{"id":3900,"date":"2013-07-13T01:52:04","date_gmt":"2013-07-13T01:52:04","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/localhost\/?p=3900"},"modified":"2013-07-13T01:52:04","modified_gmt":"2013-07-13T01:52:04","slug":"17-4-may-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\/17-4-may-1955-vol-07-questions-and-answers-volume-07","title":{"rendered":"-17_4 May 1955.htm"},"content":{"rendered":"\n\n
\n
\n


\n
\n4 May 1955 <\/font> <\/span><\/i><\/b><\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/span><\/p>\n

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

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

 <\/span><\/p>\n

Sweet Mother, how can one draw on \u201cthe
\nuniversal vital Force\u201d? <\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

 <\/span><\/p>\n

One can do it in
\nmany ways. <\/span><\/p>\n

First of all, you must know that it exists and that one can enter into
\ncontact with it. Secondly, you must try to make this contact, to feel it
\ncirculating everywhere, through everything, in all persons and all
\ncircumstances; to have this experience, for example, when you are in the
\ncountryside among trees, to see it circulating in the whole of Nature, in trees
\nand things, and then commune with it, feel yourself close to it, and each time
\nyou want to deal with it, recall that impression you had and try to enter into
\ncontact. <\/span><\/p>\n

Some people discover that with certain movements, certain gestures,
\ncertain activities, they enter into contact more closely. I knew people who
\ngesticulated while walking\u2026 this truly gave them the impression that they were
\nin contact \u2013 certain gestures they made while walking\u2026 But children do this
\nspontaneously: when they give themselves completely in their games, running,
\nplaying, jumping, shouting; when they spend all their energies like that, they
\ngive themselves entirely, and in the joy of playing and moving and running they
\nput themselves in contact with this universal vital force; they don’t know it,
\nbut they spend their vital force in a contact with the universal vital force
\nand that is why they can run without really feeling very tired, except after a
\nvery long time. That is, they spend so much that if they were not in contact
\nwith the universal force, they would be absolutely exhausted, immediately. And
\nthat is why, besides, they grow up; it is also because they receive more than
\nthey <\/span>
\n
\n <\/font><\/span><\/p>\n

\n
\nPage – 137<\/font><\/span><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n
\n

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

spend; they know
\nhow to receive more than they spend. And this does not correspond to any
\nknowledge. It is a natural, spontaneous movement. It is the movement\u2026 a movement
\nof joy in what they are doing \u2013 of joyful expenditure. One can do many things
\nwith that. <\/span><\/p>\n

I knew young people who had always lived in cities \u2013 in a city and in
\nthose little rooms one has in the big cities in which everyone is huddled. Now,
\nthey had come to spend their holidays in the countryside, in the south of
\nFrance, and there the sun is hot, naturally not as here but all the same it is
\nvery hot (when we compare the sun of the Mediterranean coasts with that of
\nParis, for example, it truly makes a difference), and so, when they walked
\naround the countryside the first few days they really began to get a terrible
\nheadache and to feel absolutely uneasy because of the sun; but they suddenly
\nthought: \u201cWhy, if we make friends with the sun it won’t harm us any more!\u201d And
\nthey began to make a kind of inner effort of friendship and trust in the sun,
\nand when they were out in the sun, instead of trying to bend double and tell
\nthemselves, \u201cOh! How hot it is, how it burns!\u201d, they said, \u201cOh, how full of
\nforce and joy and love the sun is!\u201d etc., they opened themselves like this (gesture<\/i>), and not only did they not
\nsuffer any longer but they felt so strong afterwards that they went round
\ntelling everyone who said \u201cIt is hot\u201d \u2013 telling them \u201cDo as we do, you will see
\nhow good it is.\u201d And they could remain for hours in the full sun, bare-headed
\nand without feeling any discomfort. It is the same principle.\u00a0 <\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

It is the same principle. They linked themselves to the universal vital
\nforce which is in the sun and received this force which took away all that was
\nunpleasant to them. <\/span><\/p>\n

