The Mother’s Vision (Selections from Questions and Answers)
Book Specification
| Item Code: | NAK590 |
| Author: | The Mother |
| Publisher: | Sri Aurobindo Ashram, Pondicherry |
| Language: | English |
| Edition: | 2013 |
| ISBN: | 9788170586876 |
| Pages: | 642 |
| Cover: | Paperback |
| Other Details | 8.5 inch x 5.5 inch |
| Weight | 800 gm |
Book Description
About the Book
This book contains a selection of the Mother's conversations during the periods 1929-31 and 1950-58. Speaking to members of the Sri Aurobindo Ashram and students of its school, she drew upon her unique occult, spiritual and practical experience to answer their questions. The topics range from the spiritually elevated and philosophically complex to the practical and mundane. Taken as a whole, the conversations offer an uplifting vision of human existence. In the Mother's view, we are destined to outgrow our limited ego-centric personalities, discover our true selves, and ultimately create a divine life on earth.
The compilation covers a broad range of subjects in considerable depth, taking up many issues that are rarely treated elsewhere. Yet the general tone of the conversations is informal and intimate. There are many long passages in which the Mother brings in personal anecdotes, side stories and touches of humour. As she speaks, her personality comes out and the reader becomes, as it were, a member of the class, listening as she instructs and guides those gathered before her.
Publisher's Note
This book contains a selection of the Mother's conversations during the years 1929-31 and 1950-58. Covering a wide range of subjects in considerable depth, they give us a glimpse of her vision of existence. It is an inspiring vision of the future evolution of humanity and the promise of a divine life on earth.
The conversations belong to two distinct groups. During the first period, from 1929 to 1931, the Mother spoke informally with a small group of Ashramites who met her every week, answering questions about life and Yoga. During the second, from 1950 to 1958, she spoke to a larger audience, the Ashramites and students who attended her evening classes at the Ashram playground. The Mother often began by reading out to the class a passage from a work by Sri Aurobindo or herself. She then commented on the passage or invited questions on it. The conversations of 1929-31 were spoken in English; those of the 1950s were spoken in French and appear here in English translation.
The compilation was made by Georges Van Vrekhem. Details about the book are given in the Note on the Texts. There is also a Glossary for those who are not familiar with the terms used by Sri Aurobindo and the Mother.
Contents
| 1 | The Divine and His Creation | |
| God, the Divine, the Supreme | 1 | |
| The Oneness of Everything | 6 | |
| The Creation or Manifestation | 13 | |
| The Origin of the World | 25 | |
| The Why of Things | 31 | |
| The Experience of the Divine | 41 | |
| The Divine Mother | 49 | |
| 2 | The Universe | |
| The Unfolding of the Universe | 55 | |
| The Unity of the Universe | 65 | |
| The Earth and the Universe | 73 | |
| 3 | The Human Species in Evolution | |
| Progression of Forms | 81 | |
| The Human Problem | 88 | |
| The Collaboration of Nature | 94 | |
| A Transitional Species | 97 | |
| 4 | Plants and Animals | |
| Trees and Flowers | 101 | |
| Insects and Animals | 103 | |
| Animals and Men | 107 | |
| 5 | The Gradations of Existence and Their Expression in the Human Being | |
| The Origin of Individuality | 117 | |
| The Subconscient and the Subliminal | 120 | |
| Matter and the Body | 125 | |
| The Vital (The Life Force) | 132 | |
| The Mental | 136 | |
| Imagination | 143 | |
