She founded the Sri Aurobindo Ashram and established the town of Auroville; she was influential on the subject of Integral Yoga.

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.

Mirra Alfassa was close to her grandmother Mira Ismalum (née Pinto), who was one of the first women to travel alone outside Egypt.

Her older brother, Mattéo Mathieu Maurice Alfassa, later held numerous French governmental posts in Africa.

[12] 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.

[13] 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.

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.

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.

[22][23] Alfassa moved to live near Sri Aurobindo in the guest house at Rue François Martin.

Under the guidance of Mother, Antonin Raymond, the chief architect, assisted by Franticek Sammer and George Nakashima, constructed a dormitory building.

By this time the second world war erupted delaying the construction but was finally completed after ten years and was named Golconde.

She considered this was a considerable movement away from usual life in the ashram, which was until then about practising total renunciation of the outside world.

From 21 February 1949 she started a quarterly journal called The Bulletin in which Sri Aurobindo published a series of eight articles under the title "The supramental manifestation upon earth" wherein for the first time he wrote about transitional being between man and superman.

Alfassa declared dual citizenship for India and France,[38] which she tried to obtain but was unable to due to nationality law which had come into force and became an Indian citizen in 1954.

She started with just simple conversations and recitations, which later expanded into deeper discussions about integral yoga where she would read a passage from Sri Aurobindo's or her own writings and comment on them.

Mother had published an article titled "The Dream" in which she suggested a place on earth that no nation could claim as its sole property, for all humanity with no distinction.