Dear Friends,
Chunibhai Patel (19.6.1903—19.8.1992) was a Gujarati sadhak who was renamed ‘Dyuman’ (“the luminous one”) by Sri Aurobindo on 24 November 1928. He visited Pondicherry for the first time on 11 July 1924 and surrendered himself to Sri Aurobindo. He became an inmate of Sri Aurobindo Ashram in May 1927. He was in charge of the Dining Room and looked after the Granary. A dedicated worker to the core, the Mother made him one of the Founder-Trustees of Sri Aurobindo Ashram Trust on 1 May 1955. He became the Managing Trustee of Sri Aurobindo Ashram Trust in 1991.
We are happy to announce that Overman Foundation has received permission from Sri Aurobindo Ashram Trust to publish Dyuman’s Correspondence with the Mother in its online forum. We are extremely grateful to Shri Manoj Das Gupta, Managing Trustee of Sri Aurobindo Ashram Trust, for giving us the said permission. We are also thankful to Shri S. Ravi, co-editor of Mother India journal and teacher at Sri Aurobindo International Centre of Education for providing these letters to us.
The first four installments of Dyuman’s Correspondence with the Mother—consisting of letters written between 12 June 1929 and 7 June 1935 were published in the online forum of Overman Foundation on 23 June, 27 June, 21 July and 4 August 2015 respectively. The fifth installment of the said correspondence—containing letters written between 15 June 1935 and 7 December 1935 has been published in the online forum of Overman Foundation. Please note that these letters are not included in the Collected Works of the Mother.
With warm regards,
Anurag Banerjee
Founder,
Overman Foundation.
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A pencil-sketch of Dyuman made by the Mother
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My dear Mother,
Things are becoming difficult to manage in Aroumé. The workers want to do things according to their wish and a sort of negligence has come into the work; there is idleness, laziness, indolence, unwillingness, etc. Sincerity is getting clouded everywhere.
Today a thought runs on and on in me: O Mother, tell me, how much am I responsible for this condition in Aroumé and the quarrels between the workers?
I do not see in what way you are responsible for that.
So often in recent days I was going to get entangled in the network of bad disturbances, but as yet I have resisted it firmly. Now I ask for Your help, a help that completely removes all the disturbing elements from the co-workers, so that they may turn towards You.
Those who are sincere, I can help and turn them easily towards the Divine.
But where there is insincerity I can do very little. And as I told you already, we have only to be patient and wait for the things to become better. But surely I do not see why you should get disturbed and in what way your disturbance would help things to be better. You know by experience that there is only one way of getting out of confusion and obscurity; it is to remain very quiet and peaceful, firm in the equanimity and to let the storm pass away. Rise above these petty quarrels and difficulties and wake up once more in the light and the power of my love which never leaves you.
15 June 1935
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My dear Mother,
In all clouds, all difficulties, all obstacles faith in the Divine is the only guide, strength and protection. It is faith in the Divine and love that save a sadhak and carry him beyond the dangers to a life of immortal bliss.
Fortify my faith, O my dear Mother.
Yes, never let anything cloud your faith in my love for you and in my constant presence and help. And rise high enough above these difficulties which try to seem big, so that you may see them as they really are, that is to say, very small and insignificant.
Always with you.
15 June 1935
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My dear Mother,
Once more I am out of the clouds of confusion and obscurity. A firm quietude and equanimity and a reliance upon the Divine has dispersed them. The Divine is my strength and force, and I live for the Divine alone.
Yes, my child, it is quite true that the Divine is the sole refuge. With Him is absolute safety.
My love and blessings are always with you.
16 June 1935
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My dear Mother,
The sword of Damocles hangs over our kitchen. We shall have to remain alert, watchful, full of force, quiet and patient. My dear Mother, I am full of confidence in the divine Victory.
Yes, as you say, one must keep up the entire confidence in the Victory of the Divine — and this general Victory will include in itself the personal victory of all those who will have kept faithful and confident.
29 June 1935
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My dear Mother,
There is an adverse force in the Ashram that goes from inmate to inmate and it wants only to destroy. When inmates leave the Ashram, it does not go; it only becomes more violent. If the inmates remain faithful and sincere, it is bound to go in one second.
I ask for the wrath of Mahakali, the intensest love of that warrior Mother, to chase away this obstinate force and free the Ashram from our everyday trouble.
The wrath of Mahakali manifests from time to time and acts all right, but the effect of it does not last because those who answer to the adverse force do not truly want to be cured. They are not sincere.
We have only to remain quiet and confident, unshakeable in our faith and trust in the Divine’s Grace.