When one is in the countryside, when one walks under the trees and feels
\nso close to Nature, to the trees, the sky, all the leaves, all the branches,
\nall the herbs, when one feels a great friendship with these things and breathes
\nthat air which is so good, perfumed with all the plants, then one opens
\noneself, and <\/span>
\n
\n <\/span><\/p>\n

\n
\nPage \u2013 138<\/font><\/span><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n
\n

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

by opening oneself
\ncommunes with the universal forces. And for all things it is like that. <\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/span><\/p>\n

Can one do the same thing when it is cold?
\n<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

 <\/span><\/p>\n

Yes, I think so. I
\nthink one can always do the same thing in all cases. <\/span><\/p>\n

The sun is a very powerful symbol in the organisation of Nature. So it
\nis not altogether the same thing; it possesses in itself an extraordinary
\ncondensation of energy. Cold seems to me a more negative thing: it is an
\nabsence of something. But in any case, if one knows how to enter the rhythm of
\nthe movements of Nature, one avoids many discomforts. What makes men suffer,
\nwhat disturbs the balance of the body is a narrowness, it is always a
\nnarrowness. It happens because one is shut up in limits, and so there is, as
\nSri Aurobindo writes here, a force which presses too strongly for these limits
\n\u2013 it upsets everything. <\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/span><\/p>\n

Sweet Mother, what is \u201cthe inner
\nphysical\u201d? <\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

 <\/span><\/p>\n

Well, the other
\nday we had this question in connection with the subliminal. It is the same
\nthing, you see. <\/span><\/p>\n

The outer physical, what we see of the body, the appearance is, so to
\nsay, supported, upheld by a kind of inner existence and substance, which is
\nexpressed through the outer thing. You feel this clearly when something from
\noutside hits you, and it is not pleasant; then when you draw back from that,
\nyou recoil from that contact with circumstances or things; well, the first
\nimpression is of drawing back inside into your physical being itself, a
\nphysical being which is there, which presses, so to say, on the outer form in
\norder to create a new form. <\/span><\/p>\n

This is what makes children grow up, it is a kind of inner thing which
\npushes, pushes for action, pushes for movement, pushes for progress. But it is
\nphysical, it is not a vital or mental <\/span>
\n
\n <\/span><\/p>\n

\n
\nPage \u2013 139<\/font><\/span><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n
\n

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

consciousness, it
\nis purely physical. It is something which pushes from within towards manifestation
\nand is concentrated and channelled in the manifestation. It is vaster and more
\nimprecise within. It is what Sri Aurobindo calls \u201cthe inner physical\u201d. It is
\nmore vague, more imprecise. One can dream there. For example, one dreams, one
\nsees a room, one’s own room. Well, it is one’s own room but still there are
\nlittle differences; it is not absolutely what one sees with his two eyes when
\nhe is completely awake. It is a physical vision but with just a little shade of
\ndifference; compared with the most material there are slight changes. <\/span><\/p>\n

That’s all? <\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/span><\/p>\n

Sweet Mother, do the universal vital
\nforces have any limits? <\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

 <\/span><\/p>\n

I don’t think that
\nforces have a limit, because in comparison with us they are certainly
\nunlimited. But it’s our capacity of reception that is limited. We cannot absorb
\nthem beyond a certain measure, and then we must keep a balance between the
\nexpenditure and the capacity to receive. If one spends suddenly in a kind of
\nimpulse \u2013 for example, in an impulsive movement \u2013 if one spends much more than
\none has received, one needs a brief moment of concentration, calm, receptivity
\nto absorb universal forces. You must put yourself in a certain condition to
\nreceive them; and then, they last for a certain time, and once you have spent
\nthem you must begin again to receive them. It is in this sense that there are
\nlimits. It isn’t the forces that are limited, it is the receptivity. <\/span><\/p>\n

Each person has a different receptivity. No two receptivities are the
\nsame in quality and quantity, but specially in quality. One enters into contact
\nwith very pure, very intense forces \u2013 what could be already called converted
\nforces, that is, universal vital forces which are in contact with the Divine
\nand not only receive the Divine but aspire to receive Him. So if you absorb <\/span>
\n
\n <\/span><\/p>\n

