{"id":4134,"date":"2013-07-13T01:53:39","date_gmt":"2013-07-13T01:53:39","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/localhost\/?p=4134"},"modified":"2013-12-01T21:40:45","modified_gmt":"2013-12-02T05:40:45","slug":"10-25-sept-to-21-dec-1968-vol-11-notes-on-the-way-volume-11","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/worksofthemotherandsriaurobindo.org\/index.php\/02-works-of-the-mother\/01-cwmce\/11-notes-on-the-way-volume-11\/10-25-sept-to-21-dec-1968-vol-11-notes-on-the-way-volume-11","title":{"rendered":"-10_25 Sept to 21 Dec 1968.htm"},"content":{"rendered":"\n\n
\n
\n


\n
\n25
\n September 1968<\/font><\/span><\/b> <\/font> <\/span><\/b><\/p>\n

 <\/span><\/p>\n

I have found some old papers, I do not know what they are. There
\nis an envelope from you. <\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/span><\/p>\n

It is a question on
\nAphorisms.<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

\u201cWhen I hear of a
\nrighteous wrath, I wonder at man’s capacity for self-deception.” <\/span><\/i>
\n
\n <\/span><\/p>\n


\nSri
\nAurobindo, Thoughts and Aphorisms<\/font> <\/font><\/span><\/p>\n

It is
\nwonderful! <\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/span><\/p>\n

There was a question:
\n\u201cIt is always \u2018in good faith’ that one deceives oneself: it is always for the
\ngood of others that one acts or in the interest of humanity and for serving
\nyou, it goes without saying. How does one come to deceive oneself and how to know
\nit truly?”<\/span><\/i> \u00b9<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/span><\/p>\n

It is
\nterribly true. <\/span><\/p>\n

Even yesterday, without even reading it, I had a long vision on
\nthe subject; it is astonishing. But it was on such a different plane…. <\/span><\/p>\n

Yes, when you take the higher part of your mind as judge of your
\naction, then you can \u201cdeceive yourself in good faith”. That is to say, the
\nmind is incapable of seeing the truth and it judges by its own capacity, which
\nis limited \u2013 not only limited but unconscious of the truth; so for the mind, it
\nis in good faith, it does as well as it can. It is this. <\/span><\/p>\n

Naturally, for those who are fully conscious of their psychic, it
\nis not possible to deceive themselves, for if they refer their problem to the
\npsychic, they can from there have the divine answer. But even for those who are
\nin relation with their<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/font><\/span>\u00b9 Mother’s answer to this question is
\npublished in On Thoughts and Aphorisms, Cent. Vol. 10, pp. 80-82.<\/font><\/span><\/p>\n

\n Page – 128<\/span><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n
\n

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

\n\u00a0<\/span>psychic, the
\nanswer has not the same character as the mind’s, which is precise, categorical,
\nabsolute, asserting itself; it is something more of a tendency than an
\nassertion, something which can still have different interpretations in the
\nmind. <\/span><\/p>\n

I come back to my experience of yesterday. After having looked at
\nit, I came to the conclusion that it is impossible to reproach a human being
\nwho does as well as he can according to his consciousness, for how can he go
\nbeyond his consciousness?… This is just the error that the majority of people
\nmake: they judge one another according to their own consciousness, but the
\nother has not their consciousness! Therefore they cannot judge (I speak only of
\npeople of goodwill, naturally). According to the vision of a more total or
\nhigher consciousness, another person deceives himself, but according to the
\nperson himself, he does to the utmost whatever he believes he must do. <\/span><\/p>\n

This amounts to saying that it is absolutely impossible to lay the
\nblame upon anyone who acts sincerely according to his own limited
\nconsciousness. And in fact, if we come to that, everyone in the world has a
\nlimited consciousness, excepting the<\/i>
\nConsciousness. It is only the Consciousness which is not limited. But every
\nmanifestation is necessarily limited, unless it comes out of itself and unites
\nitself with the supreme Consciousness, then there… In what conditions can
\nthat be done? <\/span><\/p>\n

It is the problem of identification with the Supreme, which is the
\nSupreme One \u2013 One which is All. <\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/span><\/p>\n

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

 <\/span><\/p>\n

There is a whole side of human thought that has the conception
\nthat identification with the supreme Consciousness can come only by annulling
\nthe individual creation, but Sri Aurobindo precisely has said that it is
\npossible without abolishing the creation. They have this notion that creation
\nmust be abolished, for they limit the creation to the human level \u2013 it is
\nimpossible for man, but it is possible for the supramental being.
\n <\/span><\/p>\n

\nPage – 129<\/span><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n
\n

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

And it is
\nthis that will make the supramental being essentially different: he will be
\nable, without losing a limited form, to unite his consciousness with the
\nsupreme Consciousness. <\/span><\/p>\n

