{"id":4249,"date":"2013-07-13T01:54:33","date_gmt":"2013-07-13T01:54:33","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/localhost\/?p=4249"},"modified":"2013-07-13T01:54:33","modified_gmt":"2013-07-13T01:54:33","slug":"14-02-october-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\/14-02-october-1957-vol-09-questions-and-answers-volume-09","title":{"rendered":"-14_02 October 1957.htm"},"content":{"rendered":"\n\n
\n
\n


\n2 October 1957<\/font><\/span><\/i><\/b><\/span><\/i><\/b><\/p>\n

 <\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

\u201cThe
\nessential character of Supermind is a Truth-Consciousness which knows by its
\nown inherent right of nature, by its own light: it has not to arrive at
\nknowledge but possesses it. It may indeed, especially in its evolutionary
\naction, keep knowledge behind its apparent consciousness and bring it forward
\nas if from behind the veil; but even then this veil is only an appearance and
\ndoes not really exist: the knowledge was always there, the consciousness its
\npossessor and present revealer<\/span>.\u2026In the Mind of Light
\nwhen it becomes full-orbed this character of the Truth reveals itself though in
\na garb that is transparent even when it seems to cover: for this too is a
\ntruth-consciousness and a self-power of knowledge. This too proceeds from the
\nSupermind and depends upon it even though it is limited and subordinate. What
\nwe have called specifically the Mind of Light is indeed the last of a series of
\ndescending planes of consciousness in which the Supermind veils itself by a
\nself-chosen limitation or modification of its self-manifesting activities, but
\nits essential character remains the same: there is in it an action of light, of
\ntruth, of knowledge in which inconscience, ignorance and error claim no place.
\nIt proceeds from knowledge to knowledge; we have not yet crossed over the
\nborders of the truth-conscious into ignorance.\u201d <\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n


\nThe
\nSupramental Manifestation, pp. 70-71 <\/font> <\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

 <\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

Sweet
\nMother, I did not understand this passage: \u201cIn the Mind of Light when it
\nbecomes full-orbed this character of the Truth reveals itself though in a garb
\nthat is transparent even when it seems to cover…\u201d <\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

\nPage \u2013 192<\/span><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n
\n

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

And so?<\/span><\/span> What is it
\nyou don\u2019t understand? <\/span><\/p>\n

This garb
\nthat is transparent and\u2026<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

 <\/span><\/p>\n

This is an image. <\/span><\/p>\n

It is somewhat like this. In the supramental vision one has a
\ndirect and total and immediate knowledge of things, in the sense that one sees everything
\nat the same time, complete in itself<\/span>, total. The truth of a thing in all its aspects at the same time
\nand\u2026simultaneous, complete.<\/span> And as soon as one wants to explain that or
\nto describe it, one is obliged to come down, so to say, to a plane which he
\ncalls here \u201cthe Mind of Light\u201d, where things have to be said or even thought or
\nexpressed one after another, in a certain order and a certain relation with one
\nanother; the simultaneity disappears, for in the present state of our mode of
\nexpression, to say everything at the same time, all at once, is impossible, and
\nwe are compelled to veil one part of what we see or know in order to bring it
\nout one thing after another; and this is what he calls the \u201cveil\u201d, which is
\ntransparent, for one sees everything, knows everything at the same time; one
\nhas the total knowledge of a thing, but one cannot express it fully all at
\nonce. There are no words or any possibility of expression, so long as we are
\nwhat we are. We must necessarily make use of an inferior process to express
\nourselves, and yet, at the same time we have the full knowledge; it is only the
\nnecessity of transmitting his knowledge in words which compels us to veil, so
\nto say, a part of what we know and to let it come out only successively. But it
\nis a transparent veil, for we know the thing \u2013 we know it, see it, understand
\nit in its totality \u2013 but we cannot express it all at the same time. We have to
\nsay it, one thing after another, successively. It is the veil of the expression
\nadapted to our needs both of utterance and understanding. The knowledge is
\nthere, it is there in reality \u2013 not that one is searching for it and expressing
\nit as one goes on finding it\\is there in its totality but the expression
\ndemands that one
\n <\/span><\/p>\n

\nPage \u2013 193<\/span><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n
\n

