{"id":3910,"date":"2013-07-13T01:52:08","date_gmt":"2013-07-13T01:52:08","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/localhost\/?p=3910"},"modified":"2013-07-13T01:52:08","modified_gmt":"2013-07-13T01:52:08","slug":"32-17-august-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\/32-17-august-1955-vol-07-questions-and-answers-volume-07","title":{"rendered":"-32_17 August 1955.htm"},"content":{"rendered":"\n\n
\n
\n


\n17 August 1955<\/font><\/span><\/i><\/b>
\n<\/font> <\/span><\/i><\/b><\/p>\n

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

Mother reads from Lights on Yoga, \u201cSurrender<\/font><\/span><\/p>\n

And Opening\u201d. <\/font> <\/span><\/p>\n

\n <\/font><\/span><\/p>\n

Sweet Mother, what is the meaning of \u201ca horizontal opening into the
\ncosmic consciousness\u201d? <\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

 <\/span><\/p>\n

You see, one always has the feeling either
\nof a vertical ascent to the heights of the Supreme Consciousness or a kind
\nof… how to put it?… horizontal widening into a universal consciousness.  <\/span><\/p>\n

A universal consciousness means becoming
\naware of the forces which manifest in the universe and in all that is
\nmanifested. For example, just this: there are many people here; well, let us
\ntake these people as representing the universe. Now, if you want to unite with
\nthem, you have a movement of consciousness spreading above them all and uniting
\nwith all, like this (gesture<\/i>). It is
\na movement which spreads horizontally.  <\/span><\/p>\n

But if you want to unite with the
\nsupramental Force which wants to come down, you have the feeling of gathering
\nall your aspiration and making it rise up in a vertical ascent to the higher
\nforces which have to descend. It is just a question of movement, you see, it is
\na movement of widening or a movement of concentration and ascent. <\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/span><\/p>\n

What does the liberation of the psychic being mean? <\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

 <\/span><\/p>\n

Because one has the feeling \u2013 this is a
\nfeeling one very often has in the beginning of the sadhana \u2013 that the psychic
\nbeing is as though shut up in a kind of hard shell, a prison, and that this is
\nwhat prevents it from manifesting outwardly and entering into a conscious and
\nconstant relation with the outer consciousness, the outer being. One has
\naltogether the feeling that it is as though enclosed in a box or in a prison
\nwith walls which must <\/span><\/p>\n

\n
\nPage \u2013 270<\/font><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n
\n

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

be broken or a door which must be forced
\nin order to be able to enter. So naturally if one can break the walls, open the
\ndoor, it liberates the psychic being which was shut in and which can now
\nmanifest externally. All these are images. But each person, naturally, has his
\nown personal image, his personal method, with small modifications.  <\/span><\/p>\n

Some of these images are very common to
\nall those who have had the experience. For example, when one goes down into the
\ndepths of one’s being to find the psychic right at the bottom of one’s
\nconsciousness, there is this image of descending into a deep well, going down
\ndeeper and deeper, descending, and it is as though one were truly sinking into
\na well.  <\/span><\/p>\n

Naturally all these are analogies; but
\nthey are associations with the experience of impressions which give a great
\ndeal of force and concrete reality to the experience.  <\/span><\/p>\n

As when one goes on the discovery of one’s
\ninner being, of all the different parts of one’s being, one very often has the
\nfeeling that one is entering deep into a hall or room, and according to the
\ncolour, the atmosphere, the things it contains, one has a very clear perception
\nof the part of the being one is visiting. And then, one can go from one room to
\nanother, open doors and go into deeper and deeper rooms each of which has its
\nown character. And often, these inner visits can be made during the night. Then
\nit takes a still more concrete form, like a dream, and one feels that he is
\nentering a house, and that this house is very familiar to him. And according to
\nthe time, the periods, it is internally different, and sometimes it may be in a
\nstate of very great disorder, very great confusion, where everything is mixed
\nup; sometimes there are even broken things; it is quite a chaos. At other times
\nthese things are organised, put in their place; it is as though one had
\narranged the household, one cleans up, puts it in order, and it is always the
\nsame house. This house is the image, a kind of objective image, of your inner
\nbeing. And in accordance with what you see there or do there, you have a
\nsymbolic representation of your psychological work. It <\/span><\/p>\n

\n
\nPage \u2013 271<\/font><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n
\n

