{"id":3911,"date":"2013-07-13T01:52:09","date_gmt":"2013-07-13T01:52:09","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/localhost\/?p=3911"},"modified":"2013-07-13T01:52:09","modified_gmt":"2013-07-13T01:52:09","slug":"29-27-july-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\/29-27-july-1955-vol-07-questions-and-answers-volume-07","title":{"rendered":"-29_27 July 1955.htm"},"content":{"rendered":"\n\n
\n
\n


\n27 July 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 and<\/font><\/span><\/p>\n

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

 <\/span><\/p>\n

He has said everything, I have nothing to
\nadd. <\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/span><\/p>\n

Sweet Mother, here it is written: \u201cThe heart in this Yoga should in fact
\nbe the main centre of concentration until the consciousness rises above.\u201d But
\neach one’s consciousness is on a different plane! <\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

 <\/span><\/p>\n

Yes, very different. Only it is always
\nsaid: \u201cConcentrate here, on the solar plexus, the centre, here, because it’s
\nhere that one can most easily find the psychic, enter into contact with the
\npsychic. That’s why. That’s what it means. <\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/span><\/p>\n

Once the consciousness rises where does one find it? <\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

 <\/span><\/p>\n

Above the head, above the mind. What Sri
\nAurobindo means is: Unless one has gone beyond the mind and into altogether
\nhigher regions, so long as one remains in the human consciousness, the mental,
\nvital, physical consciousness, one must concentrate in order to find the psychic.
\nIt is only if you have soared up out of the human consciousness and entered
\nconsciously the higher regions above the mind, far above the mind, that you no
\nlonger need to concentrate in the psychic because you will naturally find it.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 <\/span> <\/span><\/p>\n

But to rise above the mental
\nconsciousness, not into a higher speculative mind, but far beyond all mental
\nmovements is not an easy thing. To begin with, the mind must be absolutely
\nsilent and quiet, otherwise one can’t do it. It is only when the mind enters into
\na complete silence, a perfect quietude, that it becomes just a mirror for
\nreflecting what is above; then one can <\/span><\/p>\n

\n
\nPage \u2013 252<\/font><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n
\n

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

rise above. But so long as that goes on,
\nthere’s no hope.  <\/span><\/p>\n

Yet you must not mistake the feelings for
\nthe psychic, you understand! \u2013 these two are absolutely different things.
\nPeople always think that when they have emotions, feelings, they are entering
\nthe psychic. These things have nothing to do with the psychic, they are purely
\nvital. They are the most subtle part of the vital, if you like, but they are
\nvital. It’s not through the feelings that one goes to the psychic, it is
\nthrough a very intense aspiration and a self-detachment. <\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/span><\/p>\n

Sweet Mother, what is the meaning of \u201cto dry up the heart\u201d? <\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

 <\/span><\/p>\n

To dry up the heart! People say that your
\nheart is dried up when you no longer have any vital sentimentality. That’s what
\nthey call having a dried up heart, when one no longer has any vital
\nsentimentality. A really dried up heart is a being who… who would be
\nincapable of any goodness, any generosity, any goodwill; but happily this is
\nvery rare.  <\/span><\/p>\n

There are some rare individuals, born
\nwithout a psychic being who are wicked; but they are very rare. For everyone
\nthere is always hope; even those who imagine that they are very strong in being
\nwicked, even for them, there is a hope; it can awaken suddenly. But that’s not
\nwhat people think. What people think is what I tell you; it’s when you have no
\nsentimental weakness and vital emotion that people tell you, \u201cYou have a dried
\nup heart.\u201d But that’s their opinion, it’s not a truth. A dried up heart would
\nbe someone incapable of having any compassion; it is very rare. Even in people
\nwho had the reputation of being the most wicked there was always a small corner
\nof their being open to compassion. At times it was ridiculously small, but it
\nwas there. <\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/span><\/p>\n

Sweet Mother, when you say, \u201cConcentrate in the heart\u201d, does it mean
\nconcentrate with the mind? <\/span><\/i>
\n <\/span><\/p>\n

\n
\nPage \u2013 253<\/font><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n
\n

