{"id":4258,"date":"2013-07-13T01:54:38","date_gmt":"2013-07-13T01:54:38","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/localhost\/?p=4258"},"modified":"2013-07-13T01:54:38","modified_gmt":"2013-07-13T01:54:38","slug":"18-01-january-1958-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\/18-01-january-1958-vol-09-questions-and-answers-volume-09","title":{"rendered":"-18_01 January 1958.htm"},"content":{"rendered":"\n\n
\n
\n


\n
\n1
\n January 1958<\/font><\/span><\/i><\/b> <\/font><\/span><\/i><\/b>
\n
\n <\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/span><\/p>\n

O Nature,
\nmaterial Mother,\u00a0 <\/span><\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

Thou hast
\nsaid that thou wilt collaborate\u00a0 <\/span><\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

and there is
\nno limit\u00a0 <\/span><\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

to the
\nsplendour of this collaboration. <\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

New Year Message, 1 January 1958
\n<\/font> <\/span>
\n
\n\u00a0<\/font><\/span><\/p>\n

Sweet
\nMother, will you explain the message for this year? <\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

 <\/span><\/p>\n

It is already written! The explanation has already been written,
\nit is ready for the Bulletin of February 21. \u00b9<\/span><\/p>\n

There is nothing to explain. It is an experience, something that
\nhappened, and when it happened I noted it down, and as it turned out, it
\noccurred just at the moment when I remembered that I had to write something for
\nthe year \u2013 which was next year at that time, that is, the year which begins
\ntoday. When I remembered that I had to write something \u2013 not because of that,
\nbut simultaneously \u2013 this experience came, and when I noted it down, I realised
\nthat it was\u2026it was the message for this year! \u00a0<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

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

 <\/span><\/p>\n

I will tell you only one thing: you should not misinterpret the
\nmeaning of this experience and imagine that from now on everything is going to
\ntake place without any difficulties and always in a manner that favours our
\npersonal desires. It is not on this plane. It does not mean that when we do not
\nwant it to rain, it will not rain! that when we want something to happen in the
\nworld, it will happen immediately; that all difficulties will be done away with
\nand everything will be as it is in fairy-tales. <\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/span><\/p>\n

\n\u00b9 <\/font> <\/span>
\nThe text of
\nthis explanation is given in an appendix to this talk.<\/font><\/span> <\/font><\/span><\/p>\n

\nPage \u2013 245<\/span><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n
\n

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

It is not that. It is something much deeper: Nature, in her play
\nof forces, has accepted the new Force which has manifested and included it in
\nher movements. And as always, the movements of Nature are on a scale which is
\ninfinitely beyond the human scale and not visible to an ordinary human
\nconsciousness. It is an inner, psychological possibility which has come into
\nthe world rather than a spectacular change in earthly events.<\/span><\/p>\n

I am saying this because you might be tempted to believe that
\nfairy-tales were going to be realised on earth. It is not yet time for that. <\/span><\/p>\n

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

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

 <\/span><\/p>\n

One must have much patience and a very wide and very complex
\nvision to understand how things happen. <\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/span><\/p>\n

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

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

The miracles which take place are not what could be called
\nstory-book miracles, in the sense that they don\u2019t happen as in stories. They
\nare visible only to a very deep vision of things \u2013 very deep, very
\ncomprehensive, very vast. <\/span><\/p>\n

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

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

 <\/span><\/p>\n

One must already be capable of following the methods and ways of
\nthe Grace in order to recognise its action. One must already be capable of not
\nbeing blinded by appearances in order to see the deeper truth of things. <\/span><\/p>\n

We could usefully, this evening, just take this resolution: to try
\nthroughout the year to do our best, so that the time may not pass in vain. <\/span><\/p>\n

\nPage – 246<\/span><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n
\n

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

\n <\/span>APPENDIX<\/a><\/span><\/b><\/p>\n

 <\/span><\/p>\n

Explanation
\nof the New Year Message of <\/span><\/i>1 January
\n 1958<\/span><\/i><\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

