{"id":4250,"date":"2013-07-13T01:54:34","date_gmt":"2013-07-13T01:54:34","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/localhost\/?p=4250"},"modified":"2013-07-13T01:54:34","modified_gmt":"2013-07-13T01:54:34","slug":"02-23-january-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\/02-23-january-1957-vol-09-questions-and-answers-volume-09","title":{"rendered":"-02_23 January 1957.htm"},"content":{"rendered":"\n\n
\n
\n


\n23 January 1957<\/font><\/span><\/i><\/b><\/span><\/i><\/b><\/p>\n

 <\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

\u201cThe meeting of man and God must always mean a
\npenetration and entry of the Divine into the human and a self-immergence of man
\nin the Divinity. <\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

\u201cBut that immergence is not in the nature
\nof an annihilation. Extinction is not the fulfilment of all this search and
\npassion, suffering and rapture. The game would never have been begun if that
\nwere to be its ending.\u201d<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

\u201cDelight is the secret. Learn of pure
\ndelight and thou shalt<\/span> learn of God\u201d. <\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

\u201cWhat then was the commencement of the
\nwhole matter? Existence that multiplied itself for sheer delight of being and
\nplunged into numberless trillions of forms so that it might find itself
\ninnumerably\u201d. <\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

\u201cAnd what is the middle? Division that
\nstrives towards a multiple unity, ignorance that labours towards a flood of
\nvaried light, pain that travails towards the touch of an unimaginable ecstasy.
\nFor all these things are dark figures and perverse vibrations. <\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

\u201cAnd what is
\nthe end of the whole matter? As if honey could taste itself and all its drops
\ntogether and all its drops could taste each other and each the whole honeycomb
\nas itself, so should the end be with God and the soul of man and the universe. <\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

\u201cLove is the key-note, Joy is the music,
\nPower is the strain, Knowledge is the performer, the infinite All is the
\ncomposer and audience. We know only the preliminary discords which are as
\nfierce as the harmony shall be great; but we shall arrive surely at the fugue
\nof the divine Beatitudes.\u201d <\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n


\n
\nThoughts
\nand Glimpses, Cent. Vol. 16, p. 384<\/font><\/span> <\/font><\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

\nPage
\n\u2013 20<\/span><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n
\n

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

How
\ncan one \u201clearn of pure delight\u201d?<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\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

First of all, to begin with,
\none must through an attentive observation grow aware that desires and the
\nsatisfaction of desires give only a vague, uncertain pleasure, mixed, fugitive
\nand altogether unsatisfactory. That is usually the starting-point. <\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/span>Then, if one is a reasonable being, one must
\nlearn to discern what is desire and refrain from doing anything that may
\nsatisfy one\u2019s desires. One must reject them without trying to satisfy them. And
\nso the first result is exactly one of the first observations stated by the
\nBuddha in his teaching: there is an infinitely greater delight in conquering
\nand eliminating a desire than in satisfying it. Every sincere and steadfast
\nseeker will realise after some time, sooner or later, at times very soon, that
\nthis is an absolute truth, and that the delight felt in overcoming a desire is
\nincomparably higher than the small pleasure, so fleeting and mixed, which may
\nbe found in the satisfaction of his desires. That is the second step. <\/span><\/p>\n

Naturally,
\nwith this continuous discipline, in a very short time the desires will keep
\ntheir distance and will no longer bother you. So you will be free to enter a
\nlittle more deeply into your being and open yourself in an aspiration to\u2026the
\nGiver of Delight, the divine Element, the divine Grace. And if this is done
\nwith a sincere self-giving \u2013 something that gives itself, offers itself and
\nexpects nothing in exchange for its offering \u2013 one will feel that kind of sweet
\nwarmth, comfortable, intimate, radiant, which fills the heart and is the herald
\nof Delight.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0<\/span>After this, the path is easy. \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

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

Sweet Mother, what is the true Delight of being?
\n<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

 <\/span><\/p>\n

That very one of which I
\nam speaking! <\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/span><\/p>\n

