{"id":3938,"date":"2013-07-13T01:52:20","date_gmt":"2013-07-13T01:52:20","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/localhost\/?p=3938"},"modified":"2013-07-13T01:52:20","modified_gmt":"2013-07-13T01:52:20","slug":"17-1915-vol-01-prayers-and-meditations-volume-01","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/worksofthemotherandsriaurobindo.org\/index.php\/02-works-of-the-mother\/01-cwmce\/01-prayers-and-meditations-volume-01\/17-1915-vol-01-prayers-and-meditations-volume-01","title":{"rendered":"-17_1915.htm"},"content":{"rendered":"\n\n
\n
\n

\n
\nJanuary 2, 1915<\/font><\/a><\/span><\/b> <\/font> <\/a> <\/span><\/b>
\n
\n <\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0
\n<\/span>Every idea, however powerful and profound it may be, repeated too often,
\nexpressed too constantly, becomes stale, insipid, worthless…. The highest
\nconcepts thus lose their freshness after a time and the intelligence which
\ndelighted in transcendental speculations suddenly feels an imperious need to
\nabandon all reasonings and all its philosophy and contemplate life with the
\nmarvelling gaze of a child, so as no longer to remember anything of its past
\nknowledge, were it even a sovereignly divine one…. <\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0
\n<\/span>It is true to say that the divisions of time are purely arbitrary, that
\nthe date assigned to the renewal of the year varies according to the latitude,
\nthe climate, the customs, and that it is purely conventional. This is the
\nmental attitude which smiles at the childishness of men and wants to let itself
\nbe guided by profounder truths. And then suddenly the mind itself feels its
\npowerlessness to translate these truths precisely, and, renouncing all wisdom
\nof this kind, it lets the song of the aspiring heart arise, the heart for which
\nevery circumstance is an opportunity for a deeper, vaster and more intense
\naspiration…. The year of the West renews itself: why not profit by it to will
\nwith renewed ardour that this symbol should become a reality and the deplorable
\nthings of
\n the past give place to things which must
\nexist in all glory? <\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0
\n<\/span>Always we believe that we can define Thee, can shut Thee up in our mental
\nformulas; but however vast,<\/span><\/p>\n

\n
\nPage – <\/span>
\n283<\/span><\/font><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n
\n

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

complex, synthetic they may be, Thou wilt
\nremain always the Inexpressible even for him who knows and lives Thee…. For
\none can live Thee though one is unable to express Thee, can be Thy infinity and
\nrealise it though unable to define or explain Thee; always Thou wilt remain the
\neternal mystery, worthy of all our wonder; \u2013 not only in Thy unthinkable and
\neven unknowable Transcendence but in Thy universal manifestation, in all that
\nwe integrally are. And always forms of thought are succeeded by new forms, ever
\npurer, higher and more comprehensive, but never will one of them be considered
\nsufficient to give so much as an idea of what Thou art. And each new fact will
\nbe a new problem, more marvellous and mysterious than all that preceded it.
\nYet, faced with its own ignorance and incapacity, the mental being remains
\nluminous, smiling and calm, even as though it possessed the supreme knowledge \u2013
\nthat of its being Thou, innumerably, invariably, infinitely, very simply Thou.
\n <\/span><\/p>\n

\nPage – <\/font><\/span>284<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n
\n

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


\n
\nJanuary 11, 1915<\/font><\/a><\/span><\/b> <\/font> <\/a> <\/span><\/b>\n<\/p>\n

\n
\n <\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0
\n<\/span>More than ever before, the aspiration of the mental being rose to Thee
\nwith great fervour…. The perception of infinity and eternity is always there.
\nBut it is as if Thou hadst willed to cut me off from all religious joy, all
\nspiritual ecstasy, in order to plunge me into the most strictly material
\ncircumstances. Everywhere, O Lord, is Thy perfect bliss, and nothing can take
\naway from me that grand gift Thou hast made of it to me; in every place and
\nevery circumstance it is with me, it is myself as I am Thou. But all this is
\nnothing beside what should be. Thou wantest that from the heart of this heavy
\nand obscure Matter I make the volcano of Thy Love and Light burst forth; Thou
\nwantest that breaking all the old conventions of language there may arise a
\nWord fit to express Thee, a Word never heard before; Thou wouldst that the
\nunion between the smallest things below and the vastest, sublimest things above
\nmight become integral; and that is why, O Lord, cutting me off from all
\nreligious joy and all spiritual ecstasy, depriving me of all freedom to
\nconcentrate exclusively upon Thee, Thou saidst to me, \u201cWork like an ordinary
\nman in the midst of ordinary people; learn to be nothing more than they in
\neverything that manifests; participate in all their ways of life; for beyond all that they know,
\nall that they are, thou carriest within thee the torch of the eternal splendour
\nwhich does not flicker, and by associating with them this is what thou wilt
\nbring in their midst. <\/span><\/p>\n

