{"id":3873,"date":"2013-07-13T01:51:53","date_gmt":"2013-07-13T01:51:53","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/localhost\/?p=3873"},"modified":"2013-07-13T01:51:53","modified_gmt":"2013-07-13T01:51:53","slug":"13-30-march-1955-vol-07-questions-and-answers-volume-07","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/worksofthemotherandsriaurobindo.org\/index.php\/02-works-of-the-mother\/01-cwmce\/07-questions-and-answers-volume-07\/13-30-march-1955-vol-07-questions-and-answers-volume-07","title":{"rendered":"-13_30 March 1955.htm"},"content":{"rendered":"\n\n
\n
\n


\n30
\n March 1955<\/font><\/span><\/i><\/b> <\/font> <\/span><\/i><\/b><\/span><\/i><\/p>\n


\n <\/font><\/span><\/p>\n

This talk is based
\nupon Bases of Yoga<\/i>, Chapter 5,<\/font><\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/font><\/span>\u201cPhysical Consciousness, etc.\u201d.
\n<\/font> <\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/span><\/p>\n

Sweet Mother, here it is written: \u201cThere
\nis a Yoga-Shakti lying coiled or asleep\u2026 \u201c How can it be awakened? <\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

 <\/span><\/p>\n

I think it awakens
\nquite naturally the moment one takes the resolution to do the yoga. If the
\nresolution is sincere and one has an aspiration, it wakes up by itself. <\/span><\/p>\n

In fact, it is perhaps its awakening which gives the aspiration to do
\nyoga. <\/span><\/p>\n

It is possible that it is a result of the Grace\u2026 or after some
\nconversation or reading, something that has suddenly given you the idea and
\naspiration to know what yoga is and to practise it. Sometimes just a simple
\nconversation with someone is enough or a passage one reads from a book; well,
\nit awakens this Yoga-Shakti and it is this which makes you do your yoga. <\/span><\/p>\n

One is not aware of it at first \u2013 except that something has changed in
\nour life, a new decision is taken, a turning. <\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/span><\/p>\n

What is it, this Yoga-Shakti, Sweet
\nMother? <\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

 <\/span><\/p>\n

It is the energy
\nof progress. It is the energy which makes you do the yoga, precisely, makes you
\nprogress \u2013 consciously. It is a conscious energy. <\/span><\/p>\n

In fact, the Yoga-Shakti is the power to do yoga. <\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/span><\/p>\n

Sweet Mother, isn’t it more difficult to
\ndraw the divine forces from below? <\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

 <\/span><\/p>\n

I think it is
\nabsolutely useless. <\/span><\/p>\n

\n
\nPage \u2013 102<\/font><\/span><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n
\n

<\/span><\/div>\n

Some people think that there are more reserves of energy \u2013 I have heard
\nthis very often: a great reserve of energy \u2013 in the earth, and that if they
\ndraw this energy into themselves they will be able to do things; but it is
\nalways mixed. <\/span><\/p>\n

The divine Presence is everywhere, that’s well understood. And in fact,
\nthere is neither above nor below. What is called above and below, I think that
\nis rather the expression of a degree of consciousness or a degree of
\nmateriality; there is the more unconscious and the less unconscious, there is
\nwhat is subconscious and what is\u00a0
\n<\/span>superconscious, and so we say above and below for the facility of
\nspeech. <\/span><\/p>\n

But in fact, the idea is to draw from the energies of the earth which,
\nwhen you are standing up, are under your feet, that is, below in relation to
\nyou. But these energies are always mixed, and mostly they are terribly dark. <\/span><\/p>\n

No questions? <\/span><\/p>\n

(To the child who had asked the
\nlast question<\/i>) Do you have another? <\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/span><\/p>\n

Sweet Mother, what does it mean exactly \u2013
\n\u201cto go down into the lower parts or ranges of nature\u201d? <\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

 <\/span><\/p>\n

It is precisely to
\ngo down into the darkness, to go far away from the light in order to draw
\nnearer to the darkness, to go farther away from the consciousness in order to
\ngo closer to the inconscience. <\/span><\/p>\n

