Quotations of The Mother

Quotations of Mother of Aurobindo Ashram

Compiled by Jayaram V

Sri Aurobindo declared the Mother as the divine incarnation of Shakti, the Mother Goddess. He said that if one aspired to progress on the path of Integral Yoga it was essential to surrender to her unconditionally and let her do the transformation from within so that the mind and the heart would open to the descent of the higher consciousness. The Mother played a significant role in the development of the Aurobindo Ashram at Pondicherry. She regularly addressed the community of followers who joined the Ashram on various aspects of spiritual transformation. The Mother and Sri Aurobindo also played an important role in shaping my spiritual beliefs in my earlier days. I consider them my first spiritual teachers. Although I never met them in person, their writings drew me to spirituality and increased my interest in spiritual subjects. Their writings and the descriptions of their mystic experiences in consciousness convinced me that evolution was not confined to mere body but to the entire personality including the deepest and subtlest parts of consciousness, and it was possible for humans to transcend the limitations and enter into higher realms of consciousness. After reading their works I never doubted the possibility of spiritual evolution and inner transformation. I still believe the Mother guides me in my spiritual work and evolution. Following are some of the quotations gathered from her various writings and speeches. Jayaram V


"Do not give way, hold tight. It is when everything seems lost that all is saved."

All sincere prayers are granted. Every call is answered.

The whole of our life should be a prayer offered to the Divine.

Live only for the Divine. Work only for the Divine. Adore only the Divine.

The whole creation speaks of the Divine to him who knows how to listen in his heart.

Grant, O Lord, may my heart be before Thee like a pure crystal, so that all of it may reflect Thee.

We have every one of us a role to fulfill, a work to do, a place which we alone can occupy.

Let us keep flaming in our heart the fire of progress.

Beauty you are my way to the Divine.

Our life should be governed by the love for the Truth and the thirst for Light.

Let all circumstances, all happenings in life be occasions, constantly renewed for learning more and ever more.

Let nothing short of Perfection be your ideal in work and you are sure to become a true instrument of the Divine.

The flame of the aspiration must be so straight and so ardent that no obstacle can dissolve it.

What people think, do or say is of little importance. The only thing that counts is your relation with the Divine.

Lord, how I would be before Thee always like a page perfectly blank, so that Thy will may be inscribed in me without any difficulty or mixture.

Thou art the marvelous magician, he who transfigures every thing, makes beauty emerge out of ugliness, light out of darkness, clear water out of mud, knowledge out of ignorance and kindness out of egoism.

In sincerity is the certitude of victory. Sincerity! Sincerity! How sweet is the purity of thy presence?

If you try to hide something from the Divine you are sure to fall on your nose, plouff! like that.

An aimless life is always a miserable life.

Take Truth for you force; take Truth for your refuge.

Be grateful for all ordeals they are the shortest way to the Divine.

It is only when we are not disturbed that we can always do the right thing at the right time in the right way.

Peace in the storm, calm in the effort, Joy in the surrender, a luminous Faith, and you will become aware of the Lord's constant Presence.

Higher always higher! Let us never be satisfied with what is accomplished.

'O my sweet Lord, teach me to be Thy instrument of love."

Rise above the falsehood live in the pure Light of your soul, and you will be close, very close, to the Lord.

We must march on with the quiet certitude that what has to be done will be done.

Whatever is the difficulty if we keep truly quiet the solution will come.

Do not give way, hold tight. It is when everything seems lost that all is saved.

A smile acts upon the difficulties as the sun upon the clouds- it disperses them.

You should always do what you say, but it is not always wise to say all that you do.

A day passed without accomplishing a good action is a day without soul.

If you can always smile at life, life will always smile at you.

A perfect servant of Truth should abstain even from the slightest inexactitude, exaggeration or deformation.

The world is deafened with useless words.

We must watch over our thoughts. A bad thought is the most dangerous of thieves.

The thoughts of the Divine are like white doves of peace and sweetness.

This is purity, to accept no other influence but only the influence of the Divine.

Catch hold of a peace deep within and push it into the cells of the body. With the peace will come back the health.

The body should reject illness as energetically as in the mind we reject falsehood.

Always do what you know to be the best even if it is the most difficult thing to do.