\n
\nPage – <\/span>
\n285<\/span><\/font><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n
\n

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

Dost thou need to enjoy this light, so long as it
\nradiates to all from thee? Is it necessary for thee to feel my love vibrating
\nin thee, so long as thou givest it? Must thou taste fully the bliss of my
\npresence, so long as thou canst serve as its intermediary to all? <\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0<\/span>May Thy will be done, O Lord \u2013 done
\nintegrally. <\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0
\n<\/span>It is my happiness and my law.
\n <\/span><\/p>\n

\n
\nPage – <\/span>
\n286<\/span><\/font><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n
\n

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


\n
\nJanuary 17, 1915<\/font><\/a><\/span><\/b> <\/font> <\/a> <\/span><\/b>
\n
\n <\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0
\n<\/span>Now, Lord, things have changed. The time of rest and preparation is
\nover. Thou hast willed that from the passive and contemplative servitor I was,
\nI become an active and realising one; Thou hast willed that joyful acceptance
\nbe transformed into joyful battle, and that in a constant and heroic effort
\nagainst everything which in the world opposes the accomplishment of Thy law in
\nits purest and highest present expression, I find again the same peaceful and
\nunchanging poise which one keeps in a surrender to Thy law as it is now being accomplished,
\nthat is, without entering into a direct struggle with all that opposes it,
\nmaking the best of every circumstance and acting by contagion, example and slow
\ninfusion. <\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0
\n<\/span>In a partial and limited battle, but one that is representative of the great
\nterrestrial struggle, Thou dost put my strength, determination and courage to
\nthe test to see if I can truly be Thy servitor. If the result of the battle
\nshows that I am worthy of being the mediator of Thy regenerating action, Thou
\nwilt extend the field of<\/span> <\/span>action. And if I always live up to what
\nThou expectest of me, a day will come, O Lord, when Thou wilt be upon earth,
\nand the whole earth will rise against Thee. But Thou wilt take the earth in Thy
\narms and the earth will be transformed.
\n <\/span>
\n <\/span><\/p>\n

\nPage – <\/font><\/span>287<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n
\n

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


\n
\nJanuary 18, 1915<\/font><\/a><\/span><\/b> <\/font> <\/a> <\/span><\/b>
\n
\n <\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/span>Lord, hear my prayer…. <\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0
\n<\/span>In me Thou art all-powerful, sovereign Master of my destiny, my life’s
\nguide, conqueror of all obstacles, victor over preconceived wills and mental prejudices.
\nPerhaps to be all-powerful in the world outside, Thou needest the
\ninstrumentation of my mind, organiser and shaper of the means of action; but if
\nThou canst make the instrument perfect, how can there be any doubt that the
\nwork will be accomplished? All evil shadows which bring contrary suggestions
\nmust be driven away very far and, with a complete and unshakable trust in Thy
\ninfinite mercy, I address this prayer to Thee: <\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0
\n<\/span>Transform Thy enemies into friends, <\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0
\n<\/span>Change the darkness into light. <\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0
\n<\/span>In this immense heroic struggle, in this sublime struggle of love
\nagainst hatred, of justice against injustice, of obedience to Thy supreme law
\nagainst revolt, may I gradually be able to make humanity worthy of a still
\nsublimer peace in which, all internal dissensions having ceased, the whole
\neffort of man may be united for the attainment of a more and more perfect and
\nintegral realisation of Thy divine Will and Thy progressive ideal.
\n <\/span><\/p>\n

\n
\nPage – <\/span>
\n288<\/span><\/font><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n
\n

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


\n
\nJanuary 24, 1915<\/font><\/a><\/span><\/b> <\/font> <\/a> <\/span><\/b>
\n
\n <\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0
\n<\/span>Lord, I have long remained silent before Thee in one of those inner
\nprostrations full of an ardent adoration which culminate in a supreme
\nidentification…. And, as always, Thou saidst to me: \u201cTurn thy look towards
\nthe earth.\u201d And I saw all the roads wide open and radiant with a calm and pure light.
\n<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0
\n<\/span>In mute adoration, filled utterly with Thy will, I turned towards the
\nearth.
\n <\/span><\/p>\n

\nPage – <\/font><\/span>289<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n
\n

