Mirra Alfassa

Mirra Alfassa as a child c. 1885

Mirra Alfassa

Mirra Alfassa was born in 1878 in Paris to Moïse Maurice Alfassa, a Turkish Jewish father who migrated from Edirne via Egypt, and Mathilde Ismalun, an Egyptian Jewish mother. They were a bourgeois family, and Mirra's full name at birth was Blanche Rachel Mirra Alfassa. She had an elder brother, Mattéo Mathieu Maurice Alfassa, who later held numerous French governmental posts in Africa. The family had just migrated to France a year before Mirra was born. Mirra was close to her grandmother Mira Ismalum (née Pinto), who was a neighbour and who was one of the first women to travel alone outside Egypt.[1][2]

Mirra learnt to read at the age of seven and joined school very late at the age of nine. She was interested in various fields of art, tennis, music and singing, but was a concern to her mother owing to an apparent lack of permanent interest in any particular field.[3][4] By the age of 14 she had read most of the books in her father's collection, which is believed to have helped her achieve mastery of French.[5] Her biographer Vrekhem notes that Mirra had various occult experiences in her childhood but knew nothing of their significance or relevance. She kept these experiences to herself, as her mother would have regarded occult experiences as a mental problem to be treated.[6] Mirra especially recalls at the age of thirteen or fourteen having a dream or a vision of a luminous figure whom she used to call Krishna but had never seen before in real life.[7][8][9]

In 1893 after graduating from school, Mirra joined Académie Julian[10][11] to study art. Her grandmother Mira introduced her to fr:Henri Morisset, an ex-student of the Académie; they were married on 13 October 1897.[12] Both were well off and worked as artists for the next ten years, during an era known for having many impressionist artists. Her son André was born on 23 August 1898. Some of Alfassa's paintings were accepted by the jury of Salon d'Automne and were exhibited in 1903, 1904 and 1905.[13] She recalls herself being a complete atheist at this time, yet was experiencing various memories which she found were not mental formations but spontaneous experiences. She kept those experiences to herself and developed an urge to understand their significance. She came across the book Raja yoga by Swami Vivekananda, which provided some of the explanations she was looking for. Mirra also received a copy of the Bhagavad Gita in French, which helped her considerably in learning more about these experiences.[14]

Mirra Alfassa in Theon's house at Tlemcen, Algeria (1906–1907)

During this time Mirra made the acquaintance of Louis Thémanlys who was the head of the Cosmic Movement, a group started by Max Théon. Through reading a copy of Cosmic Review, she attended Thémanlys's speeches and became active in the group. For the first time, on 14 July 1906, she journeyed alone to the Algerian city of Tlemcen to meet with Max Théon and his wife Mary Ware. She consequently travelled twice more, in 1906 and 1907, to their estate at Tlemcen and there practised and experimented with the teachings of Max Théon and Mary Ware.[15]

In 1908, Mirra 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.[16] Mirra married Paul Richard in 1911 who after serving four years in the army had involved himself in philosophy and theology. He had come to know Mirra when he was in discussions with Max Théon. Vrekhem, a biographer of Mirra, mentions that Richard was undergoing a legal problem in receiving children from his first marriage to a Dutch woman, and had asked Mirra for help which she had accepted by marrying him.[17][18]

Dorothy Hodgson (Dutta), Mirra Alfassa, Paul Richard & Japanese friends in Tokyo c.a 1918

Richard was also an aspiring politician and had attempted to win election to the French senate from Pondicherry, which was then under French control. Despite his initial failure he wanted to make a second attempt, and on 7 March 1914 Mirra along with Richard set sail to India and reached Pondicherry by 29 March. It was in 1914 that Mirra Alfassa who later came to be known as The Mother, first set foot in Puducherry stayed in Grand Hotel D'Europe and met Sri Aurobindo.[19][20] After reaching Pondicherry, they fixed an appointment with Sri Aurobindo who was then settled in Pondicherry and had suspended all his activity for Indian independence from British rule. When she first met Sri Aurobindo, Mirra recognized in him the person whom she used to see in her dreams. During a later meeting, she experienced a complete silence of the mind, free from any thought.[21]

The Mother on a 1978 stamp of India

Richard lost the elections to Paul Bluysen whom he had supported in previous elections. Richard decided to publish a review of the yoga of Sri Aurobindo, and to be called Arya and be bilingual in both English and French. The Journal was first published on 15 August 1914 and ran for the next six and half years. Consequent journals published were later made into complete books.[22] 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 totally dispensed his activities against British rule, he was considered unsafe and all the revolutionaries were asked to move to Algeria. Sri Aurobindo had refused this offer, so the British had written to the French government in Paris asking to hand over revolutionaries staying at French Pondicherry. This request came to Mirra's brother, Mattéo Alfassa, who by then was foreign minister and who filed the request under other working files never to be looked upon again.[23][24]

On the insistence of the British in 1915, Richard was ordered to move out of Pondicherry. After an unsuccessful attempt to stay, both Mirra and Richard left for Paris on 22 February 1915. After a few years, Richard was ordered to promote French trade in Japan (which was then an ally of France and Britain) and China. Mirra left for Japan along with Richard, never to return to Paris again.[25]

Mirra and Richard stayed in Japan and made acquaintances among the Indian community. Their time in Japan was relatively peaceful, and they spent the following four years there. On 24 April 1920 Mirra returned with Richard to Pondicherry[26][27] accompanied by Dorothy Hodgson. Mirra moved to live near Sri Aurobindo in the guest house at Rue François Martin. Richard did not stay long in India; he spent a year travelling around North India returning to France and remarried in England after officially divorcing Mirra. After working a few years as a professor in the United States he died in 1968.[28] On 24 November 1920 due to a storm and heavy rain, Sri Aurobindo asked Mirra and Dorothy Hodgson (later known as Dutta) to move into Sri Aurobindo's house, and she started living in the house along with other residents. [29][30]