{"id":4018,"date":"2013-07-13T01:52:54","date_gmt":"2013-07-13T01:52:54","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/localhost\/?p=4018"},"modified":"2013-07-13T01:52:54","modified_gmt":"2013-07-13T01:52:54","slug":"02-14-april-1929-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\/02-14-april-1929-vol-03-questions-and-answers-volume-03","title":{"rendered":"-02_14 April 1929.htm"},"content":{"rendered":"\n\n
\n
\n


\n
\n\u00a0<\/font><\/span>14 April 1929<\/font><\/span><\/i><\/b> <\/font> <\/i> <\/span>
\n
\n <\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/span><\/p>\n

What are the dangers of
\nYoga? Is it especially dangerous to the people of the West? Someone has said
\nthat Yoga may be suitable for the East, but it has the effect of unbalancing
\nthe Western mind. <\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

 <\/span><\/p>\n

Yoga is not more dangerous to the people of the West than to those
\nof the East. Everything depends upon the spirit with which you approach it.
\nYoga does become dangerous if you want it for your own sake, to serve a
\npersonal end. It is not dangerous, on the contrary, it is safety and security itself,
\nif you go to it with a sense of its sacredness, always remembering that the aim
\nis to find the Divine. <\/span><\/p>\n

Dangers and difficulties come in when people take up Yoga not for
\nthe sake of the Divine, but because they want to acquire power and under the guise
\nof Yoga seek to satisfy some ambition. If you cannot get rid of ambition, do
\nnot touch the thing. It is fire that burns. <\/span><\/p>\n

There are two paths of Yoga, one of tapasyā<\/i> (discipline), and the other of surrender. The path of tapasy\u00e3<\/i> is arduous. Here you rely solely
\nupon yourself, you proceed by your own strength. You ascend and achieve
\naccording to the measure of your force. There is always the danger of falling
\ndown. And once you fall, you lie broken in the abyss and there is hardly a
\nremedy. The other path, the path of surrender, is safe and sure. It is here,
\nhowever, that the Western people find their difficulty. They have been taught
\nto fear and avoid all that threatens their personal independence. They have
\nimbibed with their mothers’ milk the sense of individuality. And surrender
\nmeans giving up all that. In other words, you may follow, as Ramakrishna says,
\neither the path of the baby monkey or that of the baby cat. The baby monkey
\nholds to its mother in order to be carried about and it\u00a0\u00a0 <\/span>must hold firm, otherwise if it loses its
\ngrip, it falls. On the <\/span>
\n
\n  <\/span><\/p>\n

\nPage \u2013 4<\/span><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n
\n

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

other hand,
\nthe baby cat does not hold to its mother, but is held by the mother and has no
\nfear nor responsibility; it has nothing to do but to let the mother hold it and
\ncry ma ma. <\/i><\/span><\/p>\n

If you take up this path of surrender fully and sincerely, there
\nis no more danger or serious difficulty. The question is to be sincere. If you
\nare not sincere, do not begin Yoga. If you were dealing in human affairs, then
\nyou could resort to deception; but in dealing with the Divine there is no
\npossibility of deception anywhere. You can go on the Path safely when you are
\ncandid and open to the core and when your only end is to realise and attain the
\nDivine and to be moved by the Divine. <\/span><\/p>\n

There is another danger; it is in connection with the sex
\nimpulses. Yoga in its process of purification will lay bare and throw up all
\nhidden impulses and desires in you. And you must learn not to hide things nor
\nleave them aside, you have to face them and conquer and remould them. The first
\neffect of Yoga, however, is to take away the mental control, and the hungers
\nthat lie dormant are suddenly set free, they rush up and invade the being. So
\nlong as this mental control has not been replaced by the Divine control, there
\nis a period of transition when your sincerity and surrender will be put to the
\ntest. The strength of such impulses as those of sex lies usually in the fact
\nthat people take too much notice of them; they protest too vehemently and
\nendeavour to control them by coercion, hold them within and sit upon them. But
\nthe more you think of a thing and say, \u201cI don’t want it, I don’t want it\u201d, the
\nmore you are bound to it. What you should do is to keep the thing away from
\nyou, to dissociate from it, take as little notice of it as possible and, even
\nif you happen to think of it, remain indifferent and unconcerned. <\/span><\/p>\n

The impulses and desires that come up by the pressure of Yoga
\nshould be faced in a spirit of detachment and serenity, as something foreign to
\nyourself or belonging to the outside world. They should be offered to the
\nDivine, so that the Divine may take them up and transmute them.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 <\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