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


\n
\nFebruary 15, 1915<\/font><\/a><\/span><\/b> *<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/span>O Lord of Truth, thrice have I implored Thy manifestation invoking Thee
\nwith deep fervour. <\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0
\n<\/span>Then, as always, the whole being made its total submission. At that
\nmoment the consciousness perceived the individual being mental, vital and
\nphysical, covered all over with dust, and this being lay prostrate before Thee,
\nits forehead touching the earth, dust in the dust, and it cried to Thee, \u201cO Lord,
\nthis being made of dust prostrates itself before Thee praying to be consumed
\nwith the fire of the Truth that it may henceforth manifest only Thee.\u201d Then
\nThou saidst to it, \u201cArise, thou art pure of all that is dust.\u201d And suddenly, in
\na stroke, all the dust sank from it like a cloak that falls on the earth, and
\nthe being appeared erect, always as substantial but resplendent with a dazzling
\nlight.
\n <\/span><\/p>\n

\nPage – <\/font><\/span>290<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n
\n

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


\nMarch 3, 1915<\/font><\/a><\/span><\/b>: On board the Kamo Maru <\/font><\/span><\/b>
\n
\n <\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0
\n<\/span>*Solitude, a harsh, intense solitude, and always this strong impression
\nof having been flung headlong into a hell of darkness! Never at any moment of
\nmy life, in any circumstances, have I felt myself living in surroundings so
\nentirely opposite to all that I am conscious of as true, so contrary to all
\nthat is the essence of my life. Sometimes when the impression and the contrast
\ngrow very intense, I cannot prevent my total submission from taking on a hue of
\nmelancholy, and the calm and mute converse with the Master within is
\ntransformed for a moment into an invocation that almost supplicates, \u201cO Lord,
\nwhat have I done that Thou hast thrown me thus into the sombre Night?\u201d But
\nimmediately the aspiration rises, still more ardent, \u201cSpare this being all
\nweakness; suffer it to be the docile and clear-eyed instrument of Thy work, whatever
\nthat work may be.\u201d*<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0
\n<\/span>For the moment the clear-sightedness is lacking; never was the future
\nmore veiled. It is as though we were moving towards a high, impenetrable wall,
\nso far <\/span><\/p>\n

as the destiny of individual men is
\nconcerned. As for the destinies of nations and of the earth, they appear more
\ndistinctly. But of these it is useless to speak: the future will reveal them
\nclearly to all eyes, even of the most blind. <\/span>
\n <\/font> <\/span><\/p>\n

\nPage – <\/font><\/span>291<\/p>\n

\n

\n
\nMarch 4, 1915<\/font><\/a><\/span><\/b> <\/font> <\/a> <\/span><\/b> <\/span><\/p>\n

\n <\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0
\n<\/span>Always the same harsh solitude… but it is not painful, on the
\ncontrary. In it more clearly than ever, is revealed the pure and infinite love
\nin which the whole earth is immersed. By this love all lives and is animated;
\nthe darkest shadows become almost translucent to let its streams flow through,
\nand the intensest<\/span> pain is transformed into potent
\nbliss. <\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0
\n<\/span>Each turn of the propeller upon the deep ocean seems to drag me farther
\naway from my true destiny, the one best expressing the divine Will; each
\npassing hour seems to plunge me again deeper into that past with which I had
\nbroken, sure of being called to new and vaster realisations; everything seems
\nto draw me back to a state of things totally contrary to the life of my soul
\nwhich reigns uncontested over outer activities; and, despite the apparent
\nsadness of my own situation, the consciousness is so firmly established in a
\nworld which passes beyond personal limitations on every side, that the whole
\nbeing rejoices in a constant perception of power and love. <\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0
\n<\/span>In the material actuality, tomorrow lies dark and unreadable; no light,
\nnot even the faintest, reveals to my bewildered gaze any indication, any
\npresence of the Divine. But something in the depths of consciousness turns to the Invisible and Sovereign
\nWitness and tells him: \u201cThou dost plunge me, O Lord, into the thickest
\ndarkness; this means that Thou hast established Thy light so firmly in me that
\nThou knowest<\/span> it <\/span><\/p>\n

\nPage – <\/font><\/span>292<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n
\n

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

will stand this perilous ordeal.
\nOtherwise wouldst Thou have chosen me for the descent into the vortex of this
\nhell as Thy torch-bearer? Wouldst Thou have judged my heart strong enough not
\nto fail, my hand firm enough not to tremble? And yet my individual being knows
\nhow weak and powerless it is; when Thou dost not manifest Thy Presence, it is
\nmore denuded than most people who do not know or care for Thee. In Thee alone
\nlies its strength and ability. If Thou art pleased to make use of it, nothing
\nwill be too difficult to accomplish, no task too vast and complex. But if Thou shouldst<\/span> withdraw, just a poor child is left, capable only
\nof nestling in Thy arms and sleeping there in the sweet dreamless sleep where
\nnothing else exists but Thou.\u201d <\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/span>Page – <\/span>
\n293<\/span><\/font><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n
\n

