{"id":4000,"date":"2013-07-13T01:52:47","date_gmt":"2013-07-13T01:52:47","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/localhost\/?p=4000"},"modified":"2013-07-13T01:52:47","modified_gmt":"2013-07-13T01:52:47","slug":"43-vigilance-vol-03-questions-and-answers-volume-03","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/worksofthemotherandsriaurobindo.org\/index.php\/02-works-of-the-mother\/01-cwmce\/03-questions-and-answers-volume-03\/43-vigilance-vol-03-questions-and-answers-volume-03","title":{"rendered":"-43_Vigilance.htm"},"content":{"rendered":"\n\n
\n
\n


\n\u00a0<\/font><\/span>Vigilance  <\/font><\/span><\/i><\/p>\n


\n <\/font><\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

Vigilance
\nis the way that leads to immortality (or Nirvana). Negligence is the way that
\nleads to death. Those who are vigilant do not die. Those who are negligent are
\ndead already. <\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

 <\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/span>In these texts the word
\nNirvana is not used in the sense of annihilation, as you see, but in the sense
\nof an eternal existence in opposition to life and death, as we know them in the
\npresent earthly existence, and which are contrary to each other: life contrary
\nto death, death contrary to life. It is not\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0
\n<\/span>that\u00a0\u00a0 <\/span>life which is spoken of,
\nbut the eternal existence which is beyond life and death \u2013 the true existence. <\/span><\/p>\n

Vigilance means to be awake, to be on
\none’s guard, to be sincere \u2013 never to be taken by surprise. When you want to do
\nsadhana, at each moment of your life, there is a choice between taking a step
\nthat leads to the goal and falling asleep or sometimes even going backwards,
\ntelling yourself, \u201cOh, later on, not immediately\u201d \u2013 sitting down on the way. <\/span><\/p>\n

To be vigilant is not merely to resist
\nwhat pulls you downward, but above all to be alert in order not to lose any
\nopportunity to progress, any opportunity to overcome a weakness, to resist a
\ntemptation, any opportunity to learn something, to correct something, to master
\nsomething. If you are vigilant, you can do in a few days what would otherwise
\ntake years. If you are vigilant, you change each circumstance of your life,
\neach action, each movement into an occasion for coming nearer the goal.\u00a0 <\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

There are two kinds of vigilance, active
\nand passive. There is a vigilance that gives you a warning if you are about to
\nmake a mistake, if you are making a wrong choice, if you are being weak or
\nallowing yourself to be tempted, and there is the active vigilance which seeks
\nan opportunity to progress, seeks to utilise every circumstance to advance more
\nquickly. <\/span>
\n <\/span><\/p>\n

\nPage \u2013 202<\/span><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n
\n

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

There is a difference between preventing
\nyourself from falling and advancing more quickly. <\/span><\/p>\n

And both are absolutely necessary. <\/span><\/p>\n

He who is not vigilant is already dead. He
\nhas lost contact with the true purpose of existence and of life. <\/span><\/p>\n

So the hours, circumstances, life pass in
\nvain, bringing no-thing, and you awake from your somnolence in a hole from
\nwhich it is very difficult to escape. <\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/span>17 January 1958<\/span><\/i>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Having
\nfully understood what vigilance is, the sages delight in it and take their
\npleasure in the presence of the Great Ones. <\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

 <\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/span>Throughout this teaching
\nthere is one thing to be noticed; it is this: you are never told that to live
\nwell, to think well, is the result of a struggle or of a sacrifice; on the
\ncontrary it is a delightful state which cures all suffering. At that time, the
\ntime of the Buddha, to live a spiritual life was a joy, a beatitude, the
\nhappiest state, which freed you from all the troubles of the world, all the
\nsufferings, all the cares, making you happy, satisfied, contented. <\/span><\/p>\n

It is the materialism of modern times that
\nhas turned spiritual effort into a hard struggle and a sacrifice, a painful
\nrenunciation of all the so-called joys of life. <\/span><\/p>\n

This insistence on the exclusive reality
\nof the physical world, of physical pleasures, physical joys, physical
\npossessions, is the result of the whole materialistic tendency of human
\ncivilisation. It was unthinkable in ancient times. On the contrary, withdrawal,
\nconcentration, liberation from all material cares, consecration to the
\nspiritual joy, that was happiness indeed. <\/span><\/p>\n

