{"id":4257,"date":"2013-07-13T01:54:37","date_gmt":"2013-07-13T01:54:37","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/localhost\/?p=4257"},"modified":"2013-12-01T09:54:37","modified_gmt":"2013-12-01T17:54:37","slug":"11-17-july-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\/11-17-july-1957-vol-09-questions-and-answers-volume-09","title":{"rendered":"-11_17 July 1957.htm"},"content":{"rendered":"\n\n
\n
\n


\n17 July 1957<\/font><\/span><\/i><\/b> <\/font> <\/span><\/i><\/b><\/p>\n

 <\/span><\/p>\n

Has no one any questions on the text?\u2026I have nothing special to
\ntell you this evening, and if you are not curious to know what the new
\nperfections of the body could be\u2026<\/span><\/p>\n

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

Mother, in the
\nphysical education we practise here our aim is a greater and greater control
\nover the body, isn\u2019t it? So, as Sri Aurobindo has said in what we read last
\ntime, that the Hatha<\/span>-yoga and Tantric methods give a
\nvery great control over the body,\u00b9 Why don\u2019t we introduce these methods into
\nour system? <\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

 <\/span><\/p>\n

These are occult processes for acting on the body \u2013 the Tantric
\nones, at any rate \u2013 while the modern methods of development follow the ordinary
\nphysical process to give the body all the perfection it is capable of in its
\npresent state.\u2026I don\u2019t quite grasp<\/i><\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

\u00b9 \u201cSomething there is in us or something
\nhas to be developed, perhaps a central and still occult part of our being
\ncontaining forces whose powers in our actual and present make-up are only a
\nfraction of what could be, but if they became complete and dominant would be
\ntruly able to bring about with the help of the light and force of the soul and
\nthe supramental truth-consciousness the necessary physical transformation and
\nits consequences. This might be found in the system of Chakras<\/span>
\nrevealed by Tantric knowledge and accepted in the systems of Yoga, conscious
\ncentres and sources of all the dynamic powers of our being organising their
\naction through the plexuses and arranged in an ascending series from the lowest
\nphysical to the highest mind centre and spiritual centre called the thousand-petalled<\/span> lotus where ascending Nature, the Serpent Power of
\nthe Tantrics, meets the Brahman and is liberated into the Divine Being. These
\ncentres are closed or half closed within us and have to be opened before their
\nfull potentiality can be manifested in our physical nature: but once they are
\nopened and completely active, no limit can easily be set to the development of
\ntheir potencies and the total transformation to be possible.\u2026But even these
\nchanges would still leave a residue of material processes keeping the old way
\nand not amenable to the higher control and, if this could not be changed, the
\nrest of the transformation might itself be checked and incomplete. A total
\ntransformation of the body would demand a sufficient change of the most
\nmaterial part of the organism, its constitution, its processes and its set-up
\nof nature.\u201d <\/font> <\/span>
\n
\n <\/font><\/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
\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/font><\/span>The Supramental Manifestation, pp. 34-35<\/font><\/i><\/span> <\/font><\/span><\/p>\n

\nPage \u2013 152<\/span><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n
\n

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

your question. The processes are completely different. <\/span><\/p>\n

The basis of all these methods is the power exercised by the
\nconscious will over matter. Usually it is a method which someone has used
\nfairly successfully and set up as a principle of action, which he has taught to
\nothers who in turn have continued and perfected it until it has taken a
\nsomewhat fixed form of one kind of discipline or another. But the whole basis
\nis the action of the conscious will on the body. The exact form of the method
\nis not of primary importance. In various countries, at various times, one
\nmethod or another has been used, but always behind it there is a canalised
\nmental power which acts methodically. Of course, some methods try to use a
\nhigher power which would in its turn transmit its capacity to the mental power:
\nif a power of a higher order is infused into the mental method, this method
\nnaturally becomes more effective and powerful. But essentially all these
\ndisciplines depend above all on the person who practises them and the way he
\nuses them. One can, even in the most material, ordinary processes, make use of
\nthis altogether external basis to infuse into them powers of a higher order.
\nAnd all methods, whatever they may be, depend almost exclusively on the person
\nwho uses them, on what he puts into them. <\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 <\/span>You see, if the matter
\nis considered in its most modern, most external form, how is it that the
\nmovements we make almost constantly in our everyday life, or which we have to
\nmake in our work if it is a physical work, do not help or help very little,
\nalmost negligibly, to develop the muscles and to create harmony in the body?
\nThese same movements, on the other hand, if they are made consciously, deliberately,
\nwith a definite aim, suddenly start helping you to form your muscles and build
\nup your body. There are jobs, for instance, where people have to carry
\nextremely heavy loads, like bags of cement or sacks of corn or coal, and they
\nmake a considerable effort; to a certain extent they do it with an acquired
\nfacility, but that doesn\u2019t give them harmony of the body, because they don\u2019t do
\nit with the idea <\/i>of
\n <\/span><\/p>\n

