217. Who can bear Kali rushing into the system in her fierce force and burning godhead? Only the man whom Krishna already possesses.

This is a charming and most expressive way of saying that only the conscious Divine Presence is capable of mastering and conquering all violence.

8 December 1969
- The Mother

218. Hate not the oppressor, for, if he is strong, thy hate increases his force of resistance; if he is weak, thy hate was needless.

        219. Hatred is a sword of power, but its edge is always double. It is like the Kritya of the ancient magicians which, if baulked of its prey, returned in fury to devour its sender.

        220. Love God in thy opponent, even while thou strikest him; so shall neither have hell for his portion.

        221. Men talk of enemies, but where are they? I only see wrestlers of one party or the other in the great arena of the universe.

All this is written to awaken mankind to the sense of its own unity. When one has become conscious of this Unity and when one sees the Divine in all beings, it is easy to feel as Sri Aurobindo recommends.

9 December 1969
- The Mother

222. The saint and the angel are not the only divinities; admire also the Titan and the Giant.

        223. The old writings call the Titans the elder gods. So they still are; nor is any god entirely divine unless there is hidden in him also a Titan.

        224. If I cannot be Rama, then I would be Ravana; for he is the dark side of Vishnu.

This means that sweetness without strength and goodness without power are incomplete and cannot totally express the Divine.
I could say in keeping with the kind of image used by Sri Aurobindo, that the charity and generosity of a converted Asura are infinitely more effective than those of an innocent angel.

11 December 1969
- The Mother

225. Sacrifice, sacrifice, sacrifice always, but for the sake of God and humanity, not for the sake of sacrifice.

        226. Selfishness kills the soul; destroy it. But take care that your altruism does not kill the souls of others.

        227. Very usually, altruism is only the sublimest form of selfishness.

        How can altruism kill the soul of others?

By helping others materially (altruism), if at the same time you want to impose your own viewpoint on them, you will kill their soul, because moral and social rules can be no substitute for the inner law which each one must receive from his soul.

13 December 1969
- The Mother

228. He who will not slay when God bids him, works in the world an incalculable havoc.

        229. Respect human life as long as you can; but respect more the life of humanity.

        230. Men slay out of uncontrollable anger, hatred or vengeance; they shall suffer the rebound now or hereafter; or they slay to serve a selfish end, coldly; God shall not pardon them. If thou slay, first let thy soul have known death for a reality and seen God in the smitten, the stroke and the striker.

        In what kind of circumstances does God give the command to slay?

This is a question I cannot answer, because God has never asked me to slay.

14 December 1969
- The Mother

231.Courage and love are the only indispensable virtues; even if all the others are eclipsed or fall asleep, these two will save the soul alive.

        232. Meanness and selfishness are the only sins that I find it difficult to pardon; yet they alone are almost universal. Therefore these also must not be hated in others, but in ourselves annihilated.

        233. Nobleness and generosity are the soul's ethereal firmament; without them, one looks at an insect in a dungeon.

        234. Let not thy virtues be such as men praise or reward, but such as make for thy perfection and God in thy nature demands of thee.

Could you give me your definitions of the following words?
1. Courage and love
2. Meanness and selfishness
3. Nobleness and generosity

1. Courage is the total absence of fear in any form.
2. Love is self-giving without asking anything in return.
3. Meanness is a weakness that calculates and demands from others the virtues one does not possess oneself..
4. Selfishness is to put oneself at the centre of the universe and to want everything to exist for one's own satisfaction.
5. Nobleness is to refuse all personal calculation.
6. Generosity is to find one's own satisfaction in the satisfaction of others.

15 December 1969
- The Mother