{"id":4247,"date":"2013-07-13T01:54:32","date_gmt":"2013-07-13T01:54:32","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/localhost\/?p=4247"},"modified":"2013-07-13T01:54:32","modified_gmt":"2013-07-13T01:54:32","slug":"05-22-march-1957-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\/05-22-march-1957-vol-09-questions-and-answers-volume-09","title":{"rendered":"-05_22 March 1957.htm"},"content":{"rendered":"\n\n
\n
\n


\n22 March 1957<\/font><\/span><\/i><\/b> <\/font> <\/span><\/i><\/b><\/p>\n

 <\/span><\/p>\n

The following story was told by Mother during a Friday class.<\/font><\/span><\/p>\n

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

This evening I am going to read to you a short story which seemed
\nquite instructive to me. It is a tale of ancient times, of what used to happen
\nbefore there were printing presses and books, of the days when only the Guru or
\nthe Initiate had the knowledge and gave it only to those he considered worthy
\nof having it. And for him, usually, \u201cto be worthy of having it\u201d meant putting
\ninto practice] what one had learnt. He gave you a truth and expected you to
\npractise it. And when you had put it into practice, he consented to give you
\nanother. <\/span><\/p>\n

Now things happen quite differently. Everybody and anybody can
\nhave a book, read it right through and he is quite free to practise it or not
\nas he pleases. This is all very well, but it creates a certain confusion in
\nmany minds, and people who have read many books think that it is enough and
\nthat all sorts of miraculous things must happen to them because they have read
\nbooks, and that they don\u2019t need to take the trouble of practising. So they
\nbecome impatient and say, \u201cHow is it that although I have read all this I am
\nstill just the same person, have the same difficulties, haven\u2019t achieved any
\nrealisation?\u201d I very often hear remarks of this kind. <\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 <\/span>They forget only one
\nthing, that they have obtained the knowledge \u2013 intellectual, mental knowledge \u2013
\nbefore having deserved it, that is, before having put into practice what they
\nhave read, and that, naturally, there is discrepancy between their state of
\nconsciousness and the ideas, the knowledge they can speak about at length but
\nwhich they haven\u2019t practised. <\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 <\/span>So it is for the
\nimpatient ones that I am going to read this story, to tell you how things
\nhappened in the days of old when one couldn\u2019t simply have a book and read it,
\nwhen one depended
\n <\/span><\/p>\n

\nPage \u2013 66<\/span><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n
\n

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

on the Guru or the Initiate to obtain the knowledge which he alone
\nhad; he had received it from another Guru, another\u00a0 <\/span>Initiate, and he transmitted it to you when
\nhe pleased, that is, when he found you worthy of having it. <\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 <\/span>So here\u2019s my story
\n(Mother reads):
\n <\/span><\/p>\n

A Story of Initiation<\/span><\/p>\n

(Translated
\nfrom the Gujarati)<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

 <\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 <\/span>Once upon a time there
\nwas a Mahatma who was a great ascetic and a great pandit. He was honoured by
\nall, full of years and wisdom. His name was Junun. Many young boys, many young
\nmen used to come to him to receive initiation. They stayed in his hermitage,
\nbecame pandits themselves, then returned home after a long and studious
\nretreat. <\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 <\/span>One day a young man
\ncame to him. His name was Yusuf Hussein. The Mahatma agreed to let him stay
\nwith him without even asking who he was. Four years went by, thus, until one
\nmorning Junun sent for Yusuf and, for the first time, questioned him: \u201cWhy have
\nyou come here?\u201d Without a second thought Yusuf answered: \u201cTo receive religious
\ninitiation.\u201d Junun said nothing. He called a servant and asked him, \u201cHave you
\nprepared the box as I asked you?\u201d <\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 <\/span>\u201cYes, Master, it is
\nthere, quite ready.\u201d <\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 <\/span>\u201cBring it without
\nfurther delay,\u201d said Junun. <\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 <\/span>With great care the servant placed the box
\nbefore the Mahatma. He took it and gave it to Yusuf: \u201cI have a friend who lives
\nthere on the banks of the river Neela. Go and take this box to him from me. But
\ntake good care, brother, don\u2019t make any mistake on the way. Keep this box
\ncarefully with you and give it to the man whom it is for. When you come back I
\nshall give you initiation.\u201d Once again the Mahatma repeated his advice and
\ndescribed the route Yusuf had to follow to reach the river Neela. Yusuf bowed
\ndown at his Guru\u2019s feet, took the box and started on his way. <\/span><\/p>\n

