{"id":3898,"date":"2013-07-13T01:52:03","date_gmt":"2013-07-13T01:52:03","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/localhost\/?p=3898"},"modified":"2013-07-13T01:52:03","modified_gmt":"2013-07-13T01:52:03","slug":"09-2-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\/09-2-march-1955-vol-07-questions-and-answers-volume-07","title":{"rendered":"-09_2 March 1955.htm"},"content":{"rendered":"\n\n
\n
\n


\n2 March 1955<\/font><\/span><\/i><\/b>
\n<\/font> <\/span><\/i><\/b><\/p>\n

 <\/span><\/p>\n

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

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

 <\/span><\/p>\n

Sweet Mother, what is
\nthe right spirit and the right consciousness in which one should take food? <\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

 <\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

It
\nis the spirit of consecration and\u2026<\/span><\/p>\n

What is the other one you said? <\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 <\/span>The
\nright consciousness. <\/i><\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/span><\/p>\n

Yes,
\nit is the same thing. It is the consciousness that’s turned exclusively to the
\nDivine, and wants the divine realisation and nothing else; and the right spirit
\nis the spirit of consecration to the Divine which wants only the transformation
\nand nothing else, that is, something which does not try to seek its own
\nsatisfaction in the fulfilment of the aspiration. <\/span><\/p>\n

There is always, as soon as there’s an aspiration\u2026 it may be very
\nsincere and spontaneous but immediately the mind and vital are there, watching
\nlike robbers behind the door; and if a force answers they rush upon it for
\ntheir own satisfaction. So there one must take very, very, very great care,
\nbecause though the aspiration might be sincere, the call absolutely spontaneous
\nand sincere and very pure, as soon as the answer comes the two brigands are
\nthere, trying to take possession of what comes for their own satisfaction. And
\nwhat comes is very good but they immediately pervert it, they use it for
\npersonal ends, for the satisfaction of their desires or ambitions, and they
\nspoil everything. And naturally, not only do they spoil everything but they
\nstop the experience. So unless one takes good care, one is stuck there, and
\ncannot move forward. If some Grace is above you, when the Grace sees this it
\nautomatically gives you a terrible
\n <\/span><\/p>\n

\nPage \u2013
\n64<\/span><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n
\n

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

blow
\nto recall you to the reality, to your senses; it gives you a good knock on the
\nhead or in the stomach or the heart or anywhere else so that all of a sudden
\nyou say, \u201cOh, that won’t do any more.\u201d <\/span><\/p>\n

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

 <\/span><\/p>\n

Mother, what does this
\nmean: \u201csleep has to be gradually transformed into the yogic repose\u201d? <\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

 <\/span><\/p>\n

Ah,
\nyogic repose. It means that instead of an unconscious sleep it is a sleep <\/span>\u2013<\/span> if you want to call it
\nsleep <\/span>\u2013<\/span>
\na conscious sleep. The body is in a state of complete repose, with the nerves
\nrelaxed, the muscles relaxed; one is completely relaxed and at rest; but the
\nspirit remains conscious, conscious enough to be able to put the vital also at
\nrest, the mind also at rest, and let everything be in a state of peace,
\nquietude, immobility, so that the consciousness may be completely free. Then
\nthe consciousness can either rest also, if it thinks it necessary, or work if
\nit thinks that is needed; and in any case it is free to do as it wants, what it
\nwants, and to go to the regions to which it wants to go. But the parts
\nbelonging to the present physical being, that is, the mind, vital and physical,
\nare in a complete repose and a kind of immobility, due to which the hours of
\nsleep do not need to be so long. One can cut short the number of hours of sleep
\nvery much if one leaves the body in this state of rest. But this asks for much
\nwork, and a very conscious work, you see, very conscious and very persistent.
\nIt cannot be had immediately, it may require years of discipline. Only, once it
\nis acquired, well, one has mastered sleep and can prevent, well\u2026 For example,
\nthere are many people who, when they go to sleep, are in a very good state of
\nconsciousness, and when they wake up in the morning they are completely dazed
\nand have lost all that they had gained the previous day; and that’s because
\ntheir sleep is unconscious and they go out in the vital or the mind or the
\nsubtle physical; they go to undesirable places or else fall into the
\ninconscience
\n <\/span><\/p>\n

