{"id":3896,"date":"2013-07-13T01:52:03","date_gmt":"2013-07-13T01:52:03","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/localhost\/?p=3896"},"modified":"2013-07-13T01:52:03","modified_gmt":"2013-07-13T01:52:03","slug":"07-16-february-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\/07-16-february-1955-vol-07-questions-and-answers-volume-07","title":{"rendered":"-07_16 February 1955.htm"},"content":{"rendered":"\n\n
\n
\n


\n16 February 1955 <\/font> <\/span><\/i><\/b><\/p>\n

 <\/span><\/p>\n

This talk is
\nbased upon Bases of Yoga, Chapter 4,<\/font><\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/font><\/span>\u201cDesire \u2013 Food – Sex\u201d.
\n<\/font> <\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/span><\/p>\n

Sweet Mother, here it is
\nsaid that one should have no attachment for material things; then, when you
\ngive us something, if we lose it and
\nfeel sad, it can be called attachment? <\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

 <\/span><\/p>\n

It
\nis better not to lose it. (Laughter<\/i>)
\nBut in fact the thing ought to be only\u2026 It is not the thing itself to which one
\nmust be attached. It is to open oneself to what is within, what I put into the
\nthing I give, this indeed is much more important. And, of course, there can
\nalways be an accident but it is certain that if one gives to a thing its inner
\nsymbolical or spiritual value, there is much less chance of losing it; it
\ncreates a kind of relation because of which there is not much chance of losing
\nit. It remains close to you. <\/span><\/p>\n

I have the feeling, when someone loses something I have given him, that
\nhe was just in contact with the outer form, the shell, and not with what I had
\nput inside, otherwise he would not have lost it; I have the feeling that there
\nis a lack of deeper perception. Perhaps one was very attached to the outer
\nform, but not very open to what was behind. <\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/span><\/p>\n

Mother, here it is said
\nthat specially for an athlete certain foods are necessary, so that there may be
\ncertain vitamins which are necessary, and all this\u2026<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

 <\/span><\/p>\n

That’s
\nmodern science. Yes\u2026 well, if you wait some fifty years, they will have found
\nsomething else, and it will change, and vitamins will be forgotten\u2026 But now,
\nwhat did you want to ask? <\/span><\/p>\n

\nPage \u2013
\n49<\/span><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n
\n

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

You have given the
\nanswer. (Laughter) How should we use things? <\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

 <\/span><\/p>\n

Ah,
\nthis is\u2026 First, to use things with an understanding of their true utility, the
\nknowledge of their real use, with the utmost care so that they do not get
\nspoilt and with the least confusion. <\/span><\/p>\n

I am going to give you an example: you have a pair of scissors. There
\nare scissors of all kinds, there are scissors for cutting paper, and there are
\nscissors for cutting thread\u2026 Now if you have the pair of scissors which you
\nneed, use it for the thing it is made for. But I know people who, when they
\nhave a pair of scissors, use it without any discernment to cut anything at all,
\nto cut small silk threads, and they try to cut a wire also with it or else they
\nuse it as a tool to open tins, you see; for anything whatever, where they need
\nan instrument they get hold of their scissors and use them. So naturally, after
\nquite a short while they come to me again and say, \u201cOh, my pair of scissors is
\nspoilt, I would like to have another.\u201d And they are very much surprised when I
\ntell them, \u201cNo, you won’t have another, because you have spoilt this one,
\nbecause you have used it badly.\u201d This is just one example. I could give many
\nothers. <\/span><\/p>\n

People use something which gets dirty and is spoilt in becoming dirty,
\nor they forget to clean it or neglect it, because all this takes time. <\/span><\/p>\n

There is a kind of respect for the object one has, which must make one
\ntreat it with much consideration and try to preserve it as long as possible,
\nnot because one is attached to it and desires it, but because an object is
\nsomething respectable which has sometimes cost a lot of effort and labour in
\nthe producing and so must as a result be considered with the respect due to the
\nwork and effort put into it. <\/span><\/p>\n

There are people who have nothing, who don’t even have the things which
\nare absolutely indispensable, and who are\u00a0
\n<\/span>compelled to make them in some way for their personal use. I have seen
\npeople of this kind who, with much effort and in- <\/span><\/p>\n