\nPage \u2013 67<\/span><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n
\n

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

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 <\/span>The retreat where the
\nMahatma\u2019s friend lived was quite far away and in those days there were no cars
\nor railways. So Yusuf walked. He walked the whole morning, then came the
\nafternoon. The heat was intense and radiated everywhere. He felt tired. So he
\nsat down in the shade of an old tree by the roadside to rest a little. The box
\nwas very small. It was not locked. Besides, Yusuf had not even paid attention
\nto it. His Guru had told him to carry a box, and he had started off without
\nanother word.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 <\/span>But now, during the
\nafternoon rest, Yusuf began to think. His mind was free to wander with nothing
\nto occupy it.\u2026It would be very rare indeed if on such occasions some foolish
\nidea did not cross the mind.\u2026Thus his eyes fell on the box. He began to look at
\nit. \u201cA pretty little box!\u2026Why, it does not seem to be locked.\u2026And how light it
\nis! Is it possible that there is anything inside? So light.\u2026Perhaps it is
\nempty?\u201d Yusuf stretched out his hand as though to open it. Suddenly he thought
\nbetter of it: \u201cBut no.\u2026Full or empty, whatever is in this box is not my
\nconcern. My Guru asked me to deliver it to his friend, nothing more. And that\u2019s
\nall that concerns me. I should not care about anything else.\u201d <\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 <\/span>For some time Yusuf
\nsat quietly. But his mind would not remain quiet. The box was still there
\nbefore his eyes. A pretty little box. \u201cIt seems quite empty,\u201d he thought, \u201cwhat
\nharm would there be in opening an empty box?\u2026If it had been locked I would
\nunderstand, that would be bad.\u2026A box which is not even locked, it can\u2019t be very
\nserious. I\u2019ll just open it for a moment and then shut it again.\u201d <\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 <\/span>Yusuf\u2019s thought turned
\nround and round that box. It was impossible to detach himself from it, impossible
\nto control this idea that had crept into him. \u201cLet me see, only a quick glance,
\njust a glance.\u201d Once again he stretched out his hand, drew it back once more,
\nthen again sat still. All in vain. Finally Yusuf made up his mind and gently,
\nvery gently, he opened the box. Hardly had he opened it than pfft! a little
\nmouse jumped out\u2026and disappeared. The poor mouse all stifled in its box did not <\/span><\/p>\n

\nPage \u2013 68<\/span><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n
\n

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

waste a second in leaping to freedom! <\/span><\/p>\n

Yusuf was bewildered. He opened his eyes wide and gazed and gazed.
\nThe box lay there empty. Then his heart started throbbing sadly: \u201cSo, the
\nMahatma had sent only a mouse, a tiny little mouse.\u2026And I couldn\u2019t even carry
\nit safe and sound to the end. Indeed I have committed a serious fault. What
\nshall I do now?\u201d <\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 <\/span>Yusuf was full of
\nregrets. But there was nothing more to do now. In vain he went round the tree,
\nin vain he looked up and down the road. The little mouse had actually
\nfled.\u2026With a trembling hand Yusuf closed the lid and in dismay resumed his
\njourney. <\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 <\/span>When he reached the
\nriver Neela and the house of his Master\u2019s friend, Yusuf handed the Mahatma\u2019s
\npresent to him and waited silently in a corner because of the fault he had
\ncommitted. This man was a great saint. He opened the box and immediately understood
\nwhat had happened. \u201cWell, Yusuf,\u201d he said, turning to the young aspirant, \u201cso
\nyou have lost that mouse.\u2026Mahatma Junun won\u2019t give you initiation, I am afraid,
\nfor in order to be worthy of the supreme Knowledge one must have a perfect
\nmastery over one\u2019s mind. Your Master clearly had some doubts about your
\nwill-power, that is why he resorted to this little trick, to put you to the
\ntest. And if you are not able to accomplish so insignificant a thing as to keep
\na little mouse in a box, how do you expect to keep great thoughts in your head,
\nthe true Knowledge in your heart? Nothing is insignificant, Yusuf. Return to
\nyour Master. Learn steadiness of character, perseverance. Be worthy of trust so
\nas to become one day the true disciple of that great Soul.\u201d <\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 <\/span>Crestfallen, Yusuf returned to the Mahatma
\nand confessed his fault. \u201cYusuf,\u201d he said, \u201cyou have lost a wonderful
\nopportunity. I gave you a worthless mouse to take care of and you couldn\u2019t do
\neven that! How then do you expect to keep the most precious of all treasures,
\nthe divine Truth? For that you must have self-control. Go and learn. Learn to
\nbe master of your <\/span><\/p>\n

