{"id":3735,"date":"2013-07-13T01:50:49","date_gmt":"2013-07-13T01:50:49","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/localhost\/?p=3735"},"modified":"2013-07-13T01:50:49","modified_gmt":"2013-07-13T01:50:49","slug":"19-transformation-of-the-vital-nature-vol-04-fourth-series-1951","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/worksofthemotherandsriaurobindo.org\/index.php\/01-works-of-sri-aurobindo\/02-other-editions\/letters-of-sri-aurobindo\/04-fourth-series-1951\/19-transformation-of-the-vital-nature-vol-04-fourth-series-1951","title":{"rendered":"-19_TRANSFORMATION OF THE VITAL NATURE.htm"},"content":{"rendered":"\n\n
\n

\nSECTION FIFTEEN<\/font><\/p>\n

\n <\/font><\/p>\n

\nTRANSFORMATION OF THE VITAL
\nNATURE<\/font><\/p>\n

\n

\n

\n                                                                                I.   LIBERATION FROM EGO <\/font><\/p>\n

\n                                                                                II.  REJECTION OF DESIRE     <\/font><\/p>\n

\n                                                                                III. REMOVAL OF WRONG VITAL MOVEMENTS <\/font><\/p>\n

\n

\n <\/p>\n

\nI. LIBERATION FROM EGO<\/font><\/p>\n

\n <\/font><\/p>\n

\nNeed of Transforming the Ego<\/i> <\/font><\/p>\n

\n <\/p>\n

\n

\n

OBVIOUSLY,<\/b> unless the object is Nirvana, the
\nsmall ego has to be attended to\u2014not indulged
\nbut transformed out of existence.<\/font><\/p>\n

\n

 <\/font><\/p>\n

\n21-4-1936 <\/font><\/p>\n

\n<\/a>Ego and True Being<\/i><\/font><\/p>\n

\n <\/font><\/p>\n

\nTHE form of ego has to be dissolved, it has not to be
\nreplaced by a bigger ego or another kind of ego. It
\nhas to be replaced by the true being which feels
\nitself, even though individual, yet one with all and
\none with the Divine.<\/font><\/p>\n

\n <\/font><\/p>\n

\n23-4-1936 <\/font><\/p>\n

\nPage-425 <\/font><\/p>\n

\n

\n<\/a>Removal of Ego<\/i> <\/font><\/p>\n

\n(1)<\/font><\/p>\n

\n IT is so with everybody. Human nature is shot 
\nthrough in all its stuff with the thread of the ego;
\neven when one tries to get away from it, it is in
\nfront or could be behind all the thoughts and
\nactions like a shadow. To see that is the first step,
\nto discern the falsity and absurdity of the ego-
\nmovements is the second, to discourage and refuse
\nit at each step is the third,\u2014but it goes entirely
\nonly when one sees, experiences and lives the One
\nin everything and equally everywhere. <\/font><\/p>\n

\n

\n8-10-1933 <\/font><\/p>\n

\n(2)<\/font><\/p>\n

\n <\/font><\/p>\n

\nIt is so with everybody, because the human consciousness
\nis permeated in all its past ideas with
\nthis substance of egoism. It is only by a constant
\nquiet vigilance and increasing consciousness that
\nit can be got out\u2014for if it is not allowed to play,
\nit conceals itself and takes subtle and disguised
\nforms. <\/font><\/p>\n

\n8-6-1933 <\/font><\/p>\n

\nPage-426 <\/font><\/p>\n

\n

\n(3)<\/font><\/p>\n

\n <\/font><\/p>\n

\nYou cannot expect to drive the ego out of the
\nmovements in a short time. What is necessary is
\nto see it quietly without being discouraged by its
\npresence and by a steady persistent action work
\nit out of the system.<\/font><\/p>\n

\n <\/font><\/p>\n

\n27-10-1933 <\/font><\/p>\n

\n(4)<\/font><\/p>\n

\n <\/font><\/p>\n

\nFor the ego, however insistent it may be, one has
\nto keep one’s eye on it and say no to all its suggestions
\nso that each position it takes up proves to be
\na fruitless move. Treated in that way, it becomes
\nready for the moment when the psychic has only
\nto give a slight push for it to fall away in each
\nfield of its activity from its loosened roots. Persevere
\nsteadily in the present movement and it cannot
\nfail to be effective.<\/font><\/p>\n

\n <\/font><\/p>\n

\n21-3-1937 <\/font><\/p>\n

\nPage-427 <\/font><\/p>\n

\n

\n
\n<\/a>Most Effective Force for Liberation from Ego<\/i><\/font><\/p>\n

\n <\/font><\/p>\n

\nWITHOUT persistent rejection it (liberation from the
\nego) cannot be done. Going up into the Self
\nliberates the higher parts, but the ego remains in
\nthe lower parts. The most effective force for this
\nliberation is the psychic control along with steady
\nrejection.<\/font><\/p>\n

\n <\/font><\/p>\n

\n15-7-1936 <\/font><\/p>\n

\n
\n<\/a>Necessity of Psychic Liberation and <\/i><\/font><\/p>\n

\nSelf-realisation
\nfor Removal of Ego<\/i><\/font><\/p>\n

\n <\/font><\/p>\n

\nWITHOUT the liberation of the psychic and the
\nrealisation of the true Self the ego cannot go, both
\nare necessary. If there is no consciousness of
\n<\/b>the <\/b>Self, how can the ego disappear? The psychic can
\nbe liberated by love and devotion, but I was
\nspeaking of a case in which it is not so liberated,
\nand the realisation of the Self seems more easy.<\/font><\/p>\n

\n <\/font><\/p>\n

\n3-11-1936 <\/font><\/p>\n

\nPage-428 <\/font><\/p>\n

\n

\n
\n<\/a>Necessity of Widening the Consciousness<\/i> <\/font><\/p>\n

\nfor Liberation from Ego<\/i><\/font><\/p>\n

\n <\/font><\/p>\n

\nIT is rather a wider than a higher consciousness
\nthat is necessary for the liberation from the ego\u2014
\ngoing high is necessary of course, but by itself it is
\nnot sufficient.<\/font><\/p>\n

\n <\/font><\/p>\n

\n15-7-1936 <\/font><\/p>\n

\n
\n<\/a>Going Within and Conquest of Ego<\/i><\/font><\/p>\n

\n <\/font><\/p>\n

\nYES. If you had gone inside, the psychic development
\nwould have been easier, and the conquest
\nof ego\u2014likewise, the widening of the consciousness.<\/font><\/p>\n

\n <\/font><\/p>\n

\n26-7-1936 <\/font><\/p>\n

\n
\n<\/a>Universality and Vital Egoism<\/i><\/font><\/p>\n

\n <\/font><\/p>\n

\nONCE the universality is established, there is no
\nlonger a secure fortress in the nature for the vital
\negoism\u2014the walls of it having been broken down. <\/font><\/p>\n

\nPage-429 <\/font><\/p>\n

\n

\nThey may still attack from outside, but it now lies
\nin the power of the sadhak to prevent their making
\na settled formation in him any longer.<\/font><\/p>\n

\n <\/font><\/p>\n

\n9-7-1933 <\/font><\/p>\n

\n
\n<\/a>Liberation from Ego and Transformation<\/i><\/font><\/p>\n

\n <\/font><\/p>\n

\nTHE transformation of the Gunas is necessary for
\n<\/b>the <\/b>perfection of the nature, not for liberation. Liberation
\ncomes by loss of ego and desire.<\/font><\/p>\n

\n <\/font><\/p>\n

\n20-1-1936 <\/font><\/p>\n

\n<\/a>Difficulty of Removing Ego<\/i><\/font><\/p>\n

\n <\/font><\/p>\n

\nBUT who has got rid of ego in this Ashram? To
\nget rid of ego is as difficult as to make a complete
\nsurrender.<\/font><\/p>\n

\n <\/font><\/p>\n

\n10-8-1936 <\/font><\/p>\n

\nPage-430 <\/font><\/p>\n

\n

\n
\n<\/a>Ego-centricity in Sadhana<\/i><\/font><\/p>\n

\n <\/font><\/p>\n

\nTHERE is nothing to be troubled about. You ought
\nrather to congratulate yourself that you have
\nbecome conscious of your ego-centricity. Very few
\npeople in the Ashram are. They are all ego-centric
\nand they do not realise their ego-centricity. Even
\nin their sadhana the I is always there,\u2014my<\/i> sadhana,
\nmy<\/i> progress, my<\/i> everything. The remedy is to
\nthink constantly of the Divine, not of oneself, to
\nwork, to act, do sadhana for the Divine; not to
\nconsider how this or that affects me<\/i> personally, not
\nto claim anything, but to refer all to the Divine.
\nIt will take time to do that sincerely and thoroughly,
\nbut it is the proper way. <\/font><\/p>\n

\n

\n31-3-1936 <\/font><\/p>\n

\n
\n<\/a>The Ego-centric and the Unegoistic Attitude<\/i><\/font><\/p>\n

\n <\/font><\/p>\n

\nTHE ego-centric man feels and takes things as they
\naffect him. Does this please me or displease, give
\nme gladness or pain, flatter my pride, vanity,
\nambition or hurt it, satisfy my desires or thwart
\nthem, etc. The unegoistic man does not look at <\/font><\/p>\n

\nPage-431 <\/font><\/p>\n

\n

\nthings like that. He looks to see what things are 
\nin themselves and would <\/b> be if <\/b> he were not there, <\/i>what is their meaning, how they <\/b> fit into the scheme
\nof things\u2014or else he feels calm and equal, refers
\neverything to the Divine, or if he is a man of action,
\nhow they will serve the work that has to be done
\nor the life of the world or the cause he serves, etc.
\netc. There can be many points of view which are
\nnot ego-centric.<\/font><\/p>\n

\n <\/font><\/p>\n

\n2-4-1936 <\/font><\/p>\n

\n
\n<\/a>Ego and Spiritual Experience<\/i><\/font><\/p>\n

\n <\/font><\/p>\n

\nA TRUE spiritual experience must be free from the
\nclaim of the ego. What the ego can do, however,
\nis to get proud of having the experience and think: 
\n"What a great one am I?" Or it may think, "I
\nam the Self, the Divine. So let me go and do what
\nI will, for it is the Divine who wills in me." It is
\nonly if the experience of Self imposes silence on the
\nother parts and frees the psychic that the ego disappears.
\nEven if not ego itself, numerous fragments
\nand survivals of ego-habit can remain and have to-
\nbe eliminated. <\/font><\/p>\n

\n

\n3-11-1936 <\/font><\/p>\n

\nPage-432 <\/font><\/p>\n

\n

\n
\n<\/a>Exaltation and Egoistic Feeling in Spiritual
\nExperience<\/i><\/font><\/p>\n

\n <\/font><\/p>\n

\nA CERTAIN exaltation of the being comes naturally
\nwith the stronger experiences and the sense of marvel
\nor miracle may go with it, but there should be no
\negoistic feeling in the exaltation.<\/font><\/p>\n

\n <\/font><\/p>\n

\n23-5-1936 <\/font><\/p>\n

\n
\n<\/a>Opening to Higher Force and the Danger
\nof Magnified Ego<\/i><\/font><\/p>\n

\n <\/font><\/p>\n

\nYES, it is a thing which comes to many, exaggerated
\nand made a principal part of the vital attitude, it
\nhas been the cause of failure and departure of
\nseveral who consider themselves great sadhakas\u2014
\nthey made it an excuse for indulging and magnifying
\nthe vital ego. Since you see that it is ridiculous, you
\nshould have no difficulty in getting rid of it. The
\nonly truth in it is that each one who opens himself
\nin such a way that the Force can get through to
\nhis material so as to change it, will by that be
\ncontributing to the victory of the Force\u2014but it
\napplies <\/b> to everybody, not to any one individual.<\/font><\/p>\n

\n <\/font><\/p>\n

\n1933 <\/font><\/p>\n

\nPage-433 <\/font><\/p>\n

\n

\n
\n<\/a>Vehemence of Unregenerate Vital Ego<\/i><\/font><\/p>\n

\n <\/font><\/p>\n

\nVEHEMENCE comes from the unregenerate vital
\nego which is just the thing that stands most in the way
\nof the transformation; other things are comparatively
\nmild obstacles compared with this part of the being.
\nIt is much better that the Mother refused consideration
\nto this part of you\u2014consideration would 
\nhave been a much more dangerous test than
\nrefusal.<\/font><\/p>\n

\n <\/font><\/p>\n

\n9-6-1933 <\/font><\/p>\n

\n<\/a>Ego and the Psychic Fire<\/i><\/font><\/p>\n

\n <\/font><\/p>\n

\nIT is egoistic if the ego thinks that it is the psychic
\nfire. If the consciousness feels identified with the
\npsychic fire and becomes conscious that the fire 
\ncan burn out all impurities, then it is a true
\nexperience.<\/font><\/p>\n

\n <\/font><\/p>\n

\n20-5-1936 <\/font><\/p>\n

\nPage-434 <\/font><\/p>\n

\n

\n
\n<\/a>Egoistic Self-justification<\/i><\/font><\/p>\n

\n <\/font><\/p>\n

\nYES\u2014self-justification keeps the wrong movement
\ngoing because it gives a mental support. Self-
\njustification is always a sign of ego and ignorance.
\nWhen one has a wider consciousness, one knows
\nthat each one has his own way of looking at things
\nand finds in that way his own justification, so that
\nboth parties in a quarrel believe themselves to be
\non the right. It is only when one looks from above
\nin a consciousness clear of ego that one sees all
\nsides of a thing and also their real truth.<\/font><\/p>\n

