Mother reads her comments
upon an experience she had on February 3:
Between the beings of the
supramental world and men, almost the same separation exists as between men and
animals. Some time ago I had the experience of identification with animal life,
and it is a fact that animals do not understand us; their consciousness is so
constructed that we elude them almost entirely. And yet I have known pet
animals—cats and dogs, but especially cats—that used to make an almost yogic
effort of consciousness to reach us. But usually, when they see us as we live
and act, they do not understand, they do not see us as we are and they suffer because of us. We are a constant
enigma to them. Only a very tiny part of their consciousness has a link with
us. And it is the same thing for us when we try to look at the supramental
world. Only when the link of consciousness is established shall we see it—and
even then only the part of our being which has undergone transformation in this
way will be able to see it as it is—otherwise the two worlds would remain apart
like the animal and human worlds.
The experience I had on
the third of February is a proof of this. Before that I had had an individual
subjective contact with the supramental world, whereas on the third of February
I moved in it concretely, as concretely as I once used to walk in
It is like a bridge being
thrown between the two worlds.
Here is the experience as
I dictated it immediately afterwards:
(Silence)
The supramental world exists
permanently and I am there permanently in a supramental body. I had the proof
of this even today when my earth-consciousness went there and remained there
consciously between two and three o’clock in the afternoon. Now, I know that
what is lacking for the two worlds to unite in a constant and conscious
relation, is an intermediate zone between the physical world as it is and the
supramental world as it is. This zone remains to be built, both in the
individual consciousness and the objective world, and it is being built. When I
used to speak of the new world which is being created, it was of this
intermediary zone that I was speaking. And similarly, when I am on this side,
that is, in the field of the physical consciousness, and I see the supramental
power, the supramental light and substance constantly penetrating matter, it is
the construction of this zone which I see and in which I participate.
I was on a huge boat
which was a symbolic representation of the place where this work is going on.
This boat, as large as a city, is fully organised, and it had certainly already
been functioning for some time, for its organisation was complete. It is the
place where people who are destined for the supramental life are trained. These
people—or at least a part of their being—had already undergone a supramental
transformation, for the boat itself and everything on board was neither
material nor subtle-physical nor vital nor mental—it was a supramental
substance. This substance was of the most material supramental, the supramental
substance which is closest to the physical world, the first to manifest. The
light was a mixture of gold and red, forming a uniform substance of a luminous
orange. Everything was like that—the light was like that, the people were like that—everything
had that colour, although with various shades which made it possible to
distinguish things from each other. The general impression was of a world
without shadows; there were shades but no shadows. The atmosphere was full of
joy, calm, order; everything went on regularly and in silence. And at the same
time one could see all the details of an education, a training in all fields,
by which the people on board were being prepared.
This immense ship had
just reached the shore of the supramental world and a first group of people who
were destined to become the future inhabitants of this supramental world were
to disembark. Everything had been arranged for this first landing. At the wharf
several very tall beings were posted. They were not human beings, they had
never been men before. Nor were they the permanent inhabitants of the
supramental world. They had been delegated from above and posted there to
control and supervise the landing. I was in charge of the whole thing from the
beginning and all the time. I had prepared all the groups myself. I stood on
the boat at the head of the gangway, calling the groups one by one and sending
them down to the shore. The tall beings who were posted there were inspecting,
so to say, those who were landing, authorising those who were ready and sending
back those who were not and who had to continue their training on board the
ship. While I was there looking at everybody, the part of my consciousness
which came from here became extremely interested; it wanted to see and
recognise all the people, see how they had changed and check which ones were
taken immediately and which ones had to remain to continue their training.
After a while, as I stood there observing, I began to feel that I was being
pulled back so that my body might wake up—a consciousness or a person here—and
in my consciousness I protested, “No, no, not yet, not yet! I want to see the
people!” I was seeing and noting everything with intense interest... Things
continued in this way until suddenly the clock here began to strike three, and
this brought me back violently. There was a sensation of suddenly falling into
my body. I came back with a shock because I had been called back very suddenly,
but with all my memory. I remained quiet, without moving, until I could
recollect the whole experience and keep it.
On the boat the nature of
objects was not the one we know on earth; for instance, clothes were not made
of cloth and what looked like cloth was not manufactured: it formed a part of
the body, it was made of the same substance which took different forms. It had
a kind of plasticity. When a change had to be made, it took place, not by any
artificial and external means but by an inner operation, an operation of
consciousness which gave form or appearance to the substance. Life created its
own forms. There was one single substance in everything; it changed the quality of its vibration
according to need and use.
