{"id":4245,"date":"2013-07-13T01:54:31","date_gmt":"2013-07-13T01:54:31","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/localhost\/?p=4245"},"modified":"2013-07-13T01:54:31","modified_gmt":"2013-07-13T01:54:31","slug":"24-09-july-1958-vol-09-questions-and-answers-volume-09","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/worksofthemotherandsriaurobindo.org\/index.php\/02-works-of-the-mother\/01-cwmce\/09-questions-and-answers-volume-09\/24-09-july-1958-vol-09-questions-and-answers-volume-09","title":{"rendered":"-24_09 July 1958.htm"},"content":{"rendered":"\n\n
\n
\n


\n9 July 1958<\/font><\/span><\/i><\/b><\/span><\/i><\/b><\/p>\n

 <\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

\u201cReligion
\nhas opened itself to denial by its claim to determine the truth by divine
\nauthority, by inspiration, by a sacrosanct and infallible sovereignty given to
\nit from on high; it has sought to impose itself on human thought, feeling,
\nconduct without discussion or question. This is an excessive and premature
\nclaim, although imposed in a way on the religious idea by the imperative and
\nabsolute character of the inspirations and illuminations which are its warrant
\nand justification and by the necessity of faith as an occult light and power
\nfrom the soul amidst the mind\u2019s ignorance, doubts, weakness, incertitudes<\/span>. Faith is indispensable to man, for without it
\nhe could not proceed forward in his journey through the Unknown; but it ought
\nnot to be imposed, it should come as a free perception or an imperative
\ndirection from the inner spirit. A claim to unquestioned acceptance could only
\nbe warranted if the spiritual effort had already achieved man\u2019s progression to
\nthe highest Truth-Consciousness total and integral, free from all ignorant
\nmental and vital mixture. This is the ultimate object before us, but it has not
\nyet been accomplished, and the premature claim has obscured the true work of
\nthe religious instinct in man, which is to lead him towards the Divine Reality,
\nto formulate all that he has yet achieved in that direction and to give to each
\nhuman being a mould of spiritual discipline, a way of seeking, touching,
\nnearing the Divine Truth, a way which is proper to the potentialities of his
\nnature.\u201d <\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

The Life Divine,<\/font><\/span><\/i> pp. 863-64<\/span><\/font> <\/font><\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

Sweet
\nMother, can faith be increased by personal effort?<\/span><\/i>\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\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 <\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

\nPage \u2013 350<\/span><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n
\n

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

Faith is certainly a gift given to us by the Divine Grace. It is
\nlike a door suddenly opening upon an eternal truth, through which we can see
\nit, almost touch it. <\/span><\/p>\n

As in everything else in the ascent of humanity, there is the
\nnecessity \u2013 especially at the beginning \u2013 of personal effort. It is possible
\nthat in some exceptional circumstances, for reasons which completely elude our
\nintelligence, faith may come almost accidentally, quite unexpectedly, almost
\nwithout ever having been solicited, but most frequently it is an answer to a
\nyearning, a need, an aspiration, something in the being that is seeking and
\nlonging, even though not in a very conscious and systematic way. But in any
\ncase, when faith has been granted, when one has had this sudden inner
\nillumination, in order to preserve it constantly in the active consciousness
\nindividual effort is altogether indispensable. One must hold on <\/i>\u00a0<\/span>to one\u2019s faith, will <\/i>\u00a0<\/span>one\u2019s faith; one must seek it, cultivate it,
\nprotect it. <\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 <\/span>In the human mind
\nthere is a morbid and deplorable habit of doubt, argument, scepticism. This <\/i>\u00a0<\/span>is where human effort must be put in: the
\nrefusal to admit them, the refusal to listen to them and still more the refusal
\nto follow them. No game is more dangerous than playing mentally with doubt and
\nscepticism. They are not only enemies, they are terrible pitfalls, and once one
\nfalls into them, it becomes tremendously difficult to pull oneself out. <\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 <\/span>Some people think it
\nis a very great mental elegance to play with ideas, to discuss them, to
\ncontradict their faith; they think that this gives them a very superior
\nattitude, that in this way they are above \u201csuperstitions\u201d and \u201cignorance\u201d; but
\nif you listen to suggestions of doubt and scepticism, then <\/i>\u00a0<\/span>you fall into the
\ngrossest ignorance and stray away from the right path. You enter into
\nconfusion, error, a maze of contradictions.\u2026You are not always sure you will be
\nable to get out of it. You go so far away from the inner truth that you lose
\nsight of it and sometimes lose too all possible contact with your soul. <\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 <\/span>Certainly a personal
\neffort is needed to preserve one\u2019s faith, <\/span><\/p>\n