\n <\/font><\/p>\n

\n2-3-1933 <\/font><\/p>\n

\n
\n<\/a>The Obstacle of Self-esteem<\/i><\/font><\/p>\n

\n <\/font><\/p>\n

\nYou have capacities and Yogic stuff, but along
\nwith them goes a very strong self-esteem and a
\nself-righteous spirit which stand in the way of perfection
\nand constitute a very serious obstacle. So
\nlong as a sadhak has that, the attempt of the Truth
\nto manifest in him will always be baffled by his
\nchanging it into mental and vital constructions 
\nwhich distort it, turn it into ineffective half-truth
\nor even make truth itself a source of error.<\/font><\/p>\n

\n <\/font><\/p>\n

\n2-12-1931 <\/font><\/p>\n

\nPage-435 <\/font><\/p>\n

\n

\n<\/a>You and Others<\/i><\/font><\/p>\n

\n <\/font><\/p>\n

\nIT is not what others think of you that matters, but
\nwhat you are yourself.<\/font><\/p>\n

\n <\/font><\/p>\n

\n1933 <\/font><\/p>\n

\n
\n<\/a>False and True Judgment of Others<\/i><\/font><\/p>\n

\n <\/p>\n

\n

\nIT is the petty ego in each that likes to discover
\nand talk about the "real or unreal" defects of others
\n\u2014and it does not matter whether they are real
\nor unreal; the ego has no right to judge them;
\nbecause it has not the right-view or the right spirit.
\nIt is only the calm, disinterested, dispassionate,
\nall-compassionate and all-loving Spirit that can
\njudge and see rightly the strength and weakness in
\neach being.<\/font><\/p>\n

\n <\/font><\/p>\n

\n12-6-1934 <\/font><\/p>\n

\nPage-436 <\/font><\/p>\n

\n

\n<\/a>Wrong Human Judgments<\/i><\/font><\/p>\n

\n <\/font><\/p>\n

\nIT is not a question of ordinary life. In ordinary
\nlife people always judge wrongly because they judge
\nby mental standards and generally by conventional
\nstandards. The human mind is an instrument not
\nof truth but of ignorance and error.<\/font><\/p>\n

\n <\/font><\/p>\n

\n25-8-1933 <\/font><\/p>\n

\n<\/a>Defects of Others<\/i><\/font><\/p>\n

\n <\/font><\/p>\n

\nDo not dwell much on the defects of others. It
\nis-not helpful. Keep always quiet and peace in the
\nattitude.<\/font><\/p>\n

\n <\/font><\/p>\n

\n16-2-1937 <\/font><\/p>\n

\n<\/a>Two Types of Egoists<\/i><\/font><\/p>\n

\n <\/font><\/p>\n

\nIT depends on the nature of the ego. Some egoists
\nare hard-skinned and not sensitive at all, others are
\nhyper-sensitive.<\/font><\/p>\n

\n <\/font><\/p>\n

\n16-6-1936 <\/font><\/p>\n

\nPage-437 <\/font><\/p>\n

\n

\nII. REJECTION OF DESIRE<\/font><\/p>\n

\n <\/font><\/p>\n

\nDesires in the Straight Path<\/i><\/font><\/p>\n

\n <\/font><\/p>\n

\nIs there any time in the "straight path" for
\nsatisfying desires? If desire is not mastered, 
\nhow can there be any straight walking on
\n<\/b>the <\/b>straight path?<\/font><\/p>\n

\n <\/font><\/p>\n

\n26-6-1932 <\/font><\/p>\n

\nDesires and Attachments<\/a><\/i><\/font><\/p>\n

\n <\/font><\/p>\n

\nALL desires and attachments are vital, all self-
\nindulgence also.<\/font><\/p>\n

\n Page-438<\/font><\/p>\n

\n

\nRejection of Worldly Desires<\/a><\/i><\/font><\/p>\n

\n <\/font><\/p>\n

\nIT is the old vital nature that feels its human
\nworldly
\ndesires will not be satisfied and feels like this. 
\nAll that has not to be indulged but rejected and
\nswept aside. In its place must come the wideness
\nin which there is a self-existent peace and satisfaction
\nand into that peace and wideness must come
\nthe Mother’s greater peace, force, light, knowledge,
\nAnanda.<\/font><\/p>\n

\n <\/font><\/p>\n

\n8-9-1933 <\/font><\/p>\n

\nRejection of Ego and Desire<\/a><\/i><\/font><\/p>\n

\n <\/font><\/p>\n

\nALL belongs to the Divine\u2014there must be no ego
\nor desire\u2014only the Divine and its Light, Knowledge,
\nPower, Ananda, action. But all this must
\ncome from above, not from the mixed lower cosmic 
\nforces.<\/font><\/p>\n

\n 6-3-1934 <\/font><\/p>\n

\nDetachment from Wants<\/a><\/i><\/font><\/p>\n

\n <\/font><\/p>\n

\nAFTER realisation whatever the higher Will demands
\nis the best\u2014but first, detachment is the rule. To
\nreach the freedom without the discipline and
\ndevelopment is given to few.<\/font><\/p>\n

\n <\/font><\/p>\n

\n15-11-1933 <\/font><\/p>\n

\nPage-439 <\/font><\/p>\n

\n

\n
\nSurmounting of Vital Desires and Establishment<\/a><\/i><\/font><\/p>\n

\n of Calm and Strength<\/i><\/font><\/p>\n

\n <\/font><\/p>\n

\nTHERE was and is the opening before you of a new
\nstage in your spiritual development. For it to
\nrealise itself you must progress first in two directions.
\nThe first we have already pressed on you\u2014the
\nsurmounting of those vital desires which linked you
\nto the lower movements and invited the pressure
\nof a hostile Force on your lower vital and your
\nbody, and the complete surrender of life and body
\nto the One alone. The other is the descent of a full
\ncalm and strength and equanimity into these parts so
\nthat you may conquer life and its difficulties and do
\nyour work for the Divine. This calm and strength had
\noften descended into your mind and higher vital,
\nbut these other parts were still open to much weakness
\nand attachment and a self-indulgent movement.
\nThat must go if one wants to become a hero
\nand master of spiritual action. In your life at
\nyour previous place these things were too much
\nsheltered and allowed to remain; at your present
\nplace you have a chance to be by yourself with
\nthe Divine Force and look life in the face from
\nthe soul’s inner strength and become master of
\ncircumstances. Outer difficulties or inconveniences
\nyou should not allow to alarm or depress you. Inner difficulties should also be met with detachment,
\ncalm equality, the unshakable will to conquer. <\/font><\/p>\n

\nPage-440 <\/font><\/p>\n

\n

\nAs for the rest you have rightly said, "I must
\npreserve my equanimity and a faith in Divine Guidance
\nwhen falsehood or any trouble or difficulty
\nconfronts me." The defect that opened the way
\nto the bodily and other troubles was the faltering
\nin your resolution to conquer the vital and follow
\nthe straight and high path and the consequent
\nviolent despair and depression it brought in its
\nwake. Let these disappear altogether and do not
\nallow them to rise in that way again. The path
\nof spiritual calm and strength and the consecration
\nof all your forces to the Divine is the one safe way
\nfor you and that you must now consistently follow.<\/font><\/p>\n

\n <\/font><\/p>\n

\n1-11-1933 <\/font><\/p>\n

\n
\nThe Obstruction of Small Desires<\/a><\/i><\/font><\/p>\n

\n <\/font><\/p>\n

\nYou have done rightly about the things. These
\nsmall desires obstruct greatly the change in the
\nouter consciousness and the being must be free from
\nthem if the transformation is not to be hampered
\nthere.<\/font><\/p>\n

\n <\/font><\/p>\n

\n25-8-1936 <\/font><\/p>\n

\nPage-441 <\/font><\/p>\n

\n

\nSmall Lower-vital Habits<\/a><\/i><\/font><\/p>\n

\n <\/font><\/p>\n

\nIT is the small habits of the lower-vital being which
\ngather all their strength to resist correction and 
\ntry to occupy the consciousness. When they come
\nyou must learn to detach your inner consciousness
\nfrom them entirely so that even when they strongly
\ncome they will not be able to occupy the consciousness
\nor get any assent.<\/font><\/p>\n

\n <\/font><\/p>\n

\n6-9-1934 <\/font><\/p>\n

\n
\nSmall Habits of the Physical-Vital<\/a><\/i><\/font><\/p>\n

\n <\/font><\/p>\n

\nTHE vital in the physical easily slips back to its old
\nsmall habits if it gets a chance. It is there that 
\nthey stick. They go entirely only when that part
\ngets equanimity and a simple natural freedom from
\nall desires.<\/font><\/p>\n

\n <\/font><\/p>\n

\n22-3-1934 <\/font><\/p>\n

\nPage-442 <\/font><\/p>\n

\n

\n
\nAutomatic Action of the Physical-Vital’s Habits<\/a><\/i><\/font><\/p>\n

\n <\/font><\/p>\n

\nTHESE habits of the physical-vital are almost automatic
\nin their action and it takes either a very strong 
\nwill or a persistent effort of self-discipline to get out
\nthis automatic, almost reflex action. You should
\nnot therefore be discouraged by the difficulty, but
\ngo on with the necessary perseverance of the will
\nto press it out of existence.<\/font><\/p>\n

\n <\/font><\/p>\n

\n27-8-1933 <\/font><\/p>\n

\n
\nMental Obsession Due to Vital Attachment<\/a><\/i><\/font><\/p>\n

\n <\/font><\/p>\n

\nWHEN the vital takes hold of a thing, it is often like
\nthat\u2014 it fixes it continually on the mind till it
\nis either satisfied or the hold thrown off. <\/font><\/p>\n

\n

\n19-6-1933 <\/font><\/p>\n

\n
\nPurification of the Vital-Physical<\/a><\/i><\/font><\/p>\n

\n <\/font><\/p>\n

\nIT is the crude vital-physical that returns upon you
\nin this way\u2014and these returns must be the cause of
\nall the feelings of illness, weakness, tamas that you
\nget. A purification of this part by the descent of the
\nhigher consciousness into it is a very great necessity
\nfor your sadhana. <\/font><\/p>\n

\nPage-443 <\/font><\/p>\n

\n

\n
\nTwo Places of Retirement of Vital-Physical
\nMovements<\/a><\/i><\/font><\/p>\n

\n <\/font><\/p>\n

\nTHERE are two places into which it (the crude vital-
\nphysical) can retire\u2014the subconscient vital below
\nor the environmental consciousness around. When
\nit returns, it surges up from below, if it is the former,
\nor approaches and invades from outside if it is the
\nlatter.<\/font><\/p>\n

\n <\/font><\/p>\n

\n
\nDeliverance from Blind Vital Energy<\/a><\/i><\/font><\/p>\n

\n <\/font><\/p>\n

\nIT is through a change in the vital that the deliverance
\nfrom the blind vital energy must come\u2014by
\nthe emergence of the true vital which is strong,
\nwide, at peace, a willing instrument of the Divine
\nand of the Divine alone.<\/font><\/p>\n

\n <\/font><\/p>\n

\n28-8-1933 <\/font><\/p>\n

\nPage-444 <\/font><\/p>\n

\n

\nThe True Vital Energy<\/a><\/i><\/font><\/p>\n

\n <\/font><\/p>\n

\nIT means the life-energy which comes from within
\nand is in consonance with the psychic being\u2014it is 
\nthe energy of the true vital being, but in the
\nordinary ignorant vital it is deformed into desire.
\nYou have to quiet and purify the vital and let the
\ntrue vital emerge. Or you have to bring the psychic
\nin front and the psychic will purify and psychicise
\nthe vital and then you will have the true vital
\nenergy.<\/font><\/p>\n

\n <\/font><\/p>\n

\n1933 <\/font><\/p>\n

\n

\nPage-445 <\/font><\/p>\n

\n

\nIII. REMOVAL OF WRONG VITAL
\nMOVEMENTS<\/font><\/p>\n

\n <\/font><\/p>\n

\n
\nNeed of Disciplining the Restless Vital<\/i> <\/font><\/p>\n

\n(1)<\/font><\/p>\n

\n <\/font><\/p>\n

\nTHE human vital is almost always of that nature,
\nbut that is no reason why one should accept it as
\nan unchangeable fact and allow a restless vital to
\ndrive one as it likes. Even apart from Yoga, in
\nordinary life, only those are considered to have full
\nmanhood or are likely to succeed in their life,
\ntheir ideals or their undertakings who take in hand
\nthis restless vital, concentrate and control it and <\/font><\/p>\n

\nPage-445 <\/font><\/p>\n

\n

\nsubject it to discipline. It is by the use of the mental
\nwill that they discipline it, compelling it to do not
\nwhat it wants but what the reason or the will sees
\nto be right or desirable. In Yoga one uses the
\ninner will and compels the vital to submit itself to
\ntapasya so that it may become calm, strong, obedient
\n\u2014or else one calls down the calm from above
\nobliging the vital to renounce desire and become
\nquiet and receptive. The vital is a good instrument
\nbut a bad master. If you allow it to follow its
\nlikes and dislikes, its fancies, its desires, its bad
\nhabits, it becomes your master and peace and
\nhappiness are no longer possible. It becomes not
\nyour instrument or the instrument of the Divine
\nShakti, but of any force of the Ignorance or even
\nany hostile force that is able to seize and use it.<\/font><\/p>\n

\n <\/font><\/p>\n

\n30-1-1933 <\/font><\/p>\n

\n(2)<\/font><\/p>\n

\n <\/font><\/p>\n

\nIt is true that for the external vital an outer discipline
\nis necessary for the purification, otherwise it <\/i>remains restless and fanciful and at the mercy of
\nits own impulses\u2014so that no basis can be built there
\nfor a quiet and abiding higher consciousness to remain <\/font><\/p>\n

\nPage-446 <\/font><\/p>\n

\n

\nfirmly. The attitude you have taken for the work
\nis, of course, the best one and, applying it steadily,
\nthe progress you feel was bound to come and is
\nsure to increase.<\/font><\/p>\n

