{"id":4150,"date":"2013-07-13T01:53:46","date_gmt":"2013-07-13T01:53:46","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/localhost\/?p=4150"},"modified":"2013-12-01T21:29:30","modified_gmt":"2013-12-02T05:29:30","slug":"04-22-jan-to-18-may-1966-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\/04-22-jan-to-18-may-1966-vol-11-notes-on-the-way-volume-11","title":{"rendered":"-04_22 Jan to 18 May 1966.htm"},"content":{"rendered":"\n\n
\n
\n


\n22 January 1966<\/font><\/span><\/b><\/p>\n

 <\/span><\/p>\n

I experienced this morning, for two hours, a kind of blissful
\nstate in which there was such a clear consciousness that all the forms of life,
\nin all the worlds and at all moments, are the expression of a choice <\/span>―<\/span> one chooses to be like that.<\/span><\/p>\n

It is very difficult to say with words…. The kind of obligation
\nin which one believes oneself to be living, to which one believes oneself to be
\nsubmitted, had completely disappeared, and it was quite a spontaneous and
\nnatural perception that the life upon earth, and the life in other worlds, and
\nall kinds of life upon earth and all kinds of life in other worlds are simply a
\nquestion of choice: you have chosen to be like that and you choose constantly
\nto be like this or to be like that, or whether it happens like this or it
\nhappens like that; and you choose also to believe that you are submitted to a
\nfatality or to a necessity or to a law which compels you <\/span>― <\/span>everything is a question of choice. And there was a feeling of
\nlightness, of freedom, and then a smile for everything. At the same time it
\ngives you a tremendous power. All feeling of compulsion, of necessity <\/span>― <\/span>of fatality still more <\/span>― <\/span>had disappeared
\ncompletely. All the illnesses, all the happenings, all the dramas, all that:
\ndisappeared. And this concrete and so brutal reality of the physical life: gone
\ncompletely.<\/span><\/p>\n

I lived this state for more than an hour and a half this morning.
\nAfterwards, I was obliged to return … to a state which appears to me artificial,
\nbut which is compulsory because of others, by contact with others and with
\nthings, and the innumerable quantity of things to be done. But all the same, in
\nthe background the experience remains. And there remains a kind of amused smile
\nfor all the complications of life <\/span>― <\/span>the state in which one
\nfinds oneself has been the fact of a choice, and for the individual the freedom
\nof choice is there, and people have forgotten it. It is this that is so
\ninteresting.<\/span> <\/span><\/p>\n

\nPage – 30<\/span><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n
\n

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

I saw at the same time the whole tableau of human knowledge
\n(because when those states are there, all human realisations, all human
\nknowledge, come like a panorama before the new state and are put each in its
\nplace <\/span>―<\/span> always, always when an experience comes, it is as though
\nretrospective) and I saw all the theories, the beliefs, the philosophies, the
\nway they link themselves with the new state; it was amusing. <\/span><\/p>\n

And that does not call for a rest. These experiences are so
\nconcrete, so spontaneous and real (they are not the result of a will, still
\nless of an effort) that they do not call for a rest. <\/span><\/p>\n

But those who managed to have this experience for whatever reason,
\nand who had not a thorough philosophical and mental preparation (the saints or
\nin fact all those who led a spiritual life) had then a very acute impression of
\nthe unreality of life and the illusion of life. But it is only a narrow view.
\nIt is not that, it is not that.
\nEverything<\/i> is a choice! Everything, everything. The Lord’s choice, but in
\nus, not there (gesture upward<\/i>): here.
\nAnd we do not know it, it is quite within the heart of ourselves. And when we
\nknow it, we can choose <\/span>―
\n<\/span>we can choose our choice, it is wonderful.<\/span><\/p>\n

And this sort of fatality and bondage and hardness of existence,
\nall have disappeared. All disappeared. It was light blue, light rose, all
\nluminous and limpid and light.<\/span><\/p>\n