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


\nMarch 7, 1915<\/font><\/a><\/span><\/b> <\/font> <\/a> <\/span><\/b>
\n
\n <\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0
\n<\/span>It is past, the time of sweet mental silence, so peaceful, so pure,
\nthrough which could be felt the profound will expressing itself in its
\nall-powerful truth. Now the will is no longer perceived; and the mind once more
\nnecessarily active, analyses, classifies, judges, chooses, constantly reacts as
\na transforming agent upon everything that is imposed on the individuality,
\ngrown wide enough to be in contact with a world infinitely vast and complex, a
\nworld of mingled light and shadow like all that belongs to the earth. I am
\nexiled from every spiritual happiness, and of all ordeals this, O Lord, is
\nsurely the most painful that Thou canst impose: but most of all the withdrawal
\nof Thy will which seems to be a sign of total disapprobation. Strong is the
\ngrowing sense of rejection, and it needs all the ardour of an untiring faith to
\nkeep the external consciousness thus abandoned to itself from being invaded by
\nan irremediable sorrow…. <\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0
\n<\/span>But it refuses to despair, it refuses to believe that the misfortune is
\nirreparable; it waits with humility in an obscure and hidden effort and
\nstruggle for the breath of Thy perfect joy to penetrate it again. And perhaps
\neach of its modest and secret victories is a true help brought to the earth…. <\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0
\n<\/span>If it were possible to come definitively out of this external
\nconsciousness, to take refuge in the divine consciousness! But that Thou hast
\nforbidden and still and always Thou forbidst<\/span> it. No
\nflight out of the<\/span><\/p>\n

\nPage – <\/font><\/span>294<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n
\n

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

world! The burden of its darkness and
\nugliness must be borne to the end even if all divine succour seems to be
\nwithdrawn. I must remain in the bosom of the Night and walk on without compass,
\nwithout beacon-light, without inner guide. <\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0
\n<\/span>I will not even implore Thy mercy; for what Thou willst<\/span>
\nfor me, I too will. All my energy is in tension solely to advance, always to
\nadvance step after step, despite the depth of the darkness, despite the
\nobstacles of the way, and whatever comes, O Lord, it is with a fervent and
\nunchanging love that Thy decision will be welcomed. Even if Thou findest<\/span> the instrument unfit to serve Thee, the instrument
\nbelongs to itself no more, it is Thine<\/span>; Thou canst
\ndestroy or magnify it, it exists not in itself, it wills nothing, it can do
\nnothing without Thee. <\/span><\/p>\n

\n
\nPage –<\/span>295<\/span><\/font><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n
\n

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


\nMarch 8, 1915<\/font><\/a><\/span><\/b> *<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0
\n<\/span>For the most part the condition is one of calm and profound
\nindifference; the being feels neither desire nor repulsion, neither enthusiasm
\nnor depression, neither joy nor sorrow. It regards life as a spectacle in which
\nit takes only a very small part; it perceives its actions and reactions,
\nconflicts and forces as things that at once belong to its own existence which
\noverflows the small personality on every side and yet to that personality are
\naltogether foreign and remote. <\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0
\n<\/span>But from time to time a great breath passes, a great breath of sorrow,
\nof anguished isolation, of spiritual destitution, \u2013 one might almost say, the
\ndespairing appeal of Earth abandoned by the Divine. It is a pang as silent as
\nit is cruel, a sorrow submissive, without revolt, without any desire to avoid
\nor pass out of it and full of an infinite sweetness in which suffering and
\nfelicity are closely wedded, something infinitely vast, great and deep, too
\ngreat, too deep perhaps to be understood by men \u2013 something that holds in it
\nthe seed of To-morrow….
\n <\/span><\/p>\n

\nPage – <\/font><\/span>296<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n
\n

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


\nLunel<\/font><\/span><\/b><\/span>:
\n<\/font>
\n<\/span><\/b>
\n
\nApril
\n 19, 1915<\/font><\/a><\/span><\/b>
\n<\/font> <\/a> <\/span><\/b>
\n
\n <\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0
\n<\/span>An imperious need has forced me to return to this confidant of my seekings<\/span> and the efforts of my soul. <\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0
\n<\/span>All external circumstances have changed, giving a flat lie to the dream
\nof the ideal which sought expression even in material activities. The hour has
\nnot yet come for joyful realisations in outer physical things. The physical
\nbeing is plunged once again into the dull, monotonous night from which it
\nwanted to withdraw too hastily; and Thy realised will, O Lord of Truth, has
\ncome to tell the constructing mind: \u201cYou don’t think this is true, and yet it
\nis.\u201d The mind has readily recognised that it was mistaken and has surrendered
\ncompletely to all that Thou willest<\/span>. The vital being
\nis quiet and satisfied in all circumstances. All feeling dwells in an equal and
\npure peace; the whole being is flooded with Thy vast, eternal light; Thy love
\npenetrates and animates it. And yet the impression that outer facts are a
\nfalsehood has not been effaced, and the body, despite its indisputable
\ngoodwill, is so profoundly shaken that it cannot manage to regain its
\nequilibrium and health. <\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0
\n<\/span>The entire earthly life of this being, from its very beginning to the
\npresent moment, gives it the impression of an unreal dream, very remote from
\nit, having almost no further contact with it; all this outer mechanism is now
\nonly a machine which it moves, for such is the will of its central Reality, but
\nit is no longer interested in it, perhaps sometimes even less than the<\/span> <\/font><\/span><\/p>\n

