{"id":2956,"date":"2013-07-13T01:44:52","date_gmt":"2013-07-13T01:44:52","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/localhost\/?p=2956"},"modified":"2013-07-13T01:44:52","modified_gmt":"2013-07-13T01:44:52","slug":"29-on-conversations-with-the-mother-vol-32-the-mother-with-letters-on-the-mother","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/worksofthemotherandsriaurobindo.org\/index.php\/01-works-of-sri-aurobindo\/03-cwsa\/32-the-mother-with-letters-on-the-mother\/29-on-conversations-with-the-mother-vol-32-the-mother-with-letters-on-the-mother","title":{"rendered":"-29_On Conversations with the Mother.htm"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n\n\n
\n

\n\t
\n\tOn Conversations with the Mother<\/i>
\n<\/font><\/b>
\n\t<\/span> <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n\t
\n\tComments on Specific Conversations<\/i>1<\/sup>
\n\t<\/a> <\/b>
\n\t<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n\tThe Mother asks: “What do you want the Yoga for? To
\nget power?” [p. 1<\/i>] Does “power” here mean the power to communicate one’s own experience to others?
\n\t<\/span> <\/p>\n

\nPower is a general term 
\n\u2014it is not confined to a power to communicate. The most usual form of power is control over things,
\npersons, events, forces. <\/span> <\/p>\n

\n\t“What is required is concentration  \u2014concentration upon the
\nDivine with a view to an integral and absolute consecration to its Will and Purpose” [p. 1<\/i>]. Is the Divine’s Will different
\nfrom its Purpose? <\/span> <\/p>\n

\n\tThe two words have not the same meaning. Purpose means
\nthe intention, the object in view towards which the Divine is working. Will is a wider term than that.
\n\t<\/span> <\/p>\n

\n“Concentrate in the heart” [p. 1<\/i>]. What is concentration? What is meditation?
\n<\/span> <\/p>\n

\nConcentration here means gathering of the consciousness into one centre and fixing it on one object or on one idea or in one
\ncondition. Meditation is a general term which can include many kinds of inner activity.
\n<\/span> <\/p>\n

\n1 January 1937 <\/span> <\/p>\n

\n

 <\/p>\n

\n\t*<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n\t <\/p>\n

<\/span><\/p>\n

\nIn Conversations <\/i>the Mother says: “A fire is burning there, in
\n\t<\/span> <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n\t
\n\t1 These conversations of 1929 were first published in 1931 as
\n<\/i>Conversations with
\nthe Mother. They now form the first part of <\/i>Questions and Answers 1929 \u00ad 1931
\n(Pondicherry: Sri Aurobindo Ashram, 2003), volume 3 of the Collected Works of the<\/i>
\nMother. The page numbers given after quoted passages in this subsection refer to the<\/i>
\n2003 edition.  \u2014Ed.<\/i><\/font><\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n
\nPage <\/font>\u2013 610<\/font><\/span><\/p>\n

\n

\nthe deep quietude of the heart” [p. 1<\/i>]. Is this the psychic fire or the psychic being?
\n<\/span> <\/p>\n

\nA fire is not a being 
\n\u2014it is the psychic fire, an intense condition of aspiration.
\n<\/span> <\/p>\n

\n

 <\/p>\n

\n\t*<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n\t 
\n <\/span><\/p>\n

\n\t“A fire is burning there. . . . It is the divinity in you 
\n\u2014your
\ntrue being. Hear its voice, follow its dictates” [p. 1<\/i>]. I have never seen this fire in me. Yet I feel I know the divinity in me.
\nI feel I hear its voice and I try my utmost to follow its dictates. Should I doubt my feeling?
\n\t<\/span> <\/p>\n

\nNo, what you feel is probably the intimation from the psychic being through the mind. To be directly conscious of the psychic
\nfire, one must have the subtle vision and subtle sense active or else the direct action of the psychic acting as a manifest power
\nin the consciousness. <\/span> <\/p>\n

\n\t“We have all met in previous lives” [p. 3<\/i>]. Who precisely are
\n“we”? Do both of you remember me? Did I often serve you for this work in the past?
\n\t<\/span> <\/p>\n