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

The consciousness, not the mind, the
\nconsciousness!  <\/span><\/p>\n

I don’t say think in the heart, I say
\nconcentrate, concentrate the energy, concentrate the consciousness, concentrate
\nthe aspiration, concentrate the will. Concentrate. One can have an extremely
\nintense concentration without a single thought, and in fact it is usually much
\nmore intense when one doesn’t think. (Silence<\/i>)
\nIt’s one of the most indispensable things to do if one wants to succeed in
\nhaving self-control and even a limited self-knowledge: to be able to localise
\none’s consciousness and move it about in the different parts of one’s being, in
\nsuch a way as to distinguish between one’s consciousness and one’s thought,
\nfeelings, impulses, become aware of what the consciousness is in itself. And in
\nthis way one can learn how to shift it: one can put one’s consciousness in the
\nbody, put it in the vital, put it in the psychic (that’s the best place to put
\nit in); one can put one’s consciousness in the mind, can raise it above the
\nmind, and with one’s consciousness one can go into all the regions of the
\nuniverse.\u00a0\u00a0 <\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

But first of all one must know what one’s
\nconsciousness is, that is, become conscious of one’s consciousness, localise
\nit. And for this there are many exercises. But one of them is very well known,
\nit is to observe oneself and watch oneself living, and then see whether it is
\nreally the body which is the consciousness of the being, what one calls
\n\u201cmyself\u201d; and then when one has realised that it is not at all the body, that
\nthe body expresses something else, then one searches in his impulses, emotions,
\nto see whether it’s that, and again one finds out that it is not that; and then
\none seeks in his thoughts, whether the thought is truly himself, what he calls
\n\u201cmyself\u201d, and at the end of a very short time one becomes aware: \u201cNo, I am
\nthinking, therefore `myself’ is different from my thoughts.\u201d And so, by
\nprogressive eliminations one succeeds in entering into contact with something,
\nsomething which gives you the impression of being \u2013 \u201cYes, that’s `myself’. And
\nthis something I can move around, I can move it from my body to my vital, to my
\nmind, I can even, <\/span><\/p>\n

\n
\nPage \u2013 254<\/font><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n
\n

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

if I am very… how to put it?… very
\npractised in moving it, I can move it into other people, and it’s in this way
\nthat I can identify myself with things and people. I can with the help of my
\naspiration make it come out of my human form, rise above towards regions which
\nare no longer this little body at all and what it contains.\u201d And so one begins
\nto understand what one’s consciousness is; and it’s after that that one can
\nsay, \u201cGood, I shall unite my consciousness with my psychic being and shall
\nleave it there, so that it may be in harmony with the Divine and be able to
\nsurrender entirely to the Divine.\u201d Or else, \u201cIf by this exercise of rising
\nabove my faculties of thinking and my intellect I can enter a region of pure
\nlight, pure knowledge\u2026\u201d then one can put his consciousness there and live like
\nthat, in a luminous splendour which is above the physical form.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 <\/span> <\/span><\/p>\n

But first this consciousness must be
\nmobile, and one must know how to distinguish it from the other parts of the
\nbeing which in fact are its instruments, its modes of expression. The
\nconsciousness must make use of these things, and not you mistake these things
\nfor the consciousness. You put the consciousness in these things, so you become
\nconscious of your body, conscious of your vital, conscious of your mind,
\nconscious of all your activities through your will for identification; but for
\nthis, first your consciousness must not be completely entangled, mingled,
\njoined, so to say, with all these things; it must not take them for itself,
\nmust not be mistaken.  <\/span><\/p>\n

When one thinks of himself (obviously out
\nof millions of men perhaps there are not ten who do otherwise) he thinks \u201cMyself…
\nthat’s my body, that’s what I call \u2018myself\u2019, what’s like this. And so, I am
\nlike that; and then my neighbour, he also is the body. When I speak of another
\nperson, I speak of his body.\u201d And so, as long as one is in this state he is the
\nplaything of all possible movements and has no self-control.  <\/span><\/p>\n

The body is the last instrument and yet
\nit’s this which one calls \u201cmyself\u201d most of the time, unless one has begun to
\nreflect.  <\/span><\/p>\n