\nPage – <\/font><\/span>297<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n
\n

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

neighbouring mechanism or even the unknown
\nmechanism that will be the product of the earth of tomorrow. But this earth
\nitself is strange to it, and as it is not aware of anything else except the
\nEternal Silence, all life that has form appears remote and almost unreal to it;
\nit seems strange to it that anyone could desire anything since it does not
\nexist, or prefer one thing to another since neither is there. But at the same
\ntime it does not see why it should object to any action whatever it may be,
\nsince all actions are equally unreal, and it does not feel the necessity to flee
\nfrom a world which does not exist and cannot be a burden, since its existence is
\nso inexistent. <\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0
\n<\/span>All this gives the feeling of a sort of void full of light, peace,
\nimmensity, eluding all form and all definition. It is the Nought, but a Nought
\nwhich is real and can last eternally, for it is, even while having the perfect
\nimmensity of that which is not…. Poor words which try to say what silence
\nitself cannot express. <\/span><\/p>\n


\n   <\/span> <\/span><\/span>The condition thus trying to define itself in awkward terms gradually
\nsettled in some weeks ago, and every passing day establishes it more
\ndefinitively, more deeply, more irremediably so to speak. Without having wanted
\nit, sought for it or desired it, the being sinks deeper and deeper into it,
\nalso gradually losing consciousness of itself in a Consciousness which is no
\nlonger individual and whose immobility is inexpressible \u2013 a Consciousness from
\nwhich it is no longer possible to distinguish oneself.
\n <\/span><\/p>\n

\n
\nPage – <\/span>
\n298<\/span><\/font><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n
\n

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


\nMay 24, 1915<\/font><\/a><\/span><\/b> <\/font> <\/a> <\/span><\/b>
\n
\n <\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0
\n<\/span>One day, O Lord, Thou didst teach my mind that it could act fully as an
\ninstrument of manifestation of Thy divine truth, as an intermediary of Thy
\neternal will, without being limited in its realising constructions by the
\nnarrow field of possibilities of the external being. Till then this mind,
\nexcept very rarely, was in the habit of coming out of its mute ecstasy, its
\nsilent contemplation before Thy ineffable infinity, only to concentrate its
\neffort on the centre of action represented by the external being; and this was
\na sort of bondage within too narrow a frame; there was a contradiction between
\nthe powers of mental realisation and the instrument through which they were
\nstriving to make their way out; the most immediate result was the wastage and
\nlimitation of mental energies, which not finding any satisfaction in activity,
\nquite naturally returned to merge into Thy eternity.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0
\n<\/span>Suddenly Thou didst put an end to this disorder; Thou didst liberate the
\nmind from its last fetters; Thou didst teach it to be freely active through all
\nforms and no longer exclusively through those it considered till then as its
\nown, that is, as its natural means of expression.<\/span><\/p>\n

\n     <\/span>The vital being had already realised this
\nliberation long ago and knew how to enjoy the plenitude of sensations and
\nemotions in all forms capable of manifesting<\/span><\/p>\n

\n
\nPage –<\/span>299<\/span><\/font><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n
\n

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

life. But the mental being had not yet learnt how to animate,
\norganise and illuminate consciously all lives without distinction. Thou didst
\nbreak down all barriers, Thou didst open to it the doors of Thy infinite
\nmanifestation.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0
\n<\/span>Within a few days the new conquest was established, affirmed. And what
\nThou expectest<\/span> from the centre of consciousness
\nrepresented at present upon earth by my whole being, grew clear before it: To
\nbe the life in all material forms, the thought organising and using this life
\nin all forms, the love widening, enlightening, intensifying, uniting all the
\nvaried elements of this thought, and thus, through a total identification with
\nthe manifested world, to be able to intervene with full power in its
\ntransformations. <\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0
\n<\/span>On the other hand, by a perfect surrender to the Supreme Principle, to
\nbecome aware of the Truth and the eternal Will that manifests it. Through this
\nidentification having become the faithful servant and sure intermediary of the
\ndivine Will, and uniting this conscious identification with the Principle to
\nthe conscious <\/span><\/p>\n

identification with its becoming, to mould
\nand model consciously the love, mind and life of the becoming in accordance
\nwith the Law of Truth of the Principle. <\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0
\n<\/span>This is how the individual being can be the conscious mediator between
\nthe absolute Truth and the manifested universe and intervene in the slow,
\nuncertain march of the Yoga of Nature in order to give it the swiftness,
\nintensity and sureness of the divine Yoga.
\n <\/span><\/p>\n