\nIt is a general principle announced which covers all who are called to the work. At the time the Mother was seeing the past
\n(or part of it) of those to whom she spoke and that is why she said this. At present we are too much occupied with the crucial
\nwork in the physical consciousness to go into these things. Moreover we find that it encouraged a sort of vital romanticism in
\nthe sadhaks which made them attach more importance to these things than to the hard work of sadhana, so we have stopped
\nspeaking of past lives and personalities.<\/span><\/p>\n

\n

\n\t2 January 1937
\n<\/span> <\/p>\n

\n

 <\/p>\n

\n\t*<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n\t 
\n <\/span><\/p>\n

\n\tIn Conversations <\/i>the Mother says: “We have all met in previous lives. . . . We are of one family and have worked through ages for the victory of the Divine” [p. 3<\/i>].
\n\tIs this true of all people who come and stay here? But there have been many
\n\twho came and went away. <\/span> <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n
\nPage <\/font>\u2013 611<\/font><\/span><\/p>\n

\n

\n

\nThose who went away were also of these and still are of that circle. Temporary checks do not make any difference to the
\nessential truth of the soul’s seeking. <\/span> <\/p>\n

\n\tIn what way have we “worked through ages for the victory of
\nthe Divine”? How much has been achieved till now? <\/span> <\/p>\n

\n\tBy the victory is meant the final emergence of the embodied
\nconsciousness on earth from the bondage of the Ignorance. That had to be prepared through the ages by a spiritual evolution.
\nNaturally the work up till now has been a preparation of which the long spiritual effort and experience of the past has been the
\noutcome. It has reached a point at which the decisive effort has become possible.
\n\t<\/span> <\/p>\n

\n18 June 1933 <\/span> <\/p>\n

\n

 <\/p>\n

\n\t*<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n\t“There are two paths of Yoga, one of tapasya <\/i>(discipline) and
\nthe other of surrender” [p. 4<\/i>]. Once you interpreted a vision I had as Agni, the fire of purification and tapasya, producing the Sun of Truth. What path do I follow? What place has tapasya in the path of surrender? Can one do absolutely
\nwithout tapasya in the path of surrender? <\/span> <\/p>\n

\n\tThere is a tapasya that takes place automatically as the result
\nof surrender and there is a discipline that one carries out by one’s own unaided effort 
\n\t\u2014it is the latter that is meant in the
\n“two paths of Yoga”. But Agni as the fire of tapasya can burn in either case.
\n\t<\/span> <\/p>\n

\n4 January 1937 <\/span> <\/p>\n

\n

 <\/p>\n

\n\t*<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n\t <\/p>\n

<\/span><\/p>\n

\nThe Mother, in her Conversations<\/i>, says that “the first effect of Yoga . . . is to take away the mental control” [p. 5<\/i>] so
\nthat the ideas and desires which were so long checked become surprisingly prominent and create difficulties. Would you not
\ncall these forces the consequence of yogic pressure? <\/span> <\/p>\n

\n\tThey were not prominent because they were getting some satisfaction or at
\n\tleast the vital generally was getting indulged in one way or another. When
\n\tthey are no longer indulged then they<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n
\nPage <\/font>\u2013 612<\/font><\/span><\/p>\n

\n

\nbecome obstreperous. But they are not new forces created by the Yoga 
\n\u2014they were there all the time.
\n<\/span> <\/p>\n

\nWhat is meant by the mental control being removed, is that the mental simply kept them in check but could not remove
\nthem. So in Yoga the mental has to be replaced by the psychic or spiritual self
\n\u2014control which could do what the mental cannot.
\nOnly many sadhaks do not make this exchange in time and withdraw the mental control merely.
\n<\/span> <\/p>\n

\n12 May 1933 <\/span> <\/p>\n

\n

 <\/p>\n

\n\t*<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n\t <\/p>\n

<\/span><\/p>\n

\n“The strength of such impulses as those of sex lies usually in the fact that people take too much notice of them” [p. 5<\/i>].
\nWhat are the other impulses referred to? <\/span> <\/p>\n

\n\tIt refers to strong vital impulses.
\n<\/span> <\/p>\n

\n“The whole world is full of the poison. You take it in with every breath. If you exchange a few words with an undesirable
\nman or even if such a man merely passes by you, you may catch the contagion from him” [p. 6<\/i>]. How long is a sadhak subject
\nto this fear of catching contagion? I feel I won’t catch such a contagion now. Is my feeling trustworthy?
\n<\/span> <\/p>\n