\nPage \u2013 69<\/span><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n
\n

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

\u00a0<\/span>mind, for without that
\nnothing great can be accomplished.\u201d <\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/span>Yusuf went away ashamed, head
\ndown, and from then on he had only one thought: to become master of
\nhimself.\u2026For years and years he made tireless efforts, he underwent a hard and
\ndifficult tapasya, and finally succeeded in becoming master of his nature.
\nThen, full of confidence Yusuf went back to his Master. The Mahatma was
\noverjoyed to see him again and find him ready. And this is how Yusuf received
\nfrom Mahatma Junun the great initiation. <\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 <\/span>Many, many years went
\nby, Yusuf grew in wisdom and mastery. He became one of the greatest and most
\nexceptional saints of Islam. <\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0
\n<\/span>(Mother speaks to the children.<\/span><\/i>) So, this is to tell you that you must not be impatient, that you
\nmust understand that in order to really possess knowledge, whatever it may be,
\nyou must put it into practice, that is, master your nature so as to be able to
\nexpress this knowledge in action.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 <\/span>All of you who have
\ncome here have been told many things; you have been put into contact with a
\nworld of truth, you live within it, the air you breathe is full of it; and yet
\nhow few of you know that these truths are valuable only if they are put into
\npractice, and that it is useless to talk of consciousness, knowledge, equality
\nof soul, universality, infinity, eternity, supreme truth, the divine presence
\nand\u2026of all sorts of things like that, if you make no effort yourselves to live
\nthese things and feel them concretely within you. And don\u2019t tell yourselves,
\n\u201cOh, I have been here so many years! Oh, I would very much like to have the
\nresult of my efforts!\u201d You must know that very persistent efforts, a very
\nsteadfast endurance are necessary to master the least weakness, the least
\npettiness, the least meanness in one\u2019s nature. What is the use of talking about
\ndivine Love if one can\u2019t love without egoism? What is the use of talking about
\nimmortality if one is stubbornly attached to the past and the present and if
\none doesn\u2019t want to give anything in order to receive everything? <\/span><\/p>\n

\nPage \u2013 70<\/span><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n
\n

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

You are still very young, but you must learn right away] that to
\nreach the goal you must know how to pay the price, and that to understand the
\nsupreme truths you must put them into practice in your daily life. <\/span><\/p>\n

That\u2019s all.<\/span><\/p>\n

\nPage \u2013 71<\/span><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n
\n

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


\n27 March 1957
\n<\/font>
\n<\/a> <\/span><\/i><\/b><\/p>\n

 <\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

\u201cWherever thou seest a great end, be sure of a
\ngreat beginning. Where a monstrous and painful destruction appals thy mind,
\nconsole it with the certainty of a large and great creation. God is there not
\nonly in the still small voice, but in the fire and in the whirlwind. <\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

\u201cThe greater the destruction, the freer
\nthe chances of creation; but the destruction is often long, slow and
\noppressive, the creation tardy in its coming or interrupted in its triumph. The
\nnight returns again and again and the day lingers or seems even to have been a
\nfalse dawning. Despair not therefore but watch and work. Those who hope
\nviolently, despair swiftly: neither hope nor fear, but be sure of God\u2019s purpose
\nand thy will to accomplish.<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

\u201cThe hand of the divine Artist works
\noften as if it were unsure of its genius and its material. It seems to
\ntouch\u00a0 <\/span>test and leave, to pick up and
\nthrow away and pick up again, to labour and fail and botch and repiece
\ntogether. Surprises and disappointments are the order of his work before all
\nthings are ready. What was selected, is cast away into the abyss of
\nreprobation; what was rejected, becomes the cornerstone of a mighty edifice.
\nBut behind all this is the sure eye of a knowledge which surpasses our reason
\nand the slow smile of an infinite ability. <\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