\n <\/font><\/p>\n

\n
\nOvercoming Restlessness and Attachment<\/a><\/i><\/font><\/p>\n

\n <\/font><\/p>\n

\nIT is necessary that you yourself should get over
\nany restlessness or strong attachment and face
\nthese things with a perfectly calm mind. If you can
\ndo that, it will then be easier for the Force to do
\nsomething. For any attachment or restlessness comes
\nin the way of a spiritual working. Train yourself
\nto look calmly without disturbance and simply see
\nwhat has to be done and quietly will it; it is so that
\nthe ordinary consent of the Nature-forces can be
\novertopped and overcome.<\/font><\/p>\n

\n <\/font><\/p>\n

\n31-3-1936 <\/font><\/p>\n

\nPage-447 <\/font><\/p>\n

\n

\n
\nInexhaustible Energy and Discipline<\/a><\/font><\/i><\/font><\/p>\n

\n <\/p>\n

\n

\nAN overmastering impulse is not necessarily an
\ninspiration of true guidance; in following always
\nsuch impulses one is more likely to become a creature
\nof random caprices. Inexhaustible energy is an
\nexcellent thing, but not an energy without discipline.<\/font><\/p>\n

\n <\/font><\/p>\n

\n2-4-1930 <\/font><\/p>\n

\nNeed of Vigilance<\/a><\/i> <\/font><\/p>\n

\n(1)<\/font><\/p>\n

\n <\/font><\/p>\n

\nTHE liberation you feel is likely to be fundamental
\nand definite. But in these matters, even after the
\nliberation, one has to remain vigilant\u2014for often
\nthese things go out and remain at a far distance,
\nwaiting to see if under any circumstances in any
\ncondition they can make a rush and recover
\ntheir kingdom. If there has been an entire purification
\ndown to the depths and nothing is there to
\nopen the gate, then they cannot do it. But it is only
\nafter one has been a long time free that one can
\nsay, "Over, it is all right for ever."<\/font><\/p>\n

\n <\/font><\/p>\n

\n11-5-1933 <\/font><\/p>\n

\nPage-448 <\/font><\/p>\n

\n

\n(2)<\/font><\/p>\n

\n <\/font><\/p>\n

\nIt is perhaps that the attitude you took of going
\non with the calm within and slowly changing what
\nhad to be changed, postponing certain things for
\nthe future,\u2014though not a wrong attitude in itself,
\n\u2014made you somewhat lax, allowing things to play
\non the surface (desires, etc.) which should have been
\nkept in check. This resolution may have opened the
\nway for the old movements to rise through this part
\nwhich was not yet ready to change at all and the
\nhostile forces finding you off your guard took the
\nopportunity to push the attack home. They are
\nalways vigilant for an opportunity and there must
\nbe a sufficient vigilance on the sadhak’s side to refuse
\nit to them. It is also possible that as the Force
\ndescending in the general atmosphere has carried
\nin it some pressure on the consciousness of the
\nsadhaks to be more ready, more awake, less
\nengrossed in the movements of the ordinary nature
\nthan they are now, it fell upon this part and the
\nresistance in it, which was mostly passive for a
\nlong time, became suddenly active under the
\npressure.<\/font><\/p>\n

\n <\/font><\/p>\n

\n29-3-1936 <\/font><\/p>\n

\nPage-449 <\/font><\/p>\n

\n

\n
\nNeed of Patience in Changing the Vital<\/a><\/i><\/font><\/p>\n

\n <\/font><\/p>\n

\nTHE one thing you have to avoid is losing patience; 
\nfor that only prolongs the vital trouble. If the
\nvital is to be changed (fundamentally) it always gives
\nconstant trouble like this until one can seat oneself
\nfixedly in the calm of the inner consciousness and
\nkeep the vital movements quite on the surface.<\/font><\/p>\n

\n <\/font><\/p>\n

\n12-7-1933 <\/font><\/p>\n

\n
\nRepeated Struggle with Lower Forces<\/a><\/i><\/font><\/p>\n

\n <\/font><\/p>\n

\nIT is the usual course of the process by which the
\nchange of consciousness is effected. The lower
\nforces seldom yield the ground without a protracted
\nand often repeated struggle. What is gained can be
\ncovered over, but it is never lost.<\/font><\/p>\n

\n <\/font><\/p>\n

\n27-4-1933 <\/font><\/p>\n

\nPage-450 <\/font><\/p>\n

\n

\nReturns of Old Nature<\/a><\/i><\/font><\/p>\n

\n <\/font><\/p>\n

\nWHY do you indulge in these exaggerated feelings
\nof remorse and despair when these things come up 
\nfrom the subconscient? They do not help and make
\nit more, not less, difficult to eliminate what comes.
\nSuch returns of an old nature that is long expelled
\nfrom the conscious parts of the being always happen
\nin sadhana. It does not at all mean that the nature
\nis unchangeable. Try to recover the inner quietude,
\ndraw back from these movements and look at them
\ncalmly, reducing them to their true proportions.
\nYour true nature is that in which you have peace
\nand Ananda and the love of the Divine. This other
\nis only a fringe of the outer personality which in spite
\nof these returns is destined to drop away as the true
\nbeing extends and increases.<\/font><\/p>\n

\n <\/font><\/p>\n

\n18-3-1933 <\/font><\/p>\n

\nSurging up of Old Movements<\/a><\/i><\/font><\/p>\n

\n <\/font><\/p>\n

\nTHERE is no reason to be so much cut down or
\ndespair
\nof your progress. Evidently, you have had a
\nsurging up of the old movements, but that can
\nalways happen so long as there is not an entire change
\nof the old nature both in the consciousness and subconscient
\nparts. Something came up that made you
\nget out of poise and stray into a past round of 
\nfeelings. The one thing to do is to quiet yourself and
\nget back into the true consciousness and poise. <\/font><\/p>\n

\nPage-451 <\/font><\/p>\n

\n

\n
\nUprising of Dissatisfied Desires<\/a><\/i><\/font><\/p>\n

\n <\/p>\n

\n

\nIT is again the old vain imagination prompted by
\nan uprising of the dissatisfied desires of the vital
\nnature. Evidently, the wrong attitude of desire must
\nhave been waiting for its opportunity and it gave
\nthe opportunity also for the old vital to rise and
\nindulge in its accustomed movements. It is also
\nevident that it was the pressure of the desire coming
\nup from below that removed the Ananda. The
\npsychic Ananda and the desire of the complaining
\nand clamouring vital cannot go together; if desire
\ncomes up, the Ananda is obliged to draw back\u2014
\nunless you reject the desire in time and refuse to make
\nany compromise with it. Especially, when the Mother
\nwas giving you wideness and peace and intense
\nAnanda, it was irrational in the extreme to give
\nroom to an external desire and sacrifice all that
\nfor its sake.<\/font><\/p>\n

\n <\/font><\/p>\n

\n26-12-1932 <\/font><\/p>\n

\nPage-452 <\/font><\/p>\n

\n

\n
\nReturn of Suppressed Habitual Movements<\/a><\/i><\/font><\/p>\n

\n <\/font><\/p>\n

\nALL these movements simply mean that a certain
\npart of the nature, full of habitual emotional movements,
\nhad been lying suppressed but not definitely
\ndealt with and has now come up with as much force
\nas possible, taking advantage of the descent of the
\nconsciousness from the peace and Ananda. It is an
\nold habitual movement of the egoistic vital that is
\nrepeating itself. You had pushed it down into the
\nsubconscient and away to the outskirts of your nature,
\nbut not cleared the nature of it entirely. It is not
\nsurprising that it has pushed back the inner self and
\nits experiences for the time being; if it had not done
\nthat, it could not last for a moment. But that is no
\nreason why you should talk as if it were a hopeless
\ndownfall; it is not that, though it is a serious stumble.
\nYou have to recognise it for what it is and get out of
\nthe wave and throw it away from you. Steady
\nyourself and look straight at what has happened
\nwithout overstressing its importance, it will then
\npass away sooner.<\/font><\/p>\n

\n <\/font><\/p>\n

\n28-12-1932 <\/font><\/p>\n

\nPage-453 <\/font><\/p>\n

\n

\n
\nTemporary Lapse Due to Rising Up of Old<\/a><\/i> <\/font><\/p>\n

\nMovements<\/i><\/font><\/p>\n

\n <\/font><\/p>\n

\nTHERE is no reason for despondency. When one
\nhas progressed as far as you did, that is, so far as
\nto feel and maintain the calm and have so much of
\nthe psychic discrimination and the psychic feeling,
\none has no right to despair of one’s spiritual future.
\nYou could not yet carry out the discrimination into
\nan entire psychic change, because a large part of
\nthe outer physical consciousness still took some
\npleasure in old movements and therefore these roots
\nremained alive in the subconscient. When you
\nwere off your guard, the whole thing rose up and
\nthere was a temporary and violent lapse. But
\nthis does not mean that the nature is not changeable.
\nOnly the calm inner conscious poise, the
\npsychic discrimination and above all a will to
\nchange, stronger and steadier than before, must be
\nso established that no upsurging or invasion will
\nbe able to cloud even partly the discrimination or
\nsuspend the will. You saw the truth but this part
\nof the old nature which rose up did not want to
\nacknowledge\u2014it wanted its play and imposed that
\non you. This time you must insist on a complete
\ntruthfulness in the whole being which will refuse
\nto accept any denial of what the psychic discrimination
\n<\/font><\/p>\n

\nPage-454 <\/font><\/p>\n

\n

\nsees or any affirmation or any consent
\nanywhere to what it disapproves, spiritual humility
\nand the removal of self-righteousness, self-justification
\nand the wish to impose yourself, the tendency
\nto judge others, etc. All these defects you know
\nare in you; to cast that out may take time, but if
\nthe will to be true to the inner self in all ways is
\nstrong and persistent and vigilant and always calls
\nin the Mother’s Force, it can be done sooner than
\nnow seems possible.<\/font><\/p>\n

\n <\/font><\/p>\n

\n21-8-1936 <\/font><\/p>\n

\n
\nMechanical Recurrence of Vital Difficulties<\/a><\/i><\/font><\/p>\n

\n <\/font><\/p>\n

\nTHE difficulty you have in your vital is not peculiar
\nto you, but is in some degree and in some form or
\nanother a fairly general malady. Its constant
\nreturn, the mechanical irrational return even when
\nall the rest of the nature has rejected it, is due to
\nthe obstinacy of the material consciousness always
\nrepeating the old movement in the old groove at
\nthe least touch from the old habitual forces. It is
\na question of faith, patience and persistence. One
\nmust be more obstinate than the obstinate material
\nnature and persevere until the light and truth can <\/font><\/p>\n

\nPage-455 <\/font><\/p>\n

\n

\ntake permanent hold of the parts which are still
\nresponsive to the old movements. There can be
\nno doubt that with this perseverance the Truth 
\nwill in the end conquer. <\/font><\/p>\n

\nIt would make it easier if you could get rid of
\ncertain fixed ideas and of the habitual reaction of
\ndepression or despair when these recurrences come.
\nFor instance, dismiss any question about the
\n"possibility" of conversion of your vital being; you
\nshould see rather that it is certain and not merely
\npossible. When there are these recurrences, do not
\nallow yourself to be depressed by them, but simply
\nobserve and stand back and call in the higher
\nforce with the full confidence that these are mechanical
\nrecurrences and in substance nothing more
\n\u2014however strong they may seem in appearance.
\nThe principle of mechanical repetition is very strong
\nin the material nature, so strong that it makes one
\neasily think that it is incurable. That, however, is
\nonly a trick of the forces of this material inconscience;
\nit is by creating this impression that they
\ntry to endure. If, on the contrary, you remain
\nfirm, refuse to be depressed or discouraged and,
\neven in the moment of attack, affirm the certainty
\nof eventual victory, the victory itself will come
\nmuch more easily and sooner.<\/font><\/p>\n

\n <\/font><\/p>\n

\n2-11-1931 <\/font><\/p>\n

\nPage-456 <\/font><\/p>\n

\n

\n
\nRecurrence of Past Remembrances<\/a><\/i><\/font><\/p>\n

\n <\/font><\/p>\n

\nSo long as you have not learned the lesson the
\npast had to teach you, it comes back on you.
\nNotice carefully what kind of remembrances come,
\nyou will see that they are connected with some
\npsychological movements in you that have to be
\ngot rid of. So you must be prepared to recognise
\nall that was not right in you and is still not corrected,
\nnot allow any vanity or self-righteousness
\nto cloud your vision.<\/font><\/p>\n

\n <\/font><\/p>\n

\n24-10-1932 <\/font><\/p>\n

\n
\nResponse to Suggestions of Rejected Movements<\/a><\/i><\/font><\/p>\n

\n <\/font><\/p>\n

\nALL these things are there in human nature, habitual
\nmovements, which show their true nature only 
\nwhen the light of the higher consciousness is turned 
\non them. Even after they have been rejected the
\npossibility of a response to such suggestions from
\noutside remains in the grain of the lower vital or
\nvital-physical or the subconscient till there is the
\nfull enlightenment there.<\/font><\/p>\n

\n <\/font><\/p>\n

\nNovember, 1933 <\/font><\/p>\n

\nPage-457 <\/font><\/p>\n

\n

\n
\nRejection of the Lower Vital Desire<\/a><\/i> <\/font><\/p>\n

\n <\/p>\n

\n

\nIT is because both your mind and vital have become 
\nsincere that the attack is strong and seems to you
\nabnormal. Before as you were yielding from time to
\ntime, the part that wants was not acutely insistent
\nand, when it pressed, it was not so acutely felt by
\nthe rest of the vital nature. It is your mental, psychic
\nand higher vital beings that now stand completely
\napart from it. It is your physical-vital that
\nstill keeps the desire and is pushed from time to
\ntime by opposite forces to make the desire active.
\nIt was also this desire that created the physical disturbance
\nfrom which you suffered a few days ego,
\nYou must get rid of this desire of the lower vital
\naltogether.<\/font><\/p>\n