\nPage \u2013 351<\/span><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n
\n

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

to let it grow within. Later \u2013 much later \u2013 one day, looking back,
\nwe may see that everything that happened, even what seemed to us the worst, was
\na Divine Grace to make us advance on the way; and then we become aware that the
\npersonal effort too was a grace. But before reaching that point, one has to
\nadvance much, to struggle much, sometimes even to suffer a great deal. <\/span><\/p>\n

To sit down in inert passivity and say, \u201cIf I am to have faith I
\nshall have it, the Divine will give it to me\u201d, is an attitude of laziness, of
\nunconsciousness and almost of bad-will. <\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 <\/span>For the inner flame to
\nburn, one must feed it; one must watch over the fire, throw into it the fuel of
\nall the errors one wants to get rid of, all that delays the progress, all that
\ndarkens the path. If one doesn\u2019t feed the fire, it smoulders under the ashes of
\none\u2019s unconsciousness and inertia, and then, not years but lives, centuries
\nwill pass before one reaches the goal. <\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 <\/span>One must watch over
\none\u2019s faith as one watches over the birth of something infinitely precious, and
\nprotect it very carefully from everything that can impair it. <\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 <\/span>In the ignorance and
\ndarkness of the beginning, faith is the most direct expression of the Divine
\nPower which comes to fight and conquer. <\/span><\/p>\n

\nPage \u2013 352<\/span><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n
\n

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


\n16 July 1958<\/font><\/a><\/span><\/i><\/b><\/span><\/i><\/b><\/p>\n

 <\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

\u201cReligion\u2019s real
\nbusiness is to prepare man\u2019s mind, life and bodily existence for the spiritual
\nconsciousness to take it up; it has to lead him to that point where the inner
\nspiritual light begins fully to emerge. It is at this point that religion must
\nlearn to subordinate itself, not to insist on its outer characters, but give
\nfull scope to the inner spirit itself to develop its own truth and reality. In
\nthe meanwhile it has to take up as much of man\u2019s mentality, vitality,
\nphysicality as it can and give all his activities a turn towards the spiritual
\ndirection, the revelation of a spiritual meaning in them, the imprint of a
\nspiritual refinement, the beginning of a spiritual character. It is in this
\nattempt that the errors of religion come in, for they are caused by the very
\nnature of the matter with which it is dealing, \u2013 that inferior stuff invades
\nthe very forms that are meant to serve as intermediaries between the spiritual
\nand the mental, vital or physical consciousness, and often it diminishes,
\ndegrades and corrupts them: but it is in this attempt that lies religion\u2019s
\ngreatest utility as an intercessor between spirit and nature. Truth and error
\nlive always together in the human evolution and the truth is not to be rejected
\nbecause of its accompanying errors, though these have to be eliminated, \u2013 often
\na difficult business and, if crudely done, resulting in surgical harm inflicted
\non the body of religion; for what we see as error is very frequently the symbol
\nor a disguise or a corruption or malformation of a truth which is lost in the
\nbrutal radicality<\/span> of the operation, \u2013 the truth is
\ncut out along with the error. Nature herself very commonly permits the good
\ncorn and the tares and weeds to grow together for a long<\/span><\/i> <\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

\nPage \u2013 353<\/span><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n
\n

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

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0
\n<\/span>\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 <\/span>\u00a0<\/span>time, because only so is her own growth, her
\nfree evolution possible.\u201d<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

The Life Divine, <\/font> <\/span><\/i>pp. 864-65 <\/font> <\/span>
\n
\n <\/font><\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 <\/span>\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 <\/span>\u00a0<\/span>Sweet Mother, is religion a necessity in the
\nlife of the ordinary man?<\/i><\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

In the life of societies it is a necessity, for it serves as a
\ncorrective to collective egoism which, without this control, could take on
\nexcessive proportions. <\/span><\/p>\n