From this point of view it is quite
\nevident that humanity is far from having progressed; and those who were born
\ninto the world in the centres of materialistic civilisation have in their\u00a0 <\/span><\/span>
\n <\/font><\/span><\/p>\n

\nPage \u2013 203<\/span><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n
\n

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

subconscient this horrible notion that only material realities are
\nreal and that to be concerned with things that are not material represents a
\nwonderful spirit of sacrifice, an almost sublime effort. Not to be preoccupied
\nfrom dawn to dusk and from dusk to dawn with all the little physical
\nsatisfactions, physical pleasures, physical sensations, physical
\npreoccupations, is to bear evidence of a remarkable spirit. One is not aware of
\nit, but the whole of modern civilisation is built on this conception: \u201cAh, what
\nyou can touch, you are sure that is true; what you can see, you are sure that
\nis true; what you have eaten, you are sure of having eaten it; but all the
\nrest–pooh! We are not sure whether they are not vain dreams and whether we are
\nnot giving up the real for the unreal, the substance for the shadow. After all,
\nwhat are you going to gain? A few dreams! But when you have some coins in your
\npocket, you are sure that they are there!\u201d <\/span><\/p>\n

And that is everywhere, underneath
\neverything. Scratch the appearances just a little, it is there, within your
\nconsciousness; and from time to time you hear this thing whispering within you,
\n\u201cTake care, don’t be taken in.\u201d Indeed, it is lamentable. <\/span><\/p>\n

We have been told that evolution is
\nprogressive and that it follows a spiral of ascending progression. I do not
\ndoubt that what one calls comfort in modern cities is a much higher degree of
\nevolution than the comfort of the cave-man. But in ancient narratives, they
\nalways spoke of a power of foresight, of the prophetic spirit, the announcement
\nof future events through visions, life’s intimacy with something more subtle
\nthat had for the simple people of that age a more concrete reality. <\/span><\/p>\n

Now, in those beautiful cities that are so
\ncomfortable, when one wants to condemn anything, what does one say? \u2013 \u201cIt’s a
\ndream, it is imagination.\u201d <\/span><\/p>\n

And precisely, if a person lives in an
\ninner perception, people look at him slightly askance and wonder whether he is
\naltogether mentally sound. One who does not pass his time in striving for
\nwealth or in trying to increase his comforts and well-being,<\/span> <\/span><\/p>\n

\nPage \u2013 204<\/span><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n
\n

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

to secure a good position and become an important person, a man
\nwho is not like that is mistrusted, people wonder whether he is in his right
\nmind. <\/span><\/p>\n

And all that is so much the stuff of the
\natmosphere, the content of the air you breathe, the orientation of the thoughts
\nreceived from others that it seems absolutely natural. You do not feel that it
\nis a grotesque monstrosity. <\/span><\/p>\n

To become a little more conscious of
\noneself, to enter into relation with the life behind the appearances, does not
\nseem to you to be the greatest good. When you sit in a comfortable chair, in
\nfront of a lavish meal, when you fill your stomach with delicious dishes, that
\ncertainly appears to you much more concrete and much more interesting. And if
\nyou look at the day that has passed, if you take stock of your day, if you have
\nhad some material advantage, some pleasure, a physical satisfaction, you mark
\nit as a good day; but if you have received a good lesson from life, if it has
\ngiven you a knock on your nose to tell you that you are a stupid fellow, you do
\nnot give thanks to the Grace, you say, \u201cOh, life is not always fun!\u201d <\/span><\/p>\n

When I read these ancient texts, I really
\nhave the impression that from the inner point of view, from the point of view
\nof the true life, we have fallen back terribly and that for the acquisition of
\na few ingenious mechanisms, a few encouragements to physical laziness, the
\nacquisition of instruments and gadgets that lessen the effort of living, we
\nhave renounced the reality of the inner life. It is that sense which has been
\nlost and it needs an effort for you to think of learning the meaning of life,
\nthe purpose of existence, the goal towards which we must advance, towards which
\nall life advances, whether you want it or not. One step towards the goal, oh!
\nit needs so much effort to do that. And generally one thinks of it only when
\nthe outer circumstances are not pleasant. <\/span><\/p>\n

