{"id":4221,"date":"2013-07-13T01:54:16","date_gmt":"2013-07-13T01:54:16","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/localhost\/?p=4221"},"modified":"2013-12-01T21:04:13","modified_gmt":"2013-12-02T05:04:13","slug":"73-the-great-secret-a-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\/73-the-great-secret-a-vol-12-on-education-volume-12","title":{"rendered":"-73_The-Great-Secret-(a).htm"},"content":{"rendered":"\n\n
\n
\n

\n
\nThe
\nGreat Secret<\/span><\/font><\/b> <\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Six Monologues and a Conclusion <\/span><\/p>\n

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

\n
\nThe Mother<\/span><\/font><\/p>\n

 <\/span><\/p>\n

in collaboration with<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/span>                                                                                                          <\/span>N<\/span>OLINI <\/span>(The Writer)<\/i><\/span><\/p>\n

\n                                                           <\/span>P<\/span>AVITRA<\/span> (The Scientist)<\/i><\/span><\/p>\n

\n                                                           <\/span>A<\/span>NDRE <\/span>(The Industrialist)<\/i><\/span><\/p>\n

\n                                                           <\/span>P<\/span>RANAB <\/span>(The Athlete)<\/i><\/span> <\/span><\/p>\n

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

 <\/span>LETTER
\nOF THE\u00a0 <\/span>MOTHER\u00a0 <\/span>CONCERNING<\/span><\/font><\/b><\/p>\n

 <\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

THE GREAT
\nSECRET<\/span><\/i> <\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/span><\/p>\n

My dear Andre, <\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/span>I know that you are a very
\nbusy man and that you do not have much time to spare. However, I am going to
\nask you to do something for me and I hope that it will be possible for you to
\ndo it. <\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/span>The thing is this. <\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/span>For the first of December I
\nam preparing something which does not fall into any category of dramatic art
\nand which certainly cannot be called a play, but, nevertheless, it will be put
\non the stage and I hope that it will not be without interest. I am putting
\nwords into the mouths of men who have had very different lives and careers, and
\nit would be better, naturally, if they did not all speak the same language; I
\nmean that their styles should differ. I have asked several people to put
\nthemselves in the shoes of one character or another, and to write down for me
\nwhat, according to them, this character would say. If afterwards there is any
\ntouching up to do, I shall do it. <\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/span>I am enclosing the
\nintroduction, which will be read out before the curtain rises; it will give you
\nsome idea of what I want to do and help you to understand what I mean. <\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/span>Among the characters, you
\nwill see that there is an industrialist, a big businessman. I am not very
\nfamiliar with industrial terms and language and I thought that you could help
\nme to write something true to life. The man tells the story of his life and I
\nwant it to be the life of a big magnate (American or other) on the lines of
\nFord, for example. I am making them speak one after another; they each have a
\nmaximum of ten minutes to relate their lives, their great triumphs which, at
\nthis critical hour, leave them unsatisfied and yearning for something which
\nthey do not know or understand. At the same time I am sending you the
\nconclusion of the industrialist’s speech as I conceive<\/span> <\/span><\/p>\n

\nPage \u2013 474<\/span><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n
\n

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

it, but of course you can make any changes you find necessary. <\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/span>I have asked Pavitra to
\nwrite the account of the scientist, Nolini is dealing with the man of letters,
\nPranab has already written what the sportsman will say (in English, but I shall
\nput it into French), I have already outlined the statesman, I am taking care of
\nthe artist and of course the Unknown Man, since I shall be speaking through
\nhim. <\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/span>Afterwards we shall still
\nhave to decide who the actors will be; Debou will play the Unknown Man, Hriday the
\nsportsman, I am trying to persuade Pavitra to embody the scientist, Manoj will
\nplay either the artist or the writer. Naturally, the ideal would be for you to
\ncome and speak what you have written \u2013 but maybe you will regard that as an
\nunrealisable folly…To tell the truth, this is only a feeler; we shall speak
\nabout it again later…I hope I have not left out anything important. But if
\nyou want any further details, I shall send them to you. <\/span><\/p>\n

7
\n July 1954<\/span><\/i> <\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

\nPage \u2013 475<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n
\n

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


\n
\nThe Great Secret <\/span><\/font>
\n
\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0
\n<\/font> <\/span><\/i><\/span><\/b><\/p>\n

 <\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

Six Monologues and a Conclusion<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

Six of the
\nworld’s most famous men have been brought together, apparently by chance, in a
\nlife-boat in which they have taken refuge when the ship that was carrying them
\nto a world conference on human progress sank in mid-ocean. <\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/span>There is also a seventh man in the boat. He
\nlooks young or, rather, ageless. He is dressed in a style belonging to no
\nperiod or country. He sits at the helm, immobile and silent, but listens
\nattentively to what the others are saying. They treat him as a nobody and take
\nno notice of him. <\/span><\/i>\u00a0<\/span><\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

 <\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

The persons
\nare:<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/span>           <\/span>The statesman<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