The level of collective consciousness is always lower than the
\nindividual level. It is very noticeable, for example, that when men gather in a
\ngroup or collect in great numbers, the level of consciousness falls a great
\ndeal. The consciousness of crowds is much lower than individual consciousness,
\nand the collective consciousness of society is certainly lower than the
\nconsciousness of the individuals constituting it. <\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 <\/span>There it is a
\nnecessity. In ordinary life, an individual, whether he knows it or not, always
\nhas a religion but the object of his religion is sometimes of a very inferior
\nkind.\u2026The god he worships may be the god of success or the god of money or the
\ngod of power, or simply a family god: the god of children, the god of the
\nfamily, the god of the ancestors. There is always a religion. The quality of
\nthe religion is very different according to the individual, but it is difficult
\nfor a human being to live and to go on living, to survive in life without
\nhaving something like a rudiment of an ideal which serves as the centre] for
\nhis existence. Most of the time he doesn\u2019t know it and if he were asked what
\nhis ideal is, he would be unable to formulate it; but he has one, vaguely,
\nsomething that seems to him the most precious thing in life.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 <\/span>For most people, it is
\nsecurity, for instance: living in security, being in conditions where one is
\nsure of being able to go on existing. That is one of the great \u201caims\u201d, one
\nmight say, one of the great motives of human effort. There are people for <\/span><\/p>\n

\nPage \u2013 354<\/span><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n
\n

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

whom comfort is the important thing; for others it is pleasure,
\namusement. <\/span><\/p>\n

All that is very low and one would not be inclined to give it the
\nname of an ideal, but it is truly a form of religion, something which may seem
\nto be worth consecrating one\u2019s life to.\u2026There are many influences which seek to
\nimpose themselves on human beings by using that as a basis. The feeling of
\ninsecurity, uncertainty, is a kind of tool, a means used by political or
\nreligious groups to influence individuals. They play on these ideas. <\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 <\/span>Every political or
\nsocial idea is a sort of lower expression of an ideal which is a rudimentary
\nreligion. As soon as there is a faculty of thought, there is necessarily an
\naspiration for something higher than the most brutal daily existence from
\nminute to minute, and this is what gives the energy and possibility of living.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 <\/span>Of course, one could
\nsay that it is the same thing for individuals as for collectivities<\/span>,
\nthat their value is exactly proportionate to the value of their ideal, their
\nreligion, that is, of the thing they make the summit of their existence. <\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 <\/span>Of course, when we
\nspeak of religion, if we mean the recognised religions, truly, everyone has his
\nown religion, whether he knows it or not, even when he belongs to the great
\nreligions that have a name and a history. It is certain that even if one learns
\nthe dogmas by heart and complies with a prescribed ritual, everybody
\nunderstands and acts in his own way, and only the name of the religion is the
\nsame, but this same religion is not the same for all the individuals who think
\nthey are practising it.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 <\/span>We can say that
\nwithout some expression of this aspiration for the Unknown and the highest,
\nhuman existence would be very difficult. If there were not at the heart of
\nevery being the hope of something better \u2013 of whatever kind \u2013 he would have
\ndifficulty in finding the energy needed to go on living.<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/span><\/p>\n

(Silence<\/i>) <\/span><\/p>\n

\nPage \u2013 355<\/span><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n
\n

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

But as very few individuals are capable of thinking freely, it is
\nmuch easier to join a religion, accept it, adopt it and become a part of that
\nreligious collectivity<\/span> than to formulate one\u2019s own
\ncult for oneself. So, apparently, one is this or that, but in fact it is only
\nan appearance. <\/span><\/p>\n

\nPage \u2013 356<\/font><\/span><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n
\n

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


\n23 July 1958<\/font><\/a><\/span><\/i><\/b><\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/span><\/i><\/span><\/p>\n

     
\n<\/span>Mother,
\nhow can the faculty of intuition be developed? <\/span><\/i><\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/span><\/p>\n

There are
\ndifferent kinds of intuition, and we carry these capacities within us. They are
\nalways active to some extent but we don\u2019t notice them because we don\u2019t pay
\nenough attention to what is going on in us.\u00a0
\n<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/span>Behind the emotions, deep within the being, in
\na consciousness seated somewhere near the level of the solar plexus, there is a
\nsort of prescience, a kind of capacity for foresight, but not in the form of
\nideas: rather in the form of feelings, almost a perception of sensations. For
\ninstance, when one is going to decide to do something, there is sometimes a
\nkind of uneasiness or inner refusal, and usually, if one listens to this deeper
\nindication, one realises that it was justified. <\/span><\/p>\n

