{"id":3909,"date":"2013-07-13T01:52:08","date_gmt":"2013-07-13T01:52:08","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/localhost\/?p=3909"},"modified":"2013-07-13T01:52:08","modified_gmt":"2013-07-13T01:52:08","slug":"01-5-january-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\/01-5-january-1955-vol-07-questions-and-answers-volume-07","title":{"rendered":"-01_5 January 1955.htm"},"content":{"rendered":"\n\n
\n
\n


\n5 January 1955 <\/font> <\/span><\/i><\/b><\/p>\n

\n <\/font><\/span><\/p>\n

This talk is
\nbased upon Sri Aurobindo’s Bases of<\/font><\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/font><\/span>Yoga, Chapter 3, \u201cIn Difficulty\u201d<\/font><\/span>. <\/font> <\/span><\/p>\n

\n <\/font><\/span><\/p>\n


\n
\nSweet Mother, how can we
\ncreate \u201cthe attunement of the nature with the working of the Divine Light and
\nPower\u201d? <\/font> <\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

\n <\/font><\/span><\/p>\n

How
\ncan you do it? By trying. <\/span><\/p>\n

First you must be conscious of the kind of attunement you want to
\nrealise. You must become aware of the points where this harmony does not exist;
\nyou must feel them and understand the contradiction between the inner
\nconsciousness and certain outer movements. You must become conscious of this
\nfirst, and once you are conscious of it, you try to adapt the outer action,
\nouter movements to the inner ideal. But first of all you must become aware of
\nthe disharmony. For there are many people who think that everything is going
\nwell; and if they are told, \u201cNo, your outer nature is in contradiction with
\nyour inner aspiration\u201d, they protest. They are not aware. Therefore, the first
\nstep is to become aware, to become conscious of what is not in tune.<\/span><\/p>\n

To begin with, most people will say, \u201cWhat is this inner consciousness
\nyou are telling me about? I don’t know it!\u201d So, obviously, they cannot
\nestablish any harmony if they are not even conscious of something within which
\nis higher than their ordinary consciousness. This means that many preparatory
\nstages are needed, preparatory states of awareness, before being ready for this
\nharmonisation. <\/span><\/p>\n

You must first of all know what the inner aim of the being is, the
\naspiration, the descending force, what receives it \u2013 everything must become
\nconscious. And then, afterwards, you must look at the outer movements in the
\nlight of this inner conscious-<\/span> <\/font><\/span><\/p>\n

\nPage –
\n1<\/font><\/span><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n
\n

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

ness
\nand see what is in tune and what is not. And then, when you have seen what does
\nnot harmonise, you must gather the will and aspiration to change it and begin
\nwith the easiest part. You should not begin with the most difficult thing, you
\nshould begin with the easiest, the one you understand best, most easily, the
\ndisharmony which seems most evident to you. Then from there, gradually, you
\nwill go to the more difficult and more central things\u2026 Why do you happen to
\ntwist your ankle?…  <\/span><\/p>\n

( Silence)<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

 <\/span><\/p>\n

Mother, last time you
\nsaid that the hostile forces are going to strike a last blow this year. If the
\nearth is not capable of winning the victory\u2026<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

 <\/span><\/p>\n

The
\nearth? Did I say the earth? <\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/span><\/p>\n

The earth, India and
\nindividuals<\/span><\/i>. <\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/span><\/p>\n

Yes,
\nit is possible, it is a way of speaking. And so, if we are not able to win the
\nvictory \u2026?<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/span><\/p>\n

Does this mean that the
\npossibility of transformation will be delayed? <\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

 <\/span><\/p>\n

Delayed
\nperhaps by several centuries. This is precisely what the adverse forces are
\ntrying to bring about, and so far they have always succeeded \u2013 in putting off
\nthe thing. Always they have succeeded. \u201cThis will be for another time\u201d, and the
\nother time \u2026 perhaps after hundreds or thousands of years. And this is what
\nthey want to try to do once again. Perhaps all this is decreed somewhere. It is
\npossible. But it is also possible that though it is decided, in order that the
\nthing may take place as it ought to it is not good to reveal what is decided.
\nThere are many things like that, because people are neither conscious enough
\nnor pure
\n <\/span><\/p>\n

\nPage \u2013
\n2<\/font><\/span><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n
\n

