{"id":3918,"date":"2013-07-13T01:52:11","date_gmt":"2013-07-13T01:52:11","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/localhost\/?p=3918"},"modified":"2013-07-13T01:52:11","modified_gmt":"2013-07-13T01:52:11","slug":"44-16-november-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\/44-16-november-1955-vol-07-questions-and-answers-volume-07","title":{"rendered":"-44_16 November 1955.htm"},"content":{"rendered":"\n\n
\n
\n


\n16
\nNovember 1955 <\/font> <\/span><\/i><\/b><\/p>\n

 <\/span><\/p>\n

Mother reads from {The Synthesis of Yoga},
\n<\/font> <\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cThe Four Aids\u201d. <\/font> <\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/span><\/p>\n

(To
\na child<\/i>) Have you prepared a question for your Birthday? <\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/span><\/p>\n

What is the significance of 18? <\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

 <\/span><\/p>\n

Of the number 18? <\/span><\/p>\n

It depends on how it is read. <\/span><\/p>\n

It can be read as 10+8; it can be read as
\n9+9; it can be read as 12+6. And each of these readings has a different
\nmeaning. <\/span><\/p>\n

If we take 10+8, it can indicate something
\nquite immobile: because 10 indicates a static perfection, something which has
\nreached its perfection and stops there; and 8 is a double enclosure, that is,
\nsomething which is framed in, surrounded, demarcated, and which naturally stops
\nthere. So if we put 10 and 8 together it truly makes something which can be an
\naccomplishment but one that is terminated. <\/span><\/p>\n

On the other hand, if we take 9+9: 9 is
\nthe process of creation \u2013 not the creation itself but its process \u2013 and 9+9 is
\na process of creation which continues and follows another process of creation,
\nthat is, a creation which is dual and implies the idea that it continues
\nindefinitely. This gives us two meanings which are almost contradictory. <\/span><\/p>\n

And if we take 12 and 6, then it becomes
\nsomething very good. 12, you know what it is, don’t you? It is the number of
\nperfection in conception and creation; and 6 is the number of the new creation.
\nSo if you put 12 and 6 together, you truly have something absolutely
\nremarkable. <\/span><\/p>\n

Now we can have other combinations. But it
\nbecomes a little more complicated. <\/span><\/p>\n

\n
\nPage \u2013 368<\/font><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n
\n

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

18 itself \u2013 as 18 \u2013 was the number of the
\nconsciousness in its effort for material realisation: the consciousness trying
\nto realise itself materially, express itself materially. <\/span><\/p>\n

So now you have something… <\/span><\/p>\n

From the social point of view it is the
\nfirst number for attaining majority, the first majority; that is, from eighteen
\nonwards one has one’s own will, one has the right to have one’s own will, from
\nthe social point of view. It is clearly a very interesting starting-point. <\/span><\/p>\n

There, then. <\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/span><\/p>\n

Sweet Mother, has each person’s number a different significance for each
\none? <\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

 <\/span><\/p>\n

If one wants to give it, yes. <\/span><\/p>\n

If one doesn’t think about it, it doesn’t
\nsignify anything at all. It’s the importance one gives it which counts. <\/span><\/p>\n

Numbers are a way of speaking. It is a
\nlanguage, as all the sciences, all the arts, everything that man produces; it
\nis always a way of speaking, it is a language. If one adopts this language it
\nbecomes living, expressive, useful. As we need words to make ourselves
\nunderstood usually \u2013 unfortunately it is liable to all kinds of confusions, but
\nstill we haven’t yet reached the state where we can communicate in silence,
\nwhich, obviously, would be a very much higher state \u2013 well, if you want to give
\nnumbers a meaning in your life, they can reveal to you quite a lot of things.
\nBut it’s like that. It is like astrology: if one wants to study the relation
\nbetween his life and the movement of the stars, one can also find all kinds of
\nuseful information. <\/span><\/p>\n