      
\nIn other cases there is something that urges, indicates, insists \u2013 I am not
\nspeaking of impulses, you understand, of all the movements which come from the
\nvital and much lower still \u2013 indications which are behind the feelings, which
\ncome from the affective part of the being; there too one can receive a fairly
\nsure indication of the thing to be done. These are forms of intuition or of a
\nhigher instinct which can be cultivated by observation and also by studying the
\nresults. Naturally, it must be done very sincerely, objectively, without
\nprejudice. If one wants to see things in a particular way and at the same time
\npractise this observation, it is all useless. One must do it as if one were
\nlooking at what is happening from outside oneself, in someone else. <\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

      
\nIt is one form of intuition and perhaps the first one that usually manifests. <\/span><\/p>\n

       There
\nis also another form but that one is much more difficult to observe because for
\nthose who are accustomed to think, to act by reason \u2013 not by impulse but by
\nreason \u2013 to reflect<\/span> <\/span><\/p>\n

\nPage \u2013 357<\/span><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n
\n

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

before doing anything,
\nthere is an extremely swift process from cause to effect in the half-conscious
\nthought which prevents you from seeing the line, the whole line of reasoning
\nand so you don\u2019t think that it is a chain of reasoning, and that is quite
\ndeceptive. You have the impression of an intuition but it is not an intuition,
\nit is an extremely rapid subconscious reasoning, which takes up a problem and
\ngoes straight to the conclusions. This must not be mistaken for intuition.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

     
\nIn the ordinary functioning of the brain, intuition is something which suddenly
\nfalls like a drop of light. If one has the faculty, the beginning of a faculty
\nof mental vision, it gives the impression of something coming from outside or
\nabove, like a little impact of a drop of light in the brain, absolutely
\nindependent of all reasoning. <\/span><\/p>\n

    
\nThis is perceived more easily when one is able to silence one\u2019s mind, hold it
\nstill and attentive, arresting its usual functioning, as if the mind were
\nchanged into a kind of mirror turned towards a higher faculty in a sustained
\nand silent attention. That too one can\u00a0 <\/span>learn
\nto do. One \u00a0<\/span>must <\/i><\/span> learn to do it, it is a
\nnecessary discipline. <\/span><\/p>\n

     
\nWhen you have a question to solve, whatever it may be, usually you concentrate
\nyour attention here (pointing between the eyebrows<\/i>), at the centre just
\nabove the eyes, the centre of the conscious will. But then if you do that, you
\ncannot be in contact with intuition. You can be in contact with the source of
\nthe will, of effort, even of a certain kind of knowledge, but in the outer,
\nalmost material field; whereas, if you want to contact the intuition, you must
\nkeep this (Mother indicates the forehead<\/i>) completely immobile. Active
\nthought must be stopped as far as possible and the entire mental faculty must
\nform \u2013 at the top of the head and a little further above if possible \u2013 a kind
\nof mirror, very quiet, very still, turned upwards, in silent, very concentrated
\nattention. If you succeed, you can \u2013 perhaps not immediately \u2013 but you can have
\nthe perception of the drops of light falling upon the mirror from a still
\nunknown region and<\/span> <\/span><\/p>\n

\nPage \u2013 358<\/span><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n
\n

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

expressing themselves as
\na conscious thought which has no connection with all the rest of your thought
\nsince you have been able to keep it silent. That is the real beginning of the
\nintellectual intuition. <\/span><\/p>\n

     
\nIt is a discipline to be followed. For a long time one may try and not succeed,
\nbut as soon as one succeeds in making a \u201cmirror\u201d, still and attentive, one
\nalways obtains a result, not necessarily with a precise form of thought but
\nalways with the sensations of a light coming from above. And then, if one can
\nreceive this light coming from above without entering immediately into a whirl
\nof activity, receive it in calm and silence and let it penetrate deep into the
\nbeing, then after a while it expresses itself either as a luminous thought or
\nas a very precise indication here (Mother indicates the heart<\/i>), in this
\nother centre. <\/span><\/p>\n

     
\nNaturally, first these two faculties must be developed; then, as soon as there
\nis any result, one must observe the result, as I said, and see the connection
\nwith what is happening, the consequences: see, observe very attentively what
\nhas come in, what may have caused a distortion, what one has added by way of
\nmore or less conscious reasoning or the intervention of a lower will, also more
\nor less conscious; and it is by a very deep study \u2013 indeed, almost of every
\nmoment, in any case daily and very frequent \u2013 that one succeeds in developing
\none\u2019s intuition. It takes a long time. It takes a long time and there are
\nambushes: one can deceive oneself, take for intuitions subconscious wills which
\ntry to manifest, indications given by impulses one has refused to receive
\nopenly, indeed all sorts of difficulties. One must be prepared for that. But if
\none persists, one is sure to succeed. <\/span><\/p>\n