One has in his consciousness the feeling of rising above what is obscure
\nand ordinary and unconscious, of raising himself \u2013 because usually our head is
\non top and our head is more conscious than the rest of our body \u2013 and the
\nimpression that there is above him a greater consciousness. So when one makes
\nan effort to progress, at the same time one makes an effort of ascent.
\nSometimes one has even symbolically the impression of climbing a mountain and
\nwanting to reach the summit, that is, as close as possible to the free expanses
\nof the light, of what is <\/span>
\n
\n <\/font><\/span><\/p>\n

\n
\nPage \u2013 103<\/font><\/span><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n
\n

<\/span><\/div>\n

purer. And if one
\ndoesn’t take care, quite naturally, spontaneously, one slips back into the
\nordinary consciousness. <\/span><\/p>\n

There is a very great power of attraction in low, obscure, ordinary
\nthings \u2013 the impression of being drawn by the feet into a deep mire\u2026 certain
\ncontacts, certain actions, certain movements of consciousness give you the
\nimpression that you are sliding into a dark and muddy hole. <\/span><\/p>\n

Often when one has made an effort and progressed, one has the feeling of
\nrising above himself into a purer, clearer, truer light and consciousness. But
\nif one doesn’t keep this aspiration and is not definitively settled there, a
\nvery tiny thing is enough, a kind of physical disharmony, for example, or a
\nmeeting, a word exchanged or a movement made unconsciously, for one to feel
\nthat something is falling; and one can no longer get hold of that height where
\none was, that light. So one has to withdraw again, climb the slope, escape from
\nthe attraction from below. Sometimes it takes time; one slides down very fast
\nbut usually climbs back with a certain difficulty. <\/span><\/p>\n

It is as when one struggles physically by yogic means with a disease, it
\ngoes alternately. One can succeed in pulling himself out, so to say, from the
\ndisease, in withdrawing from it, in cutting off the relation one had with it;
\nand then suddenly one emerges above this feeling of unease, disorder and
\nconfusion and realises that one is cured. But sometimes it is enough even to
\nremember, a movement of wonder is enough, a memory of what it was is enough for
\neverything to be reversed once more and for one to have to begin the same work
\nover again. Sometimes one has to begin again thrice, four times, ten times,
\ntwenty times. And then some people can make the effort once, but the second
\ntime they no longer do it well, and the third time they don’t do it at all; and
\nthey tell you, \u201cOh! One can’t be cured by occult means, the divine Force
\ndoesn’t cure you, it is better to take medicines.\u201d So for these, it is better
\nto go to the doctor because this means that they have no spiritual perseverance
\nand only material means can convince them of their effectiveness. <\/span>
\n
\n <\/span><\/p>\n

\n
\nPage \u2013 104<\/font><\/span><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n
\n

<\/span><\/div>\n

When one wants to change something of the material life, whether the
\ncharacter or the functioning of the organs or habits, one must have an
\nunfaltering perseverance, be ready to begin again a hundred times the same
\nthing with the same intensity with which one did it the first time and as
\nthough one had never done it before. <\/span><\/p>\n

People who are touchy cannot do this. But if one can’t do it, one can’t
\ndo yoga, in any case not the integral yoga, one can’t change one’s body. <\/span><\/p>\n

To change one’s body one must be ready to do millions of times the same
\nthing, because the body is a creature of habits and functions by routine, and because
\nto destroy a routine one must persevere for years. <\/span><\/p>\n

That’s all? <\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/span><\/p>\n

It is outside the text. <\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

 <\/span><\/p>\n

That doesn’t
\nmatter, my child. <\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/span><\/p>\n

Sweet Mother, the
\ntrue self and the psychic are the same thing? <\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

 <\/span><\/p>\n

No. The true self
\nis what is also called the truth of the being. It is the divine element which
\nis your individual reality. It is the divine element which makes you a separate
\nindividuality, and it is at the same time a fragment of the one Being and
\nnaturally the one Being itself; that is, while being a particular aspect which
\nmakes you an individual, it is an integral part of the One which makes you only
\nan objectivisation of the One. <\/span><\/p>\n

This is the true self. The psychic being is a terrestrial formation. It
\nis human beings who have a psychic being which has been developed upon earth
\nand by earthly life and which is a projection of the divine Consciousness into
\nMatter to awaken Matter out of its inertia so that it takes the path back to
\nthe Divine. <\/span>
\n
\n <\/span><\/p>\n

