{"id":4214,"date":"2013-07-13T01:54:12","date_gmt":"2013-07-13T01:54:12","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/localhost\/?p=4214"},"modified":"2013-07-13T01:54:12","modified_gmt":"2013-07-13T01:54:12","slug":"15-helping-huminity-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\/15-helping-huminity-vol-12-on-education-volume-12","title":{"rendered":"-15_Helping-Huminity.htm"},"content":{"rendered":"\n\n
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\n


\nHelping Humanity <\/font><\/span><\/i><\/b> <\/span><\/p>\n

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


\n
\nF<\/font><\/span><\/b>or those who practise the integral Yoga, the welfare of humanity
\ncan be only a consequence and a result, it cannot be the aim. And if all the
\nefforts to improve human conditions have miserably failed in the end in spite
\nof all the ardour and enthusiasm and self-consecration they have inspired at
\nfirst, it is precisely because the transformation of the conditions of human
\nlife can be achieved by another preliminary transformation, the transformation
\nof the human consciousness or at least of a few exceptional individuals capable
\nof laying the foundations for a more widespread transformation. <\/span><\/p>\n

But we shall return to this subject later on; it will form our
\nconclusion. First of all, I want to tell you about two striking examples chosen
\nfrom among the adepts of true philanthropy. <\/span><\/p>\n

Two outstanding beings at the two extremes of thought and action,
\ntwo of the finest human souls expressing themselves in sensitive and
\ncompassionate hearts, received the same psychic shock when they came into contact
\nwith the misery of men. Both devoted their whole lives to finding the remedy
\nfor the suffering of their fellow-men, and both believed they had found it. But
\nbecause their solutions, which may be described as contraries, were each in its
\nown domain incomplete and partial, both of them failed to relieve the suffering
\nof humanity. <\/span><\/p>\n

One in the East, Prince Siddhartha, later known as the Buddha, and
\nthe other in the West, Monsieur Vincent, who came to be called Saint Vincent de
\nPaul after his death, stood, so to say, at the two poles of human
\nconsciousness, and their methods of assistance were diametrically opposite. Yet
\nboth believed in salvation through the spirit, through the Absolute, unknowable
\nto thought, which one called God and the other Nirvana. <\/span><\/p>\n

Vincent de Paul had an ardent faith and preached to his flock that
\none must save one’s soul. But on coming into contact with human misery, he soon
\ndiscovered that in order to find <\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/span>Page \u2013 95<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n
\n

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

 one’s soul one must have time to look for it. And when do those
\nwho labour from morning till night and often from night till morning to eke out
\na living really have time to think of their souls? So in the simplicity of his
\ncharitable heart he concluded that if the poor were at least assured of the
\nbarest necessities by those who possess more than they need, these unfortunate
\npeople would have enough leisure to lead a better life. He believed in the
\nvirtue and efficacy of social work, of active and material charity. He believed
\nthat misery could be cured by the multiplication of individual cures, by
\nbringing relief to a greater number, to a very large number of individuals. But
\nthis is only a palliative, not a cure. The fullness of consecration,
\nself-abnegation and courage with which he carried on his work has made of him
\none of the most beautiful and touching figures in human history. And yet his
\nendeavour seems to have rather multiplied than diminished the number of the
\ndestitute and the helpless. Certainly the most positive result of his
\napostleship was to create an appreciable sense of charity in the mentality of a
\ncertain section of the well-to-do. And because of this, the work was truly more
\nuseful to those who were giving charity than to those who were the object of
\nthis charity. <\/span><\/p>\n

At the other extreme of consciousness stands the Buddha with his
\npure and sublime compassion. For him the suffering arising out of life
\ncould\u00a0 <\/span>be abolished by the abolition of
\nlife; for life and the world are the outcome of the desire to be, the fruit of
\nignorance. Abolish desire, eliminate ignorance, and the world will disappear
\nand with it all suffering and misery. In a great effort of spiritual aspiration
\nand silent concentration he elaborated his discipline, one of the most
\nuplifting and the most effective disciplines ever given to those who are eager
\nfor liberation. <\/span><\/p>\n

Millions have believed in his doctrine, although the number of
\nindividuals capable of putting it into practice has been very small. But the
\ncondition of the earth has remained practically the same and there has been no
\nappreciable diminution in the <\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/span> Page \u2013 96<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

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\n

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mass of human suffering. <\/span><\/p>\n

