{"id":3912,"date":"2013-07-13T01:52:09","date_gmt":"2013-07-13T01:52:09","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/localhost\/?p=3912"},"modified":"2013-07-13T01:52:09","modified_gmt":"2013-07-13T01:52:09","slug":"08-23-february-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\/08-23-february-1955-vol-07-questions-and-answers-volume-07","title":{"rendered":"-08_23 February 1955.htm"},"content":{"rendered":"\n\n
\n
\n


\n23 February 1955<\/font><\/span><\/i><\/b>
\n<\/font> <\/span><\/i><\/b><\/p>\n

 <\/span><\/p>\n

This talk is
\nbased upon Bases of Yoga, Chapter 4, <\/font> <\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cDesire \u2013 Food –
\nSex\u201d. <\/font> <\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/span><\/p>\n

Sweet Mother, from the
\nbeginning man ate because he needed food in order to live. Then why did taste
\nfor food develop? One eats what one likes to, and doesn’t eat what one doesn’t
\nlike! <\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

 <\/span><\/p>\n

I
\nthink primitive man was very close to the animal and lived more by instinct
\nthan by intelligence, you see. He ate when he was hungry, without any rule of
\nany kind. Perhaps he had his tastes and preferences too, we know nothing much
\nabout it, but he lived much more materially, much less mentally and vitally
\nthan now. <\/span><\/p>\n

Surely primitive man was very material, very near the animal. And as the
\ncenturies pass, man becomes more mental and more vital; and as he becomes more
\nvital and mental, naturally refinement is possible, intelligence grows, but
\nalso the possibility of perversion and distortion. You see, there is a
\ndifference between educating one’s senses to the point of being able to bring
\nin all kinds of refinements, developments, knowledge, all the possibilities of
\nappreciation, taste, and all that \u2013 there is a difference between this, which
\nis truly a development and progress of consciousness, and attachment or
\ngreediness. <\/span><\/p>\n

One can, for example, very well make a very deep study of taste and have
\na very detailed knowledge of the different tastes of things, of the association
\nbetween ideas and taste, in order to acquire a full development – not
\npositively vital, but a development of the senses. There is a great difference
\nbetween this and those who eat through greediness, who think all the time about
\nfood. You see, for them eating is the most important thing; all their thoughts
\nare concentrated on it, and they eat not
\n <\/span><\/p>\n

\nPage \u2013
\n57<\/span><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n
\n

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

because
\nthey need to eat but through desire and greed and gluttony. <\/span><\/p>\n

In fact people who work in order to develop their taste, to refine it,
\nare rarely very much attached to food. It is not through attachment to food
\nthat they do it. It is for the cultivation of their senses, which is a very
\ndifferent thing. It is like the artist, you know, who trains his eyes to
\nappreciate forms and colours, lines, the composition of things, the harmony
\nfound in physical nature; it is not at all through desire that he does this, it
\nis through taste, culture, the development of the sense of sight and the
\nappreciation of beauty. And usually artists who are real artists and love their
\nart and live in the sense of beauty, seeking beauty, are people who don’t have
\nmany desires. They live in the sense of a growth not only visual, but of the
\nappreciation of beauty. There is a great difference between this and people who
\nlive by their impulses and desires. That’s altogether something else. <\/span><\/p>\n

Usually all education, all culture, all refinement of the senses and the
\nbeing is one of the best ways of curing instincts, desires, passions. To
\neliminate these things does not cure them; to cultivate, intellectualise, refine
\nthem, this is the surest means of curing. To give the greatest possible
\ndevelopment for progress and growth, to acquire a certain sense of harmony and
\nexactness of perception, this is a part of the culture of the being, of the
\neducation of the being. It is like the people who cultivate their intelligence,
\nwho learn, read, think, compare, study. These people’s minds widen and they are
\nmuch vaster and more understanding than those who live without mental
\neducation, with a few petty ideas which sometimes are even contradictory in
\ntheir consciousness and govern them totally because these are the only ones
\nthey have and they think these are unique ideas which should guide their life;
\nthese people are altogether narrow and limited whereas those who are trained
\nand have studied <\/span>\u2013<\/span> this at least widens their minds and they can see, compare ideas and
\nsee that all possible ideas are there in the world and that it is <\/span><\/p>\n

\nPage \u2013
\n58<\/span><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n
\n

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

\u00a0<\/span>a pettiness, an absurdity to be attached to a
\nlimited number of ideas and consider them the exclusive expression of truth. <\/span><\/p>\n

Education is certainly one of the best means of preparing the
\nconsciousness for a higher development. There are people with very crude and
\nvery simple natures, who can have great aspiration and attain a certain
\nspiritual development, but the base will always be of an inferior quality, and
\nas soon as they return to their ordinary consciousness they will find obstacles
\nin it, because the stuff is too thin, there are not enough elements in their
\nvital and material consciousness to enable them to bear the descent of a higher
\nforce. <\/span><\/p>\n

