{"id":3955,"date":"2013-07-13T01:52:28","date_gmt":"2013-07-13T01:52:28","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/localhost\/?p=3955"},"modified":"2013-07-13T01:52:28","modified_gmt":"2013-07-13T01:52:28","slug":"43-30-january-1951-vol-15-words-of-the-mother-volume-15","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/worksofthemotherandsriaurobindo.org\/index.php\/02-works-of-the-mother\/01-cwmce\/15-words-of-the-mother-volume-15\/43-30-january-1951-vol-15-words-of-the-mother-volume-15","title":{"rendered":"-43_30 January 1951 .htm"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n\n\n
\n


\n
\n
\n30
\nJanuary 1951 <\/span><\/font><\/i><\/b> <\/span><\/p>\n

\n
\n <\/span><\/p>\n

\n
\nThis talk is based on Chapter 3 of\u00a0 <\/span><\/span><\/font>
\n
\nThe
\nMother <\/span><\/font> <\/i><\/p>\n

\n
\nby Sri Aurobindo<\/span>.<\/span><\/font> <\/font><\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/span><\/p>\n

The
\nmore complete your faith, sincerity and surrender, the more will grace and
\nprotection be with you. And when the grace and protection of the Divine Mother
\nare with you, what is there that can touch you or whom need you fear? A little
\nof it even will carry you through all difficulties, obstacles and dangers;
\nsurrounded by its full presence you can go securely on your way because it is
\nhers, careless of all menace, unaffected by any hostility however powerful,
\nwhether from this world or from worlds invisible. Its touch can turn
\ndifficulties into opportunities, failure into success and weakness into
\nunfaltering strength. For the grace of the Divine Mother is the sanction of the
\nSupreme and now or tomorrow its effect is sure, a thing decreed, inevitable and
\nirresistible.\u201d <\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

 <\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

What does \u201cdecreed\u201d mean? <\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

 <\/span><\/p>\n

It comes from the word \u201cdecree\u201d. It is a law, it is
\nsomething which is\u2026 It is decreed that such and such a thing will be done in such
\nand such a way, for example. Governments pronounce decrees on what ought and
\nought not to be done. They are official orders. So, in this case, it is an
\norder from the Supreme, it is an inevitable order. <\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/span><\/p>\n

Surrounded
\nby its full presence you can go securely on your way because it is hers.\u201d <\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

 <\/span><\/p>\n

It is the same way. From the moment you are surrounded
\nby <\/span>
\n
\n <\/font><\/span><\/p>\n

\n
\nPage – 337<\/span><\/font><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n
\n

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

the divine grace and are in a fit state to receive the
\ndivine grace, your way and hers have become one and the same. <\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/span><\/p>\n

What
\nare the \u201cinvisible worlds\u201d? <\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

 <\/span><\/p>\n

That is a formidable question! <\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 <\/span>You have
\nheard and read that we are made up of various states of being: physical, vital,
\nmental, psychic, spiritual, etc. Well, all these inner states of being
\ncorrespond to invisible worlds. There is a physical world, a vital world, a
\nmental world, a psychic world, and many spiritual worlds, a whole range of more
\nand more subtle worlds approaching nearer and nearer to the Supreme. So, since
\nyou carry within yourself a corresponding range, by studying and becoming aware
\nof your inner being you gradually make yourself capable of becoming aware also
\nof these invisible worlds. For example, the mind: if the mind is conscious,
\ncoordinated, well controlled, it can move about it in the mental world just as
\nthe body does in the physical world and see what this mental world is like,
\nwhat is going on there, what are its characteristics and so on. These things
\nare not invisible in themselves − they are invisible to the physical
\nconsciousness and the physical senses, but not to the corresponding inner
\nstates of consciousness or the corresponding inner senses. For, by a systematic
\ndevelopment one can acquire senses in these worlds and one can then live a
\nsimilar life with different characteristics. I mean that one can live an objective
\nlife in these worlds if one is sufficiently developed oneself. Otherwise, they
\nwouldn\u2019t exist for us. If we did not carry in ourselves something corresponding
\nto all that exists in the universe, this universe wouldn\u2019t exist for us. And it
\nis only a matter of systematic and methodical development. Some people have it
\nspontaneously for various reasons, usually as a result of a long preparation in
\nprevious lives, sometimes because of specially favourable<\/span>
\ncircumstances − they are born in a certain environment, of parents who
\nhad developed these faculties, and they were helped to develop them from
\nchildhood.  <\/span><\/p>\n