\nI don’t know that it is. One has to go very far on the path before one is so secure as that.
\n<\/span> <\/p>\n

\n4 January 1937 <\/span> <\/p>\n

\n

 <\/p>\n

\n\t*<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n\t <\/p>\n

<\/span><\/p>\n

\nIn Conversations <\/i>the Mother says that if the central being has surrendered, then the chief difficulty is gone [p. 7<\/i>]. What is
\nthis central being? Is it the psychic? <\/span> <\/p>\n

\n\tThe central being is the Purusha. If it is surrendered, then all the
\nother beings can be offered to the Divine and the psychic being brought in front.
\n\t<\/span> <\/p>\n

\n18 April 1933 <\/span> <\/p>\n

\n

 <\/p>\n

\n\t*<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n\t <\/p>\n

<\/span><\/p>\n

\nIn Conversations <\/i>
\nthe Mother says: "One who dances and jumps and screams has the feeling that he
\nis somehow very unusual in his excitement; and his vital nature takes great<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n
\nPage <\/font>\u2013 613<\/font><\/span><\/p>\n

\n

\n

\npleasure in that” [p. 11<\/i>]. Does she mean that one should be usual instead of unusual in one’s excitement during spiritual
\nexperience? <\/span> <\/p>\n

\n\tThe Mother did not mean that one must be usual in one’s excitement at all 
\n\t\u2014she meant that the man is not only excited but also wants to be unusual (extraordinary) in his excitement. The
\nexcitement itself is bad and the desire to seem extraordinary is worse.
\n<\/span> <\/p>\n

\n7 June 1933 <\/span> <\/p>\n

\n

 <\/p>\n

\n\t*<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n\t <\/p>\n

<\/span><\/p>\n

\n“But to those who possess the necessary basis and foundation we say, on the contrary, `Aspire and draw’ ” [p. 11<\/i>]. Does this
\ncapacity to aspire and draw indicate a great advance already made towards perfection?
\n<\/span> <\/p>\n

\nNo. It is a comparatively elementary stage.<\/span><\/p>\n

\n

\n\t5 January 1937
\n<\/span> <\/p>\n

\n

 <\/p>\n

\n\t*<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n\t 
\n <\/span><\/p>\n

\n\tIn the chapter on dream in the Conversations<\/i>, I came across
\nthe following passage: “In sleep you fell into the grip of these subconscient2 regions and they opened and swallowed all that
\nyou had laboriously built up in your conscious hours” [p. 15<\/i>]. If these regions swallow all one has achieved during the day,
\nis it not necessary to be conscious at night as well as in the day?
\n<\/span> <\/p>\n

\nAt night, when one sinks into the subconscient after being in a good state of consciousness, we find that state gone and we have
\nto labour to get it back again. On the other hand, if the sleep is of the better kind, one may wake up in a good condition. Of
\ncourse, it is better to be conscious in sleep, if one can.<\/span><\/p>\n

\n

\n\t25 June 1933
\n<\/span> <\/p>\n

\n

 <\/p>\n

\n\t*<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n\t 
\n <\/span><\/p>\n

\n\t“Spiritual experience means the contact with the Divine in
\noneself (or without, which comes to the same thing in that domain)” [p. 17<\/i>]. What is meant by the Divine “without”?
\n\t<\/span> <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n\t
\n\t2<\/sup> In the text of <\/i>Conversations, the word used is “unconscious”, not “subconscient”.<\/i>
\n \u2014Ed.<\/i>
\n  
\n<\/font> <\/span> <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n
\nPage <\/font>\u2013 614<\/font><\/span><\/p>\n

\n

\nDoes it mean the cosmic Divine or the transcendental Divine or both?
\n<\/span> <\/p>\n

\nIt means the Divine seen outside in things, beings, events etc. etc.
\n<\/span> <\/p>\n

\nWas Jeanne d’Arc’s nature transformed even a little because of her relation with the two archangels, the two beings of the
\nOvermind? [pp. 17 \u00ad 18<\/i>] <\/span> <\/p>\n

\n\tI don’t see how the question of transformation comes in. Jeanne
\nd’Arc was not practising Yoga or seeking transformation.<\/span><\/p>\n

\n

\n\t5 January 1937
\n<\/span> <\/p>\n

\n

 <\/p>\n

\n\t*<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n\t 
\n <\/span><\/p>\n