But for man, it is impossible. That I know. <\/span><\/p>\n

As I have said, you have it, you have the experience, but as soon
\nas you want to express it, it is gone, it becomes again… (gesture of being closed<\/i>). That is to
\nsay, the substance of which we are built up is not sufficiently purified,
\nenlightened, transformed (it does not matter what word) to express the supreme
\nConsciousness without deforming it. <\/span>
\n <\/span><\/p>\n

(Silence. Mother enters into
\nan experience.<\/i>)<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/span><\/p>\n

It is a certain opacity in Matter, in the substance that makes it
\nunable to manifest the Consciousness… and it is this same (I do not know how
\nto say it) opacity that gives it the sense of existing. <\/span><\/p>\n

This is part of the experience of these last days. I have lived
\nfor… I do not know, for weeks, in a kind of fluidity \u2013 transparent fluidity \u2013
\nand as this transparent fluidity is replaced by this something that I call now
\n\u201copacity”, there comes a kind of concretisation<\/span> of
\nthe existence of the body. <\/span><\/p>\n

So, the direct contact of the psychic being with the substance of
\nthe body, without any intermediary, gives the sensation… is it a
\n\u201csensation”? I do not know; it is not a sensation, it is not a perception; it
\nis a kind of \u201cfelt vision” (and this vision is very precise, very precise) of
\nthe value of vibrations in relation to a higher vibration which is (all that I
\ncan say about it) more directly the expression of the supreme Vibration. <\/span><\/p>\n

It is very difficult to express, but the body is going through an
\nexperience which it never had; it is as though passing from an imprecision to a
\nprecision, from a kind of fluidity to… it is not a concrete thing, but from a
\nthing fluid \u2013 fluid and imprecise \u2013 to a thing precise. All the happenings (no
\nmatter how small), which vary, are the occasion for a new perception. Before,<\/span><\/p>\n

\nPage – 130<\/span><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n
\n

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

everything
\nwas fluid and imprecise; now it is beginning to be more precise \u2013 more precise,
\nmore exact. But it loses a little of its fluidity. <\/span><\/p>\n

It is very difficult to express. <\/span><\/p>\n

I had never thought of it. It is strange, it is not willed. Just
\nnow I have had the experience. So it is not yet very clear. <\/span><\/p>\n

Indeed, the mind gives a precision that is lacking when it is not
\nthere. Its role in creation is just to give precision, to explain, and at the
\nsame time to limit. <\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/span><\/p>\n

An ordinary mind could
\nask: \u201cBut what is the advantage of this imprecision?\u201d <\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

 <\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

There is no
\nadvantage! <\/span><\/p>\n

It is altogether certain that when the Supramental manifests, it
\nwill replace the mental precision (how to say it?) that diminishes \u2013 the
\nprecision that limits and therefore falsifies things in part \u2013 by a clarity of
\nvision, another kind of vision that does not diminish. It is that which is
\nbeing built up. <\/span><\/p>\n

Indeed, it can be said (it is not exactly this): in order to give
\nprecision, the mind limits and separates; and evidently there is a precision
\nthat can come from a more exact vision, without division and without
\nseparation. And it is that precision which will be the precision of the
\nsupramental vision. With the precision will come, at the same time, the vision
\nof the relation of all things to one another, without separating them. <\/span><\/p>\n

But that is something in preparation. It comes as a flash, for a
\nminute, and then lapses back into its old way. <\/span><\/p>\n

The same can be said of the vital. The vital gives an intensity
\nwhich nothing else seems capable of giving; well, this same intensity exists in
\nthe Supramental, but without division. It is an intensity that does not
\nseparate. <\/span><\/p>\n

These two experiences I have had, but very momentarily. These are
\nthings that are being worked out just at present.<\/span> <\/span><\/p>\n

\nPage \u2013 131<\/span><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n
\n

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


\n23 November 1968
\n<\/font> <\/a> <\/span><\/b><\/p>\n


\n <\/font><\/span><\/b><\/p>\n

I have had an interesting experience…. Not last night, but the
\nnight before, someone, whom I shall not name, told me, \u201cI am wholly down in the
\nphysical consciousness: no more meditation, and the Divine has become something
\nup there, so far away.” Then immediately, as he was speaking, the whole room
\ngot filled with the divine Presence. I told him, \u201cNot up there: here, here
\nitself.” And at that moment, everything,<\/i>
\nthe whole atmosphere… it was as though the air had changed into the divine
\nPresence (Mother touches her hands, her face, her body), well, everything was
\ntouched, touched, pervaded, but with… the thing that was particularly there
\nwas a dazzling Light, a Peace like this (gesture of massiveness), a Power, and
\nthen a Sweetness… something… one had the feeling that it could melt a rock.
\n<\/span><\/p>\n