Then, Sweet Mother, here when Sri Aurobindo
\nspeaks of an existence \u201cthat multiplied itself for sheer delight<\/span><\/i> <\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

\nPage
\n\u2013 21<\/span><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n
\n

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

of being\u201d, what is this
\ndelight?\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/span><\/i><\/p>\n


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

The delight of existing.
\n<\/span><\/p>\n

There comes a
\ntime when one begins to be almost ready, when one can feel in everything, every
\nobject, in every movement, in every vibration, in all the things around \u2013 not
\nonly people and conscious beings, but things, objects; not only trees and
\nplants and living things, but simply any object one uses, the things around one
\n\u2013 this delight, this delight of being, of being just as one is, simply being.
\nAnd one sees that all this vibrates like that. One touches a thing and feels
\nthis delight. But naturally, I say, one must have followed the discipline I
\nspoke about at the beginning; otherwise, so long as one has a desire, a
\npreference, an attachment or affinities and repulsions and all that, one cannot
\n\u2013 one cannot. <\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 <\/span>And so long as one finds pleasures \u2013
\npleasure, well, yes, vital or physical pleasure in a thing \u2013 one cannot feel
\nthis delight. For this delight is everywhere. This delight is something very
\nsubtle. One moves in the midst of things and it is as though they were all
\nsinging to you their delight. There comes a time when it becomes very familiar
\nin the life around you. Of course, I must admit that it is a little more
\ndifficult to feel it in human beings, because there are all their mental and
\nvital formations which come into the field of perception and disturb it. There
\nis too much of this kind of egoistic asperity which gets mixed with things, so
\nit is more difficult to contact the Delight there. But even in animals one
\nfeels it; it is already a little more difficult than in plants. But in plants,
\nin flowers, it is so wonderful! They speak all their joy, they express it. And
\nas I said, in all familiar objects, the things around you, which you use, there
\nis a state of consciousness in which each one is happy to be, just as it is. So
\nat that moment one knows one has touched true Delight. And it is not
\nconditioned. I mean it does not depend upon\u2026it depends on nothing. It does not
\ndepend on outer circumstances, does not depend on a more or less favourable
\nstate, it does not <\/span><\/p>\n

\nPage
\n\u2013 22<\/span><\/p>\n

\n

depend on
\nanything: it is a communion with the raison d\u2019\u00eatre of the universe. <\/span><\/p>\n

And when this
\ncomes it fills all the cells of the body. It is not even a thing which is
\nthought out \u2013 one does no reason, does not analyse, it is not that: it is a
\nstate] in which one lives. And when the body shares in it, it is so fresh \u2013 so
\nfresh, so spontaneous, so\u2026it no longer turns back upon itself, there is no
\nlonger any sense of self-observation, of self-analysis or of analysing things.
\nAll that is like a canticle of joyous vibrations, but very, very quiet, without
\nviolence, without passion, nothing of all that. It is very subtle and very
\nintense at the same time, and when it comes, it seems that the whole universe
\nis a marvellous harmony. Even what is to the ordinary human consciousness ugly,
\nunpleasant, appears marvellous. <\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 <\/span>Unfortunately, as I said, people,
\ncircumstances, all that, with all those mental and vital formations \u2013 that
\ndisturbs it all the time. Then one is obliged to return to this ignorant, blind
\nperception of things. But otherwise, as soon as all this stops and one can get
\nout of it\u2026everything changes. As he says there, at the end: everything changes.
\nA marvellous harmony. And it is all Delight, true Delight, real Delight. <\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 <\/span>This demands a little work. \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

And
\nthis discipline I spoke about, which one must undergo, if it is practised with
\nthe aim of finding Delight, the result is delayed, for an egoistic element is
\nintroduced into it, it is done with an aim and is no longer an offering, it is
\na demand, and then.\u2026It comes, it will come, even if it takes much longer \u2013 when
\none asks nothing, expects nothing, hopes for nothing, when it is simply that,
\nit is self-giving and aspiration, and the spontaneous need without any
\nbargaining \u2013 the need to be divine, that\u2019s all. <\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 <\/span>\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 <\/span>\u00a0<\/span>Mother, will you explain this \u201cdrop of honey\u201d?
\n<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