\n <\/font><\/p>\n

\n30-7-1932 <\/font><\/p>\n

\n
\nRejection of Desires by the Vital<\/a><\/i><\/font><\/p>\n

\n <\/font><\/p>\n

\nIT is the vital-physical that receives these
\nsuggestions
\nand obeys these desires. What you have to do is to
\nget the consciousness down into the whole of the
\nvital proper so that not only the mind but the 
\nvital itself will reject these desires. In that case, the
\nvital-physical desires will lose half their force.<\/font><\/p>\n

\n <\/font><\/p>\n

\n1-9-1933 <\/font><\/p>\n

\nPage-458 <\/font><\/p>\n

\n

\n
\nNecessity of Vital’s Call for Transformation<\/a><\/i><\/font><\/p>\n

\n <\/font><\/p>\n

\nTHE vital may understand, but that is not enough,
\nit must whole-heartedly call for the peace and
\ntransformation. There must be a large part of it
\nunable to change its position and give up its moods
\nor its way of receiving things; otherwise these
\ndepressions could not be so acute. There is no reason
\nwhy you should not get the peace, but this must
\nchange.<\/font><\/p>\n

\n <\/font><\/p>\n

\n14-10-1933 <\/font><\/p>\n

\n
\nDepression <\/b> Due to Revolt of Unsatisfied Desire<\/a><\/i><\/font><\/p>\n

\n <\/font><\/p>\n

\nTo yield <\/b> to depression when things go wrong is
\n <\/b>the worst way of meeting the difficulty. There must
\nbe some desire or demand within you, conscious or <\/font><\/p>\n

\nPage-459 <\/font><\/p>\n

\n

\nsubconscious, that gets excited and revolts against
\nits not being satisfied. The best way is to be conscious
\nof it, face it calmly and steadily throw it
\nout. <\/font><\/p>\n

\nIf the lower vital (not the mind only) could
\npermanently make up its mind that all desire and
\ndemand are contrary to the Truth and no longer
\ncall for them, these things would lose very soon
\ntheir force of return.<\/font><\/p>\n

\n <\/font><\/p>\n

\n19-5-1930 <\/font><\/p>\n

\nEffects of Depression<\/a><\/i><\/font><\/p>\n

\n <\/font><\/p>\n

\nAFTER you went from here it seems that the vital
\ndifficulties which you were emerging from here
\ncame back with your return to the atmosphere and
\nthat was the cause of the violent depression and
\nill-health that fell upon you. The depression again
\nwas the cause why everything went wrong and
\nthe arrangements made fell through or took a
\nwrong turn. For depression prevents the Force
\nfrom flowing through and calls in the adverse
\nforces and gives them a chance to destroy the
\nhelpful formations that are made. All the trouble
\nand difficulty you have had will disappear or 
\nbe minimised if you shake off this tendency to <\/i>depression altogether.<\/font><\/p>\n

\n <\/font><\/p>\n

\n1-11-1933 <\/font><\/p>\n

\nPage-460 <\/font><\/p>\n

\n

\nRejection of Depression<\/a><\/i><\/font><\/p>\n

\n <\/font><\/p>\n

\nHOWEVER or from wheresoever it came, the only
\nthing to do with a depression is to throw it out.<\/font><\/p>\n

\n <\/font><\/p>\n

\n22-6-1937 <\/font><\/p>\n

\n
\nRight Way of Dealing With the External Being<\/a><\/i> <\/font><\/p>\n

\n(1)<\/font><\/p>\n

\n <\/font><\/p>\n

\nDo not allow yourself to admit any movement of
\nvital depression, still less a depressed condition.
\nAs for the external being, it is always, not only in
\nyou but in everyone, a difficult animal to handle.
\nIt has to be dealt with by patience and a quiet
\nand cheerful perseverance; never get depressed by
\nits resistance, for that only makes it sensitive and <\/font><\/p>\n

\nPage-461 <\/font><\/p>\n

\n

\naggrieved and difficult, or else discouraged. Give
\nit rather the encouragement of sunlight and a
\nquiet pressure, and one day you will find it opening
\nentirely to the Grace.<\/font><\/p>\n

\n <\/font><\/p>\n

\n17-4-1932 <\/font><\/p>\n

\n(2)<\/font><\/p>\n

\n <\/font><\/p>\n

\nThese feelings of despair and exaggerated sense 
\nof self-depreciation and helplessness are suggestions
\nof a hostile Force and should never be admitted.
\nThe defects of which you speak are common to all
\nhuman nature and the external being of every
\nsadhak is full of them; to become aware of them is
\nnecessary for the transformation, but it must be 
\ndone with a quiet mind and with the faith and
\nsurrender to the Divine and assured aspiration
\nto the higher consciousness, which are proper to the
\npsychic being. The transformation of the external
\nbeing is the most difficult part of the Yoga and it 
\ndemands faith, patience, quietude and firm determination.
\nIt is in that spirit that you have to throw
\nthese depressions aside and go steadily on with the
\nYoga.<\/font><\/p>\n

\n <\/font><\/p>\n

\n13-2-1933 <\/font><\/p>\n

\nPage-462 <\/font><\/p>\n

\n

\n
\nThe Best Way to Set Right the Wrong Movements<\/a><\/i><\/font><\/p>\n

\n <\/font><\/p>\n

\nIT is indeed good that the psychic intervened and
\nprevented the mind from taking the wrong direction.
\nIt is not possible that there should not be
\nstumbles, failures, etc. in the work of self-purification
\nand change, but to feel upset or remorseful over
\nthem is harmful rather than helpful; it easily brings
\ndepression, and depression brings clouding of
\nthe mind and weakness. To observe calmly
\nthe wrong movement and its nature (here it was
\nthe tongue that was at fault and the tongue is
\nalways an easily erring member) and to set it right
\ninwardly is always the best way. Calm, especially
\nwhen the true spiritual calm of the Self is there, is
\nthe thing that must always be preserved; with that
\neverything else can he done in time and with the
\nleast trouble.<\/font><\/p>\n

\n

\n27-11-1936 <\/font><\/p>\n

\nPage-463 <\/font><\/p>\n

\n

\n
\nOscillation due to Vital’s Non-co-operation<\/a><\/i><\/font><\/p>\n

\n <\/font><\/p>\n

\nIT is an oscillation due to something in the resistant
\npart (not the whole of it) being still dissatisfied at the 
\ncall to change. When any vital element is disappointed,
\ndissatisfied, called or compelled to change
\nbut not yet willing, it has the tendency to create
\nnon-response or non-co-operation of the vital, leaving
\nthe physical dull or insensible without the vital
\npush. With the psychic pressure this remnant of
\nresistance will pass. <\/font><\/p>\n

\n

\n29-8-1936 <\/font><\/p>\n

\nThe Feeling of the Desert<\/a><\/i><\/font><\/p>\n

\n <\/font><\/p>\n

\nTHE feeling of the desert comes because of the
\nresistance of the vital which wants life to be governed
\nby desire. If that is not allowed, it regards existence
\nas a desert and puts that impression on the mind.
\nThe Shakti in the heart is the psychic Force.<\/font><\/p>\n

\n <\/font><\/p>\n

\n30-1-1935 <\/font><\/p>\n

\n
\nMastering the "Irrational Knot" <\/b> of Despondency<\/a><\/i><\/font><\/p>\n

\n <\/font><\/p>\n

\nTHE weakness in yourself of which you speak is
\nthere, as the persistency of these movements show,
\nbut it is not in the heart\u2014your heart is all right\u2014 <\/font><\/p>\n

\nPage-464 <\/font><\/p>\n

\n

\nbut in the lower vital nature. All your weaknesses
\nare there; the rest of your being is quite strong enough
\nfor the spiritual life. But this inadequacy of the
\nlower vital is not peculiar to you, it is present in
\nalmost every human being. This tendency to
\nirrational sadness and despondency and these imaginations,
\nfears and perverse reasonings\u2014always
\nrepeating, if you will take careful notice, the same
\nmovements, ideas and feelings and even the same
\nlanguage, and phrases like a machine\u2014is a characteristic
\nworking of the lower vital nature. The
\nonly way to get rid of it is to meet it with a fixed
\nresolution of the higher vital and the mind and
\nthe psychic being to combat, reject and master it.
\nAs you were determined to master the sex-impulse
\nand the desire of the palate, so you must determine
\nto master this "irrational knot" of despondency and
\nthe lower vital nature. If you indulge it and regard
\nit as a natural part of yourself with good causes
\nfor existence or if you busy yourself finding this or
\nthat justification when it comes, there is no reason 
\nwhy it should let go its unpleasant grip upon you.
\nBe firm and courageous here, as you have learnt to
\nbe with other movements of your lower vital; you
\nwill then find less difficulty in your meditation and
\nyour general sadhana.<\/font><\/p>\n

\n <\/font><\/p>\n

\n12-11-1931 <\/font><\/p>\n

\nPage-465 <\/font><\/p>\n

\n

\nSadness<\/a><\/i><\/font><\/p>\n

\n <\/font><\/p>\n

\nSADNESS is of no use\u2014it is itself a form of
\ntamas (inertia) and therefore does not help
\nrecovery.<\/font><\/p>\n

\n <\/font><\/p>\n

\n22-7-1936 <\/font><\/p>\n

\n
\nBitterness of Dissatisfied Vital<\/a><\/i><\/font><\/p>\n

\n <\/font><\/p>\n

\nTHE bitterness you feel is that of a restless and
\ndissatisfied vital which did not get what it desired
\nbecause it could not desire anything strongly and
\npersistently. Otherwise it could have all the vital
\ndesires\u2014marriage, friends, position, etc.\u2014but it could
\nstick to nothing owing to a kind of weak restlessness.
\nIn the Yoga it has shown the same restless weakness,
\n\u2014otherwise it could by this time have attained
\nsomething, and besides there was the sex-impulse
\nwhich it would neither satisfy nor leave. You must
\nknow what you want and want it with your whole
\nwill\u2014it is only so that there can be an end of this
\nrestlessness and failure.<\/font><\/p>\n

\n <\/font><\/p>\n

\n7-4-1933 <\/font><\/p>\n

\nPage-466 <\/font><\/p>\n

\n

\n
\nRejection of Grief and Turning to the Central Aim<\/a><\/i><\/font><\/p>\n

\n <\/font><\/p>\n

\nYou should not indulge this sense of grief\u2014remain
\ncalm, confident, turned to the one Will in all circumstances;
\nthat is the way to secure that each
\nstep will be taken in the right measure and produce
\nits best possible consequences. Regard henceforth
\nthe question of Y and your relation with Y as a
\nminor and subordinate thing on the outer side of
\nyour sadhana. If you take it as a problem of the
\nfirst importance, it will become that and stand in
\nyour way again. Look at it as a question from the
\npast that has been firmly settled and put in its
\nplace and turn to the central aim of your
\nsadhana. <\/font><\/p>\n

\nFor the rest, apart from this circumstance, you
\nneed change nothing in the inward aim and concentration
\nof your will and endeavour on the one
\nthing to be done\u2014the entire self-giving and self-
\ndedication of your inner and outer being to the
\nDivine alone. If you can adopt firmly the right
\ninward attitude, it may even be easier so than
\nby an outward rule for your main guidance.<\/font><\/p>\n

\n <\/font><\/p>\n

\n10-4-1933 <\/font><\/p>\n

\nPage-467 <\/font><\/p>\n

\n

\n
\nSeriousness and Gloom in Yoga<\/a><\/i><\/font><\/p>\n

\n <\/font><\/p>\n

\nWHAT you write about X is quite correct. <\/b> It is not
\nnecessary to be always serious of face or silent in
\ndoing the Yoga, but it is necessary to take the
\nYoga seriously and silence and inward concentration
\nhave a large place. One can’t be all the time
\nthrowing oneself outward if to go inside and meet
\nthe Divine there is one’s aim. But that does not
\nmean that one has to be grave and gloomy all the
\ntime, or gloomy at most times, and I don’t suppose
\nthe sadhaks here are like that. It is X’s rhetorical
\nway of putting his difficulty\u2014the difficulty of a vital
\nthat wants to throw itself always outward in action
\nand creation, while another part is dissatisfied with
\nthe result and feels that its own movement is frustrated.
\nThere are two people in him, one wanting
\na life of vital expansion, the other an inner life.
\nThe first gets restless because the inner life is not
\na life of outward expansion; the other becomes
\nmiserable because its aim is not realised. Neither
\npersonality has to be thrown away in this Yoga;
\nbut the outer vital one must allow the inner to
\nestablish itself, give it the first place and consent to
\nbe only an instrument of the soul and to obey the
\nlaw of the inner life. This is what X’s mind still
\nrefuses to understand; he thinks one must be either <\/font><\/p>\n

\nPage-468 <\/font><\/p>\n

\n

\nall gloomy and cold and grave or else bring the
\nvital bubble and effervescence into the inner life.
\nA quiet, happy and glad control of the vital by
\nthe inner being is a thing he is not able as yet to
\nconceive.<\/font><\/p>\n

\n <\/font><\/p>\n

\n27-5-1937 <\/font><\/p>\n

\n
\nThe Perverse Twist of the Vital<\/a><\/i><\/font><\/p>\n

\n <\/font><\/p>\n

\nTHE thing in you which enjoys the suffering and
\nwants it is part of the human vital\u2014it is these things
\nthat we describe as the insincerity and perverse
\ntwist of the vital; it cries out against sorrow and
\ntrouble and accuses the Divine and life and everybody
\nelse of torturing it, but for the most part the
\nsorrow and the trouble come and remain because
\nthe perverse something in the vital wants them! That
\nelement in the vital has to be got rid of altogether.<\/font><\/p>\n

