{"id":4251,"date":"2013-07-13T01:54:34","date_gmt":"2013-07-13T01:54:34","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/localhost\/?p=4251"},"modified":"2013-07-13T01:54:34","modified_gmt":"2013-07-13T01:54:34","slug":"07-01-may-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\/07-01-may-1957-vol-09-questions-and-answers-volume-09","title":{"rendered":"-07_01 May 1957.htm"},"content":{"rendered":"\n\n
\n
\n


\n1 May 1957<\/font><\/span><\/i><\/span><\/i><\/b><\/p>\n

 <\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

\u201cIn the admission of an activity such as sports and
\nphysical exercises into the life of the Ashram it is evident that the methods
\nand the first objects to be attained must belong to what we have called the
\nlower end of the being. Originally they have been introduced for the physical
\neducation and bodily development of the children of the Ashram School and these
\nare too young for a strictly spiritual aim or practice to enter into their
\nactivities.\u2026Yet what can be attained within the human boundaries can be
\nsomething very considerable and sometimes immense: what we call genius is part
\nof the development of the human range of being and its achievements, especially
\nin things of the mind and will, can carry us halfway to the divine. Even what
\nthe mind and will can do with the body in the field proper to the body and its
\nlife, in the way of physical achievement, bodily endurance, feats of prowess of
\nall kinds, a lasting activity refusing fatigue or collapse and continuing
\nbeyond what seems at first to be possible, courage and refusal to succumb under
\nan endless and murderous physical suffering, these and other victories of many
\nkinds sometimes approaching or reaching the miraculous are seen in the human
\nfield and must be reckoned as a part of our concept of a total perfection…<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

\u201cThe body, we have said,
\nis a creation of the Inconscient and itself inconscient or at least subconscient<\/span> in parts of itself and much of its hidden
\naction; but what we call the Inconscient is an appearance, a dwelling place, an
\ninstrument of a secret Consciousness or a Superconscient which has created the
\nmiracle we call the universe. Matter is the field and the creation of the<\/span><\/i> <\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

\nPage
\n\u2013 95<\/span><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n
\n

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


\nInconscient and the perfection of the
\noperations of inconscient Matter, their perfect adaptation of means to an aim
\nand end, the wonders they perform and the marvels of beauty they create,
\ntestify, in spite of all the ignorant denial we can oppose, to the presence and
\npower of consciousness of this Superconscience in every part and movement of
\nthe material universe. It is there in the body, has made it and its emergence
\nin our consciousness is the secret aim of evolution and the key to the mystery
\nof our existence.\u201d <\/span>
\n
\n <\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

 The Supramental Manifestation, pp.
\n9-11 <\/font> <\/span>
\n
\n <\/span><\/font><\/i><\/p>\n

Mother, are sports competitions essential to our
\nprogress? <\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

 <\/span><\/p>\n

From the point of view
\nof moral education they are rather essential, for if one can take part in them
\nin the right spirit, it is a very good opportunity for mastering one\u2019s ego. If
\none does it without trying to overcome one\u2019s weaknesses and lower movements,
\none obviously doesn\u2019t know how to profit by them, and it does no good; but if
\none has the will to play in the right spirit, without any movement of a lower
\nkind, without jealousy or ambition, keeping an attitude which could be called
\n\u201cfair play\u201d, that is, doing one\u2019s best and not caring about the result; if one
\ncan put in the utmost effort without being upset because one has not met with
\nsuccess or things have not turned out in one\u2019s favour, then it is very useful.
\nOne can come out of all these competitions with a greater self-control and a
\ndetachment from results which are a great help to the formation of an
\nexceptional character. Naturally, if you do it in the ordinary way and with all
\nthe ordinary reactions and ugly movements, it doesn\u2019t help anything at all; but
\nthat holds good in no matter what one does; whether in the field of sports or
\nthe intellectual field, anywhere, if one acts in the ordinary way, well, one
\nwastes one\u2019s time. But if when playing or taking part in tournaments and
\ncompetitions, you keep the right spirit, it is a very good education, for it
\ncom \u2013<\/span> <\/span><\/p>\n