How far we are from the times when the
\nshepherd, who did not go to school and kept watch over his flock at night under
\nthe stars, could read in the stars what was going to happen, <\/span>
\n <\/span><\/p>\n

\nPage \u2013 205<\/span><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n
\n

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

commune with something which expressed itself through Nature, and
\nhad the sense of the profound beauty and that peace which a simple life gives! <\/span><\/p>\n

It is very unfortunate that one has to
\ngive up one thing in order to gain another. When I speak of the inner life, I
\nam far from opposing any modern inventions, far from it, but how much these
\ninventions have made us artificial and stupid! How much we have lost the sense
\nof true beauty, how much we burden ourselves with useless needs! <\/span><\/p>\n

Perhaps the time has come to continue the
\nascent in the curve of the spiral and now with all that this knowledge of
\nmatter has brought us, we shall be able to give to our spiritual progress a
\nmore solid basis. Strong with what we have learnt of the secrets of material
\nNature, we shall be able to join the two extremes and rediscover the supreme
\nReality in the very heart of the atom.  <\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/span>24 January 1958<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

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

Those
\nwho are intelligent, meditative, persevering, who ceaselessly struggle with
\nthemselves, attain to Nirvana, which is the supreme felicity. <\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

 <\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

Whosoever can sustain
\nhis zeal, remain pure in his actions, act wisely, restrain his passions, live
\naccording to the Law (or to morality), he shall see his renown increase. <\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

 <\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/span>This promise of a good name
\ndoes not seem to me quite worthy of the Buddhist teaching. It probably meant
\nsomething else. And to live according to morality, one must know which morality
\nis intended, for if it is the usually recognised social morality, that also
\ndoes not seem to me a very alluring promise. Those who have decided to abandon
\nall worldly weaknesses certainly do not care about satisfying social
\nmorality… nor about acquiring a good name!\u00a0\u00a0
\n<\/span> <\/span><\/p>\n

\nPage \u2013 206<\/span><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n
\n

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

To sustain one’s zeal is an excellent
\nthing, to remain pure in one’s actions is also indispensable, to act wisely is
\nalso perfect, one cannot do it too often; to restrain one’s passions, that goes
\nwithout saying, is the beginning… but that conclusion!! <\/span><\/p>\n

However I see \u201cDhamma\u201d has been translated
\nhere as \u201cLaw\u201d, and \u201cYasa\u201d as \u201crenown\u201d, whereas Dhamma should mean rather the
\ninner truth and Yasa the spiritual glory. So we can interpret the text in this
\nway: \u201cWhosoever can sustain his zeal, remain pure in his actions, act wisely,
\nrestrain his passions, live according to the inner truth, he shall see his
\nspiritual glory ever growing.\u201d <\/span><\/p>\n

Thus understood, this text is quite
\nexcellent. One cannot do better than to conform to it.  <\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/span>31 January 1958 and 7
\nFebruary 1958 <\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

 <\/span><\/p>\n

By
\nhis effort, his vigilance, his discipline and self-mastery, the intelligent man
\nshould create for himself an island which no flood can submerge. <\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

 <\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

The
\nfools, devoid of intelligence, give themselves up to negligence. The true sage
\nguards vigilance as his most precious treasure. <\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

 <\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

Do
\nnot let yourself fall into carelessness, nor into the pleasures of the senses.
\nHe who is vigilant and given to meditation acquires a great happiness. <\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

 <\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

The
\nintelligent man who by his vigilance has dispelled negligence, mounts to the
\nheights of wisdom, whence he looks upon the many afflicted as one on a mountain
\nlooks down upon the people of the plain. <\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

 <\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

Vigilant
\namong those who are negligent, perfectly awake among those who sleep, the
\nintelligent man\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/span> <\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

\nPage \u2013 207<\/span><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n
\n

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

advances
\nlike a rapid steed leaving behind a weary horse.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 <\/span><\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

 <\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

Vigilance
\nis admired. Negligence is reproved. By vigilance, Indra became the highest
\namong the gods. <\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

 <\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

The
\nBhikkhu<\/span><\/i>\u00b9 <\/span>who
\ndelights in vigilance and who shuns negligence advances like a fire consuming
\nall bonds, both small and great. <\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