Fundamentally it is a way of knowing,
\nnothing else \u2013 a process. True knowledge is beyond words, beyond systems,
\nbeyond languages; it is in a silent identity. It is in fact the only one which
\ndoes not err. <\/span><\/p>\n

What else? <\/span><\/p>\n

\n
\nPage \u2013 369<\/font><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n
\n

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

In the prayer you gave us this time for Kali Puja, you have written
\nsomething in Sanskrit. <\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

 <\/span><\/p>\n

It is Sri Aurobindo who has written a
\nmantra.<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/span><\/p>\n

Then why has he written like this? <\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

 <\/span><\/p>\n

Why has he written this? <\/span><\/p>\n

Why don’t you ask him? Perhaps he will
\ntell you. <\/span><\/p>\n

It is an evocation. You know what it
\nmeans? Did you find someone to explain it to you? No? Ah, that’s the first
\nthing you should have done, ask what the meaning of these four words is. <\/span><\/p>\n

The transcription underneath: there are
\nonly two of them. He had begun transcribing and then his paper… it was on a
\ntiny little scrap of paper, and there wasn’t any more space to write
\neverything; so he stopped. <\/span><\/p>\n

Have you read it? You don’t know how to
\nread Sanskrit? So now you must find someone to show you how to read it; and
\nthen to give you the significance. And after that you will ask me why he wrote
\nit. Not now! <\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/span><\/p>\n

Sweet Mother, has that Chaldean legend\u00b9 which you have written any
\nrelation with Kali Puja? <\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

 <\/span><\/p>\n

Yes, my child, because on Kali Puja day I always<\/i> distribute the flowers of
\n\u201cDivine’s Love\u201d; for Kali is the most loving of all the aspects of the
\nMahashakti; hers is the most active and most powerful Love. And that is why
\nevery year I distribute the petals of \u201cDivine’s Love\u201d on Kali’s Day. And so
\nnaturally this explanation of why these flowers were chosen to express the
\nDivine’s Love \u2013 it is a sufficient explanation.<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/span><\/p>\n

Mother, who was this man you have spoken about?<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

 <\/span><\/p>\n

\n\u00b9 See Appendix at the end of the talk.<\/font><\/span> <\/span><\/p>\n

\n
\nPage \u2013 370<\/font><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n
\n

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

Who told you that it was a man? <\/span><\/p>\n

 I haven’t said whether it was a man
\nor a woman. I took care to put only \u201ca divine being\u201d. <\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/span><\/p>\n

Who? <\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

 <\/span><\/p>\n

It is a prehistoric story, so you cannot
\nfind any information about it. It isn’t written anywhere. There are no written
\ndocuments.  <\/span><\/p>\n

Haven’t you any questions to ask on what
\nwe read today? <\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/span><\/p>\n

Sweet Mother, is personal effort always egoistic? <\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

 <\/span><\/p>\n

There we are, you see. French is not as
\nrich a language as we could hope for. In English there are two words: \u201cselfish\u201d
\nand \u201cegoistic\u201d. And they don’t mean the same thing. You know the difference in
\nEnglish, don’t you? Well, in this case, the French word \u201cegosme\u201d is in the
\nsense of egoism in English, not in the sense of \u201cselfishness\u201d.  <\/span><\/p>\n

There may be an effort which is not at all
\nselfish and is yet egoistic, because the moment it becomes personal it is
\negoistic \u2013 that means, it is based on the ego. But this does not mean that it
\nis not generous, compassionate, unselfish nor that it is for narrow personal
\nends. It is not like that. It may be for a very unselfish work. But so long as
\nan ego is there it is egoistic. And so long as the sense of one’s own
\npersonality is there, it is naturally something egoistic; it is founded on the
\npresence of the ego.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 <\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

 And this must last for a fairly long
\ntime, because it must last until the individuality is completely formed, until
\nit has reached a certain state of individual perfection; then the presence of
\nthe ego is no longer necessary \u2013 but not before one has attained the maximum individual
\ndevelopment. <\/span><\/p>\n

It is not just a tiny little job. It asks
\nfor much time and much <\/span><\/p>\n

