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At the Feet of The Mother

Meditations by Anilbaran

The Mother made this selection from Anilbaran’s prayers offered to her. She termed the collection a “Spiritual Dictionary”. They were published as part of the book “Songs from the Soul” (Pondicherry, 1939, reprinted in 1946 and 1966).

The following quotation from “The Mother” by Sri Aurobindo was chosen by Anilbaran to open the book:

“Follow your soul and not your mind, your soul that answers to the Truth, not your mind that leaps at appearances; trust the Divine Power and she will free the godlike elements in you and shape all into an expression of Divine Nature.”

As long as we keep up a sort of compromise with our old self and our old life, we raise a great obstacle to the working of the higher force in us. Currents and influences constantly enter into us from the life of the race, which tend to keep us bound to the average level of humanity.
Subtle are the ways in which our nature plays false with us [...] We pretend to be what we are not; we really are what we pretend not to be. We know things to be wrong, yet somehow justify them to ourselves; we know things to be right, yet persuade ourselves against them.
When we feel disturbed by the opinions of others, to that extent our surrender is incomplete, and our dependence on the divine will imperfect. Those who have completely dedicated themselves will seek only the satisfaction of the Divine Mother, and disregard what the whole world may have to say of them.
Remove the clouds from me, Mother, for good; let me see Thee by the side of Thy Divine Beloved for ever within my heart; let me see and recognise and share in Thy play of love in every object, in every event in the world, so that the glorious vision may last for ever...
How long shall I allow my temple to be defiled by those forces of darkness and falsehood? At my present rate of progress, I shall never be able to rid me of their evil influence completely. With my unaided strength, I shall never be able to conquer them finally. Come then, Mother, with Thy mighty violence smashing all obstacles in me, snapping all the chords of desire and attachment
... by real surrender we do not cease to be individuals, but become subtly identified with the Supreme Divine [...] We become one with the divine Mother, yet perfectly our own selves. This is the supreme mystery of existence.
Every individual is an infinity in himself, a concealed godhead, an eternal portion of the supreme Divine. Every jiva represents a particular phase, a particular mode of the cosmic play, and in and through every one the divine Mother is unfolding the infinite universe
“Descend into me, Mother, in all Thy divine glory; seize my mind and fill it with Thy light; seize my will and make it an instrument of Thy work; seize my whole being and make it a perfect vehicle of the great joy of divine love.”
Light is there all around us; we live, move and have our being in light. But our mechanical thoughts and notions hide the light from us; our doubts and misgivings prevent us from accepting the truth when it comes. Thus, we pass our life in darkness and ignorance.
The source of all true strength is the self; our body and mind are only channels for the manifestation of the inner force; yet we rely on our bodily and mental efforts for our work and thus waste our life in vain and fruitless labour.