The Mother wants that the people responsible for receiving the visitors should always be very polite and gentle in their behaviour towards them…Never forget in your action that you are representing the Ashram. People will judge the Ashram from your behaviour. Even if you have to say No, even if you have to reject somebody’s request, you can do it with all politeness and courtesy. Try to help each one. Even if others are rude to you, it is not a reason for you to do likewise. If you behave in the same way as the outsiders do, then what is the fun of your being her.
I have always wondered what makes some ashramites behave this way in spite of such beautiful and encouraging words of the Mother? And even Sri Aurobindo’s. It’s a very basic discipline of nature as I see it, not as difficult as conquering lust or anger or greed.
It’s the other way round in some instances. Visitors are trying to take Mother’s words seriously and responding maturely to the rudeness of ashramites.
This is quite a relevant observation and i have given some thought to it. I suppose there are three or four reasons for such behaviour.
1) It is like the story of Jay Vijay wherein a strange kind of pride, even a sense of elitism may develop because you are so close to the seat of the highest power. Instead of taking is that it is the Mother and Sri Aurobindo’s Greatness, their Compassion and Grace that has led them to the greatest of the great some begin to think that they are here because of some exceptional quality or special merit. People come here from all walks of life and feed the spiritual ego further when they treat the inmate with great respect look8ng up to them as someone special due to their physical proximity to Sri Aurobindo and the Mother mistaking it for inner nearness. So this vanity and lack of humility is one of the main reasons, I feel.
2 ) There is a tremendous pressure here for change due to which an equally tremendous resistance also comes out. It can be destabilising if one’s head is not on the shoulders and the feet not firmly placed on the ground as one ascends the hill of yoga.
3) Quite a few of them have come very early and not really faced the challenges of life that teach us many things. Unlike putside, here there are no consequences for your rude behavior or unprofessional attitude reinforcing a tendency. The sadhaks are called upon to discard it freely by becoming aware of their unconsciousness rather than out of social pressures.
4) Finally, as Sri Aurobindo revealed the Ashram is a laboratory of human evolution where humanity is variously represented. Perhaps the right people are not put in the right place reflecting part of the general disorder of the world.
These, I suppose broadly explain the reasons for your observations and of quite a few others..Knowing this Sri Aurobindo spoke of the two atmospheres in the Ashram, one that is human, the other divine. The humans are not finished products but beings in transition and hence going through various types and degrees on instability. It is after all not an easy game and it takes quite a while just to learn the basic rules of the game, let alone play along the new way.
Affectionately,
Alok Da