\nPage \u2013
\n65<\/span><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n
\n

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

and
\nlose in this inconscience all they had gained before\u2026 It is something very
\nnecessary, but it can’t be acquired very easily. It is one of the most
\ndifficult things to do, but it is very useful; only, one can hardly do it
\nwithout a very close guidance, because unless one knows how to do it even to
\nthe last detail, one risks doing stupid things.<\/span><\/p>\n

In any case one thing you can do in all security is, before going to
\nsleep, to concentrate, relax all tension in the physical being, try\u2026 that is,
\nin the body try so that the body lies like a soft rag on the bed, that it is no
\nlonger something with twitchings and cramps; to relax it completely as though
\nit were a kind of thing like a rag. And then, the vital: to calm it, calm it as
\nmuch as you can, make it as quiet, as peaceful as possible. And then the mind
\nalso \u2013 the mind, try to keep it like that, without any activity. You must put
\nupon the brain the force of great peace, great quietude, of silence if
\npossible, and not follow ideas actively, not make any effort, nothing, nothing;
\nyou must relax all movement there too, but relax it in a kind of silence and
\nquietude as great as possible. <\/span><\/p>\n

Once you have done all this, you may add either a prayer or an
\naspiration in accordance with your nature, to ask for the consciousness and
\npeace and to be protected against all the adverse forces throughout the sleep,
\nto be in a concentration of quiet aspiration and in the protection; ask the
\nGrace to watch over your sleep; and then go to sleep. This is to sleep in the
\nbest possible conditions. What happens afterwards depends on your inner
\nimpulses, but if you do this persistently, night after night, night after
\nnight, after some time it will have its effect. <\/span><\/p>\n

Usually, you see, one lies down on the bed and tries to sleep as quickly
\nas possible, and then, that’s all, with a state of total ignorance of how it
\nought to be done. But what I have just told you, if you do that regularly it
\nwill have an effect. In any case, it can very well avoid the attacks which
\noccur at night: one has gone to bed very nicely, one wakes up ill; this is
\nsomething absolutely disastrous, it means that during the night one has been
\n <\/span><\/p>\n

\nPage \u2013
\n66<\/span><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n
\n

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

getting
\ninfected somewhere in a state of total inconscience. <\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 <\/span>Is
\nit not also necessary to remember one’s dreams? <\/i><\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/span><\/p>\n

This
\nis not so necessary. It is useful if one wants to have a great control over his
\nsleep. But this also one must know how to do. To remember one’s dreams <\/span>\u2013<\/span> that’s in the morning;
\nwhat I am telling you is for the evening. In the morning when you get up, you
\nmust not be in a hurry. That is, you must not wake up just at the moment when
\nyou must get out of bed; you must have some time in hand and must take good
\ncare, must make a formation before going to sleep, and take good care when
\nwaking up not to make any abrupt movement, because if you make an abrupt
\nmovement, automatically the memory of your dreams vanishes. You must remain
\nwith the head absolutely motionless on the pillow, without stirring, until you
\ncan quietly recall to yourself the consciousness which went out, and recall it
\nas one pulls at something, very gently, without any knocking and without haste,
\nin a state of attention and concentration. And then, as the consciousness comes
\nback to you, the consciousness that went out, if you remain quite motionless,
\nvery quiet, and do not begin once again to think of all kinds of things, it
\nwill bring back first an impression and then the memory, sometimes a
\nfragmentary memory. But if you remain in that same state of receptive
\nimmobility, then it can become more and more a conscious memory. But for this
\nyou must have time. If there is the least feeling that you have to hurry, it is
\nfinished, you can do nothing at all. You must not even ask yourself, when
\nwaking up, \u201cWhat is the time?\u201d It is absolutely finished. If you do that,
\neverything vanishes. <\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 <\/span>But,
\nMother, one goes off to sleep again if one doesn’t move! (Laughter) <\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