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

it<\/span><\/span> one thing
\nafter another; and so this naturally diminishes the omnipotence of which he
\nspeaks, for omnipotence is the total vision of the thing expressed in its
\ntotality. Omniscience is there in principle, it is there, perceptible, but the
\ntotal power of this omniscience cannot act since it needs to come down one
\nplane to be able to express itself.<\/span><\/p>\n

Do you catch what I mean? Yes? <\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 <\/span>To be able to live
\nfully in the supramental knowledge requires other means of expression than the
\nones we have now. New means of expression must be worked out to make it
\npossible to express the supramental knowledge in a supramental way.\u2026Now, we are
\nobliged to raise our mental capacity to its utmost so that there is only, so to
\nsay, a sort of hardly perceptible borderline, but one that still exists, for
\nall our means of expression still belong to this mental world, do not have the
\nsupramental capacity. We do not have the necessary organs for that. We would
\nhave to become beings of the supermind, with a supramental substance, a
\nsupramental inner organisation, in order to be able to express the supramental
\nknowledge in a supramental way. So far we are\u2026half way; we can, somewhere in
\nour consciousness, rise entirely into the supramental vision and knowledge, but
\nwe cannot express it. We have to come down again one plane in order to express
\nourselves.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 <\/span>So, this veil which is
\ntransparent even when it seems to cover,<\/span> is
\ntransparent for the consciousness, you see, for the consciousness sees and
\nknows things in a supramental way, but one part is veiled and it only comes out
\nprogressively, for there is no other way of doing it. But for the consciousness
\nit is transparent, though apparently it seems to hide. That\u2019s it.
\n\u00a0<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

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

 <\/span><\/p>\n

I have been asked some questions about the film we saw
\nyesterday….\u00b9 The<\/span> first one is to say the least
\nbizarre! I am giving<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/span><\/p>\n

\u00b9<\/font><\/span>An
\nEnglish documentary on the Buddha<\/font>: Gautama<\/span> Buddha.<\/font><\/i><\/span> <\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

\nPage \u2013 194<\/span><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n
\n

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

\u00a0<\/span>it<\/span>
\nto you exactly as it is here. I am asked:<\/span><\/p>\n

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

\u201cIs the real
\nBuddha you know, whom you speak of in Prayers and Meditations,\u00b9<\/span>
\nthe same as the one whose statues are worshipped?\u201d <\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

 <\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

Statues\u2026there are thousands of statues of the Buddha. There is the
\nBuddha as he is known in India, the Buddha known in Ceylon, the Buddha known in
\nTibet, the Buddha known in China, in Cambodia, Thailand, Japan and elsewhere.
\nIf you are speaking of the historical fact, I think they would all tell you
\nthat it is to the Gautama<\/span> Buddha of India they pray,
\nbut in fact, each one of these branches of Buddhism, and many more, has its own
\nconception of the Buddha, and it is the conception of a godhead which is
\nworshipped in statues, much more than a divine being, so\u2026If you show me a
\nstatue and ask me, \u201cIn this statue is there the influence or the presence of
\nthe Buddha as you know him?\u201d, I could reply yes or no to you; but when you say
\n\u201cwhose statues are worshipped\u201d, I cannot answer you, for that depends on what
\nthey have drawn into the statue they worship. Historically, it is always the
\nsame name but in fact I don\u2019t know if it is always the same spiritual person!
\nSo I cannot answer you. <\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/span>If you ask me about the
\nstatues we saw yesterday\u2026You saw how many there were and some of them were very,
\nvery different, it was a very different Buddha. There was one which was shown
\nto us very often, and which is quite authentic, but there were many others
\nwhich represented at the very least other personalities of the Buddha. It
\ndepends on what you mean; if you mean historically, yes, they always say it is
\nthe Buddha; but each statue is different. <\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 <\/span>So, that\u2019s one
\nquestion. Now we come to something quite different:<\/span><\/p>\n

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


\n\u00b9 Prayers
\nand Meditation.,<\/span><\/font><\/span><\/i> 20 and 21 December 1916.<\/font><\/span> <\/span><\/p>\n

\nPage \u2013 195<\/span><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n
\n