     
\nAnd there comes a time when one feels a kind of inner guidance, something which
\nis leading one very perceptibly in all that one does. But then, for the
\nguidance to have its maximum power, one must naturally add to it a conscious
\nsurrender: one must be sincerely determined to follow the indication given by<\/span> <\/span><\/p>\n

\nPage \u2013 359<\/span><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n
\n

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

the
\nhigher force. If one does that, then\u2026one saves years of study, one can seize
\nthe result extremely rapidly. If one also does hat, the result comes very
\nrapidly. But for that, it must be done with sincerity and\u2026a kind of inner
\nspontaneity. If one wants to try without this surrender, one may succeed \u2013 as
\none can also succeed in developing one\u2019s personal will and making it into a very
\nconsiderable power \u2013 but that takes a very long time and one meets many
\nobstacles and the result is very precarious; one must be very persistent,
\nobstinate, persevering, and one is sure to succeed, but only after a great
\nlabour. <\/span><\/p>\n

Make
\nyour surrender with a sincere, complete self-giving, and you will go ahead at
\nfull speed, you will go much faster \u2013 but you must not do this calculatingly,
\nfor that spoils everything!  <\/span><\/p>\n

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

 <\/span><\/p>\n

      Moreover,
\nwhatever you may want to do in life, one thing is absolutely indispensable and
\nat the basis of everything<\/i>, the capacity of concentrating the attention.
\nIf you are able to gather together the rays of attention and consciousness on
\none point and can maintain this concentration with a persistent will,
\nnothing <\/i>can resist it \u2013 whatever it may be, from the most material physical
\ndevelopment to the highest spiritual one. But this discipline must be followed
\nin a constant and, it may be said, imperturbable way; not that you should
\nalways be concentrated on the same thing \u2013 that\u2019s not what I mean, I mean
\nlearning to concentrate. <\/span><\/p>\n

     
\nAnd materially, for studies, sports, all physical or mental development, it is
\nabsolutely indispensable. And the value of an individual is proportionate to
\nthe value of his attention. <\/span><\/p>\n

     
\nAnd from the spiritual point of view it is still more important. There is no
\nspiritual obstacle which can resist a penetrating power of concentration. For
\ninstance, the discovery of the psychic being, union with the inner Divine,
\nopening to the higher <\/span>
\n <\/span><\/p>\n

\nPage \u2013 360<\/span><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n
\n

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

 <\/span>spheres,
\nall<\/i> can be obtained by an intense and obstinate power of concentration \u2014
\nbut one must learn how to do it.<\/span><\/p>\n

      There
\nis nothing in the human or even in the superhuman field, to which the power of
\nconcentration is not the key. <\/span><\/p>\n

      You
\ncan be the best athlete, you can be the best student, you can be an artistic,
\nliterary or scientific genius, you can be the greatest saint with that faculty.
\nAnd everyone has in himself a tiny little beginning of it is given to
\neverybody, but people do not cultivate it.  <\/span>\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 <\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

\nPage
\n\u2013 361<\/span><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n
\n

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


\n30 July 1958<\/font><\/a>
\n<\/font> <\/span><\/i><\/b><\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/span><\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

          
\n<\/span>Sweet
\nMother, what kind of forces can be called up by using the planchette<\/span><\/span>, and how is it done? <\/span><\/i><\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/span><\/p>\n

Oh! Oh!\u2026Do you mean
\nautomatic writing? <\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/span><\/p>\n

        
\n\u00a0\u00a0 <\/span>Yes, Mother. <\/span><\/i><\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/span><\/p>\n

That depends on the
\npeople who do it. Sometimes there are no forces at all! It is the mental and
\nvital vibrations of the people who use the planchette<\/span><\/span>, and it is their own subconscious ideas
\nwhich they bring up, ninety-eight times out of a hundred. \u00b9 If they are in
\ncontact with invisible entities, it may be all sorts of things but nothing very
\nadvisable! <\/span><\/p>\n