\n
\nPage – 338<\/span><\/font><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n
\n

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

Other people have to acquire them systematically by
\ninner discipline; it takes time, a long time, but after all it doesn\u2019t take
\nmuch longer than for the brain of a child to grasp abstract mathematics. That
\ntakes years. <\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/span><\/p>\n

Do
\nthese invisible worlds exist in a fixed place in the universe? <\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

 <\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 <\/span>They form
\npart of the universe, of course. Yes, one can say that they exist in a fixed place.
\nBut to understand that, to understand these things requires a mind capable of
\nunderstanding that there are other dimensions than the purely material
\ndimensions. For when you are told that your psychic being is in your body, that
\ndoesn\u2019t mean that if you open up your body you will find your psychic being
\ninside. You will find your heart, your stomach and the rest, but not your
\npsychic being. And yet it is correct to say that it is within you. It extends
\nbeyond you too, but it is in another dimension. And one can say that there are
\nas many dimensions as there are different worlds. Certainly all these invisible
\nworlds − so-called invisible worlds − are contained, so to say, in
\nthe material universe. But they don\u2019t occupy the place of other things. To make
\nan imperfect comparison − it is valid only as a comparison − you
\ncan hold countless ideas in your brain and you certainly don\u2019t have the feeling
\nthat you have to drive one out so that another one can come in, do you? They
\ndon\u2019t occupy any space in that sense. <\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/span><\/p>\n

And
\nthe conditions needed for its creation.\u201d<\/span><\/i>\u00b9 <\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/span><\/p>\n

They
\nare innumerable and vary with the person and the circumstances. But,
\nultimately, they can be reduced to what he said in the beginning or a little
\nfurther on, I forget\u2026 Here: \u201dfaith, sincerity and surrender\u201d. <\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/span><\/p>\n

\u00b9 <\/font> <\/span>
\n
\n\u201cAsk for nothing but the divine, spiritual and supramental<\/span> Truth, its realisation<\/span>
\non earth and in you and in all who are called and chosen and the conditions
\nneeded for its creation and its victory over all opposing forces.\u201d <\/span>
\n<\/font> <\/font><\/span><\/p>\n

\n
\nPage – 339<\/span><\/font><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n
\n

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

\nThese are the
\nrequired conditions. And afterwards, he describes what kind of faith, what kind
\nof sincerity and what kind of surrender. These are the required conditions so
\nthat her victory may be won over the hostile forces − the conditions on
\nyour side. Her conditions − I suppose she fulfils them spontaneously −
\nare to respond to the aspiration, to have power, clearsightedness<\/span>,
\nknowledge and will. That is obvious. So, one has to give her a field for her
\nwork and conditions under which she may work. And these conditions are: faith,
\nsincerity and surrender − a pure, unmixed faith, a perfect, integral
\nsincerity and an unconditional surrender. This is what he has described for
\nyou. <\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/span><\/p>\n

Is
\nthere a limited number of dimensions? <\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

 <\/span><\/p>\n

Limited? Or unlimited? What are you asking? How many
\ndimensions? Ah, should we ask the mathematicians or the occultists? The
\noccultist ! <\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 <\/span>Well, in a
\ncertain way the number is limited, but since in each dimension there is another
\nlimited number of subdivisions and since in these subdivisions there is again a
\nconsiderable number of subdivisions, we can say that it is unlimited −
\nand yet limited. So, if you understand anything, you are lucky ! <\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

If
\nthe number is limited, how many are there? <\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

 <\/span><\/p>\n

Twelve. <\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/span><\/p>\n

How
\ncan there be \u201can egoistic faith in the mental being\u201d?\u00b9<\/span><\/i>
\n<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 <\/span>He has
\ndescribed it very well: \u201ctainted by ambition\u201d, etc. I find that if you put it
\ndifferently, it is much more true. <\/span><\/p>\n