 <\/span><\/p>\n

Oh! the honey.\u2026But that
\nis an image, my child. <\/span><\/p>\n

\nPage
\n\u2013 23<\/span><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n
\n

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

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 <\/span>He says: \u201cIf one could imagine….\u201d It is
\nsimply to give a more concrete approach than intellectual abstractions. He
\nsays: If you can imagine, for example, a honeycomb, well\u2026a honeycomb which
\nwould have the capacity to taste itself and at the same time each drop of
\nhoney; not only to taste itself as honey, but to taste itself in each drop,
\nbeing each drop of the honeycomb, and if each one of these drops could taste
\nall the others, itself and all the others, and at the same time if each drop
\ncould taste, could have the taste of the whole honeycomb as if it were itself. <\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 <\/span>So, it would be a honeycomb capable of
\ntasting itself and tasting in detail all the drops in the honeycomb, and each
\ndrop capable of tasting itself and all the others individually and the
\nhoneycomb as a whole, as itself.\u2026It is a very precise image. Only you must have
\nsome power of imagination! <\/span><\/p>\n

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

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 <\/span>Like
\nthat I understand. I am asking what it means. <\/i><\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

Honey is something
\ndelicious, isn\u2019t it? So, these are the sweetnesses<\/span> of
\ndivine Delight. <\/span><\/p>\n

And just now,
\nwhen I was evoking this joy which is in things, spontaneous, simple, this joy
\nwhich is at the heart of everything, well, for the physical body it has
\nsomething truly\u2026oh! naturally, the taste of honey is very crude and gross in
\ncomparison \u2013 but something like that, something extremely delicious. And very
\nsimple, very simple and very integral in its simplicity; very complete in its
\nsimplicity and yet very simple. <\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 <\/span>You see, this is not something to be
\nthought out, one must have the power to evoke it, one must have some
\nimagination. So, if one has this capacity, one can do that simply by reading,
\nthen one can understand.\u2026It is an analogy, it is only an analogy, but it is an
\nanalogy which truly has a power of evocation<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/span><\/p>\n

But everyone will imagine something different, won\u2019t
\nhe, Mother?<\/span><\/i> <\/span><\/p>\n

\nPage
\n\u2013 24<\/span><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n
\n

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

Obviously. But that
\ndoesn\u2019t matter! It will be good for him.
\n <\/span><\/p>\n

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

Is that all? <\/span><\/p>\n

I
\nhad brought some questions I have been asked, but I think it is already rather
\nlate. (Mother glances at some questions.)
\n<\/i><\/span><\/p>\n


\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 <\/span><\/i>There is one which is
\nterribly intellectual which we shall leave for another day. There is
\nanother\u2026which is only a semblance, and then there is a third which is
\ninteresting but needs a detailed reply, and this evening it is already a little
\nlate. <\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 <\/span>However here is a question which can be
\nanswered very easily, it is from one of my own writings where it is said: <\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 <\/span>\u201cIt
\nis a great mistake to suppose that the Divine Will always acts openly in the
\nworld.\u201d <\/i><\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 <\/span>And then in Sri Aurobindo\u2019s Synthesis of
\nYoga:<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 <\/span>\u201cIf we see unity everywhere, if we
\nrecognise that all comes by the divine will\u2026etc.\u201d <\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

 <\/span><\/p>\n

And something else, from
\nmy Prayers and Meditations: <\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cIt is Thou who art the doer in each thing and
\neach being, and he who is near enough to Thee to see Thee in all\u00a0\u00a0 <\/span>actions\u00a0
\n<\/span>without exception, will know how to transform each act into a
\nbenediction.\u201d\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 <\/span><\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

10
\n December<\/i> 1912<\/font><\/span> <\/font> <\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/span><\/p>\n

And so, I am asked how
\nto reconcile these contradictions. But I don\u2019t see any contradiction. For in
\nthe first sentence it is said: \u201cIt is a great mistake to suppose that the
\nDivine Will always acts openly in the world….\u201d I should say: it is extremely rare <\/i>for it to act openly. It
\nalways acts, but not openly. And when it acts<\/span> <\/span><\/p>\n