      Almost
\nwith certainty it could be said that it is not what people think it is, in the
\nsense that most often they try to evoke what they call the \u201cspirit\u201d of a dead
\nperson, a relative or a friend or someone they loved and with whom they wish to
\nremain in touch; and besides, they ask them the most foolish questions.
\nFortunately they don\u2019t succeed in disturbing them.\u2026<\/span><\/p>\n

     
\nFrom this point of view one can say that if you had a relation of deep and
\nsincere love with someone who has passed away, left his body, and if you are
\ncalm and strong enough yourself, this person may choose to take shelter vitally
\nin your atmosphere \u2013 the atmosphere of the one he loves \u2013 for a more or less
\nlong period. In this case it means that the relation was very close, very intimate,
\nand if you are not altogether materialistic to the point of not having any
\ndirect mental perception, you can remain in mental contact with this person, in
\ncommunication with him. It is a rather exceptional case, for usually if your
\natmosphere is calm and strong enough to be able to truly serve<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/span><\/p>\n

\u00b9
\n<\/font> <\/span>Later Mother added the
\nfollowing remark: \u201cI say ninety times out of a hundred, for there are
\nexceptions \u2013 I know of some \u2013 but they are so rare that it is better not to
\nspeak about them.\u201d<\/font><\/span> <\/font><\/span><\/p>\n

\nPage \u2013 362<\/span><\/p>\n

\n
\n<\/div>\n

as \u00a0<\/span>a protection, the person who has left his body
\nenters into a deep rest there, and it is not at all good to disturb it; and the
\nbest thing you can do is to enfold this person with your love and leave him in
\npeace. <\/p>\n

      Therefore,
\neven if it were possible to enter into communication with him by this means,
\nwhich I would call very crude, it would be improper to do so. But usually,
\npeople who have the capacity, the faculties required to serve as a shelter for
\nsome time, a transitional shelter for those who have gone, do not have this
\nridiculous idea of disturbing the rest of the one they love by tapping on a planchette<\/span><\/span>\u2026fortunately! <\/span><\/p>\n

      
\nBut those who indulge in this exercise, an exercise of unhealthy curiosity, get
\nwhat they deserve; for the atmosphere we live in is filled with a great number
\nof small vital entities which are born of unsatisfied desires, vital movements
\nof a very low type, also the decomposition of larger beings of the vital world;
\nindeed, it is swarming with them, you see. It is surely a protection that most
\npeople do not see what is going on in this vital atmosphere, for it is not
\nespecially pleasant; but if they have the presumption to want to come into
\ncontact with it and set about trying automatic writing or table-turning
\nor\u2026indeed, anything of this kind, out of an unhealthy curiosity, well, what
\nhappens is that one of these small entities or several of them have fun at
\ntheir expense and collect all the necessary indications from their subconscious
\nmind and then furnish these things to them as clear proofs that they are the
\nperson who has been called!<\/span><\/p>\n

      
\nI could write a book for you with all the examples I have known of these
\nstories, for people are very proud of doing things like this and immediately
\nwrite them down, giving \u201cproofs\u201d of the truth of the experience which are so
\nridiculous that they should be enough to show them that someone was making fun
\nof them! I had another instance, very recently, of somebody who fancied that he
\nhad entered into contact with Sri Aurobindo<\/span> and was
\nreceiving sensational revelations from him \u2014 that was comical in the extreme.<\/span> <\/span><\/p>\n

\nPage \u2013 363<\/span><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n
\n

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

     
\nBut anyway, as a rule, it is \u2013 oh! most often \u2013 is your own forces, your
\nsubconscious mental and vital forces which you put into the planchette<\/span><\/span> \u2013 and you make sensational revelations to
\nyourself! One can do many things in this way.\u2026Once I wanted to prove to people
\nthat what they were evoking was nothing but themselves; so I had a little fun,
\nsimply with a concentration of the will, tapping the furniture, making tables
\nwalk and, well!\u2026As for automatic writing, you only have to withdraw your
\nconscious will into yourself, to let your hand go \u2013 just like this (gesture<\/i>)
\n\u2013 and leave it free, and then the hand will begin to make movements; but there
\nis a little part in you which is interested and would like these movements to
\nmake sense and this little part appeals to the subconscious mind which begins
\nto make sensational revelations. Indeed, it is a booby-trap, all this business,
\nunless one does it scientifically \u2013 but then, scientifically, one realises that
\nit leads to nothing, nothing at all except just passing your time in what you
\nconsider an interesting way.<\/span><\/p>\n