\n
\nPage \u2013 371<\/font><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n
\n

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

effort. And when one has attained the
\nperfection of his own development, when one is an individual being who is truly
\npersonal, that is, who has all the characteristics of something different from
\nall others \u2013 for in principle there are no two individualities exactly alike in
\nthe world \u2013 then, when one has succeeded in expressing the individuality one
\nis, is exclusively, represents exclusively in the universal creation, then one
\nis ready for the ego to disappear \u2013 but not before.  <\/span><\/p>\n

It asks for a certain length of time, not
\na little effort, a fairly complete education. But one may be quite unselfish
\nlong before being ready not to have the ego any longer. That is something else.
\n<\/span><\/p>\n

For years, all the time I have been
\ntranslating from English into French \u2013 that is, for a very long time, something
\nlike thirty years of this work, perhaps thirty-five \u2013 I have tried to find two
\nwords to say that, to make a difference. I haven’t found them yet, because in
\nFrench one can’t fabricate words, it is not allowed; that’s the misfortune! In
\nEnglish you can make as many words as you like and if they are fine and well
\nmade they are accepted. In French, unless it is recognised by the French
\nAcademy in its dictionary, you will be told, \u201cThis is not correct.\u201d So I
\nhaven’t yet found them. <\/span><\/p>\n

(Looking
\nat a child<\/i>) He is up to some mischief! (Laughter<\/i>)<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/span><\/p>\n

Sweet Mother, a rich man is never satisfied, he wants to have more
\nriches; a scholar wants to have more knowledge. Does this show that they are
\nseeking the Divine? <\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

 <\/span><\/p>\n

He is in search of an absolute in life,
\nthat’s obvious. Perhaps it is analogous, I don’t know.<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/span><\/p>\n

It is this: \u201cTo enjoy him in all experience of passivity and activity,
\nof peace and of power, of unity and of difference, is the happiness which the
\njiva, the<\/span><\/i> <\/span><\/i>individual soul manifested in the world, is obscurely seeking.\u201d<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

\n
\nPage \u2013 372<\/font><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n
\n

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

Yes. But you are not told anything about the
\nlove of riches or the love of power or the love of knowledge. You are told
\nabout the divine Love; it is not altogether the same thing. Nothing is said
\nabout enjoying ambition or desire or even aspiration; what is spoken of is the
\nenjoying of the divine Presence. That’s completely different; there is no
\nsimilarity. <\/span><\/p>\n

I admit that I don’t quite catch the
\nmeaning of your question. I think you are mixing up the Divine with growth and
\nincrease and development, no? perhaps at best with progress. But it is not the
\nsame thing. Progress is perhaps the base upon which the present world was
\nconstructed, one can take it like that; but it is not the Divine. <\/span><\/p>\n

What were you trying to say? <\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/span><\/p>\n

For each being there is a thirst for something. <\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

 <\/span><\/p>\n

That the thirst for something is the
\nDivine? No, my child. It can be quite simply a desire. How can the thirst for
\nsomething be the Divine? <\/span><\/p>\n

I see clearly what you are trying to say,
\nbut truly you do not say it: that is, this inner flame of aspiration is what
\nyou call the Divine; this inner flame of aspiration which never dies out, which
\nalways burns, burns more and more; what in India is called Agni, you know, the
\nwill to progress, the power of aspiration; this is what you call the Divine. It
\nis an aspect of the Divine, that’s true, but it is not the Divine. It is only
\none aspect, that is, a divine way of being. <\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/span><\/p>\n

Sweet Mother, in the individual do the past evolution and the present
\nnature always decide the final intervention of a higher plane which brings
\nabout a change?<\/span><\/i> <\/span><\/p>\n

\n
\nPage \u2013 373<\/font><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n
\n

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

What kind of question is this, I don’t
\nunderstand it very well. Past evolution?…<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/span><\/p>\n

And the present nature… <\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

 <\/span><\/p>\n

\u2026And the present nature? It is not the
\nsame thing, they are two different things. <\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/span><\/p>\n

