Who it is for
For readers who prefer spiritual guidance as questions and answers and short notes rather than long treatises. The texts assume the framework of Sri Aurobindo's yoga and treat her as a spiritual authority.
Life and places
- She was born Mirra Alfassa in Paris on 21 February 1878 and was a pupil at the Académie Julian. 1
- In 1914 she travelled to Pondicherry to meet Sri Aurobindo; after eleven months she had to return to France because of the First World War, and a year later she went to Japan for four years. 1
- In April 1920 she rejoined Sri Aurobindo in Pondicherry. 1
- In 1952 she established the Sri Aurobindo International Centre of Education, and she died on 17 November 1973. 1
Public context
Works
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Prières et Méditations (Prayers and Meditations)
Book · 1932 · Sri Aurobindo Ashram
313 extracts from her spiritual diaries, written in French as prayers addressed to the Divine and selected by her for publication.
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Questions and Answers 1929–1931
Book · 1931 · Sri Aurobindo Ashram
Her early weekly conversations with a small group of disciples, held in English, on why one wants yoga, concentration, being conscious of oneself, and the difficulties of the path.
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Entretiens 1953 (Questions and Answers 1953)
Book · 1975 · Sri Aurobindo Ashram
Her talks of 1953 in the French classes at the Ashram school, where she answered questions from pupils and teachers on her own writings. From 1953 the classes were tape-recorded.
The short summaries are ours.
In their own words
Short passages in the words of Mirra Alfassa (Die Mutter), each with its source. Where the quoted text is not in the language of this page, a translation follows and says whose it is.
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Et j’aspire au jour où je ne pourrai plus dire « je » parce que je serai Toi.
And I long for the day when I can no longer say “I”, because I shall be Thou.
Translation: ours
Prières et Méditations (Prayers and Meditations) · Prayer of 2 November 1912, the first in the book (PDF edition 2008, p. 10 of the file) · sriaurobindoashram.org -
La sincérité est peut-être de toutes choses la plus difficile, et peut-être est-ce aussi la plus efficace. Si vous avez une sincérité parfaite, vous êtes sûr de la victoire.
Sincerity is perhaps the most difficult of all things, and perhaps it is also the most effective. If you have perfect sincerity, you are sure of victory.
Translation: ours
Entretiens 1953 (Questions and Answers 1953) · Talk of 25 March 1953 (PDF edition 2008, p. 14 of the file) · sriaurobindoashram.org Recorded: Spoken in French in a class at the Ashram school; according to the editors the classes were taken down in shorthand and tape-recorded from 1953. Published by the Sri Aurobindo Ashram. -
Auroville n’appartient à personne en particulier. Auroville appartient à toute l’humanité dans son ensemble. Mais pour séjourner à Auroville, il faut être le serviteur volontaire de la Conscience Divine.
Auroville belongs to no one in particular. Auroville belongs to all of humanity as a whole. But to live in Auroville, one must be a willing servant of the Divine Consciousness.
Translation: ours
Paroles de la Mère I (Words of the Mother I) · Charte d’Auroville, article 1, 28 February 1968, p. 209 (PDF edition 2009) · sriaurobindoashram.org
Documented teaching relationships
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Collaboration with Sri Aurobindo
Auroville describes the personal meeting in 1914, the lasting collaboration from 1920 and Mirra Alfassa as the organiser of the ashram. The relationship is recorded as a collaboration.
Stated by an institution · auroville.org
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Personal encounter with Anandamayi Ma
According to the website of Anandamayi Ma's devotees, Anandamayi Ma met the Mother (Mirra Alfassa) at the Sri Aurobindo Ashram in Pondicherry on 3 November 1952; the page quotes Anandamayi Ma's own account of the meeting from Ananda Varta (1960) and an account by Ethel Merston, who was present.
Self-reported · anandamayi.org
Teaching relationships are documented statements. They confer no trust and do not attest realisation.
Sources
- The Mother · Introduction · Sri Aurobindo Ashram The ashram she led; official short biography accessed 10 Oct 2026
- Prières et Méditations (Ashram PDF edition, 2008) Her own diary extracts in the French original, Ashram edition accessed 10 Oct 2026
- Prayers and Meditations · November 2, 1912 (Collected Works of the Mother, vol. 1) The Ashram's English translation, with its note on translations by Sri Aurobindo accessed 10 Oct 2026
- Questions and Answers 1929–1931 · Publisher's Note (Collected Works of the Mother, vol. 3) The Ashram's note on how the 1929 conversations were noted down and revised accessed 10 Oct 2026
- Questions and Answers 1929–1931 · 7 April 1929 (Collected Works of the Mother, vol. 3) Her conversation in English as noted by a disciple and revised by Sri Aurobindo accessed 10 Oct 2026
- Entretiens 1953 (Ashram PDF edition, 2008) Her talks in the French original, with the editors' note on shorthand and tape recording accessed 10 Oct 2026
- The Mother with Letters on the Mother (Complete Works of Sri Aurobindo, vol. 32) Sri Aurobindo's letters about her, Ashram edition (2012) accessed 10 Oct 2026
- Auroville Charter · Auroville The township's own presentation of its founding document accessed 10 Oct 2026
Compiled by us from the sources listed. Last checked 11 Oct 2026.
This description is factual. It contains no recommendation, ranking or assurance. Statements about effects are those of the respective source.