Guiding Light of The Month

O Lord, how ardently do I call and implore Thy love! Grant that my aspiration may be intense enough to awaken the same aspiration everywhere: oh, may good- ness, justice and peace reign as supreme masters, may ignorant egoism be overcome, darkness be suddenly illu- minated by Thy pure Light; may the blind see, the deaf hear, may Thy law be proclaimed in every place and, in a constantly progressive union, in an ever more perfect harmony, may all, like one single being, stretch out their arms towards Thee to identify themselves with Thee and manifest Thee upon earth. - The Mother

Olympic games

Replace the ambition to be first by the will to do the best possible.
Replace the desire for success by the yearning for progress.
Replace the eagerness for fame by the aspiration for perfection.
Physical education is meant to bring into the body consciousness and control, discipline and mastery, all things necessary for a higher and better life.
Keep all that in mind, practise sincerely and you will become a good athlete; this is the first step on the way to be a true man.
-The Mother

The similarity that can be observed between what the Mother and Sri Aurobindo say and what the Olympics expound is remarkable. The motto of the Olympics, to be found beneath its symbol- five interlocked rings-on its flag is: “ Citius, ALtius, Fortius”- “Swifter, Higher, Stronger”. Baron Pierre de Coubertin, a dedicated promoter of international goodwill, who was chiefly responsible for the revival of the ancient Greek Olympic Festivals from 1876, put down the creed of this great institution in these words.

“The important thing in the Olympic Games is not winning but taking part. The essential thing in life is not conquering but fighting well.”
- The Mother
Extract from All India Magazine, August 2004

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