{"id":3907,"date":"2013-07-13T01:52:07","date_gmt":"2013-07-13T01:52:07","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/localhost\/?p=3907"},"modified":"2013-07-13T01:52:07","modified_gmt":"2013-07-13T01:52:07","slug":"10-9-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\/10-9-march-1955-vol-07-questions-and-answers-volume-07","title":{"rendered":"-10_9 March 1955.htm"},"content":{"rendered":"\n\n
\n
\n


\n
\n9 March 1955 <\/font><\/span><\/i><\/b>
\n <\/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, what is the meaning of \u201cthe
\npsychic opening in the physical consciousness\u201d? <\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

 <\/span><\/p>\n

I think I have
\nalready told you this once. One can find the psychic through each part of the
\nconsciousness: you can find a psychic behind the physical\u2026 you can enter into
\ncontact with the psychic directly through the physical consciousness, directly
\nthrough the vital consciousness, directly through the mental consciousness. It
\nis not as though you had to cross all the states of being in order to find the
\npsychic. You can enter the psychic without leaving your physical consciousness,
\nthrough interiorisation, because it is not an ascent or gradation. It is an
\ninteriorisation, and this interiorisation can be done without passing through
\nthe other states of being, directly. This is what Sri Aurobindo means: you are
\nin the physical consciousness, nothing prevents you from opening this physical
\nconsciousness to the psychic consciousness, you don’t need to develop vitally
\nor mentally or to return to these states of being in order to enter into
\ncontact with the psychic. You can enter directly. The psychic manifests itself
\ndirectly in your physical without passing through the other states; that’s what
\nit means. <\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/span><\/p>\n

Sweet Mother, here it is said: \u201ca complete
\nequality and peace and a complete dedication free from personal demand or
\ndesire in the physical and the lower vital parts are the thing to be
\nestablished.\u201d <\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

 <\/span><\/p>\n

Well, so what?
\n <\/span><\/p>\n

\nPage \u2013 74<\/span><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n
\n

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

How can it be done? <\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

 <\/span><\/p>\n

How should you do
\nit? You must want it, then aspire; and then each time you do something which is
\ncontrary to this ideal, you must put it before yourself and put the light upon
\nit and the will for change. Each time one makes an egoistic movement or does
\nthose things which should not be done, one must immediately catch it as though
\nby its tail and then put it in the presence of one’s ideal and one’s will to
\nprogress, and put the light and consciousness upon it so that it may change. <\/span><\/p>\n

To catch each thing that should not be done, catch it like that, and
\nthen hold it firmly in front of the light until the light can act upon it to
\ntransform it: this is a work which one can do all the time. No matter what one
\nis doing, one can always do this work. Each time one becomes aware that there
\nis something which is not all right, one must always catch it like this,
\nprevent it from hiding, for it tries to hide: catch it and then keep it like
\nthis before the light of one’s conscious will, and then put the light upon it
\nso that it changes. <\/span><\/p>\n

Nothing? Any questions? What? <\/span><\/p>\n

(Mother turns to Pavitra who is
\nseated with his eyes closed<\/i>.) Pavitra has a question? (He remains motionless, not having heard Mother. His neighbour pokes him
\nwith his pen to draw him out from his meditation. Pavitra opens his eyes amidst
\nlaughter. Mother tells him:) <\/i>A question?
\n<\/i>( He makes a sign that he has no
\nquestion. Laughter.<\/i>) <\/i><\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/span><\/p>\n

Sweet Mother, sometimes an incarnated
\nbeing has a very weak physical body; in this case isn’t his body an obstacle to
\nhis work upon earth? <\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

 <\/span><\/p>\n

An incarnated
\nbeing? Whom do you call an incarnated being? <\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/span><\/p>\n

For example, Ramakrishna or some others\u2026 <\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

 <\/span>Page \u2013 75<\/span><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n
\n

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

Oh! Oh, oh, but I
\ndon’t understand your question very well. The present being, whatever it may
\nbe, and whoever may be within it, always has a psychic being. You see, usually
\nit depends on the degree of evolution of the psychic being but still every
\npsychic being which is in a body has states of being formed in the present
\nformation. Its work is always to transform these; it is as though this were the
\npart of the universe given to him for his work of transformation. And even if
\nhe has a vaster mission than that of his own person, unless he does this work
\nin his person he cannot do the other\u2026 You cannot change the outer world unless
\nyou begin by changing yourself. This is the first condition; and for everyone,
\ngreat and small, old and young \u2013 old, I mean those who have lived very long,
\nand young those who haven’t lived very long \u2013 it is always the same work. This
\nis why life upon earth for a psychic being is the opportunity to progress. <\/span><\/p>\n