\n\t“You have no longer anything that you can call your own;
\nyou feel everything as coming from the Divine, and you have to offer it back to its source. When you can realise that, then
\neven the smallest thing to which you do not usually pay much attention or care, ceases to be trivial and insignificant; it becomes full of meaning and it opens up a vast horizon beyond” [p. 23<\/i>]. Is this as elementary a stage as the stage of “aspire and
\ndraw”?3 <\/span> <\/p>\n

\n\tNot so elementary.
\n<\/span> <\/p>\n

\n“But if we want the Divine to reign here we must give all we have and are and do here to the Divine” [p. 25<\/i>]. If one does
\nthis completely, has he anything more to do? <\/span> <\/p>\n

\n\tNo. But it is not easy to do it completely.
\n<\/span> <\/p>\n

\nHow can we recognise someone who gives all he has and is and does to the Divine?
\n<\/span> <\/p>\n

\nYou can’t, unless you have the inner vision.<\/span><\/p>\n

\n

\n\t14 January 1937
\n<\/span> <\/p>\n

\n

 <\/p>\n

\n\t*<\/span><\/p>\n

\n\t 
\n <\/span><\/p>\n

\n\t
\n\t3<\/sup> See the letter of 5 January 1937 on page 614. 
\n\t\u2014Ed.<\/i><\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n
\nPage <\/font>\u2013 615<\/font><\/span><\/p>\n

\n

\n

\nWhat does Mother mean by this sentence in Conversations<\/i>: “When you eat, you must feel that it is the Divine who is
\neating through you” [p. 23<\/i>]? <\/span> <\/p>\n

\n\tIt means an offering of the food not to the ego or desire but to
\nthe Divine, who is behind all action.<\/span><\/p>\n

\n

\n\t11 January 1935
\n<\/span> <\/p>\n

\n

 <\/p>\n

\n\t*<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n\t 
\n <\/span><\/p>\n

\n\tIn Chapter 7 of Conversations<\/i>, there is a paragraph which I
\nquote below: “The condition to be aimed at, the real achievement of Yoga, the final perfection and attainment, for which
\nall else is only a preparation, is a consciousness in which it is impossible to do anything without the Divine; for then if
\nyou are without the Divine, the very source of your action disappears; knowledge, power, all are gone. But so long as
\nyou feel that the powers you use are your own, you will not miss the Divine support” [p. 26<\/i>]. I am unable to follow the
\nlast line. Will my lord explain it to me? <\/span> <\/p>\n

\n\tIt means that in the full spiritual consciousness the sense of separate existence and my and mine disappear. All depends on the Divine and exists only by the Divine. The ordinary consciousness
\ndoes not feel or miss this Divine support because it takes as its own the knowledge and power that are given to it; it is quite
\nsatisfied with that and is not aware of the Divine Existence behind it, or the Divine Force and Knowledge.
\n\t<\/span> <\/p>\n

\n19 April 1937 <\/span> <\/p>\n

\n

 <\/p>\n

\n\t*<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n\t <\/p>\n

<\/span><\/p>\n

\n“For there is nothing in the world which has not its ultimate truth and support in the Divine” [p. 27<\/i>]. To know this perfectly
\nby experience is to have a very great attainment, perhaps the final attainment, I think. Am I right?
\n<\/span> <\/p>\n

\nYes. <\/span> <\/p>\n

\n\t“Obviously, what has happened had to happen; it would not
\nhave been, if it had not been intended” [p. 28<\/i>]. Then what is the place of repentance in man’s life? Has it any place in the
\nlife of a sadhak?
\n\t<\/span> <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n
\nPage <\/font>\u2013 616<\/font><\/span><\/p>\n

\n

\n\tThe place of repentance is in its effect for the future 
\n\u2014if it induces the nature to turn from the state of things that brought
\nabout the happening. For the sadhak however it is not repentance but recognition of a wrong movement and the necessity of
\nits not recurring that is needed.
\n\t<\/span> <\/p>\n

\n\t” . . . you are tied to the chain of Karma, and there, in that
\nchain, whatever happens is rigorously the consequence of what has been done before” [p. 30<\/i>]. Does “before” mean all the past
\nlives, beginning from the very first up to this one? <\/span> <\/p>\n