To eat through greediness and a passion for food is something completely
\ndifferent from studying the different tastes and knowing how to compare them,
\ncombine them and appreciate them. <\/span><\/p>\n

Are there any other questions? No? <\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/span><\/p>\n

Sweet Mother, where do
\ntastes come from? <\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

 <\/span><\/p>\n

It
\nis one of the senses; it is said that it’s the tongue; I don’t know. It is the
\nsense of taste, as there is the sense of touch. How does it happen that we feel
\nsomething with the tips of the fingers? There are nerves there, nerves and
\nconsciousness. Taste <\/span>\u2013<\/span> is the nerves and consciousness which are in the
\ntongue and the palate. <\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/span><\/p>\n

But there are other
\ntastes for different things. <\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

 <\/span><\/p>\n

Oh,
\nit is the word which is the same\u2026 The word is used in a literal sense and then
\nin a figurative sense. He has a taste for something <\/span>\u2013<\/span> that’s a figurative way
\nof using the word. It does not mean that it is the same thing as the taste of
\nthe tongue; or of somebody we say that he has good taste, it means that he
\nknows how to appreciate clearly and judiciously, but it doesn’t mean that he
\ntastes with his tongue. <\/span>
\n
\n <\/span><\/p>\n

\nPage \u2013
\n59<\/span><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n
\n

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

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 <\/span>How
\ndoes fasting produce a state of receptivity? <\/i><\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/span><\/p>\n

It
\nis because usually the vital being is very closely concentrated on the body and
\nwhen the body is well fed it takes its strength from the food, its energy from
\nthe food, and it is one way\u2026 it is obviously almost the only way; not the only
\none, but the most important in the present conditions of life\u2026 but it is a very
\ntamasic way of absorbing energy. <\/span><\/p>\n

If you think about it, you see, it is the vital energy which is in
\neither plants or animals, that is, logically it is of an inferior quality to
\nthe vital energy which should be in man, who is a slightly higher being in the
\ngradation of the species. So if you draw from below you draw at the same time
\nthe inconscience that is below. It is impossible to eat without absorbing a
\nconsiderable amount of inconscience; this makes you heavy, coarsens you; and
\nthen if you eat much, a large amount of your consciousness is absorbed in
\ndigesting and assimilating what you have eaten. So already, if you don’t take
\nfood, you don’t have all this inconscience to assimilate and transform inside
\nyou; it sets free the energies. And then, as there is an instinct in the being
\nto recuperate the energies spent, if you don’t take them from food, that is,
\nfrom below, you instinctively make an effort to take them through union with
\nthe universal vital forces which are free, and if one knows how to assimilate
\nthem one does so directly and then there is no limit. <\/span><\/p>\n

It is not like your stomach which can digest only a certain amount of
\nfood, and therefore you can’t take in more than that; and even the food you
\ntake liberates only a little bit, a very small quantity of vital energy. And so
\nwhat can remain with you after all the work of swallowing, digesting, etc.? Not
\nmuch, you see. But if you learn\u2026 and this indeed is a kind of instinct, one
\nlearns instinctively to draw towards himself the universal energies which move
\nfreely in the universe and are unlimited in quantity\u2026 as much of these as you
\nare capable of drawing towards you, you can absorb <\/span>\u2013<\/span> so instinctively when
\nthere is no <\/span>
\n
\n <\/span><\/p>\n

\nPage \u2013
\n60<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n
\n

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

support
\nfrom below which comes from food, you make the necessary movement to recuperate
\nthe energies from outside, and absorb as much of them as you are capable of
\ndoing, and sometimes more. So this puts you in a kind of state of excitement,
\nand if your body is very strong and can bear being without food for a certain
\nlength of time, then you keep your balance and can use these energies for all
\nkinds of things, as for example, to progress, to become more conscious and
\ntransform your nature. But if your physical body doesn’t have much in reserve
\nand grows considerably weak from not eating, then this creates an imbalance
\nbetween the intensity of the energies you absorb and the capacity of the body
\nto hold them, and then this causes disturbances. You lose your balance, and all
\nthe balance of forces is destroyed, and anything at all may happen to you. In
\nany case, you lose much control over yourself and become usually very excited,
\nand you take this excitement for a higher state. But often it is simply an
\ninner imbalance, nothing more. It sharpens the receptivity very much. For
\nexample, precisely when one fasts and no longer takes the energies from below,
\nwell, if you breathe in the odour of a flower it nourishes you, the perfume
\nnourishes you, it gives you a great deal of energy; but otherwise you do not
\nnotice it. <\/span><\/p>\n