\n <\/font><\/p>\n

\n23-6-1932 <\/font><\/p>\n

\nPage-469 <\/font><\/p>\n

\n

\nTrick of the Vital Mind<\/a><\/i><\/font><\/p>\n

\n <\/font><\/p>\n

\nTHE whole significance of your sentences was that
\nyou had made all the necessary resolution, but you 
\ncould not carry them out because the Force refused
\nto support you. That is the usual trick of the vital
\nmind when it wants to rid itself of the blame for
\ndifficulties or want of progress in the sadhana: "I
\nam doing all I can, but the Force is not supporting
\nme". It is no use your quoting other sentences,
\nbecause you write now one thing, now another,
\nshifting your ground for the sake of your arguments.
\nIf logic could help you to get rid of this trick of the
\nvital mind, it would be worth while learning logic.<\/font><\/p>\n

\n <\/font><\/p>\n

\n15-11-1936 <\/font><\/p>\n

\n
\nDetection of Vital Subterfuge<\/a><\/i><\/font><\/p>\n

\n <\/font><\/p>\n

\nAs to what you ask about anything else being behind
\nthan what your mind was conscious of in its surface
\nintention, there is more often than not something
\nbehind when the vital meddles in the matter\u2014
\nand it is a part of self-knowledge not to be misled by
\nthe mind’s surface movements but to detect this
\nsomething behind. For it is the habit of the vital
\nto make a mask of the mind’s arrangements about
\nfeelings and actions in order to conceal even from
\nthe self-observation of the doer the secret underlying
\nmotive or forces behind the speech, act or feelings. <\/font><\/p>\n

\nPage-470 <\/font><\/p>\n

\n

\nRejection of Vital Falsehood<\/a><\/i><\/font><\/p>\n

\n <\/font><\/p>\n

\nIT is indeed amazing that you should have lost
\nyourself to an extravagant deception such as X
\nhas set on foot. It is simply the spirit of vital falsehood,
\ndramatic and romantic, obscuring the reason
\nand shutting out common sense and simple truth.
\nTo clear the vital, you must get out of it all compromise
\nwith falsehood\u2014no matter how specious
\nthe reason it advances\u2014and get the habit of simple
\nstraightforward psychic truth engraved in it so that
\nnothing may have a chance to enter. If this lesson
\ncan be imprinted in that part of the vital which is
\ncapable of such compromises some good will come
\nout of this wrong movement. Put the Mother’s
\nnotice henceforth at the door of your vital being,
\n"No falsehood hereafter shall ever enter here",
\nand station a sentry there to see that it is put into
\nexecution.<\/font><\/p>\n

\n <\/font><\/p>\n

\n18-5-1933 <\/font><\/p>\n

\nPage-471 <\/font><\/p>\n

\n

\n
\nEstablishing Psychic Influence over Lower Vital Mature<\/a><\/i><\/font><\/p>\n

\n <\/font><\/p>\n

\nIT is certainly not the answering of questions that
\nwill remove the underlying cause of recurrence. 
\nEven if the answers satisfy, it could only be for a
\ntime. The same questionings would arise either
\nin a mechanical reiteration\u2014for it is not truly the
\nreason from which they arise, it is a certain part of
\nthe vital consciousness affected by the surrounding
\natmosphere\u2014or else presented from a shifted ground
\nor a somewhat changed angle of vision. The difficulty
\ncan only disappear if you remain resolute that
\nit shall disappear\u2014if you refuse to attach any value
\nto the justifications which the mind is made to put
\nforward for your "sadness" under this atmospheric
\ninfluence and, as you did in certain other matters,
\nstick fast to the resolution to make the Yogic change,
\nto awake the psychic fully, not to follow the voices
\nof the mind but to do rather what the Mother
\nasks of you, persisting however difficult it may be<\/i> or seem
\nto be. It is so that the psychic can fully awake and
\nestablish its influence, not on your higher vital
\nwhere it is already awake, but on the lower
\nvital, for it is there that your difficulties are and
\nthat this vital depression recurs.<\/font><\/p>\n

\n <\/font><\/p>\n

\n28-12-1931 <\/font><\/p>\n

\nPage-472 <\/font><\/p>\n

\n

\n
\nClouding of Reason by the Vital Mind<\/a><\/font><\/i><\/font><\/p>\n

\n <\/p>\n

\n

\nSUGGESTIONS of ambition, etc. are always born in 
\nthe vital mind or, as it might be called, the mind
\nof the vital and from there they rush up to the
\nthinking mind and claim its assent and the sanction
\nof the mental will. When the thinking mind gets
\nclouded by the uprush, it is carried away and gives
\nits assent. The thinking mind (reason) has always
\nto remain unmoved above and judge what is right
\nwithout being caught and carried away by the
\nvital.<\/font><\/p>\n

\n <\/font><\/p>\n

\n27-7-1933 <\/font><\/p>\n

\n
\nRejection of Ignorant Forces from the Vital<\/a><\/i> <\/font><\/p>\n

\n <\/p>\n

\n

\nYOUR analysis is perfectly accurate\u2014with this clear
\nknowledge of the mechanism of the whole thing it
\nshould be easier to get rid of these ignorant forces.
\nIt is true that they care nothing for truth or reason
\nand appeal only to the blind feelings of the vital, but
\nstill the light of the true consciousness turned steadily
\non them ought to so much enlighten your own vital
\nthat it will no longer lend itself to the things that
\nseek to disturb it and be ready to take its stand in
\nthe calm and happiness of surrender to the Divine.<\/font><\/p>\n

\n <\/font><\/p>\n

\n2-8-1933 <\/font><\/p>\n

\nPage-473 <\/font><\/p>\n

\n

\n <\/p>\n

\nIII. REMOVAL OF WRONG VITAL
\nMOVEMENTS<\/font><\/p>\n

\n
\nIrrationality of the Lower Vital<\/a><\/i><\/font><\/p>\n

\n <\/font><\/p>\n

\nTHE lower vital is not a part that listens to reason.
\nThere is no why<\/i> to its action; it acts in a particular
\nway because it has been accustomed to act in that
\nway, and it goes on even if the doing brings a painful
\nreaction. <\/font><\/p>\n

\n

\n27-8-1933 <\/font><\/p>\n

\n <\/p>\n

\n
\nRejection of Pride\u2014The Central Change of Attitude<\/a><\/i><\/font><\/p>\n

\n <\/font><\/p>\n

\nFROM your last letter it is clear that it is not your own
\nwill that pushes you to go but something that has
\ntaken hold of your mind, a clutch of some Force
\nwhich is using an old movement of the outward
\nmind and vital to drive the action. All the more
\nreason to reject this action as contrary to the soul’s
\nand heart’s true feeling. The pride that says: "I am
\none of those who can break but will not bend", is a
\npoor thing and conceals the fact that one is bending
\nbefore forces and impulses that are ignorant and
\nobscure. Its result is, as you yourself have seen at
\nthe end of your letter, that one bends to the lower
\nforces of nature but refuses to bend to the Divine. <\/font><\/p>\n

\nIf sadhana is a struggle between the higher Will
\nand the old forces of nature bringing suffering and <\/font><\/p>\n

\nPage-474 <\/font><\/p>\n

\n

\ninner torment, we do not want you to do that kind
\nof sadhana. That is not the spirit of our Yoga. What
\nwe want you to do is to recover your quietude and
\ngo on in that. To have the basis of quietude and
\nallow the Divine Force to work in you firmly and
\nquietly is always the best method\u2014it is not necessary
\nto proceed through a big personal effort, disturbance
\nand struggle. Come back to this\u2014open yourself
\nonce more as you did before\u2014then you got back
\nsleep or health in a day or two and were growing
\ninwardly without excessive trouble\u2014and let the
\nMother’s Power and Grace lead you. <\/font><\/p>\n

\nI shall do all to help you and pull you out, but
\nthat which has closed itself in you must open for the
\nhelp to work quickly as it did before. Otherwise
\ntoo it can pull you out, but if there is this strong
\nobstruction that has to be undone, time is needed.
\nA central change of attitude in your mind would,
\nI believe, make all the difference\u2014it has done before.<\/font><\/p>\n

\n <\/font><\/p>\n

\n17-2-1937 <\/font><\/p>\n

\nPage-475 <\/font><\/p>\n

\n

\n
\nRejection of the Possessive Instinct\u2014Mixture of
\nTruth<\/a> <\/i><\/font><\/p>\n

\nand Falsehood in Human Nature<\/i><\/font><\/p>\n

\n <\/font><\/p>\n

\nI DO not see why you, make such a big difference
\nbetween the quarrels and jealousy over other women 
\nand quarrels and jealousy over other attractions not 
\nof a sexual character. They both spring from the
\nsame primary impulse, the possessive instinct which
\nis at the base of ordinary vital love. In the latter
\ncase, as often sexual jealousy is not possible, the mind 
\nsupports itself on other motives which seem to it
\nquite reasonable and justifiable\u2014it may not be conscious
\nthat it is being pushed by the vital, but the 
\nquarrels and the vivacity of the disagreement are
\nthere all the same. Whether you had or had not
\nboth forms of it, is not very material and does not
\nmake things better or worse. It is the getting rid of
\nthe instinct itself that matters, whether from the
\npsychological point of view or from that of a spiritual 
\nchange. <\/font><\/p>\n

\nThe one thing that is of any importance is the fact
\nthat the old personality which you were throwing
\nout has reasserted itself for the moment, as you
\nyourself see. It has confused your mind, otherwise
\nyou would not ask the question whether it is there
\nstill and how that agrees with my description of your
\naspiration and glimpse of turning entirely to the
\nMother as true and real. Of course, they were true
\nand real and sincere and they are still there even if
\nfor a moment clouded over. You know well enough
\nby this time that the whole being is not one block
\nso that if one part changes, all changes miraculously <\/font><\/p>\n

\nPage-476 <\/font><\/p>\n

\n

\nat the same time. Something of the old things may
\nbe there submerged and rise up again if the pressure
\nand fixed resolution to get rid of them slackens. I
\ndo not know to what you refer when you speak of
\nthe statement that\u2014"Light and Darkness, Truth
\nand Falsehood cannot dwell together"; but certainly
\nit can only mean that in the spiritual endeavour one
\ncannot allow them to dwell together,\u2014the Light,
\nthe Truth must be kept, the Darkness, the falsehood
\nor error pushed out altogether. It certainly did not
\nmean that in human beings there can be either only
\nall light or only all darkness and whoever has any
\nweakness in him has no light and no sincere aspiration
\nand no truth in his nature. If that were so, <\/i>Yoga would be impossible. All the sadhaks in this
\nAshram would be convicted of insincerity and of
\nhaving no true sadhana\u2014for who is there in whom
\nthere is no obscurity and no movement of ignorance? <\/font><\/p>\n

\nIf you have fallen down from the consciousness
\nyou had, it is because instead of dismissing the dispute
\nwith X as a moment’s movement, you begin to
\nbrood on it and prolong the wrong turn it gave.
\nIt is no use persisting in the feelings that it creates
\nin you. You have only to do what I have been
\ntrying to tell you. Draw back from them and, having <\/i>seen what is there in the nature, dismiss them quietly
\nand turn back again to the true consciousness, 
\nopening yourself to receive once more the Truth
\nthat is creating you anew and let it come down into
\nall your nature. <\/font><\/p>\n

\nPage-477 <\/font><\/p>\n

\n

\nMixture in the Attitude<\/a><\/i><\/font><\/p>\n

\n <\/font><\/p>\n

\nIT is quite natural that there should be much
\nmixture in the attitude till all is clear\u2014the ordinary
\nnature clings to the action and the transformation
\nin its completeness cannot be sudden. What is necessary
\nis that the basic consciousness should become
\nfirmly established in the Divine, then the mixture
\nin the rest can be seen and steadily worked out. To
\nhave this outwardly as well as inwardly is a great
\nprogress.<\/font><\/p>\n

\n <\/font><\/p>\n

\n24-4-1937 <\/font><\/p>\n

\n
\nStanding Back from the Movement of Anger<\/a><\/i> <\/font><\/p>\n

\n <\/p>\n

\n

\nIT is really simply the recurrence of an old habit of
\nthe nature. Look at it and see how trifling is the
\noccasion of the rising of this anger and its outburst <\/font><\/p>\n

\nPage-478 <\/font><\/p>\n

\n

\n\u2014it becomes more and more causeless\u2014and the absurdity
\nof such movements itself. It would not really
\nbe difficult to get rid of it if, when it comes, you looked
\nat it calmly\u2014for it is perfectly possible to stand back
\nin one part of the being, observing in a detached
\nequanimity even while the anger rises on the surface\u2014
\nas if it were some one else in your being who had the
\nanger. The difficulty is that you get alarmed and
\nupset and that makes it easier for the thing to get
\nhold of your mind which it should not do. <\/font><\/p>\n

\nHelp we are giving you\u2014stand back so as to be
\nable to feel it and not this obsession of these surface
\nmovements.<\/font><\/p>\n

\n <\/font><\/p>\n

\n30-1-1933 <\/font><\/p>\n

\n
\nRising above Quarrels and Clashes<\/a><\/i><\/font><\/p>\n

\n <\/font><\/p>\n

\nQUARRELS and clashes are a proof of the absence of
\nthe Yogic poise and those who seriously wish to do
\nYoga must learn to grow out of these things. It is
\neasy enough not to clash when there is no cause for
\nstrife or dispute or quarrel; it is when there is cause
\nand the other side is impossible and unreasonable
\nthat one gets the opportunity of rising above one’s
\nvital nature. <\/font><\/p>\n

\nPage-479 <\/font><\/p>\n

\n

\n
\nRejection of Vital Sensitiveness and Self-esteem\u2014<\/a><\/i><\/font><\/p>\n