And it did not go away. It stayed. <\/span><\/p>\n

It came in that way, and then it stayed. <\/span><\/p>\n

And so the whole night it was like that \u2013 everything. Even now,
\nthe two are there: a little of the ordinary consciousness, as if in a
\nmechanical way, but I have only to be quiet or concentrated for a moment and it
\nis there. And it is the experience of the body<\/i>,
\nyou understand, physical, material, the experience of the body: everything,
\neverything is full, full; there is only That<\/i>,
\nand we are like… everything is as though shrivelled<\/span>,
\na dried up rind, something like that, dried up. One has the feeling that things
\nare (not entirely, but superficially) hardened, dried up, and that is why you
\ndo not feel That. That is why you do not feel Him; otherwise, all is That,
\nThat, there is nothing<\/i> but That. You
\ncannot breathe without breathing Him in; you move, it is within Him that you
\nmove; you are… everything, everything, the whole universe is within Him \u2013 but
\nmaterially, physically, physically. <\/span><\/p>\n

It is the cure for this \u201cdrying up” that I am now looking for.<\/span><\/p>\n

\nPage –
\n132<\/span><\/font><\/p>\n

\n

I feel it is something fantastic, do you understand? <\/span><\/p>\n

And then when I listen, He tells me things also. I said to Him,
\n\u201cBut then why do people always go up there?” And with the most extraordinarily
\nunusual humour<\/span> the answer comes: \u201cBecause they want
\nme to be very far from their consciousness!” Things like that, but not
\nformulated in such a precise manner: impressions only. Many a time \u2013 many \u2013 I
\nhad heard: \u201cWhy do they go so far in search of what is” \u2013 of course there are
\ntenets that said: It is within you\u00a0 <\/span>\u201cwhat
\nis everywhere?” <\/span><\/p>\n

I did not say it to this person, first because the experience was
\nnot, as it is now, a continuous thing. <\/span><\/p>\n

And then there was this particularly: no new religions<\/i>, no dogmas, no fixed teachings. One must avoid \u2013
\none must avoid at all cost the thing becoming a new religion. Because as soon
\nas it is formulated in a way that is elegant and imposing and has a force, it would be the end<\/i>. <\/span><\/p>\n

You have the feeling that He is everywhere, everywhere,
\neverywhere, everywhere; there is nothing else. And we do not know it because we
\nare… shrunken, I do not know how to say it, dried up. We have made great
\nefforts (Mother laughs<\/i>) to separate
\nourselves \u2013 and succeeded ! Succeeded, but succeeded only in our consciousness,
\nnot in fact. In fact, It is there. It is there. There is nothing<\/i> but That. Whatever we know, whatever we see, whatever we
\ntouch, it is as though bathing, floating in That; but it is penetrable; it is
\npenetrable, quite penetrable: That passes through it. The sense of separation
\ncomes from this (Mother touches her
\nforehead, indicating the mind<\/i>). <\/span><\/p>\n

The experience came, perhaps, because for several days there was a
\nvery great concentration to find out, not exactly the why or the how, but the
\nfact, the fact of the separation, everything appearing so stupid, so ugly…. I
\nwas assailed, assailed by various living memories of all kinds of experiences
\n(all kinds: books, pictures, cinemas, and life, people, things), memories of
\nthis body, all the memories that might be called \u201canti-divine”, <\/span>
\n
\n <\/span><\/p>\n

\nPage – 133<\/span><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n
\n

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

in which the
\nbody had the sensation of something that was repulsive or evil, like negations
\nof the divine Presence. It began in that way; for two days I was like that, so
\nmuch so that the body almost sank into despair. And then the experience came
\nand after that it did not move. It did not budge. It came: brrff<\/span>
\n! finished, and it did not budge. Well, the experiences come and then they
\nwithdraw: it did not move. At this moment it is there. And then the body tries
\nto be fluid (Mother makes a gesture of
\npouring herself out<\/i>), it tries to melt; it tries, it understands what it
\nis. It tries \u2013 it does not succeed, evidently ! (Mother looks at her hands<\/i>), but its consciousness knows. <\/span><\/p>\n

Only, the experience has its effects: people have felt relief all
\nof a sudden; one or two were completely cured. And when something goes wrong in
\nthe body, it need not ask: quite naturally it is set right. <\/span><\/p>\n