1 July 1935
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My dear Mother,
I worked hard today in our courtyard garden and had a new vision: as humans are beings, so also plants are beings, and they too respond in proportion to one’s love and affection for them. And if a sadhak with insight develops this, it will be a great help in the evolution of Nature.
Yes, plants have a consciousness of their own; they are very receptive and respond quite well to the force.
Always with you my dear child.
2 July 1935
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My dear Mother,
If there were even a little sense of gratitude in the hearts of the inmates, no one would dare to tell You: “I am leaving.” May the Ashram inmates learn to be grateful and bow down in gratitude to the Divine.
Yes, my dear child, you are quite right — but gratitude is a virtue of the psychic and very few people live in their psychic consciousness.
5 July 1935
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My dear Mother,
The physical work done in our courtyard these last few weeks has given me a very nice training. But I saw people looking at us with contempt when we were soiled and working; it has given me a better understanding of where they stand. I wish we would realise that physical work is in no way inferior to meditation. In fact if we think of the manifestation, work will surely be an important factor for the new creation.
There is no doubt about that.
I am always very happy to see you work physically. A good material work not exceeding normal capacities is most useful for keeping a good physical and moral poise.
13 July 1935
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My dear Mother,
I did not go for marketing today, but I had a long sitting with You during the Pranam after many months. There I realised more clearly that in truth we all belong to You and our true nature is one of Your peace, love, harmony and joy. I know for certain that one day we shall rise above the nature of quarrels, envy, hatred, jealousy, arrogance and pride.
Your experience is true, the essential nature is peace, harmony and love. I hope all will realise it one day.
I am always with you.
14 July 1935
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My dear Mother,
This too is a training for me: to see how far I stand detached from circumstances, untouched by the jealousy around me and true to the Divine.
Yes, the only thing you have to do is to remain quiet, undisturbed, solely turned towards the Divine; the rest is in His hands.
17 July 1935
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My dear Mother,
As long as the being does not depend upon the Divine alone, there can never be peace, joy and happiness.
Yes, this is true; it is only in union with the Divine and in the Divine that harmony and peace can be established.
Always with you, my dear child.
20 July 1935
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My dear Mother,
B has informed me that she is again getting bad ideas; but she is not weak and has taken her food regularly. She is quite strong and keeping quiet.
It is all right, but if B and the others made less fuss about these “bad ideas” they would get them less often!
22 July 1935
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My very dear Mother,
Today I had a very true experience: While returning from the market this morning, the thought passed in me: “C is a big man in the outside world” and I felt a kind of dissatisfaction somewhere in the vital. Then You appeared before me and showed me: “Look here, here you are.” You carried me on Your arm close to Your heart.
Yes, it is surely better than to be a “great man” for the outside world!
All love and blessings to you, my dear child.
11 August 1935
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My dear Mother,
D saw Aroumé and looked quite pleased and satisfied; he also took away 3 loaves of bread. He shall have to pay a heavy price for that, and I shall not be satisfied if it is less than 3 lacs rupees. If he can give a loan of 99 lacs to the government, surely he can also give to You a good and descent sum.
He went away without giving a single rupee! and I believe he does not intend to give anything —only sweet words, that is all.
My dear Mother, it looks to me as if the disturbance in me has gone. Once more I have regained my normal balance of peace and happiness. I was feeling that my disturbance will pain You much more than any loss of money, and that brought me to my senses very soon.
This is good. Indeed the loss of money is of small importance, but the loss of equipoise is a much more important thing.
All love and blessings to you, my dear child.
20 August 1935
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My dear Mother,
May my sincerity increase and pervade my entire being. That will bring a great consecration and surrender to the Divine, leading to an integral union.
Yes, my dear child, sincerity is the key of the divine doors.
Always with you.
31 August 1935
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My dear Mother,
May the wideness and depth of Thy seat increase in my heart; may it be Thine, Thine integrally.
Yes, I am always seated in your heart, consciously living in you.
1 September 1935
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My dear Mother,
The Ashram had a dish from F on Monday, an extra dish on Wednesday, soup on Thursday and a fine dish of cabbage on Friday. My beloved Mother, for all this may a sense of gratitude arise in us — this is my prayer.
It seems that this night, between 9:30 and 10 o’clock, some people were speaking against G’s bath-room door while she was inside unnoticed. One person was saying something to this effect: how is it possible to work with such bad food? And another one answered: you ought to write to the Mother.
4 September 1935
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My dear Mother,
Yoga in the cave is easy, but yoga in life is altogether a different thing. There must be sincerity to the core and absolute self-giving to the goal.