\nDifferences in Dealing with Different Natures<\/i><\/font><\/p>\n

\n <\/font><\/p>\n

\nYOUR letter of the morning came entirely from the
\ndisturbed and wounded vital; that was why I was in
\nno hurry to answer. I do not know why you are so
\nready to believe that myself or the Mother act from
\nordinary movements of anger, vexation or displeasure;
\nthere was nothing of the kind in what I wrote.
\nYou had been repeatedly falling from your attained
\nlevel of a higher consciousness and, in spite of our
\nsuggestions to you to see what was pulling you down,
\nyour only reply was that you could see nothing.
\nWe know perfectly well that it was a part of your vital
\nwhich did not want to change and, not wanting to
\nchange, was hiding itself from the mind and the mind
\nitself did not seem very willing to see,\u2014so we thought
\nit necessary when you gave us a chance by what you
\nwrote\u2014first about X and secondly about the thoughts
\nof the past\u2014to indicate plainly and strongly the
\nnature of the obstacle\u2014on one side your old sentiment
\npersisting in the opposite form of anger,
\nresentment and wounded feelings, on the other the
\nvital’s habit of self-esteem, censorious judgment
\nof others, the sense of superiority in sadhana or in
\nother respects, a wish to appear well before others
\nand before yourself also. This especially has a <\/font><\/p>\n

\nPage-480 <\/font><\/p>\n

\n

\nblinding influence and prevents the clear examination
\nof oneself and the perception of the obstacles
\nthat are interfering with the spiritual progress. Even
\nif the mind aspires to know and change, a habit of
\nthat kind acting concealed in the vital is quite
\nenough to stand in the way and prevent both the
\nknowledge and the change. I was therefore careful
\nto speak plainly of vanity and self-righteousness, so
\nthat this part of the vital might not try not to see.
\nThe Mother speaks or writes much more pointedly
\nand sharply to those whom she wishes to push
\nrapidly on the way, because they are capable of it,
\nand they do not resent or suffer but are glad of the
\npressure and the plainness, because they know by
\nexperience that it helps them to see their obstacles
\nand change. If you wish to progress rapidly you
\nmust get rid of this vital reaction of abhimān,<\/i> suffering,
\nwounded feeling, seeking for argument of self-
\njustification, outcry against the touch that is intended
\nto liberate\u2014for so long as you have these, it is
\ndifficult for us to deal openly and firmly with the
\nobstacles created by the vital nature. <\/font><\/p>\n

\nIn regard to the difference between you and
\nX. The Mother’s warning to you against the undesirability
\nof too much talk, loose chat and gossip,
\nsocial self-dispersion was entirely meant and stands; 
\nwhen you indulge in these things, you throw yourself<\/font><\/p>\n

\nPage-481 <\/font><\/p>\n

\n

\nout into a very small and ignorant consciousness
\nin which your vital defects get free play and this
\nis likely to bring you out of what you have developed
\nin your inner consciousness. That was why we said
\nthat if you felt a reaction against these things when
\nyou went to X’s, it was a sign of your (psychic)
\nsensitiveness coming into you\u2014into your vital and
\nnervous being, and we meant that it was all for the
\ngood. But in dealing with others, in withdrawing
\nfrom these things you should not allow any sense
\nof superiority to creep in or force on them by your
\nmanner or spirit a sense of disapproval or condemnation
\nor pressure on them to change. It is for
\nyour personal inward need that you draw back from
\nthese things, that is all. As for them, what they do
\nin these matters, right or wrong, is their affair, and
\nours; we will deal with them according to what
\nwe see as necessary and possible for them at the
\nmoment and for that purpose we can not only deal
\nquite differently with different people, allowing
\nfor one what we forbid for another, but we may
\ndeal differently with the same person at different
\ntimes, allowing or even encouraging today what
\nwe shall forbid tomorrow. X’s case is quite different
\nfrom yours, for there is no resemblance in your
\nnatures. I told you that or something like it long
\nago and I emphasised in my letter to X that what <\/font><\/p>\n

\nPage-482 <\/font><\/p>\n

\n

\nmight be the rule for myself or A was not to be
\napplied or going to be applied in his case. To deal
\notherwise would be to create difficulties in his
\nsadhana and not to make it easier for him or swifter.
\nI have also told him quite clearly in my letter that
\nthe attempt at meeting and mixing with others\u2014
\nwhich in the ordinary human life is attempted by
\nsociableness and other contacts\u2014has to be realised
\nin Yoga on another plane of consciousness and
\nwithout the lower mixture\u2014for a higher unity with
\nall on a spiritual and psychic basis. But the way,
\nthe time, the order of movements by which this is
\ndone, need not be the same for everybody. If he
\nattempted to force himself it would lead to gloom,
\ndespondency and an artificial movement which
\nwould not be the true way to success. A human soul
\nand nature cannot be dealt with by a set of mental
\nrules applicable to everybody in the same way; if
\nit were so, there would be no need of a Guru, each
\ncould set his chart of Yogic rules before him like
\nthe rules of Sandow’s exercise and follow them till
\nhe became the perfect Siddha! <\/font><\/p>\n

\nI have said so much in order to let you understand
\nwhy we do not deal in the same way with
\nX as with you or another. The tendency to take
\nwhat I lay down for one and apply it without
\ndiscrimination to another is responsible for much <\/font><\/p>\n

\nPage-483 <\/font><\/p>\n

\n

\nmisunderstanding. A general statement too, true in
\nitself, cannot be applied to everyone alike or applied
\nnow and immediately without consideration of
\ncondition or circumstance or person or time. I may
\nsay generally that to bring down the Supermind is
\nmy aim in the Yoga or that to do that one has
\nfirst to rise out of mind into overmind, but if on
\nthe strength of that, anybody and everybody began
\ntrying to pull down the Supermind or force his
\nway immediately out of mind into overmind, the
\nresult would be disaster. <\/font><\/p>\n

\nTherefore concern yourself with your own progress
\nand follow there the lead the Mother gives you.
\nLeave others to do the same; the Mother is there 
\nto guide and help them according to their need and
\ntheir nature. It does not in the least matter if the
\nway she follows with him seems different or the
\nopposite of that which she takes with you. That is
\nthe right one for him as this is the right one for you. <\/font><\/p>\n

\nYou have now begun to see the difficulties that
\nare still there in your vital; keep to that clear
\nperception, let it grow clearer and more precise.
\nConcentrate on what you have to do and do not
\nlet yourself be disturbed this way and that by irrelevant
\npreoccupations or any other influence.<\/font><\/p>\n

\n <\/font><\/p>\n

\n25-10-1932 <\/font><\/p>\n

\nPage-484 <\/font><\/p>\n

\n

\n
\nVariability of Spiritual Discipline<\/a><\/i>  <\/font><\/p>\n

\n\u2014Repression and Real Change of the Vital Nature<\/i>\u2014 <\/i><\/font><\/p>\n

\nOpenness to the Mother<\/i><\/font><\/p>\n

\n <\/font><\/p>\n

\nIT is not always safe to apply practically to oneself 
\nwhat has been written for another. Each sadhak
\nis a case by himself and one cannot always <\/b> or often
\ntake a mental rule and apply it rigidly to all who
\nare practising the Yoga. What I wrote to X was
\nmeant for X and fits his case, but supposing a
\nsadhak with a different (coarse) vital nature unlike
\nX were in question, I might say to him something
\nthat might seem the very opposite, "Sit tight on
\nyour lower vital propensities, throw out your greed
\nfor food\u2014it is standing as a serious obstacle in
\nyour way; it would be better for you to be ascetic
\nin your habits than vulgarly animal in this part
\nas you are now". To one who is not taking enough
\nfood or sleep and rest in the eagerness of his spirit,
\nI might say, "Eat more, sleep more, rest more, do
\nnot overstrain yourself or bring an ascetic spirit
\ninto your tapasya". To another with the opposite
\nexcess I might speak a contrary language. Each
\nsadhak has a nature or turn of nature of his own
\nand the movement of the Yoga of two sadhaks, even
\nwhere there are some resemblances between them,
\nis seldom exactly the same. <\/font><\/p>\n

\nPage-485 <\/font><\/p>\n

\n

\nAgain, in applying some truth that is laid down it
\nis necessary to give it its precise meaning. It is quite
\ntrue that "in our path the attitude is not one of forceful
\nsuppression, nigraha"<\/i>; it is not coercion according
\nto a mental rule or principle on an unpersuaded
\nvital being. But that does not mean either that
\nthe vital has to go its own way and do according
\nto its fancy. It is not coercion that is the way, but
\nan inner change in which the lower vital is led,
\nenlightened and transformed by a higher consciousness
\nwhich is detached from the objects of vital
\ndesire. But in order to let this grow an attitude has
\nto be taken in which a decreasing importance has
\nto be attached to the satisfaction of the claims of the
\nlower vital, a certain mastery, saṁyama,<\/i> being above
\nany clamour of these things, limiting such things
\nas food to their proper place. The lower vital has
\nits place, it is not to be crushed or killed, but it has
\nto be changed, "caught hold of by both ends", at
\nthe upper end a mastery and control, at the lower
\nend a right use. The main thing is to get rid of
\nattachment and desire; it is then that an entirely
\nright use becomes possible. By what actual steps,
\nin what order, through what processes this mastery
\nof the lower vital shall come depends on the nature,
\nthe stress of development, the actual movement of
\nthe Yoga. <\/font><\/p>\n

\nPage-486 <\/font><\/p>\n

\n

\nIt is not the eating or the not eating of something
\nthat is the important point; what is important is
\nhow that or any of these food matters affects you,
\nwhat is your inner condition and how any such
\nindulgence, cooking or eating, stands or does not
\nstand in the way of its progress and change, what is
\nbest for you as a Yogic discipline. One rule for you
\nI can lay down, "Do not do, say or think anything
\nwhich you would want to conceal from the Mother".
\nAnd that answers the objections that rose within you
\nfrom your vital, is it not?\u2014against bringing "these
\npetty things" to the Mother’s notice. Why should
\nyou think that the Mother would be bothered by
\nthese things or regard them as petty? If all<\/i> the life
\nis to be Yoga, what is there that can be called petty
\nor of no importance? Even if the Mother does not
\nanswer, to have brought any matter of your action
\nand self-development before her in the right spirit
\nmeans to have put it under her protection, in the
\nlight of the Truth, under the rays of the Power
\nthat is working for the transformation\u2014for immediately
\nthose rays begin to play and to act on the thing
\nbrought to her notice. Anything within that advises
\nnot to do it when the spirit in you moves you to do
\nit, may very well be a device of the vital to avoid
\nthe ray of the Light and the working of the Force.<\/font><\/p>\n

\n <\/font><\/p>\n

\n18-5-1932 <\/font><\/p>\n

\nPage-487 <\/font><\/p>\n

\n

\n
\nPlastic Dealing with Human Nature<\/a><\/i><\/font><\/p>\n

\n <\/font><\/p>\n

\nONE must not treat human nature like a machine to
\nbe handled according to rigid mental rules\u2014a great
\nplasticity is needed in dealing with its complex
\nmotives.<\/font><\/p>\n

\n <\/font><\/p>\n

\nVariable <\/b> Process of Sadhana<\/a><\/i><\/font><\/p>\n

\n <\/font><\/p>\n

\nTHE sadhana is done by the Mother according to
\nthe Truth and necessity of  each nature and of each
\nplane of Nature. It is not one fixed process.<\/font><\/p>\n

\n <\/font><\/p>\n

\n13-9-1933 <\/font><\/p>\n

\n
\nPunishment for Faults in Sadhana<\/a><\/i><\/font><\/p>\n

\n <\/font><\/p>\n

\nIT is no question of fault or punishment\u2014if we have
\nto condemn and punish people for their faults and
\ndeal with the sadhaks like a tribunal of justice, no
\nsadhana could be possible. I do not see how your
\nreproach against us is justifiable. Our sole duty to
\nthe sadhaks is to take them towards their spiritual
\nrealisation\u2014we cannot behave like the head of a <\/font><\/p>\n

\nPage-488 <\/font><\/p>\n

\n

\nfamily intervening in domestic quarrels, supporting
\none, putting our weight against the other! However
\noften V may stumble, we have to take him by the
\nhand, lift him up again and get him to move once
\nmore towards the Divine. We have always done the
\nsame with you. But we could not support any 
\ndemand of yours upon him. We have always treated
\nit as something between him and the Divine. For
\nyou, the one thing we have insisted on and that with
\nyour full consent and with your prayers to us to be
\nhelped in doing it, is to cut the vital relation with
\nhim altogether and to base nothing upon it any more. 
\nYet now you write to us that because we have not
\napproved of your action of what you said to <\/b> L, no
\nmatter what that might be,\u2014you renounce us forever.<\/font><\/p>\n

\nI must ask you to return to your better self and 
\nyour true consciousness and throw off these moods
\nof vital passion which are unworthy of your soul.
\nYou have repeatedly written of your love for the
\nMother, the Ananda which you received from her
\nand the number of spiritual experiences. Remember
\nthat and remember that that is your true way and
\nyour true being and nothing else matters. Get back
\nyour poise and throw off the lower nature and its
\ndarkness and ignorance.<\/font><\/p>\n

\n <\/font><\/p>\n

\n29-3-1933 <\/font><\/p>\n

\nPage-489 <\/font><\/p>\n

\n

\n
\nThe School-Master Method and the Spiritual Change<\/a><\/i><\/font><\/p>\n

\n <\/font><\/p>\n

\nI NEVER point out to anybody his defects unless he
\ngives me the occasion. A sadhak must become conscious
\nand lay himself before the light, see and reject
\nand change. It is not the right method for us to
\ninterfere and lecture and point out this and point
\nout that. That is the school-master method\u2014it
\ndoes not work in the spiritual change.<\/font><\/p>\n