 <\/span><\/p>\n

This
\nmeans one thing or other: either that one has not slept
\n <\/span><\/p>\n

\nPage \u2013
\n67<\/span><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n
\n

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

enough,
\nand so should sleep again or else that one is a little tamasic by nature and
\nlikes to be in the inconscience. <\/span><\/p>\n

So, that’s all, my children? No questions? <\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 <\/span>Mother,
\nan inner effort is often spoilt by dispersions in outer activities<\/i>. <\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/span><\/p>\n

When
\none is outwardly active, how to keep the concentration?\u2026 Oh, this should not be
\nvery difficult. Truly it should not be very difficult. For me what seems
\ndifficult is not to keep a kind of intensity of inner consciousness, to be
\nseparated from it; this seems something impossible. Once one catches that
\nwithin oneself, how can one separate oneself from it, if you have had it once,
\nif it has become a reality for you, this consciousness and this inner union
\nwith the psychic, and this consciousness and intensity of aspiration, and this
\nflame which is always lit? Why, whatever one may be doing, this cannot be
\nextinguished, it is always there. <\/span><\/p>\n

It seems to me that to separate oneself from it, once it is there, you
\nmust close a door, you must deliberately close the door, like this, upon it,
\nand say, \u201cI am no longer interested in it.\u201d But if one truly has the will to
\nkeep the contact, it doesn’t seem very difficult to me. It seems to me that one
\nmust really have the will to turn one’s back upon it for it to go away;
\notherwise it is there, behind everything, all things, constantly. And if on the
\ncontrary one has made it a habit, when saying something, when making a
\nmovement, simply a movement or doing anything at all, to refer always to that,
\nin there, not to feel capable of doing something without having that at the
\nback, there, to tell you, \u201cYes, this way, not that way. That, no, not that,
\nthis\u201d, then it is difficult to live without it. <\/span><\/p>\n

Some people, because it troubles them, because it puts a control on
\ntheir impulses and they want to feel absolutely free and independent (what they
\ncall independent), seem deliberately to bang the door, like that, they slam the
\ndoor violently
\n <\/span><\/p>\n

\nPage \u2013
\n68<\/span><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n
\n

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

to
\nstop it. Then naturally, once it is done, it is done; then one becomes
\nsomething so superficial, so weak, so petty, so ignorant, so stupid! How can
\none bear to be like that? It seems to me that immediately the instinct would be
\nto take a step backwards, open the door hurriedly and put oneself again into
\ncontact, saying, \u201cNo, no, no, not this state, not this frightful state of
\nignorance\u201d <\/span>\u2013<\/span>
\nin which you don’t even know what you ought to say or ought not to say, what
\nyou ought to do or ought not to do, where you should go or should not go, nothing,
\nnothing, you are in an obscure and incoherent immensity. It is a dreadful
\nstate. But when the door is open and this thing is behind, it is absolutely
\ncomfortable at every minute, as though one were leaning one’s back against a
\ngreat light, a great consciousness, like this\u2026 \u201cAh, now, here we are, this is
\nwhat ought to be done, that’s what ought to be said, this is the movement to be
\nmade\u201d, etc. So, then one is comfortable, quiet, without anguish, without any
\nproblem, without any anxiety. One does what one wants to do; whether people
\ntake it more or less well is their affair, but for oneself it is like that.<\/span><\/p>\n

And note that I am telling you this because I take the greatest care to
\nopen your door, inside all of you, and if you have only a little\u2026 a small movement
\nof concentration within you, you don’t have to spend those long periods in
\nfront of a closed door which does not move, of which you do not have the key,
\nand which you do not know how to open. Sometimes one has to wait stuck to the
\ndoor for hours or for days or months or sometimes for years, and you do not
\nknow what to do. <\/span><\/p>\n

It is not like that for you, my children. <\/span><\/p>\n

The door is open, only one must look towards it. One must not turn one’s
\nback to it. <\/span><\/p>\n