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

\u201cIn what way
\ncan the teaching of the Buddha now be an obstacle or help to humanity on the
\npath of supramentalisation?\u201d <\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

 <\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

Everything that helps humanity to make progress is a help, and all
\nthat prevents it from making progress is an obstacle! <\/span><\/p>\n

In fact, you are asking this because we study and meditate on the Dhammapada<\/span>….\u00b9 Naturally,<\/span> I took
\nthis text because I consider that at a particular stage of development it can
\nbe very useful. It is a discipline which has been crystallised in certain
\nformulas and if one uses these formulas profitably, it can be very helpful,<\/span> otherwise I wouldn\u2019t have taken it. How helpful depends on each one.<\/span> It depends on whether one
\nknows how to profit from it or not. <\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 <\/span>And then, the last
\nquestion: <\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 <\/span>\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 <\/span>\u201cSri
\nAurobindo has said that the Buddha was an avatar….\u201d <\/i><\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

We have said this several times already. <\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 <\/span>And then, here it becomes
\nvery mysterious: <\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cApart from
\nthe teaching of the Buddha, what remains of his personality in the world?\u201d <\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

 <\/span><\/p>\n

(To the disciple who had asked the question) Why do you make this
\ndistinction? <\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0
\n<\/span>\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 <\/span>\u00a0<\/span>When he entered into Nirvana, it was said that
\nhis teaching would now remain in the relics. <\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

 <\/span><\/p>\n

In the relics! Well, then that means the two things go together. I
\ndon\u2019t see why you separate them. There is something of his <\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/span><\/p>\n

\u00b9<\/font><\/span>For
\nsome months, every Friday in the younger children\u2019s class Mother used to read a
\nfew verses from the Dhamapada<\/span>, the most sacred text
\nof Buddhist Teaching. <\/font><\/span>
\n
\n <\/span><\/p>\n

\nPage \u2013 196<\/span><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n
\n

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

influence<\/span><\/span> in his
\nteaching, naturally! It is the teaching that transmits his influence in the
\nmental field. <\/span><\/p>\n

His direct action, apart from his teaching, is limited to a very
\nfew people who are very fervent believers and have the power of evocation.
\nOtherwise, the most important part of his action, almost the whole of his
\naction, is associated, united, fused<\/span> with his
\nteaching. It seems difficult to make a distinction. <\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 <\/span>(After a silence<\/i>) The forms of Divine Power which have incarnated in
\ndifferent beings, have incarnated with a specific aim, for a specific action,
\nat a specific moment of universal development, but essentially they are only
\ndifferentiated aspects of the One Being; therefore, it is in the particular
\npurpose of the action that the difference lies. Otherwise it is always the same
\nTruth, the same Power, the same eternal Life which manifests in these forms and
\ncreates these forms at a given moment for a specific reason and a specific aim;
\nthis is preserved in history, but eternally they are new forms which are used
\nfor new progress. Old forms can endure as a vibration lasts, but their purpose
\nhistorically, it could be said, was momentary, and one form is replaced by
\nanother in order that a new step forward may be taken. The mistake humanity
\nmakes is that it always hangs on to what is behind it and wants to perpetuate
\nthe past indefinitely. These things must be used at the time when they are
\nuseful. For there is a history of each<\/i>
\nindividual development; you may pass through stages in which these disciplines
\nhave their momentary utility, but when you have gone beyond that moment you
\nought to enter into something else and see that historically it was useful but
\nnow is so no longer. Certainly, to those who have reached, for instance, a
\ncertain state of development and mental control, I won\u2019t say,
\n\u201cRead the Dhammapada<\/span> and meditate<\/span> on it\u201d; it
\nwould be a waste of time. I give it to those who have not gone beyond the stage
\nwhere it is necessary. But always man takes upon his shoulders an interminable
\nburden. He does not want to drop anything of the past and he stoops more and
\nmore under the weight of a useless accumulation.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 <\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

\nPage \u2013 197<\/span><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n
\n