I conceive very well that this is not an absolute thing; it was
\nonly a way of being, but a very charming way of being…. Usually those who
\nhave not a sufficient intellectual preparation, when they have an experience of
\nthis kind, they believe they have caught the sole truth. And then with that,
\nthey dogmatise<\/span>. But I saw quite well that it is not
\nthat, it is one way of being, although it is a fine way of being, well,
\ninfinitely superior to what we have here. And we can have it here: I have had
\nit. I have had it in an altogether concrete way. And there is always something
\nthat is not all right, wrong here or wrong there, or this or that, and then
\ncircumstances also that are not all right; <\/span>
\n
\n <\/span><\/p>\n

\nPage – 31<\/span><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n
\n

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

always there
\nare difficulties <\/span>―<\/span> all that… that changes colour<\/span>. And it
\nbecomes light, light <\/span>―<\/span> light, supple. All the hardness and stiffness: gone.<\/span><\/p>\n

 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 <\/span>And the feeling also that if you choose to
\nbe like that, you can continue to be like that. And it is true. It is all the
\nwrong habits <\/span>―
\n<\/span>evidently millennial habits upon earth <\/span>― <\/span>all the wrong habits that prevent you. But there is no reason why
\nthis should not be a permanent state. Because this changes everything!
\nEverything changes!… It is evident that if one becomes master of that state,
\none can change all the circumstances around oneself.<\/span><\/p>\n

In recent times (for a rather long time), there was this same
\ndifficulty with the body, which is not limited and shut up in a shell as is
\ngenerally the case, and which receives spontaneously, not even with the feeling
\nof \u201creceiving”, which has the vibrations of all that surrounds it. And then,
\nwhen all that surrounds it is, from the mental and moral point of view, closed,
\nuncomprehending, it is a little difficult; that is to say, they are elements
\nthat come and must be transformed. It is a kind of totality, a very multiple
\nand very unstable totality, representing your field of consciousness and
\naction, and upon which you must work all the time to re-establish a harmony, a
\nminimum of harmony. And when around you something goes \u201cwrong” according to
\nthe ordinary idea, it makes the work a little difficult. It is at the same time
\ntenuous and persistent and obstinate. I remember, just before the experience,
\nthere was in the body an aspiration for harmony, for light, for a kind of
\nsmiling peace. The body aspired above all for a harmony, because of all these
\nthings that grind and scrape. And probably the experience has been the result
\nof this aspiration.<\/span><\/p>\n

Only, I have noted that in the life of this body I have never had
\nthe same experience twice <\/span>―<\/span> I may have the same kind of experience in a higher degree or in a
\nmuch vaster degree, but never identically the same. And I do not retain the
\nexperience; I am all the while, all the while (gesture forward<\/i>), all the while<\/span> <\/span><\/p>\n

\nPage – 32<\/span><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n
\n

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

\non the march. Yes, the work of transformation
\nof the consciousness is so rapid, must be done so quickly that there is no time
\nto enjoy or dwell upon an experience or get some satisfaction in it for any
\nlength of time <\/span>―
\n<\/span>it is impossible. It comes forcefully, very forcefully; that is to
\nsay, it changes everything. And then something else comes. It is the same with
\nregard to the transformation of the cells. All kinds of small disorders come,
\nbut they are visibly, for the consciousness, disorders of transformation; and
\nthen one is busy with that point, one wants to re-establish the order. And at
\nthe same time there is something that knows pertinently that the disorder has
\ncome to make the transition from ordinary automatic functioning to conscious
\nfunctioning under the direct guidance and the direct influence of the Supreme.
\nAnd the body itself knows it; all the same it is not amusing to have pain here
\nor pain there, or to have this or that get out of order, but it knows.<\/i> And when that point has arrived
\nat a certain degree of transformation, one passes on to another point, then
\nanother, then yet another; so nothing is done, no work is done definitively
\nuntil… everything is ready. Then the same work has to be begun again on a
\nhigher or vaster level or with greater intensity or more in detail (that
\ndepends upon the case), until the whole<\/i>
\nis brought to a point homogeneous and ready in a similar way.<\/span><\/p>\n

As I see it, it is moving as fast as it can, but it takes a long
\ntime. And everything is a question of changing the habit. The entire automatic
\nhabit of thousands of years has to be changed into a conscious action directly
\nguided by the supreme Consciousness.<\/span><\/p>\n