\nPage
\n\u2013 96<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n
\n

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

pels<\/span><\/span> you to make
\na special effort and to exceed your ordinary limits a little. It is certainly
\nan opportunity to make conscious many of your movements which otherwise would
\nalways remain unconscious. <\/span><\/p>\n

But naturally,
\nyou must not forget that this must be an opportunity and a means for progress.
\nIf you just let yourselves go and play in an altogether ordinary manner, you
\nare wasting your time; but it is the same for everything, not only for this:
\nfor studies and for anything at all. Everything always depends on the way in
\nwhich things are done, not so much on what one does but on the spirit in which
\none does it. <\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 <\/span>If you were all
\nyogis and did everything you do with your utmost effort and to your utmost possibilities,
\nas well as you can do it and always with the idea of doing it better still,
\nthen, obviously, there would be no need of competitions, prizes, rewards; but,
\nas Sri Aurobindo writes, little children cannot be expected to be yogis, and
\nduring the period of preparation a stimulus is necessary for the most material
\nconsciousness to make an effort for progress.\u2026And this period of childhood may
\nlast for many years!<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 <\/span>The ideal would be exactly what I have
\nwritten in the last Bulletin,\u00b9 I don\u2019t know if you have read it, but I have
\nwritten something like this: \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/span> <\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

Have no ambition, <\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 <\/span>\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 <\/span>above
\nall pretend nothing, <\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 <\/span>\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 <\/span>but
\nbe at every moment <\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 <\/span>\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 <\/span>the
\nutmost that you can be. <\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 <\/span>That is the ideal state in the integral
\nlife \u2013 whatever one does. And if one realises that, well, one is certainly very
\nfar on the path of perfection\u2026 But it is obvious that a certain inner maturity
\nis needed to do this in all sincerity. You may set this as a programme for
\nyourselves. <\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 <\/span>If you like we shall take it as the
\nsubject of our meditation. <\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/span><\/p>\n

(Meditation)<\/span><\/i> <\/span><\/b><\/p>\n


\n\u00b9<\/font><\/span>April
\n1957<\/font><\/span> <\/span><\/b><\/p>\n

\nPage \u2013 97<\/span><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n
\n

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


\n8 May 1957<\/font><\/a><\/span><\/i><\/b><\/p>\n

 <\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

Mother, usually we see that many of us take an
\ninterest in the games and activities in which there is some excitement, but few
\ntake interest in serious activities, serious exercises. Why is that? <\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

 <\/span><\/p>\n

Because in the vast
\nmajority of cases, what gives interest is vital satisfaction. For you to be
\ninterested in training exercises which don\u2019t have the stimulus of games, the reason
\nmust govern the being. In ordinary men reason is the summit of human
\nconsciousness, and this is the part of the being which must govern the rest,
\nfor it is orderly and reasonable, that is, it does things with a feeling for
\norder, for goodness, usefulness, and in accordance with a plan, a specific
\nplan, recognised and used by each one, whereas the vital part of the being
\nlikes excitement, the unexpected, adventure \u2013 all that makes games attractive \u2013
\nabove all, competition, the effort to win, victory over the opponent, all these
\nthings; it is the vital impulse, and the vital in man being the seat of
\nenthusiasm, ardour, normal energy, when the attraction of the unexpected, of
\nstruggle and victory is not there, it goes to sleep, unless it is in the habit of
\nobeying, regularly and spontaneously, the will of the reason. And this is even
\none of the first things for which all physical training is useful: the fact
\nthat it cannot be done really well unless the body is in the habit of obeying
\nthe reason rather than the vital impulse. For instance, the whole development
\nof bodily perfection, of physical culture with dumb-bells and the exercises
\nwhich have nothing particularly exciting and demand a discipline, habits which
\nmust be regular, reasonable, which give no scope to passion, desire, impulse \u2013
\none must order one\u2019s life according to a very strict and very regular
\ndiscipline \u2013 well, in order to do them really well one must be in the habit of
\ngoverning one\u2019s life by the reason. <\/span><\/p>\n