And that has not even given to the body the need to do nothing and
\nbe wholly concentrated upon its experience: no, there is no desire, nothing at
\nall. Like this, to float in a luminous immensity… which is within ! It is not
\nonly outside: it is within. It is within. That (Mother touches her hands<\/i>), that which appears as separate, truly
\nthe feeling is that it is… I do not know how to say it, but it is real only in
\nthe distortion of the consciousness, but not the human consciousness: something
\nhas happened, something has happened in the consciousness…. (Mother shakes her head<\/i>) I do not
\nunderstand. <\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/span><\/p>\n

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

 <\/span><\/p>\n

All the theories and explanations and stories that lie at the base
\nof each religion, all that seems to me… an amusement. And then one wonders,
\none wonders… I will tell you one thing: might it not be a comedy that the
\nLord has played to Himself? <\/span><\/p>\n

But it is difficult to say. I have had days when I have lived
\ntruly all the horrors of creation (and in the consciousness of their horror),
\nand then that has brought this experience, and… <\/span>
\n
\n <\/span><\/p>\n

\nPage – 134<\/span><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n
\n

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

all the
\nhorror has disappeared.<\/span><\/p>\n

And these were not at all psychological things, but rather physical
\nsufferings, yes, particularly physical suffering. I have seen it \u2013 a physical
\nsuffering that lasts, that does not stop, that lasts day and night. And then
\nall of a sudden, instead of being in this state of consciousness, you are in
\nthat of this exclusive divine Presence. Pain gone ! And it was physical,
\naltogether physical, with a physical reason. Yes, the doctors would say, \u201cIt is
\nbecause of this, because of that and that”, quite a material thing, altogether
\nphysical; and pouf ! it goes away…. The consciousness changes and back it
\ncomes. <\/span><\/p>\n

If one remains sufficiently long in the true consciousness, the
\nappearance, that is to say, what we call physical \u201cfact”, that itself
\ndisappears, not merely the pain…. I feel as though I had touched (there is no
\nmind which understands, thank God !), I had touched the central experience. <\/span><\/p>\n

Only, it is just a small beginning.<\/span><\/p>\n

One would have the feeling, one would be certain of having touched
\nthe supreme Secret only if the physical were transformed…. According to the
\nexperience (just the little experience of a detail), it must be like that. And
\nthen, will it be at first one<\/i> body in
\nwhich this Consciousness will express itself, or should all, all be
\ntransformed?… A phenomenon of consciousness. <\/span><\/p>\n

But it is so concrete, yes, it is that ! <\/span>
\n <\/span><\/p>\n

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

 <\/span><\/p>\n

Only, the other consciousness is still there…. Now this morning,
\nI saw a considerable number of people. As each one came, I was looking at him
\n(there was no \u201cI” that was looking: for him<\/i>
\nit was so, I was looking at him), the eyes were fixed and then it was the
\nperception and the vision (but not the vision as one understands it: it is
\naltogether a phenomenon of consciousness), the consciousness of the Presence,
\nthe Presence that <\/span><\/p>\n

\nPage – 135<\/span><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n
\n

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

\u00a0<\/span>penetrates this kind of shell, the hard thing;
\nit penetrates, it penetrates, it is everywhere; and then when I am looking,
\nwhen the eyes are fixed, that becomes something like a concentration.\u00b9 But this
\nis certainly an altogether temporary and intermediary state, because the other
\nconsciousness (the consciousness which sees things and deals with them, which
\nis busy with them as usual, only with the perception of what is happening in
\nthe individual, what he is thinking \u2013 not so much what he is thinking, but what
\nhe is feeling, how he is), that is there. Evidently this too is necessary in
\norder to maintain the contact, but… <\/span><\/p>\n

Obviously, it is still an experience, it is not an established
\nfact. What I mean by \u201cestablished fact” is the consciousness established in
\nsuch a way that nothing else exists, that that alone is present\u00a0 <\/span>it is\u00a0
\n<\/span>\u2013 not yet so. <\/span>
\n <\/span><\/p>\n

(Long silence<\/i>) <\/span><\/p>\n

And you?
\nWhat have you got to tell me? <\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/span><\/p>\n

I felt a change in the
\natmosphere. <\/span><\/i>
\n <\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

Ah!  <\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Oh, yes. It is now five or
\nsix days that I had the feeling of something overwhelming (<\/span><\/i>Mother laughs),
\noverwhelming. And last night, it was rather bizarre, at one moment I saw you,
\nyou were lying fully stretched upon the ground, flat. Then I came near you and
\nasked, \u201cDon’t you want a cushion under your head?” You told me, \u201cNo,
\nnothing.” And you were lying flat on the ground… What does that mean? <\/i><\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/span><\/p>\n

(Mother remains silent for a
\nlong time and does not answer<\/i>.)<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/span><\/p>\n

\n
\n\u00b9 <\/font> <\/span>
\nA
\nconcentration of the Presence.<\/font><\/span> <\/span><\/p>\n