\n <\/font><\/p>\n

\n10-5-1936 <\/font><\/p>\n

\nThe Cardinal Defect<\/a><\/i><\/font><\/p>\n

\n <\/font><\/p>\n

\nTHE cardinal defect, that which has been always
\nstanding in the way and is now isolated in an
\nextreme prominence, is seated or at least is at present
\nconcentrated in the lower vital being. I mean that
\npart of the vital-physical nature with its petty and
\nobstinate egoism which actuates the external human
\npersonality,\u2014that which supports its surface thoughts
\nand dominates its habitual ways of feeling, character
\nand action. I am not concerned here with the other
\nparts of the being and I do not speak of anything in
\nthe higher mind, the psychic self or the higher and <\/font><\/p>\n

\nPage-490 <\/font><\/p>\n

\n

\nlarger vital nature; for, when the lower vital
\nrises,
\nthese are pushed into the background, if not covered
\nover for the time, by this lower vital being and this
\nexternal personality. Whatever there may be in these
\nhigher parts, aspiration to the Truth, devotion or
\nwill to conquer the obstacles and the hostile forces,
\nit cannot become integral, it cannot remain unmixed
\nor unspoilt or continue to be effective so long as the
\nlower vital and the external personality have not
\naccepted the Light and consented to change. <\/font><\/p>\n

\nIt was inevitable that in the course of the sadhana
\nthese inferior parts of the nature should be brought
\nforward in order that like the rest of the being they
\nmay make the crucial choice and either accept or
\nrefuse transformation. My whole work depends
\nupon this movement; it is the decisive ordeal of this
\nYoga. For the physical consciousness and the
\nmaterial life cannot change if this does not change.
\nNothing that may have been done before, no inner
\nillumination, experience, power or Ananda is of any
\neventual value, if this is not done. If the little external
\npersonality is to persist in retaining its obscure and
\nlimited, its petty and ignoble, its selfish and false
\nand stupid human consciousness, this amounts to a
\nflat negation of the work and the sadhana. I have no
\nintention of giving my sanction to a new edition of
\nthe old fiasco, a partial and transient spiritual <\/font><\/p>\n

\nPage-491<\/font><\/p>\n

\n

\nopening within with no true and radical change in
\nthe law of the external nature. If, then, any sadhak
\nrefuses in practice to admit this change or if he
\nrefuses even to admit the necessity for any change of
\nhis lower vital being and his habitual external personality,
\nI am entitled to conclude that, whatever his
\nprofessions, he has not accepted either myself or my
\nYoga. <\/font><\/p>\n

\nI am well aware that this change is not easy, the 
\ndynamic will towards it does not come at once and is
\ndifficult to fix, and, even afterwards, the sadhak
\noften feels helpless against the force of habit. Knowing
\nthis, the Mother and myself have shown and
\nare still showing sufficient patience in giving time
\nfor the true spirit to come up and form and act
\neffectively in the external being of those around us.
\nBut if in anyone this part not only becomes obstinate,
\nself-assertive or aggressive, but is supported
\nand justified by the mind and will and tries to spread
\nitself in the atmosphere, then it is a different and
\nvery serious matter. <\/font><\/p>\n

\nThe difficulty in the lower vital being is that it is 
\nstill wedded to its old self and in revolt against the
\nLight; it has not only not surrendered either to a
\ngreater Truth or to myself and the Mother, but it
\nhas up to now no such will and hardly any idea even
\nof what true surrender is. When the lower vital <\/font><\/p>\n

\nPage-492 <\/font><\/p>\n

\n

\nassumes this attitude it takes its stand upon a constant
\naffirmation of the old personality and the past
\nforms of the lower nature. Every time they are
\ndiscouraged, it supports and brings them back and
\nasserts its right to freedom,\u2014the freedom to affirm
\nand follow its own crude and egoistic ideas, desires,
\nfancies, impulses or convenience whenever it chooses.
\nIt claims secretly or in so many words the right
\nto follow its nature\u2014its human unregenerate nature,
\nthe right to be itself\u2014its natural original unchanged
\nself with all the falsehood, ignorance and incoherence
\nproper to this part of the being. And it
\nclaims or, if it does not claim in theory, it asserts
\nin practice the right to express all this impure and
\ninferior stuff in speech and act and behaviour. It
\ndefends, glosses over, paints in specious colours
\nand tries to prolong indefinitely the past habitual
\nways of thinking, speaking and feeling and to
\neternise what is distorted and misformed in the
\ncharacter. This it does sometimes by open self-
\nassertion and revolt, branding all that is done or
\nsaid against it as error or oppression or injustice,
\nsometimes behind a cover of self-deception or a
\nmask of dissimulation, professing one thing and
\npractising another. Often it tries to persuade itself
\nand to convince others that these things are the
\nonly right reason and right way of acting for itself 
\nor for all or even that they are part of the true
\nmovement of the Yoga. <\/font><\/p>\n

\nPage-493 <\/font><\/p>\n

\n

\nWhen this lower vital being is allowed to influence
\nthe action, as happens when the sadhak in any way
\nendorses its suggestions, its attitude, whether masked
\nto himself or coming to the surface, dictates a considerable
\npart of his speech and action and against
\nit he makes no serious resistance. If he is frank with
\nhimself and straightforward to the Mother, he will
\nbegin to recognise the source and nature of the 
\nobstacle and will soon be on the direct road to 
\ncorrect and change it. But this, when under the
\nadverse influence, he persistently refuses to be; he
\nprefers to hide up these movements under any kind 
\nof concealment, denial, justification or excuse or 
\nother shelter. <\/font><\/p>\n

\nIn the nature the resistance takes certain characteristic
\nforms which add to the confusion and to the
\ndifficulty of transformation. It is necessary to outline
\nsome of these forms because they are sufficiently 
\ncommon, in some in a less, in others in a greater
\ndegree, to demand a strong and clear exposure. <\/font><\/p>\n


\n\t1.   A certain vanity and arrogance and self- assertive rajasic vehemence which in this smaller vital being are, for those who have a pronounced 
\n\tstrength in these parts, the deformation of the vital force and habit of leading and domination that<\/font><\/p>\n

\n\tPage-494<\/font><\/p>\n

\n

certain qualities in the higher vital gave them. This is accompanied by an excessive
\n\tamour-propre<\/i> which creates the necessity of making a figure, maintaining
\n\tby any means position and prestige, even of posturing before others, influencing, controlling or "helping" them, claiming the part of a superior sadhak, one with greater knowledge and with occult powers. The larger vital being itself has to give up its powers and capacities to the divine Shakti from whom they come and must use them only as the Mother’s instrument and according to her directions; if it intervenes with the claim of its ego and puts itself between her and the work or between her and other sadhaks, then whatever its natural power, it deviates from the true way, spoils
\n\tthe work, brings in adverse forces and wrong movements and does harm to those whom it imagines it is helping. When these things are transferred to the smallness of the lower vital nature and the external personality and take lower and pettier forms, they become still more false to the Truth, incongruous, grotesque, and at the same time can be viciously harmful, though in a smaller groove. There is no better way of calling in hostile forces into the general work or of vitiating and exposing to their influence one’s own sadhana. On a smaller scale these defects, of vanity, arrogance and rajasic <\/font><\/p>\n

\n\tPage-495<\/font><\/p>\n

\n

violence are present in most human natures. They take other forms, but are then also a great obstacle to any true spiritual change.
\n\t<\/font><\/p>\n


\n\t2.   Disobedience and indiscipline. This lower part of the being is always random, wayward, self- assertive and unwilling to accept the imposition on it of any order and discipline other than its
\n\town idea or impulse. Its defects even from the beginning stand in the way of the efforts of the higher vital to impose on the nature a truly regenerating tapasya. This habit of disobedience and disregard of discipline is so strong that it does not always need to be deliberate; the response to it seems to be immediate, irresistible and instinctive. Thus obedience to the Mother is repeatedly promised or professed, but the action done or the course followed is frequently the very opposite of the profession or promise. This constant indiscipline is a radical obstacle to the sadhana and the worst possible 
\n\texample to others. <\/font><\/p>\n


\n\t3.   Dissimulation and falsity of speech. This is an exceedingly injurious habit of the lower nature. Those who are not straightforward cannot profit by the Mother’s help, for they themselves turn it away. Unless they change, they cannot hope for the descent of the supramental Light and Truth into the lower vital and physical nature; they remain<\/font><\/p>\n

\n\tPage-496<\/font><\/p>\n

\n

stuck in their own self-created mud and cannot progress. Often it is not mere exaggeration or a false use of the imagination embroidering on the actual truth that is marked in the sadhak, but also a positive denial and distortion as well as a falsifying concealment of facts. This he does sometimes to cover up his disobedience or wrong or doubtful course of action, sometimes to keep up his position, at others to get his own way or indulge his preferred habits and desires. Very often, when one has this kind of vital habit, he clouds his own consciousness and does not altogether realise the falsity of what he is saying or doing; but in much that he says and does, it is quite impossible to extend to him even this inadequate excuse.
\n\t<\/font><\/p>\n


\n\t4.   A dangerous habit of constant self-justification. When this becomes strong in the sadhak, it is impossible to turn him in this part of his being to the right consciousness and action because at each step his whole preoccupation is to justify himself. His mind rushes at once to maintain his own idea, his own position or his own course of action. This he is ready to do by any kind of argument, sometimes
\n\tthe most clumsy and foolish or inconsistent with what he has been protesting the moment before, by any kind of mis-statement or any kind of device. This is a common misuse, but none the less a
\n\tmisuse <\/font><\/p>\n

\n\tPage-497<\/font><\/p>\n

\n

of the thinking mind; but it takes in him exaggerated proportions and so long as he keeps to it, it will be impossible for him to see or live the Truth.<\/font><\/p>\n

\n\tWhatever the difficulties of the nature, however long and painful the process of dealing with them, they cannot stand to the end against the Truth, if there is or if there comes in these parts the true
\n\tspirit, attitude and endeavour. But if a sadhak continues out of self-esteem and self-will or out of tamasic inertia to shut his eyes or harden his heart against the Light, so long as he does that, no one can help him. The consent of all the being is necessary for the divine change, and it is the completeness and fulness of the consent that constitutes the integral surrender. But the consent of the lower vital must not be only a mental profession or a passing emotional adhesion; it must translate itself into an abiding attitude and a persistent and consistent action.<\/font><\/p>\n

\n\tThis Yoga can only be done to the end by those who are in total earnest about it and ready to abolish their little human ego and its demands in order to find themselves in the Divine. It cannot be done in a spirit of levity or laxity; the work is too high and difficult, the adverse powers in the lower Nature too ready to take advantage of the least sanction or the smallest opening, the aspiration and tapasya needed too constant and intense. It cannot <\/font><\/p>\n

\n\tPage-498<\/font><\/p>\n

\n

be done if there is a petulant self-assertion of the ideas of the human mind or wilful indulgence of the demands and instincts and pretensions of the lowest part of the being, commonly justified under the name of human nature. It cannot be done if you insist on identifying these lowest things of the Ignorance with the divine Truth or even the lesser truth permissible on the way. It cannot be done if you cling to your past self and its old mental, vital and physical formations and habits; one has continually to leave behind his past selves and to see, act and live from an always higher and higher conscious level. It cannot be done if you insist on "freedom" for your human mind and vital ego. All the parts of the human being are entitled to express and satisfy themselves in their own way at their own risk and peril, if he so chooses, as long as he leads the ordinary life. But to enter into a path of Yoga whose whole object is to substitute for these human things the law and power of a greater Truth and the whole heart of whose method is surrender to the divine Shakti, and yet to go on claiming this so-called freedom, which is no more than a subjection to certain ignorant cosmic forces, is to indulge in a blind contradiction and to claim the right to lead a double life.<\/font><\/p>\n

\n\tPage-499<\/font><\/p>\n

\n

\n\tLeast of all can this Yoga be done if those who profess to be its sadhaks continue always to make themselves centres, instruments or spokesmen of the forces of the Ignorance which oppose, deny and ridicule its very principle and object. On one side there is the supramental realisation, the over- shadowing and descending power of the supramental Divine, the light and force of a far greater Truth than any yet realised on the earth, something
\n\ttherefore beyond what the little human mind and its logic regard as the
\n\tonly permanent realities, something whose nature and way and process of
\n\tdevelopment here it cannot conceive or perceive by its own inadequate
\n\tinstruments or judge by its puerile standards; in spite of all opposition this is pressing down for manifestation in the physical consciousness and the material life. On the other side is this lower vital nature with all its pretentious arrogance, ignorance, obscurity, dullness or incompetent
\n\tturbulence, standing for its own prolongation, standing against the descent, refusing to believe in any real reality or real possibility of a supramental or super-
\n\thuman consciousness and creation, or, still more absurd, demanding, if it exists at all, that it should conform to its own little standards, seizing greedily upon everything that seems to disprove it, denying the presence of the Divine\u2014for it knows that without that presence the work is impossible\u2014affirming loudly its own thoughts,
\n\tjudgments, desires, instincts, <\/font><\/p>\n

\n\tPage-500<\/font><\/p>\n

\n

and, if these are contradicted, avenging itself by casting abroad doubt, denial, disparaging criticism, revolt and disorder. These are the two things now in presence between which every one will have to choose.<\/font><\/p>\n

\n\tFor this opposition, this sterile obstruction and blockade against the descent of the divine Truth cannot last for ever. Every one must come down finally on one side or the other, on the side of the Truth or against it. The supramental realisation cannot coexist with the persistence of the lower Ignorance; it is incompatible with continued satisfaction in a double nature.
\n\t<\/font><\/p>\n