\nPage
\n\u2013 98<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n
\n

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

\u00a0<\/span>This is not very common. Usually, unless one
\nhas taken good care to make it otherwise, the impulses \u2013 the impulses of desire
\n\u2013 all the enthusiasms and passions with all their reactions are the masters of
\nhuman life. One must already be something of a sage to be able to undergo a
\nrigorous discipline of the body and obtain from it the ordered, regular effort
\nwhich can perfect it. There is no longer any room there for all the fancies of
\ndesire. You see, as soon as one gives way to excesses, to immoderation of any
\nkind and a disorderly life, it becomes quite impossible to control one\u2019s body
\nand develop it normally, not to mention that, naturally, one spoils one\u2019s
\nhealth and as a result the most important part of the ideal of a perfect body
\ndisappears; for with bad health, impaired health, one is not much good for
\nanything. And it is certainly the satisfaction of desires and impulses of the
\nvital or the unreasonable demands of certain ambitions which make the body
\nsuffer and fall ill. <\/span><\/p>\n

Naturally,
\nthere is all the ignorance of those who don\u2019t even know the most elementary
\nrules of life; but everybody knows one must learn how to live and, for
\ninstance, that fire burns and water can drown! People don\u2019t need to be told all
\nthat, it is something they learn fast as they grow up; but the fact that the
\ncontrol of reason over life is absolutely indispensable even for good health,
\nis not always accepted by the inferior man for whom life has no savour unless
\nhe can live out his passions. <\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 <\/span>I remember a man who came here a very
\nlong time ago, to stand as a candidate for the government. It so happened that
\nhe was introduced to me because they wanted my opinion of him, and so he asked
\nme questions about the Ashram and the life we lead here, and about what I
\nconsidered to be an indispensable discipline for life. This man used to smoke
\nthe whole day and drank much more than was necessary, and so he complained, you
\nsee, that he was often tired and sometimes could not control himself. I told
\nhim, \u201cYou know, first of all, you must stop smoking and you must stop
\ndrinking.\u201d He looked at me with an unbelievable bewilderment and said, \u201cBut
\nthen, if one <\/span><\/p>\n

\nPage
\n\u2013 99<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n
\n

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

\ndoesn\u2019t either smoke or drink, it is not worth
\nliving!\u201d I told him, \u201cIf you are still at that stage, it is no use saying
\nanything more.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

And this is
\nmuch more frequent than one thinks. To us it seems absurd, for we have
\nsomething else which is of course more interesting than smoking and drinking,
\nbut for ordinary men the satisfaction of their desires is the very reason for
\nexistence. For them it seems to be an affirmation of their independence and
\ntheir purpose in life. And it is simply a perversion, a deformation which is a
\ndenial of the life-instinct, it is an unhealthy interference of thought and
\nvital impulse in physical life. It is an unhealthy impulse which does not
\nusually exist even in animals. In this case, instinct in animals is infinitely
\nmore reasonable than human instinct \u2013 which, besides, doesn\u2019t exist any more,
\nwhich has been replaced by a very perverted impulse. <\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 <\/span>Perversion is a human disease, it occurs
\nonly very rarely in animals, and then only in animals which have come close to
\nman and therefore have been contaminated by his perversion. <\/span><\/p>\n

