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  • Inspirations from Sri Aurobindo
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    • The Mother with Letters on The Mother
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    • Prayers and MeditationsA record of the Mother’s early spiritual life, from her diaries. Most entries are from 1912 to 1917
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    • Questions and Answers 1953Conversations based on the Mother’s conversations of 1929.
    • Questions and Answers 1950-1951Conversations based on Sri Aurobindo’s book The Mother, the Mother’s essays on education and her conversations
    • Questions and Answers 1954Conversations based on the Mother’s essays on education and three small books by Sri Aurobindo: Elements of Yoga, Bases of Yoga and The Mother.
    • Questions and Answers 1955Conversations based on three works by Sri Aurobindo: Bases of Yoga, Lights on Yoga and The Synthesis of Yoga.
    • Questions and Answers 1957-1958Conversations based on three works by Sri Aurobindo: Thoughts and Glimpses, The Supramental Manifestation upon Earth and The Life Divine.
    • Some Answers from The MotherCorrespondence with fourteen sadhaks and students
    • Words of The Mother Vol. IShort written statements on Sri Aurobindo, herself, the Sri Aurobindo Ashram, Auroville, India and nations other than India; and a few conversations.
    • Words of The Mother Vol. IIIShort written statements on various aspects of spiritual life; and thirty conversations.
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Yoga and personal satisfaction

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  • Yoga and personal satisfaction
The Mother of Sri Aurobindo Ashram
Things to be cherished and defended
01/17/2018
The Mother in her room
Meditation for perceiving the deep Truth
01/18/2018
Published by The Mother on 01/18/2018
Categories
  • Questions and Answers 1953
Tags
  • certitude of being happy
  • egoism
  • personal satisfaction
  • Yoga
Sri Aurobindo

You may open millions of hospitals, that will not prevent people getting ill. On the contrary, they will have every facility and encouragement to fall ill. We are steeped in ideas of this kind.

This puts your conscience at rest: “I have come to the world, I must help others.” One tells oneself: “How disinterested I am! I am going to help humanity.” All this is nothing but egoism.

In fact, the first human being that concerns you is yourself.

You want to diminish suffering, but unless you can change the capacity of suffering into a certitude of being happy, the world will not change. It will always be the same, we turn in a circle—one civilisation follows another, one catastrophe another; but the thing does not change, for there is something missing, something not there, that is the consciousness. That’s all.

At least, that’s my opinion. I am giving it to you for what it is worth. If you want to build hospitals, schools, you may do so; if that makes you happy, so much the better for you. It has not much importance. When I saw the film Monsieur Vincent, I was very interested. He found out that when he fed ten poor men, a thousand came along. That was what Colbert told him: “It seems you create them, your poor ones, by feeding them!” And it is not altogether false. However! If it is your destiny to found schools and give instruction, to care for the sick, to open hospitals, it is good, do it. But you must not take that very seriously. It is something grandiose you are doing for your own pleasure. Say: “I am doing it because it gives me pleasure.”

But do not speak of yoga. It is not yoga you are doing. You believe you are doing something great, that’s all, and it is for your personal satisfaction.

Ref: Questions and Answers 1953

 

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