Chapter 6April 19, 1969

No, no! I have all I need.

You really don’t need...?

No, no, I need nothing except...

Ah, I wasn’t looking at it from that angle! (Mother laughs)

The body still needs to eat, though here too, it seems... There are all kinds of things.... Well, everything still seems to be called into question.

(Regarding the departure of Amrita, who looked after the Ashram’s finances.)

(Laughing) Here are soups!

We’re in a dreadful confusion, dreadful!

For years there was a whole side of things, the side of money and all the arrangements, which I wasn’t told about, and it was quite fine, I didn’t look after it, didn’t bother myself with it. Now, they suddenly tell me things (half tell me, and without telling me what used to be done before), and I realize... Everything is in a dreadful confusion, dreadful! Because... I can’t understand what they do because I don’t know the reason, I don’t know how things are arranged.

Now a weight has been lifted, but... They quarrel... oh!

I had things to tell you... but I don’t remember – I don’t remember at all! On Wednesday, after you left, I realized I had things to tell you, but now I don’t remember – so many things have taken place that I don’t remember.

You see, previously, Amrita used to centralize many things. He had organized them, and I didn’t concern myself with them; he would only tell me where I needed to intervene, and all the rest was arranged. But now, for the least thing they come to me, and as they don’t know what he used to do and how, everything needs to be done. It has caused a lot of difficulty.

Now, I know I have something to tell you, but I don’t know what!

(silence)

Everything is in a sort of hubbub. The whole country.

You know there’s now a Communist government in Bengal.... It would be better not to record this So then, there were scenes (I forget the details), rather unpleasant scenes, then a sort of riot, and the army had to open fire. Four people were killed.45 So the Communist government wants to arrest the four soldiers who opened fire, saying... well, that they did quite wrong. They said that to the head of the army there, who said, “If they come to arrest my men, I will arrest them! I’ll arrest the police and put them in jail!...” I found it charming. But I had just seen N.S.46 – you know N.S., don’t you-who had been sent by Indira to ask me questions about what should be done.47 She had just left when I was told about this other affair. I thought, “How to have her told?...” (because Indira won’t know what to do-whether to support the army or the police). Then I said, “If she supports the police, the Chinese are here in two weeks; she must absolutely support the army” So we had to catch up to N.S. (she had just left for Delhi), we had to catch up to her to tell her, “Mother said you should...”

And L. left behind to catch up with the plane.

That’s how it is. The previous days I had seen all kinds of catastrophic things. (I didn’t know what the situation was.) When I was told, I instantly knew: I saw the Chinese HERE. Yes. It stirred me a lot, a lot. And with HORRIBLE things, horrible.

So I had to send someone immediately to tell her, “For heaven’s sake, support the army.” It’s India’s only hope. The army is good, but it’s not supported. But that shouldn’t be told, because I am not supposed to concern myself with politics, so...

But it seems that in three States the Communists WANT the Chinese to come. That’s dreadful. The Chinese, mon petit, you can’t imagine what it is.... Horrible! They’re horrible. With a cold, terrible cruelty.

So it’s been very, very difficult these last few days.

It’s almost a miracle: Indira all of a sudden realized (N.S. told me so) that she doesn’t have the required knowledge or the required power to face circumstances, so she told N.S. to come and see me and ask me to help her. Then I understood why I had seen all those circumstances – for several days it was all about India, and I saw it was serious, very serious.

(silence)

There was one man here who could have done something: it was the former chief of the army, K.’s cousin48 – but they sent him to Canada!... It had the result that now the whole of Canada is interested in India! There’s quite a widespread and interesting movement there. But they don’t want him here. And he was a good military chief.... It’s a pity he’s gone away. Also, he was in contact with us, and just now...

So that’s why: there’s constantly the pressure of very serious things.

45Incident at Kashipur.

46A minister in the Central government, and, at the time, a friend of Indira Gandhi.