There is a story about
\nsome officers in <\/span>North Africa<\/span> \u2013 in <\/span>Algeria<\/span> \u2013 who had
\nadopted a monkey. The monkey lived with them and one day at dinner they had a
\ngrotesque idea and gave the monkey something to drink. They gave it alcohol.
\nThe monkey first saw the others drink, this seemed to it something quite
\ninteresting, and it drank a glass, a full glass of wine. Afterwards it was ill,
\nas ill as could be, it rolled under the table with all kinds of pains and was
\nreally in a very bad way, that is, it gave the men an example of the
\nspontaneous effect of alcohol when the physical nature is not already perverted.
\nIt nearly died of poisoning. It recovered. And some time later it was again
\nallowed to come for dinner as it was all right, and somebody placed a glass of
\nwine in front of it. It picked it up in a terrible rage and flung it at the
\nhead of the man who had given the glass to it\u2026 By that it showed that it was
\nmuch wiser than the men! <\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 <\/span>It is a good thing to begin to learn at
\nan early age that to lead an efficient life and obtain from one\u2019s body the
\nmaximum it is able to give, reason must be the master of the house. And\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 <\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

\nPage
\n\u2013 100<\/span><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n
\n

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

it is not a
\nquestion of yoga or higher realisation, it is something which should be taught
\neverywhere, in every school, every family, every home: man was made to be a
\nmental being, and merely to be a man \u2013 we are not speaking of anything else, we
\nare speaking only of being a man \u2013 life must be dominated by reason and not by
\nvital impulses. This should be taught to all children from their infancy. If
\none is not dominated by reason, one is a brute lower than the animal; for
\nanimals don\u2019t have a mind or a reason to dominate them, but they obey the
\ninstinct of the species. There is an instinct of the species which is an
\nextremely reasonable instinct that regulates all their activities for their own
\ngood, and automatically, without knowing it, they are subject to this instinct
\nof the species which is altogether reasonable from the point of view of that
\nspecies, of each species. And those animals which for some reason or other
\nbecome free of it \u2013 as I was saying just a while ago, those which live near man
\nand begin to obey man instead of obeying the instinct of the species \u2013 are
\nperverted and lose the qualities of their species. But an animal left to its
\nnatural life and free from human influence is an extremely reasonable being
\nfrom its own point of view, for it only does things which are in conformity
\nwith its nature and its own good. Naturally, it meets with disasters, for it is
\nconstantly at war with all the other species, but it does not itself act
\nfoolishly. Stupidities and perversion begin with conscious mind and the human
\nspecies. It is the wrong use man makes of his mental capacity. Perversion
\nbegins with humanity. It is a distortion of the progress of Nature which mental
\nconsciousness represents. And, therefore, the first thing which should be
\ntaught to every human being as soon as he is able to think, is that he should
\nobey reason which is a super-instinct of the species. Reason is the master of
\nthe nature of mankind. One must obey reason and absolutely refuse to be the
\nslave of instincts. And here I am not talking to you about yoga, I am not
\ntalking about spiritual life, not at all; it has nothing to do with that. It is
\nthe basic wisdom of human life, purely human life: every human being who
\n <\/span><\/p>\n

\nPage
\n\u2013 101<\/span><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n
\n

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

anything other than
\nreason is a kind of brute lower than the animal. That\u2019s all. And this should be
\ntaught everywhere; it is the basic education which should be given to children.
\n<\/span><\/p>\n

The reign of
\nreason must come to an end only with the advent of the psychic law which
\nmanifests the divine Will.
\n <\/span><\/p>\n

\nPage-
\n102<\/span><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n
\n

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


\n15 May 1957
\n<\/font>
\n<\/a> <\/span><\/i><\/b><\/p>\n

 <\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

Mother, since the beginning of creation, why is
\nthere this difference between male and female?<\/span><\/i> <\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/span><\/p>\n

Since the beginning of
\nwhich creation? Which creation are you speaking about?\u2026Of the Earth? <\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/span><\/p>\n