\nPage
\n\u2013 25<\/span><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n
\n

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

\u00a0<\/span>openly, that is what men call \u201cmiracles\u201d. And
\nit is something extremely rare. Most of the time it does not act openly, but
\nthat doesn\u2019t mean it does not act. It doesn\u2019t act openly, that\u2019s all. So
\nthere\u2019s no contradiction. That was all I meant. It is an altogether superficial
\ncontradiction arising from a misunderstanding of the words.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 <\/span>The Divine Will acts, but not openly.
\nWhen it acts openly, well, men call that miracles. That\u2019s all. But that does
\nnot prevent it from acting. <\/span><\/p>\n

\nPage
\n\u2013 26<\/span><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n
\n

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


\n30 January 1957<\/font><\/a><\/span><\/i><\/b><\/p>\n

 <\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

\u201cThe whole world yearns after freedom,
\nyet each creature is in love with his chains; this is the first paradox and
\ninextricable knot of our nature. <\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

\u201cMan is in love with the
\nbonds of birth; therefore he is caught in the companion bonds of death. In these
\nchains he aspires after freedom of his being and mastery of his
\nself-fulfilment. <\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

\u201cMan is in love with power; therefore he
\nis subjected to weakness. For the world is a sea of waves of force that meet
\nand continually fling themselves on each other; he who would ride on the crest
\nof one wave, must faint under the shock of hundreds. <\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

\u201cMan is in love with pleasure; therefore
\nhe must undergo the yoke of grief and pain. For unmixed delight is only for the
\nfree and passionless soul; but that which pursues after pleasure in man is a
\nsuffering and straining energy.<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

\u201cMan hungers after calm, but he thirsts
\nalso for the experiences of a restless mind and a troubled heart. Enjoyment is
\nto his mind a fever, calm an inertia and a monotony. <\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

\u201cMan is in love with the limitations of
\nhis physical being, yet he would have also the freedom of his infinite mind and
\nhis immortal soul. <\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

\u201cAnd in these contrasts
\nsomething in him finds a curious attraction; they constitute for his mental
\nbeing the artistry of life. It is not only the nectar but the poison also that
\nattracts his taste and his curiosity.\u201d
\n <\/span><\/i><\/p>\n


\nThoughts
\nand Glimpses, Cent. Vol. 16, p. 385 <\/font><\/span> <\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/span>Sweet
\nMother, what does \u201cartistry\u201d mean?<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

 <\/span><\/p>\n

What most men call
\n\u201cartistry\u201d is just contrast. Artists say and feel <\/span><\/p>\n

\nPage
\n\u2013 27<\/span><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n
\n

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

\nthat it is the shadows which make the light,
\nthat if there were no contrasts, they would not be able to make a picture. It
\nis the same thing with music: the contrast between \u201cforte\u201d and \u201cpiano\u201d is one
\nof the greatest charms of music. <\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/span>I knew some poets who used to say, \u201cIt is my
\nenemies\u2019 hatred which makes me value the affection of my friends….\u201d And it is
\nthe almost inevitable likelihood of misfortune which gives all its savour to
\nhappiness, and so on. And they value repose only in contrast with the daily
\nagitation, silence only because of the usual noise, and some of them even tell
\nyou, \u201cOh! it is because there are illnesses that good health is cherished.\u201d It
\ngoes so far that a thing is valued only when it is lost. And as Sri Aurobindo
\nsays here: When this fever of action, of movement, this agitation of creative
\nthought is not there, one feels one is falling into inertia. Most people fear
\nsilence, calm, quietude. They no longer feel alive when they are not agitated. <\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 <\/span>I have seen many cases in which Sri
\nAurobindo had given silence to somebody, had made his mind silent, and that
\nperson came back to him in a kind of despair, saying: \u201cBut I have become
\nstupid!\u201d For his thought was no longer excited. <\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 <\/span>What he says here is terribly true. Men
\nwant freedom but they are in love with their chains, and when one wants to take
\nthem away, when one wants to show them the path of true liberation, they are
\nafraid, and often they even protest. <\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 <\/span>Almost all man\u2019s works of art \u2013
\nliterary, poetic, artistic \u2013 are based on the violence of contrasts in life.
\nWhen one tries to pull them out of their daily dramas, they really feel that it
\nis not artistic. If they wanted to write a book or compose a play where there
\nwould be no contrasts, where there would be no shadows in the picture, it would
\nprobably be something seemingly very dull, very monotonous, lifeless, for what
\nman calls \u201clife\u201d is the drama of life, the anxiety of life, the violence of
\ncontrasts. And perhaps if there were no death, they would be terribly tired of
\nliving.<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/span><\/p>\n