The
\nWriter<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

The
\nScientist<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

The
\nArtist<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

The
\nIndustrialist<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

The
\nAthlete<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

The
\nUnknown Man <\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

 <\/span><\/p>\n

Water is running out, provision have come to an end .Their
\nphysical suffering is becoming\u00a0
\n<\/span>intolerable. No hope on the horizon: death is approaching . To take
\ntheir minds off their presents miseries, each one of them in turn tells the
\nstory of his life.       <\/span><\/span><\/i> <\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

The curtain rises<\/span><\/i> <\/span><\/p>\n

\nPage \u2013 477<\/span><\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n
\n

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


\nTHE\u00a0 <\/span>STATESMAN<\/span><\/font>.<\/span><\/font><\/i><\/b><\/p>\n

 <\/span><\/i><\/b><\/p>\n

Since you ask me, I will be the first to tell you what my life has
\nbeen. <\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/span>Son of a politician, I was
\nfamiliar from childhood with government affairs and political issues. All that
\nwas freely discussed at the dinners which my parents gave for their friends and
\nwhich I used to attend from the age of twelve onwards. The opinions of the
\nvarious political parties were no mystery to me and my enthusiastic young mind
\nwould find a simple solution to every difficulty. <\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/span>Naturally, my studies ran
\nalong these lines and I became a brilliant student of Political Science. <\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/span>Later, when the time came
\nto pass from theory to practice, I had to face the first serious difficulties
\nand I began to understand how virtually impossible it is to put one’s ideas
\ninto practice. I had to resort to compromises and my great ideal gradually
\ncrumbled away. <\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/span>I also noticed that success
\ndoes not really correspond to a person’s worth, but rather to his capacity to
\nadapt himself to circumstances and to make himself agreeable. For that, one
\nmust flatter people’s weaknesses rather than attempt to correct their
\nimperfections. <\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/span>No doubt, all of you know
\nabout my brilliant career, so I shall not dwell upon it. But I should like to
\ntell you that as soon as I became Prime Minister and my position gave me some
\nreal power, I remembered the humanitarian ambitions of my youth and tried to be
\nguided by them. I tried not to be a \u201cparty man\u201d. I wanted to find a solution to
\nthe great conflict between the various political and social trends that are
\ntearing the world apart and all of which, nevertheless, in my opinion, have
\ntheir advantages and disadvantages. None of them is perfectly good or wholly
\nbad, and a way should be found to adopt what is good in each one in order to
\nform a harmonious and practicable whole. But I was not able to discover the
\nformula of the <\/span>
\n <\/span><\/p>\n

\nPage \u2013 4 78<\/span><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n
\n

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

synthesis that would reconcile these contraries, not to speak of
\nbeing able to translate it into action. <\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/span>Thus, I wished for peace,
\nconcord, understanding between nations, collaboration for the good of all, and
\nI was compelled by a force greater than mine to wage war and to triumph by
\nunscrupulous means and uncharitable decisions. <\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/span>And yet I am considered a
\ngreat statesman, I am overwhelmed with honours and praise and people call me \u201ca
\nfriend of humanity\u201d. <\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/span>But I feel my own weakness and
\nI know that I have lacked the true knowledge and power which would have enabled
\nme to fulfil the beautiful hopes of my childhood. <\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/span>And now that the end is
\nnear, I feel that I have done very little and perhaps even very badly, and I
\nshall cross the threshold of death sad and disillusioned.  <\/span><\/p>\n

\nPage \u2013 4 79<\/span><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n
\n

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


\nTHE
\nWRITER<\/span><\/font><\/b><\/p>\n

 <\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/span>With winged words I sought
\nto capture the beauty and the truth that throb in our mortality. This panorama
\nof creation that lies extended before our eyes \u2013 men and creatures, beings and things,
\nscenes and happenings \u2013 and the other one equally extended in our feelings and
\nperceptions, in our consciousness, they make a mysterious web, a Daedalus’
\ncomplex. They cast their spell upon me and I heard their voice calling me to
\nknow, understand and seize, a voice sweeter and more compelling than any Aegean
\nsiren could command. The ring of that voice I sought to give to my words. <\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/span>I aimed at uttering the
\nmystery of things; I aimed at making the Sphinx speak out. What lies hidden,
\nwhat lies sealed, what moves from its secrecy suns and stars and hearts, that I
\nendeavoured to unveil and present in the broad light of day. The labour of
\nthings, mundane or supra-mundane, is a dumb and even confused pantomime; I
\noffered speech and consciousness to them. Words appeared to me a most
\nmarvellous instrument, the instrument\u00a0 <\/span>par excellence<\/i>. It has just the
\nconsistency to embody and to express, neither so fluid as to be vague, nor so
\nconcrete as to be opaque. The word pertains to two worlds at once. It is of the
\nmaterial world and therefore can give a form of matter: and it is sufficiently
\nimmaterial to be in contact with subtle things, forces and vibrations,
\nprinciples and ideas. It can materialise the immaterial, embody the
\ndisembodied; and above all, it can give the meaning of things, the precise
\nsense enclosed in a form.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/span>In my lyrics I sought to
\nuncover the yearnings of the heart, in man or in nature, what things cry for,
\nwhat their tears are for. On a larger canvas, through legends and parables, I
\nportrayed the various facets of life’s moods and urges, its rare wisdoms and
\ncommon foolishnesses, gave a pulsating accent and a meaningful concreteness to
\nepisodes that constitute history, the history of man’s and nature’s
\nconsciousness. The tragedies and<\/span> <\/span><\/p>\n

