{"id":4191,"date":"2013-07-13T01:54:03","date_gmt":"2013-07-13T01:54:03","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/localhost\/?p=4191"},"modified":"2013-07-13T01:54:03","modified_gmt":"2013-07-13T01:54:03","slug":"22-readings-vol-12-on-education-volume-12","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/worksofthemotherandsriaurobindo.org\/index.php\/02-works-of-the-mother\/01-cwmce\/12-on-education-volume-12\/22-readings-vol-12-on-education-volume-12","title":{"rendered":"-22_Readings.htm"},"content":{"rendered":"\n\n
\n
\n

\n
\n
\nReading<\/font><\/span><\/b> <\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/span><\/p>\n

Sweet Mother, You have said that I do not think well. How can one
\ndevelop one’s thought? <\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

 <\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

You must read with great attention and concentration, not novels
\nor dramas, but books that make you think. You must meditate on what you have
\nread, reflect on a thought until you have understood it. Talk little, remain
\nquiet and concentrated and speak only when it is indispensable. <\/span> <\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/span>31 May 1960 <\/span><\/i> <\/span><\/p>\n

I am reading a book on motor-cars, but I read it hastily; I <\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

skip the descriptions of complicated mechanisms. <\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

 <\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

If you don’t want to learn a thing thoroughly, conscientiously and
\nin all its details, it is better not to take it up at all. It is a great
\nmistake to think that a little superficial and incomplete knowledge of things
\ncan be of any use whatsoever; it is good for nothing except making people
\nconceited, for they imagine they know and in fact know nothing. <\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/span><\/p>\n

Read carefully whatever you read, and read it again a second time
\nif you have not understood it properly. <\/span><\/p>\n

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

Y has just written to me about the great number of novels that you
\nread. I do not think that this kind of reading is good for you \u2013 and if it is
\nto study style, as you told me, an attentive  <\/span><\/p>\n

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

<\/p>\n
\n

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

study of one good book by a good author, done with care, teaches
\nmuch more than this hasty and superficial reading.  <\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/span><\/p>\n

I had two reasons for reading novels, to learn words and style. <\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

 <\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

In order to learn you must read very carefully and choose with
\ncare what you read. <\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

25 October
\n 1934<\/span><\/i> <\/span><\/i>\u00a0<\/span> <\/span><\/p>\n

Do you think I should stop reading Gujarati literature? <\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

 <\/span><\/p>\n

It all depends on the effect this literature has on your
\nimagination. If it fills your head with undesirable ideas and your vital with
\ndesires, it is certainly better to stop reading this kind of book. <\/span> <\/span><\/p>\n


\n\u00a0<\/span><\/i>2
\n November 1934<\/span><\/i> <\/span><\/i>\u00a0<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

Is there any harm in my reading novels in French? <\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

 <\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

Reading novels is never beneficial. <\/span> <\/span><\/p>\n


\n\u00a0<\/span><\/i>24
\n April 1937<\/span><\/i> <\/span><\/i> <\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/span><\/p>\n

When one reads dirty books, an obscene novel, does not the vital
\nenjoy through the mind? <\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

 <\/span><\/p>\n

In the mind also there are perversions. It is a very poor and unrefined
\nvital which can take pleasure in such things!  <\/span><\/p>\n

\nPage \u2013 143<\/span><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n
\n

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

In unformed minds what they read sinks in without any regard to
\nits value and imprints itself as truth. It is advisable therefore to be careful
\nabout what one gives them to read and to see that only what is true and useful
\nfor their formation gets a place. <\/span> <\/span><\/p>\n


\n\u00a0<\/span><\/i>3
\n June 1939<\/span><\/i> <\/span><\/i> <\/span><\/p>\n

I do not approve of these literature classes in which, ostensibly
\nfor the sake of knowledge (?), they flounder in the mud of a state of mind
\nwhich is out of place here and which cannot in any way help to build up the
\nconsciousness of tomorrow. I repeated this to X yesterday in connection with
\nyour letter, and I explained briefly to him how I saw the transition period
\nbetween what was and what will be. <\/span><\/p>\n

If we could discover, either here or there, the expression of a
\nsincere and luminous aspiration, it could be made into an opportunity for study
\nand become an interesting development. <\/span><\/p>\n