\n
\nPage – <\/span>
\n300<\/span><\/font><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n
\n

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

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0
\n<\/span>This is how in certain periods the entire terrestrial life seems to
\ncross miraculously over stages which at other times would require thousands of
\nyears to traverse. <\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0
\n<\/span>At present, O Lord, the state of perfect and conscious surrender to Thy
\neternal will is, as far as I can tell, constant, invariable behind every act,
\nevery movement of the mind, the vital or the body. This imperturbable calm,
\nthis deep, peaceful, unchanging bliss, which never leave me \u2013 are they not a
\nproof of this? <\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0
\n<\/span>Passive or receptive identification with life, thought and love in all
\nmanifested forms is an accomplished fact, apparently the inevitable consequence
\nof surrender to pure Truth. <\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0
\n<\/span>But the moments when consciousness becomes effectively the life animating
\nand moulding all material forms, the intelligence organising life,
\nand the love illuminating the intelligence, in an active and fully conscious
\nway, at once in the totality and the least detail, with a sense of infinite
\nplenitude and precise powers \u2013 these moments are still intermittent though
\ngrowing more and more frequent and lasting. <\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0
\n<\/span>It is in these moments that the two consciousnesses are simultaneous and
\nfuse into a single, almost indescribable, ineffable consciousness in which are
\nunited Immutable Eternity and Eternal Movement. It is in these moments that the
\npresent work begins to be accomplished.
\n <\/span><\/p>\n

\n
\nPage – 3<\/span>0<\/span>1<\/span><\/font><\/span><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n
\n

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


\nMarsillargues<\/font><\/span><\/b><\/span>:
\n<\/font>
\n<\/span><\/b>
\n
\nJuly
\n 31, 1915<\/font><\/a><\/span><\/b>
\n<\/font> <\/a> <\/span><\/b>
\n
\n <\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0
\n<\/span>Should I, playing the role of a servant, an instrument, turn to Thee, O
\nLord, and address a hymn of adoration to Thee? Should I, identifying myself
\nwith Thee in the eternal Reality and infinite Bliss, speak to men of the peace
\nand joy they do not know?… The two attitudes are simultaneous, the two
\nconsciousnesses parallel, and in this close and indissoluble union lies
\nPlenitude. <\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0
\n<\/span>The heavens are definitively conquered, and nothing and nobody could
\nhave the power of wresting them from me. But the conquest of the earth is still
\nto be made; it is being carried on in the very heart of the turmoil; and even
\nwhen achieved, it will still be only a relative one; the victories in this
\nworld are but stages leading progressively to still more glorious victories;
\nand what Thy Will makes my mind conceive of as the goal to be attained, the
\nconquest to be realised, is only one element of Thy eternal plan; but in
\nperfect union I am this plan and this Will, and I taste the supreme bliss of
\nthe infinite, even while playing ardently, with precision and energy, in the
\nworld of division, the special part Thou hast entrusted to me.
\n <\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/span>   <\/span>
\n<\/span>Thy power in me is like a living spring,
\nstrong and abundant, rumbling behind the rocks, gathering its energies to break
\ndown the obstacles and gush out freely in the open, pouring its waters over the
\nplain to fertilise it. When will the hour of this emergence come? When the
\nmoment arrives, it will burst forth, and time is<\/span><\/p>\n

\n
\nPage – 3<\/span>02<\/span><\/font><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n
\n

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

\nn<\/span>othing in Eternity. But what words can
\ndescribe the immensity of joy brought by this inner accumulation, this deep
\nconcentration, of all the forces that are submissive to the manifestation of Thy
\nWill of tomorrow, preparing to break over the world, drowning in their sovereign
\nflood all that still persists in wanting to be the expression of Thy will of
\nyesterday, so as to take possession of the earth in Thy Name and offer it to
\nThee as a completer image of Thyself. <\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 <\/span>
\n  <\/span>
\n<\/span>Thou hast said that the earth would die, and it will die to its old
\nignorance. <\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 <\/span>
\n  <\/span>
\n<\/span>Thou hast said that the earth would live, and it will live in the
\nrenewal of Thy Power. <\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 <\/span>What
\nwords will ever tell the splendour of Thy Law and the magnificence of Thy
\nGlory? What words will express the perfection of Thy Consciousness and the
\ninfinite bliss of Thy Love?
\n <\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/span>    <\/span>
\n<\/span>What words will sing Thy ineffable Peace and celebrate the majesty of
\nThy Silence and the grandeur of Thy all-powerful Truth? <\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0
\n<\/span>The entire manifested universe cannot suffice to speak Thy splendour and
\ntell Thy marvels, and in the eternity of time this is what it is trying to do
\nmore and more, better and better, eternally.
\n <\/span><\/p>\n