\nPage \u2013 153<\/span><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n
\n

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

developing their muscles, they do it just \u201clike that\u201d. And someone
\nwho follows a method, either one he has learnt or one he has worked out for
\nhimself, and who makes these very movements with the will to develop this
\nmuscle or that, to create a general harmony in his body \u2013 he succeeds.
\nTherefore, in the conscious will, there is something which adds considerably to
\nthe movement itself. Those who really want to practise physical culture as it
\nis conceived now, everything they do, they do consciously. They walk downstairs
\nconsciously, they make the movements of ordinary life consciously, not
\nmechanically. An attentive eye will perhaps notice a little difference but the
\ngreatest difference lies in the will they put into it, the consciousness they
\nput into it. Walking to go somewhere and walking as an exercise is not the same
\nthing. It is the conscious will in all these things which is important, it is
\nthat which brings about the progress and obtains the result. Therefore, what I
\nmean is that the method one uses has only a relative importance in itself; it
\nis the will to obtain a certain result that is important. <\/span><\/p>\n

The yogi or aspiring yogi who does asanas<\/i><\/span> to obtain a spiritual
\nresult or even simply a control over his body, obtains these results because it
\nis with this aim that he does them, whereas I know some people who do exactly
\nthe same things but for all sorts of reasons unrelated to spiritual
\ndevelopment, and who haven\u2019t even managed to acquire good health by it! And yet
\nthey do exactly the same thing, sometimes they even do it much better than the
\nyogi, but it doesn\u2019t give them a stable health\u2026because they haven\u2019t thought
\nabout it, haven\u2019t done it with this purpose in mind. I have asked them myself,
\nI said, \u201cBut how can you be ill after doing all that?\u201d \u2013 \u201cOh! but I never
\nthought of it, that\u2019s not why I do it.\u201d This amounts to saying that it is the
\nconscious will which acts on matter, not the material fact. <\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 <\/span>But you only have to
\ntry it, you will understand very well what I mean. For instance, all the
\nmovements you make when dressing, taking your bath, tidying your room\u2026no matter
\nwhat; <\/span><\/p>\n

\nPage \u2013 154<\/span><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n
\n

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

make them consciously, with the will that this muscle should work,
\nthat muscle should work. You will see, you will obtain really amazing results. <\/span><\/p>\n

Going up and down the stairs \u2013 you cannot imagine how useful that can
\nbe from the point of view of physical culture, if you know how to make use of
\nit. Instead of going up because you are going up and coming down because you
\nare coming down, like any ordinary man, you go up with the consciousness of all
\nthe muscles which are working and of making them work harmoniously. You will
\nsee. Just try a little, you will see! This means that you can use all the
\nmovements of your life for a harmonious development of your body. <\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 <\/span>You bend down to pick
\nsomething up, you stretch up to find something right at the top of a cupboard,
\nyou open a door, you close it, you have to go round an obstacle, there are a
\nhundred and one things you do constantly and which you can make use of for your
\nphysical culture and which will demonstrate to you that it is the consciousness
\nyou put into it which produces the effect, a hundred times more than just the
\nmaterial fact of doing it. So, you choose the method you like best, but you can
\nuse the whole of your daily life in this way.\u2026To think constantly of the
\nharmony of the body, of the beauty of the movements, of not doing anything that
\nis ungraceful and awkward. You can obtain a rhythm of movement and gesture
\nwhich is very exceptional. <\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 <\/span>We are going to
\nmeditate on all this. <\/span><\/p>\n