The duration of earthly life is the time of progress. Outside earthly
\nlife there is, so to say, no progress. It is in earthly life that there is the
\npossibility and the means of progress. But for all conscious beings it is the
\nsame thing, not only for those you call incarnated. It is for everyone the same
\nthing. One must first begin with the work on himself. When one has done the
\nwork on himself, one can do it on others; but the first thing to do is to do it
\non oneself. <\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/span><\/p>\n

Sweet Mother, the Divine has come down to
\nthis world of darkness and ignorance\u2026<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

 <\/span><\/p>\n

And so, what? <\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/span><\/p>\n

How does He feel?\u2026<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

 <\/span><\/p>\n

What? What does He
\nfeel? You have never been in a place which is quite dark, where you are obliged
\nto find your way without having a light? Has it happened to you?\u2026 A place you <\/span>
\n
\n <\/span><\/p>\n

\nPage \u2013 76<\/span><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n
\n

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

do not know and
\nwhich is quite dark, where you have to find your way without a light? Have you
\nnever been in a place like that? No? Oh, you would know it if it has happened
\nto you. For example, you are outside in\u2026 let us say, a forest\u2026 this is a big
\nthing\u2026 but let us say, in a fairly large garden, and then, you have remained
\ntoo long and there is no longer any light at all and you don’t know how to find
\nyour way. Has this never happened to you? You always had enough light? <\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/span><\/p>\n

Sweet Mother, if there is someone who
\nwants to have experiences or something like that, what is the first thing he should
\ndo? <\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

 <\/span><\/p>\n

To have
\nexperiences? What kind of experiences? Have visions or have psychological
\nexperiences or \u2013 what kind of experiences? <\/span><\/p>\n

In fact, the whole life is an experience, isn’t it? We spend our time
\nhaving experiences. You mean having a contact with other realities than
\nphysical ones? Is it that? Ah! <\/span><\/p>\n

Well, I think the first condition is to have, to begin with, the faith
\nthat there is something other than the physical reality. This can be the first
\ncondition. Then the second condition is to try to find what it is, and the best
\nfield of action is oneself. So one must begin by studying oneself a little, and
\nmanage to discern between what depends exclusively on the body and what on
\nsomething else which is not the body. One can begin like that. One can begin by
\nobserving one’s feelings or thoughts in their working; because\u2026 sensations are
\nso linked to the body that it is very difficult to distinguish them, they are
\nso tied to our senses, and the senses are instruments of the body, so it is
\ndifficult to discern. But feelings already escape\u2026 the feelings one
\nexperiences; and to try to find the root of this\u2026 and then the thoughts\u2026 What
\nare thoughts? <\/span><\/p>\n

If one begins to find out, to understand what a feeling is and what a
\nthought is, and how it works, then one can already <\/span>
\n
\n <\/span><\/p>\n

\nPage \u2013 77<\/span><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n
\n

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

go quite far on
\nthe path with that. One must at the same time observe how his feelings and
\nthoughts have an action on the body, what the reciprocity is. And then, there is
\nanother exercise which consists in looking into oneself for what is persistent,
\nwhat is lasting, something which makes one say \u201cI\u201d, and which is not the body.
\nFor obviously, when one was very small, and then when each year one grows up,
\nif one takes fairly long distances, for example a distance of about ten years,
\nthey are very different \u201cI\u201ds from what one was when as small as this (gesture),
\nand then what one is now; it is difficult to say that it is the same person,
\nyou see. If one takes only this, still there is something which has the feeling
\nof always being the same person. So one must reflect, seek, try to understand
\nwhat it is. This indeed can lead you far on the path. Then if one also studies
\nthe relation between these different things \u2013 between thoughts, feelings, their
\naction on the body, the reciprocal action of the body on these things \u2013 and
\nalso what it is that says \u201cI\u201d permanently, what it is that can trace a curve in
\nthe movement of the being, if one seeks carefully enough, it leads you quite
\nfar. Naturally if one seeks far enough and with enough persistence, one reaches
\nthe psychic. <\/span><\/p>\n