I do not believe that sadhana in the cave is easy — only there the insincerity remains hidden, while in life and action it is revealed. You can look like a yogi in a cave but in life the humbugging is more difficult, because you have to behave like a yogi.
Always with you, my dear child.
6 September 1935
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My dear Mother,
May the day draw nearer when all the reports of disturbances stop and You are informed only of galloping progress and flights of the being towards the Divine. Blessed will be that day.
It is in a great peace that I am waiting for that day, the peace of the certitude of Victory. You must enter that peace, my dear child, and let nothing affect you. It is only when we are not affected that we can always do the right thing at the right time and in the right way.
Love and blessings to you, my dear child.
6 September 1935
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My dear Mother,
The D. R. workers often have second or third works at different places. They have their main job, and in their free hours they do other things. It should not be otherwise, but it would be better to have a few full-time workers rather than many part-time workers.
People can’t do all day the same work; it is most taxing on the nerves and after some time they get tired, depressed, discouraged, speak of suicide, etc., etc.
Even in ordinary life it has been recognised that for the sake of the work itself, complete change of occupation for a few hours every day in most useful.
Always with you, my dear child.
13 September 1935
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My dear Mother,
We were preparing bread for 3 years or more according to this proportion: 1 kg of wheat for 3 loaves (25 kg for 75 loaves). Since last August we have been using 35 kg for 75 loaves — the difference is 10 kg per day. This difference has always pained me.
As the bread has not risen well recently, the consumption of loaves in the D. R. has increased. It is not that the stomachs of the eaters are asking for more food, it is insincerity and a lack of discrimination on the part of the people eating the food.
The loaves are surely much better than those we used to have before (I am seeing them every day). But I have no objection to that. After all, apart from the milk, the bread is the most substantial food we are giving, and I do not think it would be fair to reduce it. I think the chief reason why people are eating more bread is because the bread is much nicer than it used to be.
I must say that before we took up cattle, we never separated the bran from the wheat — it went into the bread.
It makes the bread a little too heavy to digest. I have said to give this small amount of bran (only 4%) to the milkmen.
My dear Mother, grant a simple sincerity in the entire being, a sincerity which keeps the full light and consciousness and accepts only the Truth.
The greatest enemies of a perfect sincerity are preferences (either mental, vital or physical) and preconceived ideas. It is these obstacles that must be overcome.
I am always with you to lead you to victory.
15 September 1935
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My dear Mother,
I ask for “justice” from You. Here is my appeal!
O Lord, the human mind is too ignorant, too obstinate and obscure. May the Divine Grace be granted to it in order to set all things right.
Yes, it is the Divine Grace that must be prayed for. If justice were to manifest, very few would be those who could stand in front of it!
My love and blessings are always with you.
19 September 1935
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My dear Mother,
At this moment a question comes to me: how is that my head at once gives a money value to everything? Only if the money allows it, do I think of proceeding further!
It is all right. We must avoid as far as possible all wastage.
Always with you, my dear child.
24 September 1935
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My dear Mother,
Give me a very, very quiet head, for it is into a quiet head that the true knowledge and consciousness will descend. Then there will be a true action and a worthy expression of Your true instrument. Beloved Mother, a very, very quiet head.
Yes — it is true, a very, very quiet head is indispensable for a clear understanding and vision and a right action.
My consciousness is always with you to give you a quiet head.
25 September 1935
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My dear Mother,
Today I saw that my body is strong and that it can work; it is good that it does not remain slothful.
My dear Mother, may peace and quietness increase in my physical.
My dear child, I am always with you, and together we will fight the battle and win the victory.
Do not worry about the reactions of people, however unpleasant they may be — the vital is everywhere and in everybody full of impurities and the physical full of unconsciousness. These two imperfections have to be cured, however long it may take, and we have only to work at it patiently and courageously.
Always near you, supporting and guiding you.
27 September 1935
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My dear Mother,
Jealousy prevails in Aroumé. Here I give You a letter from B and one from C. I have answered them both.
Jealousy comes from a narrowness of the mind and a weakness of the heart. It is a great pity that so many are attacked by it. Your answers are all right.
My dear Mother, what a fine instrument the dark forces have found! Jealousy spoils the entire life, the entire sadhana and brings troubles of every kind. Dear Mother, may it get rooted out.
The only answer is a quiet and luminous patience in the manifestation of the truth and in the consecration to the Divine.
28 September 1935
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My dear Mother,
Whatever the circumstances may be, my heart shall always remain turned towards You in all love and consecration and confidence.
