270. There are times when God seems to be sternly on the side of the past; then what has been and is, sits firm as on a throne and clothes itself with an irrevocable "I shall be." Then persevere, though thou seem to be fighting the Master of all; for this is His sharpest trial.

        271. All is not settled when a cause is humanly lost and hopeless; all is settled, only when the soul renounces its effort.

This is to encourage us not to allow ourselves to be influenced by appearances and to persist in our effort even if it seems to have no result.

In life, we must do what is revealed to us as the true thing to be done, even if others mock and criticise; for the opinion of men has no value, the Divine Will alone is true and will triumph.

4 January 1970
- The Mother

272. He who would win high spiritual degrees, must pass endless tests and examinations. But most are anxious only to bribe the examiner.

        273. Fight, while thy hands are free, with thy hands and thy voice and thy brain and all manner of weapons. Art thou chained in the enemy's dungeons and have his gags silenced thee? Fight with thy silent all-besieging soul and thy wide-ranging will-power and when thou art dead, fight still with the world-encompassing force that went out from God within thee.

Truth is a difficult and strenuous conquest. One must be a true warrior to make this conquest, a warrior who fears nothing, neither enemies nor death, for, against the whole world, with or without a body, the struggle continues and will end in Victory.

6 January 1970
- The Mother

274. Thou thinkest the ascetic in his cave or on his mountain-top a stone and a do-nothing. What dost thou know? He may be filling the world with the mighty currents of his will and changing it by the pressure of his soul-state.

        275. That which the liberated sees in his soul on its mountain-tops, heroes and prophets spring up in the material world to proclaim and accomplish.

        276. The Theosophists are wrong in their circumstances but right in the essential. If the French Revolution took place, it was because a soul on the Indian snows dreamed of God as freedom, brotherhood and equality.

This is simply to show us that the power of the spirit is far greater than all material powers. But both are indispensable for the realisation.

7 January 1970
- The Mother

277. All speech and action comes prepared out of the eternal Silence.

        278. There is no disturbance in the depths of the Ocean, but above there is the joyous thunder of its shouting and its racing shoreward; so is it with the liberated soul in the midst of violent action. The soul does not act; it only breathes out from itself overwhelming action.

This tells us again that That which causes action, the Consciousness and Power which are manifested in action, are quite different from the individuals who carry it out materially and who think in their ignorance that they are the originators of action.

8 January 1970
- The Mother

279. O soldier and hero of God, where for thee is sorrow or shame or suffering? For thy life is a glory, thy deeds a consecration, victory thy apotheosis, defeat thy triumph.

For one who is totally consecrated to the Divine, there can be neither shame nor suffering, for the Divine is always with him and the Divine Presence changes all things into glory.

9 January 1970
- The Mother

280. Do thy lower members still suffer the shock of sin and sorrow? But above, seen of thee or unseen, thy soul sits royal, calm, free and triumphant. Believe that the Mother will ere the end have done her work and made the very earth of thy being a joy and a purity.

        281. If thy heart is troubled within thee, if for long seasons thou makest no progress, if thy strength faint and repine, remember always the eternal word of our Lover and Master, "I will free thee from all sin and evil; do not grieve."

Here, what Sri Aurobindo calls the soul is the Divine Presence in each one of us; and the certitude of this constant Presence within us will alleviate all our sorrow by convincing us of the ultimate victory which is certain.

10 January 1970
- The Mother

282. Purity is in thy soul; but for actions, where is their purity or impurity?

Sri Aurobindo does not use the word "purity" in the ordinary moral sense. For him, purity means "exclusively under the influence of the Divine", expressing only the Divine.

At present, no action on earth can be like this.

12 January 1970
- The Mother

283. O Death, our masked friend and maker of opportunities, when thou wouldst open the gate, hesitate not to tell us beforehand; for we are not of those who are shaken by its iron jarring.

        284. Death is sometimes a rude valet; but when he changes this robe of earth for that brighter raiment, his horseplay and impertinences can be pardoned.

        285. Who shall slay thee, O soul immortal? Who shall torture thee, O God ever-joyous?

Why has death been associated with sorrow ever since the beginning?

Human ignorance and egoism are the cause of sorrow. But this sorrow has also played its part in the evolution of humanity

13 January 1970

What part has sorrow played in the evolution of humanity?

Sorrow, desire, suffering, ambition and every other similar reaction in the feelings and sensations have all contributed to make consciousness emerge from the inconscience and to awaken this consciousness to the will for progress.

14 January 1970
- The Mother