If you have once opened yourself to the Divine, if the power <\/span>
\n
\n <\/span><\/p>\n

\nPage \u2013 5<\/span><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n
\n

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

of the
\nDivine has once come down into you and yet you try to keep to the old forces,
\nyou prepare troubles and difficulties and dangers for yourself. You must be
\nvigilant and see that you do not use the Divine as a cloak for the satisfaction
\nof your desires. There are many self-appointed Masters, who do nothing but
\nthat. And then when you are off the straight path and when you have a little
\nknowledge and not much power, it happens that you are seized by beings or
\nentities of a certain type, you become blind instruments in their hands and are
\ndevoured by them in the end. Wherever there is pretence, there is danger; you
\ncannot deceive God. Do you come to God saying, \u201cI want union with you\u201d and in
\nyour heart meaning \u201cI want powers and enjoyments\u201d? Beware! You are heading
\nstraight towards the brink of the precipice. And yet it is so easy to avoid all
\ncatastrophe. Become like a child, give yourself up to the Mother, let her carry
\nyou, and there is no more danger for you. <\/span><\/p>\n

This does not mean that you have not to face other kinds of
\ndifficulties or that you have not to fight and conquer any obstacles at all.
\nSurrender does not ensure a smooth and unruffled and continuous progression.
\nThe reason is that your being is not yet one, nor your surrender absolute and
\ncomplete. Only a part of you surrenders; and today it is one part and the next
\nday it is another. The whole purpose of the Yoga is to gather all the divergent
\nparts together and forge them into an undivided unity. Till then you cannot
\nhope to be without difficulties \u2013 difficulties, for example, like doubt or
\ndepression or hesitation. The whole world is full of the poison. You take it in
\nwith every breath. If you exchange a few words with an undesirable man or even
\nif such a man merely passes by you, you may catch the contagion from him. It is
\nsufficient for you to come near a place where there is plague in order to be
\ninfected with its poison; you need not know at all that it is there. You can
\nlose in a few minutes what it has taken you months to gain. So long as you
\nbelong to humanity and so long as you lead the ordinary life, it does not
\nmatter much if you mix with the people of the world; <\/span>
\n
\n <\/span><\/p>\n

Page \u2013 6<\/span><\/p>\n

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\n

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but if you
\nwant the divine life, you will have to be exceedingly careful about your
\ncompany and your environment. <\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/span><\/p>\n

What is the way to
\nestablish unity and homogeneity in our being? <\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

 <\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/span>Keep the will firm. Treat the recalcitrant
\nparts as disobedient children. Act upon them constantly and patiently. Convince
\nthem of their error. <\/span><\/p>\n

In the depths of your consciousness is the psychic being, the
\ntemple of the Divine within you. This is the centre round which should come
\nabout the unification of all these divergent parts, all these contradictory
\nmovements of your being. Once you have got the consciousness of the psychic
\nbeing and its aspiration, these doubts and difficulties can be destroyed. It
\ntakes more or less time, but you will surely succeed in the end. Once you have
\nturned to the Divine, saying, \u201cI want to be yours\u201d, and the Divine has said,
\n\u201cYes\u201d, the whole world cannot keep you from it. When the central being has made
\nits surrender, the chief difficulty has disappeared. The outer being is like a
\ncrust. In ordinary people the crust is so hard and thick that they are not
\nconscious of the Divine within them. If once, even for a moment only, the inner
\nbeing has said, \u201cI am here and I am yours\u201d, then it is as though a bridge has
\nbeen built and little by little the crust becomes thinner and thinner until the
\ntwo parts are wholly joined and the inner and the outer become one. <\/span><\/p>\n

Ambition has been the undoing of many Yogis. That canker can hide
\nlong. Many people start on the Path without any sense of it. But when they get
\npowers, their ambition rises up, all the more violently because it had not been
\nthrown out in the beginning. <\/span><\/p>\n

A story is told of a Yogi who had attained wonderful powers. He
\nwas invited by his disciples to a great dinner. It was served on a big low
\ntable. The disciples asked their Master to show his power in some way. He knew
\nhe should not, but the seed <\/span>
\n
\n <\/span><\/p>\n

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\n

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of ambition
\nwas there in him and he thought, \u201cAfter all, it is a very innocent thing and it
\nmay prove to them that such things are possible and teach them the greatness of
\nGod.\u201d So he said, \u201cTake away the table, but only the table, let the table-cloth
\nremain as it is with all the dishes upon it.\u201d The disciples cried out, \u201cOh,
\nthat cannot be done, everything will fall down.\u201d But he insisted and they
\nremoved the table from under the cloth. Lo, the miracle! The cloth and all that
\nwas upon it remained there just as though the table was underneath. The
\ndisciples wondered. But all on a sudden the Master jumped up and rushed out
\nscreaming and crying, \u201cNevermore shall I have a disciple, nevermore! Woe is me!
\nI have betrayed my God.\u201d His heart was on fire; he had used the divine powers
\nfor selfish ends. <\/span><\/p>\n