It is the path to lead you to the psychic; and so this is the
\nexperience, it is the first experience. When one has the contact with the
\npermanent part of one’s immortal being, through this immortality one can go
\nstill further and reach the Eternal. It is still another state of
\nconsciousness. But it is in this way that one follows the path, gradually.
\nThere are other ways, but this is the one which is always within reach. You
\nsee, one always has his body with him, and his feelings and thoughts, and at
\nany moment of the day whatever, even in the night one can be busy with this;
\nwhile if one must have something else around him, people or things or certain
\nconditions, it is more complicated; but this is always there within one’s
\nreach. Nobody can prevent you from having your body with you, your thought and
\nyour feelings, your sensations; it is the field of work which is always <\/span>
\n
\n <\/span><\/p>\n

\nPage \u2013 78<\/span><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n
\n

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

there, it is very
\nconvenient \u2013 no need to seek outside. One has all that is necessary. And so
\nwhat must be acquired is the power of observation and the capacity for
\nconcentrating and for pursuing a little continuously a certain movement in
\none’s being; as when you have some very strong feeling which takes hold of you,
\nseizes you, then you must look at it, so to say, and concentrate upon it and
\nmanage to find out where it comes from, what has brought you this. Just this
\nwork of concentrating in order to succeed in finding this out is enough to lead
\nyou straight to an experience. And then if, for example, you want to do
\nsomething practical, if in your feelings you are completely upset, agitated, if
\nthere’s a kind of storm within, then by concentrating you can try to find out
\nthe cause of all that, you see, the inner cause, the real cause, and at the
\nsame time you can aspire to bring peace, quietude, a kind of inner immobility
\ninto your feelings, because without that you can’t see clearly. When everything
\nis in a whirlwind one sees nothing; as when you are in a great tempest and the
\nwind is blowing from all sides and there are clouds of dust, you cannot see; it
\nis the same thing. To be able to see, all must become quiet. So you must aspire
\nand then draw into this storm\u2026 draw peace, quietude, immobility, like this; and
\nthen if you succeed it is still another experience, it is the beginning. <\/span><\/p>\n

Of course one can sit down and try\u2026 not to meditate, because that’s an
\nactivity of thought which does not lead to experience, but to concentrate and
\naspire and open oneself to the force from above; and if one does it
\npersistently enough, there is a moment when one feels this force, this peace or
\nthis silence, this quietude descending, penetrating and descending into the
\nbeing quite far. The first day it may be very little, and then gradually it
\nbecomes more. This also is an experience. All these are easy things to do. <\/span><\/p>\n

But if, for example, one has a dream, when one remembers it very
\nprecisely in its details and concentrates in order to understand this dream,
\nthis too can be an experience, some door of
\n <\/span><\/p>\n

\nPage \u2013 79<\/span><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n
\n

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

understanding can
\nopen and one may suddenly get the deep meaning which was hidden behind the
\ndream; this also is an experience \u2014 many things\u2026 and one always has the
\nopportunity to have them. Of course the experience which most gives you the
\nsense of a revelation or of something new is the one you have as soon as you
\nenter into contact with the psychic, and in the psychic, when you are in the
\npresence of the Divine; this indeed is the typal experience, the one which has
\nan action on the whole orientation and activity of the being. But it may come
\nquickly or may also take time. Yet between the state in which one is at present
\nand that state there are many rungs. I mean these are rungs of experiences one
\ncan have.\u00a0 <\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

So it is a vast programme. The first steps are these: to collect
\noneself, try to be very quiet and see what is happening within, the relations
\nbetween things, and what is happening inside, not just live only on the
\nsurface. <\/span><\/p>\n

There. That’s all? <\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/span><\/p>\n

When one meditates
\nthere are moments when one sees very unpleasant forms in front of himself for
\nsome days. It begins and later ends. What does it mean? <\/span><\/i><\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/span><\/p>\n