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

\n
\nPage \u2013 255<\/font><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n
\n

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

Why is one often dispersed during periods of assimilation?\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 <\/span><\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

 <\/span><\/p>\n

Yes, that’s a very frequent state:
\ndispersed in all one’s thoughts, in all one’s desires, all one’s activities;
\nthat makes lots and lots of dispersion. And so one is pulled from all sides and
\nhas no coordination in his life. <\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/span><\/p>\n

But why during periods of assimilation? <\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

 <\/span><\/p>\n

Periods of assimilation? Dispersed?  <\/span><\/p>\n

Not necessarily! Not necessarily. There
\nare people who, on the contrary, are extremely concentrated during periods of
\nassimilation, shut up in themselves… Not necessarily! Usually one is more
\ndispersed in periods of activity \u2013 not in periods of aspiration \u2013 I am speaking
\nof ordinary activity.  <\/span><\/p>\n

One is always identified more or less with
\nall that one does and all the things with which one is in contact. The ordinary
\nstate of people is to be in everything that they do, all that they see, all
\nwhom they frequently meet. They are like that. There is something in them which
\nin fact is very vague and very inconsistent, and which moves around everywhere.
\nAnd if they simply want to know a little what they are, they are obliged to
\npull back towards them a heap of things which are scattered everywhere. There
\nis a kind of unconscious fluidity between people, I have told you this I don’t
\nknow how many times; it produces a mixture, all that, as soon as it is no
\nlonger altogether material… It’s because you have a skin that you don’t enter
\ninto one another like that; otherwise even the subtle physical, you see… like
\na kind of almost perceptible vapour which goes out from bodies, which is the
\nsubtle physical, it intermingles terribly, and it produces all kinds of
\nreactions, constantly, of one person upon another.  <\/span><\/p>\n

One may without knowing why, without
\nhaving the least idea of the cause, pass precisely from a harmony of good
\nhealth <\/span><\/p>\n

\n
\nPage \u2013 256<\/font><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n
\n

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

to a disequilibrium and a great
\nuneasiness! One doesn’t know why, there is no outer cause, suddenly it happens;
\none may have been peaceful, content, in at least a pleasant, tolerable condition,
\nthen all of a sudden to become furious, discontented, uneasy! One doesn’t know
\nwhy, there is no reason. One may have been full of joy, gaiety, enthusiasm, and
\nthen, without any apparent reason, one is sad, morose, depressed, discouraged!
\nIt happens sometimes that one is in a state of depression, and then one passes
\non somewhere and everything is lit up: a light, a joy, why ! one becomes
\nsuddenly optimistic; this of course is rare \u2013 it can also happen, it is the
\nsame thing, it is also contagious; but still one risks much more catching
\ndestructive rather than constructive things.  <\/span><\/p>\n

There are very few people who carry with
\nthem an atmosphere which irradiates joy, peace, confidence; it is very rare.
\nBut these are truly benefactors of humanity. They don’t need to open their
\nmouth.  <\/span><\/p>\n

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

That’s all? <\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/span><\/p>\n

Sweet Mother, every day we go for the Balcony Darshan, and here at the
\nPlayground we come for the March Past and the Concentration. What should be our
\napproach to each one of these things? <\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

 <\/span><\/p>\n

The most indispensable thing in every case
\nis receptivity.  <\/span><\/p>\n

At the Balcony, for example. When I come
\non the Balcony I make a special concentration, you notice that I look at
\neverybody, don’t you; I look, see, pass my eyes over every one, I know all who
\nare there, and where they are, and I give each one exactly what he needs; I see
\nhis condition and give him<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/span><\/p>\n

\u00b9 In this period Mother used to give Darshan every
\nmorning from her balcony. This was known as \u201cBalcony Darshan\u201d. In the evening
\nShe was present in the Playground to receive the salute at the March Past and
\nconduct the Concentration at the end of the \u201cMarching\u201d.<\/font> <\/font><\/span><\/p>\n

\n
\nPage \u2013 257<\/font><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n
\n

