Sri Aurobindo
Letters on Himself and the Ashram
The Complete Works of Sri Aurobindo. Volume 35
Life and Death in the Ashram
Exercise and Sports [8]
I then come to the main point, namely that the
intention attributed to the Mother of concentrating permanently on sports and
withdrawing from other things pertinent to sadhana and our spiritual endeavour
is a legend and a myth and has no truth 
in it.
Except for the time given to her own physical exercise and, ordinarily, two
hours or sometimes three in the evening on the playground, the Mother’s whole
day from early morning and a large part of the night also has always been
devoted to her other occupations connected with her work and with the sadhana —
not her own but that of the sadhaks, pranam, blessings, meditation and receiving
the sadhaks on the staircase or elsewhere, sometimes for two hours at a time,
and listening to what they have to say, questions about the sadhana, reports of
their work or other matters, complaints, disputes, quarrels, all kinds of
conferences about this or that to be decided or done, there is no end to the
list: for the rest she had to attend to their letters, to reports about the
material work of the Ashram and all its many departments, decisions on a hundred
matters, correspondence and all sorts of things connected with contacts with the
outside world including often serious troubles and difficulties and the
settlement of matters of great importance. All this has certainly nothing to do
with sports and she had little occasion to think of it at all apart from the
short time in the evening. There was here no ground for the idea that she was
neglecting the sadhaks or the sadhana or thinking of turning her mind solely or
predominantly to sport and still less for imputing the same preoccupation to me.
Only during the period before the first and second December this year the Mother
had to give a great deal of time and concentration to the preparation of the
events of those two days because she had decided on a big cultural programme,
her own play “Vers l’Avenir”, dances, recitation from Savitri and from
the Prayers and Meditations for the 1st December and also a big and
ambitious programme for the 2nd of sportive items and events. This meant a good
deal more time for these purposes but not any interruption of her other
occupations except for one or two of them just at the end of this period. There
was surely no sufficient ground here either for drawing the conclusion that this
was to be for the future a normal feature of her action or a permanent change in
it or in the life of the Ashram ending in a complete withdrawal from spiritual
life and an apotheosis of the deity of Sport. Those 
who
voiced this idea or declared that sport would henceforth be obligatory on all
were indulging in fantasies that have no claim to credibility. As a matter of
fact the period of tension is over and after the second December things have
returned to normal or even to subnormal in the activities of the playground and
as for the future you may recall the proverb that “once is not for ever”.
But there seems to be still a survival of the
groundless idea that sportsmanship is obligatory henceforth on every sadhak and
without it there is no chance of having the Mother’s attention or favour. It is
therefore necessary for me to repeat with the utmost emphasis the statement I
made long ago when this fable became current for a time along, I think, with the
rumour that the Supermind was to descend on the playground and the people who
happen to be there at the time and nowhere else and on nobody else — which would
have meant that I for one would never have it!! I must repeat what I said then,
that the Mother has never imposed or has any idea of imposing any such
obligation and had no reason for doing so. The Mother does not want you or
anybody else to take to sports if there is no inclination or turn towards it.
There are any number of people who enjoy her highest favour, among them some of
her best and most valued workers, some most near to her and cherished by her who
do not even set foot on the playground. Nobody then could possibly lose her
favour or her affection by refusing to take up sport or by a dislike of sport or
a strong disinclination towards it: these things are a matter of idiosyncrasy
and nothing else. The idea, whether advanced or not by someone claiming to have
authority to voice the Mother’s intentions, that sport is now the most important
thing with her and obligatory for sadhana is absurd in the extreme. Again, how
could you ever imagine that the Mother or myself would turn you away or ask you
to leave us for any reason, least of all for such a fantastic one as this? All
this is indeed a maze of fantasies and you should drive them from your mind
altogether. Your place in our hearts is permanent and your place near us must be
that also; you should not allow anything to cloud that truth in your mind or 
lend credence to anything or anyone telling you otherwise.
7 December 1949