Chapter 9Sri Aurobindo Ashram

Part Three Sri Aurobindo was living in Pondicherry with four or five disci-ples from 1910 to 1920.

In 1914 the Mother1 came from France (with Paul Richard) and Sri Aurobindo began to edit the Arya, which continued up to January 1920.

In April 1920 the Mother came back from Japan and gradually, as the number of people increased, the Ashram was founded in 1926.

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Although there is a certain charm and poetry in the fact that there is no formal date for the creation of our Ashram, could it be said from the occult point of view that the Ashram was born with the Mother’s arrival?

The Ashram was born a few years after my return from Japan, in 1926.

17 April 1967

* The 21st February is the Mother’s1 birthday.

The 29th March is the anniversary of her first meeting with Sri Aurobindo.

The 4th April is the Ashram New Year, date of Sri Auro-bindo’s arrival in Pondicherry.

The 24th April is the date of the Mother’s final return to Pondicherry in 1920.

The 15th August is Sri Aurobindo’s birthday.

1 Here, Mother is writing about herself in the third person.

The 24th November is called the day of Victory in remembrance of a very important spiritual event which took place in 1926.

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The usual sadhanas have for aim the union with the Supreme Consciousness (Sat-chit-ananda). And those who reach there are satisfied with their own liberation and leave the world to its unhappy plight. On the contrary Sri Aurobindo’s sadhana starts where the others end. Once the union with the Supreme is realised one must bring down that realisation to the exterior world and change the conditions of life upon the earth until a total transformation is accomplished. In accordance with this aim, the sadhaks of the integral yoga do not retire from the world to lead a life of contemplation and meditation. Each one must devote at least one-third of his time to a useful work. All activities are represented in the Ashram and each one chooses the work most congenial to his nature, but must do it in a spirit of service and unselfishness, keeping always in view the aim of integral transformation.

To make this purpose possible the Ashram is organised so that all its inmates find their reasonable needs satisfied and have not to worry about their subsistence.

The rules are very few so that each one can enjoy the freedom needed for his development but a few things are strictly forbidden: they are — (1) politics, (2) smoking, (3) alcoholic drink and (4) sex enjoyment.

Great care is taken for the maintenance of good health and the welfare and normal growth of the body of all, small and big, young and old.

24 September 1953

* Appearances and rules change, but our faith and our aim remain the same.

30 October 1954

* Ours is neither a political nor a social but a spiritual goal. What we want is a transformation of the individual consciousness, not a change of regime or government. For reaching that goal we put no confidence in any human means, however powerful; our trust is in the Divine Grace alone.

* For us here there is only one thing that counts. We aspire for the Divine, live for the Divine, act for the Divine.

July 1956

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