The Mother

The Physical Transformation

Sri Aurobindo said that in the Mother he found surrender to the Divine down to physical body itself, the cells of the body (not merely the mind and emotions), the likes of which could not be found in any human being.

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In 1950 he felt it was time to leave his physical body so he could work at the non-physical level, where he believed he could become more effective (Karmayogi no date). The Mother related that Sri Aurobindo gathered in his body a great amount of supramental force and as soon as he left his body. She was standing beside him as he lay on his bed, "and in a way altogether concrete -- concrete with such a strong sensation as to make one think that it could be seen -- all this supramental force which was in him passed from his body into mine" (Volume 11, Notes on the Way, p. 328 20 December 1972).

Related Topics:
1950 - 20 December - 1972

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After Sri Aurobindo's passing The Mother fully took up in earnest her promise to Sri Aurobindo to attempt the physical transformation. On 29 February 1956 ("Golden Day") she announced an experience in which she had a vast cosmic golden form and broke open the golden door that separated the Universe from the Divine, allowing the Supramental force to stream down to Earth in an uninterrupted flow (Agenda vol.1 p.69). She later (24 April) announced "The manifestation of the Supremanetal upon earth is no more a promise but a living fact" (Agenda vol.1 p.75).

Related Topics:
29 February - 1956 - 24 April

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From 1960 till her passing in 1973 The Mother had a number of near weekly meetings with one of her closest disciples, Satprem. There she discussed her progress in her physical transformation, world events and her effect on world events, the new workings of the supramental consciousness in the world, her earlier life's experiences including her spiritual experiences, the changes and spiritualisation in the functioning of her physical body, her visions of the new race, and many other topics. These conversations were kept and were published in French and English in the 13-volume set known as The Agenda.

Related Topics:
1960 - 1973 - Satprem - The Agenda

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In 1961 a friend of John F. Kennedy took interest in The Mother and examined in depth the philosophy and yoga of Sri Aurobindo. He met The Mother and asked her what were the external signs by which one could discern the attainment of the Supramental consciousness in a person. The Mother explained to him the two conditions that would reveal the attainment of the Supramental consciousness and told him that of the three, equality, was the most significant (Mother's Agenda vol.2 pp.96-98). The visitor arranged for Kennedy to visit The Mother, but it could not take place.

Related Topics:
1961 - John F. Kennedy

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Even after 1962, when a serious health crisis caused her to withdrew from the crush of public meetings with devottees, the Mother continue to give public Darshans four times a year, at which a few thousand devotees gathered and received her Grace.

Related Topics:
1962 - Darshan

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At various points in the 1960s and 1970s she mentioned that the cells of her body were becoming more conscious. This cellular transformation, that is, a "mind of the cells", was perhaps the key to the physical transformation. She would say that the cells of her body were learning to organize themselves, to a have a kind of mind of their own.

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She often referred to death as a mere state of mind, a state of mind of the cells that the cells accepted. If they could change their perspective, if they did not accept death as an inevitability, this could help the cells maintain their form without their deteriorating.

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She professed that one of the keys to physical transformation was overcoming the effect of the "physical mind" and the subconscious (subconscient). She said that this part of the nature is defeatist, grumbling, filled with inertia, where illness gets reinforced, and perhaps the great physical barrier to the physical transformation. Claiming that this was one of the great impediments to the emergence of the new species, she tried to bring in the higher consciousness into this part of her being (Karmayogi no date).

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In 1962, at the age of 84, she was forced by an illness to withdraw from close physical contact with disciples (Agenda vol.3), although she would still give darshan four times a year. But she continued her inner work, concerning the transformation of the physical and cellular consciousness (Collected Works, vol. 11; Satprem 1982).

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In later years she met with other renowned individuals, including the king of Nepal. She had a significant meeting with the Dalai Lama who had recently escaped from Chinese occupation of Tibet. She found him to be a man of great compassion. He asked the Mother if Tibet would one day be freed of Chinese rule. She affirmed it would one day happen (Karmayogi no date).

Related Topics:
Nepal - Dalai Lama - Tibet

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At the same time as the inner transformation she working on the outer. In 1956 she established the Sri Aurobindo Ashram, Delhi Branch together with Surendranath Jauhar and The Mother's International School. In 1967 plans for were made and some land acquired to found a universal city of spiritual seekers in Gujarat, which she named Ompuri. This project, like earlier plans of 1957, did not go any further. But in 1968, the Mother, working with architect Roger Anger, began Auroville as a 'more external extension' of the Sri Aurobindo Ashram (Mirapuri - Biography).

Related Topics:
Gujarat - 1957 - 1968 - Roger Anger

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From 1970 until 1973 Michel Montecrossa with the Mother's help worked on the foundation of Mirapuri which was later established in Italy and Germany (Mirapuri - Biography).

Related Topics:
Michel Montecrossa - Mirapuri

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The Mother left her body on 17 November 1973; three days later her body was placed in the Samadhi, the vault in the courtyard of the Ashram where Sri Aurobindo's body was placed in 1950 (Mother on Herself - Chronology p.83).

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