The Mother

Agenda

Volume 10

September 17, 1969

I've written something for Auroville....

“The earth needs a place where people can live sheltered from all national rivalries, all social conventions, all contradictory moralities and antagonistic religions. A place where, freed from all those slaveries of the past, human beings will be able to wholly dedicate themselves to the discovery and practice of the Divine Consciousness that wants to manifest.

“Auroville wants to be that place, and offers itself to all those who aspire to live tomorrow's truth.”

Now things are in the habit of coming like this (Mother brings down her two arms), and they keep pestering me until I've written! Once I write, it's over.

Then the President¹ went there [to Auroville], in the afternoon, at the time of leaving, he said, “It is a work of God...” He felt something.

We'll see. Maybe we'll get somewhere – “maybe” surely.

*
*   *

I saw P.L. before he left, he looked a bit... Did he tell you anything?

I saw him at length and told him what you said. He looked quite reassured and appeased. I told him you wanted him to stay quiet, not to mix with those refractory and other groups, to stay quiet and not to draw “their” attention. He looked quite reassured.

He was very concentrated, like someone who feels he is leaving for something important.

But I looked: he has all his hair! Aren't they tonsured anymore?

I don't know... I think it's falling into disuse.

He even has lots of hair! (Mother laughs)

Ah, I misled you. You asked me a question (twice, in fact) whether the Pope had to be elected from among cardinals. But in fact, there is no law saying that the Pope must necessarily be elected from among cardinals.

Ah!

He's elected by the cardinals, but not necessarily from among themselves, there's no such law: they may choose an outsider In fact, in the thirteenth century, a well-known Pope, Celestine V, was elected from among mendicant monks.

Ooh!...

And five months after he was nominated, he abdicated – causing a scandal unique in the history of the Church-and his successor had him imprisoned straight away. Later on, by the way, he was canonized .... But in actual fact, since then the cardinals have always elected the Pope from among themselves.

They're too scared!

But there's no law. They can even elect a layman, and in that case, rapidly give him priesthood, then nominate him bishop, archbishop, and so on ....

But they aren't free at all.

Not at all, they're in a prison. The example of Celestine V is quite symbolic. But P.L. told me one thing (which struck him very much, besides): the first act of this Pope, when he was nominated, was to go and bow before the grave of Celestine V, the only Pope who abdicated.

Well, well!...

I saw a photo of the Pope doing a full pranam [prostration] on the Mount of Olives, at a place where Christ stood ....

But I told you that I met him twice: once before his nomination and once after. We spoke, and those conversations were really interesting. The second time, before leaving, he asked me, “What will you tell your disciples?” (I told you that.) Which shows he...

I remember, I was struck by my own answer. I told him, “I will say that we were in communion in our same love for the Supreme.”²

Strange... We'll see.

P.L. tells me he is a very anxious man: he spends sleepless nights cudgeling his brains; he is impelled to carry out reforms, then at the last minute he'll go back on his decision. Two or three times he made a decision to take a step forward, and every time he took a step backward. In fact, he is surrounded, imprisoned by very powerful people. He must be in torment, this man.

We'll see.

*
*   *

What do you bring?

There's something that's not at all part of my role here near you, but I think it's urgent and I should tell you about it. It's about G.

Ah!

Yes, he is struggling with death. He came to see me and explained everything. For two years he's been fighting against heart attacks. He has never told anyone about it, he has immense trust in the Grace. He told me, “I've had wonderful experiences in which I called Mother, Mother came, and in a moment the danger was repulsed.” (That recurred several times.) He told me, for instance, that he read the February Bulletin a hundred times over and found in it an immense help, precisely where you speak of the descending Presence that makes everything disappear as if it were unreal. But anyway, he has reached a point where his body has become very weak. So he's written a letter to you:

(extracts from the letter in English)

“Since about two years my health is not normal. Not only in abnormal condition but it is so serious that struggle is going between life and death. It began with a little pain in chest and an uneasiness in the heart. After some time it slowly affected the whole body so much that many a time I feel as it will collapse just now. At such moments I only call Mother and Her Grace and as soon as I do it everything becomes all right and quite normal. I never consulted any doctor or tried any treatment. Even I did not let the people around me ever know about it, as I believe, from my childhood, that such attacks should not be brought in words .... Sometimes, things happened very inexplicable, as more than two times I felt some force entering in my body to bring its end at once. But as I was always ready to face it with the call for the Grace every time it was forced to leave me enveloping with Grace. One night (mostly attacks come at night) I saw a woman aged forty or forty-five with dreadful face declaring, ‘I am Death and have come to take you. Now you cannot escape.’ But I do not know how it happened that I got up and sat in my bed, challenging her with the Call of Mother and Her Grace. On this, the woman laughed making her face at me and to my surprise I heard her laugh with my physical ears and saw her with my physical eyes. But Mother, she disappeared in no time as soon as Grace's presence was there and I found myself again in full strength, surrounded with Grace and Grace only. In this struggle I also have the experience of my real ‘I’ in the heart of the Mother with infinite strength. I found Mother's Presence – no, Mother Herself – hours and hours with me (behind or front). Also I saw Mother in Her quite young body, so much different that for a moment I could not recognize Mother but Mother took me in Her Lap with immense Love......

(after a long silence)

This woman, did he see her with open or closed eyes?

With wide open eyes.

Then it's in the subtle physical.

Did she look like someone he knows?

I don't know.

(Mother goes into a long contemplation)

I'll see .... We'll try .... In a few days, ask him to come and see you to tell you how he feels.

¹ On the 14” morning, India's President Giri met Mother. On that occasion, Mother told him, “Let us all work for the greatness of India.”

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² See Agenda V of December 2, 1964.

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