\n
\nPage \u2013 105<\/font><\/span><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n
\n

<\/span><\/div>\n

But in certain cases the true self is found in the psychic being, that
\nis, it dwells in the psychic being \u2013 but not always. <\/span><\/p>\n

There is always a divine Presence in the psychic being, but it is the
\ndivine Presence which was at the origin of the psychic formation, it is an
\nemanation from the divine Consciousness; whereas the true self is not a
\nterrestrial formation. It precedes the terrestrial formation. <\/span><\/p>\n

Is that all? No more questions? You have one still? You can ask. <\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/span><\/p>\n

Sweet Mother, when one has a difficulty in
\nthe day and it is not possible to see you or tell you about it, what should one
\ndo? <\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

 <\/span><\/p>\n

If it is not at
\nall possible, you must sit quite alone, try to become silent, call, call me as
\nthough I were there, make me come and put the difficulty before me absolutely
\nsincerely and objectively; and then remain very silent, very quiet and wait for
\nthe result. <\/span><\/p>\n

And I think the result comes. For it depends on the nature of the
\ndifficulty. If it is a problem that’s to be solved, then the solution comes; if
\nit is an inner movement, something that has gone wrong, then usually if one
\ndoes this very sincerely, well, it is put back in its place; and if it is a
\ndecision that’s to be taken, if it is something one doesn’t know whether one
\nmust do or not do, then this too, if one is very quiet one knows whether it’s a
\nyes or no; it comes: \u201cYes\u201d or \u201cNo\u201d. Then here you must not discuss any more,
\nthe mind must not say, \u201cBut if\u2026 ? and then\u2026 \u201c, for then everything becomes
\nfoggy. You must say, \u201cGood!\u201d and follow like this. But for this you must be
\nsincere, in the sense that you must have no preferences. <\/span><\/p>\n

If the difficulty comes from one part of the being wanting one thing and
\nanother part of the being knowing that one must not have it, then it becomes
\ncomplicated because the part which wants can try to introduce its own will into
\nthe answer. So when <\/span>
\n
\n <\/span><\/p>\n

\n
\nPage \u2013 106<\/font><\/span><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n
\n

<\/span><\/div>\n

one sits down,
\nfirst one must begin by persuading it to make a little act of sincere
\nsurrender, and it is here that one can make true progress, saying, \u201cNow I am conscious
\nthat it is this that I desire, but I am ready to give up my desire if that
\nshould be done.\u201d But you must do this not only in the head, it must be done
\nsincerely, and then you proceed as I said. Then one knows \u2013 knows what’s to be
\ndone. <\/span><\/p>\n

Sometimes it is easier when you write it down; you imagine that I am
\nthere and then take a paper and write on it what you wanted to tell me. Then
\njust the very fact of formulating it clearly sometimes gives you the true
\npicture of the situation and you can have the answer more easily. It depends,
\nsometimes it is necessary, sometimes not, but if you are in a confusion, a kind
\nof whirlwind, above all, if there is a vital upsurge, the fact of compelling
\nyourself to put it on paper already quietens you, it begins the work of
\npurification. <\/span><\/p>\n

In fact, one should always do this, when he feels that he is caught by
\nan impulse of some kind or other, particularly impulses of anger. If one takes
\nas an absolute discipline, instead of acting or speaking (because speech is an
\naction), instead of acting under the impulse, if one withdraws and then does as
\nI said, one sits down quietly, concentrates and then looks at his anger
\nquietly, one writes it down, when one has finished writing, it is gone \u2013 in any
\ncase, most often. <\/span>
\n <\/span><\/p>\n

\n
\nPage \u2013 107<\/font><\/span><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

\t
\n\t<\/font><\/b><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/table>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

30 March 1955   This talk is based upon Bases of Yoga, Chapter 5, \u00a0\u201cPhysical Consciousness, etc.\u201d.   Sweet Mother, here it is written: \u201cThere…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[112],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3873","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-07-questions-and-answers-volume-07","wpcat-112-id"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/worksofthemotherandsriaurobindo.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3873","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=3873"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/worksofthemotherandsriaurobindo.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3873\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/worksofthemotherandsriaurobindo.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3873"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/worksofthemotherandsriaurobindo.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3873"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/worksofthemotherandsriaurobindo.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3873"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}