Question of the month

Q: Today I received a question about a phrase I used on the fourteenth of August, the eve of Sri Aurobindo’s birthday. The question is about a phrase in which I spoke of the birth of Sri Aurobindo- it was on the eve of his birthday- and I called it an “eternal birth”. I am asked what I meant by “eternal”?

A: Of course, if the words are taken literally, an “eternal birth” doesn’t signify much. But I am going to explain to you how there can be – and in fact is - a physical explanation or understanding, a mental understanding, a psychic understanding and a spiritual understanding.

Physically, it means that the consequences of this birth will last as long as the Earth. The consequences of Sri Aurobindo’s birth will be felt throughout the entire existence of the Earth. And so I called it “eternal”, a little poetically.

Mentally, it is a birth the memory of which will last eternally. Through the ages Sri Aurobindo’s birth will be remembered, with all the consequences it has had.

Psychically, it is a birth which will recur eternally, from age to age, in the history of the universe. This birth is a manifestation which takes place periodically, from age to age, in the history of the Earth. That is, the birth itself is renewed, repeated, reproduced, bringing every time perhaps something more - something more complete and more perfect - but it is the same movement of descent, of manifestation, of birth in an earthly body.

And finally, from the purely spiritual point of view, it could be said that it is the birth of the Eternal on Earth. For each time the Avatar takes a physical form it is the birth of the Eternal himself on Earth.

All that is contained in two words: “eternal birth”.
- The Mother, September 4, 1957.

(CWM Volume 9, Sri Aurobindo Ashram Trust 1977, Published by Sri Aurobindo Ashram, Pondicherry- 605002)

Q: Somebody wants to visit Sri Aurobindo’s room again and sit there to meditate for some time. What are his qualifications and titles to such a great privilege?

A: Visiting again is all right. People can come to Sri Aurobindo’s room. But to sit and meditate there, one must have done much for Sri Aurobindo.

- The Mother, 11 June, 1960.

Q: Sweet Mother, you have said that to be allowed to sit in Sri Aurobindo’s room and meditate there, “one must have done much for Him”. What do you mean by that, Mother? What can one do for the Lord which will be” this much”?

A: To do something for the Lord is to give Him something of what one has, or of what one does, or of what one is. That is to say, to offer to Him one part of our goods or all our possessions, to consecrate to Him one part of our work or all our activities, or to give ourselves to Him totally and without reserve so that He may take possession of our nature in order to transform and divinise it. But there are many people who, without giving anything, always want to take and to receive. These people are selfish and unworthy to meditate in Sri Aurobindo’s room.

- The Mother, 17th August 1960.


(CWM Volume 13, Sri Aurobindo Ashram Trust 1977, Published by Sri Aurobindo Ashram, Pondicherry- 605002) .