In this investiture of fleshly life
A soul that is a spark of God survives
And sometimes it breaks through the sordid screen
And kindles a fire that makes us half-divine.
Sri Aurobindo
Savitri, Book II, Canto V, page 169.
The Two Chains of the Mother
Well, I have talked a lot in my rather long life, have I not? I have talked a good deal, and written much more. All that forms now my Collected Works: eight volumes in English and as many volumes in Bengali.
All of you are leaving our Centre of Education, a Centre where you have been for so many years. To complete your course and come out of the Centre, it’s all right; but to go where? It seems you have already come to a decision; there are many amongst you who have made their choice. That’s good, for it means choosing one’s life.
I want to tell you only one thing: you are going out, but wherever you go, you carry something within you, something that is permanent and eternal since the beginning of the world. I have sometimes spoken of the golden chain of the Mother; I have said too that Mother has two chains, one of gold and the other of iron. These two chains are your eternal companions; wherever you may go, you will carry these two with you. You are bound to the Mother for ever — for ever, be sure of that. It’s the prop of your life, it’s your aspiration. These are not chains of bondage but chains of freedom and entire satisfaction. You may ask: “What are these chains of gold and of iron?” The golden chain is in your soul and the iron one is in your body. The body, your body, is also bound to the Mother, to her Presence and Influence. “Body” means not only the material body, but the subtle physical body, the inner body. Now, the imprint of the Mother’s Presence you carry in this subtle physical body. You may not always be aware of it, but this makes no difference, none at all.
Here I may refer to something pertinent. One day someone went to see the Mother on his birthday; it was our Prithwi Singh. Now Prithwi Singh, who was blind, plaintively said to the Mother, “Mother, here I am, so near to you; it’s my birthday, a day so nice and precious to me, but I cannot see you, for I am blind in both of my eyes.” Then the Mother answered, “What does that matter? You cannot see me but I am seeing you.”
And this is always so. You cannot see it with your physical eyes, but the Mother’s look is always upon you, her look of love and protection: be sure and certain of that. You carry that within you for all time and wherever you go, wherever in the entire world. You carry in you a portion, a spark of her Love; and that will save you from many difficulties, from much danger. If you can keep that in your active memory, it will be still more beneficial. That’s all.
Nolini Kanta Gupta
from The Mother Abides