Those who were sent back
for fresh training were not of a uniform colour, it was as if their body had
greyish, opaque patches of a substance resembling earthly substance; they were
dull, as if they had not been entirely permeated with light, not transformed.
They were not like that everywhere, only in places.
The tall beings on the
shore were not of the same colour, at least they did not have that orange tint;
they were paler, more transparent. Except for one part of their body, one could
only see the outline of their form. They were very tall, they seemed not to
have any bones and could take any form according to their need. Only from the
waist down had they a permanent density, which was not perceptible in the rest
of their body. Their colour was much lighter, with very little red, it was more
golden or even white. The parts of whitish light were translucent; they were
not positively transparent but less dense, more subtle than the orange
substance.
When I was called back
and while I was saying “Not yet”, each time I had a brief glimpse of myself,
that is, of my form in the supramental world. I was a mixture of the tall
beings and the beings aboard the ship. My upper part, particularly the head,
was only a silhouette whose contents were white with an orange fringe. Going
down towards the feet, the colour became more like that of the people on the boat,
that is, orange; going upwards, it was more translucent and white and the red
grew less. The head was only a silhouette with a sun shining within it; rays of
light came from it which were the action of the will.
As for the people I saw
on board the ship, I recognised them all. Some were from here, from the Ashram,
some came from elsewhere, but I know them too. I saw everybody but as I knew
that I would not remember them all when I returned, I decided not to give any
names. Besides, it is not necessary. Three or four faces were very clearly
visible, and when I saw them, I understood the feeling I had here on earth when
looking into their eyes: there was such an extraordinary joy.... People were
mostly young, there were very few children and they were about fourteen or
fifteen, certainly not below ten or twelve—I did not remain long enough to see
all the details. There weren’t any very old people, apart from a few
exceptions. Most of the people who went ashore were middle-aged, except a few.
Already, before this experience, some individual cases had been examined
several times at a place where people capable of being supramentalised were
examined; I had a few surprises and noted them; I even told some people about
it. But the ones whom I put ashore today, I saw very distinctly; they were
middle-aged, neither young children nor old people, apart from a few rare
exceptions, and that corresponded fairly well with what I expected. I decided
not to say anything, not to give any names. As I did not remain until the end,
it was not possible for me to get an exact picture; the picture was not
absolutely clear or complete. I do not want to say things to some and not to
others.
What I can say is that
the point of view, the judgment, was based exclusively
on the substance of which the people were made, that
is, whether they belonged completely to the supramental world, whether they
were made of that very special substance. The standpoint taken is neither moral
nor psychological. It is probable that the substance their bodies were made of
was the result of an inner law or inner movement which at that time was not in
question. At least it is quite clear that the values are different.
When I came back,
simultaneously with the recollection of the experience I knew that the supramental
world is permanent, that my presence there is permanent, and that only a
missing link was necessary for the connection to be made in the consciousness
and the substance, and it is this link which is now being forged. I had the
impression—an impression which remained for quite a long time, almost a whole
day—of an extreme relativity—no, not exactly that: the impression that the
relation between this world and the other completely changed the standpoint
from which things should be evaluated or appraised. This standpoint had nothing
mental about it and it gave a strange inner feeling that lots of things we
consider good or bad are not really so. It was very clear that everything
depended on the capacity of things, on their aptitude in expressing the
supramental world or being in relation with it. It was so completely different,
sometimes even altogether contrary to our ordinary appraisal. I recollect one
little thing which we usually consider to be bad; how strange it was to see
that in truth it was something excellent! And other things we consider to be
important have in fact absolutely no importance at all: whether a thing is like
this or like that is not at all important. What is very obvious is that our
appraisal of what is divine or undivine is not right. I even laughed to see
certain things.... Our usual feeling of what is antidivine seems artificial,
seems based on something that’s not true, not living—besides, what we call life
here did not seem living to me compared with that world—anyway, this feeling
should be founded on our relation between the two worlds and on how things make
the relation between them easier or more difficult. This would make a great
difference in our appraisal of what brings us nearer to the Divine or what
separates us from Him. In people too I saw that what helps them to become
supramental or hinders them from it, is very different from what our usual
moral notions imagine. I felt how... ridiculous we are.