\nPage \u2013 480<\/span><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n
\n

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

comedies of life I cast in the dramatic form too, and it is not
\nfor me to say how pleased you were to see the ancient form serving
\nmagnificently the needs and demands of the modern temperament. I moulded in
\nunforgettable individualities figures and characters of living forces. A wider
\nand still more explicit instrument is the novel which is perhaps more agreeable
\nto the scientific and enquiring spirit of the age. For it is both illustrative
\nand explanatory. I have given you the life history of individuals and social
\naggregates and I have attempted to give you too something of the life history
\nof humanity taken as a whole, the massive aggregate in its circling, coiling,
\nmounting movements. But I knew and I felt that it is not mere extension,
\nlargeness \u2013 the wide commonalty \u2013 that is enough for the human spirit. It needs
\nuplift. It needs the grand style. So I gave you my epic. It was indeed a whole
\nlife’s labour. Well, many of you do not and did not understand, more were
\noverawed, but all felt its magic vibration. Yes, it was my desperate attempt to
\ntear open the veil. <\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/span>I have varied the theme and
\nI have varied the manner. Like a consummate scientist I juggled with my words,
\nI knew how to change their constitution and transmute them as it were, make
\nthem carry a new sense, a new tone, a new value. I could command something of
\nthe Ciceronian swell, something of the Miltonic amplitude, something of the
\nRacinian suavity; I was not incapable of the simplicity of Wordsworth at his
\nbest, nor was even the Shakespearean magic quite unknown to me. The sublimity
\nof Valmiki and the nobility of Vyasa were not peaks too high for me to compass.
\n<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/span>And yet I have not
\nachieved. I am not satisfied. I am unhappy. For, after all, these are dreams
\nthat I have created, \u201cdreams have I sown in the air\u201d. I feel I have not touched
\nthe true truth of things nor their soul beauty. I have scratched the mere
\nsurface, I have caressed the outer robe that Nature puts on herself; but her
\nvery body, her own self has escaped me. I have woven a gossamer around
\ncreation’s limbs, however <\/span>
\n <\/span><\/p>\n

\nPage \u2013 481<\/span><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n
\n

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

seemingly true, however apparently delightful. The means, the
\ninstrument itself which I once thought in its nature to be faultless and
\nperfect in its capacity to penetrate and reveal and express and embody, I found
\nin the end failing me. A great silence, a sheer dumbness, I thought at last to
\nbe nearer the heart of things.<\/span> <\/span><\/p>\n

\nPage \u2013 482<\/span><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n
\n

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


\nTHE SCIENTIST<\/span><\/font><\/b><\/p>\n

 <\/span><\/p>\n

Unlike some of you, I did not set out in life with any intention
\nof improving the condition of my fellow-men. In my case, knowledge rather than
\naction was the main attraction \u2013 knowledge in its modern guise: Science. I felt
\nthat nothing could be more wonderful than to lift a corner of the veil that
\nscreens from us the secrets of Nature, to understand a little more of her
\nhidden springs. I assumed, perhaps unconsciously, the postulate that any
\nincrease of knowledge must necessarily result in an increase of power, and that
\nany new mastery over Nature must sooner or later bring about an improvement in man’s
\ncondition, his moral as well as his material well-being. For me, as for all
\nother thinkers who have their roots in the last century, the century of the
\nfoundations of science, ignorance was the primary if not the only evil. It was
\nthis that held back mankind in its drive towards perfection. We admitted,
\nwithout any discussion, the endless perfectibility of the human race. Progress
\nmight be rapid or slow, but it was nonetheless sure. Having come so far, we
\nknew that we could go further. For us, to know more was automatically to
\nunderstand more, to become wiser, more just \u2013 in short, to become better. <\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/span>There is another postulate
\nthat we also accepted implicitly: that it is possible for us to know the
\nUniverse as it really is, to grasp its laws objectively. This seemed so obvious
\nthat it was never questioned. The Universe and I \u2013 we both exist, the function
\nof the one being to understand the other. Undoubtedly, I am part of the
\nUniverse, but in the process of knowing it, I stand apart from it and view it objectively.
\nI admit that what I call the laws of Nature exist independently of me, of my
\nmind; they exist in themselves and they will be the same for any other mind
\ncapable of perceiving them. <\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/span>I started my work inspired
\nby this ideal of pure knowledge. I chose the science of Physics and more
\nparticularly the study of the atom, of radioactivity, the field in which
\nBecquerel and<\/span> <\/span><\/p>\n

\nPage \u2013 483<\/span><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n
\n