However, men have canonised the first and deified the second in
\ntheir attempt to express their gratitude and admiration. But very few have
\nsincerely tried to put into practice the lesson and example that were given to
\nthem, although that is truly the only effective way of showing one’s gratitude.
\nAnd yet, even if that had been done, the conditions of human life would not
\nhave been perceptibly improved. For to help is not the same as to cure, nor is
\nescaping the same as conquering. Indeed, to alleviate physical hardships, the
\nsolution proposed by Vincent de Paul can in no way be enough to cure humanity
\nof its misery and suffering, for not all human sufferings come from physical
\ndestitution and can be cured by material means ─ far from it. Bodily
\nwell-being does not inevitably bring peace and joy; and poverty is not
\nnecessarily a cause of misery, as is shown by the voluntary poverty of the
\nascetics of all countries and all ages, who found in their destitution the
\nsource and condition of a perfect peace and happiness. Whereas on the contrary,
\nthe enjoyment of worldly possessions, of all that material wealth can provide
\nin the way of comfort and pleasure and external satisfaction is powerless to
\nprevent one who possesses these things from suffering pain and sorrow. <\/span><\/p>\n

Neither can the other solution, escape, the solution of the
\nBuddha, present a practical remedy to the problem. For even if we suppose that
\na very large number of individuals are capable of practising the discipline and
\nachieving the final liberation, this can in no way abolish suffering from earth
\nand cure others of it, all the others who are still incapable of following the
\npath that leads to Nirvana. <\/span><\/p>\n

Indeed, true happiness is the happiness one can feel in any
\ncircumstances whatsoever, because it comes from regions which cannot be
\naffected by any external circumstances. But this happiness is accessible to a
\nvery few individuals, and most of the human race is still subject to
\nterrestrial conditions. So we can say on one hand that a change in the human
\nconsciousness<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/span>Page \u2013 97<\/span><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n
\n

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

is absolutely indispensable and, on the other, that without an
\nintegral transformation of the terrestrial atmosphere, the conditions of human
\nlife cannot be effectively changed. In either case, the remedy is the same: a
\nnew consciousness must manifest on earth and in man. Only the appearance of a
\nnew force and light and power accompanying the descent of the supramental
\nconsciousness into this world can raise man out of the anguish and pain and misery
\nin which he is submerged. For only the supramental consciousness bringing down
\nupon earth a higher poise and a purer and truer light can achieve the great
\nmiracle of transformation. <\/span><\/p>\n

Nature is striving towards this new manifestation. But her ways
\nare tortuous and her march is uncertain, full of halts and regressions, so much
\nso that it is difficult to perceive her true plan. However, it is becoming more
\nand more clear that she wants to bring forth a new species out of the human
\nspecies, a supramental race that will be to man what man is to the animal. But
\nthe advent of this transformation, this creation of a new race which Nature
\nwould take centuries of groping attempts to bring about, can be effected by the
\nintelligent will of man, not in a much shorter time but also with much less
\nwaste and loss. <\/span><\/p>\n

Here the integral Yoga has its rightful place and utility. For
\nYoga is meant to overcome, by the intensity of its concentration and effort,
\nthe delay that time imposes on all radical transformation, on all new creation.
\n<\/span><\/p>\n

The integral Yoga is not an escape from the physical world which
\nleaves it irrevocably to its fate, nor is it an acceptance of material life as
\nit is without any hope of decisive change, or of the world as the final
\nexpression of the Divine Will. <\/span><\/p>\n

The integral Yoga aims at scaling all the degrees of consciousness
\nfrom the ordinary mental consciousness to a supramental and divine
\nconsciousness, and when the ascent is completed, to return to the material
\nworld and infuse it with the supramental force and consciousness that have been
\nwon, so that<\/span><\/p>\n

\n
\nPage – 98<\/span><\/font><\/span><\/p>\n

\n

\nthis earth may be gradually transformed into a supramental and
\ndivine world. <\/span><\/p>\n

The
\nintegral Yoga is especially intended for those who have realised in themselves
\nall that man can realise and yet are not satisfied, for they demand from life
\nwhat it cannot give. Those who yearn for the unknown and aspire for perfection,
\nwho ask themselves agonising questions and have not found any definitive
\nanswers to them, thy are the ones who are ready for the integral Yoga.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 <\/span>For there is a
\nseries of fundamental questions which those who are concerned about the fate of
\nmankind and are not satisfied with current formulas inevitably ask themselves.
\nThey can be formulated approximately as follows: <\/span><\/p>\n