\nPage \u2013 155<\/span><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n
\n

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


\n24 July 1957<\/font><\/a><\/span><\/i><\/b> <\/font> <\/a> <\/span><\/i><\/b><\/p>\n

 <\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

\u201cIn
\nfact, a supermind is already here but it is involved, concealed behind this
\nmanifest mind, life and Matter and not yet acting overtly or in its own power:
\nif it acts, it is through these inferior powers and modified by their
\ncharacters and so not yet recognisable. It is only by the approach and arrival
\nof the descending Supermind that it can be liberated upon earth and reveal
\nitself in the action of our material, vital and mental parts so that these
\nlower powers can become portions of a total divinised activity of our whole
\nbeing: it is that that will bring to us a completely realised divinity or the
\ndivine life. It is indeed so that life and mind involved in Matter have
\nrealised themselves here; for only what is involved can evolve, otherwise there
\ncould be no emergence.\u201d <\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

The Supramental Manifestation, p. 43<\/font><\/span><\/i>\u00a0<\/font><\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0
\n<\/span>Sweet Mother, what is the involved supermind? <\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

 <\/span><\/p>\n

It is the same as the uninvolved one! <\/span><\/p>\n

It is the same thing when Sri Aurobindo says that if the Divine
\nwere not at the centre of everything, He could never manifest in the world; it
\nis the same thing when he says that essentially, in its origin and deepest
\nstructure, the creation is divine, the world is divine; and that is why this
\ndivinity will be able to manifest one day, become tangible, express itself
\nfully in place of all that veils and deforms it at present. Up to now, all that
\nhas manifested of this divinity is the world as we know it; but the
\nmanifestation is boundless, and after this mental world as we know it, of which
\nthe apex and prototype is man, another reality will manifest, which Sri
\nAurobindo calls the Supermind, for it is in fact the next step after the mind;
\nso, seen from the <\/span><\/p>\n

\nPage \u2013 156<\/span><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n
\n

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

world as it is, it will naturally be \u201csupramental\u201d, that is, something
\nabove the mind. And he also says that it will truly be the changing of one
\nworld into another, for so far the whole creation belonged to what he calls
\n\u201cthe lower hemisphere\u201d as we know it, which is governed by Ignorance and based
\nupon the Inconscient, whereas the other one will be a complete reversal, the
\nsudden appearance of something which will belong to quite a different world,
\nand which instead of being based on Ignorance will be based upon Truth. That is
\nwhy it will truly be a new world. But if the essence], the principle of this
\nworld were not included in the world as we knew it, there would be no hope of
\nthe one being transformed into the other; they would be two worlds so totally
\ndifferent and opposed that there would be no contact between them and that
\nnecessarily, as soon as one came out of this world and emerged into the world
\nof Truth, Light and Knowledge, one would become, so to speak, imperceptible,
\nnon-existent for a world belonging exclusively to the Ignorance and the
\nInconscience. <\/span><\/p>\n

How is it that even when this change has taken place, there will
\nbe a connection and this new world will be able to act upon the old one? It is
\nthat in its essence and principle the new is already enclosed, involved in the
\nold world. So, in fact, it is there, inside, in its very depths, hidden,
\ninvisible, imperceptible, unexpressed, but it is there, in its essence. Still,
\nunless from the supreme heights the supramental consciousness and force and
\nlight manifest directly in the world, as it happened a year and a half ago,
\nthis Supermind which in principle is at the very bedrock of the material world
\nas it is, would never have any possibility of manifesting itself. Its awakening
\nand appearance below will be the response to a touch from above which will
\nbring out the corresponding element hidden in the depths of matter as it is
\nnow.\u2026And this is precisely what is happening at present. But as I told you two
\nweeks ago, this material world as it actually, visibly is, is so powerful, so
\nabsolutely real for the ordinary consciousness, that it has engulfed, as it
\nwere, this supramental force
\n <\/span><\/p>\n

\nPage \u2013 157<\/span><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n
\n