\nPage \u2013 136<\/span><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n
\n

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

But this
\nnotion of the Supramental \u201ccoming down”, and a Consciousness \u201chaving
\nentered”, is our translation…. The experience came as the experience of an
\neternal fact, not at all as a thing that was happening. All that must be the
\noutcome of states of consciousness, certainly. Whether there is something
\nbeyond, I do not know, but in any case, of this I had the positive experience.
\nThese are movements of consciousness. Why, how?… I do not know. Only, if one
\nlooks from the other side, the fact that something belonging to this earthly
\ndomain as it is has become conscious, gives the impression that something has
\n\u201carrived”…. I do not know if I can make myself understood… I mean to say
\nthat this body is absolutely like all the rest of the earth, but it happens
\nthat for some reason it has become conscious in the other way: well, that
\nnormally must translate itself in earthly consciousness as an \u201carrival”, a
\n\u201cdescent”, a \u201cbeginning”…. But is it a beginning? What is it that has
\n\u201carrived”?… You understand, there is nothing but the Lord (I call it \u201cLord”
\nbecause of the convenience of language, for otherwise\u2026), there is nothing but
\nthe Lord, there is nothing else, nothing else exists. All things happen within
\nHim, consciously. And we are like… grains of sand in this Infinity; only we
\nare the Lord with the capacity to be conscious of the Lord’s consciousness.
\nThat is exactly what it is.<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/span><\/p>\n

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

 <\/span><\/p>\n

Before this experience, at the time when I was in the consciousness
\nof all the sufferings, the horrors of physical life, at a certain moment
\nsomething came (which did not \u201cspeak”; one is obliged to use words, but all
\nthis happens without mentalisation<\/span>), it was an
\nimpression: if I translated, I would say, \u201cAren’t you afraid of going mad?”
\nYou understand? It is only a translation. And then the body answered
\nspontaneously: \u201cWe are all mad, we cannot become more mad than we are!” And
\nforthwith, it became calm. <\/span><\/p>\n

\nPage – 137<\/span><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n
\n

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

(Long silence<\/i>)<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/span><\/p>\n

It is here that this consciousness lies (Mother points to the chest<\/i>). That (Mother points to the mind and above<\/i>) is light, light (gesture of wideness<\/i>). But in this body,
\nit is here that it lies, this consciousness (Mother points again to the chest<\/i>). I mean the consciousness… that
\none is in the Lord. <\/span><\/p>\n

I know, the consciousness that is there knows that this way of
\nspeaking is altogether childish, but it prefers this childish way to something
\nthat would try to be exact and would be mental.<\/span> <\/font><\/span><\/p>\n

\nPage
\n\u2013 138<\/font><\/span><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n
\n

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


\n27 November 1968
\n<\/font> <\/a> <\/span><\/b><\/p>\n

\n <\/font><\/span><\/p>\n

It continues…. The body feels that it is beginning to
\nunderstand. Naturally, for it there is no thought, no thought at all; but these
\nare states of consciousness \u2013 states of consciousness that complete each other,
\nreplace each other…. And it goes so far as to ask how one can know by
\nthought; for it, the only way to know, to cognise<\/span>, is
\nconsciousness. And this is becoming more and more clear from the general point
\nof view, and it applies it, it applies this to itself; that is to say, a work
\nis being done so that all parts of the body may become conscious, not merely
\nconscious of the forces received, of the forces passing through it, but also of
\nthe action of its inner functioning. <\/span><\/p>\n

It is becoming more and more precise. <\/span><\/p>\n

And this above all: everything for it is a phenomenon of
\nconsciousness, and when it wants to do something, it almost no longer
\nunderstands what it means to know how to do it. It is necessary that it be conscious <\/i>of the way to do it. And not
\nonly for itself but for all the people around it. It has become such an evident
\nfact…. So, to learn something from somebody else \u2013 for example, to learn the
\nway to do a thing: for it, it is only by doing the thing with the consciousness
\nthat it applies that it can learn. And what someone explains, what someone else
\ncan explain, it seems… this appears hollow \u2013 hollow, empty. <\/span><\/p>\n

And it is becoming more and more so. <\/span>
\n <\/span><\/p>\n

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

\n <\/font><\/span><\/p>\n

You did not answer,
\nMother, my question about the vision I had of you lying flat on the ground … <\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

 <\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

(Mother laughs<\/i>) I suppose it is the
\nsymbol of perfect surrender. I lay on my back, isn’t it so?<\/span> <\/font><\/span><\/p>\n

\nPage – 139<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n
\n

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


\nOn your back, upon the
\nground.<\/font><\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

\n <\/font><\/span><\/p>\n

It is the
\nattitude of perfect receptivity in total abandon. It must be the figurative
\nexpression of the attitude of the body. <\/span><\/p>\n