(Long silence)<\/span><\/i> <\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

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\n\u2013 28<\/span><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n
\n

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

I have been asked a
\nquestion about what I said in one of the former classes: <\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cThe difficulties and obstacles met on the path
\nwhen one wants to attain a certain aim \u2013 are they sometimes a sign that this
\ndecision, this plan or project was faulty from the beginning and that hence one
\nshould not persist or, on the contrary, do these difficulties indicate a
\nvictory to be won, a transformation to be attained? Are they a sign that one
\nmust persevere and hold fast? I am not speaking here of the decision to follow
\nthe path of Yoga, but of the little things connected with work, sports or other
\nactivities. In other words, how to recognise and interpret the Guidance which
\ncomes through circumstances or relations with others and through experience?\u201d <\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

 <\/span><\/p>\n

I believe this is only
\nan apparent contradiction. <\/span><\/p>\n

If one wants
\nto follow a discipline of yoga, naturally, before undertaking anything one must
\ntry to discern and know if the inspiration received is a real one, coming from
\nthe Divine, or whether it is simply a reaction to outer circumstances and an
\nimpulse, either vital or mental. It is quite important, even very important, to
\ntry to discern and act in full knowledge of the cause. But there are very many
\nthings one does and about which one is not in the habit of thinking beforehand.
\nWhen the circumstance comes, one obeys it, so to say. And, indeed, these
\nthings, like almost everything one does in life, are not important in
\nthemselves. The only thing that matters is the attitude<\/i> with which they are done. The fact that you do something
\nbecause that action is present there before you for one reason or another and
\nthat you are, so to say, always obliged to act as long as you are in the outer
\nlife \u2013 all this has a certain importance from the point of view of the
\nmanagement of life if these acts are liable to have far-reaching consequences
\nin life, as for <\/span><\/p>\n

\nPage
\n\u2013 29<\/span><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n
\n

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

\nexample, getting married or going to live in one
\nplace or another or taking up one occupation or another; these things are
\ngenerally considered important, and they are so to a certain extent; but even
\nfor them, from the point of view of yoga, everything depends much more on the
\nattitude one takes than on the thing itself. And so, above all, for all the
\nvery small actions of daily life, the importance is reduced to a minimum. <\/span><\/p>\n

There are
\nsome scrupulous people who set problems to themselves and find it very
\ndifficult to solve them, because they state the problem wrongly. I knew a young
\nwoman who was a theosophist and was trying to practise; she told me, \u201cWe are
\ntaught that the divine Will must prevail in all that we do, but in the morning
\nwhen I have my breakfast, how can I know whether God wants me to put two lumps
\nof sugar in my coffee or only one?\u201d\u2026And it was quite touching, you know, and I
\nhad some trouble explaining to her that the spirit in which she drank her
\ncoffee, the attitude she had towards her food, was much more important than the
\nnumber of lumps of sugar she put into it.\u00b9<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 <\/span>It is the same with all the little things
\none does at every moment. The divine Consciousness does not work in the human
\nway, It does not decide how many lumps of sugar you will put in your coffee. It
\ngradually puts you in the right attitude towards actions, things \u2013 an attitude
\nof consecration, suppleness, assent, aspiration, goodwill, plasticity, effort
\nfor progress \u2013 and this is what counts, much more than the small decision you
\ntake at every second. One may try to find out what is the truest thing to do,
\nbut it is not by a mental discussion or a mental problem that these things can
\nbe resolved. It is in fact by an inner attitude which creates an atmosphere of
\nharmony \u2013 progressive harmony \u2013 in which all one does will necessarily be the
\nbest thing that could be done in those particular circumstances. And the ideal
\nwould be an attitude complete enough for the action<\/span><\/p>\n

