Mirra Alfassa

Mirra Alfassa

Mirra Alfassa
Institute Sri Aurobindo Ashram
Auroville
Pen name The Mother
Personal
Born Blanche Rachel Mirra Alfassa
21 February 1878
Paris, France
Died 17 November 1973 (aged 95)
Resting place Pondicherry, India
Religious career
Students Satprem, Nolini Kanta Gupta, Nirodbaran, Amal Kiran, Pavitra
Works Prayers And Meditations, Words of Long Ago, On Thoughts and Aphorisms, Words of the Mother
Signature

Mirra Alfassa (21 February 1878 – 17 November 1973), known to her followers as The Mother, was the spiritual collaborator of Sri Aurobindo. Her full name at birth was Blanche Rachel Mirra Alfassa.[1]

She came to Sri Aurobindo's spiritual retreat on 29 March 1914 in Pondicherry, India. Having to leave Pondicherry during World War I, she spent most of her time in Japan where she met poet Rabindranath Tagore. Finally she returned to Pondicherry and settled there in 1920. After 24 November 1926, when Sri Aurobindo retired into seclusion, she founded her ashram (Sri Aurobindo Ashram), with a handful of disciples. She became the spiritual guide of the community.

The experiences of the last thirty years of Alfassa's life were captured in the 13-volume work The Agenda. In those years she attempted the physical transformation of her body in order to become what she felt was the first of a new type of human individual by opening to the Supramental Truth Consciousness, a new power of spirit that Sri Aurobindo had allegedly discovered. Sri Aurobindo considered her an incarnation of the Mother Divine and called her by that name: The Mother.

Early life

Childhood

Mirra Alfassa as a child circa 1885

Mirra Alfassa was born on 1878 in Paris to Moïse Maurice Alfassa a Turkish Jew father, and Mathilde Ismalun an Egyptian Jewish mother, a bourgeoisie family. She had an elder brother named Mattéo Mathieu Maurice Alfassa, who is later known to have held numerous French governmental posts in Africa. The family had just migrated to France, an year before she was born, the marriage fell apart and both Mathilde and Maurice were living separate lives at 62 Boulevard Haussmann in Paris, Mirra was close to her grandmother Mira Ismalum (nee Pinto), who was one of the first women to travel outside Egypt alone and was also a neighbour.[2][3]

Mirra had learnt to read at the age of seven and joined school very late at the age of nine; she is believed to have held interest in various fields of art, tennis, singing, etc. and was a concern to her mother who saw lack of apparent deeper, permanent concern over any matter in Mirra.[4] By the age of 14 she had become a good reader and had read most of the books in her father's collection, which is believed to have helped her achieve mastery over french.[5] Her biographer Vrekhem notes that Mirra had various occult experiences in her childhood but knew nothing of the subject and their relevance, she kept these experiences to herself and did not share with anyone as her mother was believed to be atheist and any experiences were deemed to be a mental problem which had to be treated.[6] Mirra especially recalls at the age of thirteen or fourteen having a dream of a dark figure which she used to call as Krishna whom she had never seen before in real life.[7][8][9]

As an Artist & Traveller

Mirra Alfassa at the age of 24 with son Andre, circa 1902

In Paris

In 1893 after passing from school she joined Académie Julian to study art, her grandmother Mira introduced her to Henri Morisset who was an ex-student of the Académie; they were married on 13 October 1897.[10] Both were well off and worked as artists for next ten years, the era is known to have many impression artists. During these years her son André was born on 23 August 1898. Some of her paintings were accepted by jury of Salon d'Automne and were exhibited in 1903, 1904 and 1905.[11] She recalls herself being complete Atheist at this time and was against any religious claim on existence of God, but was experiencing various memories which she found were not mental formation but were spontaneous experiences and never revealed this to anybody in the surrounding, she had developed an urge to know about such experiences and found Raja yoga by Swami Vivekananda was able to explain something about her experiences, she received a copy of loose translation of Bhagavad Gita in French which helped her a lot in learning about these experiences.[12]

Max Théon & Alma Théon

Mirra Alfassa in Theon's house at Tlemcen, Algeria (1906 - 1907)

During this time Mirra made the acqaintance of Louis Thémanlys who was the head of the Cosmic Movement, a group started by Max Théon through a copy of Cosmic Review, she attended the talkings given by Louis and became active in the group, for the first time on 14 July 1906 she journeyed alone to Algerian city of Tlemcen to meet with Max Théon and his wife Alma Théon, she consequently travelled twice in 1906 and 1907 to their home at Tlemcen and in their house practised and experimented on teachings of Max Théon & Alma Théon. [13]

