Mother's Agenda

Mirra Alfassa (21 February 1878 – 17 November 1973), known to her followers as The Mother or ''La Mère'', was a French-Indian spiritual guru, occultist and yoga teacher, and a collaborator of Sri Aurobindo, who considered her to be of equal yogic stature to him and called her by the name "The Mother" or "Shri Maa".

Alfassa was born in Paris in 1878 to a bourgeois Sephardi Jewish family from Turkey. In her youth, she traveled to Algeria to practice occultism along with the occultist Max Théon. After returning to Paris, Alfassa guided a group of spiritual seekers. In 1914, she traveled to Pondicherry, India, and met Sri Aurobindo. She identified him as "the dark Asiatic figure" of her visions, and called him Krishna. During this first visit, she helped publish a French version of the periodical ''Arya'', which serialised most of Sri Aurobindo's post-political prose writings.

In 1920, after living in Japan for four years, Alfassa returned to Pondicherry where she developed and managed the Sri Aurobindo Ashram. In 1943, she started a school in the ashram, and in 1968 she established Auroville, an experimental township dedicated to human unity and evolution. She died in Pondicherry in 1973.

A 13-volume biography, ''Mother's Agenda'', written by Satprem (one Alfassa's followers) was published in 1979.

Early life

Childhood

Mirra Alfassa was born in Paris in 1878 to Mathilde Ismalun, an Egyptian Jew, and Moïse Maurice Alfassa, a Turkish Jew who migrated from Edirne via Egypt. The family emigrated to France a year before Mirra was born. Mirra Alfassa was close to her grandmother Mira Ismalum (née Pinto), who was one of the first women to travel alone outside Egypt. They were a bourgeois family, and Alfassa's full name at birth was Blanche Rachel Mirra Alfassa. Her older brother, Mattéo Mathieu Maurice Alfassa, later held numerous French governmental posts in Africa.

Alfassa learned to read at the age of seven and began school at the age of nine. By the age of 14 she had read most of the books in her father's collection. Her biographer Vrekhem notes that Alfassa had various occult experiences in her childhood that she kept to herself, believing that her mother would have regarded occult experiences as a mental illness to be treated. Alfassa recalled having had, at the age of 13 or 14, a dream or a vision of a luminous figure whom she call Krishna.

As an artist and traveller

In Paris

In 1893 after graduating from school, Alfassa joined Académie Julian to study art. Her grandmother Mira Ismalum introduced her to :fr:Henri Morisset, an ex-student of the Académie, and they were married in 1897. Both were well-off and worked as artists for the next ten years, during an era known for having many impressionist artists. Alfassa's son André was born in 1898. Some of Alfassa's paintings were accepted by the jury of Salon d'Automne and were exhibited in 1903, 1904 and 1905. She was an atheist during this time, yet was experiencing visions which she thought of not as mental formations but as spontaneous experiences. She kept the experiences to herself but developed an urge to understand their significance. She came across the book Raja yoga by Swami Vivekananda and Bhagavad Gita which offered explanations for her experiences.

Max Théon and Mrs. Théon (Mary Ware)

During this time Alfassa made the acquaintance of Louis Thémanlys who was the head of the Cosmic Movement, a group started by Max Théon. After reading a copy of '' Cosmic Review'', Alfassa began attending Thémanlys's public lectures and became active in the group. In 1906 she travelled to the Algerian city of Tlemcen to meet with Max Théon and his wife Mary Ware at their estate. She consequently travelled there twice more, in 1906 and 1907, and there practised and experimented with the teachings of Théon and Ware.

In 1908, Alfassa moved to 49 rue de Lévis, Paris, living alone in a small apartment and involving herself in discussions with Buddhists and Cosmic movement circles. During this time she also made the acquaintance of Madame David Néel.

In 1911, Alfassa married Paul Richard, who, after serving four years in the army, had become interested in philosophy and theology. Alfassa was introduced to Richard by Max Théon.

First meetings with Sri Aurobindo and Japan

Alfassa's husband, Paul Richard, was an aspiring politician and had attempted to win election to the French senate from Pondicherry, which was then under French control. After losing on his first attempt, he wanted to run again, and in 1914 Alfassa and Richard set sail for India, reaching Pondicherry at the end of March. Alfassa and Richard stayed at the Grand Hotel D'Europe, and during this time they met Sri Aurobindo. Alfassa recognised Sri Aurobindo as a figure from her visions. During a later meeting, Alfassa experienced what she described as a complete silence of the mind, free from any thought.

Richard lost the election and decided to publish a journal about the yoga of Sri Aurobindo. The journal, called Arya, was written in both English and French, was first published in August 1914 and ran for the next six and half years. By this time World War I had erupted, and Indian revolutionaries were being prosecuted by the British for being spies of the German army. Although Sri Aurobindo had ceased his activities against British rule, he was considered to be a threat, and all the revolutionaries were asked to move to Algeria. Sri Aurobindo refused and the British asked the French government to hand over revolutionaries living in French Pondicherry. The British request came to Alfassa's brother, Mattéo Alfassa, who by then was foreign minister, and who slipped the letter amongst other files where it would not be seen by anyone else.

In 1915, at the insistence of the British, Richard was withdrawn from Pondicherry by the French government. After an unsuccessful attempt to remain there, Alfassa and Richard returned to Paris in February 1915. After a number of years in Paris, Richard was posted to Japan and China as a trade commissioner. Alfassa and Richard left for Japan, never to return to Paris again. Their time in Japan was relatively peaceful, and they spent the following four years there. In April 1920, however, Alfassa and Richard returned to Pondicherry. Alfassa moved to live near Sri Aurobindo in the guest house at Rue François Martin. Richard spent a year travelling around north India before returning to France. The couple later divorced. In November 1920, Alfassa to moved into Sri Aurobindo's house where she lived communally with other residents.

Foundation of the ashram

Initially, Alfassa was not fully accepted by the other commune members, and was considered an outsider. Sri Aurobindo considered her to be of equal yogic stature to him and started calling her "The Mother". From 1924, Alfassa took over managing the household, which was gradually turned into an ashram

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