\nPage \u2013
\n50<\/span><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n
\n

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

genuity
\nhad managed to make for themselves certain things which are more or less
\nindispensable from the practical point of view. But the way they treated them,
\nbecause they were aware of the effort they had put in to make them, was
\nremarkable <\/span>\u2013<\/span>
\nthe care, that kind of respect for the object they had produced, because they
\nknew how much labour it had cost them. But people who have plenty of money in
\ntheir pockets, and when they need something turn the knob of a shop-door, enter
\nand put down the money and take the thing, they treat it like that. They harm
\nthemselves and give a very bad example. <\/span><\/p>\n

Many a time I say, \u201cNo, use what you have. Try to make the best possible
\nuse of it. Don’t throw away things uselessly, don’t ask uselessly. Try to do
\nwith what you have, putting into it all the care, all the order, all the
\nnecessary method, and avoiding confusion.\u201d <\/span><\/p>\n

Here, you know, we have a small chit-pad, and people write every month
\nwhat they want; and then it happens that we were compelled to ration things
\nbecause otherwise it was becoming something excessive. But this rationing often
\nturned against its purpose. <\/span><\/p>\n

I remember visiting a sadhak in his room, it is now some twenty-five
\nyears ago or so. It is an old story. I remember it still. There was a rack
\nhanging from the wall, a rack with five shelves; the rack was as big as this,
\nand there were five shelves one above another and they were all\u2026 all these
\nshelves were full, over-full of tiny soap pieces. So I asked him, \u201cBut for
\nheaven’s sake, what are you doing with all these pieces of soap? Why do you
\nhave all these pieces of soap there? Why don’t you use them?\u201d He said to me,
\n\u201cAh, we have the right to one cake of soap per month, so every month I ask for
\nsoap. It happens that I don’t finish it in that month, I keep the pieces.\u201d <\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/span><\/p>\n


\n\u00b9The
\nAshramites take from what Mother called \u201cProsperity\u201d their clothes, toilet
\narticles, and other requirements. They write out their needs on a page of their
\nProsperity Book and give in the list a few days before the distribution, which
\ntakes place on the first of each month.<\/font> <\/font><\/span><\/p>\n

\nPage \u2013
\n51<\/span><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n
\n

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

And he continued to take
\nit? <\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

 <\/span><\/p>\n

It
\nwas like that, he made a collection; because he had the right to a cake of
\nsoap, he wanted to take the soap, and to take the soap he put the former piece
\naside. It is an authentic story. I am not inventing it. <\/span><\/p>\n

Many people here are like that. I won’t tell you their names but I know
\nthem well. There are many like that. They have a right to something, they will
\nask for it even if they don’t need it, because they have the right. This indeed
\nis\u2026 well, in fact it is\u2026 an attitude\u2026 we won’t qualify it. <\/span><\/p>\n

There is also the miser who fills his chest with pieces of gold and
\nnever uses them. Gold does not rot, otherwise truly it rots morally, because
\nsomething that does not circulate becomes very ill. Now, no conclusions! <\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/span><\/p>\n

Sweet Mother, which
\nthings are truly indispensable for our life? <\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

 <\/span><\/p>\n

I
\ndon’t think they are the same for everyone. It depends on the country, it
\ndepends on the habits, and to tell you the truth, if one analyses very closely,
\nI don’t think there are many. You see, if you travel round the world, in every
\ncountry people have different habits of sleeping, habits of eating, habits of
\ndressing, habits for making their toilet. And quite naturally, they will tell
\nyou that the things they use are indispensable. But if you change countries you
\nwill realise that all these things are of no use for those people, because they
\nmake use of other things which are just as useful for them and seem to them
\nindispensable. Then once again you change the country, and yet again it is other
\nthings. So finally, if anyone has travelled a little over the world, he says,
\n\u201cBut what is really useful?\u201d I consider a tooth-brush as something
\nindispensable. My neighbour will look at me and tell me, \u201cWhat’s that, your
\ntooth-brush? I use my fingers and it is absolutely all right.\u201d And everything’s
\nlike that, isn’t it?\u00a0 <\/span>
\n <\/span><\/p>\n