\n\tThat is taking things in the mass. In a metaphysical sense whatever happens is the consequence of all that has gone before up to the moment of the action. Practically, particular consequences
\nhave particular antecedents in the past and it is these that are said to determine it.
\n\t<\/span> <\/p>\n

\nFrom where are these quotations? In the exact intention of a sentence much sometimes depends on the context.
\n<\/span> <\/p>\n

\n19 January 1937 <\/span> <\/p>\n

\n

 <\/p>\n

\n\t*<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n\t <\/p>\n

<\/span><\/p>\n

\n“The intellect that believes too much in its own importance and wants satisfaction for its own sake, is an obstacle to the
\nhigher realisation. <\/span> <\/p>\n

\n

\n\tBut this is true not in any special sense or for the intellect
\nalone, but generally and of other faculties as well. For example, people do not regard an all
\n\t\u2014engrossing satisfaction of the vital
\ndesires or the animal appetites as a virtue; the moral sense is accepted as a mentor to tell one the bounds that one may
\nnot transgress. It is only in his intellectual activities that man thinks he can do without any such mentor or censor!” [p. 33<\/i>]
\n\t<\/span> <\/p>\n

\nThe subject is too large for any special instances to be usefully given, as an instance can only illustrate one side or field of a
\nvery various action. The point is that people take no trouble to see whether their intellect is giving them right thoughts, right
\nconclusions, right views on things and persons, right indications about their conduct or course of action. They have their idea
\nand accept it as truth or follow it simply because it is their <\/i>idea<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n
\nPage <\/font>\u2013 617<\/font><\/span><\/p>\n

\n

\n

\nEven when they recognise that they have made mistakes of the mind, they do not consider it of any importance nor do they
\ntry to be more careful mentally than before. In the vital field people know that they must not follow their desires or impulses
\nwithout check or control, they know that they ought to have a conscience or a moral sense which discriminates what they
\ncan or should do and what they cannot or should not do; in the field of intellect no such care is taken. Men are supposed to
\nfollow their intellect, to have and assert their own ideas right or wrong without any control; the intellect, it is said, is man’s
\nhighest instrument and he must think and act according to its ideas. But this is not true; the intellect needs an inner light to
\nguide, check and control it quite as much as the vital. There is something above the intellect which one has to discover and the
\nintellect should be only an intermediary for the action of that source of true Knowledge.
\n<\/span> <\/p>\n

\n23 March 1937 <\/span> <\/p>\n

\n

 <\/p>\n

\n\t*<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n\t <\/p>\n

<\/span><\/p>\n

\n“Many people would tell you wonderful tales of how the world was built and how it will proceed in the future, how
\nand where you were born in the past and what you will be hereafter, the lives you have lived and the lives you will still
\nlive. All this has nothing to do with spiritual life” [p. 40<\/i>]. Is what such people say complete humbug? Is there a process
\nother than the spiritual by which one can know all these things?
\n<\/span> <\/p>\n

\nOften it is, but even if it is correct, it has nothing spiritual in it. Many mediums, clairvoyants or people with a special faculty,
\ntell you these things. That faculty is no more spiritual than the capacity to build a bridge or to cook a nice dish or to solve a
\nmathematical problem. There are intellectual capacities, there are occult capacities, 
\n\u2014that is all.
\n<\/span> <\/p>\n

\n20 January 1937 <\/span> <\/p>\n

\n

 <\/p>\n

\n\t*<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n\t <\/p>\n

<\/span><\/p>\n

\n“They [human beings who are like vampires<\/i>]
\nare not human; there is only a human form or appearance. . . . Their method is
\nto try first to cast their influence upon a man; then they enter<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n
\nPage <\/font>\u2013 618<\/font><\/span><\/p>\n

\n

\nslowly into his atmosphere and in the end may get complete possession of him, driving out entirely the real human soul
\nand personality” [p. 42<\/i>]. My younger brother has married a girl who, the Mother has said, is vampirelike to some extent.
\nIs he then under all these risks? What precautions should he take? Shall I warn him?
\n<\/span> <\/p>\n

\nFirst of all what is meant is not that the vampire or vital being even in possession of a human body tries to possess yet another
\nhuman being. All that is the description of how a disembodied (vampire) vital being takes possession of a human body without
\nbeing born into it in the ordinary way  \u2014for that is their desire, to possess a human body but not by the way of birth. Once thus
\nhumanised, the danger they are for others is that they feed on the vitality of those who are in contact with them 
\n\u2014that is all.
\n<\/span> <\/p>\n