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

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

First this is not
\ncorrect. There are species in which there is no difference; and in the
\nbeginning there wasn\u2019t any \u2013 first point. Second point, the terrestrial
\ncreation is a purely material creation and is a sort of materialisation and
\ncondensation of the universal creation, but in the universal creation this
\ndifference does not necessarily exist. All the possibilities are there, and all
\nthings possible have existed and still exist, and this differentiation is not
\nat all the basis of creation. <\/span><\/p>\n

So your
\nquestion does not stand, for it is incorrect. <\/span><\/p>\n

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

But why in the material creation? <\/span><\/i><\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/span><\/p>\n

I am telling you it has
\nnot been like that from the beginning. A zoologist could tell you that there
\nare species which are not like that at all. Nature has tried this method tries
\nmany things, it has made all possible species, made the two in one, made every
\npossible thing\u2026 It tries like this because probably this appears more practical
\nto it! I don\u2019t know. That\u2019s all. <\/span><\/p>\n

But on the
\nother planes, even in the terrestrial world, the more subtle planes of the
\nterrestrial world, even in the subtle physical and the vital and mental, there
\nare beings divided in two like this, but also beings which are neither male nor
\nfemale. They exist. For instance, in the vital world, it is extremely rare to
\ncome across differentiations of sex the beings are usually sex \u2013<\/span> <\/span><\/p>\n

\nPage
\n\u2013 103<\/span><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n
\n

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

less. And I strongly
\nsuspect that the world of the gods as described to us by men, has been largely influenced
\nby human thought. In any case, there are many deities who are without sex. In
\nall the stories told of the pantheons of all countries, there is a good deal
\nthat has been strongly influenced by human thought. So, this difference is
\nsimply a means used by Nature to achieve its aim, that\u2019s all, nothing more than
\nthat. We must take it like that. It is not an eternal symbol \u2013 not at all. <\/span><\/p>\n

Now, there
\nare many people who are very keen on this distinction \u2013 they may keep it if
\nthey like! \u2013 but it is not at all something final or eternal\u2026or perfect in
\nitself. It was perhaps the ideal of the overmind<\/span>
\ncreation, that is possible\u2026 and yet, even then not totally, only partially. But
\nstill those who are so fond of this differentiation \u2013 let them keep it if they
\nlike! If it gives them pleasure\u2026 It has its advantages and disadvantages, many
\ndisadvantages. <\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 <\/span>\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 <\/span>\u00a0<\/span>Mother, then why do the forces of the vital
\nworld escape this condition? <\/span><\/i>
\n <\/span><\/p>\n

What? <\/span><\/p>\n

You say this differentiation does not exist in
\nthe vital world.<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

 <\/span><\/p>\n

I don\u2019t say it doesn\u2019t
\nexist, I say it is not a general rule and that, on the contrary, one meets
\nsexless beings more often than those with sex. And it is also probable that in
\nthe vital world this differentiation has come mostly due to the influence of
\nthe earth.<\/span><\/p>\n

And so, now?
\nWhy these questions and what are you driving at? That\u2019s what I want to know.
\nWho told you that from the beginning of the universe it has been like
\nthat?\u2026People who are extremely keen that it should continue to be like that? I
\nsay, if they like it, let them continue, nobody will disturb them. If it makes
\nthem happy! <\/span><\/p>\n

