6. The Mother and The Ashram

The Mother joined Sri Aurobindo in the hope she could work for divinisation of life on earth. Sri Aurobindo Ashram was founded by her in 1926 for this purpose. The occasion for founding the Ashram was the retirement of Sri Aurobindo on November 24, 1926, when his yoga moved into the final stages of realisation.

 The aim of Integral Yoga is not moksha, release of the soul from the body, but the conversion of human life into a Life Divine. When She founded the Ashram, devotees and disciples began to gather around Her. Though She threw the door of the Ashram open to everyone, irrespective of position, creed, religion, sex, or nationality, She made a very careful selection in matters of admission. Decades later She disclosed that everyone in the Ashram had been with her and Sri Aurobindo in their previous births, working for the same ideal. She indicated that Sri Aurobindo had been Napoleon and Leonardo da Vinci in previous births and was Krishna, too. Among the disciples She once said there were people who were rishis and emperors in their previous births. She described Sri Aurobindo Ashram as the cradle of the new civilisation composed of the new race of supermen. It was an experiment to evolve the Superman from humanity, and for this purpose man had to conquer his human nature. The civilised man conquers his behaviour while his inner feelings remain the same. The cultured man changes his inner feelings and character, too. But even in him his consciousness remains the same as the animals from which he evolved. Especially his subconscious is the untamed brute. To convert human life into a divine life, it is not enough to change the behaviour or character. It is also essential to change this basic animal consciousness into a higher consciousness. This, She calls transformation. It is not given to man to bring about this change. Only the Divine can do this miracle. All that is asked of man is a total surrender of all that he is.

 Mother once said that until the number in the Ashram grew beyond 150, she guided and controlled every inner and outer movement of each sadhak. In other words, She herself took charge of their sadhana and guided them. It is said that a rishi or a yogi could bless, at a time, one person seeking his grace. The greatest known rishi is said to be capable of blessing seven persons at a time. In her public Darshans Mother used to emanate the vibrations of her Grace, meant individually for everyone, to all the three thousand devotees gathered. That is why no one, not even her permanent attendants, would miss this public Darshan.

 She said she held herself responsible for everyone She had seen even for a minute. She is the Mother, not only to human beings but to all life on earth. Trees in her garden used to complain to her, if they were not watered. Animals under her care have always sent their silent messages to her. The sea god himself listened to her and obeyed her commands. She is the Mother of all life on earth, and she showered her love and blessings and Grace on all. She does the sadhana in all, too. She loved India and said India would be the Guru of the world. When the French settlements merged with India, She sought Indian citizenship and secured it. She felt France and India have a common destiny. The ideal of the Ashram was extended in founding Auroville, where the yogic experiment was extended to a wider cross-section of people.

 The whole world is her Ashram, as she sought to kindle the light in the heart of every living being. On the evening of November 17, 1973, a sadhak saw a huge light breaking into a million sparks and shooting to all sides of the earth. Finally each spark lodged itself in the heart of a person. He couldn't understand the meaning. Next morning he heard from All India Radio that Mother had attained Mahasamadhi. She loved all of humanity and lives in its heart.