Yes, it means
\nprobably that instead of meditating in a silent concentration, one has opened
\none’s consciousness either in a vital domain or in a not very pleasant mental
\ndomain. That’s what it means. It can also mean \u2014 it depends on the degree of
\ndevelopment one has reached \u2014 it can mean in certain cases, when one is master
\nof one’s concentration and knows where one goes still this already requires a
\nfairly great discipline \u2014 may be that it is a particular attack of adverse
\nforces, of bad wills, coming either from certain beings or from certain
\ndomains; but it is not necessarily attacks; it can simply be that one has
\nopened one’s consciousness in a place that’s not very desirable or else
\nsometimes, often, that one had in himself a number of movements of the vital
\nand the mind which were not very desirable, <\/span>
\n
\n <\/span><\/p>\n

\nPage \u2013 80<\/span><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n
\n

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

and when one enters
\nthe silence of meditation or that kind of passive attitude of expectation of
\nsomething which is going to happen, all these vibrations which have gone out of
\nhim come back to him in their real appearance which is not very pleasant. This
\nhappens often: one had bad feelings, not positively wicked but still things
\nwhich are not desirable, bad thoughts, movements of dissatisfaction, revolt or
\nimpatience, or a lack of contentment or\u2026 you see, one may be angry with
\nsomebody, even in thought, no need of speaking\u2026 things like that. When one is
\nquiet and tries to be still so as to have an experience, all these things come
\nback to him in their true form, that is, not very pleasant forms: very ugly,
\nforms which are at times very ugly. I think that I have already told you this
\nseveral times: it’s something that happens frequently if you don’t control your
\nthoughts and your vital reactions and if someone has displeased you for some
\nreason or other, if that person has done or said something which you do not
\nlike, and you consider him hostile and so the spontaneous reaction is to want
\nto punish him in some way or other or if one is still more primitive \u2013 if I may
\nsay so \u2013 to want to take vengeance or hope that something bad will happen to
\nhim. <\/span><\/p>\n

However, it may even come very spontaneously, a violent reaction, like
\nthat, then you don’t think about it any more. But now, at night, when you are
\nasleep, ninety-nine times out of a hundred, in a case like this, the person in
\nquestion comes to you with an extreme violence, either to kill you or to make
\nyou ill, as though he wished you as much harm as possible, and then in your
\nignorance you say, \u201cWell, I was quite right to be angry with him.\u201d But it is
\nquite simply your own formation which returns to you, nothing else but that. The
\nperson has nothing to do with it \u2013 he is quite innocent in the affair. This is
\na phenomenon which occurs very often, I mean for people who have movements of
\nrancour or anger or violence; and they always see in a dream of this kind the
\njustification of their movements \u2013 whereas it is only a very striking image of
\ntheir own feelings.
\n <\/span><\/p>\n

\nPage \u2013 81<\/span><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n
\n

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

For the formation
\nreturns upon one in this way. <\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 <\/span>Then in these cases what should one
\ndo? <\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

 <\/span><\/p>\n

What should one
\ndo? First, never have bad thoughts to begin with; and then, secondly, never be
\nafraid, even if you see extremely ugly things \u2013 not only have no fear but no
\ndisgust and no repulsion, simply a perfect quietude \u2013 and try to be as pure and
\ncalm as possible. Then, whatever it may be, whether it be your own formation or
\nit comes from others, whether it be an attack or a bad place \u2013 no matter what
\nit is \u2013 everything will be all right. But above all, this: quiet, calm,
\nnaturally sheltered from every kind of possible fear, and without any disgust,
\nwithout any recoiling, nothing; like that: a perfect indifference with a
\ncomplete calm. Then nothing bad can happen, absolutely nothing. Even if it is
\ntruly an enemy who comes to attack you, he becomes powerless. <\/span><\/p>\n

In all cases, without exception, whatever may happen, calm and quietude
\nand serene peace and an absolute faith in the divine Grace \u2013 if you have all
\nthis, nothing can happen to you. And you must have all this if you want to have
\nexperiences; because experiences without this \u2013 it’s not good; but with this,
\nit’s excellent.
\n <\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/span>Page \u2013 82<\/span><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

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

9 March 1955     This talk is based upon Bases of Yoga, Chapter 5 \u201cPhysical Consciousness, etc.\u201d.   Sweet Mother, what is the meaning…<\/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-3907","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\/3907","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=3907"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/worksofthemotherandsriaurobindo.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3907\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/worksofthemotherandsriaurobindo.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3907"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/worksofthemotherandsriaurobindo.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3907"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/worksofthemotherandsriaurobindo.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3907"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}