\nPage
\n\u2013 104<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n
\n

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

\u201cThere are higher levels of the mind than any we
\nnow conceive and to these we must one day reach and rise beyond them to the
\nheights of a greater, a spiritual existence. As we rise we have to open to them
\nour lower members and fill these with those superior and supreme dynamisms of
\nlight and power; the body we have to make a more and more and even entirely
\nconscious frame and instrument, a conscious sign and seal and power of the
\nspirit. As it grows in this perfection, the force and extent of its dynamic
\naction and its response and service to the spirit must increase, the control of
\nthe spirit over it also must grow and the plasticity of its functioning both in
\nits developed and acquired parts of power and in its automatic responses down
\nto those that are now purely organic and seem to be the movements of a mechanic
\ninconscience. This cannot happen without a veritable transformation and a
\ntransformation of the mind and life and very body is indeed the change to which
\nour evolution is secretly moving and without this transformation the entire
\nfullness of a divine life on earth cannot emerge. In this transformation the
\nbody itself can become an agent and a partner. It might indeed be possible for
\nthe spirit to achieve a considerable manifestation with only a passive and
\nimperfectly conscious body as its last or bottommost means of material
\nfunctioning, but this could not be anything perfect or complete. A fully
\nconscious body might even discover and work out the right material method and
\nprocess of a material transformation. For this, no doubt, the spirit\u2019s supreme
\nlight and power and creative joy must have manifested on the summit of the
\nindividual consciousness and sent down their fiat into the body….\u201d <\/span><\/i><\/p>\n


\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0
\n<\/span>\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0                                                         
\n<\/font> <\/span><\/span>
\n           <\/span>The Supramental Manifestation, pp. 15-16<\/span><\/font><\/i><\/p>\n

\nPage \u2013 105<\/span><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n
\n

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

Mother, will the transformation of the body come
\nafter the transformation of the mind and vital, or will it follow
\nspontaneously? <\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

 <\/span><\/p>\n

Usually this kind of
\ntransformation proceeds from above downwards, not from below upwards. <\/span><\/p>\n

Obviously, if
\nyou are a thorough-going materialist, you will say that it is the development
\nof the form which brings out new capacities; but still, this is not quite
\ncorrect, it is not exactly like this that things usually happen, and I
\nchallenge you to transform your body before your mind has been transformed.
\nJust try, let us see! <\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 <\/span>You cannot move a finger, say a word,
\nwalk one step without the mind\u2019s intervention; so with what instrument are you
\ngoing to transform your body if your mind is not already transformed? <\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 <\/span>If you remain in the state of ignorance \u2013
\nof perfect ignorance, I might say \u2013 which your mind is in at present, how do
\nyou expect your body to be transformed? <\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/span><\/p>\n

Sometimes one finds a great resistance in the
\nbody. What is the reason? The mind does not interfere, but there is a
\nresistance. The greatest resistance comes from the physical, there is a special
\nresistance of the physical. <\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

 <\/span><\/p>\n

Where is the greatest
\nresistance?\u2026In your head. (Laughter)<\/i>
\nThis is not a special case. Most often what refuses most to change is the
\nphysical mind \u2013 so obstinate, isn\u2019t it, in the conviction of its own
\ncompetence, ooh!\u2026In the love it has for its own ignorance, its own way of
\nthinking, its own way of seeing, its own way of not knowing. <\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/span><\/p>\n

Is that
\nall?\u2026All right! Then we won\u2019t say anything more. \u00a0\u00a0\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 <\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

I am asking for the remedy. <\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

 <\/span><\/p>\n

Oh! Oh!\u2026(Long silence)\u2026<\/i>There, that\u2019s the remedy. <\/span><\/p>\n

\nPage \u2013 106<\/font><\/span><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n
\n

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


\n
\n29
\nMay 1957 <\/font> <\/a> <\/span><\/i><\/b><\/p>\n

 <\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

\u201cA divine
\nlife in a divine body is the formula of the ideal that we envisage.\u2026The process
\nof the evolution upon earth has been slow and tardy \u2013 what principle must intervene
\nif there is to be a transformation, a progressive or sudden change? <\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

\u201cIt
\nis indeed as a result of our evolution that we arrive at the possibility of
\nthis transformation. As Nature has evolved beyond Matter and manifested Life,
\nbeyond Life and manifested Mind, so she must evolve beyond Mind and manifest a
\nconsciousness and power of our existence free from the imperfection and
\nlimitation of our mental existence, a supramental or truth-consciousness and
\nable to develop the power and perfection of the spirit. Here a slow and tardy
\nchange need no longer be the law or manner of our evolution; it will be only so
\nto a greater or less extent so long as a mental ignorance clings and hampers
\nour ascent; but once we have grown into the truth-consciousness its power of
\nspiritual truth of being will determine all.\u2026<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