\n
\nPage \u2013 140<\/font><\/span><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n
\n

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

these forces it
\ngives you a great strength for progress. It is in this that the quality is much
\nmore important. And for the quality of the universal vital forces, it depends
\nnaturally a great deal on what one is, but also much on what one does. <\/span><\/p>\n

If one uses these forces for a purely selfish action of a base kind,
\nwell, one makes it almost totally impossible for himself to receive any new
\nones of as fine a quality. All depends on the utilisation of the forces one
\nreceives. If, on the other hand, you use them to make progress, to perfect
\nyourself, it gives you\u2026 it increases your capacity of receiving enormously, and
\nthe next time you can have a lot more. All depends (in any case, principally)
\non the use made of them. There are people, for instance, who are short-tempered
\nby nature and haven’t succeeded in controlling their anger. Well, if with an
\naspiration or by some method or other they have managed to receive some higher
\nvital forces, instead of this calming their irritation or anger\u2026 because they
\nhave no self-control it increases their anger, that is, their irritability,
\ntheir movement of violence is full of a greater force, a greater energy, and
\nbecomes much more violent. So it is well said that to be in contact with
\nuniversal forces does not make one progress. But this is because they make a
\nbad use of them. Yet naturally in the long run, this bad use diminishes the
\ncapacity of receiving; but it takes time, it is not immediate. So it is very
\nimportant to put yourself in a good condition to receive the higher forces and
\nnot the lower ones, and secondly, when you have received them use them for the
\nbest thing possible, in order to prepare yourself to receive those which are of
\na higher quality. But if you open yourself, receive the forces and afterwards,
\nbeing satisfied with having received them you let yourself fall into all the
\nordinary movements, well, you close the door and the force no longer returns. <\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/span><\/p>\n

One can increase the receptivity also?\u2026 <\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

\n
\nPage \u2013 141<\/font><\/span><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n
\n

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

How can we
\nincrease the receptivity? By progressing. <\/span><\/p>\n

One must first know how to open himself and then, in a great quietude
\nknow how to assimilate the forces one has received, not to throw them out
\nagain. One must know how to assimilate them. <\/span><\/p>\n

So the progress lies in a normal but progressive equilibrium, periods of
\nassimilation \u2013 reception, assimilation \u2013 and periods of expenditure, and
\nknowing how to balance the two, and alternate them in a rhythm which is your
\npersonal one. You must not go beyond your capacity, you must not remain below it,
\nbecause the universal vital forces are not something which you could put into a
\nstrong box. They must circulate. So you must know how to receive and at the
\nsame time to spend, but to increase the capacity of reception so as to have
\nmore and more of the things which are to be used up, to be spent. Besides, this
\nis what happens, as I said, this is what happens quite naturally with children.
\nThey begin, make a certain effort, receive a certain force spontaneously,
\nassimilate it and then after a few days, two days, ten days, twenty days they
\ncan spend more. After a year they can do much more, because quite naturally
\nthey alternate the reception and the expenditure, and they progress in their
\nstature. They of course do it unconsciously, but when one is older it becomes
\nmore difficult; one stops growing up, for example. So this means that there’s a
\ncertain period of expansion which has stopped. But it can be prolonged, then,
\nwith an inner discipline, a method one finds: it has to be one’s own method. <\/span>
\n
\n <\/span><\/p>\n

\n
\nPage \u2013 142<\/font><\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/table>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

4 May 1955   This talk is based upon Bases of Yoga, Chapter 5, \u201cPhysical Consciousness, etc.\u201d.   Sweet Mother, how can one draw on…<\/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-3900","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\/3900","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=3900"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/worksofthemotherandsriaurobindo.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3900\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/worksofthemotherandsriaurobindo.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3900"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/worksofthemotherandsriaurobindo.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3900"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/worksofthemotherandsriaurobindo.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3900"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}