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

You have a guide for a part of the way but when you have travelled
\nthis part leave the road and the guide and go farther! This is something men
\nfind difficult to do. When they get hold of something which helps them, they
\ncling to it,<\/span> they do not want to move any more. Those
\nwho have progressed with the help of Christianity do not want to give it up and
\nthey carry it on their shoulders; those who have progressed with the help of
\nBuddhism do not want to leave it and they carry it on their shoulders, and so this
\nhampers the advance and you are indefinitely delayed. <\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 <\/span>Once you have passed
\nthe stage, let it drop, let it go! Go farther. <\/span><\/p>\n

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

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0
\n<\/span> <\/span>Mother, the present religio<\/span>-political
\nmovement for the revival of Buddhism\u2026<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

 <\/span><\/p>\n

What? Oh! I don\u2019t take part in politics. It is altogether useless.
\nPeople use things just for political ends, but that is not at all interesting. <\/span><\/p>\n

\nPage \u2013 198<\/span><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n
\n

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


\n
\n9
\n October 1957<\/font><\/a><\/span><\/i><\/b><\/span><\/i><\/b><\/p>\n

 <\/span><\/p>\n

Mother reads the last pages of The
\nSupramental Manifestation.<\/i> <\/font> <\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 <\/span>\u201cEven
\nin the material world which seems to us a world of ignorance, a world of the
\nworkings of a blind and inconscient Force starting from inconscience and
\nproceeding through Ignorance and reaching with difficulty towards an imperfect
\nLight and Knowledge, there is still a secret Truth in things which arranges
\nall, guides towards the Self many contrary powers of being and rises towards
\nits own heights where it can manifest its own highest truth and fulfil the
\nsecret purpose of the universe. Even this material world of existence is built
\nupon a pattern of the truth in things which we call Law of Nature, a truth from
\nwhich we climb to a greater truth until we emerge in the Light of the Supreme.
\nThis world is not really created by a blind force of Nature: even in the Inconscient
\nthe presence of the supreme Truth is at work; there is a seeing Power behind it
\nwhich acts infallibly and the steps of the Ignorance itself are guided even
\nwhen they seem to stumble; for, what we call the Ignorance is a cloaked
\nKnowledge, a Knowledge at work in a body not its own but moving towards its own
\nsupreme self-discovery. This Knowledge is the covert Supermind which is the
\nsupport of the creation and is leading all towards itself and guides behind
\nthis multitude of minds and creatures and objects which seem each to be
\nfollowing its own law of nature; in this vast and apparently confused mass of
\nexistence there is a law, a one truth of being, a guiding and fulfilling
\npurpose of the world-existence. The Supermind is veiled here<\/i><\/span> <\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

\nPage \u2013 199<\/span><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n
\n

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


\n
\nand<\/span><\/i><\/span> does not work according to its characteristic law of being and
\nself-knowledge, but without it nothing could reach its aim. A world governed by
\nan ignorant mind would soon drift into a chaos; it could not in fact come into
\nexistence or remain in existence unless supported by the secret Omniscience of
\nwhich it is the cover; a world governed by a blind inconscient force might
\nrepeat constantly the same mechanical workings but it would mean nothing and
\narrive nowhere. This could not be the cause of an evolution that creates life
\nout of Matter, out of life mind, and a gradation of planes of Matter, Life and
\nMind culminating in the emergence of Supermind. The secret truth that emerges
\nin Supermind has been there all the time, but now it manifests itself and the
\ntruth in things and the meaning of our existence.\u201d <\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

The Supramental Manifestation, pp. 73-74 <\/font><\/span><\/i> <\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

In fact this was not finished. It stopped short there. There were
\nothers to come.\u2026<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/span><\/p>\n

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

So, we are going to finish without questions? <\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/span><\/p>\n

Mother,
\nabout the last paragraph here, there is a question: If the Supermind is hidden
\nbehind things, why is it so difficult to find it? <\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

 <\/span><\/p>\n

Because it is hidden! (Laughter<\/i>)
\n<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/span><\/p>\n

     
\n<\/span>Even in the Ignorance it is working, it leads to the Truth.\u2026<\/span><\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

 <\/span><\/p>\n

Sri Aurobindo explains that if the supramental truth had not <\/span><\/p>\n

\nPage \u2013 200<\/span><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n
\n