Ah, that’s all? <\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 <\/span>Sweet
\nMother, what does the error of the lower vital mean? <\/i> <\/span><\/p>\n

\nPage \u2013 69<\/span><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n
\n

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

You
\nare asking what it is? <\/span><\/p>\n

All desires, all impulses, all egoistical, obscure, ignorant,
\npassionate, violent movements – in fact most of the movements one makes every
\nday. This is the error of the lower vital. It wants to have everything for
\nitself. It wants to be the master of the whole life, to govern everything. And
\nwhen the mind is an accomplice <\/span>\u2013<\/span> which happens ninety-nine and a half times out of a
\nhundred <\/span>\u2013<\/span>
\nthe mind says, \u201cThis indeed is called living one’s life, a right to live one’s
\nlife.\u201d It means the right to be an ignorant and stupid animal. <\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 <\/span>Mother,
\nwhat is sleep? Is it only the need of the body to rest or is it something else?
\n<\/i><\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/span><\/p>\n

Sleep
\ncan be a very active means of concentration and inner knowledge. Sleep is the
\nschool one has to go through, if one knows how to learn his lesson there, so
\nthat the inner being may be independent of the physical form, conscious in
\nitself and master of its own life. There are entire parts of the being which
\nneed this immobility and semi-consciousness of the outer being, of the body, in
\norder to be able to live their own life, independently. <\/span><\/p>\n

Only, people don’t know, they sleep because they sleep, as they eat, as
\nthey live – by a kind of instinct, a semi-conscious impulse. They don’t even
\nask themselves the question. You are asking the question now: Why does one
\nsleep? But there are millions and millions of beings who sleep without ever
\nhaving asked themselves the question why one sleeps. They sleep because they
\nfeel sleepy, they eat because they are hungry, and they do foolish things
\nbecause their instincts push them, without thinking, without reasoning; but for
\nthose who know, sleep is a school, an excellent school for something other than
\nthe school of waking hours. <\/span><\/p>\n

It is another school for another purpose, but it is a school. If one
\nwants to make the maximum progress possible, one must
\n <\/span><\/p>\n

\nPage \u2013
\n70<\/span><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n
\n

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

know
\nhow to use one’s nights as one uses one’s days; only, usually, people don’t at
\nall know what to do, and they try to remain awake and all that they create is a
\nphysical and vital imbalance \u2013 and sometimes a mental one also – as a result. <\/span><\/p>\n

The physical and all material physical parts should be absolutely at
\nrest, but a repose which is not a fall into the inconscient \u2013 this is one of
\nthe conditions. And the vital must be in a repose of silence. Then if you have
\nthese three things at rest, the inner being which is rarely in relation with
\nthe outer life, because the outer life is too noisy and too unconscious for it
\nto be able to manifest itself, can become aware of itself and awaken, become
\nactive and act upon the lower parts, establish a conscious contact. This is the
\nreal reason for sleep, apart from the necessity that, in the present conditions
\nof life, activity and rest, rest and activity must alternate. <\/span><\/p>\n

The body needs rest but there are very few people, as I said, who know
\nhow to sleep. They sleep in such conditions that they don’t wake up refreshed
\nor are hardly rested at all. But this is an entire science to learn. <\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 <\/span>On
\nwhat do our physical reserves depend, Mother? <\/i><\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/span><\/p>\n

Physical
\nreserves? You mean the reserve of energy? <\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 <\/span>Yes.
\n<\/i><\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/span><\/p>\n

It
\ndepends on the capacity to receive the universal vital force; because in fact,
\nthrough food also it is these vital forces one receives but one receives them
\nfrom below. But in order to have reserves you must know how to receive the
\nuniversal vital forces constantly and to have a kind of balance in the being
\nwhich prevents you from spending more than you have. <\/span><\/p>\n

A proportion has to be kept between the receptivity and the expenditure.
\nIt is a kind of harmony in the being which must be established. Only, some people
\nhave an almost instinctive <\/span><\/p>\n

\nPage \u2013
\n71<\/span><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n
\n