\nPage \u2013
\n52<\/span><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n
\n

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

Food <\/span>\u2013<\/span>
\nit seems to you that a certain amount of things is indispensable in order to
\ngive you the necessary strength and that they are such and such things because
\nyou are accustomed to them, but in another country it is altogether different. <\/span><\/p>\n

So one can’t make a rule; and if one wants to be absolutely strict, I
\nthink it is a purely personal question, that it depends on each one’s body;
\nbecause as soon as you grow wide in your consciousness, you realise that the
\nthings which seem indispensable to you are not at all so, that you can very
\nwell do without them, carry on very well, work very well, have a lot of energy
\nwithout having any of the things which seem to you indispensable. Are there any
\nthings in the whole world which are indispensable, I mean material things? Yes,
\none can say a small amount of food <\/span>\u2013<\/span> and one can’t make a general rule, it depends on the
\nclimate.\u00a0 <\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

Nature is foreseeing enough, she produces in each climate the right
\nthing for it. Of course, one should not put man at the centre and say that
\nNature has made this for the good of man, I don’t think it is like that,
\nbecause she had invented all this long before man appeared on the earth. But it
\nis a kind of harmony which develops between the climatic conditions of a
\ncountry and its produce, as we know that there is a harmony between the size of
\nanimals and the largeness of the country they live in. For example, the
\nelephants of <\/span>India<\/span> are much smaller than those of <\/span>Africa<\/span>. And it is said that this is because in <\/span>Africa<\/span> the spaces are immense,
\nso the animals are very big. <\/span><\/p>\n

It is a kind of harmony established in the creation and as the countries
\nbecome smaller, as the zones in which these animals live grow smaller, well,
\nthe animal becomes smaller until it disappears completely when there is no
\nproper relation left between the free space and its own size. If you construct
\nmany houses, well, there will no longer be any bears, any wolves; naturally,
\nfirst the lions and tigers disappear, but in this I believe men have done
\nsomething\u2026 Fear makes them very destructive. But the greater the masses of
\nhuman beings and the <\/span>
\n
\n <\/span><\/p>\n

\nPage \u2013
\n53<\/span><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n
\n

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

lesser
\nthe free spaces, the more do the animal species grow smaller. So how can we
\nmake rules? <\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/span><\/p>\n

The more money we have,
\nthe more we need\u2026<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

 <\/span><\/p>\n

The
\nmore money one has the more one is in a state of calamity, my child. Yes, it is
\na calamity. <\/span><\/p>\n

It is a catastrophe to have money. It makes you stupid, it makes you
\nmiserly, it makes you wicked. It is one of the greatest calamities in the
\nworld. Money is something one ought not to have until one no longer has
\ndesires. When one no longer has any desires, any attachments, when one has a
\nconsciousness vast as the earth, then one may have as much money as there is on
\nthe earth; it would be very good for everyone. But if one is not like that, all
\nthe money one has is like a curse upon him. This I could tell anyone at all to
\nhis face, even to the man who thinks that it is a merit to have become rich. It
\nis a calamity and perhaps it is a disgrace, that is, it is an expression of a
\ndivine displeasure. <\/span><\/p>\n

It is infinitely more difficult to be good, to be wise, to be
\nintelligent and generous, to be more generous, you follow me, when one is rich
\nthan when one is poor. I have known many people in many countries, and the most
\ngenerous people I have ever met in all the countries, were the poorest. And as
\nsoon as the pockets are full, one is caught by a kind of illness, which is a
\nsordid attachment to money. I assure you it is a curse. <\/span><\/p>\n

So the first thing to do when one has money is to give it. But as it is
\nsaid that it should not be given without discernment, don’t go and give it like
\nthose who practise philanthropy, because that fills them with a sense of their
\nown goodness, their generosity and their own importance. You must act in a
\nsattwic way, that is, make the best possible use of it. And so, each one must
\nfind in his highest consciousness what the best possible use of the money he
\nhas can be. And truly money has no value unless it circulates. For each and
\nevery one, money is valuable<\/span><\/p>\n

\nPage \u2013
\n54<\/span><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n
\n