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

is very useful for concretising. It
\ndepends on people.  <\/span><\/p>\n

Some people are just intellectuals; for
\nthem everything is expressed by ideas and not by images. But if they were to go
\ndown into a more material domain, well, they risk not touching things in their
\nconcrete reality and remaining only in the domain of ideas, remaining in the
\nmind and remaining there indefinitely. Then one thinks one is making progress,
\nand mentally one has done so, though it is something altogether indefinite.  <\/span><\/p>\n

The mind’s progress may take thousands of
\nyears, for it is a very vast and very indefinite field, which is constantly
\nrenewed. But if one wants to progress in the vital and physical, well, this
\nimaged representation becomes very useful for fixing the action, making it more
\nconcrete. Naturally it doesn’t happen completely at will; it depends on each
\none’s nature. But those who have the power of concentrating with images, well,
\nthey have one more facility.  <\/span><\/p>\n

To sit in meditation before a closed door,
\nas though it were a heavy door of bronze \u2013 and one sits in front of it with the
\nwill that it may open \u2013 and to pass to the other side; and so the whole
\nconcentration, the whole aspiration is gathered into a beam and pushes, pushes,
\npushes against this door, and pushes more and more with an increasing energy
\nuntil all of a sudden it bursts open and one enters. It makes a very powerful
\nimpression. And so one is as though plunged into the light and then one has the
\nfull enjoyment of a sudden and radical change of consciousness, with an
\nillumination that captures one entirely, and the feeling that one is becoming
\nanother person. And this is a very concrete and very powerful way of entering
\ninto contact with one’s psychic being. <\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/span><\/p>\n

Sweet Mother, here Sri Aurobindo says: \u201cThe nexus between the psychic
\nbeing and the higher consciousness is the principal means of the siddhi.\u201d
\nOrdinarily is there not a nexus between the psychic being and the higher
\nconsciousness? <\/span><\/i>
\n
\n <\/span><\/p>\n

\n
\nPage \u2013 272<\/font><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n
\n

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

Ordinarily means in the ordinary life? A
\nrelation between the psychic being… <\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/span><\/p>\n

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

 <\/span><\/p>\n

It is almost, almost totally unconscious.  <\/span><\/p>\n

In the ordinary life there’s not one
\nperson in a million who has a conscious contact with his psychic being, even
\nmomentarily. The psychic being may work from within, but so invisibly and
\nunconsciously for the outer being that it is as though it did not exist. And in
\nmost cases, the immense majority, almost the totality of cases, it’s as though
\nit were asleep, not at all active, in a kind of torpor. <\/span><\/p>\n

It is only with the sadhana and a very
\npersistent effort that one succeeds in having a conscious contact with his
\npsychic being. Naturally, it is possible that there are exceptional cases \u2013 but
\nthis is truly exceptional, and they are so few that they could be counted \u2013
\nwhere the psychic being is an entirely formed, liberated being, master of
\nitself, which has chosen to return to earth in a human body in order to do its
\nwork. And in this case, even if the person doesn’t do the sadhana consciously,
\nit is possible that the psychic being is powerful enough to establish a more or
\nless conscious relation. But these cases are, so to say, unique and are
\nexceptions which confirm the rule.  <\/span><\/p>\n

In almost, almost all cases, a very, very
\nsustained effort is needed to become aware of one’s psychic being. Usually it
\nis considered that if one can do it in thirty years one is very lucky \u2013 thirty
\nyears of sustained effort, I say. It may happen that it’s quicker. But this is
\nso rare that immediately one says, \u201cThis is not an ordinary human being.\u201d
\nThat’s the case of people who have been considered more or less divine beings
\nand who were great yogis, great initiates. <\/span><\/p>\n

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

(Silence<\/i>) <\/span><\/p>\n

\n
\nPage \u2013 273<\/font><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n
\n

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

Do you want a concentration, a meditation?
\n<\/span><\/p>\n

I suggest that the lights may be turned
\noff… this light here above my head, because there are so many insects. <\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/span><\/p>\n

(Meditation<\/i>) <\/span><\/p>\n

\n
\nPage \u2013 274<\/font><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

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

17 August 1955 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Mother reads from Lights on Yoga, \u201cSurrender And Opening\u201d.   Sweet Mother, what is the meaning of \u201ca horizontal opening into…<\/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-3910","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\/3910","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=3910"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/worksofthemotherandsriaurobindo.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3910\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/worksofthemotherandsriaurobindo.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3910"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/worksofthemotherandsriaurobindo.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3910"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/worksofthemotherandsriaurobindo.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3910"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}