Because truly, I do not know if there are \u201cbits”, organs that
\nhave still what may be called the spirit of independence, but truly the body
\nhas made its surrender; that is to say, it no longer has its own will \u2013 it has
\nno desire, no will of its own, and it is as though all the while \u201clistening”,
\nall the while, to catch the Indication. <\/span><\/p>\n

It is beginning to know exactly the spot or the function that is
\nnot… I cannot say \u201ctransformed”, because it is a big word, but that is not
\nin harmony with the rest and creates a disorder. This is becoming a perception
\nof every moment. Whenever there occurs something which seems abnormal, there is
\nthe understanding, the consciousness of why it happened and where it should
\nlead, of how an apparent disorder can lead to a greater perfection. Yes, it is
\nthat. It is a very small beginning. But it has begun. It has begun to be a bit
\nconscious. And not only for itself alone, but for others also, it has begun: to
\nsee how, to perceive in what way the Consciousness (with a capital C) acts in
\nothers; and sometimes indeed (the words
\nfollow long after the experience<\/i>) there is no longer the perception of
\ndivision; there is the perception of diversity and this becomes very
\ninteresting…. The diversity which, if it were not for what one might call the
\n\u201chitch” of separation, would, in the true consciousness, be perfectly
\nharmonious and would make a whole that would be perfection itself (Mother makes the sign of a circle<\/i>). It
\nis the hitch \u2013 what has happened?… What has come to pass?… <\/span><\/p>\n

It remains to be known if for some reason it was necessary or if
\nit is an accident \u2013 but how can that be an accident ! For the moment (there is
\nno thought, so it is a little vague), for the moment, there is the
\nimpression… one might say simply like this:<\/span> <\/font> <\/span>an acquisition of a formidable
\nconsciousness, which was <\/span>
\n
\n <\/font><\/span><\/p>\n

\nPage – 140<\/span><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n
\n

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

acquired,
\npaid for, at the very great price of every suffering and disorder…. Yesterday
\nor today (I do not remember now), yesterday I think, at a certain moment the
\nproblem became very acute, and then it was as though the divine Consciousness
\ntold me: \u201cIn all this suffering, it is I who am suffering”\u00a0 <\/span>the Consciousness, isn’t it? \u2013 \u201cit is I who
\nam suffering, but in another manner than that of yours.” I do not know how to
\nsay it, it was like this, the impression that the divine Consciousness
\nexperienced what for us is suffering; it existed \u2013 it existed for the divine
\nConsciousness \u2013 but in a different way than for our own consciousness; and then
\nthere was an attempt to make one understand the consciousness of all at the
\nsame time, simultaneously, everything (one might simply say to express
\noneself): suffering, the most acute disorder, and Harmony, the most perfect
\nAnanda\u00a0 <\/span>the two together, experienced
\ntogether. Naturally that changes the nature of the suffering. <\/span><\/p>\n

But all this is very conscious and this is something like
\nprattling. This is not the translation of what is. <\/span><\/p>\n

There is also the perception that gradually, through all these
\nexperiences, each aggregate (which is for us a body) is accustoming itself so
\nthat it may have the capacity to bear the true Consciousness. That does need a
\nmovement of adaptation.<\/span>
\n<\/font> <\/span><\/p>\n

\n <\/font><\/span><\/p>\n

But Sri Aurobindo has
\nwritten also, in Thoughts and Glimpses, I believe, that suffering was the
\npreparation for Ananda<\/span><\/i>.\u00b9 <\/span><\/p>\n

\n <\/font><\/span><\/p>\n

Yes. I must
\nsay that there are many things in Sri Aurobindo which I am now beginning to
\nunderstand in a very different way.<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/span><\/p>\n

\n\u00b9 <\/font> <\/span>\u201cPain that travails towards the touch of
\nan unimaginable ecstasy.” (Cent. Vol. 16, p. 384) Sri Aurobindo also wrote in
\nThoughts and Aphorisms: “Pain is the touch of our Mother teaching us how to
\nbear and grow in rapture. She has three stages of her schooling, endurance
\nfirst, next equality of soul, last ecstasy.” (Cent. Vol. 17, p. 89)<\/font><\/span> <\/span><\/p>\n

\nPage – 141<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n
\n

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

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

 <\/span><\/p>\n

The feeling of being on the point of touching something and
\nthen… it escapes. Something is missing. <\/span><\/p>\n

Still a long, long, long way to go. <\/span>
\n <\/font><\/span><\/p>\n

\nPage \u2013 142<\/span><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n
\n