Upon this world of illusion, this somber nightmare, the Divine has bestowed His sublime Reality, and each atom of matter contains something of His Eternity.

In concentration and silence we must gather strength for the right action.

We are always surrounded by the things of which we think.

You must abstain from thinking about some one when you cannot think well of him.

Let the Divine fill your thoughts with His Presence.

Do not let the mud of ugly thoughts and low feelings stain your consciousness and take you out of my protection.

It is not God who made man wicked. It is man who makes himself wicked by separating himself from God.

Retreat! Do not advance, thought of desire! Retreat! Do not advance, thought of ill will! Retreat! Do not advance, thoughts of hatred!

The happiness you give makes you happier than the happiness you receive.

When two persons quarrel, always both are in the wrong.

To smile at an enemy is to disarm him.

Doubt is not a sport to indulge in with impunity; it is a poison, which drop by drop corrodes the soul.

Deep behind all that is, all that will be, all that is not, is Thy divine and immutable smile.

Before getting angry for the mistakes of others one should always remember one's won mistakes.

Jealousy is a dead poison that is fatal to the soul.

We find in others what is in us. If we always find mud around us, it proves that there is mud somewhere in us.

Never grumble. All sorts of forces enter you when you grumble and they pull you down.

One of the chief obstacles to the establishment of a progressive harmony is our eagerness to prove to an opponent that he is wrong and we are right.

In each heart, the Divine's Presence is the promise of future and possible perfections.

Nothing, not even the darkest falsehood can stop the ultimate triumph of Truth.

To love is not to possess, but to give oneself.

Forward, ever forward, without fear and without hesitation.

Change yourself if you wish to change the world.

You have no right to judge a man unless you are capable of doing what he does better than himself.

Timidity is a form of vanity. When you are timid, it means that you attach more importance to the opinions other have of you than to the sincerity of your actions.

Our best friend is he who loves us in the best of ourselves and yet does not ask of us to be other than we are.

There is no better way to become friends than to laugh together.

Faith- confidence in the Divine and the unshakable certitude of the Divine's Victory.

We aspire to be the valiant warriors of the Lord so that His glory may manifest upon the world. It is always better to keep a quiet mind and to abstain form rushing to conclusions before you have the necessary information.

Don't foresee difficulties- it does not help to surmount them and helps them to come

And I see Thee in every being, in everything, from the slightest passing breeze to the radiant Sun that illumines us and is Thy symbol.

To stand for the Truth in all circumstances, to declare it if necessary in the teeth of the worst opposition and to be ready to all you can for its sake, is the definition of heroism.

O, to be a pure crystal without stain, which allows Thy Divine ray to pass without obscuring, coloring or deforming it!

Why do you not feel the Divine? He is in your heart.

Lord, give me perfect sincerity, that sincerity which will lead me straight to Thee.

Do not look behind, look always in front, at what you want to do- and you are sure of progressing.

A hero fears nothing, complains of nothing and never gives away.

The greatest enemies of a perfect sincerity are preferences (whither mental, vital or physical) and preconceived ideas. It is these obstacles that must be overcome.

Be fearless and resolute, all obstacles will melt away before you.

Sleep child, sleep, with the Sweet Mother in thy heart! Awake, child, awake, with the Sweet Mother in thy heart!

If in work you meet with some difficulties, look sincerely into yourself and there you will discover their origin.

There is no greater courage than that of recognizing one's own mistakes.

Each new dawn brings the possibility of a new progress.

To be interested in what one does, one should try to do it better and better.

Whenever in your life, you meet with a hardship, take it as a boon form the Divine 's Grace and it will become so.

Daily we must aspire to conquer all mistakes, all obscurities, and all ignorance.

When one does not progress one feels bored.

What you are not able to do today, you will achieve tomorrow. Persevere and you shall conquer.

Be courageous, enduring, and vigilant and above all, be sincere, with prefect honesty. Then you will be able to face all difficulties.

It is not because a thing is difficult that one should give it up, on the contrary, the more a thing is difficult the more determined should one be to succeed it.

Do not pretend- be. Do not promise- act. Do not dream- realize.

There is a great beauty in simplicity.

In silence lies the source of the highest inspirations.

Whatsoever has courage can give courage to others just as the flame of the candle can light up another.

Do not conquer the difficulties there is more power in a smile than in a sigh.

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