\u201cGod has all time before him and does not
\nneed to be always in a hurry. He is sure of his aim and success\u00a0 <\/span>cares not if he break his work a hundred
\ntimes to bring it nearer perfection. Patience is our first great necessary
\nlesson, but not the dull slowness to move of the timid, the sceptical, the
\nweary, the slothful, the unambitious or the weakling; a patience <\/span><\/i>
\n
\n <\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

\nPage
\n\u2013 72<\/span><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n
\n

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

of a calm and gathering strength which watches
\nand prepares itself for the hour of swift great strokes, few but enough to
\nchange destiny.<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

 <\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

\u201cWherefore God hammers so fiercely at his
\nworld, tramples and kneads it like dough, casts it so often into the blood-bath
\nand the red hell-heat of the furnace? Because humanity in the mass is still a
\nhard, crude and vile ore which will not otherwise be smelted and shaped; as is
\nhis material, so is his method. Let it help to transmute itself into nobler and
\npurer metal, his ways with it will be gentler and sweeter, much loftier and
\nfairer its uses. <\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

\u201cWherefore he selected or made such a
\nmaterial, when he had all infinite possibility to choose from? Because of his
\ndivine Idea which saw before it not only beauty and sweetness and purity, but
\nalso force and will and greatness. Despise not force, nor hate it for the
\nugliness of some of its faces, nor think that love only is God. All perfect
\nperfection must have something in it of the stuff of the hero and even of the
\nTitan. But the greatest force is born out of the greatest difficulty.\u201d <\/span><\/i><\/p>\n


\nThoughts
\nand Glimpses, Cent. Vol. 16, pp. 392-93 <\/font> <\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

 <\/span><\/p>\n

After all, the whole
\nproblem is to know whether humanity has reached the state of pure gold or
\nwhether it still needs to be tested in the crucible. <\/span><\/p>\n

One thing is
\nevident, humanity has not become pure gold; that is visible and certain. <\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 <\/span>But something has happened in the world\u2019s
\nhistory which allows us to hope that a selected few in humanity, a small number
\nof beings, perhaps, are ready to be transformed into pure gold and that they
\nwill be able to manifest strength without violence, heroism without destruction
\nand courage without catastrophe. <\/span><\/p>\n

\nPage
\n\u2013 73<\/span><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n
\n

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

But in the very
\nnext paragraph Sri Aurobindo gives the answer: \u201cIf man could once consent to be
\nspiritualised.\u201d If only the individual could consent <\/i>to be spiritualised\u2026could consent. \u00b9<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 <\/span>Something in him asks for it, aspires,
\nand all the rest refuses, wants to continue to be what it is: the mixed ore
\nwhich needs to be cast into the furnace. <\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 <\/span>At the moment we are at a decisive
\nturning-point in the history of the earth, once again. From every side I am
\nasked, \u201cWhat is going to happen?\u201d Everywhere there is anguish, expectation,
\nfear. \u201cWhat is going to happen?…\u201d There is only one reply: \u201cIf only man could
\nconsent to be spiritualised.\u201d <\/span><\/p>\n

And perhaps it would be
\nenough if some individuals became pure gold, for this would be enough to change
\nthe course of events.\u2026We are faced with this necessity in a very urgent way. <\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 <\/span>This courage, this heroism which the
\nDivine wants of us, why not use it to fight against one\u2019s own difficulties,
\none\u2019s own imperfections, one\u2019s own obscurities? Why not heroically face the
\nfurnace of inner purification so that it does not become necessary to pass once
\nmore through one of those terrible, gigantic destructions which plunge an
\nentire civilisation into darkness? <\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 <\/span>This is the problem before us. It is for
\neach one to solve it in his own way. <\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 <\/span>This evening I am answering the questions
\nI have been asked, and my reply is that of Sri Aurobindo: If man could once
\nconsent to be spiritualised.\u2026<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 <\/span>And I add: Time presses\u2026from the human
\npoint of view.<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/span><\/p>\n


\n\u00b9 \u201cAll
\nwould change if man could once consent to be spiritualised; but his nature,
\nmental and vital and physical, is rebellious to the higher law. He loves his
\nimperfection.\u201d<\/font><\/span> <\/font><\/span><\/p>\n

\nPage
\n\u2013 74<\/span><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n
\n

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


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

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