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

what is necessary. It can go fast, because
\notherwise I would keep you there for half an hour, but I do it, that’s what I
\ndo. That’s the only reason why I come out, because otherwise I carry you in my
\nconsciousness. I carry you in my consciousness always, without seeing you, I do
\nwhat is necessary. But here it is a moment when I can do it by touching the
\nphysical directly, you see; otherwise it is through the mind that it acts, the
\nmind or the vital. But here I touch the physical directly through the sight,
\nthe contact of sight; and that’s what I do \u2013 each time.  <\/span><\/p>\n

So if each one who comes, comes with a
\nkind of trust, of inner opening, and is ready to receive what is given, and
\nnaturally is not dispersed… there are people there who pass their time
\nlooking at what is happening, what the others are doing; and in this way they
\ndon’t have much chance to receive anything very much… but if one comes
\nconcentrated on what he can receive and is as quiet as possible, and as though
\nhe were open to receive something, as though he were opening his consciousness,
\nlike this (gesture<\/i>) to receive
\nsomething \u2013 if one has a particular difficulty or problem, one can put it in an
\naspiration, but it is not very necessary, because usually between what people
\nthink about themselves and the condition in which they are, there is always a
\nlittle difference, in the sense that it’s not quite the thing; their way of
\nfeeling or seeing the thing creates a little deformation, so I am obliged to
\ncross over their deformation; whereas if they don’t think about anything, if
\nthey are simply like this (gesture<\/i>),
\nopen and awaiting the Force \u2013 I go straight in and what has to be done I do.
\nAnd that’s the moment when I know exactly, you see, I do this (gesture<\/i>), quite slowly \u2013 from above I
\nsee very well, very well \u2013 exactly the condition in which each one is. That’s
\nthe morning’s work.  <\/span><\/p>\n

The \u201cConcentration\u201d is something
\nabsolutely different. I try, first, to make the atmosphere as calm, quiet,
\nunified as possible, as though I were spreading the consciousness out wide,
\nlike this (gesture<\/i>); and then from
\nfar above I bring down the Force as much as I can and put it upon you as
\nstrongly as I can. So this
\n <\/span><\/p>\n

\n
\nPage \u2013 258<\/font><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n
\n

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

depends exclusively on whether one is
\nquite tranquil and well concentrated; here one must be concentrated, one must
\nnot be dispersed, one must be concentrated, but very… how to put it?…
\nplain, very horizontal. Like this (gesture<\/i>).
\nThen the Force puts a pressure. And it’s above all for unifying, penetrating
\nthe whole and endeavouring to make of it something cohesive which can express
\ncollectively the Force from above.  <\/span><\/p>\n

In the morning it is an individual work,
\nin the evening it is a collective work. But naturally, within that, each one
\ncan feel individually, but you see, it is a work of unification which I do in
\nthe evening. Each one receives according to his receptivity and the state in
\nwhich he is. <\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/span><\/p>\n

And during the March Past, Sweet Mother? <\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

 <\/span><\/p>\n

That, the March Past, it is… it is more
\na physical action \u2013 preparing oneself for the physical action. It is more a way
\nof opening oneself to the energy, the universal energy, to prepare for the
\naction. It is a contact with the energy, the universal energy which is there,
\nit is to help the body to participate in the work. At that moment it is
\nsomething very physical. This is truly the basis of physical culture: to
\nprepare the body for the action and the receptivity of energies to accomplish
\nthe work. And also the Marching, even when I am not there. But the March Past
\nis for stimulating the receptivity of the body to the energies for realisation.
\nIt is based upon something which is expressed in all kinds of ways; but it is a
\nkind of admiration… how to put it?… a spontaneous and also charming
\nadmiration for heroism, which is in the most material physical consciousness.  <\/span><\/p>\n

And this is a tremendous power for
\novercoming tamas and physical inertia. Besides it is upon this that all the
\nfighting capacities of armies in the wars are founded. If human beings did not
\nhave this, well, one could never make them go to fight one another, stupidly,
\nfor things which they don’t even know. And it is because this is there in the
\nbeing that these great masses <\/span><\/p>\n

\n
\nPage \u2013 259<\/font><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n
\n