\n <\/font><\/span><\/p>\n

\n\u00b9 <\/i>\u00a0<\/span>\u201cAn egoistic faith in the mental and vital
\nbeing tainted by ambition, pride, vanity, mental arrogance, vital self-will,
\npersonal demand, desire for the petty satisfactions of the lower nature is a
\nlow and smoke-obscured flame that cannot burn upwards to heaven.\u201d<\/font> <\/font><\/span><\/p>\n

\n
\nPage – 340<\/span><\/font><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n
\n

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

\nIs there any faith which doesn\u2019t have a little of all that? For it is said, it
\nhas been repeated that faith, if it is pure, is capable of\u2026 nothing can resist
\nit. This means that if one were to have an absolutely pure faith, untainted by
\nall these things, a true faith, let\u2019s say the
\n<\/i>true faith, well, nothing would be impossible. One could be transformed
\novernight, one could bring down the Supermind<\/span> in a
\nmoment, one could\u2026 do anything, one could do anything if one had faith. But it
\nmust be a pure faith, it should not be mixed with any personal reactions or any
\npersonal will. <\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 <\/span>A pure
\nfaith is something all-powerful and irresistible. One doesn\u2019t often find a
\nfaith that is all-powerful and irresistible, and this shows that it is not
\nquite pure. The question should be put like this: each one of us has a faith,
\nfor example, a faith in something, say a faith in the divine Presence within
\nus. If our faith were pure, we would at once be aware of this divine Presence
\nwithin us. This example is very easy to understand. You have faith, it is
\nthere, but you don\u2019t have the experience. Why? Because the faith is not pure.
\nIf the faith were quite pure, immediately, the thing would be done. This is
\nvery true. So, when you become aware that the thing is not realised<\/span>
\nat once, you can begin to look: \u201cBut why isn\u2019t it realised<\/span>?
\nWhat is there in my faith?\u201d And if you go on looking with the same sincerity,
\nyou will find that there are many little things in it, so many little things −
\nnot big, as big as this − which are repulsive. Little things. So many
\ntimes a little conceit comes in, and then a desire, not a very violent one −
\nit doesn\u2019t show itself very much. The importance it gives you, the power it
\nwill give you and the satisfaction it will give you\u2026 <\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

In
\nthe invisible worlds, are things seen as in the physical world or as in dreams?
\n<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

 <\/span><\/p>\n

We have to agree on what dreams are! There are dreams
\nwhere you see things so precisely, so concretely that the material world  seems
\nrather unreal in comparison. <\/span><\/p>\n

\n
\nPage – 341<\/span><\/font><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n
\n

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

\nThere are dreams like
\nthat where things are so intense, so precise, so concrete, so objective and
\nleave you with such a vivid impression that the material world seems rather
\nmisty, not very clear, not very distinct. So, if it is a dream like that, yes.
\nBut if it is a dream where things clash incoherently, inconsistently with one
\nanother, no. <\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 <\/span>The first
\nstep: you must be able to discern the various inner states of being and know
\nfor sure: this belongs to the vital, this belongs to the mind, this belongs to
\nthe psychic, this belongs to matter. And as I said earlier, there are subdegrees<\/span> in all that. There is a material vital, a vital vital<\/span>, a mental vital, a vital under the psychic influence.
\nYou must be able to classify things very clearly and not allow any mixtures,
\nany vague confusions in yourself: \u201cOh, where does this movement come from? What
\nis it?\u201d indistinct impressions. That is the first step. <\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 <\/span>Second
\nstep: you learn to concentrate in one of these inner states. You choose the one
\nwhich you feel to be the most alive, the most developed in yourself and you
\nlearn to concentrate there. And then you do the same exercises\u2026 I wonder
\nwhether you remember the exercises you used to do when you were very young in
\norder to walk, to drink, to talk, to hear, to feel. You used to do many
\nexercises. All children do exercises without knowing it, but they do them. So
\nyou have to do something on the same lines. You must build up senses and
\ndevelop them, make them conscious, independent and precise in their
\nperceptions. That is the second stage. It may take time, it may come quickly,
\nit depends on the degree of development of your inner being. <\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 <\/span>After that −
\nthis is only a beginning − after that, you must learn to isolate yourself
\nfrom all the other parts of the being, to concentrate on the one where you want
\nto have the experience and concentrate in such a way that you come into contact
\nwith the corresponding outer world. I don\u2019t mean that it is an exteriorisation<\/span> that leaves your body in a state of coma.
\nNo, a very intense concentration is enough, a power to isolate yourself  <\/span><\/p>\n

