Sri Aurobindo Ashram
Demonstration 1967
The prayer of the cells in the body
Now that, by the effect of the Grace, we are slowly emerging out of inconscience and waking to a conscious life, an ardent prayer rises in us for more light, more consciousness,
"O Supreme Lord of the universe, we implore Thee, give us the strength and the beauty, the harmonious perfection needed to be Thy divine instruments upon earth."
The Mother
2 December 1967
Competitions 1968
The first condition for acquiring power is to be obedient. The body must learn to obey before it can manifest power; and physical education is the most thorough discipline for the body. So be eager and sincere in your efforts for physical education and you will acquire a powerful body. My blessings are with you.
The Mother
1 April 1968
Lastly, by means of a rational and discerning physical education, we must make our body strong and supple enough to become a fit instrument in the material world for the truth-force which wants to manifest through us.
The Mother
Mantra Given by Sri Aurobindo
Om Sri Aurobindo Mira
Open my mind, my heart, my life
to your Light , your Love, your Power. In all
things may I see the Divine
Do not forget that to succeed in our yoga one must have a strong and healthy body.
For this, the body must do exercise, have an active and regular life, work physically, eat well, and sleep well.
It is in good health that the way towards transformation is found.
The Mother
What you are not able
to do today, you will achieve
tomorrow, Persevere and
you shall conquer.
“The perfection of the body, as great a perfection as we can bring about by the means at our disposal, must be the ultimate aim of physical culture. Perfection is the true aim of all culture, the spiritual and psychic, the mental, the vital and it must be the aim of our physical culture also. If our seeking is for a total perfection of the being, the physical part of it cannot be left aside; for the body is the material basis, the body is the instrument which we have to use. Shariram khalu dharmasadhanam, says the old Sanskrit adage — the body is the means of fulfillment of dharma, and dharma means every ideal which we can propose to ourselves and the law of its working out and its action. A total perfection is the ultimate aim which we set before us, for our ideal is the Divine Life which we wish to create here, the life of the Spirit fulfilled on earth, life accomplishing its own spiritual transformation even here on earth in the conditions of the material universe. That cannot be unless the body too undergoes a transformation, unless its action and functioning attain to a supreme capacity and the perfection which is possible to it or which can be made possible.”
Sri Aurobindo
Lastly, by means of a rational and discerning physical education, we must make our body strong and supple enough to become a fit instrument in the material world for the truth-force which wants to manifest through us.
The Mother
It might be better to remind you that we are here for a special work, a work which is done nowhere else. We want to come in contact with the supreme consciousness, the universal consciousness, we want to bring it down in ourselves and to manifest it. But for that we must have a very solid base; our base is our physical being, our body. Therefore we have Page to build up a body solid, healthy, enduring, skilful, agile and strong, ready for everything. There is no better way to prepare the body than physical exercise: sports, athletics, gymnastics, and all games are the best means to develop and strengthen the body.
Therefore I call you to go through the competitions beginning today, full-heartedly with all your energy and all your will.
The Mother
Physical education had three principal aspects:
(1) control and discipline of the functioning of the body;
(2) an integral, methodical and harmonious development of all the parts and movements of the body; and
(3) correction of any defects and deformities.
- The Mother
Bulletin, April 1951
The most important perfection of the body is its capacity to hold (dhāraṇa-śakti) the spiritual force brought into it. It must be able to contain the full intensity of higher mind, life, and spirit without being agitated, damaged, or distorting the force's action.
Sri Aurobindo
The gnostic evolution will bring about the spiritualization and perfection of the physical being. It will overcome the body's frailties by instituting a right rhythm, flooding it with a supreme Consciousness-Force, and establishing health, strength, and ease, thereby rendering into Matter the perfection of form and delight that is the natural expression of the Spirit.
Sri Aurobindo
Perfection is the true aim of all culture, the spiritual and psychic, the mental, the vital and it must be the aim of our physical culture also. If our seeking is for a total perfection of the being, the physical part of it cannot be left aside; for the body is the material basis, the body is the instrument which we have to use. Śarīram khalu dharmasādhanam, says the old Sanskrit adage,—the body is the means of fulfilment of dharma, and dharma means every ideal which we can propose to ourselves and the law of its working out and its action. A total perfection is the ultimate aim which we set before us, for our ideal is the Divine Life which we wish to create here, the life of the Spirit fulfilled on earth, life accomplishing its own spiritual transformation even here on earth in the conditions of the material universe. That cannot be unless the body too undergoes a transformation, unless its action and functioning attain to a supreme capacity and the perfection which is possible to it or which can be made possible.
Sri Aurobindo