Well, surely when unfaithfulness prevails all around it is the time to be truly faithful and to stand untouched and unmoved in the storm.
Love and blessings to you, my dear child.
29 September 1935
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My dear Mother,
Money can always come to the Ashram in showers, provided that the sadhaks are devoted and consecrated, faithful and sincere. If a sadhak says today: “Mother, I want to leave”, and tomorrow: “Mother, I want this and that”, I feel that money cannot pour in. The Ashram has to turn more and more inward in pursuit of the Divine if it wants to manifest the Divine in all its richness.
What you say is perfectly true, but there is also the divine Patience which waits for the obscurity to vanish.
In humbleness, my dear Mother, I am at Your feet, at Your disposal, always for You, an eternal gift.
Yes, my dear child, I know that you are mine, and it is with full trust that I take you with me on the way.
30 September 1935
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My dear Mother,
Wheat-drying finishes on Saturday. The coolies are showing fatigue from carrying the bags of wheat up and down. But there are only two more days of this work.
You must be careful not to overburden them. If they get sick I shall have to bear the consequences.
All love and blessings to you, my dear child.
2 October 1935
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My dear Mother,
Ah, where is the stability? And the work! Where is the work? It is not even half the work that we used to do in this compound.
Equanimity — equanimity. It is the only practical answer to all this confusion which is bound to come to an end one day.
My dear Mother, pride challenges the Divine Grace whereas humble consecration and self-giving call the Divine Grace; then it becomes effective and protects. By becoming humble and giving myself to the Divine I lose nothing. May the shallow ‘I” become a portion of the Divinity.
Yes, humility and sincerity are the best safeguards. Without them each step is a danger, with them the victory is certain.
My dear child, humility and sincerity will take you to the goal.
3 October 1935
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My dear Mother,
It is my earnest wish to have good relations with one and all. Hardly a day has passed in which I have not cried within myself about my disharmonious relation with D. I never meant it to turn out like this.
Do not worry or be impatient. All the disharmonies will disappear, but it must be on the true basis of a settled luminous consciousness leaving no room to the play of the ego.
My love and blessings are always with you.
5 October 1935
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My dear Mother,
I shall not be in a hurry for harmony, but it is not pleasant to remain in conflict, inner or outer, with someone; it brings so many difficulties into the work.
Surely we must always want the peace and the harmony and work for it as much as we can — but for that the best field of action is always inside ourselves.
Love and blessings to my dear child.
6 October 1935
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My dear Mother,
Let the play of the ego disappear completely. In my case, I know very well that there is pride, arrogance, likes and dislikes. There is also a part of me that wants to be big and great — it is ambition.
My dear Mother, may I become a humble doer of Thy Work.
Yes, my dear child, in truth, sincere humility is our safeguard — it is the surest way to the indispensable dissolution of the ego.
Always with you on the way.
6 October 1935
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My dear Mother,
The other day when I wrote to You about saving expenses if there is war in Europe, I meant this:
Milk: one cup instead of three. Not three plantains but one. No washerman at all — we can wash our own clothes. No servants. No pocket money — people may not go to the theatre or cinema or buy all sorts of things for pleasure.
Surely if France or England entered the war we would be obliged to do that. For the moment it is not yet necessary.
9 October 1935
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My dear Mother,
Confidence in the Guru is the key to Victory. Lack of confidence brings complete failure. Confidence, confidence, may an utter confidence in the Divine increase in the Ashram.
Yes, it is so absurd to ask for help and yet to have no trust! On the contrary with confidence everything becomes so easy.
Always with you, my dear child.
12 October 1935
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My dear Mother,
I am quietly happy, yet the fire in me is becoming more and more intense every day. May a deep quietness and Peace remain behind the intensity of the fire.
Yes, the true Agni always burns in deep Peace; it is the fire of an all-conquering will.
Let it grow in you, in deeper equanimity.
Always with you, my dear child.
13 October 1935
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My dear Mother,
May the Divine Patience grow in me. True patience can grow only in the true knowledge and consciousness and in full confidence in the Divine.
If the mind remains more quiet in front of circumstances and happenings the patience will be more easily increased.
All love and blessings to you, my dear child.
15 October 1935
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My dear Mother,
May peace and confidence come into the exterior being, may the mind be filled with quietness and trust in You, in Your words and actions.
It is only love that can understand and get at the secrets of the Divine Working. The mind, the physical mind especially, is incapable of seeing correctly and yet it always wants to judge. It is only a true sincere humility in the mind allowing the psychic to rule the being, that can save human beings from ignorance and obscurity.
Always with you, my dear child.