No, Mother, because here it is written: \u201cThe mind’s door of entry to the
\nconception of him must necessarily vary according to the past evolution and the
\npresent nature.\u201d <\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

 <\/span><\/p>\n

Yes, these two things are completely
\ndifferent. That is, the evolution in former lives and the present nature, that
\nis, the nature of the present body, determine one’s approach to the Divine. <\/span><\/p>\n

We can take a very… an over-simple
\nexample. If one is born in any particular religion, quite naturally the first
\neffort to approach the Divine will be within that religion; or else if in
\nformer lives one has passed through a certain number of experiences which
\ndetermined the necessity of another kind of experiences, quite naturally one
\nwill follow the path which leads to those experiences. <\/span><\/p>\n

You see, the life of the psychic being is
\nmade up of successive experiences in successive physical existences. So, it may
\nbe put a little childishly or romantically: you have a psychic which for some
\nreason or other has incarnated so as to be able to have all the experiences
\nwhich royalty gives \u2013 for instance, supreme power. After it has had its
\nexperience, has had what it wanted, it can, before leaving the body, decide
\nthat in the next life it will take birth in obscure conditions, because it
\nneeds to have experiences which can be had in a modest condition and with the
\nfreedom one feels when he has no responsibilities, you see, responsibilities
\nlike those the heads of states have, for instance. So quite naturally, in its
\nnext life it will be born in certain <\/span><\/p>\n

\n
\nPage \u2013 374<\/font><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n
\n

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

conditions which fulfil its need. And
\nit is in accordance with this experience that it will approach the Divine.
\n <\/span><\/p>\n

Then, in addition, it is the product of
\nthe union of two physical natures, you know, and sometimes of two vital
\nnatures. The result of this is more or less a kind of mixture of these natures;
\nbut it brings about a tendency, what is called a character. Well, this
\ncharacter will make it fit for a certain field, a certain category of
\nexperiences. <\/span><\/p>\n

So with what has been determined, decided
\nin former lives or in a former life, and then the environment in which it is
\nborn \u2013 that is, the conditions in which its present body has been formed \u2013 its
\napproach to and search for the Divine will be in accordance with a definite
\nline which is its own, and which, naturally, is not at all the same as that of
\nits neighbour or any other being. <\/span><\/p>\n

I said a while ago: each individual is a
\nspecial manifestation in the universe, therefore his true path must be an
\nabsolutely unique path. There are similarities, there are resemblances, there
\nare categories, families, churches, ideals also, that is, a certain collective
\nway of approaching the Divine, which creates a kind of church, not materialised
\nbut in a more subtle world \u2013 there are all these things \u2013 but for the details
\nof the path, the details of yoga, it will be different according to each
\nindividual, necessarily, and conditioned physically by his present bodily
\nstructure, and vitally, mentally and psychically, of course, by former lives. <\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/span><\/p>\n

The present structure, Mother, is it that which decides the intervention
\nof the higher planes or not, in order to work miracles? <\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

 <\/span><\/p>\n

That is to say, whether it is predestined
\nthat the higher planes… <\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/span><\/p>\n

The other day you said that it can change completely. <\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

 <\/span><\/p>\n

Yes <\/span><\/p>\n

\n
\nPage \u2013 375<\/font><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n
\n

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

Then, if the present remains like this… <\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

 <\/span><\/p>\n

But look here! Let us take an altogether
\nordinary example which is very partial and very superficial. You are born in
\nIndia. Being born in India you are born with a certain religious and
\nphilosophic attitude. But if for some reason or other you want to free yourself
\nfrom this atavism and influence, if you begin to follow, study, practise the
\nreligion or philosophy of another country, you can change the conditions of
\nyour inner development. It is a little more difficult, that is, it asks for a
\ngreater effort for liberation, but it is very far from being impossible. In
\nfact there are many people who do it, who love to free themselves from what
\ncomes to them from their present birth; by some sort of special taste they like
\nto seek elsewhere what they think they won’t be able to find at home. And in
\nthis way you change the consequences of your birth completely. <\/span><\/p>\n