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

\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/span> <\/span>
\n<\/font>\u00b9<\/font><\/span>About this story, a disciple remembers Mother
\ntelling him something to this effect: \u201cNow I would no longer laugh at this poor
\nlady. I am not sure that the Lord does not also attend to the number of lumps
\nof sugar we put in our coffee!\u201d<\/font><\/span> <\/font><\/span><\/p>\n

\nPage
\n\u2013 30<\/span><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n
\n

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

to be spontaneous,
\ndictated by something other than an outer reason. But that is an ideal \u2013 for
\nwhich one must aspire and which one can realise after some time. Till then, to
\ntake care always to keep the true attitude, the true aspiration, is much more
\nimportant than to decide whether one will do gymnastic-marching or not and
\nwhether one will go to a certain class or not. Because these things have no
\nreal importance in themselves, they have only an altogether relative
\nimportance, the only important thing is just to keep the true orientation in
\none\u2019s aspiration and a living will for progress.<\/span><\/p>\n

As a general
\nrule, and so that the experience may have its full benefit, when one has
\nundertaken something one must do it with persistence, without caring for
\nobstacles and difficulties, until an absolutely irrefutable event indicates
\nthat one no longer has to do it. This happens very rarely. Usually, things
\nfollow their own curve and when they reach an issue \u2013 either they have come to
\nan end or have produced the desired result \u2013 one becomes aware of the reason
\nfor doing them. But the obstacles, oppositions \u2013 or encouragements \u2013 should not
\nbe considered as irrefutable signs to be followed, for these things may have
\nvery different meanings according to the case, and it is not at all on the
\nbasis of these outer events that one must judge the validity of one\u2019s
\nundertaking. <\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 <\/span>When one is very attentive and very
\nsincere, one can have an indication, an inner but perceptible indication, of
\nthe value of what one has undertaken or the action one is doing. Truly, for
\nsomeone who has an entire goodwill, that is, who in all sincerity, with the
\nwhole conscious part of his being, wants to do the right thing in the right
\nway, there is always an indication; if for some reason or other one launches
\nupon a more or less fatal action, one always feels an uneasiness in the region
\nof the solar plexus; an uneasiness which is not violent, which doesn\u2019t compel
\nrecognition dramatically, but is very perceptible to someone who is attentive \u2013
\nsomething like a sort of regret, like a lack of assent. It may go as far as a
\nkind of refusal to collaborate. <\/span><\/p>\n

\nPage
\n\u2013 31<\/span><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n
\n

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

\u00a0<\/span>But I must stress it, without violence,
\nwithout brutal self-assertion: it makes no noise, does not hurt; it is at the
\nmost a slight uneasiness. And if you disregard it, if you pay no attention,
\nattach no importance to it, after a little while it will completely disappear
\nand there will be nothing any longer. <\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/span>It is not that it increases with the growing
\nerror, on the contrary, it disappears and the consciousness becomes veiled. <\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 <\/span>Therefore, one cannot give this as a sure
\nsign, for if you have disobeyed this little indication several times, well, it
\nwill no longer come. But I tell you that if in all sincerity you are very
\nattentive to it, then it will be a very sure and precious guide. <\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 <\/span>But if there is an uneasiness, it comes
\nat the beginning, almost immediately, and when it doesn\u2019t show itself, well, no
\nmatter what one has started, it is preferable to do it to the very end so that
\nthe experience may be complete, unless one receives, as I said, an absolutely
\nprecise and categorical indication that it should not be done. <\/span><\/p>\n

\nPage
\n\u2013 32<\/span><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n
\n

<\/span><\/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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