\n
\nPage – 3<\/span>03<\/span><\/font><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n
\n

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

\n
\nParis<\/font><\/span><\/b>: <\/font> <\/span><\/b>
\nNovember 2, 1915<\/font><\/a><\/span><\/b> <\/font> <\/a> <\/span><\/b>
\n
\n <\/span><\/p>\n

(After a few moments spent in arranging
\nfamiliar objects)<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

 <\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0
\n<\/span>As a strong breeze passes over the sea and crowns with foam its
\ncountless waves, so a great breath passed over the memory and awoke the
\nmultitude of its remembrances. Intense, complex, crowded, the past lived again
\nin a flash, having lost nothing of its savour, its richness. <\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0
\n<\/span>Then was the whole being lifted up in a great surge of adoration, and
\ngathering all its memories like an abundant harvest, it placed them at Thy
\nfeet, O Lord, as an offering. <\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0
\n<\/span>For throughout its life, without knowing it or with some presentiment of
\nit, it was Thou whom it was seeking; in all its passions, all its enthusiasms,
\nall its hopes and disillusionments, all its sufferings and all its joys, it was
\nThou whom it ardently wanted. And now that it has found Thee, now that it
\npossesses Thee in a supreme Peace and Felicity, it wonders that it should have
\nneeded so many sensations, emotions, experiences to discover Thee. <\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0
\n<\/span>But all this, which was a struggle, a turmoil, a perpetual effort, has
\nbecome through the sovereign grace
\n of Thy conscious Presence, a priceless
\nfortune which the being rejoices to offer as its gift to Thee. The purifying
\nflame of Thy illumination has turned it into jewels of price laid down as a
\nliving holocaust on the alter of my heart.<\/span><\/p>\n

\n
\nPage – 3<\/span>04<\/span><\/font><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n
\n

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

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0
\n<\/span>Errors have become stepping-stones, the blind gropings<\/span>
\nconquests. Thy glory transforms defeats into victories of eternity, and all the
\nshadows have fled before Thy radiant light. <\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0
\n<\/span>It is Thou who wert<\/span> the motive and the goal;
\nThou art the worker and the work. <\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0
\n<\/span>The personal existence is a canticle, perpetually renewed, which the
\nuniverse offers up to Thy inconceivable Splendour.
\n <\/span><\/p>\n

\nPage – 3<\/font><\/span>05<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n
\n

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


\n
\nNovember 7, 1915<\/font><\/a><\/span><\/b>. <\/font> <\/span><\/b>
\n3 a.m.<\/font><\/span><\/b> <\/font> <\/b><\/span><\/a>
\n
\n <\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0
\n<\/span>Without any external sign, any special circumstance, the moments passed
\nby so majestically, in so solemn an inner silence, a calm so deep and vast,
\nthat my tears began to flow profusely. For the last two days the earth seems to
\nhave been going through a decisive crisis; it seems that the great formidable
\ncontest between material resistances and spiritual powers is nearing its
\nconclusion, or, in any case, that some element of capital importance has made
\nor is going to make its appearance in the play. <\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0
\n<\/span>How little do individual beings count at such times! They are like wisps
\nof straw carried away by the passing breeze, whirling for a moment above the
\nground, only to be flung back upon it again and reduced to dust. And individual
\nbeings who thus feel so insecure, so stripped of importance, suffer and groan
\nin painful agony. For them the waiting itself is a perpetual menace, everything
\nspeaks of danger and destruction…. <\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0
\n<\/span>But what grandeur, what sovereign beauty lie in the depth of this outer
\nanguish all formed of narrow egoism; what splendour dwells within this waiting,
\ngrown sacred through deep contemplation, when the walls of personal blindness
\nhave fallen and the indi<\/span><\/span>vidual<\/span><\/span> consciousness has taken its flight into
\nimmensity to unite with Thy eternal consciousness. <\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0
\n<\/span>This sorrowful world kneels before Thee, O Lord, in mute supplication;
\nMatter, tortured, takes shelter at Thy feet, its last and only refuge; and
\nimploring- <\/span><\/p>\n

\nPage – 3<\/font><\/span>06<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n
\n

