again, in the evening at 5:30 PM, she conducted meditation and met each sadhak once more.

In addition, four times a year she used to give public Darshans (a spiritual gathering where the guru bestows blessings) at which a few thousand devotees gathered and received her Grace.

The Sri Aurobindo Ashram today

Today, the ashram is a large institution in the downtown area of Pondicherry. It provides many charitable benefits to the area, including free medical facilities and a publishing house. It also includes the School for Perfect Eyesight, a centre promoting the use of the controversial Bates method that claims to improve and restore vision without the use of glasses.

The ashram's effects spring up across the town: local businesses include the "Sri Aurobindo Autocare Services," "Cottage Industries" and "Sri Aurobindo Handmade Paper." among others. Most famously, the alternative community Auroville (pop. 1800) sits outside the town.

Aims & ideals

A complete method of Yoga that would transform human nature to divine life. In Sri Aurobindo's system, the highest aim is the being of one, without the renunciation of life in the world. Such a fulfillment of the consciousness, the urge for perfection, must not be confined to few individuals but must extend to the masses, leading to a new type of being that is "eternal, self-existing, and inalienable".

Sri Aurobindo lays the foundation of his inquiry by focusing on the contradiction between the mundane human existence and the human desire to acquire a divine perfection in life. By introducing the category of evolution, he wants to resolve the paradox of the human being's delimited consciousness and his desire to be identical with a divine form.

Apart from study of Sri Aurobindo's and The Mother's books, there are no specific disciplines recommended, but rather the practice of Integral Yoga means that every sadhak should follow whatever spiritual techniques they feel guided to.

Anyone can join at any time. There's no method, no period and no training as such. It's the only self-practice to reach the higher mind, eternal state and the continuous help will be sourced only from Divine and no one else.

Sri Aurobindo's teachings have influenced not just Indian thought, but also is established throughout the West, thanks to books and regional centers. It is also a contributing element in Integral philosophy.

I know this is probably going to sound arrogant, but one of the things I really appreciate about the work of The Mother and Sri Aurobindo, is that what they write isn't too easy to understand. I get a lot of spiritual books sent to me for review (not the ones on this page though). Most of the time my main reaction is a yawn.

Even books I end up recommending as useful, are often - for me personally - just not really all that interesting. They're good, they're healthy spiritual advice or information, or both - but they don't really add anything to my personal path. This says a lot more about me than about the books obviously: I've done a lot of reading in spiritual literature of all kinds of traditions (though mainly theosophy). It just takes something extra to get me really interested.

No the books reviewed on this page. They're full of nuance, mental concepts and quirks of thinking that keep me on my toes. Some of it's useful and healthy - other things I'm not so sure. But whatever it may be, it's certainly not dull.

In India names were, and to some extent still are, varied things - especially in Latin letters. Aurobindo's name changed with the local where he was working. What is usually spelled as Aurobindo, is the Sanskrit 'Aravinda', also spelled as: Aravind, Arabinda, Aurobindo, Arvind, Aravindhar, Aurobindo Ghosh, Shri Aurobindo etc.

The man who was known as Sri Aurobindo at the end of his life, was named Aurobindo Acroyd Ghose at his birth. Aurobindo meaning 'lotus' and Acroyd for an English friend of his father's: Annette Akroyd. When Aurobindo became active in the Indian Independence movement, he dropped the middle name and usually called himself Aurobindo A. Ghose. When an ashram developed around him, he was increasingly called 'Sri Aurobindo'.

* Bases of Yoga, Lotus Press, Twin Lakes, Wisconsin ISBN 0-941524-77-9
* Bhagavad Gita and Its Message, Lotus Press, Twin Lakes, Wisconsin ISBN 0-941524-78-7
* Dictionary of Sri Aurobindo's Yoga, (compiled by M.P. Pandit), Lotus Press, Twin Lakes, Wisconsin ISBN 0-941524-74-4
* Essays on the Gita, Lotus Press, Twin Lakes, Wisconsin ISBN 0-914955-18-7
* The Future Evolution of Man, Lotus Press, Twin Lakes, Wisconsin ISBN 0-940985-55-1
* The Human Cycle: The Psychology of Social Development, Lotus Press, Twin Lakes, Wisconsin ISBN 0-914955-44-6
* Hymns to the Mystic Fire, Lotus Press, Twin Lakes, Wisconsin ISBN 0-914955-22-5
* The Ideal of Human Unity, Lotus Press, Twin Lakes, Wisconsin ISBN 0-914955-43-8
* The Integral Yoga: Sri Aurobindo's Teaching and Method of Practice, Lotus Press, Twin Lakes, Wisconsin ISBN 0-941524-76-0
* The Life Divine, Lotus Press, Twin Lakes, Wisconsin ISBN 0-941524-61-2
* The Mind of Light, Lotus Press, Twin Lakes, Wisconsin ISBN 0-940985-70-5
* The Mother, Lotus Press, Twin Lakes, Wisconsin ISBN 0-941524-79-5
* Rebirth and Karma, Lotus Press, Twin Lakes, Wisconsin ISBN 0-941524-63-9
* Savitri: A Legend and a Symbol, Lotus Press, Twin Lakes, Wisconsin ISBN 0-941524-80-9
* Secret of the Veda, Lotus Press, Twin Lakes, Wisconsin ISBN 0-914955-19-5
* Sri Aurobindo Primary Works Set 12 vol. US Edition, Lotus Press, Twin Lakes, Wisconsin ISBN 0-941524-93-0
* Sri Aurobindo Selected Writings Software CD ROM, Lotus Press, Twin Lakes, Wisconsin ISBN 0-914955-88-8
* The Synthesis of Yoga, Lotus Press, Twin Lakes, Wisconsin ISBN 0-941524-65-5
* The Upanishads, Lotus Press, Twin Lakes, Wisconsin ISBN 0-914955-23-3
* Vedic Symbolism, Lotus Press, Twin Lakes, Wisconsin ISBN 0-941524-30-2
* The Essential Aurobindo - Writings of Sri Aurobindo ISBN 978-0-9701097-2-9
* The Powers Within, Lotus Press. ISBN 978-0-941524-96-4
* Human Cycle, Ideal of Human Unity, War and Self Determination by Aurobindo, Lotus Press. ISBN 81-7058-014-5
* Hour of God by Sri Aurobindo, Lotus Press. ISBN 81-7058-217-2

Full bibliography

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