"On Prayer"
Such experiences help us to bring back the faith in the mind which otherwise tends to wonder with its doubts. We have thus heard of many incidents of the Mother's action in different aspects, in different forms. I need not go in to them. Most important [are] those who recall [that] when the Mother was fully out of her body by the intense prayer of a yogi in the Himalayas – during the class, in the middle of sentence, she went into trance for several minutes, while her body was shivering on her return she continued exactly where she left off: in the middle [of her] sentence. And later, she commented that the yogi in the Himalayas had prayed to her. He was in a great danger of life. He prayed to the Divine Mother which she says: "Because I'm the representative of the Divine, here on the Earth, now the prayer came to me. And I had to go out of the body, materialised the form there to save him." And that is why the cold of the Himalayas was transferred to the physical body here. Such incidents are replete in her life. We know also that when the Mother came down to give Darshan in the meditation hall, she commented: "You people don't value that moment. You get restless and tired if I'm late by an hour, but even the Gods wait to have the Darshan." Such was her relationship with all the different powers of God, holding all of them within her consciousness; they are the form most natural, most complete, most easy for us to pray to. But again the mind questions: "We know them, so we pray to them. What about those who do not know, what happens to them? Are they missing out something?" Mother explains that, when the Divine responds, He responds in that form which is most natural and familiar to you. Because, if He came in a form different from that, you would not recognise him. As we approach the Divine in that form He responds to us.
I recall two incidents. One which took place hardly a decade ago, when somebody, a devotee known to us in the U.S. called up to say that her father had passed away. And her father and mother being both Christians, they had the ceremony in the church. And, as she stood in the church, with her mother next to her, looking at the ceremony going on, she became aware of the Mother's presence and saw her form standing there. And simultaneously her mother came: "Look, look, there is Virgin Mary." The form most natural to her was the form in which she perceived the same presence. Or, an incident narrated by another sadhika, before she came to the Ashram, before she knew of Sri Aurobindo and the Mother. In her childhood, she used to see Sri Krishna with open eyes and he would play with her. And then, [on] one occasion he said: "This is the last time I'm meeting you in this form, but I'll meet you again in physical form" and he vanished. Many years passed. On some occasion, her father brought her to Pondicherry and it happened at Darshan; and she had the Darshan of Sri Aurobindo and the Mother. And in that Darshan, she recognised in Sri Aurobindo the same presence that she knew as Sri Krishna. So, the form as such, even to one who doesn't know Sri Aurobindo and the Mother, is not of such a great significance. What matters there is the relationship with the form, the intimacy, the deeper contact, that love and adoration which bind us to them.
What then happen to our relationship with the other forms? I may have worshiped Krishna, Rama or Ganesh traditionally. Now, having come in touch with Sri Aurobindo and the Mother, what do I do with those forms? If I don't like, shall I discard the past? And there is a conflict. The Mother observes that there is no need for a conflict. Sri Aurobindo also says that there are parts in us which have a natural affinity with specific forms of God. Someone asked Sri Aurobindo "Are we God." Sri Aurobindo said: "In the sense that we are the tail-end of God." There is an awareness of our own divinity at the top and there is a consciousness projected from there. And this tip, a tiny fragmented piece, is us. But there is a link behind and, where it links, there is an aspect of the Divine that it is most prominently drawn to. Sometimes, [in] different phases of our life we are drawn to different aspects. You will find those who are naturally by temperament detached, indrawn or disinterested, ascetic in temperament, are drawn more naturally to Shiva. Those who like to enjoy life, play, are extrovert, [who] try to express themselves through different artistic forms, are more naturally drawn to Sri Krishna. It is only a question of our affinity of temperament. But as far as Sri Aurobindo [and the Mother] are concerned, they themselves had a very sweet relationship with these difference forms. As I mentioned earlier, Mother manifested the different powers of the Divine Mother; and, on one occasion, she narrated how she found Ganesh playing around in her room and she said: "What are you doing here? Go and get me some money." That was the relationship she had [with] Ganesh as a child that she could just ask for a favour. Someone prayed to her for help and Mother said: "Ask Ganesh he will help you." And when there was no response she questioned Ganesh: "Why don't you help this disciple of mine?" So, there was a very natural, free interchange between the Mother and these powers. And we ourselves need not be concerned about any sense of disloyalty if we feel any affinity with these different aspects. You must see them as aspects of the Mother, children of the Mother and relate to them thus.