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

the Curies had mapped out a royal road. It was the period when
\nnatural radioactivity was being superseded by artificial radioactivity, when
\nthe dreams of the alchemists were coming true. I worked with the great
\nphysicists who discovered uranium fission and I saw the birth of the atom bomb:
\nyears of hard, dogged and one-pointed labour. It was at this time that I conceived
\nthe idea which was to lead me to my first discovery, the one which enables us
\ntoday to obtain electric power directly from intra-atomic or nuclear energy. As
\nyou all know, this discovery resulted in a radical change in the economic
\ncondition of the whole world, because it brought energy at a low cost within
\nthe reach of all. If this discovery was so sensational, it was because it freed
\nman from the curse of toil, from the need to earn his bread by the sweat of his
\nbrow. <\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/span>So I realised the dream of
\nmy youth \u2013 a great discovery and at the same time I saw its importance for
\nhumanity \u2013 to which, without especially intending to do so, I had brought this
\ngreat boon. <\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/span>I had reason enough to be
\nfully satisfied, but if I was, it was not for long. For soon after \u2013 I can tell
\nyou this because we are now within an inch of death and my secret will probably
\nbe buried with me \u2013 soon after this, I say, I discovered the way to free atomic
\nenergy not only from uranium, thorium and some other rare metals, but from most
\nof the common metals such as copper and aluminium. But then I was faced with a
\nstupendous problem that strained me almost to breaking-point. Should I make
\nknown my discovery? To this day, no one knows this secret except me. <\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/span>All of you know the story
\nof the atom bomb. You know that it has been succeeded by an infinitely more
\ndestructive weapon, the hydrogen bomb. You also know as well as I do that
\nhumanity is staggering under the impact of these discoveries, which have placed
\nin its hands an unequalled power of destruction. But if I now revealed my new
\ndiscovery, if I unveiled my secret, I would place a diabolical power in the
\nhands of just <\/span> <\/span><\/p>\n

\nPage \u2013 484<\/span><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n
\n

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

anybody. And without any control or restriction\u2026 Uranium and
\nthorium were easily monopolised by the governments, first on account of their
\nrelative scarcity, but mostly because of the difficulty of activating them in
\natomic piles. But you can well imagine what would happen if any criminal or
\ncrank or fanatic could in any make-shift laboratory put together a weapon
\ncapable of blowing up <\/span>Paris<\/span>, <\/span>London<\/span> or <\/span>New York<\/span>! Would that not be the finishing blow for humanity? I too have
\nreeled under the weight of my discovery. I hesitated a long time and have not
\nyet been able to come to any decision which satisfies both my reason and my
\nheart. <\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/span>Thus the very first
\npostulate with which I set out as a young scientist in quest of Nature’s
\nsecrets, has fallen to pieces. Even though an increase in knowledge may bring
\nan added power, it does not follow at all that humanity will be automatically
\nbettered. Scientific progress does not necessarily imply moral progress.
\nScientific and intellectual knowledge is powerless to change human nature, and
\nyet that has become the pressing need. If human greed and passion remain what
\nthey are today, almost the same as they were in the Stone Age, then humanity is
\ndoomed. We have reached a point where, unless there is a rapid and radical
\nmoral change, mankind will destroy itself with the power it has in its own
\nhands. <\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/span>Now what has happened to the
\nsecond postulate of my youth? Can I at least have the joy of pure knowledge,
\ncan I be certain that I have grasped something of the hidden mechanism of
\nNature? Can I hope to enjoy the understanding of the true laws that govern
\nNature? Alas! I fear that here too my ideal has failed me. We men of science
\nhave long ago given up the idea that a theory must be either true or false. We
\nnow say only that it is convenient, that it fits the facts and gives a working
\nexplanation of them. But as for knowing whether it is true, that is to say,
\nwhether it conforms to reality \u2013 that is quite another thing. And perhaps the
\nquestion itself is meaningless. Undoubtedly there are, I should say, certainly
\nthere are other<\/span> <\/span><\/p>\n

\nPage \u2013 485<\/span><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n
\n

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

theories which explain the
\nsame facts just as well and are therefore just as valid. After all, what are
\nthese theories? They are nothing but symbols. They are certainly useful, since
\nthey enable us to predict; they tell us how things happen, but not the why or
\nwherefore. They do not bring us into touch with reality. One always has the
\nimpression of circling around the truth, the reality, of approaching it from
\ndifferent angles, from different points of view, without ever being able to
\ndiscover it or grasp it; nor does it spring forth and reveal itself.\u00a0 <\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/span>Then again, on the other
\nhand, we ourselves interfere with all the measurements that we take, expecting
\nthem to tell us something about the external universe. By the very fact of
\nmeasuring we disturb, however slightly, the outer phenomena and thus alter the
\naspect of the world. And so the knowledge that these measurements give us is
\nnot at all sure. All that we can deduce from them is a probable state of the
\nworld, not a certainty. For phenomena on our own scale, the uncertainty is
\nnegligible, but this is not the case with the infinitely small, the world of
\nthe atom. Here, it is an essential incapacity, an obstacle that we can never
\nhope to surmount. It is due to the very nature of things and not to the
\nimperfection of our methods of investigation, so that we shall never succeed in
\ncasting away the tinted glasses through which we study the universe. All my
\nmeasurements, all my theories contain me, the human mind, just as much as they
\ncontain the universe. They are subjective as well as objective and perhaps, in
\nfact, they exist only in my mind. <\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/span>On the shores of the
\nInfinite, I discovered a footprint and I sought to reconstruct the being which
\nhad left its mark on the sands. I succeeded at last and found that it was
\nmyself. This is where I stand \u2013 where we all stand \u2013 and I see no way out. <\/span><\/p>\n