\nSecondly in this case, Mother only said vampirelike to some extent. That does not mean that she is one of these beings, but
\nhas to some extent the habit of feeding on the vitality of others. There is no need to say anything to your brother 
\n\u2014it would
\nonly disturb him and not help in the least.<\/span><\/p>\n

\n

\n\t27 January 1937
\n<\/span> <\/p>\n

\n

 <\/p>\n

\n\t*<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n\t 
\n <\/span><\/p>\n

\n\tIn Conversations <\/i>the Mother speaks of the power of thought:
\n“Let us say, for instance, that you have a keen desire for a certain person to come and that, along with this vital impulse
\nof desire, a strong imagination accompanies the mental form you have made. . . . And if there is a sufficient power of will
\nin your thought \u2014form, if it is a well \u2014built formation, it will arrive at its own realisation” [pp. 50 \u00ad 51<\/i>]. In the example
\ngiven, suppose one has no strong desire that a person should come, but still thoughts or imaginations loosely form in the
\nmind. Would that loose formation go and induce that person to come?
\n<\/span> <\/p>\n

\nIt might; especially if that person were himself desirous of coming, it could give the decisive push. But in most cases desire
\nor will behind the thought \u2014force would be necessary.<\/span><\/p>\n

\n

\n\t26 August 1936
\n<\/span> <\/p>\n

\n

 <\/p>\n

\n\t*<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n
\nPage <\/font>\u2013 619<\/font><\/span><\/p>\n

\n

\n

\nIn Conversations <\/i>the Mother says about the hostile forces: “If you have overlooked in your own being even a single detail,
\nthey will come and put their touch upon that neglected spot and make it so painfully evident that you will be forced to
\nchange” [p. 66<\/i>]. When sadhaks overlook even a single detail on the path of transformation, is it not possible that the Divine
\nwill make them conscious of it rather than becoming conscious through a painful wound by the hostile forces?
\n<\/span> <\/p>\n

\nIf they are sufficiently open to the Divine it can be done 
\n\u2014but most sadhaks have too much egoism and lack of faith and
\nobscurity and self \u2014will and vital desires,  \u2014it is that that shuts them to the Mother and calls in the action of the hostile forces.
\n<\/span> <\/p>\n

\nThose who cannot reject their lower nature fully are made to suffer at the hands of the hostile forces and get wounded by
\nthem. What is the best means for them to go forward? <\/span> <\/p>\n

\n\tFaith in the Mother and complete surrender.
\n<\/span> <\/p>\n

\n“This illusion of action is one of the greatest illusions of human nature. It hurts progress because it brings on you the necessity
\nof rushing always into some excited movement” [p. 67<\/i>]. What is meant by “illusion of action”?
\n<\/span> <\/p>\n

\nIllusion means that they think their action is all
\n\u2014important and its egoistic objects are the truth that must be followed.
\n<\/span> <\/p>\n

\n17 June 1933 <\/span> <\/p>\n

\n

 <\/p>\n

\n\t*<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n\t <\/p>\n

<\/span><\/p>\n

\nIn Conversations <\/i>the Mother says about the nervous envelope: “Depression and discouragement have a very adverse effect;
\nthey cut out holes in it, as it were, in its very stuff, render it weak and unresisting and open to hostile attacks an easy
\npassage” [p. 89<\/i>]. In one sense this means that a man with goodwill should
\nnot discourage anyone from his wrong ideas, impulses or movements. There is also
\nthe way of keeping silent when dealing with such a person  \u2014but even that
\nsometimes hurts him more than a point \u2014blank discouragement.
\n\t<\/span> <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n
\nPage <\/font>\u2013 620<\/font><\/span><\/p>\n

\n

\nThe knowledge about the bad effect of depression is meant for the sadhak to learn to avoid these things. He cannot expect
\npeople to flatter his failures or mistakes or indulge his foibles merely because he has the silly habit of indulging in depression
\nand hurting his nervous envelope if that is done. To keep himself free from depression is his business, not that of others. For
\ninstance some people have the habit of getting into depression if the Mother does not comply with their desires 
\n\u2014it does not
\nfollow that the Mother must comply with their desires in order to keep them jolly 
\n\u2014they must learn to get rid of this habit of
\nmind. So with people’s want of encouragement or praise for all they do. One can be silent or non
\n\u2014intervening, but if even that
\ndepresses them, it is their own fault and nobody else’s. <\/span> <\/p>\n