One is inclined to say that it is much longer and much more
\ndifficult because one is surrounded by people and one acts in the world, but if
\none were not in such conditions, many things would be forgotten, many. Many
\nthings would not be done. There are all kinds of vibrations that have no
\naffinity with this aggregate 1<\/sup> and which would never have the
\noccasion to<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

1<\/font><\/span><\/sup>\u00a0\u00a0 <\/span>Mother is referring to her body<\/font><\/span>. <\/span><\/font> <\/span><\/p>\n

\nPage – 33<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n
\n

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

touch the
\ntransforming Force if I were not in contact with everyone.<\/span><\/p>\n

It is very evident <\/span>― <\/span>it is very evident <\/span>― <\/span>that one is placed in the best of conditions and has the maximum
\npossibilities for action… when one wants it sincerely.<\/span> <\/span><\/p>\n

\nPage – 34<\/font><\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n
\n

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


\n18 May 1966<\/font><\/a><\/span><\/b><\/p>\n

 <\/span><\/p>\n

You have heard about those drugs? 1 <\/sup>Have you seen any
\npictures?… I have. People are thrust without the least defence<\/span>
\ninto the lowest vital, and according to their nature they find it either
\nfrightful or marvellous. For example, the cloth covering a cushion or a chair
\nsuddenly takes on a wondrous beauty. This lasts for about two or three hours.
\nNaturally, they are completely out of their senses the whole time. And the pity
\nof it is that people call these \u201cspiritual experiences”, and there is nobody
\nto tell them that this has nothing to do with spiritual experience.<\/span><\/p>\n

Some time ago I received a letter from someone who told me he had
\ntaken these drugs, and he said he had had terrible visions, that the walls of
\nhis room were alive with thousands of evil and desperate faces which persecuted
\nhim till nightfall. There you are!<\/span><\/p>\n

And so this gave me yet another proof… I saw pictures in Life \u2013 <\/i>there were some photographs \u2013 it
\nwas as though you had entered a madhouse. For these are images registered in
\nthe subconscient<\/span> \u2013 images of thoughts, images of
\nsensations, images of feelings, registered in the subconscient<\/span>
\n\u2013 which become objective, which come up to the surface and become objective.
\nThus they give the exact picture of what is within.<\/span><\/p>\n

For instance, if you have the feeling or thought that someone is
\nwicked or ridiculous or does not like you, in short, ideas of this kind \u2013
\ngenerally all this comes up in dream, but here you are not asleep and you have
\nthe dream! \u2013 they come to play the game you have thought of; what you have
\nthought of them comes back upon you in their form. So this is an indication:
\nfor those who see happy, amiable, beautiful images, this means that within,
\neverything is going on quite well (vitally), <\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/span><\/p>\n

1<\/font><\/span><\/sup> <\/font> <\/span>Mother is referring to the hallucinogenic drug called LSD, a
\nderivative of lysergic acid.<\/font><\/span> <\/span><\/p>\n

\nPage – 35<\/span><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n
\n

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

but for
\nthose who see terrifying or evil things, or things of that sort, it means that
\nthe vital is not pretty.<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/span><\/p>\n

Yes, but isn’t there an
\nobjective vital, where these visions have no relation with our own subconscient<\/span>?<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

 <\/span><\/p>\n

Yes, there
\nis, but it hasn’t the same character.<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/span><\/p>\n

Not the same character?<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

 <\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

One cannot
\nknow it unless one goes into the vital fully conscious \u2013 conscious of his own
\nvital and conscious in the vital world as one is conscious in the physical
\nworld. One goes there consciously. It is not a dream, it hasn’t the nature of a
\ndream; it is like an activity, an experience, and it is quite different.<\/span><\/p>\n

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

But there do exist also
\nthese vital worlds where one is persecuted, terrible worlds, worlds of torture
\nand persecution, isn’t it so?<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