\u201cIt
\nmight be also that the transformation might take place by stages; there are
\npowers of the nature still belonging to the mental region which are yet
\npotentialities of a growing gnosis lifted beyond our human mentality and
\npartaking of the light and power of the Divine and an ascent through these
\nplanes, a descent of them into the mental being might seem to be the natural
\nevolutionary course. But in practice it might be found that these intermediate
\nlevels would not be sufficient for the total transformation since, being
\nthemselves illumined potentialities of mental being not yet supramental in the
\nfull sense of the word, <\/span><\/i>
\n
\n <\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

\nPage \u2013 107<\/span><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n
\n

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

they could bring
\ndown to the mind only a partial divinity or raise the mind towards that but not
\neffectuate its elevation into the complete supramentality<\/span>
\nof the truth-consciousness. Still these levels might become stages of the
\nascent which some would reach and pause there while others went higher and
\ncould reach and live on superior strata of a semi-divine existence. It is not
\nto be supposed that all humanity would rise in a block into the supermind…\u201d<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n


\nThe
\nSupramental Manifestation, pp. 20-22 <\/font> <\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

 <\/span><\/p>\n

It is precisely about this progressive transformation that I am
\ngoing to speak to you this evening\u2026 I have often been asked this question,
\n\u201cWhy, after having posited as an ideal principle that when we deal with our
\nbody we ought to do it with the knowledge that it is only a result and an
\ninstrument of the supreme Reality of the universe and of the truth of our
\nbeing, \u2013 why, after having taught this and shown that this is the truth to be
\nrealised, do we have in the organisation of our Ashram, doctors, dispensaries,
\na physical education of the body based on modern theories accepted everywhere?\u201d
\nAnd why, when some of you go for a picnic do I forbid you to drink water from
\njust anywhere and tell you to take filtered water with you? Why do I have the
\nfruit you eat disinfected, etc.? <\/span><\/p>\n

All this seems contradictory, but this evening I intend to explain
\nsomething to you which, I hope, will put an end to this feeling of a
\ncontradiction in you. In fact, I have told you many a time that when two ideas
\nor principles apparently seem to contradict one another, you must rise a little
\nhigher in your thought and find the point where the contradictions meet in a
\ncomprehensive synthesis. <\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 <\/span>Here, it is very easy
\nif we know one thing, that the method we use to deal with our body, maintain
\nit, keep it fit, improve it and keep it in good health, depends exclusively on
\nthe state of consciousness we are in; for our body is an instrument of our
\n <\/span><\/p>\n

\nPage \u2013 108<\/span><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n
\n

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

consciousness and this consciousness can act directly on it and
\nobtain what it wants from it. <\/span><\/p>\n

So, if you are in an ordinary physical consciousness, if you see
\nthings with the eyes of the ordinary physical consciousness, if you think of
\nthem with the ordinary physical consciousness, it will be ordinary physical
\nmeans you will have to use to act on your body. These ordinary physical means
\nmake up the whole science which has accumulated through thousands of years of
\nhuman existence. This science is very complex, its processes innumerable, complicated,
\nuncertain, often contradictory, always progressive and almost absolutely
\nrelative! Still, very precise results have been achieved; ever since physical
\nculture has become a serious preoccupation, a certain number of experiments,
\nstudies, observations have accumulated, which enable us to regulate diet,
\nactivities, exercise, the whole outer organisation of life, and provide an
\nadequate basis so that those who make the effort to study and conform strictly
\nto these things have a chance to maintain their body in good health, correct
\nthe defects it may have and improve its general condition, and even achieve
\nresults which are sometimes quite remarkable. <\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 <\/span>I may add, moreover,
\nthat this intellectual human science, such as it is at present, in its very
\nsincere effort to find the truth, is, surprisingly enough, drawing closer and
\ncloser to the essential truth of the Spirit. It is not impossible to foresee
\nthe movement where the two will unite in a very deep and very close
\nunderstanding of the essential truth. <\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 <\/span>So, for all those who
\nlive on the physical plane, in the physical consciousness, it is physical means
\nand processes which have to be used in dealing with the body. And as the vast
\nmajority of human beings, even in the Ashram, live in a consciousness which, if
\nnot exclusively physical, is at least predominantly physical, it is quite
\nnatural for them to follow and obey all the principles laid down by physical
\nscience for the care of the body. <\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 <\/span>Now, according to what
\nSri Aurobindo teaches us, this is not a final realisation, nor is it the ideal
\nto which we want to rise.
\n <\/span><\/p>\n