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


\n21 December 1968
\n<\/font> <\/a> <\/span><\/b><\/p>\n

\n <\/font><\/span><\/p>\n

A question has been put.
\nI translate it: \u201cWhile describing her experiences of last August and September,
\nthe Mother spoke of the exclusion of the mind and the vital. Why must they be
\neliminated for a rapid and effective transformation of the body? Does not the
\nsupramental consciousness act upon them also?” <\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

 <\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

Certainly it
\nacts, it has already <\/i>acted for a long
\ntime. It is because the body is accustomed \u2013 was accustomed \u2013 to obeying the
\nvital and particularly the mind, and therefore this was in order to change its
\nhabit, so that it would obey only the higher consciousness. It is for that, so
\nthat the thing would go faster. In people it is through the mind and the vital
\nthat That acts, but I have said it was also more sure. As an experience this is
\nrather risky. But it increases the tempo considerably, for normally one has to
\nact upon the body through the other two, whereas in this way, when the two are
\nnot there, That acts directly. That’s all. <\/span><\/p>\n

The procedure is not recommended ! Each time the occasion arises,
\nI repeat it; people should not imagine that they should try it (they would not
\nbe able to do so, but that does not matter), it is not recommended. One must
\ntake the necessary time. It was only because of the mounting years… so that
\nit would go quicker. <\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/span><\/p>\n

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

 <\/span><\/p>\n

What is curious is that there are, as it were, demonstrations of
\nthe natural tendency of the body (I suppose it is not the same for all bodies:
\nit depends upon how the body has been built, that is to say, father, mother,
\nantecedents, etc.) a demonstration of the body left to itself. For example,
\nthis one has a kind of
\n <\/span><\/p>\n

\nPage – 143<\/span><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n
\n

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

imagination
\n(it is something queer), a dramatic imagination: all the time it has the
\nfeeling that it is living through catastrophes; and then, with the faith it always
\nhas, the catastrophe is transformed into a realization \u2013 absurd things like
\nthat. So for a time, it is left to this imagination (this is what has happened
\nthese days) and when it is completely tired of this stupid activity, it prays,
\nyes, with all its intensity, so that the thing may stop. Immediately, just
\nthat, hop! it does this (gesture<\/i>), it
\nturns around straightaway and goes into a contemplation\u00a0 <\/span>not distant, but quite close\u00a0 <\/span>of this wonderful Presence that is
\neverywhere. <\/span><\/p>\n

It is like this, like this (Mother
\nquickly turns two fingers<\/i>), it does not take time, there is no preparation
\nor anything; it is hop! hop! in this way (same
\ngesture<\/i>), as though to show the stupidity of the body. It is something
\naltogether idiotic, like a demonstration through evidence of the stupidity of
\nthe body left to itself, and then of this wonderful Consciousness that comes,
\nin which all that vanishes… like something which has no consistency, no
\nreality, and which vanishes. And like a proof that it is not merely in the imagination,
\nbut that it is in the fact: proof of the power so that all this… vain dream
\nof life as it is (which has become for the consciousness of this body something
\nso frightful) can be changed into a wonder, like this, simply by the reversal
\nof the consciousness. <\/span><\/p>\n

The experience is repeated in all the details, in all the domains,
\nas a demonstration through fact. And it is not a \u201clong process” of
\ntransformation, it is as though something is reversed all of a sudden (Mother turns two fingers<\/i>), and instead
\nof seeing ugliness, falsehood, suffering and all that, suddenly it lives in
\nbliss. And all the things are the same, nothing has moved, except the
\nconsciousness. <\/span><\/p>\n

And so there remains (it is what lies in front, what is probably
\ncoming): how is the experience to be translated materially?… For the body
\nitself, it is quite evident: during, say, one hour, or two or three, it
\nsuffered much, it was quite miserable<\/span> <\/font><\/span><\/p>\n

\nPage – 144<\/span><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n
\n

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

\n(<\/font><\/span>not a moral suffering, an altogether physical
\nsuffering), and then all of a sudden, brrff<\/span> ! all
\ngone !… The body apparently has remained the same (Mother looks at her hands<\/i>) in its appearance, but in place of an
\ninner disorder which makes it suffer, everything is going well and there is a great
\npeace, a great calm, and everything is going well. But this, it is for one<\/i> body \u2013 how does it act upon others?
\nIt begins to notice the possibility in other consciousnesses. From the moral
\npoint of view (that is to say, in respect to attitudes and character and
\nreactions), it is quite visible; even from the physical point of view
\nsometimes: all of a sudden something disappears \u2013 as we had the experience when
\nSri Aurobindo removed a pain (gesture as if a hand comes and takes away the
\npain): one wondered … \u201cAh! gone, vanished, like that.” But it is not
\nconstant, not general, it is only to show that it can be so, by the fact that
\nit is so in one case or another, to show that it can be like that. <\/span><\/p>\n