Now you may tell me that this taste for
\nthe new or the unknown can come to you from a former life; this is probable.
\nBut it depends on what dominates in your being: whether it is the result of
\nformer psychic lives and psychic resolutions or whether it is the immediate
\nconsequence of your present constitution. <\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/span><\/p>\n

But sometimes these present structures are contradictory to what was… <\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

 <\/span><\/p>\n

Contradictory? In what way contradictory?
\nTo former influences? It is never contradictory. It can be only complementary. <\/span><\/p>\n

When things seem contradictory to you, it
\nis always because you have remained on too low a plane. If you know how to
\nclimb up a few rungs of the ladder, all contradictions disappear, everything
\nbecomes complementary. <\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/span><\/p>\n

But what prevents me from going on is the nature, isn’t it?<\/span><\/i> <\/span><\/p>\n

\n
\nPage \u2013 376<\/font><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n
\n

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

What prevents you?… <\/span><\/p>\n

It prevents many people. It is not very
\neasy. <\/span><\/p>\n

This is a part of the liberation.
\nLiberation is obtained through austerities, we know that. But there are certain
\nausterities which people refuse to practise, for example this (Mother puts her finger on her lips.<\/i>)
\nThey talk, talk, talk \u2013 much too much. <\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/span><\/p>\n

(Noises of the wind in the mike)<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

 <\/span><\/p>\n

We are going to enact a storm-scene!
\nThat’s how thunder is created on the stage. <\/span><\/p>\n

There you are, my children. That’s all? <\/span><\/p>\n

Who has a very<\/i> interesting question to ask? <\/span><\/p>\n

To ask an interesting question one must
\nbegin by thinking in an interesting way. <\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/span><\/p>\n

Mother, what do you call an interesting question? <\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

 <\/span><\/p>\n

Ah! A question worth answering. (Laughter<\/i>) Something which raises the
\npossibility of a new answer and an opening on a new field of knowledge. <\/span><\/p>\n

For example, when you ask me for the
\nexplanation of a word, I find that this is not an interesting question, because
\nyou have only to open a dictionary. When you ask me the answer to a question
\nwhich has been given by Sri Aurobindo or by someone else in published books, it
\ndoesn’t seem to be an interesting question to me, because you have only to open
\nthe book and read. <\/span><\/p>\n

But when, for instance, you have a
\npersonal experience which you do not understand very well and for which you
\nneed clarification, then your question can become interesting.  <\/span><\/p>\n

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

\n
\nPage \u2013 377<\/font><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n
\n

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

No interesting question? <\/span><\/p>\n

So nobody has an interesting question
\naccording to the definition just given\u2026?<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/span><\/p>\n


\nAppendix<\/font><\/span><\/b><\/p>\n

 <\/span><\/p>\n

An Old Chaldean Legend<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

 <\/span><\/p>\n

Long, long ago, in the dry land which is now
\nArabia, a divine being incarnated upon earth to awaken in it the supreme love.
\nAs expected it was persecuted by men, misunderstood, suspected, pursued.
\nMortally wounded by its assailants, it wanted to die quietly in solitude in
\norder to be able to accomplish its work, and being pursued, it ran away.
\nSuddenly, in the vast desert land there appeared a small pomegranate bush. The
\nsaviour crept in under the low branches, to leave its body in peace; and
\nimmediately the bush spread out miraculously, it grew higher, larger, became
\ndeep and thick, so that when the pursuers passed by, they did not even suspect
\nthat the One whom they were chasing was hidden there, and they went their way. <\/span><\/p>\n

While drop by drop the sacred blood fell,
\nfertilising the soil, the bush was covered with marvellous flowers, scarlet,
\nlarge, crowded with petals… innumerable drops of blood. <\/span><\/p>\n

 These are the flowers which express
\nand contain for us the Divine’s Love. <\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/span>Page \u2013 378<\/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":"

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