Alfassa and Henri separated in 1908, and Alfassa then moved to 49 Rue des Lévis, Paris, it was a small apartment and she was living alone and involved herself with discussion and talking with Budhhists and other cosimic movement circle, at this time she also grew her aquantience with Madame David Néel.[14] Mirra married Paul Richard in 1911 who after serving four years in army had involved himself in philosophy & theology, he had come to know Mirra when he was in talkings with Max Théon, Vrekhem a biographer of Mirra informs that Richard was undergoing a legal problem in inheriting kids from his first marriage to a dutch women and had asked Mirra for help and she had accepted this.[15]

First visit to Pondicherry & Japan

Richard was also an aspiring politician and had attempted to elect himself to the french senate from Pondicherry which was then under french control. Despite his initial failure he wanted to try it once more and on 7 March 1914 Mirra along with Richard set sail to India and reached pondicherry India by 29 March.[16][17] After reaching Pondicherry both had fixed an appointment with Sri Aurobindo who was then settled in Pondicherry and had suspended all his activity for Indian indpendence from British rule. on her first meeting Mirra recalls the person whom she used to see in dreams was none other than Sri Aurobindo. she also informs she felt sudden silence in presence of him and no thought entered her mind.[18]

Mirra Alfassa with Pavitra on terrace of Old Secretariat

Richard lost the elections to Paul Bluysen to whom he had supported in elections earlier, Both Richard and Mirra were running out of money and decided to publish a review on yoga of Sri Aurobindo called Arya in both English and French. The Journal was first published on 15th of August 1914 and ran for next six and half years, consequently journals published were later made into complete books.[19] By this time world war 1 had erupted and Indian revolutionaries were being prosecuted by British for being spies of German army, Even though Aurobindo had totally dispensed his activities against British rule he was considered unsafe and all the revolutionaries were asked to move to Algeria, Aurobindo had refused this offer, so the british had written to French government in Paris to hand over revolutionaries staying at French Pondicherry. this file came over to Mattéo Alfassa (brother of Mirra) who by then was foreign minister, who put the file under other working files never to be looked upon again.[20] [21]

Mirra Alfassa's painting: "Divine Consciousness Emerging from the Inconscient" 1920 - 1925

On the insistence of the British in 1915, Richard was ordered to move out of Pondicherry; after an unsuccessful attempt to stay both Mirra and Richard left for Paris on 22nd Febraury 1915. After few years Richard was ordered to promote French trade in Japan (who was then an ally of France and Britain) & China. Mirra left for Japan along with Richard, never to return to Paris again.[22]

Mirra along with Richard stayed in Japan and had acquaintances with Indian community, the time was relatively peacefull in Japan, they spent next four years in Japan and left to in india on 24 April 1920 Mirra returned with Richard to Pondicherry from Japan.[23] [24] accompanied by Dorothy Hodgson. On 24 November, she moved to live near Aurobindo in the Guest House at Rue François Martin. Richard did not stay long; he spent a year traveling around North India (Das 1978 p. 209) as a sanyasi. (Some time later he initiated divorce proceedings, having already remarried in the meantime).[25] Dorothy Hodgson meanwhile received the name Vasavadatta (abbreviated as Datta) ("Consecrated") and was one of the earliest western devotees, even before the Ashram was established in 1926.

In 1921, when Sri Aurobindo said that they had brought the Supermind down to the Vital Plane, Alfassa appeared (according to witnesses and her own accounts) to have a body like that of an eighteen- or twenty-year-old, while Aurobindo was also glowing with health.[26] But these changes were lost when they took the Supermind down to the work of transformation in the "Subconscient".

In January 1922, Alfassa and some other disciples began regular evening talks and group meditations. In September or October of that year, Sri Aurobindo and Mirra Alfassa moved to no.9 Rue de la Marine, where the same informal routine of Sri Aurobindo's evening gatherings of his early disciples[27] (and Alfassa's talks and meditations) continued. As the number of disciples arriving increased, Alfassa organised what would later become the Ashram, more from the wish of the sadhaks than her or Sri Aurobindo's own plans.[28]

Ashram foundation

On 24 November 1926, the Sri Aurobindo Ashram was founded. At the time there were no more than 24 disciples in the Ashram (ibid pp. 233–4).

In December of that year, Sri Aurobindo decided to withdraw from public view. At this point he identified Alfassa with the Divine Mother, and instructed his followers to do the same. He informed his disciples that henceforth Alfassa would take full charge of the Ashram and he would live in retirement.

Sri Aurobindo considered Alfassa to be an Avatar of the Supreme Shakti. In 1927 he wrote, "The One whom we adore as the Mother is the Divine Conscious Force [29]

Mirra Alfassa in ashram writing letters

In 1927, Sri Aurobindo and Alfassa moved to Rue François Martin, where they stayed for the remainder of their lives.