One might say it in this way: the body has the feeling that it is
\nimprisoned within something \u2013 yes, imprisoned \u2013 imprisoned as though in a box,
\nbut it sees through; it sees and it can also act (in a limited way) through
\nsomething which is still there and which must disappear. This \u201csomething”
\ngives the feeling of an imprisonment. How is it to disappear? That I do not
\nknow yet. <\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/span>One has to find the
\nrelation between the consciousness in one body and the consciousness of all.
\nAnd to what extent there is dependence and to what extent there is
\nindependence, that is to say, up to what point the body can be transformed in
\nits consciousness (and as a result, necessarily, in its appearance) without…
\nwithout the transformation of all \u2013 up to what point? And to what extent the
\ntransformation of all is necessary for the transformation of one body. This
\nremains to be discovered. <\/span>
\n <\/span><\/p>\n

(Silence<\/i>) <\/span><\/p>\n

 If one were to tell everything, it would take hours…. <\/span>
\n
\n <\/span><\/p>\n

\nPage – 145<\/span><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n
\n

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

But this \u201cbox” you
\nspoke of, it is a universal box …<\/span><\/i> <\/span><\/p>\n

Yes!  <\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

I have often had the
\nfeeling that all these so-called human laws or \u201cnatural\u201d laws are merely an
\nimmense morbid imagination collectively fixed \u2013\u00a0
\n<\/span>that is the box. <\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

 <\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

Yes, exactly
\nso, exactly so. <\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/span><\/p>\n

Then, how… <\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

 <\/span><\/p>\n

Yes, to what
\nextent can an individual light act upon that?… There is the problem…. I do
\nnot know. <\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/span><\/p>\n

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

 <\/span><\/p>\n

The vision is very clear, of the collective progress (our field of
\nexperience is the earth) that has taken place upon earth; but considering the
\npast, it would seem that a formidable time is still needed for all to be ready
\nto change…. And yet, it is almost a promise that… there is going to be a
\nsudden change (which is translated in our consciousness as a \u201cdescent”, an
\naction that \u201chappens”, something that was not acting till now and which has
\nbegun to act \u2013 in our consciousness, it is translated in that way) . <\/span><\/p>\n

We shall see. <\/span><\/p>\n

For the body itself, there is a growing experience, that is to
\nsay, a more and more precise experience at the same time of its fragility
\n(extreme fragility: just a little movement could stop the present existence),
\nand at the same time, at the same time, simultaneously, the sense of an
\neternity ! \u2013 that there is an eternal existence. The two at the same time. <\/span><\/p>\n

It is truly a period of transition ! <\/span>
\n
\n <\/span><\/p>\n

\nPage – 146<\/span><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n
\n

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

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

 <\/span><\/p>\n

Once or twice, when the body’s… what one might call its agony to
\nknow, was very intense, when it had the full sense of the Presence, this sense
\nof the Presence everywhere, inside, everywhere (Mother touches her face, her hands<\/i>), it asked how (not even why, it
\nhad no such curiosity), how could there be the present disorder? Well, when it
\nwas very intense, very intense, once or twice it had the feeling: Once this is
\nfound out, it is immortality. Then it begins thus to push, to push in order to
\ncatch the secret, it has the feeling that it is going to be found…. And then
\nthere is a kind of lull in the aspiration: \u201cPeace, peace, peace…\u201d Yes, once
\nor twice the impression: \u201cOh! It is about to be understood” (\u201cunderstood”,
\nthat is to say, lived; it is not \u201cunderstood” with the thought: lived) and
\nthen… (gesture of escape<\/i>). And a
\nPeace which comes down. <\/span><\/p>\n

But the feeling: it will be tomorrow. But tomorrow, which
\ntomorrow? Not tomorrow according to our measure. <\/span><\/p>\n

We shall see. <\/span><\/p>\n

But the experiences are innumerable, with all the aspects. It
\nwould take hours and still one always has the feeling that the word, well,
\nfalsifies something. It is no longer so simple, no longer so beautiful, and no
\nlonger so clear. It becomes complicated. <\/span><\/p>\n

The body has absolutely wonderful moments; it has hours <\/i>of agony. And all of a sudden, a
\nwonderful moment. But that moment cannot be explained…. If one is to judge
\nthe degree of growth by the proportion of time, well… the wonderful moment
\nlasts a few minutes, and there are hours of agony. There are even hours of
\nsuffering. And then if one judged the proportion accordingly, it is still very,
\nvery, very, extremely far away … <\/span><\/p>\n

But what is to be done? One has to go on, that is all. <\/span><\/p>\n

\nPage – 147<\/span><\/p>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/table>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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