 <\/span><\/p>\n

Ninety per
\ncent subjective.<\/span><\/p>\n

Ninety per cent subjective. For more than a year, regularly, every
\nnight, at the same hour and in the same way, I used to enter the vital to do
\nsome special work there. This was not due to my own will: I was destined to do
\nit. It was something I had to do. Now, for instance, this entry into the vital
\nhas been often described: there is a passage where beings are posted to keep
\nyou from entering (much has been said about these things in books of
\noccultism). Well, I know by an experience, not casual, but repeated and
\nunderstood, that this opposition or this malevolence is ninety per cent
\npsychological, in the sense that if you do not anticipate it or fear it, or
\nthat there isn’t something in you that fears the unknown nor has all these
\nmovements of apprehension and so forth, then it is like a shadow across a picture
\nor the projection of an image: it has no concrete reality.<\/span> \u00a0 <\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

\nPage – 36<\/span><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n
\n

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

I have had, it is true, one or two real vital battles in going to
\nthe rescue of someone who had gone astray. And twice I have received blows, and
\nthe next morning when I woke up there was the mark (Mother touches her right eye<\/i>). Well, in these two cases, I know it
\nwas something in me \u2013 not any fear, I have never been afraid there, but because
\nI anticipated it. The idea that \u201cthis could very well happen” and the fact
\nthat I was expecting it, made the blow come. I knew it for certain. And if I
\nhad been in what may be called my \u201cnormal state”, of inner certitude, this
\ncould not have touched me, it could not. And I had had this apprehension
\nbecause an occultist whom I knew, had lost an eye in a vital fight and she had
\ntold me about it; and so (Mother laughs<\/i>),
\nthat gave me the idea that this was possible, because it had happened to her!
\nBut when I am in my own state \u2013 I cannot <\/i>even
\nsay that, it is not \u201cpersonal”, it is a way of being \u2013 when one is in the true
\nstate, when one is a conscious being and has the true way of being, this cannot
\ntouch one.<\/span><\/p>\n

It is like the experience of meeting an enemy and wanting to
\nstrike him, and then the blows do not go home and all that you do has no effect
\n\u2013 it is always subjective. I have had every proof, every proof.<\/span><\/p>\n

 \u00a0 <\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0 <\/span>\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/span>But then, what is objective?<\/i><\/span><\/p>\n

  <\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/span>There are worlds, there are beings, there are
\npowers, they have their own existence; but what I mean is that their relation
\nwith the human consciousness depends upon this human consciousness for the form
\nthey take.<\/span><\/p>\n

It is as with the gods, my child, it is the same thing. All these
\nbeings of the Overmind, all these gods, the relation with them, the form of
\nthese relations, depend upon the human consciousness. You may be… It has been
\nsaid, \u201cMen are cattle for the gods”, but if men accept<\/i> to be cattle. There is in the essence of human nature a
\nsovereignty over all things which is sponta<\/span>–<\/span> <\/span><\/p>\n

\nPage – 37<\/span><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n
\n

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

neous<\/span><\/span> and natural, when it is not falsified by
\na certain number of ideas and so-called knowledge.<\/span><\/p>\n

One could say that man is the all-powerful master of all the
\nstates of being of his nature, but that he has forgotten to be this.<\/span><\/p>\n

His natural state is to be all-powerful \u2013 he has forgotten to be
\nthis.<\/span><\/p>\n

In this state of forgetfulness, everything becomes concrete, yes,
\nin the sense that one may have a mark left on the eye; it may translate itself
\nlike this, but it is because… because one has allowed it to happen.<\/span><\/p>\n

It is the same thing with the gods. They can govern your life and
\ntorment you a lot (they can help you a lot also), but their power, in relation to you,<\/i> to the human being,
\nis the power you give them.<\/span><\/p>\n

This is something I learnt gradually over several years. But now I
\nam sure of it.<\/span><\/p>\n

Naturally, in the evolutionary curve, it was necessary for man to
\nforget his omnipotence, because it had simply puffed him up with pride and
\nvanity, and so had become completely distorted; and he had to be made to feel
\nthat many things were stronger and more powerful than he. But essentially this
\nis not true. It is a necessity of the curve of progress, that’s all.<\/span><\/p>\n

Man is potentially a god. He believed himself an actual god. He
\nneeded to learn that he was nothing better than a poor little worm crawling on
\nthe earth, and so life scraped, scraped, scraped him in every way until he
\nhad… not understood, but at least felt a bit. But as soon as he takes the
\nright stand, he knows that he is potentially a god. Only, he must become this,
\nthat is, overcome all that is not this.<\/span><\/p>\n