In the early years, Alfassa appeared on the Ashram balcony to initiate the day with her blessings. She would also meet the heads of the various departments of the growing Ashram every morning, and then the sadhaks individually. Once again, in the evening at 5:30 pm, she conducted meditation and met sadhaks.

In 1938 Margaret Woodrow Wilson, the daughter of US President Woodrow Wilson, came to the Ashram and chose to remain there for the rest of her life.[30]

During the war, Sri Aurobindo and Alfassa declared their support of the Allies. They said that victory of the Nazis would have been a disaster for the spiritual work, and claimed to have participated in world history, changing the course of World War II by working on the subtle levels (e.g. Purani 1982 p. 746, Reddy 2000, Van Vrekhem 2001).

Through letters, Alfassa had remained in contact with her son Andre Morisset ever since leaving for Japan, though he was prevented from visiting by the outbreak of World War II. In 1949 he finally arrived in Pondicherry.[31]

Work of Physical Transformation

Mirra Alfassa playing tennis

After Sri Aurobindo death in 1950,[32] from 1960 till her own death in 1973, Alfassa regularly met her disciple Satprem, with the content of thee conversations published in French and English in the 13-volume book The Agenda.

From 1962, she continued to give public Darshans four times a year from an upstair balcony, at which thousands of devotees gathered.[33] Her religious experiences have intensified through the later 1960s and 1970s.

In 1956 she established the Sri Aurobindo Ashram, Delhi Branch, together with Surendranath Jauhar, and Mother's International School. In 1967 plans were made and land acquired to found a city of spiritual seekers in Gujarat, which she named Ompuri. In 1968 Alfassa founded Auroville.

After Mirra Alfassa died on 17 November 1973, her body was placed in the newly constructed Samadhi structure: a vault in the courtyard of the Ashram where Sri Aurobindo's body had been placed in 1950.[34]

Auroville

Matrimandir, in Auroville, near Pondicherry
Main article: Auroville

In the 1968, Alfassa helped create Auroville, a model universal township with a view to enhance the forces of evolution and to initiate a new renaissance in India and the world. At present, in 2015, Auroville is more of a large spread out community with a population of 2500 people from 50 countries. However, planning and development undercurrents are for outgrowing the present stage and emerge as a unique town envisioned by Alfassa.

References

Notes

    Citations

    1. ↑ Archives Départementales de Paris en ligne , acte de naissance n° 1878/390/9e du 21/02/1878, page 6
    2. ↑ Vrekhem (2004), pp. 4-7
    3. ↑ Mother's Chronicles Bk I; Mother on Herself – Chronology p.83.
    4. ↑ Vrekhem (2004), pp. 8
    5. ↑ Vrekhem (2004), pp. 10
    6. ↑ Vrekhem (2004), pp. 11-13
    7. ↑ Vrekhem (2004), pp. 14
    8. ↑ Bulletin of the Aurobindo Center of Education, 1976 p.14, Mother on Herself pp.17–18.
    9. ↑ Bulletin 1974 p.63.
    10. ↑ Vrekhem (2004), pp. 15-20
    11. ↑ Vrekhem (2004), pp. 24
    12. ↑ Vrekhem (2004), pp. 29
    13. ↑ Vrekhem (2004), pp. 37-67
    14. ↑ Vrekhem (2004), pp. 73-75
    15. ↑ Vrekhem (2004), pp. 84
    16. ↑ Interview with Prithwindra Mukherjee, The Sunday Standard, 15 June 1969; The Mother by Prema Nandakumar, National Book Trust, 1977, p9.
    17. ↑ Karmayogi no date, Van Vrekhem 2001.
    18. ↑ Vrekhem (2004), pp. 140-155
    19. ↑ Vrekhem (2004), pp. 160-172
    20. ↑ Vrekhem (2004), pp. 175-177
    21. ↑ Purani 1982 pp.9–12
    22. ↑ Vrekhem (2004), pp. 178-180
    23. ↑ Iyengar 1978 p.182
    24. ↑ Coll. Works vol 8, pp.106–7
    25. ↑ Agenda vol.2 pp.371–372
    26. ↑ Agenda vol.xx, p.xxx; Purani, Evening Talks p.21, Das 1978, pp.211–212
    27. ↑ Purani, 1982 pp.9–12
    28. ↑ Sri Aurobindo Coll. Works vol.26 p.429
    29. ↑ The Mother p.19.
    30. ↑ Nirodbaran 1972, Karmayogi no date
    31. ↑ "Remembrances of André Morisset", in Das 1978 pp.250–1
    32. ↑ Volume 11, Notes on the Way, p. 328 20 December 1972
    33. ↑ Collected Works, vol. 11; Satprem 1982
    34. ↑ Mother on Herself – Chronology p.83

    Bibliography

    Further reading

    Partial bibliography

    External links

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