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

been<\/span><\/span> there
\nbehind things, the world could never have been organised, even as it is
\norganised now. We have the feeling of a consciousness with a very enlightened
\nwill which has organised everything in accordance with a very precise plan,
\nwhich cannot be the result either of ignorance or of unconsciousness. In fact,
\nyour difficulty in perceiving the Supermind or the Truth-Consciousness behind
\nthings indicates the exact] measure of your personal ignorance and
\nunconsciousness; for those who have come out of this ignorance and
\nunconsciousness see it very clearly. The difficulty depends on the state of
\nunconsciousness one is in. But for one who has gone beyond this state of
\nunconsciousness it is not at all difficult to find the Supermind; it is very
\nperceptible. <\/span><\/p>\n

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

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

 <\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/span>If one enters into a
\nsomewhat philosophical, psychological and subjective consciousness, one can
\nvery easily become aware of a sort of \u201cobjective unreality\u201d of things; and the
\none thing which is real, tangible, concrete, measurable, so to speak, for the
\nordinary consciousness becomes so fluid, almost unsubstantial, and has a
\nreality only in the consciousness that perceives it \u2013 an absolutely variable
\nreality and at times quite contradictory according to the perception of the
\nconsciousness. If we put before us the different explanations that have been
\ngiven about the world, the different ways in which it has been expressed, we
\nshall have a series of notions that are sometimes absolutely contradictory,
\nwhich are nevertheless perceptions of one identical thing by different
\nconsciousnesses. In fact, with this last paragraph, we have an extreme point
\nwhich is the affirmation that all that is, is the total and complete expression
\nof the Divine Will \u2013 there is what could be called a certain school of thinkers
\nwho, on the basis of their personal experience, have asserted that everything
\nis the expression of the Divine Will in a perfect way \u2013 and then, at the other
\nextreme, the affirmation that the world <\/span><\/p>\n

\nPage \u2013 201<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n
\n

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

\u00a0<\/span>is a sort of chaos without
\nrhyme or reason, which has come into being one doesn\u2019t know how or why, which
\nis going one doesn\u2019t know where, which has no logic, no reason, no
\ncoordination\\is just chance. It happens to be like this, one doesn\u2019t know why.
\nWell, if you take these two extremes and put before you all that has been said,
\nwritten, taught, thought about the world from one end to the other, and if you
\ncan see all that together, you will realise that, since it is all about the
\nsame world and yet the explanations are so totally different, this world
\nexists, so to say, only in the consciousness of the one who sees it.\u2026There must
\nindeed be \u201csomething\u201d there, but that something must be beyond what men think
\nabout it \u2013 far beyond, very different. And so the whole feeling is of an
\nelusive unreality. <\/span><\/p>\n

And in fact, the reality of the world is entirely subjective for
\neach person\u2019s consciousness. The world has no objective reality, for in one
\ncase it can be said that it is the result of the supremely conscious, supreme
\nWill and that all is ruled by that, and in the other case, it may be said that
\nit is something without any reason for existence except an elusive chance \u2013 and
\nyet, these two notions apply to one and the same thing. <\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 <\/span>Have you never thought
\nabout that? <\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 <\/span>Everyone has his own
\nidea which is more or less clear, more or less organised, more or less precise,
\nand this idea he calls the world. Everyone has his own way of seeing, his own
\nway of feeling and his particular relationship with everything else, and this
\nhe calls the world. He naturally puts himself at the centre, and then everybody
\nis organised around him, according to the way in which he sees it, feels it,
\nunderstands and desires it, according to his own reaction, but since for each
\nconsciousness, individually, it is different, this means that what we call the
\nworld \u2013 the thing in itself \u2013 escapes our perception completely. It must be
\nsomething else. And we must come out of our individual consciousness to be able
\nto understand what it is; and this is what Sri Aurobindo calls the passage from
\nthe lower to the higher hemisphere. In the lower hemisphere there are as <\/span><\/p>\n

\nPage \u2013 202<\/span><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n
\n

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

many<\/span><\/span> universes
\nas individuals, and in the higher hemisphere there is \u201csomething\u201d \u2013 which is
\nwhat it is \u2013 in which all consciousnesses must meet. This is what he calls the
\n\u201cTruth-Consciousness\u201d.<\/span><\/p>\n