 <\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

The
\nBhikkhu who takes pleasure in vigilance and who shuns negligence can no longer
\nfall. He draws near to Nirvana. <\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

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

I have read out to you the whole chapter because it seemed to me
\nthat it is the totality of the verses that creates an atmosphere and that they
\nare meant to be taken all together and not each one separately. But I strongly
\nrecommend to you not to take the words used here in their usual literal sense. <\/span><\/p>\n

Thus, for example, I am quite convinced
\nthat the original thought did not mean that you are to be vigilant in order
\nthat you may be admired and that you must not be negligent in order not to be
\nreproved. Besides, the example given proves it, for certainly it was not for
\nthe sake of gaining admiration that Indra, the chief of the overmental gods in
\nthe Hindu tradition, practised vigilance. It is a very childish way of saying
\nthings. Yet, if you take these verses all together, they have by their
\nrepetition and insistence, a power that evokes the thing which seeks
\nexpression; it puts you in relation with a psychological attitude which is very
\nuseful and has a very considerable effect, if you follow this discipline. <\/span><\/p>\n

The last two verses particularly are very
\nevocative. The Bhikkhu moves forward like a burning flame of aspiration and he
\nshuns negligence. <\/span><\/p>\n

Negligence truly means the relaxation of
\nthe will which <\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/span><\/p>\n

\n\u00b9<\/font><\/span>Member of the Sangha (Buddhist community),
\nmendicant monk who owns nothing.<\/font><\/span> <\/font><\/span><\/p>\n

\nPage \u2013 208<\/span><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n
\n

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

makes one forget his goal and pass his time in doing all kinds of
\nthings which, far from contributing towards the goal to be attained, stop you
\non the path and often turn you away from it. Therefore the flame of aspiration
\nmakes the Bhikkhu shun negligence. Every moment he remembers that time is
\nrelatively short, that one must not waste it on the way, one must go quickly,
\nas quickly as possible, without losing a moment. And one who is vigilant, who
\ndoes not waste his time, sees his bonds falling, every one, great and small;
\nall his difficulties vanish, because of his vigilance; and if he persists in
\nhis attitude, finding in it entire satisfaction, it happens after a time that
\nthe happiness he feels in being vigilant becomes so strong that he would soon
\nfeel very unhappy if he were to lose this vigilance. <\/span><\/p>\n

It is a fact that when one has made an
\neffort not to lose time on the way, any time lost becomes a suffering and one
\ncan find no pleasure of any kind in it. And once you are in that state, once
\nthis effort for progress and transformation becomes the most important thing in
\nyour life, the thing to which you give constant thought, then indeed you are on
\nthe way towards the eternal existence, the truth of your being. <\/span><\/p>\n

Certainly there is a moment in the course
\nof the inner growth when far from having to make an effort to concentrate, to
\nbecome absorbed in the contemplation and the seeking of the truth and its best
\nexpression \u2013 what the Buddhists call meditation \u2013 you feel, on the contrary, a
\nkind of relief, ease, rest, joy, and to have to come out of that in order to
\ndeal with things that are not essential, everything that may seem like a waste
\nof time, becomes terribly painful. External activities get reduced to what is
\nabsolutely necessary, to those that are done as service to the Divine. All that
\nis futile, useless, precisely those things which seem like a waste of time and
\neffort, all that, far from giving the least satisfaction, creates a kind of
\ndiscomfort and fatigue; you feel happy only when you are concentrated on your
\ngoal. <\/span><\/p>\n

Then you are really on the way. <\/span>
\n
\n <\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/span>14 February 1958<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

\nPage \u2013 209<\/span><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n
\n

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


\n\t
\n
\n\tH<\/a><\/font><\/span>OME<\/font><\/a><\/b><\/div>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/table>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

\u00a0Vigilance     Vigilance is the way that leads to immortality (or Nirvana). Negligence is the way that leads to death. Those who are vigilant…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[115],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-4000","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-03-questions-and-answers-volume-03","wpcat-115-id"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/worksofthemotherandsriaurobindo.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4000","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=4000"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/worksofthemotherandsriaurobindo.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4000\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/worksofthemotherandsriaurobindo.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4000"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/worksofthemotherandsriaurobindo.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4000"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/worksofthemotherandsriaurobindo.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4000"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}