\u2026\u2026\u2026\u2026\u2026\u2026\u2026\u2026\u2026\u2026\u2026\u2026\u2026\u2026\u2026\u2026\u2026\u2026\u2026\u2026\u2026\u2026\u2026\u2026\u2026\u2026\u2026\u2026\u2026\u2026\u2026\u2026\u2026\u2026\u2026\u2026\u2026…<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/span>But after all, perhaps the
\nfact that I do not have any certitude about the world, only probabilities,
\nleaves a ray of hope \u2013 that the fate of humanity is not finally sealed. <\/span><\/p>\n

\nPage \u2013 486<\/span><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n
\n

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


\nTHE\u00a0\u00a0 <\/span>ARTIST<\/span><\/font><\/b><\/p>\n

 <\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/span>Born into a thoroughly
\nrespectable bourgeois family where art was considered as a pastime rather than
\na career and artists as rather unreliable people, prone to debauchery and with
\na dangerous disregard for money, I felt, perhaps out of contrariness, a
\ncompelling need to become a painter. My entire consciousness was centred in my
\neyes and I could express myself more easily by a sketch than in words. I learnt
\nmuch better by looking at pictures than by reading books, and what I had once
\nseen \u2013 landscapes, faces or drawings \u2013 I never forgot.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/span>At the age of thirteen,
\nthrough much effort, I had almost mastered the techniques of drawing, water
\ncolour, pastels and oil painting. Then I had the chance to do some small
\ncommissions for friends and acquaintances of my parents, and as soon as I
\nearned some money, my family began to take my vocation seriously. I took
\nadvantage of this to pursue my studies as far as I could. When I was old enough
\nto be admitted, I joined the <\/span>School<\/span> of <\/span>
\nFine Arts<\/span> and almost immediately started taking part in competitions. I was
\none of the youngest artists ever to win the Prix de Rome and that gave me the
\nopportunity to make a thorough study of Italian art. Later on, travelling
\nscholarships allowed me to visit <\/span>Spain<\/span>, <\/span>Belgium<\/span>, <\/span>Holland<\/span>, <\/span>England<\/span> and other countries too. I did not want to be a man of one period
\nor one school, and I studied the art of all countries, in all forms, oriental
\nas well as occidental. <\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/span>At the same time I went
\nahead with my own work, trying to find a new formula. Then came success and
\nfame; I won first prizes in exhibitions, I sat on juries, my paintings were
\nshown in the leading museums of the world and snatched up by the art dealers.
\nIt meant wealth, titles, honours; even the word \u201cgenius\u201d was used\u2026 But I am not
\nsatisfied. My conception of genius is quite different. We have to create new
\nforms, with new methods and processes, in order to express a new kind of beauty
\nthat is higher and purer, truer and nobler. So long as I still feel<\/span> <\/span><\/p>\n

\nPage \u2013 487<\/span><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n
\n

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

bound to human animality, I cannot free myself completely from the
\nforms of material Nature. The aspiration was there, but the knowledge, the
\nvision was lacking. <\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/span>And now that we are about
\nto die, I feel that I have produced nothing of what I wanted to produce, I have
\ncreated nothing of what I wanted to create. And in spite of all the fame that
\nhas been heaped upon me, I feel that I am a failure.<\/span> <\/span><\/p>\n

\nPage \u2013 488<\/span><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n
\n

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


\nTHE\u00a0\u00a0
\n<\/span>INDUSTRIALIST<\/span><\/font><\/b><\/p>\n

 <\/span><\/p>\n

Since we are all opening
\nour hearts and, moreover, since what I am going to say cannot be used by my
\ncompetitors or by those who resent my success \u2013 my so-called success \u2013 I shall
\ntell you the story of my life as I see it and not as it has been so often<\/span><\/p>\n