\n\tWould the bad effects of depression and discouragement indicated by the Mother happen in ordinary life also?
\n\t<\/span> <\/p>\n

\n\tOf course, it is the same in ordinary life 
\n\t\u2014depression is always
\nhurtful. But in sadhana it is more serious because it becomes a strong obstacle to the smooth and rapid progress towards the
\ngoal.<\/span><\/p>\n

\n

\n\t18 July 1936
\n<\/span> <\/p>\n

\n

 <\/p>\n

\n\t*<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n\t 
\n <\/span><\/p>\n

\n\tIn Conversations <\/i>the Mother writes: “Surrender will not diminish, but increase; it will not lessen or weaken or destroy your personality, it will fortify and aggrandise it” [p. 114<\/i>]. Is
\nthis meant in an external sense or in an internal sense only? <\/span> <\/p>\n

\n\tIt is meant in the inner sense only 
\n\t\u2014no outer greatness is meant.
\nAll submission is regarded by the ego as lowering and lessening itself, but really submission to the Divine increases and greatens
\nthe being, that is what is meant.<\/span><\/p>\n

\n

\n\t25 August 1937
\n<\/span> <\/p>\n

\n

 <\/p>\n

\n\t*<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n\t 
\n<\/span><\/p>\n

\n

\n\tIt seems difficult to understand when the Mother says that
\nspiritual sacrifice is joyful [p. 114<\/i>]. <\/span> <\/p>\n

\n\tShe was speaking of the true spiritual sacrifice of self
\n\t\u2014giving, not
\nthe bringing of an unwilling heart to the altar.<\/span><\/p>\n

\n

\n\t17 October 1935
\n  
\n622<\/i> <\/span> <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n
\nPage <\/font>\u2013 621<\/font><\/span><\/p>\n

\n

\n

\nA Translation of Conversations<\/i>
\n<\/a>
\n<\/b>
\n\t<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n\tAbout the Gujarati translation of the Conversations
\n<\/i>the Mother
\nhad told you she did not want it published or sent outside. In the original or in translation, the book is not one meant to be
\ngiven or shown to everybody. If X <\/i>wants to make copies for himself and
\nY <\/i>he can do so; but, as it comes from the Asram,
\nit might be taken for an authoritative issue from the Asram. It should be understood that it is
\nyour <\/i>translation, only made
\nfor your personal use; we have not seen it and cannot therefore guarantee its correctness.
\n\t<\/span> <\/p>\n

\n29 March 1932
\n\t<\/span> <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n\t
\n\tReading the Mother’s Conversations <\/i>and Pri\u00e8res<\/i>
\n\t<\/a> <\/b>
\n\t<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n\tI have a friend in Dacca to whom I want to send the Mother’s
\n\tConversations <\/i>and her Pri\u00e8res<\/i>. This lady knows French,
\nthough she knows nothing about the Yoga or about you. If you think I may send the books 
\n\u2014after seeing her photo  \u2014I
\nshall send them. <\/span> <\/p>\n

\n\tThe Prayers ought not to be given to anyone who is not practising Yoga. The “Conversations” are for those who are interested in Yoga.
\n\t<\/span> <\/p>\n

\n8 December 1933 <\/span> <\/p>\n

\n

 <\/p>\n

\n\t*<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n\tWhen I read the Mother’s Conversations <\/i>or her
\n\tPri\u00e8res<\/i>, I often
\nfeel as if I come in contact with her consciousness. If one read these two books constantly and thought about them alone,
\ncould one not make one’s consciousness more and more intense till it becomes like Mother’s? Of course, it might be only
\nthe mental that would be intensified and elevated, but perhaps by that intensity the vital and other parts of the being could
\npass beyond their usual condition. <\/span> <\/p>\n

\n\tIt is possible to intensely identify oneself with the Mother’s consciousness through what you read 
\n\t\u2014in that case the result you speak of could come. It could also have an effect on the vital up
\nto a certain point.<\/span><\/p>\n

\n

\n\t21 August 1935<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n
\nPage <\/font>\u2013 622<\/font><\/span><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/table>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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