It is always wrong to display powers. This does not mean that
\nthere is no use for them. But they have to be used in the same way as they
\ncame. They come by union with the Divine. They must be used by the will of the
\nDivine and not for display. If you come across someone who is blind and you
\nhave the power to make him see \u2013 if it is the Divine Will that the man shall
\nsee, you have only to say, \u201cLet him see\u201d and he will see. But if you wish to
\nmake him see simply because you want to cure him, then you use the power to
\nsatisfy your personal ambition. Most often, in such cases, you not only lose
\nyour power but you create a great disturbance in the man. Yet in appearance the
\ntwo ways are the same; but in one case you act because of the Divine Will and
\nin the other for some personal motive. <\/span><\/p>\n

How are we to know, you will ask, when it is the Divine Will that
\nmakes us act? The Divine Will is not difficult to recognise. It is
\nunmistakable. You can know it without being very far on the path. Only you must
\nlisten to its voice, the small voice that is here in the heart. Once you are
\naccustomed to listen, if you do anything that is contrary to the Divine Will,
\nyou feel an uneasiness. If you persist on the wrong track, you get very much
\ndisturbed. If, however, you give some material excuse as <\/span>
\n
\n <\/span><\/p>\n

\nPage \u2013 8<\/span><\/p>\n

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\n

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the cause of
\nyour uneasiness and proceed on your way, you gradually lose the faculty of
\nperception and finally you may go on doing all kinds of wrong and feel no
\nuneasiness. But if, when once you feel the least disturbance, you stop and ask
\nof your inner self, \u201cWhat is the cause of this?\u201d then you do get the real
\nanswer and the whole thing becomes quite clear. Do not try to give a material
\nexcuse when you feel a little depression or a slight uneasiness. When you stop
\nand look about for the reason, be absolutely straight and sincere. At first
\nyour mind will construct a very plausible and beautiful explanation. Do not
\naccept it, but look beyond and ask, \u201cWhat is it that is behind this movement?
\nWhy am I doing this?\u201d Finally you will discover, hidden in a corner, the little
\nripple \u2013 a slight wrong turn or twist in your attitude that is causing the
\ntrouble or disturbance. <\/span><\/p>\n

One of the commonest forms of ambition is the idea of service to
\nhumanity. All attachment to such service or work is a sign of personal
\nambition. The Guru who believes that he has a great truth to teach to humanity
\nand who wants many disciples and who feels uncomfortable when the disciples go
\naway or who seizes on anybody that comes and tries to make him a disciple, is
\nevidently following nothing but his ambition. You must be able, if you are
\nready to follow the divine order, to take up whatever work you are given, even
\na stupendous work, and leave it the next day with the same quietness with which
\nyou took it up and not feel that the responsibility is yours. There should be
\nno attachment to any object or any mode of life. You must be absolutely free.
\nIf you want to have the true yogic attitude, you must be able to accept
\neverything that comes from the Divine and let it go easily and without regret.
\nThe attitude of the ascetic who says, \u201cI want nothing\u201d and the attitude of the
\nman of the world who says, \u201cI want this thing\u201d are the same. The one may be as
\nmuch attached to his renunciation as the other to his possession. <\/span><\/p>\n

You must accept all things \u2013 and only those things \u2013 that come
\nfrom the Divine. Because things can come from concealed <\/span>
\n
\n <\/span><\/p>\n

\nPage \u2013 9<\/span><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n
\n

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

desires. The
\ndesires work in the subconscious and bring things to you which, although you
\nmay not recognise them as such, nevertheless do not come from the Divine but
\nfrom disguised desires. <\/span><\/p>\n

You can easily know when a thing comes from the Divine. You feel
\nfree, you are at ease, you are in peace. But when something presents itself to
\nyou and you jump at it and cry out, \u201cOh, at last I have it\u201d, then you can know
\nfor certain that it does not come from the Divine. Equanimity is the essential
\ncondition of union and communion with the Divine. <\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/span><\/p>\n

Does not the Divine
\nsometimes give what you desire? <\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