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

The facts themselves have been correctly reported. My father was a
\nblacksmith in a small country town. From him I inherited a liking for
\nmetal-work; it was he who taught me the joy of a work well done and the
\nsatisfaction of giving oneself entirely to one’s task. He also instilled into
\nme the desire to do always better \u2013 better than others, better than before. The
\ndesire for gain was not his chief motive, but he never denied that he was proud
\nof being at the top of his profession and he enjoyed the praise of his
\nfellow-townsmen without any false modesty.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/span>At the beginning of the
\ncentury, when the internal combustion engine made its first appearance, we
\nsmall boys were thrilled by the possibilities it opened up, and to build a
\nhorseless carriage, or a motor-car as it was beginning to be called, presented
\nitself as a goal worthy of our greatest efforts. For the few models we had
\nalready seen were very far from perfect. <\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/span>The first car, built with
\nmy own hands from parts collected here and there and never intended for the use
\nto which I put them, undoubtedly gave me the greatest joy of my whole life.
\nPerched precariously on a somewhat uncomfortable seat, I drove the few hundred
\nyards from my father’s workshop to the Town Hall, and nothing seemed more
\nbeautiful to me than this odd contraption, wobbling and puffing its way along,
\nscattering the pedestrians and making the dogs bark and the horses rear.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/span>I shall not dwell on the
\nyears that followed, on the hostility of those who proclaimed that the horse
\nhad been created by God to draw carriages and that it was already quite impious
\nenough to have made railways without going even further and launching<\/span> <\/span><\/p>\n

\nPage \u2013 489<\/span><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n
\n

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

these new diabolical inventions upon the roads and in the cities.
\nEven more numerous were those who could see no future in a temperamental
\nmachine that could only be handled by experts or single-minded cranks. The few
\nadventurous souls who lent me my first dollars to set up a small workshop, hire
\na couple of hands and buy some steel, seemed to have the same blind faith as
\nthe first gold-seekers who went out in pursuit of a problematical and elusive
\nfortune in a hostile and desolate country. <\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/span>As for me, I was not
\nseeking fortune but only the satisfaction of manufacturing a motor-car that
\nwould be easier to handle and cheaper than the existing models. I felt somehow
\nthat this means of transport should be economical because, after all, its
\ndriving power would only have to be fed while it was working. If its purchase
\nprice could be made low enough, many people would buy it who would shy at the
\npermanent expense of maintaining a team of horses. <\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/span>Everybody still remembers
\nmy first mass-produced model. It was high on its wheels so that it could run on
\ncountry roads, it was robustly built to stand up to the rough handling of the
\ncrudest farm-hand, but somewhat despised by those who still considered the
\nmotor-car a luxury for the wealthy. And yet this model, which could be driven
\neasily, almost effortlessly, already foreshadowed the time when motor-cars
\nwould be handled even by the most inexperienced drivers. <\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/span>Still it was not until the
\nFirst World War that the motor-car won its first great victory over the horse.
\nAmbulances, ammunition transports, everything that had to move fast, everything
\nthat was unusually heavy was \u201cmotorised\u201d. My factory reached a tremendous pitch
\nof activity. The huge quantities ordered by the Army gave me the opportunity to
\nimprove my equipment and perfect new methods of manufacture and assembly. <\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/span>By the end of the War, I
\nhad a smooth-running organisation which, however, seemed out of proportion to
\ncivilian needs. My assistants got scared. They urged me to reduce the rate of
\nmanufacture, to dismiss some of the employees, to cancel orders<\/span> <\/span><\/p>\n

\nPage \u2013 490<\/span><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n
\n

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

placed with suppliers and to wait some time to see where the
\nactual demand would stand. This was wise, no doubt; but here was an
\nopportunity, probably unique, to produce the cheapest car in the world. Slowing
\ndown the production would mean an increase in costs. So I decided that the
\nproblem lay in selling our output rather than in producing what people were
\nwilling to buy from us. Within six months, after a brilliant advertising
\ncampaign, I had proved my point. <\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/span>From then onwards my
\ncompany moved forward almost by itself. More and more I had to leave important
\ndecisions to my assistants and to confine myself to laying down the guiding
\nprinciples. These were, to produce at the lowest cost without sacrificing
\nquality and without reducing wages \u2014 actually, my workers should be the highest
\npaid in the world; to sell at the lowest price in order to go on reaching ever
\nnew markets not only should the profit margin be brought down to a minimum
\nwithout jeopardising the stability of the company, but the advertising should
\nbe handled so as to obtain the required turnover without unduly increasing the
\ncost of production; finally, in case normal suppliers demanded too much profit,
\nto have no hesitation in undertaking the manufacture of our own spare parts,
\nsemi-finished products and even raw materials. <\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/span>My business began to grow
\nas if it were a living thing. Whatever I undertook seemed to become successful.
\nThis is how I became almost a legendary figure, a demi-god who had created a
\nnew way of life, an example to follow, so much so that any trifling word of
\nmine, any act however insignificant was analysed, turned inside out, made into
\na great principle and presented to the masses as a new gospel. <\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/span>Is there anything real in
\nall this? My business survives only by getting bigger. Any check to its growth
\nwould be fatal. For the general expenses, which do not lag far behind the
\nincreasing production, would soon swallow up the profit margin, which is very
\nnarrow in comparison with the overall turnover. My business is growing so
\nrapidly that it now looks more like an infla<\/span><\/span>ted<\/span><\/span> <\/span><\/p>\n

\nPage \u2013 491<\/span><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n
\n