16 October 1935
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My dear Mother,
In these monsoon rains and winds, the cart goes for food distribution thrice a day. The servants give more service than their due time (9 hours), get drenched three times a day and yet not a murmur from them. I feel a happy relation with them.
Yes, it is very good. The servants may be given a tip after the rain is over. You might give it to them yourself as an encouragement.
Recently F is getting very troubled by what people say about her. Often the idea enters her head: “I am bad, I am unfit”, etc.
Yes, I will tell her not to mind what people say. In fact I do not know why she is attaching so much importance to all that — so long as we are pleased with her, it ought to be sufficient.
18 October 1935
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My dear Mother,
I have always observed that whenever there is some heavy work or extra work to do, somebody or the other falls into a bad depression and it increases the work. The attack of depression comes either directly or through others. I have to remain firm, quiet, unshaken and full of confidence in the Divine.
Yes, when there is an attack it is general and always the blows come on all sides. But the more it strikes the more we must remain calm and undisturbed.
22 October 1935
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My dear Mother,
About the present conflict in the Dining Room. As far as I understand it, the reason is this: the workers want to have freedom of action and they feel suffocated under my pressure.
It is not under your pressure, it is under the pressure of discipline. These people refuse to be disciplined and that is why there is such a confusion.
Forgive me for the wrongs done by me in the D. R. and the Ashram.
I see no wrongs to be forgiven.
26 October 1935
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My dear Mother,
If there were even a few in the Ashram whose physical consciousness could readily receive the Divine Force and allow it to be effective in its working, I feel that a greater part of the illnesses in the Ashram would be pushed aside, and there would be sounder health.
May the body consciousness awaken, give itself completely to the Divine and allow the Divine Force to work out its Will.
Yes, what you say is quite right. It is of the greatest importance that the body consciousness should open to the Divine; that alone can put an end to all these illnesses rising in the Ashram.
Always with you, my dear child.
28 October 1935
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My dear Mother,
Teach me to rely more and more on You.
In the peace and the inner silence you will more and more become conscious of my constant presence.
30 October 1935
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My dear Mother,
The cold in my head is bad now; I took green “pastilles” from G and I may ask him for a few drops of oil in the nose. But this is the last time I am thinking of taking medicine. The next time the body should take up the true attitude and depend only upon the Divine Force.
The power that the body must get is to be aware of the illness at the moment of its coming and to reject it before it has time to settle in the body. But once the illness has caught hold of the body, then we must by one means or another help the body to recover.
Always with you.
31 October 1935
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My dear Mother,
This evening H told me: “The moong dal is not clean. Will you get it cleaned by your granary workers?” I thought: “This is too much for me and there will be no end to it!” Also the people asking for Prasad are increasing and H is actively canvassing them!
All the above is purely from the viewpoint of discipline and organisation. But when I see things from a wider angle, I feel totally different: discipline too is progressive; what is good today may not hold good tomorrow. There will be a change in our outer life as a result of our inner progress and the descent of the consciousness from above.
My dear Mother, both these viewpoints are placed before You, the former arising from the egoistic mind, the latter from a wider mind, humble before Your working.
A harmonious combination of the two attitudes, each one working at its place and time, is the right thing.
J asks me to tell you that she no more wants to go home in the afternoon and she is ready to do the work that is needed in the kitchen. This is the result of a true progress in her consciousness and it has to be encouraged.
All love and blessings to you, my dear child.
1 November 1935
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My dear Mother,
May I know You more and more as You are, and not as I think You are.
Surely, my dear child, you will know me more and more as you become more and more conscious of my presence near you.
4 November 1935
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My dear Mother,
K informs me that she gets fever now and then, and it troubles her much. The only thing that I feel about all our fevers is this: let us turn ourselves to our Beloved, the Divine. So long as we have not turned ourselves fully, we shall have to endure the consequences patiently.
Surely all these troubles come from a resistance somewhere, something that opposes the work of transformation.
5 November 1935
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Beloved of my heart,
May I get more peace and quietness under all circumstances and push forward vigilantly and patiently.
Yes, my dear child, let the peace settle more and more in you, especially in your physical mind and rely more and more on my love and blessings.
12 November 1935
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My dear Mother,
A need for a complete quietness, even in my exterior consciousness, has arisen now. Inside there is always a force, but to make it more effective in its manifestation a complete quietness in all the being is the immediate need.
Yes, quietness, quietness, a calm and concentrated strength, so quiet that nothing can shake it —this is the indispensable basis for the integral realisation.
With love and blessings always.
7 December 1935
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fascinating
Very Enlightening .