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

of men can be utilised, employed and put
\nin motion.  <\/span><\/p>\n

There were examples of this, absolutely
\nmarvellous ones, in the First World War, which was much harder for the
\nindividual than the Second. It was a terrible war because men had dug trenches
\nand were obliged to lie sunk in the earth like worms, under the perpetual
\ndanger of a bombardment against which they could do nothing but protect
\nthemselves as well as possible; and they remained at times shut in there for
\ndays. Sometimes it happened that they were shut in for more than fifteen days
\nin one trench, for there was no means of changing them; that is, it was a
\nmole’s life under a perpetual danger, and with nothing to do about it. Of all
\nthings it was the most horrible. It was a horrible war. Well, there were troops
\nwhich had been left like that, for nothing more could be done because of the
\nbombardments and all that, they could not be relieved any more. It was called
\n\u201crelieving\u201d, relieving the troops, bringing new troops and taking away the
\nothers to give them rest. There were some who remained in this way for days.
\nThere were some who remained ten days, twelve days. There was cause enough to
\ngo mad, for anyone at all. Well, among these people there were some who related
\ntheir life, related what happened.  <\/span><\/p>\n

I have read books about this, not novels,
\nreports noted from day to day of what was happening. There is one \u2013 by the way
\nit is a great writer who wrote his memories of the War, and he related that
\nthey had held on like that under the bombardment for ten days. (Naturally there
\nwere many who were finished off there.) And then they were made to come back
\nbehind and were replaced by others, new ones arrived, the old ones returned. And
\nnaturally when they returned \u2013 you see, they had eaten poorly, had slept badly,
\nhad lived in dark holes, indeed it was a dreadful life \u2013 when they had come
\nback, some of them could not even take off their shoes any more because the
\nfeet were so swollen inside that they couldn’t pull them off. These are
\nunthinkable physical horrors. Well, these people (you see, at that time
\nmechanical transports were not as common as
\n <\/span><\/p>\n

\n
\nPage \u2013 260<\/font><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n
\n

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

in this last war), so they came back on
\nfoot, like that, broken, half-dead.  <\/span><\/p>\n

They had stuck.  <\/span><\/p>\n

That was one of the most beautiful things
\nin the war from the point of view of courage: because they had held on, the
\nenemy could not take the trenches and was not able to advance. Naturally the
\nnews spread and then they came to a village and all the people of the village
\ncame out to receive them and lined the road with flowers and shouts of
\nenthusiasm. All those men who could no longer even drag themselves along, you
\nsee, who were like this (gesture of
\ncollapse<\/i>), suddenly all of them were seen drawing themselves up erect,
\nholding up their heads, filled with energy, and all together they began to sing
\nand went through the whole village singing. It seemed like a resurrection.  <\/span><\/p>\n

Well, it is about this kind of thing I am
\nspeaking. It is something so beautiful, which is in the most material physical
\nconsciousness! You see, all of a sudden, they had the feeling that they were
\nheroes, that they had done something heroic, and so they didn’t want to look
\nlike people completely flattened out, no longer good for anything. \u201cWe are
\nready to go back to the fight if necessary!\u201d Like that. And they went by in
\nthis way. It seems it was marvellous; I am sure of it, that it was marvellous.  <\/span><\/p>\n

Well, that’s what you are developing with
\nthe March Past now.  <\/span><\/p>\n

There we are. <\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/span><\/p>\n

\n\u00b9 <\/font><\/span>In continuation of this talk, while leaving the
\nPlayground Mother remarked to Pavitra: \u201cIt is the cellular response to the
\nenthusiasm of the vital.\u201d <\/font>
\n <\/font><\/span><\/p>\n

\n
\nPage \u2013 261<\/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":"

27 July 1955 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Mother reads from Lights on Yoga, \u201cSurrender and Opening\u201d.   He has said everything, I have nothing to add.   Sweet…<\/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-3911","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\/3911","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=3911"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/worksofthemotherandsriaurobindo.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3911\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/worksofthemotherandsriaurobindo.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3911"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/worksofthemotherandsriaurobindo.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3911"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/worksofthemotherandsriaurobindo.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3911"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}