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

balloon
\nthan a living body moving harmoniously and steadily towards maturity. For
\ninstance, some departments have to drive their workers like galley-slaves in
\norder to keep pace with the rest, and as soon as this is corrected at one point
\nby improving the equipment, it reappears at another. I feel helpless in face of
\nthis state of affairs, because any disruption in the production line would only
\nresult in more hardship for the workers.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/span>And what have I contributed
\nto humanity? Men travel more easily. Do they understand each other any better?
\nFollowing my example, all sorts of labour-saving gadgets have been mass-
\nproduced and made available to an increasing number of customers. How far has
\nthis done anything more than to create new needs and a corresponding greed for
\ngain? My workers are well paid but it seems that I have only succeeded in
\narousing in them the desire to earn always more \u2013 and above all more than
\nworkers in other factories. I feel that they are dissatisfied, unhappy in fact.
\nContrary to my hopes, raising their standard of living, assuring their
\nsecurity, has not induced them to develop their human personality. Indeed, the
\nmass of human suffering remains practically unchanged, as formidable as ever,
\nand, it seems, incurable by the means I have used. There is something fundamentally
\nwrong which my actions fail to correct and which I even fail to understand. I
\nfeel that there is a secret yet to be discovered; and without this discovery
\nall our efforts are in vain. <\/span> <\/span><\/p>\n

\nPage \u2013 492<\/span><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n
\n

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


\nTHE ATHLETE<\/span><\/font><\/b><\/p>\n

 <\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/span>I was born in a family of
\nathletes. Both my parents were very good performers in all sorts of games,
\nsports and physical exercises. The speciality of my mother lay in swimming,
\ndiving, archery, fencing and dancing. She was well known for her skill in these
\nevents and she also held several local championships. <\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/span>My father was a wonderful
\nfellow. Whatever he touched turned out a success. In his student days he was a
\nrenowned footballer, basketball and tennis player. In boxing and cross- country
\nrunning he was already the best in our district. Then, later, he entered a
\ncircus troupe and became famous in the flying trapeze and in horse-riding
\ndisplays. But his speciality was in body-building and wrestling. He won a wide
\nreputation for these activities. <\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/span>Naturally these were ideal
\nconditions to be born in and grow into a healthy, strong and capable state of
\nphysical fitness. All the physical qualities that were acquired by my parents
\nby ardent practice of the different athletic exercises were easily passed on to
\nme. Moreover, my athlete parents wanted to see their dream fulfilled in me, \u2013
\nthey wanted me to be a great and successful athlete. So they brought me up
\ncarefully, devoting to me all their knowledge and experience of attaining
\nhealth, strength, vigour and vitality; and they would let nothing that would
\nhelp me to achieve this end escape. From my very birth, they fulfilled all the
\nbest conditions of health and hygiene, as regards food, clothing, sleep,
\ncleanliness, good habits and so on, that were materially possible. Afterwards, through
\nwell-planned physical exercises, they brought out gradually in my body
\nsymmetry, proportion, grace, rhythm and harmony. Then they cultivated in me
\nagility, a daring spirit, alertness, accuracy and co-ordination, and finally I
\nwas trained to acquire strength and endurance.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/span>I was sent to a boarding
\nschool. Naturally the programme of physical education appealed to me the most.
\nI started taking keen interest in it and in a few years I gradually took my
\nplace<\/span> <\/span><\/p>\n

\nPage \u2013 493<\/span><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n
\n

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

\u00a0<\/span>among the good players and
\nathletes of my school. Then my first success came when I won the inter-school
\nboxing championship. How happy and proud my parents were when they saw their
\ndream on the way to fulfilment! I was very much encouraged by my success, and
\nhenceforth put all my determination with earnestness, care and hard effort into
\nmastering the technique and acquiring the skills of all the branches of
\nphysical education. I was taught to develop all the different capacities of the
\nbody by participating in all the sporting activities. I believed that by an
\nall-round physical training one could be highly successful and be master of
\nmore than one or even a few activities. That is why I participated in all the
\nsporting items that opportunity offered me. Year after year, in open championship
\nI regularly won the wrestling, boxing, weight-lifting, body-building, swimming,
\ntrack and field events, tennis, gymnastics and many other activities also.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/span>Now I was eighteen years
\nold. I wanted to compete in the national games championship. As a believer in
\nall-round development I selected the Decathlon event as my item in the national
\nchampionship. It is the toughest of all events, \u2013 it demands a supreme test of
\nspeed, strength, endurance, co-ordination and many other qualities. I got down
\nto training and after six months of hard work I took the championship easily,
\nkeeping my second man far behind. <\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/span>Naturally my success made
\nthe national organisers of physical education think of sending me to compete in
\nthe world Olympics. I got an offer to represent my country in the world
\nOlympiad which was going to be held within the next two years, in the Decathlon
\nevent. It is no joke to compete in the world championship, where the cream of
\nthe world’s best athletes come together. There was not much time to waste. <\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/span>So I got down to training
\nunder my father’s coaching and mother’s care. I had to do a lot of hard work.
\nSometimes the progress seemed impossible and everything seemed so difficult.
\nBut I pushed on in my work day after day, month after month, <\/span>
\n <\/span><\/p>\n

\nPage \u2013 494<\/span><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n
\n