\n
\nPage – 342<\/span><\/font><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n
\n

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

from everything except the place where you are
\nconcentrating. And then you come into contact with the corresponding world. You
\nmust want that and little by little you learn how to do it. And there you have
\nthe exercise required to improve the senses you have gradually developed and
\ngive them a field of action. At first, you may be rather lost in this outer
\nworld, you won\u2019t feel quite at ease. But little by little you will get used to
\nit and start moving about there in the way that is appropriate to each of these
\nworlds. <\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 <\/span>But if you
\nknow beforehand what they are like the mind is such a magnificent instrument of
\nformation that it can build up a whole experience for you, and unfortunately,
\nit will never be the genuine experience it will be merely a mental
\nconstruction. So, normally, when you want to instruct someone about these
\noccult matters, you never tell him what is going to happen, in the beginning.
\nThe only thing is that if something happens to him, if he says, \u201cThis is what
\nhappened to me,\u201d you tell him, \u201cYes, this is correct\u201d or \u201cNo, that is not
\ncorrect.\u201d You can help him. But you don\u2019t tell him beforehand, \u201cYou will go to
\nsuch and such a place. It will be like that. You will have such and such an
\nexperience,\u201d etc., for then all these things may happen only because of a
\nwell-built mental construction in which you move about with ease. In that case
\nit is really a dream ! <\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

If
\none is not aware of the divine presence, can one enjoy the divine protection? <\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

 <\/span><\/p>\n

There too it depends on the case. It may occur; it is
\nnot always like that, but it may occur. It may happen that the divine grace is
\ngiven to someone without his knowing anything about it. This even happens more
\noften than one thinks. <\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 <\/span>Is an emotion always a vital movement? <\/span><\/i> <\/span><\/p>\n

\n
\nPage – 343<\/span><\/font><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n
\n

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

It depends on the emotion and it also depends on what
\nyou call an emotion. For example, there is a state where, if you find yourself
\nin the presence of a very precise, very clear psychic movement, a distinctly
\npsychic movement − this happens quite often − the emotion is so
\npowerful that tears come to your eyes. You are not sad, you are not happy,
\nneither one nor the other; it doesn\u2019t correspond to any particular feeling, but
\nit is an intensity of emotion which comes from something that is clearly,
\nprecisely psychic. It may be in yourself, but it is even more often in someone
\nelse. When you are in contact with an act, a movement, a manifestation which
\nbelongs to the psychic, then, all of a sudden, the eyes are filled with tears.
\nIf you call that an emotion\u2026 obviously it is an emotion. But usually, it comes
\nfrom one thing: the physical being has a not very conscious but very intense
\nlonging for a contact with the psychic life. It feels poor, destitute, isolated
\nand abandoned when it is not in contact with the psychic being. Not one
\nphysical being in a million is aware of this. But this kind of impression of
\nbeing lost, left hanging, without protection, without support, of lacking
\nsomething and not knowing what it is, something you don\u2019t understand but which
\nyou lack, an emptiness somewhere: well, this comes more often than one thinks −
\npeople have no idea what it is. But then, when for some reason or other this
\nconsciousness suddenly comes into contact with a clearly psychic phenomenon,
\nwith psychic forces, psychic vibrations, the feeling is so strong, so strong
\nthat certainly, most often, the body can hardly hold it. It is like a joy that
\nis too great, that overflows on all sides, that you can\u2019t contain, can\u2019t hold
\nin yourself. It is like that. There is suddenly a sort of revelation, not very
\nconscious, not clearly expressed, the revelation of\u2026 this is it, this is what I
\nmust have. And it is so powerful, so powerful that it gives you an emotion,
\nwhich is made up of so many things that you can hardly say what it is. These
\nare emotions that are not vital. <\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 <\/span>Vital
\nemotions are of an altogether different nature − they are very clear,
\nvery precise, you can express them very distinctly;  <\/span><\/p>\n

\n
\nPage – 344<\/span><\/font><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n
\n