There are certain faculties which get intensified, and so one takes that
\nfor a spiritual effect. It has very little to do with the spiritual life except
\nthat there are people who eat much, think much about their food, are very
\ndeeply absorbed in it, and then when they have eaten well <\/span>\u2013<\/span> and as I say, they must
\ndigest it, and so all their energies are concentrated on their digestion <\/span>\u2013<\/span> these people are dull
\nin mind, and this pulls them down very much towards matter; so if they stop
\neating and stop thinking about food \u2013 because there is one thing, that if one
\nfasts and thinks all the time that he is hungry and would like to eat, then it
\nis ten times worse than eating <\/span>\u2013 <\/span>and can truly fast because they think of something
\nelse and are occupied with something else and are not interested in food <\/span>\u2013<\/span> then that can help one
\nto <\/span>
\n
\n <\/span><\/p>\n

\nPage \u2013
\n61<\/span><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n
\n

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

climb
\nto a slightly higher degree of consciousness, to free himself from the slavery
\nto material needs. But fasting is above all good for those who believe in it <\/span>\u2013<\/span> as everything. When you
\nhave the faith that this will make you progress, is going to purify you, it
\ndoes you good. If you don’t believe in it, it doesn’t do much, except that it
\nmakes you thin. <\/span><\/p>\n

There was\u2026 Maeterlinck <\/span>\u2013<\/span> you know the books of Maeterlinck, I think; you must
\nhave read\u00a0 <\/span>The Blue Bird and others. He
\nwas a very fat man, and as he had a sense of beauty, becoming fat upset him
\nvery much. So he had decided to fast once a week; one day in the week he did
\nnot eat, and as he was an intelligent man he did not bother about food; he
\nwrote, he worked hard on that day, and that kept him reasonably well and in an
\nelegant form; and from that point of view it was very useful to him. <\/span><\/p>\n

This is the surest result: if one doesn’t eat one grows thin; so if one is
\ntoo fat and wants to grow thin, it is a good means. But on condition that one
\ndoesn’t pass the day thinking of food, because then, as soon as one stops his
\nfast, he dashes for it and eats so much that he gets back all that he has lost.
\nIn fact, the best thing is not to think about it but to regulate one’s life
\nautomatically enough not to need to think of eating. You eat at fixed hours,
\neat reasonably, you don’t even need to think of the food when you are taking
\nit; you must eat calmly, that’s all, quietly, with concentration, and when you
\ndo not eat you must never think about it. You must not eat too much, because
\nthen you will have to think about your digestion, and it will be very
\nunpleasant for you and will make you waste much time. You must eat just\u2026 you
\nmust put an end to all desire, all attraction, all movements of the vital,
\nbecause when you eat simply because the body needs to eat, the body will tell
\nyou absolutely precisely and exactly when it has had enough; you see, when one
\nis not moved by a vital desire or mental ideas, one grasps this with surety.
\n\u201cNow it is enough,\u201d says the body, \u201cI don’t want any more.\u201d So one stops. As
\nsoon as one has ideas or else
\n <\/span><\/p>\n

\nPage \u2013
\n62<\/span><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n
\n

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

desires
\nin the vital, and there is, for instance, something that you like particularly,
\nbecause you like it particularly you eat three times too much of it\u2026 In fact,
\nthis may cure you to a certain extent, because if you don’t have a very strong
\nstomach, you get indigestion, and then after that you have a disgust for the
\nthing which has given you indigestion. Still, these are rather drastic means.
\nOne can make progress without having recourse to such means. The best is not to
\nthink about it. <\/span><\/p>\n

Of course there are people who prepare food for themselves and for
\nothers, and who are obliged to think about it, but just a very little. One can
\nprepare food while thinking about more interesting things. But in any case, the
\nless one thinks about it the better; and when one is not concerned with it,
\neither mentally or vitally, the body becomes a very good indicator. When it is
\nhungry it will tell you, when it needs to take in something, it will tell you;
\nwhen it has finished, when it doesn’t need any more, it will tell you; and when
\nit doesn’t need food, it doesn’t think about it, it thinks of something else.
\nIt is only the head which creates all the trouble. In fact it is always the
\nhead which creates the trouble, because one doesn’t know how to use it. If one
\nknew how to use it, it could also create harmony. But it is something very
\nstrange that people always use their imagination for something bad, and it is
\nvery very rarely that they use their imagination for the good. Instead of
\nthinking of happy things which would help to keep them in balance and harmony,
\nthey always think of all the possible catastrophes, and so naturally they
\ndisturb the balance of their being, and into the bargain, if they are
\nunfortunate enough to be afraid, they attract the catastrophes they fear. <\/span><\/p>\n

There we are. That’s all? No questions? <\/span><\/p>\n

Good night, my children. <\/span>
\n <\/span><\/p>\n

\nPage \u2013
\n63<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/table>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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