    
\nIn some cases vital entities really get hold of you, and there it is dangerous.
\nBut fortunately these cases are not very frequent. Then it becomes very
\ndangerous. <\/span><\/p>\n

    
\nA very long time ago when I was in <\/span>France<\/span>,
\nI knew the case of a man who, through practices of this kind, had put himself
\ninto contact with a vital entity. This man happened to be a gambler and he
\nspent his time speculating and playing roulette. He spent part of the year at <\/span>Monte
\n Carlo<\/span> playing roulette and the rest of the time
\nhe lived in the south of <\/span>France<\/span>
\nand speculated on the Stock Exchange. And now, some being was really using
\nhim\\was through automatic writing \u2013 using him, and for years it gave him
\nabsolutely precise, exact indications. When he played roulette it used to tell
\nhim, \u201cBid on this number or this place\u201d, and he would win. Naturally he just
\nworshipped this \u201cspirit\u201d which gave him such sensational revelations. And at
\nthe Exchange it also told him, \u201cSpeculate on this or on that\u201d and gave him all
\nthe indications. This man became colos<\/span><\/span>sally
\nrich. <\/span><\/p>\n

\nPage \u2013 364<\/span><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n
\n

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


\nHe used to boast to all his friends about the method by which he had grown rich. <\/span><\/p>\n

     
\nSomeone put him on his guard, told him, \u201cBe careful, this doesn\u2019t look very
\nhonest, you should not trust this spirit.\u201d He fell out with this person. A few
\ndays later he was in <\/span>Monte
\n Carlo<\/span> and\u2026He always played
\nfor high stakes, you see; since, naturally, he always won and would break the
\nbank, he was much feared. Then the spirit told him, \u201cStake everything,
\neverything you have on this….\u201d He did, and at a single stroke lost
\neverything! And yet, he still had some money left from his Stock Exchange
\nspeculations. He said to himself, \u201cIt is bad luck.\u201d Again he received a very
\nprecise indication, \u201cDo this\u201d, as usual. And he did it \u2013 he was completely
\ncleaned out! And to finish the job, the spirit told him, just for the fun of
\nit, \u201cNow, you are going to commit suicide. Put a bullet through your head\u201d. And
\nhe was so much under its influence, he did so.\u2026That\u2019s the end of the story. And
\nthis is an authentic story. So, the least one can say is that it is dangerous,
\nit is much better not to indulge in occupations of this kind. <\/span><\/p>\n

No!
\nEither they are rather senseless amusements or else they are unwholesome
\noccupations. <\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/span><\/p>\n

     \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 <\/span> Mother, Sri Aurobindo<\/span>
\nwrote the book Yogic Sadhan<\/span><\/span>
\nin this way\u2026<\/span><\/i><\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/span><\/p>\n

No,
\nno! It is not that at all. You must not confuse things. That was something
\ndifferent. Sri Aurobindo<\/span> knew] with whom he was in
\ncontact, he did it deliberately and chose the person he was in touch with, and
\nthat had nothing to do with the little entities I am speaking about, nothing at
\nall, at all. It was something that took place in the mental world, directly;
\nyou must not confuse things. This has no connection, none at all.<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

(Silence<\/i>) <\/span><\/p>\n

\nPage \u2013 365<\/span><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n
\n

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

One
\ncan, if one has the knowledge, the control, the power, the ability to go into a
\ncertain state of passivity \u2013 one can very easily lend one\u2019s hand to someone,
\ndeliberately, knowing who it is and acting on a higher plane, but that already
\ndemands a great consciousness and a great self-mastery, which is not within
\neverybody\u2019s reach. One must have quite a considerable inner development to be
\nable to see whom one is dealing with on a particular plane and willingly lend
\noneself to the experiment with full knowledge of what one is doing and without
\nlosing one\u2019s control. Not everybody can play with that. But to work the planchette<\/span><\/span>, one only has to
\ndelude oneself enough for it to start working! <\/span><\/p>\n

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

     \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 <\/span>What you are telling us now, Mother \u2013
\ndoes it form part of the occult sciences? <\/span><\/i><\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/span><\/p>\n