 <\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/span>Certainly. There was a young man who wanted to
\ndo Yoga. But he had a mean and cruel father who troubled him very much and
\ntried to prevent him from doing it. He wished ardently to be free from the
\nfather’s interference. Soon the father fell ill and very seriously; he was
\nabout to die. Whereupon the other side of the boy’s nature rose up and he
\nloudly bewailed the misfortune and cried, \u201cOh, my poor father is so ill! It is
\nsuch a sad thing. Alas, what shall I do?\u201d The father got well. The young man
\nrejoiced and turned once more to Yoga. And the father also began again to
\noppose and torment him with redoubled violence. The son tore his hair in
\ndespair and cried, \u201cNow my father stands in my way more than ever.\u201d The whole
\nthing is to know exactly what one wants. <\/span><\/p>\n

The Divine always brings with it perfect calm and peace. A certain
\nclass of Bhaktas, it is true, present generally a very different picture; they
\njump about and cry and laugh and sing, in a fit of devotion, as they say. But
\nin reality such people do not live in the Divine. They live largely in the
\nvital world. <\/span><\/p>\n

You say that even Ramakrishna had periods of emotional excitement
\nand would go about with hands uplifted, singing and dancing? The truth of the
\nmatter is this. The movement in the inner being may be perfect; but it puts you
\nin a certain <\/span>
\n
\n <\/span><\/p>\n

\nPage \u2013 10<\/span><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n
\n

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

condition of
\nreceptivity to forces that fill you with intense emotional excitement, if your
\nexternal being is weak or untransformed. Where the external being offers
\nresistance to the inner being or cannot hold the entirety of the Ananda, there
\nis this confusion and anarchy in expression. <\/span><\/p>\n

You must have a strong body and strong nerves. You must have a
\nstrong basis of equanimity in your external being. If you have this basis, you
\ncan contain a world of emotion and yet not have to scream it out. This does not
\nmean that you cannot express your emotion, but you can express it in a
\nbeautiful harmonious way. To weep or scream or dance about is always a proof of
\nweakness, either of the vital or the mental or the physical nature; for on all
\nthese levels the activity is for self-satisfaction. One who dances and jumps
\nand screams has the feeling that he is somehow very unusual in his excitement;
\nand his vital nature takes great pleasure in that. <\/span><\/p>\n

If you have to bear the pressure of the Divine Descent, you must
\nbe very strong and powerful, otherwise you would be shaken to pieces. Some
\npersons ask, \u201cWhy has not the Divine come yet?\u201d Because you are not ready. If a
\nlittle drop makes you sing and dance and scream, what would happen if the whole
\nthing came down? <\/span><\/p>\n

Therefore do we say to people who have not a strong and firm and
\ncapacious basis in the body and the vital and the mind, \u201cDo not pull\u201d, meaning
\n\u201cDo not try to pull at the forces of the Divine, but wait in peace and
\ncalmness.\u201d For they would not be able to bear the descent. But to those who
\npossess the necessary basis and foundation we say, on the contrary, \u201cAspire and
\ndraw.\u201d For they would be able to receive and yet not be upset by the forces
\ndescending from the Divine. <\/span><\/p>\n

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

\u00a0<\/span>In the case of some persons who turn to the Divine it happens that
\nevery material prop or everything they are fond of is removed from their life.
\nAnd if they love someone, he also is taken away.\u00a0\u00a0 <\/span><\/i><\/span>
\n
\n <\/span><\/p>\n

\nPage \u2013 11<\/span><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n
\n

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

It is a
\nthing that does not happen to all. It happens to those that are called. <\/span><\/p>\n

Whatever difference there is between the West and the East in
\nrelation to spiritual life lies not in the inner being or nature, which is an
\ninvariable and constant thing, but in the mental habits, in the modes of outer
\nexpression and presentation which are the result of education and environment
\nand other external conditions. All people, whether occidental or oriental, are
\nalike in their deepest feelings; they are different in their way of thinking.
\nSincerity, for example, is a quality which is the same everywhere. Those who
\nare sincere, to whichever nation they belong, are all sincere in the same way.
\nOnly the forms given to this sincerity vary. The mind works in different ways
\nin different peoples, but the heart is the same everywhere; the heart is a much
\ntruer reality, and the differences belong to the superficial parts. As soon as
\nyou go deep enough, you meet something that is one in all. All meet in the
\nDivine. The sun is the symbol of the Divine in the physical nature. Clouds may
\nmodify its appearance, but when they are no longer there, you see it is the
\nsame sun always and everywhere. <\/span><\/p>\n

If you cannot feel one with somebody, it means you have not gone
\ndeep enough in your feeling. <\/span>
\n
\n\u00a0<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

\nPage \u2013 12<\/span><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n
\n

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

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

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