47We give in addendum an account of N.S.’s conversation with Mother.

What news do You have? Nothing?

But this increasingly growing Chinese monster, one doesn’t see what will be able to stop it.

Yes, that’s right.

One doesn’t see, except, of course, a nuclear cataclysm. Otherwise, everywhere it only wants to

devour.

Yes.

What will stop it?... Is it receptive to the subtle forces?

(After a silence) There’s a man... First, there’s our good S.H.49 here, but there’s another man at Shantiniketan; I saw him, I know him, and he always said it was Sri Aurobindo’s thought that could save China. But he came here because he wasn’t a Communist and they filched all his goods – he gave them; when he was informed, he wrote [to the Chinese government] and told them, “I give them to you; you took them, but I give them to you.” That was very good, very clever. So naturally, he is respected. But I don’t think he can do much. But his own opinion is that it’s only Sri Aurobindo’s thought that can save China. China is extremely intellectual; if the Chinese intelligence were captured by Sri Aurobindo’s thought, it would be... That seems to be the sole, the only hope.

But Formosa [Taiwan], which is nothing, is wholly with us.

Yes, but that’s not much.

It’s nothing.

The Soviets were a very great danger, but now they seem... they seem to begin to understand. They’re divided among themselves.

But here, it’s really a growing monster.

Oh, it’s formidable.

(silence)

America is extremely interested in Auroville. Russia is extremely interested in Auroville. The Chinese... nothing, absolutely nothing, no response.

They are... I don’t know how to... The impression is of something stonelike. It doesn’t respond.

(long silence)

For... for years, even from the time Sri Aurobindo was here, there had been the vision – an inner vision – that India is the place where the fate of the earth will be decided. So the two opposite possibilities are prevent war? There’s the whole question. But the whirl of forces is here, over India.

And since this Consciousness came, things have been accelerating. It has given a great rapidity of movement to circumstances. But then, it’s becoming urgent. And... oh, falsehood, duplicity... oh, everything seems to be rising to the surface – it’s hideous. Will the... the Force of Harmony and Peace be strong enough to... to digest all that? I don’t know.

I thought (there were all kinds of things going on, like pictures of possibilities), I thought it was in the body’s makeup, that it was coming out in order to be purified. Now I realize it may have been partly that, but that all those pictures correspond to things taking place at present [in the world]. And if they are true... the things to come are rather catastrophic.

There is always this inner will to... (gesture of pressure to establish peace). As if it were, I can’t say a last conflict, but it’s becoming... it’s becoming immediate.

It’s like a conflict between the forces that want to destroy the earth and the terrestrial transformation. if those forces can be checked, can be mastered or rendered powerless, then the earth’s progress and transformation will go on soaring up – magnificent! But now... monsters seem to be coming up from every side to prevent that.

(silence)

It’s exactly as if we were sitting on top of a volcano: either the volcano must fall extinct, or everything is going to blow up. That’s how it is.

Eleven o’clock, oh!

Wouldn’t you enjoy to go boating? I told Z to take you along.... Just like that... a little boating. And I also thought that you wouldn’t be pestered by people! They won’t find you anymore!

* * *

ADDENDUM (Account of N.S.’s visit on April 17, 1969. Mother’s words were noted down in English from memory,

and are therefore approximate.)

1. When N.S. spoke of what Indira said about the troubles she is having and the difficulties she is facing and that she wanted the Mother’s help, strength and guidance, the Mother said She knew very well about all this, and that she was constantly giving Her help and blessings to Indira.

2. Regarding the danger of Communism, the Mother said that Communism is a truth that has been distorted and that when the truth comes out, the distortion will fall off. The truth is that all one’s efforts and all one’s work should be turned not to the State, but to the Divine.

3. There is only one country in the world that knows that there is only one Truth to which everything should be turned, and that is India. Other countries have forgotten this, but in India it is ingrained in the people, and one day it will come out.