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

enough
\nto do what they should do, exactly as they should do it, with full knowledge of
\nthe result; for the result, ninety-nine times out of a hundred, is not what
\nthey desire \u2013 or if it is what they desire, it is modified, it is mixed,
\ndiluted, there are differences, differences enough not to be fully
\nsatisfactory. So if one knew ahead exactly what was going to happen, one would
\nremain seated, quietly, and would do nothing any longer. One would say, \u201cGood,
\nif this must happen, it is good, I have nothing more to do.\u201d That is why one
\ndoesn’t know. But he who can act in all circumstances in full knowledge of the
\ncause, knowing what the result of his action will be, and at the same time can
\ndo a certain thing which is sometimes even in contradiction with this result,
\nthat person indeed can know. But I don’t think there are many like that. In
\nordinary life people say that for someone to realise something, he ought always
\nto aim much farther than the goal he has to attain; that all who have realised
\nsomething in life, all the great men who have created, realised something,
\ntheir aim, their ambition, their plan was always much greater, vaster, more
\ncomplete, more total than what they did. They always fell short of their
\nexpectation and hope. It is a weakness, but it comes from what I said, that
\nunless one has a very great ideal before him and the hope of realising it, one
\ndoesn’t put out all the energies of the being and therefore doesn’t do what is
\nnecessary to attain even the nearest goal, except, as I said, when one can act
\nwith the clear vision that \u201cthis is what ought to be done\u201d and without the
\nslightest worry about the consequences and the result of what one does; but
\nthis is difficult.<\/span><\/p>\n

\n\u00a0<\/font><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

\n\u00a0<\/font><\/span>Sweet Mother, what does \u201ca Cou\u00e9istic optimism\u201d mean?
\n<\/font> <\/i><\/span><\/p>\n

\n <\/font><\/span><\/p>\n

Ah! Cou\u00e9.
\nYou don’t know the story of Cou\u00e9? Cou\u00e9 was a doctor. He used to treat by
\npsychological treatment, auto-suggestion, and he called this the true working
\nof the imagination; and what he defined as imagination was faith. And so he
\ntreated <\/span>
\n
\n <\/font><\/span><\/p>\n

\nPage \u2013
\n3<\/font><\/span><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n
\n

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

all his
\npatients in this way: they had to make a kind of imaginative formation which
\nconsisted in thinking themselves cured or in any case on the way to being
\ncured, and in repeating this formation to themselves with sufficient
\npersistence for it to have its effect. He had very remarkable results. He cured
\nlots of people; only, he failed also, and perhaps these were not very lasting
\ncures, I don’t know this. But in any case, this made many people reflect on
\nsomething that’s quite true and of capital importance: that the mind is a
\nformative instrument and that if one knows how to use it in the right way, one
\ngets a good result. He observed \u2013 and I think it is true, my observation agrees
\nwith his \u2013 that people spend their time thinking wrongly. Their mental activity
\nis almost always half pessimistic, and even half destructive. They are all the
\ntime thinking of and foreseeing bad things which may happen, troublesome
\nconsequences of what they have done, and they construct all kinds of
\ncatastrophes with an exuberant imagination which, if it were utilised in the
\nother way, would naturally have opposite and more satisfying results.\u00a0 <\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

If you observe yourself, if you\u2026 how to put it?\u2026 if you catch yourself
\nthinking \u2013 well, if you do it suddenly, if you look at yourself thinking all of
\na sudden, spontaneously, unexpectedly, you will notice that nine times out of
\nten you are thinking something troublesome. It is very rarely that you are
\nthinking about harmonious, beautiful, constructive, happy things, full of hope,
\nlight and joy; you will see, try the experiment. Suddenly stop and look at
\nyourself thinking, just like that: put a screen in front of your thought and
\nlook at yourself thinking, off-hand, you will see this at least nine times out
\nof ten, and perhaps more. (It is very rarely, very rarely that one has in the
\nwhole day, suddenly, a dazzling thought about what is going to happen or the
\nstate one is in or the things one wants to do or the course of his life or
\nworld circumstances \u2013 it depends, you see, on your preoccupation). Well, you
\nwill see, it is almost always foreseeing a bigger or smaller, more or less vast
\ncatastrophe. <\/span><\/p>\n

\nPage \u2013
\n4 <\/font> <\/span><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n
\n