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

and consciousness when it manifested, and a long preparation is
\nnecessary before its presence can be even glimpsed, felt, perceived in some way
\nor other. And this is the work it is doing now. <\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 <\/span>How long it will take
\nis difficult to foresee. It will depend a great deal on the goodwill and the
\nreceptivity of a certain number of people, for the individual always advances
\nfaster than the collectivity<\/span>, and by its very nature,
\nhumanity is destined to manifest the Supermind before the rest of creation. <\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 <\/span>At the basis of this
\ncollaboration there is necessarily the will to change, no longer to be what one
\nis, for things to be no longer what they are. There are several ways of
\nreaching it, and all the methods are good when they succeed! One may be deeply
\ndisgusted with what exists and wish ardently to come out of all this and attain
\nsomething else; one may \u2013 and this is a more positive way \u2013 one may feel within
\noneself the touch, the approach of something positively beautiful and true, and
\nwillingly drop all the rest so that nothing may burden the journey to this new
\nbeauty and truth. <\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 <\/span>What is indispensable
\nin every case is the ardent<\/i> will for
\nprogress, the willing and joyful renunciation of all that hampers the advance:
\nto throw far away from oneself all that prevents one from going forward, and to
\nset out into the unknown with the ardent faith that this is the truth of
\ntomorrow, inevitable,<\/i> which must
\nnecessarily come, which nothing, nobody, no bad will, even that of Nature, can
\nprevent from becoming a reality\u00a0 <\/span>\u2013 perhaps
\nof a not too distant future \u2013 a reality which is being worked out now and which
\nthose who know how to change, how not to be weighed down by old habits, will
\nsurely have the good fortune not only to see but to realise.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 <\/span>People sleep, they
\nforget, they take life easy \u2013 they forget, forget all the time.\u2026But if we could
\nremember\u2026that we are at an exceptional hour, a unique <\/i>time, that we have this immense good fortune, this
\ninvaluable privilege of being present at the birth of a new world, we could
\neasily get rid of everything that <\/span><\/p>\n

\nPage \u2013 158<\/span><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n
\n

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

impedes and hinders our progress.<\/span><\/p>\n

So, the most important thing, it seems, is to remember this fact;
\neven when one doesn\u2019t have the tangible experience, to have the certainty of it
\nand faith in it; to remember always, to recall it constantly, to go to sleep
\nwith this idea, to wake up with this perception; to do all that one does with
\nthis great truth as the background, as a constant support, this great truth
\nthat we are witnessing the birth of a new world. <\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 <\/span>We can participate in
\nit, we can become this new world. And truly, when one has such a marvellous
\nopportunity, one should be ready to give up everything for its sake. <\/span><\/p>\n

\nPage \u2013 159<\/span><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n
\n

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


\n31 July 1957<\/font><\/a><\/span><\/i><\/b><\/span><\/i><\/b><\/p>\n

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

\u00a0<\/span>Sweet Mother, on Friday the subject you gave
\nfor meditation was \u201cHow to awaken in the body an aspiration for the Divine.\u201d <\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

\n
\n
\n <\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

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

\u00a0<\/span>How to do it, Sweet Mother? <\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

 <\/span><\/p>\n

Naturally, there are many ways of doing it and, in fact, each one
\nshould find his own. But the starting-point may be very different, apparently
\nalmost the very opposite. <\/span><\/p>\n

In former times, when yoga was a flight from life, it was a common
\npractice for people, apart from a few predestined ones, not to think about yoga
\nuntil they were old, when they had experienced much, known all the vicissitudes
\nof life, its pleasures, its sorrows, its joys and miseries, its
\nresponsibilities, disillusionments, indeed all that life usually brings to
\nhuman beings; and naturally, all this had disabused them a little of their
\nillusions about the joys of existence, so they were ready to think of something
\nelse, and their body, if not full of youthful enthusiasm (!), was at least not
\na hindrance, for as it had been satiated, it no longer asked for much.\u2026To start
\nfrom this end is all very well when one wants to leave life behind with a
\nspiritual attitude and does not expect any collaboration from it in the
\ntransformation. This is obviously the easiest method. But it is also obvious
\nthat if one wants this material existence to participate<\/i> in the divine life, to be the field of action and
\nrealisation, it is preferable not to wait until with wear and tear the body
\nbecomes sufficiently\u2026quiet so as not to obstruct the yoga. It is much better,
\non the contrary, to take it quite young when it is full of all its energies and
\ncan put enough ardour and intensity into its aspiration. In this case, instead
\nof relying on a weari<\/span>ness <\/span><\/p>\n