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

they are violent, they usually fill you with an
\nintensity, a restlessness, sometimes a great satisfaction. And then the
\nopposite comes with the same force. And so people, many people think − we
\nhave mentioned this several times already − some people imagine they
\nexperience love only when it is like that, when love is in the vital, when it
\ncomes with all the movements of the vital, all this intensity, this violence,
\nthis precision, this glamour, this brightness. And when that is absent they
\nsay, \u201cOh, this is not love.\u201d <\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 <\/span>And yet
\nthat is exactly how love gets distorted: already it is no longer love, it is
\nbeginning to be passion. And this is an almost universal error among human
\nbeings. <\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 <\/span>Some people
\nare full of a very pure, very high, very selfless psychic love and yet they
\nknow nothing about it and think they are cold, dry and without love because
\nthis admixture of vital vibration is absent. For them love begins and ends with
\nthis vibration. <\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 <\/span>And as it
\nis something highly unstable which has movements and reactions and violences<\/span> of all kinds, in depression as in satisfaction,
\nlove is something very ephemeral for these people: they have minutes of love in
\ntheir lives. It may last a few hours and then it becomes dull and flat again
\nand they imagine that love has deserted them. <\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 <\/span>As I said,
\nsome people are quite beyond that, they have been able to control it in such a
\nway that it does not get mixed up with anything else; they have in themselves
\nthis psychic love which is full of self-forgetfulness, of self-giving,
\ncompassion, generosity, nobility of life, and is a great power of
\nidentification. So most of these people think they are cold or indifferent −
\nthey are very nice people, you see, but they do not love − and sometimes
\nthey themselves do not know. I have known people who thought they had no love
\nbecause they didn\u2019t have this vital vibration. Usually, when people speak of
\nemotions, they are speaking of vital emotions. But there is another kind of
\nemotion which is of an infinitely higher order and doesn\u2019t  <\/span><\/p>\n

\n
\nPage – 345<\/span><\/font><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n
\n

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

express itself in the same way, which has just as much
\nintensity, but an intensity that is under control, contained, condensed,
\nconcentrated, and is an extraordinary dynamic power. <\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 <\/span>True love
\ncan achieve extraordinary things, but it is rare. All kinds of miracles can be
\ndone out of love for the person one loves − not for everyone, but for the
\npeople or the person one loves. But it has to be a love free from all vital
\nmixture, an absolutely pure and selfless love which demands nothing in return,
\nwhich expects nothing in return.  <\/span><\/p>\n

\n
\nPage – 346<\/span><\/font><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n
\n

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


\n
\n
\n1
\nFebruary 1951 <\/font> <\/a> <\/span><\/i><\/b> <\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/span><\/p>\n


\nThis talk is based upon the Mother\u2019s essay <\/span><\/font> <\/p>\n


\n\u201cOn Dreams\u201d (Words of Long Ago, Cent. Vol. 2, pp. 30-37).<\/span><\/font> <\/font><\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 <\/span>In order to
\nremember something, you must first of all be conscious of it. <\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

I dreamt of an ocean flowing and flowing silently. It gave me a great
\njoy. I could feel it like a physical thing. <\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

 <\/span><\/p>\n

It is almost an experience − more than a dream. <\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 <\/span>There are places
\none goes to periodically in dreams. One can continue with the same dream,
\nsometimes after a lapse of several months. There are also dreams of warning,
\nwhich often repeat the same thing so as to compel you to concentrate your
\nattention on it. <\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/span><\/p>\n

I
\nsaw X recently. Was it the real person? <\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

 <\/span><\/p>\n

What is a person? When you are in a body you always
\nsee the body and think it is the person. But in this body there is now the
\nwhole being, now part of the being, with the rest somewhere else. Sometimes it
\nis one activity of the being that comes forward, sometimes another. Because you
\nhave a body which you continue to see, you think that the being you see is
\nalways the same, but that is not true. The centre of the being, the psychic
\nbeing, rarely takes on the appearance of the manifested being. The psychic
\nbeing has passed through innumerable bodies and even if it did keep an imprint
\nof all these bodies, the result would be unrecognisable<\/span>,
\nwouldn\u2019t it? Most often it is a thought of the person who has gone which
\nassumes a form, either in your atmosphere or in your own thought. So a sort of
\nemanation comes. It is there, and depending on your own condition you see it
\nmore or less clearly.   <\/span><\/p>\n