Why is one born if only to die? <\/span><\/p>\n

Why does one live if only to suffer? <\/span><\/p>\n

Why does one love if only to be separated? <\/span><\/p>\n

Why does one think if only to err? <\/span><\/p>\n

Why does one act if only to make mistakes? <\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/span>The sole acceptable answer
\nis that things are not what they ought to be and that these contradictions are
\nnot only not inevitable but they are rectifiable and will one day disappear.
\nFor the world is not irremediably what it is. The earth is in a period of
\ntransition that certainly seems long to the brief human consciousness, but
\nwhich is infinitesimal for the eternal consciousness. And this period will come
\nto an end with the appearance of the supramental consciousness. The
\ncontradictions will then be replaced by harmonies and the oppositions by
\nsyntheses. <\/span><\/p>\n

This new creation, the appearance of a superhuman race, has
\nalready been the object of much speculation and controversy. It pleases man’s
\nimagination to draw more or less flattering portraits of what the superman will
\nbe like. But only like can know like, and it is only by becoming conscious of
\nthe divine nature in its essence that one will be able to have a conception of
\nwhat the divine nature will be in the manifestation. <\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/span>Page \u2013 99<\/span><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n
\n

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

Yet those who have realised this consciousness in themselves are
\nusually more anxious to become the superman than to give a description of him. <\/span><\/p>\n

However, it may be useful to say what the superman will certainly
\nnot be, so as to clear away certain misunderstandings. For example, I have read
\nsomewhere that the superhuman race would be fundamentally cruel and insensitive;
\nsince it is above suffering, it will attach no importance to the suffering of
\nothers and will take it as a sign of their imperfection and inferiority. No
\ndoubt, those who think in this way are judging the relations between superman
\nand man from the manner in which man behaves towards his lesser brethren, the
\nanimals. But such behaviour, far from being a proof of superiority, is a sure
\nsign of unconsciousness and stupidity. This is shown by the fact that as soon
\nas man rises to a little higher level, he begins to feel compassion towards
\nanimals and seeks to improve their lot. Yet there is an element of truth in the
\nconception of the unfeeling superman: it is this, that the higher race will not
\nfeel the kind of egoistic, weak and sentimental pity which men call charity.
\nThis pity, which does more harm than good, will be replaced by a strong and
\nenlightened compassion whose only purpose will be to provide a true remedy to
\nsuffering, not to perpetuate it. <\/span><\/p>\n

On the other hand, this conception describes fairly well what the
\nreign of a race of vital beings upon earth would be like. They are immortal in
\ntheir nature and much more powerful than man in their capacities, but they are
\nalso incurably anti-divine in their will, and their mission in the universe seems
\nto be to delay the divine realisation until the instruments of this
\nrealisation, that is to say, men, become pure and strong and perfect enough to
\novercome all obstacles. It might not perhaps be useless to put the poor
\nafflicted earth on guard against the possibility of such an evil domination. <\/span><\/p>\n

Until the superman can come in person to show man what his true
\nnature is, it might be wise for every human being of <\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/span>Page \u2013 100<\/span><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n
\n

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

 goodwill to become conscious of what he can conceive as the most
\nbeautiful, the most noble, the truest and purest, the most luminous and best,
\nand to aspire that this conception may be realised in himself for the greatest
\ngood of the world and men. <\/span> <\/span><\/i><\/p>\n


\n\u00a0<\/font><\/span>Bulletin<\/span>,<\/font><\/span><\/i> November 1954 <\/font>  <\/font><\/span><\/p>\n

\nPage \u2013 101<\/span><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n


\n <\/font><\/a><\/b><\/p>\n

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

Helping Humanity   \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 For those who practise the integral Yoga, the welfare of humanity can be only a consequence and a result, it cannot…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[118],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-4214","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-12-on-education-volume-12","wpcat-118-id"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/worksofthemotherandsriaurobindo.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4214","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/worksofthemotherandsriaurobindo.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/worksofthemotherandsriaurobindo.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/worksofthemotherandsriaurobindo.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/worksofthemotherandsriaurobindo.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4214"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/worksofthemotherandsriaurobindo.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4214\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/worksofthemotherandsriaurobindo.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4214"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/worksofthemotherandsriaurobindo.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4214"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/worksofthemotherandsriaurobindo.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4214"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}