Examine the matter together and let me know what you decide. <\/span><\/p>\n

In any case: no more \u201cliterature classes\u201d.<\/span> <\/span><\/p>\n


\n\u00a0<\/span><\/i>18
\n July 1959<\/span><\/i> <\/span><\/i>\u00a0<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

What is the value of literature? <\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

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

It depends on what you want to be or do.
\nIf you want to be a litt\u00e9rateur, you must read a lot of literature. Then you
\nwill know what has been written and you won\u2019t repeat old things. You have to
\nkeep an alert mind and know how to say things in a striking manner.<\/span><\/p>\n

But if you want real knowledge, you can’t find it in literature.
\nTo me, literature as such is on a pretty low level \u2013 it is mostly a work of the
\ncreative vital, and the highest it reaches  <\/span><\/p>\n

\nPage \u2013 144<\/span><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n
\n

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

is up to the throat centre, the external expressive mind. This
\nmind puts one in relation with outside things. And, in its activity, literature
\nis all a game of fitting ideas to ideas and words to ideas and words to one
\nanother. It can develop a certain skill in the mind, some capacity for
\ndiscussion, description, amusement and wit. <\/span><\/p>\n

I haven’t read much of English literature \u2013 I have gone through
\nonly a few hundred books. But I know French literature very well \u2013 I have read
\na whole library of it. And I can say that it has no great value in terms of
\nTruth. Real knowledge comes from above the mind. What literature gives is the
\nplay of a lot of common or petty ideas. Only on a rare occasion does some ray
\nfrom above come in. If you look into thousands and thousands of books, you will
\nfind just one small intuition here and there. The rest is nothing. <\/span><\/p>\n

I can’t say that the reading of literature equips one better to
\nunderstand Sri Aurobindo. On the contrary, it can be a hindrance. For, the same
\nwords are used and the purpose for which they are used is so different from the
\npurpose for which Sri Aurobindo has made use of them, the manner in which they
\nhave been put together to express things is so different from Sri Aurobindo’s
\nthat these words tend to put one off from the light which Sri Aurobindo wants
\nto convey to us through them. To get to Sri Aurobindo’s light we must empty our
\nminds of all that literature has said and done. We must go inward and stay in a
\nreceptive silence and turn it upward. Then alone we get something in the right
\nway. At the worst, I have seen that the study of literature makes one silly and
\nperverse enough to sit in judgment on Sri Aurobindo’s English and find fault
\nwith his grammar!\u00a0 <\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

But, of course, I am not discouraging the teaching of literature
\naltogether. Many of our children are in a crude state and literature can help
\nto give their minds some shape, some suppleness. They need a good deal of
\ncarving in many places. They have to be recharged, made active and agile.
\nLiterature can serve<\/span> <\/span><\/p>\n

\nPage \u2013 145<\/span><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n
\n

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

as a sort of gymnastics
\nand stir up and awaken the young intelligence. <\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

I may add that the whole controversy that has gone on among the
\nteachers recently on the value of literature is a storm in a tea-cup. It is
\nreally part of a problem which concerns the whole basis of education. All that
\nhas been going on in every department of our School is to me one single problem
\nat bottom. When I look at the education everywhere, I feel like the Yogi who
\nwas told to sit and meditate in front of a wall. I find myself facing a wall.
\nIt is a greyish wall, with some streaks of blue running across it \u2013 these are
\nthe efforts of the teachers to do something worthwhile \u2013 but everything goes on
\nsuperficially and behind it all is like this wall here on which I am striking
\nmy hand now. It is hard and impenetrable, it shuts out the true light. There is
\nno door \u2013 one can’t enter through it and pass into that light. <\/span><\/p>\n

When the young students come to me and tell me about their work,
\neach time I want to say something useful I find the same solid wall blocking
\nme. <\/span><\/p>\n

I have the intention of taking in hand the problem of education. I
\nam preparing myself for it. It may take two years. But I have warned Pavitra
\nthat when I intervene and remould things, it may seem like a cyclone. People
\nmay feel that they can no longer stand on their legs! So many matters will get
\nupset. There will be all-round bewilderment at first. But, as a result of the
\ncyclone, the wall will break down and the true light burst in. <\/span><\/p>\n

I thought it fair to say beforehand that there would be a radical
\nchange. This way the teachers can be prepared for it. <\/span><\/p>\n