\n
\nPage – 347<\/span><\/font><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n
\n

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

\nBut the form you give
\nit is your own creation; it conforms to this person\u2019s physical form as you know
\nit. I don\u2019t say this is an absolute rule, but nine times out of ten it is like
\nthat. <\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 <\/span>And I can
\ngive you a very clear example of this. When you see someone you did not see at
\nthe time of his death, you don\u2019t see the form he had at that time but the form
\nhe had the last time you saw him. Therefore you give the form yourself. I don\u2019t
\nsay this is something absolute. It may happen differently, but that is so rare
\nthat it is better not to speak of it. Only one person in a million can be
\nobjective enough not to add anything to his vision. So it is better not to
\nspeak about it, except as an ideal to aspire for. <\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 <\/span>In
\neverything you see, in sleep as well as in visions in the waking state, there
\nare always a considerable number of subjective details. If you do not see the
\nperson as he was when you saw him last, the difference always comes from your
\nown thought. If you think that the person must be older, you will see him
\nlooking older; if you think that he must look ill, you will see him looking
\nill, and so on. An absolutely objective vision, which conforms wholly to the
\nreality, is very rare. The dream you mentioned simply means that you have kept
\na tender, affectionate relationship with her, and so one part of her being has
\nremained close to you and for some reason you became aware of it in your dream.
\n<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

Since
\nI left my family, I dream of them regularly at least once a week. <\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

 <\/span><\/p>\n

This comes from the subconscious. <\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 <\/span>As I told
\nyou, I have studied this subject of dreams in great depth. Unless you
\nconcentrate in a very special way you always dream of things you have
\nexperienced or felt or been aware of some time before; but you don\u2019t dream of
\nthe things that belong to your present life. You may think of them, you may
\nremember them, but you don\u2019t dream of them.
\n <\/span><\/p>\n

\n
\nPage – 348<\/span><\/font><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n
\n

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

\nExcept in a few
\nvery rare instances, a dream is the awakening of something recorded in the
\nsubconscious. This recording is made gradually; some kind of assimilation is
\nneeded before the thing can manifest of itself, and this assimilation may take
\ntime. You dream of things − and people − that you knew a very long
\ntime ago; when a very long time has elapsed, it is usually for some special
\nreason. Some things come back at regular intervals and you have a kind of cycle
\nof movements in your dream. If you can find a point at which things that are
\npresent have struck you at a previous time in your life, then you can see them
\nboth at the same time. <\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 <\/span>Very few
\ndreams have a meaning, an instructive value, but all dreams can show you what
\nyour present state of consciousness is and how things are combined in the
\nsubconscious, what the terrestrial influences are, what traces they leave and
\nhow they are combined. This is a very interesting subject of study. <\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/span><\/p>\n

In
\ndreams one is usually passive and one doesn\u2019t react as one does in ordinary
\nlife. Why? <\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

 <\/span><\/p>\n

Not always. I have known many people who were far more
\nactive in their dreams than in their waking life and who would do things which
\nthey would have been incapable of doing in their waking life. For example, I
\nhave known people who used to be petrified with fear in their waking life but
\nwould express indomitable courage and accomplish truly heroic deeds in their
\ndreams. Sometimes too, if you dream of something unpleasant, instead of having
\na reaction, you say, \u201cAll this is only a dream, it is not true, it is
\nimpossible,\u201d etc., and in this way the dream assumes another form. Of course,
\nyou must be aware that you are dreaming for this to happen. It is a tremendous
\nfield of observation − there is no end to the discoveries you can make in
\nyour dreams. But there is one important point: you must not go to sleep when
\nyou are very tired, for if you do, you fall into  <\/span><\/p>\n

\n
\nPage – 349<\/span><\/font><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n
\n