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

and then finally came the date of the world Olympic sports. <\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/span>I should not boast, but I
\ndid much better than even I had expected. Not only did I become the world
\nchampion in the Decathlon event, but I scored so high as had never been done
\nbefore, nor has again been repeated. Nobody thought it was possible. But so it
\nhappened, and the highest ambition both of myself and my parents was fulfilled.
\n<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/span>But something strange
\nhappened in me. Though I was on the pinnacle of success and glory, I noticed a kind
\nof sadness, a kind of emptiness was slowly approaching me; \u2013 as if somebody was
\nsaying within me that something was missing, something had to be found out,
\nsomething had to be established in me. It seemed to be saying: perhaps there is
\nsomething more for which my physical skill, capacity and energy may be better
\nutilised. But I had not the slightest idea what it could be. Then slowly this
\ncondition passed away. Afterwards I joined many important competitions and did
\nvery well in all of them. But I noticed this feeling used to possess me after
\neach success. <\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/span>My reputation caused a
\nbatch of young people to gather round me. They asked me to help them in
\ndifferent activities of physical training, which I gladly did. Then I found
\nthat there was a great joy in helping others in my favourite occupation, that
\nis, games, sports and physical exercises. I was also doing well as a coach.
\nMany of my students were showing wonderful results in different events of
\ngames, sports and physical activities. Seeing my success as a teacher of
\nphysical education and because I liked games and sports so much that I did not
\nwant to lose touch with them, I thought of taking up this teaching as my life’s
\nwork. In order to prepare myself in the theoretical side of it, I took my admission
\nin a famous college of physical education and in four years I got my degree in
\nphysical education. <\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/span>Being a master of both
\npractice and theory in the subject of physical education I got down to work. So
\nlong as I was an athlete, my sole purpose had been to gain health, strength,
\nskill, physical beauty and to reach a high perfection in my own body.<\/span> <\/span><\/p>\n

\nPage \u2013 495<\/span><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n
\n

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

\u00a0<\/span>Now I started helping
\nothers in order to make them do the same. I organised teachers’ training
\ncentres all over my country and trained very good instructors and directors of
\nphysical education. With the help of them I opened innumerable centres of
\nphysical education in every corner of my country. The object of these centres
\nwas to spread the popularity and practice of health, physical education and
\nrecreation in a scientific way among the general masses of our country. They
\ndid their work very well and after several years the general health of my
\ncountry was very much improved. They showed good results at home and abroad in
\ngames and sports. Soon my country got a very high international reputation in
\nthe sporting world. I must admit that I was helped and backed by the government
\nof my country and a special portfolio was given to me as the Minister of
\nPhysical Education. That is why I could do so much.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/span>Soon my name spread to
\nevery part of the world as a great physical educator and organiser, and I was
\nconsidered an authority on physical education in the international sphere. I
\nwas invited to many countries by the authorities to speak on and introduce my
\nsystem of physical education to their land. Letters were pouring in from every
\ncorner of the earth asking me about my method and seeking my advice on their
\nspecial problems in the field of Physical Education. <\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/span>But in the midst of my busy
\nhours often I was feeling that all my energy and skill, all my country-wide
\norganisation and the power that was growing from it, all the strong influence
\nthat I had in the international sphere, could be used perhaps for some higher,
\nsome nobler and loftier purpose and then only all that I did could have some
\ntrue meaning. But up to now I could not know what it might be. <\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/span>Even sometimes I have been
\ncalled \u201csuperman\u201d; but I am not a superman. I am still the slave of nature, a
\nman with all his ignorance, his limitations and incapacities, at the mercy of
\nan accident or illness or one of those human passions that empty you of all
\nyour energy. I feel that after all I am not above all<\/span> <\/span><\/p>\n

\nPage \u2013 496<\/span><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n
\n

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

\u00a0<\/span>these things and that there
\nis something else to learn and to realise.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/span>Now, when I am standing
\nface to face with death, I am not afraid in the least to die. The thought of
\nextreme suffering, hunger and thirst does not disturb me. But I am sorry that I
\ncould not solve my problems in my lifetime. I achieved a great success in life,
\ngot fame, honour, wealth and everything that a man could dream of. But I am not
\nsatisfied because I have no answers to my questions: \u2013\u00a0\u00a0 <\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/span>\u201cWhat is it that I miss so
\nbadly in the midst of all? What could be the highest use of my physical
\nperfection and ability? For what purpose could the power of my country-wide
\norganisation and my international influence be best utilised?\u201d<\/span> <\/span><\/p>\n

\nPage \u2013 497<\/span><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

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

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

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

The Great Secret    Six Monologues and a Conclusion  by\u00a0 The Mother   in collaboration with                                                                                                              NOLINI (The Writer)                                                            PAVITRA (The Scientist)…<\/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-4221","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\/4221","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=4221"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/worksofthemotherandsriaurobindo.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4221\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":9736,"href":"https:\/\/worksofthemotherandsriaurobindo.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4221\/revisions\/9736"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/worksofthemotherandsriaurobindo.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4221"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/worksofthemotherandsriaurobindo.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4221"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/worksofthemotherandsriaurobindo.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4221"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}