I do not wish to doubt or ignore the goodwill among the teachers
\nof literature. And there are some old teachers who are sincerely doing their
\nbest. I appreciate all this. And in my decision on the alternatives set before
\nme by the School I have taken everything into consideration. But the whole
\ndiscussion, I repeat, has been a lot of unnecessary excitement \u2013 what could be
\ncalled a quarrel among ants or, as one says in French, \u201cIl n’y a pas de quoi fouetter un chat.\u201d<\/span>\u00b9<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n1" There is nothing to beat a cat about."<\/sup><\/p>\n

\nPage \u2013 146<\/span><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n
\n

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

There is a subtle world where you can see all possible subjects
\nfor paintings, novels, plays of all kinds, even the cinema. <\/span><\/p>\n

It is from there that most authors receive their inspiration. <\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/span><\/p>\n

(A teacher suggested that books dealing with subjects like crime,
\nviolence and licentiousness should not be available to young people.)<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

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

It is not so much a question of subject-matter but of vulgarity of
\nmind and narrowness and selfish common-sense in the conception of life,
\nexpressed in a form devoid of art, greatness or refinement, which must be
\ncarefully removed from the reading-matter of children both big and small. All
\nthat lowers and degrades the consciousness must be excluded. <\/span><\/p>\n


\n\u00a0<\/span><\/i>1
\n November 1959<\/span><\/i> <\/span><\/i> <\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

The selection [of books] has to be carefully done. Some of the
\nbooks contain ideas which are sure to lower the consciousness of our children.
\nOnly such books are to be recommended as have some bearing on our Ideal or
\ncontain historic tales, adventures or explorations.<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

 <\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

One is never too careful with books which have the most pernicious
\neffect. <\/span><\/p>\n

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


\n\u00a0<\/span><\/i>17
\n April 1967<\/span><\/i> <\/span><\/p>\n

\nPage \u2013 147<\/span><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n
\n

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

\u00a0 <\/span>I have been laying
\ngreat stress on the stories of the Ramayana and Mahabharata and on the songs of
\nKabir, Mira, etc. Is it against your way to continue these old things? <\/i><\/span><\/p>\n

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

Not at all \u2013 it is the attitude that is important. The past must
\nbe a spring-board towards the future, not a chain preventing from advancing. As
\nI said, all depends on the attitude towards the past. <\/span><\/p>\n

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

Some of the best poets and saints have written about the love of
\nRadha and <\/span><\/i>Krishna<\/span><\/i> as if it were carnal love. <\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

 <\/span><\/p>\n

I always considered it as an incapacity of finding the true words
\nand the correct language. <\/span><\/p>\n

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

Stop reading all this nonsense. The occultism that can be found in
\nbooks is vital and most dangerous. <\/span><\/p>\n

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

If you want to know what is really happening in the world, you
\nshould not read newspapers of any sort, for they are full of lies. <\/span><\/p>\n

To read a newspaper is to take part in the great collective
\nfalsehoods. <\/span> <\/span><\/p>\n


\n\u00a0<\/span><\/i>2
\n February 1970<\/span><\/i> <\/span><\/i>\u00a0 <\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

Mother, <\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

How can one know what is happening in
\nother countries and even in our own, if we do not read<\/span><\/i> <\/span><\/p>\n

\nPage \u2013 148<\/span><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n
\n

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

\u00a0<\/span>papers? At least we get
\nsome idea from them, don’t we? Or would it be better not to read them at all? <\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

 <\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

I did not say that you must not read papers. I said that you must
\nnot blindly believe in all that you read, you must know that truth is quite
\nanother thing. <\/span><\/p>\n

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


\n\u00a0<\/span><\/i>4
\n February 1970<\/span><\/i> <\/span><\/i>\u00a0 <\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

I want to see what will happen to me if I stop reading completely.<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

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

It is difficult to keep one’s mind always fixed on the same thing,
\nand if it is not given enough work to occupy it, it begins to become restless.
\nSo I think it is better to choose one’s books carefully rather than stop
\nreading altogether. <\/span><\/p>\n

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

(Written on a slip placed in a copy of<\/span>
\nPri\u00e8res et M\u00e9ditations de la M\u00e8re} <\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

 <\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

Do not read this book unless you have the intention of putting it
\ninto practice. <\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/span><\/p>\n

A library should be an intellectual sanctuary where one comes to
\nfind light and progress. <\/span><\/p>\n

\nPage \u2013 149<\/span><\/font><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/table>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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