\nNovember 1928 <\/font><\/p>\n

\nConditions for Divine Change<\/a><\/i><\/font><\/p>\n

\n <\/font><\/p>\n

\nIT is now one month since you wrote your letter
\nannouncing the new favourable turn in your sadhana.
\nYou will have had time to see whether the turn was
\ndecisive and how far it has moved towards completeness.
\nThe test will be whether it gets rid fundamentally
\nof the Asuric turn in your external being. All
\nambition, pride and vanity must disappear from the <\/font><\/p>\n

\nPage-501 <\/font><\/p>\n

\n

\nthoughts and the feelings. There must be no seeking
\nnow or in the future for place, position or prestige,
\nno stipulation for a high seat among the elect, no
\ndemand for a special closeness to the Mother, no
\nclaim or assertion of right, no attempt to thrust
\nyourself between her and others, no endeavour to
\nintercept what she is giving to them or to share in it,
\nno imposing of yourself on her or on other sadhaks.
\nAll falsehood must be rejected from the speech,
\nthought and action and all ostentation, arrogance
\nand insolence. A simple, quiet and unpretending
\naspiration to the Truth and reception of it for its own
\nsake and not for any profit it may bring you, a
\nstraightforward acceptance of the Mother’s will
\nwhatever it may be, a complete casting away of all
\npretensions and pretences, a readiness to obey completely
\nand without reserve and to accept any position
\nand any discipline given are the only conditions
\non which a divine change can be effected in you.
\nIt is for this that you must strive. <\/font><\/p>\n

\nOn our side we await a certain conquest on the
\nmaterial plane, which is not yet accomplished, before
\nwe can tell you to return. As you yourself saw once,
\ntill this is done your stay here would not be helpful
\nto you. When you are ready in your inner condition
\nand things are ready here, then the Mother will call
\nyou. <\/font><\/p>\n

\nPage-502 <\/font><\/p>\n

\n

\nFalse Idea of Sincerity<\/a><\/i><\/font><\/p>\n

\n <\/font><\/p>\n

\nIT is not sincerity to express only what the adverse
\nforces suggest or what you feel when you are in a
\nbad condition, full of obscurity and a wrong outlook.
\nWhen you are in the Truth, you feel quite the opposite
\nand it is not insincerity to cling to that and recall
\nit. It is only by bringing it back that the Truth can
\ngrow in you. <\/font><\/p>\n

\nThe trouble in your chest comes only from a vital
\nresistance and it continues because you identify
\nyourself with that resistance. It is only by quietude
\nand opening to the Mother that these things can
\ndisappear. There is no other way to progress. <\/font><\/p>\n

\nIf you have not got quietude, you can always
\naspire first and a sincere aspiration will bring it back.<\/font><\/p>\n

\n <\/font><\/p>\n

\n21-5-1932 <\/font><\/p>\n

\nFalse Intuitions and Voices<\/a><\/i><\/font><\/p>\n

\n <\/font><\/p>\n

\nNo, these indications of time and these voices were
\nnot commands from the Mother. I have indicated to
\nyou the truth of this matter; you must follow the rules <\/font><\/p>\n

\nPage-503 <\/font><\/p>\n

\n

\nlaid down by the Mother for the physical life; if any
\nchange has to be made, either she herself will let you
\nknow or you have to get sanction for it from her. No
\nvoice heard within can prevail against her word and
\nno intimation that comes through your mind can be
\naccepted as binding unless it is confirmed by her. <\/font><\/p>\n

\nYou have made a confusion which is often made at
\nthe beginning of this kind of experience. It is no
\ndoubt the Mother’s Force that was working within
\nyou or upon you, and some of the experiences, such
\nas that of feeling the Mother in your heart, were
\nperfectly genuine. But when the pressure of the
\nForce works upon the consciousness, then in the plane
\non which it happens to be working, a great activity
\nof different forces is set in play, e.g. if it is the mind,
\nvarious mental forces, if it is the vital, various vital
\nforces. It is not safe to take all these for true things,
\nto be accepted without question and followed as
\ncommands of the Mother. You received a pressure
\nof a force so strong that it made your head shake for
\na long time; if the head shook like that, it is a sign
\nthat the mind or at least the mental physical was not
\nable yet to receive all the force and assimilate it; if it
\nhad done so, there would have been no movement of
\nthe head, all would have been perfectly at ease, calm
\nand still. But your mind started working, interpreting,
\nbeginning to put its own meaning on this particular <\/font><\/p>\n

\nPage-504 <\/font><\/p>\n

\n

\nphenomenon and again on others, trying to
\nmake a system by which to regulate your conduct
\nand to give it authority, put it as the command of the
\nMother, The action of the Force was a fact, the interpretation
\nyou put on its details of coming and going
\nwas a mental formation and had no very positive
\nvalue. <\/font><\/p>\n

\nIf you look at it carefully\u2014as I have looked at the
\ndetails reported by you\u2014you will see that these
\nsuggestions were of a very shifting and changeful
\ncharacter, now one thing, now the other; only your
\nmind adapted itself to the changes, adjusted its interpretation
\nto suit them and tried to keep the consistency
\nof a system. But in fact all was irregular and
\nchaotic and it tended to make your action and conduct
\nirregular and chaotic. True intuition would
\nnot do that; it would at least tend to balance,
\nharmony, order. <\/font><\/p>\n

\nYou speak of intuition as regards the indication
\nof time. There is an intuition of Time which is not
\nof the mind and when it plays is always accurate to
\nthe very minute and if need be to the very second; 
\nbut this was not that Intuition,\u2014for it was not
\nalways accurate; it came right perhaps several times,
\nthen it began to be deceptive, it made you late for
\nPranam; it began to push toward lateness for the
\nnoon meal, make you clash with the convenience of <\/font><\/p>\n

\nPage-505 <\/font><\/p>\n

\n

\nthe dining-room workers. It pushed you to be late
\nfor the evening and abandoned you altogether, so
\nthat in the end you had no evening meal. But your
\nmind had got attached to its own formations and
\ntried to justify, to put a meaning on these chaotic
\ncaprices, to explain them by the (very changeful)
\nwill of the Mother. All this is well-known to those
\nexperienced in Yoga and it means that these things
\nwere not intuitions, but constructions of the mind,
\nmental formations. If there was an intuition at
\nall, it was a movement of the intuitive mind, but
\nwhat the intuitive mind gives to us is the intuition
\nof possibilities, some of which realise themselves,
\nsome do not or do it partly only, others miss
\naltogether. Behind these mental constructions are
\nForces that want to realise themselves and try to use
\nmen as their instruments of realisation. These
\nForces need not be hostile, but they play for their
\nown hand, they want to rule, use, justify themselves,
\ncreate their own results. If they can do it by
\ngetting the Mother’s sanction or passing themselves
\noff as commands of the Mother, they are ready to
\ndo so; if they cannot get the embodied Mother’s
\nsanction, they are ready to represent themselves
\nas sanctions of the Mother in her subtle unseen
\nuniversal Form or Presence. Some they persuade
\nto make not only a distinction but an opposition <\/font><\/p>\n

\nPage-506 <\/font><\/p>\n

\n

\nbetween their inner Mother who always tells them
\nwhat they want to hear and the embodied Mother
\nwho, they find, is not so complaisant, checks them,
\ncorrects their fancies and their errors. At this
\nstage there is the danger of a more serious invasion
\nof Falsehood, of a hostile vital Force coming in,
\ntaking advantage of the mind’s errors, which either
\ntries to take the place of the Mother, using her name
\nor else creates revolt against her. A persuasion not
\nto come to Pranam, not to keep her acquainted with
\nyour experiences and submit to correction, not to
\naccord the life with her expressed will is a danger
\nsignal at this stage\u2014for it means that the intruding
\nForce wants space to work free from control\u2014and
\nthat was why I felt compelled to call your attention
\nto the peril of a hostile Maya. <\/font><\/p>\n

\nAs for voices, there are many voices; each Force,
\neach movement of the mental, vital, physical plane
\nmay equip itself with a voice. Your voices were not
\neven at one with each other; one said one thing,
\nwhen it did not work out, another said something
\ninconsistent with it; but you were attached to your
\nmental formation and still tried to follow. <\/font><\/p>\n

\nAll this happens because the mind and vital in
\nthese exaltations of the stress of the sadhana become
\nvery active. That is why it is necessary, first to
\nfound your sadhana on a great calm, a great <\/font><\/p>\n

\nPage-507 <\/font><\/p>\n

\n

\nequality, not eagerly rushing after experiences or
\ntheir fruit, but looking at them, observing, calling
\nalways for more and more Light, trying to be more
\nand more wide, open, quietly and discerningly
\nreceptive. If the psychic being is always at the
\nfront, then these difficulties are greatly lessened,
\nbecause there is here a light which the mind and
\nvital have not, a spontaneous and natural psychic
\nperception of the divine and the undivine, the true
\nand the false, the imitation and the genuine guidance. It is also the reason why I insist on your
\nreferring your experiences to us, because, apart
\nfrom anything else, we have the knowledge and
\nexperience of these things and can immediately put
\na check on any tendency to error. <\/font><\/p>\n

\nKeep yourself open to the Mother’s Force, but do not trust all forces. As you go on, if you keep
\nstraight, you will come to a time when the psychic
\nbecomes more predominantly active and the Light
\nfrom above prevails more purely and strongly so
\nthat the chance of mental constructions and vital
\nformations mixing with the true experience diminishes. As I have told you, these are not and can
\nnot be the supramental Forces; it is a work of
\npreparation which is only making things ready for
\na future Yoga-siddhi.<\/font><\/p>\n

\n <\/font><\/p>\n

\n18-9-1932 <\/font><\/p>\n

\nPage-508 <\/font><\/p>\n

\n

\nFalse Spiritual Ideas<\/a><\/i><\/font><\/p>\n

\n <\/font><\/p>\n

\nAs regards your defence of X, they sound like X’s
\nown ideas and very queer ideas they are. If they
\nare right, we should have to come to the following conclusions:\u2014 <\/font><\/p>\n

\n\t\t\t1.   Sattwa is not the best passage towards realisation, Rajas is the best way to become spiritual. It is the rajasic man with his fierce ego and violent
\npassions who is the true sadhak of the Divine. <\/font><\/p>\n

\n\t\t\t2.   The Asura is the best bhakta. The Gita
\n\t\t\tis
\nquite wrong in holding up the Deva nature as the condition of realisation and
\n\t\t\tthe Asura nature as
\ncontrary to it. <\/b>It is the other way round. <\/font><\/p>\n

\n\t\t\t3.   Ravana, Hiranyakashipu, Sishupala were the
\ngreatest devotees of the Divine because they were
\ncapable of hostility to the Divine and so were
\nliberated in a few lives\u2014compared with them the
\ngreat Rishis and Bhaktas were very poor spiritual
\nvessels. I am aware of the paradox about Ravana
\nin the Purana, but let me point out that these
\nAsuras and Rakshasas did not pretend to be disciples or worshippers of Rama or Krishna or Vishnu
\nor use their position as disciples to get moksha by
\nrevolt\u2014they got it by being enemies and getting
\nkilled and absorbed into the Godhead. <\/font><\/p>\n

\nPage-509 <\/font><\/p>\n

\n

\n\t\t\t4.   Obedience <\/b>to the Guru, worship of
\n\t\t\t<\/b>the Divine  are all tommy rot and fit only for sheep, not men.
\nTo turn round furiously on the Guru or the Divine, abuse him, express contempt,
\n\t\t\tchallenge his sincerity, declare his actions to be wrong, foolish or a trick\u2014to assert oneself as right at every point
\nand his judgment as mistaken, prejudiced, absurd,
\nfalse, a support of devils etc., etc. is the best way
\nof devotion and the true relation between Guru
\nand Sishya. Disobedience is the highest respect to
\nthe Guru, anger and revolt are the noblest worship  one can give to the Divine.
\n\t\t\t<\/font><\/p>\n

\n\t\t\t5.   One who takes the blows of Mahakali with
\njoy as a means of discovering his faults and
\nincreasing in light and strength and purity is a sheep
\nand unworthy of disciplehood\u2014one who responds
\nto the quietest pressure to change by revolt and
\npersisting in his errors is a strong man and a mighty
\nadhar and a noble disciple on the way to perfection. I could go on multiplying the consequences, but
\nI have no time. Do you really believe all these  things? They are the natural consequences of X’s
\n\t\t\ttheory or of this theory of revolt as the way to perfection. If you accept the premiss, you have to
\naccept the logical consequences. That is what
\nX did\u2014only he called his errors Truth and the way
\nprescribed by me as falsehood explicable only by
\nthe fact that I was a "Master who had forgotten<\/font><\/p>\n

\n\t\t\tPage-510<\/font><\/p>\n

\n

\n\t\t\this higher self". And the consequences led to his
\ndeparture, not willed by us, but by his own choice\u2014
\nand under such circumstances that he had made
\nit a practical impossibility for me to let him come
\nback unless he undergoes a change which the
\nexperience of the past does not warrant me in
\nthinking possible.<\/font><\/p>\n

\n

\n11-10-1933 <\/font><\/p>\n

\nPage-511<\/font><\/font><\/b><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/table>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

SECTION FIFTEEN   TRANSFORMATION OF THE VITAL NATURE                                                                                 I.   LIBERATION FROM EGO                                                                                 II.  REJECTION OF DESIRE                                                                                      III. REMOVAL OF WRONG VITAL…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[97],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3735","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-04-fourth-series-1951","wpcat-97-id"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/worksofthemotherandsriaurobindo.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3735","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/worksofthemotherandsriaurobindo.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/worksofthemotherandsriaurobindo.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/worksofthemotherandsriaurobindo.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/worksofthemotherandsriaurobindo.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3735"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/worksofthemotherandsriaurobindo.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3735\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/worksofthemotherandsriaurobindo.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3735"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/worksofthemotherandsriaurobindo.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3735"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/worksofthemotherandsriaurobindo.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3735"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}