As the human consciousness progresses, it has a greater and
\ngreater sense of this relativity, and at the same time a sort of feeling, it
\ncould be said, a vague impression that there is a Truth, which is not
\nperceptible by ordinary means but must be perceptible in some way or other. <\/span><\/p>\n

That is all. So I hope that with our next book, The Life Divine,<\/i> we shall find the key
\nto the problem. <\/span>
\n
\n <\/span><\/p>\n

\nPage \u2013 203<\/span><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n
\n

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


\n
\n16
\n October 1957<\/font><\/a><\/span><\/i><\/b><\/span><\/i><\/b><\/p>\n

 <\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

I have received four questions. Naturally they are not about what
\nI have just read, and they are on three different subjects. And each one needs
\na very lengthy answer. But still, I am going to take the first two which go
\ntogether. They are about the involution of the Spirit.\u00b9<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 <\/span>The first question: <\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cIf all that
\nis to manifest is already involved in Matter, are there, hidden in it, other
\nprinciples besides the supermind which will be revealed when it has been fully manifested?\u201d
\n<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

 <\/span><\/p>\n

Logically speaking, \u201cyes\u201d, for essentially, there is an identity
\nbetween Matter and the Supreme. But \u2013 and this brings in the second question: <\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/span>\u201cDid
\nthe involution take place in Time and does it have a history as evolution has?\u201d
\n<\/i><\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

It could almost be said that the answer to this question depends
\non the mental attitude of the person who asks it<\/span>.\u2026Scholars
\nwill tell you that there are different schools which have spoken about these
\nthings in ways that are also very different. There are the metaphysicians who
\ndeny any history, minds that are essentially speculative, philosophical and, as
\nI said, metaphysical, abstract, who consider that histories are only for
\nchildren. There are the psychologists who translate everything into movements of
\nconsciousness, and finally there are those who love images and for <\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/span><\/p>\n

\n\u00b9 Sri Aurobindo tells us that evolution is
\nthe result of an involution. Thus, life is involved in Matter, mind is involved
\nin life and supermind is involved in mind. Nothing can come out of nothing; it
\nis because the Supreme is involved in Matter that the Supreme can emerge from
\nMatter. \u2013 Editor <\/font>\u00a0<\/font><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

\nPage \u2013 204<\/span><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n
\n

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

whom universal history is a great development which might be
\ndescribed as \u201ccinematographic\u201d, and this development in pictures is for them
\nsomething much more living and tangible, for even if it is only symbolic, it
\nmakes them understand things in a more intimate and real way. <\/span><\/p>\n

It goes without saying that the three explanations are equally
\ntrue, and that the important thing is to be able to synthesise and harmonise
\nthem in one\u2019s thought. But we shall put aside the aridities<\/span>
\nof metaphysics, for it is better to read about them in the books of scholars
\nwho tell you things in a very precise, very exact and very dry fashion! The
\npsychological point of view\u2026it is better to live it than speak about it. So we
\nare left with the story for children. It is good to be always a child. And
\nalthough we must take care not to believe in it as a dogma in which nothing
\nshould be changed if one doesn\u2019t want to be sacrilegious, we can at least take
\nthese stories as a means to make living to our childlike consciousness
\nsomething which would otherwise be too remote from us. <\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 <\/span>There we can choose
\nfrom many stories that have been told, stories more or less true, more or less
\ncomplete, more<\/span> or less expressive. But if by
\ninteriorising or exteriorising oneself \u2013 which, from a certain point of view,
\nis essentially the same thing \u2013 if one can relive this story, at least
\npartially and in its broad outlines, it helps one to understand and hence to
\nmaster the how and why of things. Some people have done that, they are the ones
\nusually considered as initiates, occultists and prophets at the same time \u2013 and
\nvery beautiful stories have been told. <\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 <\/span>I am going to tell you
\none, very succinctly. Don\u2019t take it as a gospel! Take it rather\u2026as a story. <\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 <\/span>When the Supreme
\ndecided to exteriorise Himself in order to be able to see Himself, the first
\nthing in Himself which He exteriorised was the Knowledge of the world and the
\nPower to create it. This Knowledge-Consciousness and Force began its work; and
\nin the supreme Will there was a plan, and the first principle of this plan was
\nthe expression of both the essential Joy and the
\n <\/span><\/p>\n

