The Mother - Philosopher

Mirra Alfassa (21st Febuary 1878 - 17th November 1973), also known as 'The Mother', was a philosopher and a spiritual partner of Sri Aurobindo.

The Mother

Mirra was born in Paris to an Egyptian mother and Turkish father. She had divine visions from her childhood. Outwardly, she was brought up as a materialistic atheist. Mirra had a good education in music (specially piano), painting and higher mathematics.

She had various spiritual experiences during her growing up years which she understood much later. These added up to help her develop her philosophy of life, the importance of keeping the human body strong, emotions under control, spiritual being in touch with God and mental body challenged with knowledge constantly.

In 1897, she married Henry Morisset and had a son named Andre. In 1910, she married a second time to Paul Richard. It was he who introduced her to Sri Aurobindo in 1914.

Sri Aurobindo

In December 1926, Sri Aurobindo identified Mirra with the Divine Mother and she took full charge of the Ashram. He then lived in retirement. Through the remaining years of her life, Mother worked on Supramental Truth Consciousness, a new power of the spirit that Sri Aurobindo had discovered.

The Mother wrote extensively on life, it's meaning and philosophised it's purpose. Her teachings are embodied in the work still carried on at the Ashram in Pondicherry and New Delhi. Her basic philosophy guides the running of two school, the Mother's International School and Mirambika in New Delhi.

Mirambika Free Progress School

Mother's International School

Woman Power

Hey everyone! I'm sorry for not having blogged for a bit, but things just get completely mushy and I got so caught up in it all... Anyway, to make up for the last two weeks' irregularity, I'll post everyday for this week!!

My theme is going to be WOMAN POWER - a study of women leaders in seven different fields of life - Philosophy, Politics, Law, Medicine, Social Work, Battle Field and Revolts. The women I have chosen belong to the international arena of the 19th and 20th century.

My purpose is only to show you all the major impact women have been able to create despite the hurdles they faced and add to the current awareness about importance of the girl child, which may have become obvious in the urban regions, but is still struggling to find roots in the rural regions. Thus, I've focussed on the early and mid-life influences on these women, which motivated them to struggle to achieve and change the norms of the society in which they lived in.

For some women, I have also tried to analyse their psyche at a very basic level, in relation to what I have learnt in my school. This seemed to give me a greater depth into their life and inspired me even more!

It is because of them that women around the world today can stand on their own feet and fight for their rights as equal citizens of the world. I hope they are able to inspire you as much as they inspired me, and change your lives for the better...