\nPage \u2013 160<\/span><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n
\n

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

which no longer demands anything, one should rely on a kind of
\ninner enthusiasm for the unknown, the new \u2013 for perfection. And if you have the
\ngood fortune to be in conditions where you can receive help and guidance from
\nchildhood, try while still very young to discern between the fugitive joys and
\nsuperficial pleasures life can give and the marvellous thing that life, action,
\ngrowth would be in a world of perfection and truth, where all the ordinary
\nlimitations, all the ordinary incapacities would be done away with. <\/span><\/p>\n

When one is very young and as I say \u201cwell-born\u201d, that is, born
\nwith a conscious psychic being within, there is always, in the dreams of the
\nchild, a kind of aspiration, which for its child\u2019s consciousness is a sort of
\nambition, for something which would be beauty without ugliness, justice without
\ninjustice, goodness without limits, and a conscious, constant success, a
\nperpetual miracle. One dreams of miracles when one is young, one wants all
\nwickedness to disappear, everything to be always luminous, beautiful, happy,
\none likes stories which end happily. This is what one should rely on. When the
\nbody feels its miseries, its limitations, one must establish this dream in it \u2013
\nof a strength which would have no limit, a beauty which would have no ugliness,
\nand of marvellous capacities: one dreams of being able to rise into the air, of
\nbeing wherever it is necessary to be, of setting things right when they go
\nwrong, of healing the sick; indeed, one has all sorts of dreams when one is
\nvery young.\u2026Usually parents or teachers pass their time throwing cold water on
\nit, telling you, \u201cOh! it\u2019s a dream, it is not a reality.\u201d They should do the
\nvery opposite! Children should be taught, \u201cYes, this is what you must try to
\nrealise and not only is it possible but it is certain if you come in contact
\nwith the part in you which is capable of doing this thing. This is what should
\nguide your life, organise it, make you develop in the direction of the true reality <\/i>\u00a0<\/span>which the ordinary world calls illusion.\u201d <\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 <\/span>This is what it should
\nbe, instead of making children\u00a0 <\/span>ordinary,
\nwith that dull, vulgar common sense which becomes\u00a0 <\/span>an <\/span><\/p>\n

\nPage \u2013 161<\/span><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n
\n

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

inveterate habit and, when something is going well, immediately
\nbrings up in the being the idea: \u201cOh, that won\u2019t last!\u201d, when somebody is kind,
\nthe impression, \u201cOh, he will change!\u201d, when one is capable of doing something,
\n\u201cOh, tomorrow I won\u2019t be able to do it so well.\u201d This is like an acid, a
\ndestructive acid in the being, which takes away hope, certitude, confidence in
\nfuture possibilities. <\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 <\/span>When a child is full
\nof enthusiasm, never throw cold water on it, never tell him, \u201cYou know, life is
\nnot like that!\u201d You should always encourage him, tell him, \u201cYes, at present
\nthings are not always like that, they
\nseem<\/i> ugly, but behind this there is a beauty that is trying to realise
\nitself. This is what you should love and draw towards you, this is what you
\nshould make the object of your dreams, of your ambitions.\u201d <\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 <\/span>And if you do this
\nwhen you are very small, you have much less difficulty than if later on you
\nhave to undo, undo all the bad effects of a bad education, undo that kind of
\ndull and vulgar common sense which means that you expect nothing good from
\nlife, which makes it insipid, boring, and contradicts all the hopes, all the
\nso-called illusions of beauty. On the contrary, you must tell a child \u2013 or
\nyourself if you are no longer quite a baby \u2013 \u201cEverything in me that seems
\nunreal, impossible, illusory, that<\/i> is
\nwhat is true, that<\/i> is what I must
\ncultivate.\u201d When you have these aspirations: \u201cOh, not to be always limited by
\nsome incapacity, all the time held back by some bad will!\u201d, you must cultivate
\nwithin you this certitude that that <\/i>\u00a0<\/span>is what is essentially true and that] is what
\nmust be realised. <\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 <\/span>Then faith awakens in
\nthe cells of the body. And you will see that you find a response in your body
\nitself. The body itself will feel that if its inner will helps, fortifies,
\ndirects, leads, well, all its limitations will gradually disappear. <\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 <\/span>And so, when the first
\nexperience comes, which sometimes begins when one is very young, the first
\ncontact with the inner joy, the inner beauty, the inner light, the first
\ncontact with that,<\/i> which suddenly
\nmakes you feel, \u201cOh! that is what I want,\u201d you
\n <\/span><\/p>\n