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

a sort of unconsciousness in which dreams do whatever
\nthey like with you, and you have no reaction. Just as I said that you should
\nnot eat without having taken rest, I would advise everyone to rest before going
\nto sleep. And for that, you must know how to rest. <\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 <\/span>Now I will
\ntell you a very recent dream of mine which I had just a few days ago. It wasn\u2019t
\nexactly a dream, it was very conscious. (I am not one of those people who dream
\nof things that occurred a very long time ago; I know what to do to avoid that.)
\nI went to a place in the vital world where I knew that many of our boys go to
\nrest − at least, in their physical sleep, they look as if they are
\nresting. But since they don\u2019t really know how to rest, instead of accumulating
\nenergy, they lose it. Some of them lose a tremendous amount of energy: instead
\nof recovering their energy, they waste it. So I went there and saw many rows in
\nwhich there were things that looked like beds but weren\u2019t really beds. I walked
\nabout in the room and saw them resting, trying to rest, but since they didn\u2019t
\nknow how to do it, they couldn\u2019t. They were all more or less sprawled out,
\ntheir eyes were open − they weren\u2019t asleep, it wasn\u2019t sleep, it was a
\nstate of rest; the vital wasn\u2019t active but in a state of semi-awareness. I got
\nthem to understand that I could show them how to rest in such a way as to recover
\ntheir energy instead of wasting it. And would you believe it, only one of them
\nwas willing to learn ! The others said, \u201cNo, we are quite all right as we are,
\nwe don\u2019t want to learn anything else!\u201d <\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/span><\/p>\n

When
\nwe see you in dream, where do we see you? Is it always the same place? <\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

 <\/span><\/p>\n

There are many different places, many. It may be in
\nthe subtle physical, for all of you live in my physical atmosphere and so it is
\nin the subtle physical that you see me most often. And there you feel that what
\nyou see is almost material, but with a slight distortion. Because it is the
\nsubtle physical, you can quite easily  <\/span><\/p>\n

\n
\nPage – 350<\/span><\/font><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n
\n

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

remember what you have seen. Very often, in the middle
\nof the night, I take care of you (I don\u2019t want to boast about it !) and I
\nremember many things that are of some importance − I don\u2019t remember
\neverything because it is not worth burdening the memory with a lot of useless
\nthings. And I have noticed that several of you are able to remember, but the
\nthing takes place in your consciousness with a slight distortion − it
\nwasn\u2019t exactly the same. <\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 <\/span>Some people
\ncan see me vitally, some people can see me psychically (this is quite rare),
\nsome people can see me mentally and some people can see me in the subconscious
\nand, in certain conditions, in the unconscious; but that is rare. <\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 <\/span>Others may
\nhave a revelation about me and see me as I am, but not many can do that. <\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/span><\/p>\n

What
\nis the way to take rest before going to sleep? <\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

\n


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

There are many methods, but I will give you one. First,
\nyour body must be comfortable, on a bed, in an easy-chair − anywhere so
\nlong as it is comfortable. Then you learn how to relax your nerves one after
\nthe other, until you achieve complete relaxation. You should relax all your
\nnerves − you can relax them all together, but perhaps it is easier to
\nrelax them one after the other, and this becomes very interesting. And when
\nthat is done, you must make your brain quiet and silent and at the same time
\nkeep your body like a rag on the bed. You must make the brain so still and
\nabsolutely quiet that it is not aware of itself. And then, don\u2019t try <\/i>to sleep, but pass very gently from
\nthis state into sleep without being aware of it. When you wake up the next
\nmorning you will be full of energy. But if you go to bed very tired and without
\neven trying to relax, to calm down, you will fall into a heavy, dull and
\nunconscious sleep and the vital will lose all its energy. Perhaps this won\u2019t
\nhave any immediate effect, but it is better to try it than to plunge into sleep
\nwhen you are very tired.  <\/span><\/p>\n

\n
\nPage – 351<\/span><\/font><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n
\n

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

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 <\/span>If you
\nrelax very gently before going to sleep, you will feel great pleasure in going
\nto sleep. If you manage to relax the nerves, even of only one arm or leg, you
\nwill see how pleasant it is. If you go to sleep with your nerves tense, you
\nwill have a very restless sleep and change position very often during the
\nnight. That kind of rest is no good. <\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/span><\/p>\n

I
\nhave noticed that if I go to sleep on one side, I wake up on the other. Is it
\nalways like that? <\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

 <\/span><\/p>\n

No, not necessarily. There is no rule. If you think it
\nis like that, it will be like that ! <\/span><\/p>\n

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

I have noticed that if an interesting dream wakes me up, I can go back
\nto sleep and continue the same dream. <\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

 <\/span><\/p>\n

Yes, this can be done and it means that you are
\npartially conscious of your night activities. <\/span><\/p>\n

