The Mother was back in India, back in Pondicherry , that small town in the South-East where Sri Aurobindo had been pursuing his integral yoga-path since 1910. Her return was now final and she was never again to leave India, the country of her choice. The Mother had foreseen this development in a significant vision which Sri Aurobindo once related to a disciple: "The Mother (Mirra), Richard and I were going somewhere. We saw Richard going down to a place from which rising was impossible, Then we found ourselves sitting in a carriage the driver of which was taking it up and down a hill a number of times, At last he stopped on the highest peak. Its significance was quite clear to us."The Mother's arrival in Sri Aurobindo's house entailed several changes in the household. His disciples had so far been living rather freely and without constraints. Sri Aurobindo did not interfere much with what they were doing, since he was immersed in his own sadhana. Properly speaking, he was not yet playing the role of a guru and therefore at this stage we can only speak with reservation of'disciples'. The Mother became part of this community now and the whole household was newly arranged by her. Books were nicely stacked in cupboards and everything found its right place. At the same time collective meditations were begun in which Sri Aurobindo, the Mother, the members of his group as well as visitors took part. All these changes and the new discipline made some disciples revolt and grumble, but the Mother was, in course of time, more and more accepted and recognized. Sri Aurobindo left to her increasingly the charge of the household and he also told seekers who turned to him for guidance that he would help them 'through Mirra'. Her devotion and respect for him gradually brought about a change in the relations between Sri Aurobindo and his disciples. Nolini Kanta Gupta, who had known Sri Aurobindo even from the time of his political activities and was later to become the Secretary of the Ashram, writes with reference to these early times, "the Mother taught by her manner and speech, and showed us in actual practice what was the meaning of disciple and master. .. It was the Mother who opened our eyes. "
It was at this moment that the foundation of the Ashram was laid, even though it was not consciously planned or discussed. Things took their own course and there was an organic development. It is characteristic of the Mother that even at this stage she already included in these developments members of the animal and plant world. A well-kept garden took shape in the courtyard, and some cats which received the Mother's special attention found their way into the small community.
In 1926 already three or four women belonged to the group and they meditated regularly with the Mother. There was now an increasing number of disciples who approached her to seek her guidance. It was obvious that Sri Aurobindo was more and more withdrawing, leaving to the Mother not only the outer organisation, but also the responsibility for the inner sadhana of the disciples. Some time in these months it also happened that he did not call her any more 'Mirra', but 'Mother'. Even earlier the disciples had noticed that he often uttered the name 'Mirra' with a slight hesitation and was stopping, as it were, with the M. Then finally the great moment arrived when the predestined name came over his lips.
Finally came the day of the great event, 24 November 1926. It was in the late afternoon that the Mother had all the disciples called for a special gathering. Some were busy with their work and others were walking at the beach. At about 6 o'clock all had gathered on the verandah in front of Sri Aurobindo's room. On the wall behind Sri Aurobindo's chair there was a black silk curtain showing three Chinese dragon: ,The tail of each dragon reached up to the mouth of the other . There was an old prophecy in China that Truth would manifest on earth when the three dragons would meet: they symbolise the regions of earth, mind and sky. Whilst there was a deep silence, the disciples felt the pressure in the atmosphere. Some saw a flood of Light rushing down from above. Then Sri Aurobindo and the Mother came and a meditation was held. Thereafter the two avatars blessed their disciples, and again there was a short meditation. They all felt distinctly that something special had happened, the atmosphere was so much charged with vibrations of Light. When Sri Aurobindo and the Mother withdrew, Datta spoke in a moment of inspiration, "The Lord has descended into the physical today. " Later on, Sri Aurobindo explained the significance of this descent: "The 24th November 1926 was the descent of Krishna into the physical. Krishna is not the supramental Light. The descent of Krishna would mean the descent of the Overmind Godhead preparing, though not itself actually, the descent of Supermind and Ananda. Krishna is the Ananda- maya; he supports the evolution through the Overmind leading it towards his Ananda."
Sri Aurobindo also made a preliminary draft of his magnum opus Savitri. Eventually it “became a poetic chronicle of his yoga.” We have similarly the record of his later Yogic realisations in his poetic compositions of the 30s. But what stands out as the double autobiography, his and the Mother’s spiritual realisations in the transformative Yoga of the earth-consciousness, is his supreme creation—in the Mother’s phrase, supreme revelation—Savitri. That indeed marks Divya Yoga of the Supreme himself.
Sri Aurobindo left his body on 5 December 1950, Tuesday at 1.26 a.m. In crimson-gold splendour it lay there for 111 hours before it was put in the Samadhi. The Mother’s prayer expresses the gratitude for all that he had done in triumphantly accomplishing the divine task. “To Thee who hast been the material envelope of our Master, to Thee our infinite gratitude. Before Thee who hast done so much for us, who hast worked, struggled, hoped, endured so much, before Thee who hast willed all, attempted all, prepared, achieved all for us, before Thee we bow down and implore that we may never forget, even for a moment, all we owe to Thee.” About the significance of this event the Mother said later: “He was not compelled to leave his body, he chose to do so for reasons so sublime that they are beyond” our grasp.As soon as Sri Aurobindo withdrew from his body the Mind of Light as the leader of the intermediate race, prior to the arrival of the gnostic being, got realised in the Mother. It was only by “consciously experiencing and transforming death” that the divine pace could be hastened in the earth consciousness. It was an occult imperative, an aspect of yogic action itself.
Chronology Of Mother's Life :
http://www.searchforlight.org/Srinivas/ChronologyOfMother.html
(to be continued)