\nPage \u2013 109<\/span><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n
\n

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

There is a higher state than this, in which the consciousness,
\nthough it still remains principally mental or partially mental in its
\nfunctioning, is already open to higher regions in an aspiration for the
\nspiritual life, and open to the supramental influence.<\/span><\/p>\n

As soon as this opening occurs, one passes beyond the state in
\nwhich life is purely physical \u2013 when I say \u201cphysical\u201d I include the whole
\nmental and intellectual life and all human achievements, even the most
\nremarkable; I am speaking of a physical which is the summit of human
\ncapacities, of an earthly and material life in which man can express values of
\na higher order from the mental and intellectual point of view \u2013 one can go
\nbeyond that state, open oneself to the supramental force which is now acting on
\nearth and enter a transitional zone where the two influences meet and
\ninterpenetrate, where the consciousness is still mental and intellectual in its
\nfunctioning, but sufficiently imbued with the supramental strength and force to
\nbecome the instrument of a higher truth. <\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 <\/span>At present this state
\ncan be realised on earth by those who have prepared themselves to receive the
\nsupramental force which is manifesting. And in that state, in that state of
\nconsciousness, the body can benefit from a much better condition than the one
\nit was in before. It can be put into direct contact with the essential truth of
\nits being, to the extent that, spontaneously, at every moment it knows
\ninstinctively, or intuitively, what is to be done and that it can do it. <\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 <\/span>As I say, this state
\ncan now be realised by all those who take the trouble of preparing themselves
\nto receive the supramental force, to assimilate it and obey it. <\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 <\/span>Of course, there is a
\nhigher state than this, the state Sri Aurobindo speaks of as the ideal to be
\nfulfilled: the divine life in a divine body. But he himself tells us that this
\nwill take time; it is an integral transformation which cannot be achieved in a
\nmoment. It will even take quite a long time. But when it is accomplished, when
\nthe consciousness has become a supramental consciousness, then action will no
\nlonger be determined at <\/span>
\n
\n <\/span><\/p>\n

\nPage \u2013 110<\/span><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n
\n

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

every moment by a mental choice or be dependent on the physical
\ncapacity: the entire body will spontaneously, integrally, be the perfect
\nexpression of the inner truth. <\/span><\/p>\n

This is the ideal we must keep before us, for the realisation of
\nwhich we must strive; but we must not delude ourselves and think that it can be
\na rapid transformation, miraculous, immediate, marvellous, without effort and
\nwithout labour. <\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 <\/span>However, it is no
\nlonger only a possibility, it is no longer even only a promise for a far-off
\nfuture: it is something which is in the making. And already one can not only
\nforesee but feel the moment when the body will be able to repeat integrally the
\nexperience of the most spiritual part of the being, as the inner spirit has
\nalready done, and will itself be able to stand in its bodily consciousness
\nbefore the supreme Reality, turn to it integrally and say in all sincerity, in
\na total self-giving of all its cells: \u201cTo be Thyself \u2013 exclusively, perfectly \u2013
\nThyself, infinitely, eternally\u2026very simply.\u201d <\/span><\/p>\n

\nPage \u2013 111<\/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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