| Reason, Inspiration, Intuition | 150 | |
| The Overmind | 162 | |
| 6 | The Psychic Being or Soul | |
| What Is the Psychic Being? | 165 | |
| Progress and the Psychic Being | 176 | |
| The Delight of Being | 182 | |
| Love | 184 | |
| 7 | The Hostile Forces | |
| The Hostile or Adverse Forces | 191 | |
| Possession by Hostile Beings | 194 | |
| Vital Incarnations | 198 | |
| The Four Great Asuras | 201 | |
| Hostile Possession and the Psychic Being | 206 | |
| Resisting Hostile Forces | 209 | |
| 8 | Illness and Death | |
| Illness Is a Disequilibrium | 213 | |
| Illness Comes from Outside | 214 | |
| Microbes and Illness | 218 | |
| Causes of Illness | 220 | |
| Make a Beautiful Thing of Death | 222 | |
| The Domain of Death | 226 | |
| Heaven and Hell | 231 | |
| 9 | Reincarnation or Rebirth | |
| The Process of Rebirth | 239 | |
| Memory of Past Lives | 244 | |
| Rebirth and Psychic Development | 245 | |
| Emanations of Evolved Beings | 249 | |
| The Incarnation of Evolved Souls | 253 | |
| Families of Souls | 257 | |
| 10 | Free Will, Determinism, Karma, Grace | |
| Freedom and Fatality | 265 | |
| The Journey of the Supreme | 274 | |
| The Intervention of the Grace | 276 | |
| The Determinism of Death | 279 | |
| "The Best Will Happen" | 281 | |
| 11 | Religion and Spirituality | |
| The Necessity of Religion | 285 | |
| Religion and Spiritual Life | 287 | |
| Mental Knowledge and Divine Truth | 292 | |
| Spirituality and Active Life | 297 | |
| Spiritual Life and Morality | 301 | |
| Religion and Spiritual Experience | 303 | |
| 12 | Science and Materialism | |
| Understanding the World | 309 | |
| Knowledge by Identification | 317 | |
| Materialism and Spiritual Life | 318 | |
| Miracles | 321 | |
| "Chance" | 325 | |
| 13 | Occultism | 327 |
| The Capacity for Occultism | 333 | |
| The Occult World | 337 | |
| The Practice of Magic | 342 | |
| The Stone-Throwing Incident | 346 | |
| Twelve Senses | 347 | |
| Indications from Books | 349 | |
| A Flu Epidemic in Japan | ||
| 14 | Day-to-Day Life | |
| Make Use of Reason | 353 | |
| Attraction and Repulsion | 355 | |
| No Two Things Are Identical | 357 | |
| Meat-Eating and Fasting | 359 | |
| The Need for Diversity | 363 | |
| Money | 364 | |
| Sleep and Dreams | 371 | |
| 15 | Art | 385 |
| Art and Yoga | 388 | |
| Modern Art | 398 | |
| Music | 405 | |
| 16 | Education | |
| Parents and Their Children | 405 | |
| The Art of Living | 411 | |
| Distinguishing Good and Evil | 412 | |
| Learning to Know Oneself | 417 | |
| A Child's Dreams | 424 | |
| 17 | Yoga and Meditation | |
| Why Yoga? | 431 | |
| Yoga and Life | 441 | |
| Difficulties and Progress | 449 | |
| Experiences and Visions | 455 | |
| The Right Attitude | 460 | |
| The Ego | 467 | |
| Organise Your Being | 472 | |
| Purity, Aspiration, Humility | 479 | |
| The Creative Word | 482 | |
| Asceticism | 483 | |
| Meditation | 485 | |
| 18 | The Integral Yoga | |
| An Integral Transformation | 493 | |
| The Individual and the Collectivity | 496 | |
| The Spiritual Hierarchy | 504 | |
| Realisation of the Psychic Being | 510 | |
| A Reversal of Consciousness | 514 | |
| Aspiration | 520 | |
| Surrender | 528 | |
| Sincerity | 533 | |
| Transformation of the Body | 541 | |
| 19 | The Supramental | |
| Towards the Supramental | 551 | |
| The Supramental Manifestation upon Earth | 571 | |
| A New World Is Born | 576 | |
| The Evolution of Humanity | 582 | |
| The Supramental Boat | 589 | |
| 20 | The Present Situation | |
| The Progress of Humanity | 595 | |
| The Possibility of Catastrophe | 597 | |
| The Possibility of Perfection | 605 | |
| Life-Sketch of the Mother | 611 | |
| Life-Sketch of Sri Aurobindo | 613 | |
| Note on the Texts | 615 | |
| Glossary | 621 |