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

I
\nused to know someone who went on having the same dream all the time, until he
\ncould no longer distinguish between dream and reality. <\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

 <\/span><\/p>\n

It sometimes happens that when you go out of your
\nbody, when you exteriorise<\/span> yourself during sleep and
\nare conscious in the vital world, you can live a vital life that is just as
\nconscious as the physical life. I have known people − not many have this
\ncapacity of going out of their body − but I have known people who had
\nsuch a strong interest in their experiences in the vital world that in the end
\nthey refused to return to their body, they went on sleeping almost
\nindefinitely. <\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 <\/span>If you are
\nconscious and self-controlled in the vital world and have a certain power
\nthere, the things that happen are wonderful, infinitely more varied and
\nmagnificent than in the physical world. It is true that some regions in the
\nvital world are wonderful. <\/span><\/p>\n

\n
\nPage – 352<\/span><\/font><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n
\n

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

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 <\/span>Now I will
\ntell you how this happens. When you are very tired and in need of rest and if you
\nknow how to exteriorise<\/span> yourself, if you go out of
\nyour body and enter consciously into the vital world, there are regions there,
\nin the vital world, which are like a marvellous<\/span>
\nvirgin forest, with all the splendour<\/span> of a rich and
\nharmonious vegetation, and beautiful, mirror-like pools. And the atmosphere is
\nfilled with the living vitality of plants, with every shade of green reflected
\nin the water\u2026 And there you feel so much life, so much beauty, so much richness
\nand plenitude that you wake up full of energy. And all this is so objective! I
\nhave been able to take people there, without telling them anything at all about
\nhow it would be, and they were able to describe the place exactly as I can
\nmyself, and they had exactly the same experience. They were absolutely
\nexhausted before going to sleep and they woke up with an absolutely marvellous<\/span> feeling of plenitude, of force and energy. They
\nhad stayed there only a few minutes. <\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 <\/span>There are
\nregions like that − not many, but they exist. On the other hand, there are
\nmany unpleasant places in the vital world and it is better not to go there.
\nLeaving aside those who are so attached, so rivetted<\/span>
\nto their bodies that they don\u2019t even want to leave them, those who can easily
\nlearn to go out of their bodies ought to do so with great care. I haven\u2019t been
\nable to teach this to many people, for that would mean exposing them, sometimes
\nwithout protection − when they do it alone, without my presence −
\nto experiences which can be extremely harmful to them. <\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 <\/span>The vital
\nworld is a world of extremes. If, for example, you eat a bunch of grapes in the
\nvital world, you can go for thirty-six hours without feeling hungry −
\nfully nourished. But you can meet with certain things, enter certain places
\nthat drain all your energy in a trice, and sometimes leave you with illnesses
\nand after-effects that belong to the vital world.  <\/span><\/p>\n

\n
\nPage – 353<\/span><\/font><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n
\n

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

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 <\/span>I used to
\nknow a woman who was absolutely wonderful from the occult point of view. She
\nwas absolutely conscious of herself, of all the regions of her being; she could
\ngo from one region to another − in short, she was marvellous<\/span>.
\nWell, she had an accident in the vital world. She was fighting some beings from
\nthe vital world in order to save someone whom she was very fond of, and she got
\na blow on the eye. And when I met her, she had lost an eye. Many people have
\nthese accidents in the vital world, and they keep traces of these accidents for
\nhours after they wake up. That is why you can\u2019t tell just anyone, \u201cLearn to go
\nout of your body\u201d, for there are many requirements before you can do it safely.
\nIf you have any affinities with the forces of falsehood and violence, it is
\nbetter to stay in your physical body.  <\/span><\/p>\n

\n
\nPage – 354<\/span><\/font><\/p>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/table>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

30 January 1951     This talk is based on Chapter 3 of\u00a0 The Mother by Sri Aurobindo.    The more complete your faith, sincerity…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[114],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3955","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-15-words-of-the-mother-volume-15","wpcat-114-id"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/worksofthemotherandsriaurobindo.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3955","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=3955"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/worksofthemotherandsriaurobindo.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3955\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/worksofthemotherandsriaurobindo.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3955"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/worksofthemotherandsriaurobindo.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3955"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/worksofthemotherandsriaurobindo.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3955"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}