Chapter 6April 20, 1968

It’s...

(After a long silence)

It’s very hard to say, but it’s clearly the phenomenon of material transformation. It begins with what we Consciousness, the supreme Consciousness. So then, there is the transfer of all movements, all activities – the entire functioning. The transfer of the personal being. Instead of obeying a personal being, it’s under the Influence of and directly IMPELLED by the Consciousness.

It’s the same phenomenon that took place for the various inner states of being (but that’s relatively easy), but now, it’s physical. And also it’s not mentalized, so it’s hard to express.

(Mother holds out a note on Auroville)

(Question:) How dependent is the building of Auroville upon man’s acceptance of spirituality?

(Mother’s answer:) The opposition between spirituality and material life, the division between the two has no sense for me as, in truth, life and the spirit are ONE and it is in and by physical work that the highest spirit must be manifested.

I got today a letter from a Swedish lady, I think (Swedish or Norwegian, I don’t know), who bought a crucifixion.... A HUGE painting – huge, I forget its size, but it’s fantastic, something like thirty feet high. She asks me what she should do with it! She wants to send it to me.... So I’ve told her (she paid a good sum for it, but she’s a very rich woman; only she wanted to make a gift of it to me), I’ve told her to make an exhibition in a large hall, with, written under the painting, "The Past." Then to put next to it, quite small, a photo of the galaxy, which is almost identical to Auroville’s plan – a photo of the galaxy, big as this, and below, Auroville’s plan big as this (gesture still smaller), and to write, "The Future."

And she’ll make people pay to come in and see! Do you know that photo of the galaxy? It’s really lovely. One of the plans for Auroville is almost identical, and they did it without seeing the photo of the galaxy.... They’ll put those two photos, and if people ask questions, they’ll be told, "Write there, you’ll get an answer."

I thought it would be an interesting symbol. You understand, if I put anything else, I mean a photo of Sri Aurobindo, for instance, or books, it