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

Thee thus, it adores Thee, Thee whom it
\nneither knows nor understands! Its prayer rises like the cry of one in a last
\nagony; what is disappearing feels vaguely the possibility of living once again
\nin Thee; the earth awaits Thy decree in a grandiose prostration. Listen, listen:
\nits voice implores and supplicates to Thee…. What will be Thy decree, what is
\nThy sentence? O Lord of Truth, this individual world blesses Thy truth which it
\ndoes not yet know, but which it calls, and to which it adheres with all the
\njoyful energy of its living forces. <\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0
\n<\/span>Death has passed, vast and solemn, and all was hushed in a religious
\nsilence while it was passing by. <\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0
\n<\/span>A superhuman beauty has appeared upon earth. <\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0
\n<\/span>Something more marvellous than the most marvellous bliss has brought a
\nforetaste of its Presence.
\n <\/span><\/p>\n

\n
\nPage – 3<\/span>07<\/span><\/font><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n
\n

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


\n
\nNovember 26, 1915<\/font><\/a><\/span><\/b> * <\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0
\n<\/span>The entire consciousness immersed in divine contemplation, the whole
\nbeing enjoyed a supreme and vast felicity. <\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0
\n<\/span>Then was the physical body seized, first in its lower members and next
\nthe whole of it, by a sacred trembling which made all personal limits fall away
\nlittle by little even in the most material sensation. The being grew in
\ngreatness progressively, methodically, breaking down every barrier, shattering
\nevery obstacle, that it might contain and manifest a force and a power which
\nincreased ceaselessly in immensity and intensity. It was as a progressive
\ndilatation of the cells until there was a complete identification with the
\nearth: the body of the awakened consciousness was the terrestrial globe moving
\nharmoniously in ethereal space. And the consciousness knew that its global body
\nwas thus moving in the arms of the universal Being, and it gave itself, it
\nabandoned itself to It in an ecstasy of peaceful bliss. Then it felt that its
\nbody was absorbed in the body of the universe and one with it; the
\nconsciousness became the consciousness of the universe, immobile in its
\ntotality, moving infinitely in its internal complexity. The consciousness of
\nthe universe sprang towards the Divine in an ardent aspiration, a perfect
\nsurrender, and it saw in the splendour of the immaculate Light the radiant Being
\nstanding on a many-headed serpent whose body coiled infinitely around the
\nuniverse. The Being in an eternal gesture of triumph mastered and created at one<\/span><\/p>\n

\nPage – 3<\/font><\/span>08<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n
\n

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

and the same time the serpent and the
\nuniverse that issued from him; erect on the serpent he dominated it with all his
\nvictorious might, and the same gesture that crushed the hydra enveloping the
\nuniverse gave it eternal birth. Then the consciousness became this Being and
\nperceived that its form was changing once more; it was absorbed into something
\nwhich was no longer a form and yet contained all forms, something which,
\nimmutable, sees, \u2013 the Eye, the Witness. And what It sees, is. Then this last
\nvestige of form disappeared and the consciousness itself was absorbed into the
\nUnutterable, the Ineffable. <\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0
\n<\/span>The return towards the consciousness of the individual body took place
\nvery slowly in a constant and invariable splendour of Light and Power and
\nFelicity and Adoration, by successive gradations, but directly, without passing
\nagain through the universal and terrestrial forms. And it was as if the modest
\ncorporeal form <\/span><\/p>\n

had become the direct and immediate
\nvesture, without any intermediary, of the supreme and eternal Witness.\u00b9 <\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

  <\/span>
\n <\/span><\/font><\/span>\u00b9 <\/span><\/font>This is a letter which the Mother sent to
\nSri Aurobindo and to which he answered on <\/font> <\/span>31-12-1915<\/span><\/font> as follows:
\n<\/font> <\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 <\/font> <\/span>The experience you have described is
\nVedic in the real sense, though not one which would easily be recognised by the
\nmodern systems of Yoga which call themselves Vedic. It is the union of the
\n\u201cEarth\u201d of the Veda and Purana with the divine Principle, an earth which is
\nsaid to be above our earth, that is to say, the physical being and
\nconsciousness of which the world and the body are only images. But the modern
\nYogas hardly recognise the possibility of a material union with the Divine<\/font><\/span><\/p>\n

\nPage – 3<\/font><\/span>09<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/table>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

January 2, 1915     \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Every idea, however powerful and profound it may be, repeated too often, expressed too constantly, becomes stale, insipid, worthless…….<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[113],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3938","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-01-prayers-and-meditations-volume-01","wpcat-113-id"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/worksofthemotherandsriaurobindo.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3938","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=3938"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/worksofthemotherandsriaurobindo.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3938\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/worksofthemotherandsriaurobindo.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3938"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/worksofthemotherandsriaurobindo.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3938"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/worksofthemotherandsriaurobindo.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3938"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}