It
\nwas simply to make an experiment, that\u2019s all.
\n <\/span><\/p>\n

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

 <\/span><\/p>\n

      It
\nis not a good way of approach, as a general rule, for in the inner field, in
\nthe domain of inner development, this corresponds to the need to read novels.
\nPeople whose minds are insufficiently developed, whose minds are still in a tamasic<\/span> state and half inert, need to read novels in order
\nto wake up. It is not the sign of a very commendable state or at any rate a very
\nhigh one. Well, in the field of inner development this corresponds to the same
\nthing. When one is in a very rudimentary state, when one has no intense inner
\nlife, one needs to read novels or to create novels for oneself, and then one
\nindulges in experiments of this kind and believes one is doing very interesting
\nthings.\u2026This has the same interest as novels \u2013 not even literary novels but
\ncheap romances, those published on the back of newspapers.<\/span><\/p>\n

      Sri
\nAurobindo<\/span> told me that some people needed this because
\ntheir minds were so inert that this shook them and woke them  <\/span><\/p>\n

\nPage \u2013 366<\/span><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n
\n

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

up
\na little! Well, that is the same thing. Some people may need to do exercises of
\nthis kind to awaken their vital a little, which is sleepy and inert and\u2026this
\ngives them a little interest in life. But still, one can\u2019t say that these are
\nvery valuable occupations. They are pastimes, amusements. <\/span><\/p>\n

And
\nthis has never served to prove anything to anybody. One could say, \u201cOh! It is
\nto make you understand that there is an inner life, an invisible life, and it
\nputs you in touch with things you don\u2019t see and proves to you that they exist\u201d.
\nThat is not true. <\/span><\/p>\n

      Unless
\nyou have a spiritual being] within you, capable of awakening and living its own
\nlife, all these things teach you nothing at all. I knew some people \u2013 one of
\nthem especially, who was a man of science, intelligent, a man of real ability;
\nhe had studied higher science, become an engineer and held an important
\nposition; this man was a member of a society known as \u201cspiritualist\u201d, which had
\nfound a medium who really had quite exceptional abilities. And he used to
\nattend all the seances<\/i><\/span><\/span> with the idea of learning, to convince
\nhimself and have tangible proofs of the existence of an invisible world, the
\nconcrete and real existence of an invisible world. He had seen all that could
\nbe seen, under the strictest control, in the most scientific way possible \u2013 all
\nthe tests were provided for, down to the least detail. He told me about the
\nmost extraordinary things he had seen; I held in my hand a piece of something
\nresembling the plastic cloth they make nowadays, which is not woven, a piece of
\nplastic \u2013 but in those days there was no plastic, it had not yet been
\ndiscovered, it was a long time ago \u2013 I held it in my hand, a piece, like this,
\ntorn, with a small design which was very pretty. He told me how it had
\nhappened. When the medium had been put into trance, a person had appeared
\ndressed in a robe of this substance\\was a materialisation; this person had
\npassed in front of him and, like the little brute he was, he had torn off a
\npiece to have a proof, and he kept the piece. The medium screamed \u2013 and
\neverything, everything immediately<\/span> <\/span><\/p>\n

Page \u2013 367<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n
\n

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

vanished.\u2026But
\nthe piece remained in his hand and he gave it to me. I gave it back to him. He
\nhad simply shown it to me, I held it in my hand. <\/span><\/p>\n

So
\nthat was something quite concrete, you see, for he still had the piece; he
\ncould not tell himself it was a hallucination. Well, in spite of all this, in
\nspite of the most extraordinary stories which could make a whole book, he did
\nnot believe anything<\/i>! He could not explain anything. <\/i> And he
\nwondered who was mad, whether it was himself or the others or\u2026This had not
\nhelped his knowledge progress even half a step forward. <\/span><\/p>\n

      One
\ncannot believe these things unless one carries them within oneself. <\/span><\/p>\n

      No
\nexternal proofs you can have will ever give you any knowledge. When you
\nyourselves<\/i> are inwardly developed, are capable of having a direct and inner
\ncontact with these things, then you know what they are, but no material proof \u2013
\nmaterial and of this kind \u2013 can give you the knowledge if within you you<\/span><\/span> do not have the being<\/i>
\ncapable of having this knowledge. <\/span><\/p>\n

      Therefore,
\nthe conclusion is that this kind of experiment is absolutely useless. For those
\nwho have an inner being, one day or another, life will see to it that they
\nawaken and will bring them into contact with what they need in order to know. <\/span><\/p>\n

      I
\nconsider these things to be an unhealthy curiosity, that\u2019s all. <\/span><\/p>\n

\nPage \u2013 368<\/span><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n
\n

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


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

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