\nPage \u2013 205<\/span><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n
\n

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

essential<\/span><\/span> Freedom,
\nwhich seemed to be the most interesting feature of this creation. <\/span><\/p>\n

So intermediaries were needed to express this Joy and Freedom in
\nforms. And at first four Beings were emanated to start this universal
\ndevelopment which was to be the progressive objectivisation<\/span>
\nof all that is potentially contained in the Supreme. These Beings were, in the
\nprinciple of their existence: Consciousness and Light, Life, Bliss and Love,
\nand Truth. <\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 <\/span>You can easily imagine
\nthat they had a sense of great power, great strength, of something tremendous,
\nfor they were essentially the very principle of these things. Besides, they had
\nfull freedom of choice, for this creation was to be Freedom itself.\u2026As soon as
\nthey set to work \u2013 they had their own conception of how it had to be done \u2013
\nbeing totally free, they chose to do it independently. Instead of taking the
\nattitude of servant and instrument of which Sri Aurobindo speaks in what I have
\njust read to you,\u00b9 they naturally took the attitude of the master, and this
\nmistake \u2013 as I may call it \u2013 was the first cause, the essential cause of all
\nthe disorder in the universe. As soon as there was separation \u2013 for that is the
\nessential cause, separation \u2013 as soon as there was separation between the Supreme
\nand what had been emanated, Consciousness changed into inconscience, Light into
\ndarkness, Love into hatred, Bliss into suffering, Life into death and Truth
\ninto falsehood. And they proceeded with their creations independently, in
\nseparation and disorder. <\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 <\/span>The result is the
\nworld as we see it. It was made progressively, stage by stage, and it would
\ntruly take a little too long to tell you all that, but finally, the
\nconsummation is Matter \u2013 obscure, inconscient, miserable.\u2026The creative Force
\nwhich had emanated these four Beings, essentially for the creation of the<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/span><\/p>\n

\u00b9 \u201cThe sword has a joy in the battle-play,
\nthe arrow has a mirth in its hiss and its leaping, the earth has a rapture in
\nits dizzy whirl through space, the sun has the royal ecstasy of its blazing
\nsplendours and its eternal motion. O thou self-conscious instrument, take thou
\ntoo the delight of thy own appointed workings.\u201d<\/font><\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/font><\/span>\u201cThe Delight of Works\u201d, extract from The
\nSuperman, Cent. Vol. 16, p. 288<\/font><\/span> <\/font><\/span><\/p>\n

\nPage \u2013 206<\/span><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n
\n

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

world<\/span><\/span>, witnessed
\nwhat was happening, and turning to the Supreme she prayed for the remedy and
\nthe cure of the evil that had been done. <\/span><\/p>\n

Then she was given the command to precipitate her Consciousness
\ninto this inconscience, her Love into this suffering, and her Truth into this
\nfalsehood. And a greater consciousness, a more total love, a more perfect truth
\nthan what had been emanated at first, plunged, so to say, into the horror of
\nMatter in order to awaken in it consciousness, love and truth, and to begin the
\nmovement of Redemption which was to bring the material universe back to its
\nsupreme origin. <\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 <\/span>So, there have<\/span> been what might be called \u201csuccessive involutions\u201d in
\nMatter, and a history of these involutions. The present result of these
\ninvolutions is the appearance of the Supermind emerging from the inconscience;
\nbut there is nothing to indicate that after this appearance there will be no
\nothers\u2026for the Supreme is inexhaustible and will always create new worlds. <\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 <\/span>That is my story. <\/span><\/p>\n

\nPage \u2013 207<\/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":"

2 October 1957   \u201cThe essential character of Supermind is a Truth-Consciousness which knows by its own inherent right of nature, by its own light:…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[120],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-4249","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-09-questions-and-answers-volume-09","wpcat-120-id"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/worksofthemotherandsriaurobindo.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4249","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=4249"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/worksofthemotherandsriaurobindo.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4249\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/worksofthemotherandsriaurobindo.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4249"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/worksofthemotherandsriaurobindo.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4249"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/worksofthemotherandsriaurobindo.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4249"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}