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

only
\nwhen one has spent it. If one doesn’t spend it\u2026 I tell you, men take care to
\nchoose things which do not deteriorate, that is, gold <\/span>\u2013<\/span> which does not
\ndecompose. Otherwise, from the moral point of view it rots. And now that gold
\nhas been replaced by paper, if you keep paper for a long time without taking
\ncare of it, you will see when you open your drawer that there are small
\nsilver-fish which have regaled themselves on your paper-rupees. So they will
\nhave left a lace-work which the bank will refuse. <\/span><\/p>\n

There are countries and religions which always say that God makes those
\nwhom He loves poor. I don’t know if that is true; but there is one thing which
\nis true, that surely when someone is born rich or has become very rich, in any
\ncase when he possesses much from the point of view of material riches, it is
\ncertainly not a sign that the Divine has chosen him for His divine Grace, and
\nhe must make honourable amends if he wants to walk on the path, the true path,
\nto the Divine. <\/span><\/p>\n

Wealth is a force <\/span>\u2013<\/span> I have already told you this once <\/span>\u2013<\/span> a force of Nature; and
\nit should be a means of circulation, a power in movement, as flowing water is a
\npower in movement. It is something which can serve to produce, to organise. It
\nis a convenient means, because in fact it is only a means of making things
\ncirculate fully and freely. <\/span><\/p>\n

This force should be in the hands of those who know how to make the best
\npossible use of it, that is, as I said at the beginning, people who have
\nabolished in themselves or in some way or other got rid of every personal
\ndesire and every attachment. To this should be added a vision vast enough to
\nunderstand the needs of the earth, a knowledge complete enough to know how to
\norganise all these needs and use this force by these means. <\/span><\/p>\n

If, besides this, these beings have a higher spiritual knowledge, then
\nthey can utilise this force to construct gradually upon the earth what will be
\ncapable of manifesting the divine Power, Force and Grace. And then this power
\nof money, wealth, this financial force, of which I just said that it was like a
\ncurse,
\n <\/span><\/p>\n

\nPage \u2013
\n55<\/span><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n
\n

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

would
\nbecome a supreme blessing for the good of all. <\/span><\/p>\n

For I think that it is the best things which become the worst. Perhaps
\nthe worst also can become the best. Some people also say that it is the worst
\nmen who become the best. I hope the best don’t become the worst, for that
\nindeed would be sad. <\/span><\/p>\n

But still, certainly, the greatest power, if badly used, can be a very
\ngreat calamity; whereas this same very great power if well utilised can be a
\nblessing. All depends on the use that’s made of things. Each thing in the world
\nhas its place, its work, a real use; and if used for something else it creates
\na disorder, confusion, chaos. And that’s because in the world as it is, very
\nfew things are utilised for their true work, very few things are really in
\ntheir place, and it is because the world is in a frightful chaos that there is
\nall this misery and suffering. If each thing was in its place, in a harmonious
\nbalance, the whole world could progress without needing to be in the state of
\nmisery and suffering in which it is. There! <\/span><\/p>\n

So there is nothing that’s bad in itself, but there are many things <\/span>\u2013<\/span> almost all <\/span>\u2013<\/span> which are not in their
\nplace. <\/span><\/p>\n

Perhaps in the body also it is like that. There is nothing that’s bad in
\nitself; but many things are not in their place, and that is why one becomes
\nill. There is created an inner disharmony. So the result is that one is ill.
\nAnd people always think that it is not their fault that they are ill, and it is
\nalways their fault, and they are very angry when they are told this. \u201cYou have
\nno pity.\u201d And yet it is true. <\/span><\/p>\n

There we are. That’s enough, isn’t it? <\/span><\/p>\n

That’s all. Then we stop. The dose is complete. <\/span>
\n
\n <\/span><\/p>\n

\nPage \u2013
\n56<\/span><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

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

16 February 1955   This talk is based upon Bases of Yoga, Chapter 4, \u00a0\u201cDesire \u2013 Food – Sex\u201d.   Sweet Mother, here it is…<\/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-3896","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\/3896","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=3896"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/worksofthemotherandsriaurobindo.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3896\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/worksofthemotherandsriaurobindo.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3896"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/worksofthemotherandsriaurobindo.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3896"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/worksofthemotherandsriaurobindo.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3896"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}