This relationship with the gods is extremely interesting…. As
\nlong as man stands dazzled, lost in admiration of the power, beauty,
\naccomplishments of these divine beings, he is their slave. But when these
\nbecome for him different ways of being of the Supreme and nothing more, and
\nhimself yet another way of being of the Supreme, which he must become, then the
\nrela<\/span><\/span>tion<\/span><\/span> changes and he is no longer their slave \u2013
\nhe is not their slave.<\/span> <\/span><\/p>\n

\nPage – 38<\/span><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n
\n

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

Then the only
\nobjectivity is the Supreme.<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

 <\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

There, you
\nhave said it, my child. It is this. It is exactly this.<\/span><\/p>\n

If the word \u201cobjectivity” is taken to mean \u201creal independent
\nexistence”\u2013 self-existence, independent and real \u2013 there is only the Supreme.<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/span><\/p>\n

Nevertheless, there is
\nsomething disquieting about this almost total subjectivity.<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

 <\/span><\/p>\n

Ah, why?<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/span><\/p>\n

One wonders what is
\nreal, what one really comes across? Isn’t everything a tissue of imagination? This
\nis rather disquieting.<\/span><\/i> \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 <\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/span><\/p>\n

But when one
\nhas the positive experience of the one and only existence of the Supreme and
\nthat all is only the Supreme playing to Himself, instead of being something
\ndisquieting or unpleasant or troubling, it is on the contrary a sort of total
\nsecurity.<\/span><\/p>\n

The one reality is the Supreme. And all this is a game He plays to
\nHimself. I find this much more comforting than the opposite view.<\/span><\/p>\n

And after all, this is the only certitude that all this may become
\nsomething marvellous; otherwise…<\/span><\/p>\n

And this too depends altogether on the stand one takes. A complete
\nidentification with the game as a game, as something self-existent and independent,
\nis probably necessary in the beginning, in order to play the game properly. But
\nthere’s a moment when one reaches precisely this detachment and so complete a
\ndisgust for all the falsehood of existence, that it is no longer<\/span> <\/span>tolerable
\nunless one sees it as the inner play of the Lord in Himself, for Himself<\/span><\/p>\n

\nPage – 39<\/span><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n
\n

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

And then one feels this absolute and perfect freedom which makes
\nthe most marvellous possibilities become real, and all the most sublime things
\nimaginable are realisable<\/span>. <\/span><\/p>\n

(Mother enters into
\ncontemplation.<\/i>)<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/span><\/p>\n

You will see, there is a moment when one cannot bear oneself or
\nlife unless one takes the attitude that it is the Lord who is everything. You
\nsee, this Lord, how many things He possesses, He plays with all this \u2013 He
\nplays, He plays at changing the positions. And so, when one sees this, this
\nwhole, one feels the illimitable marvel, and that all our most wonderful
\naspirations, all these are quite possible and will even be surpassed. Then one
\nis comforted. Otherwise, existence… it is inconsolable. But like this, it
\nbecomes charming. I shall tell you about this one day.<\/span><\/p>\n

When one feels the unreality of life, the unreality of life when
\ncompared with a reality which is certainly beyond, above, but at the same time within<\/i> life, then, at that moment…
\n\u201cAh, yes, at last this, it is true \u2013 at last this, it is true and deserves to
\nbe true. This is the realisation of all possible splendours, all possible
\nmarvels, yes, of all possible felicities, all possible beauties, yes, this;
\notherwise\u2026 ”<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 <\/span>I have come to that!<\/span><\/p>\n

And then, I feel as though I still have one foot here, one foot
\nthere, which is not a <\/span>very<\/span> comfortable
\nposition, because… because one would wish that there be nothing but That.<\/span><\/p>\n

The present way
\nof being is a past which truly should no longer be there. While the other: \u201cAh!
\nAt last! At last! It is for this that there is a world.”<\/span><\/p>\n

And everything else remains quite as concrete and real \u2013 it does
\nnot become hazy! It is just as concrete, just as real, but… but it becomes
\ndivine, because… because it is the Divine. It is the Divine who plays.<\/span> <\/span><\/p>\n

\nPage – 40<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

\n\t\t<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/table>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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