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

power
\nof attracting towards them the vital forces or absorbing them \u2013 the universal
\nvital forces, I mean <\/span>\u2013<\/span> and so they make up their expense as they go along
\nspending. These people can produce much more than others. Some of them, in
\ncertain conditions like sleep or a kind of repose or relaxation, can accumulate
\nforces and later they exhaust them, so to say, in their activities and they
\nmust yet once again charge the battery afterwards <\/span>\u2013<\/span> this is already a much
\nless favourable condition. <\/span><\/p>\n

Some people don’t know how to receive the forces at all. These live on
\nthe energies concentrated in the body <\/span>\u2013<\/span> for there is some concentrated energy in all the
\ncells of the body. They live upon that, but after some time, they are drained
\nout completely if they don’t know how to recuperate; when they have spent all
\nthe energies which were concentrated inside them either they fall ill or they
\nnever recuperate them. So this cannot last very long; it lasts the average
\nlifetime of human beings, and yet, at the end of a certain number of years they
\nare no longer able to make the same effort or to produce as much, or above all
\nto make any progress.<\/span><\/p>\n

But those who know instinctively or who have learnt to receive and
\naccumulate the universal vital forces, these can last almost indefinitely. The
\nwear and tear is very little, especially if they know how to do it and do it
\nwith knowledge and method; then here it can reach a certain degree of
\nperfection. <\/span><\/p>\n

When one knows, sometimes just two or three minutes are sufficient to
\nrecuperate the energies spent over a long period. Only, one must know how to do
\nit. <\/span><\/p>\n

But those who draw back upon themselves, who turn and double up on
\nthemselves, cannot do this. One must live all the time in a very vast and very
\nexpansive consciousness (I don’t know if you understand the word, it means
\nsomething which extends very homogeneously and quietly, as when the tide is at
\nits height and the water spreads like that, quietly <\/span>\u2013<\/span> that’s the impression).
\nThe vital must be like that <\/span>\u2013<\/span> then one is open to the universal forces. But if, for
\nexample, one has the very bad<\/span> <\/span><\/p>\n

\nPage \u2013
\n72<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n
\n

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

\nhabit of exchanging vital forces with one’s
\nfellowmen, then one loses the capacity altogether. So unless one is in relation
\nwith someone, one receives nothing at all. But naturally if you receive forces
\nthrough others, you receive at the same time all the difficulties of the other
\nperson, perhaps sometimes his qualities also, but these are less contagious.
\nThis indeed is something that shuts you up most. <\/span><\/p>\n

Some people\u2026 unless they have more or less social relations with others,
\nrelations of friendship, conversing\u2026 and then it goes still farther\u2026 they don’t
\nreceive any forces; and this is how they receive them. But this always makes a
\nsoup. The forces one receives are already half digested, in any case they don’t
\nhave their primal purity, and this affects your own capacity. <\/span><\/p>\n

But when one has this capacity in his own consciousness \u2013 for example,
\nyou go for a walk and come to a place which is somewhat vast, like the seashore
\nor like a great plain or the summit of a mountain, a place where the horizon is
\nfairly vast, then if you have this kind of physical instinct which suddenly
\nmakes you as vast as the horizon, you have a sense of infinity, immensity; and the
\nvaster you become, the quieter and more peaceful you become. <\/span><\/p>\n

It is enough for you to have a contact with Nature like that. <\/span><\/p>\n

There are many other means, but this one is very spontaneous. There is also\u2026
\nwhen you see something very beautiful you can have the same thing: a kind of
\ninner joy and an opening to the forces, and so this widens you and fills you at
\nthe same time. There are many means but usually one does not use them.
\nNaturally, if you enter into contemplation and aspire for a higher life and
\ncall down the forces from above, this recuperates your energies more than
\nanything else. But there are numerous methods. <\/span><\/p>\n

There we are. That’s all? Good. <\/span><\/p>\n

So, au revoir, my children. <\/span><\/p>\n

Good night.
\n <\/span><\/p>\n

\nPage \u2013 73<\/span><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

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

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