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

Say you have the slightest thing that is not getting on quite well; if
\nyou think of your body, it is always that something unpleasant is going to
\nhappen to it \u2013 because when everything goes well, you don’t think about it !
\nYou will notice this: that you act, you do all that you have to do, without
\nhaving a single thought about your body, and when all of a sudden you wonder
\nwhether there isn’t anything that’s going wrong, whether there is some
\nuneasiness or a difficulty, something, then you begin to think of your body and
\nyou think about it with anxiety and begin to make your disastrous
\nconstructions. <\/span><\/p>\n

Whereas Cou\u00e9 recommended\u2026 It was in this way that he cured his patients;
\nhe was a doctor, he told them, \u201cYou are going to repeat to yourself: \u2018I am
\nbeing cured, gradually I am getting cured’ and again, you see, \u2018I am strong, I
\nam quite healthy and I can do this, I can do that\u2019.\u201d <\/span><\/p>\n

I knew someone who was losing her hair disastrously, by handfuls. She
\nwas made to try this method. When combing her hair she made herself think, \u201cMy
\nhair will not fall out.\u201d The first and second time it did not work, but she
\ncontinued and each time before combing the hair she used to repeat with
\ninsistence, \u201cI am going to comb my hair but it won’t fall out.\u201d And within a
\nmonth her hair stopped falling. Later she again continued thinking, \u201cNow my
\nhair will grow.\u201d And she succeeded so well that I saw her with a magnificent
\nhead of hair, and it was she herself who told me this, that this was what she
\nhad done after being on the point of becoming bald. It is very, very effective.
\nOnly, while one is making the formation, another part of the mind must not say,
\n\u201cOh, I am making a formation and it is not going to be successful\u201d, because in
\nthis way you undo your own work. <\/span><\/p>\n

Cou\u00e9 \u2013 it was at the beginning of the century, I think\u2026(Mother turns to Pavitra<\/i>.) <\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0 <\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

(<\/span><\/i>Pavitra) I saw him in 1917 or 1918
\nin Paris<\/i>.\u00a0<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

\nPage \u2013
\n5 <\/font> <\/span><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n
\n

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

Yes,
\nthat’s right, the beginning of the century, the first quarter of the century.
\nYou knew him? <\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

(Pavitra)\u00a0 <\/span>In Paris, yes. <\/i><\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/span><\/p>\n

Ah,
\nah! tell us about it. <\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/span><\/p>\n

(Pavitra) I heard one or two of
\nhis lectures. The method he gave to the sick was to repeat, first every morning
\nand several times a day, \u201cI am becoming better and better, every day I am
\nbetter and better, each day I am healthier\u201d, every morning, every evening,
\nseveral times a day, with conviction, clasping the hands like this\u2026<\/i><\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/span><\/p>\n

Oh!
\nIf one lost one’s temper: \u201cI am becoming better and better, I don’t lose my
\ntemper now.\u201d (Laughter<\/i>) <\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/span><\/p>\n

(Pavitra) Every day I am becoming
\nmore and more intelligent<\/i>. <\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/span><\/p>\n

That’s
\nreally good. Why, and if you repeat to a child, if you make him repeat, \u201cI am
\ngood, day by day more and more.\u201d <\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cI am better and better, I am more and more obedient.\u201d Oh, but this is
\nvery fine. (To a child<\/i>) The other day
\nyou wanted to know what to do for children who are difficult to bring up. Here
\nyou are, you can try this. \u201cI am more and more regular at school.\u201d <\/span><\/p>\n

And then again, \u201cI don’t tell lies any more. I shall never lie again.\u201d <\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/span><\/p>\n

(Pavitra) At first it was to be
\nsaid in the future and afterwards one drew closer to the future and so finished
\nin the present. <\/i><\/span>
\n
\n <\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

\nPage \u2013
\n6 <\/font> <\/span><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n
\n

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

Oh,
\none finishes in the present. And how long did it take? <\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 <\/span>(Pavitra) It depended on the person<\/i>. <\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/span><\/p>\n

It
\ndepends on the case. \u201cI shall not tell lies again, it is my last lie.\u201d (Laughter<\/i>) <\/span><\/p>\n

So, we stop. <\/span><\/p>\n

\nPage –
\n7<\/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":"

5 January 1955   This talk is based upon Sri Aurobindo’s Bases of \u00a0Yoga, Chapter 3, \u201cIn Difficulty\u201d.   Sweet Mother, how can we create…<\/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-3909","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\/3909","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=3909"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/worksofthemotherandsriaurobindo.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3909\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/worksofthemotherandsriaurobindo.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3909"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/worksofthemotherandsriaurobindo.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3909"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/worksofthemotherandsriaurobindo.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3909"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}