\nPage \u2013 162<\/span><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n
\n

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

must cultivate it, never forget it, hold it constantly before you,
\ntell yourself, \u201cI have felt it once, so I can feel it again. This has been real
\nfor me, even for the space of a second, and that is what I am going to revive
\nin myself\u201d.\u2026And encourage the body to seek it \u2013 to seek it, with the confidence<\/i> that it carries that possibility within itself
\nand that if it calls for it, it will come back, it will be realised again. <\/span><\/p>\n

This is what should be done when one is young. This is what should
\nbe done every time one has the opportunity to recollect oneself, commune with
\noneself, seek oneself. <\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 <\/span>And then you will see.
\nWhen one is normal, that is to say, unspoilt by bad teaching and bad example,
\nwhen one is born and lives in a healthy and relatively balanced and normal
\nenvironment, the body, spontaneously, without any need for one to intervene
\nmentally or even vitally, has the certitude that even if something goes wrong
\nit will be cured. The body carries within itself the certitude of cure, the
\ncertitude that the illness or disorder is sure to disappear. It is only through
\nthe false education from the environment that gradually the body is taught that
\nthere are incurable diseases, irreparable accidents, and that it can grow old,
\nand all these stories which destroy its faith and trust. But normally, the body
\nof a normal child \u2013 the body, I am not speaking of the thought \u2013 the body
\nitself feels when something goes wrong that it will certainly be all right
\nagain. And if it is not like that, this means that it has already been
\nperverted. It seems normal <\/i>for it to
\nbe in good health, it seems quite abnormal to it if something goes wrong and it
\nfalls ill; and in its instinct, its spontaneous instinct, it is sure that
\neverything will be all right. It is only the perversion of thought which
\ndestroys this; as one grows up the thought becomes more and more distorted,
\nthere is the whole collective suggestion, and so, little by little, the body
\nloses its trust in itself, and naturally, losing its self-confidence, it also
\nloses the spontaneous capacity of restoring its equilibrium when this has been
\ndisturbed.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 <\/span>But if when very
\nyoung, from your earliest childhood, you
\n <\/span><\/p>\n

\nPage \u2013 163<\/span><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n
\n

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

have been taught all sorts of disappointing, depressing things \u2013
\nthings that cause decomposition, I could say, disintegration \u2013 then this poor
\nbody does its best but it has been perverted, put out of order, and no longer
\nhas the sense of its inner strength, its inner force, its power to react. <\/span><\/p>\n

If one takes care not to pervert it, the body carries within
\nitself the certitude of victory. It is only the wrong use we make of thought
\nand its influence on the body which robs it of this certitude of victory. So,
\nthe first thing to do is to cultivate this certitude instead of destroying it;
\nand when it is there, no effort is needed to aspire, but simply a flowering, an
\nunfolding of that inner certitude of victory. <\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 <\/span>The body carries
\nwithin itself the sense of its divinity. There. This is what you must try to
\nfind again in yourself if you have lost it. <\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 <\/span>When a child tells you
\na beautiful dream in which he had many powers and all things were very
\nbeautiful, be very careful never to tell him, \u201cOh! life is not like that\u201d, for
\nyou are doing something wrong. You must on the contrary tell him, \u201cLife ought to be l<\/i>ike that, and it will be<\/i> like that!\u201d
\n <\/span><\/p>\n

\nPage \u2013 164<\/span><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n
\n

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

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

17 July 1957   Has no one any questions on the text?\u2026I have nothing special to tell you this evening, and if you are not…<\/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-4257","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\/4257","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=4257"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/worksofthemotherandsriaurobindo.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4257\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":9659,"href":"https:\/\/worksofthemotherandsriaurobindo.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4257\/revisions\/9659"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/worksofthemotherandsriaurobindo.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4257"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/worksofthemotherandsriaurobindo.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4257"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/worksofthemotherandsriaurobindo.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4257"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}