 <\/span><\/p>\n

In the course of one of our classes\u00b9 I spoke of the limitless
\nabundance of Nature, the inexhaustible creatrix who takes the multitude of
\nforms and mixes them together, separates them again and remoulds them, unmakes
\nand destroys them, to move on to ever new combinations. It is a huge cauldron,
\nI said: she stirs things inside and brings out something; it\u2019s no good, she
\nthrows it in again and takes something else.\u2026One or two forms or a hundred have
\nno importance for her, there are thousands and thousands of forms, and then as
\nfor years, a hundred years, a thousand, millions of years, it is of no
\nimportance, you have eternity before you! It is quite obvious that Nature
\nenjoys all this and that she is not in a hurry. If she is told to rush rapidly
\nthrough and finish this or that part of her work quickly, the reply is always
\nthe same: \u201cBut why should I do so, why? Doesn\u2019t it amuse you?\u201d <\/span><\/p>\n

The evening I told you about these things, I identified myself
\ntotally with Nature, I joined in her game. And this movement of identification
\nprovoked a response, a sort of new intimacy between Nature and myself, a long
\nmovement of a growing closeness which culminated in an experience which came on
\nthe eighth of November. <\/span><\/p>\n

Suddenly Nature understood. She understood that this new
\nConsciousness which has just been born does not seek to reject her but wants to
\nembrace her entirely, she understood that this new spirituality does not turn
\naway from life, does not recoil in fear before the formidable amplitude of her
\nmovement, but wants on the contrary to integrate all its facets. She understood
\nthat the supramental consciousness is here not to diminish but to complete her.<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/span><\/p>\n

\u00b9<\/font><\/span>30
\nOctober 1957<\/font><\/span> <\/span><\/p>\n

\nPage \u2013 247<\/span><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n
\n

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

Then from the supreme Reality came this order, \u201cAwake, O Nature,
\nto the joy of collaboration.\u201d And the whole of Nature suddenly rushed forward
\nin a great surge of joy, saying, \u201cI accept, I shall collaborate.\u201d And at the
\nsame time, there came a calm, an absolute tranquillity so that the bodily
\nvessel could receive and contain, without breaking, without losing anything,
\nthe mighty flood of this Joy of Nature which rushed forward as in a movement of
\ngratitude. She accepted, she saw with all eternity before her that this
\nsupramental consciousness was going to fulfil her more perfectly, give a still
\ngreater strength to her movement, a greater amplitude, more possibilities to
\nher play. <\/span><\/p>\n

And suddenly I heard, as if they came from all the corners of the
\nearth, those great notes one sometimes hears in the subtle physical, a little
\nlike those of Beethoven\u2019s Concerto in D-major, which come in moments of great
\nprogress, as though fifty orchestras had burst forth all in unison, without a
\nsingle false note, to express the joy of this new communion between Nature and
\nSpirit, the meeting of old friends who come together again after having been
\nseparated for so long. <\/span><\/p>\n

Then these words came, \u201cO Nature, Material Mother, thou hast said
\nthat thou wilt collaborate and there is no limit to the splendour of this
\ncollaboration.\u201d <\/span><\/p>\n

And the radiant felicity of this splendour was sensed in perfect
\npeace. <\/span><\/p>\n

That is how the message for the new year was born.<\/span> <\/p>\n

\nPage – 248<\/font><\/span><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n
\n

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


\n
\n8
\n January 1958<\/font><\/a><\/span><\/i><\/b><\/span><\/i><\/b><\/p>\n

 <\/span><\/p>\n

Mother reads a paragraph from <\/font>
\nThe
\nLife Divine.<\/font><\/i><\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

We have decided to read paragraph by paragraph so that we can go
\ninto certain detailed explanations, but this method has one drawback: as I have
\nalready told you, it is that Sri Aurobindo takes up all the theories and
\nexpounds them in all their details, with all their arguments, in order to show
\nlater what their defects are and their inability to solve the problem, and to
\npresent his own solution; but (laughing<\/i>),
\nwhen we stop in the middle of an argument and take a single paragraph, if we
\nread this paragraph without going on to the very end, we may very well imagine
\nor believe that he is giving his own opinion. <\/span><\/p>\n

In fact there are some unscrupulous people who have done that, and
\nwhen they wanted to prove that their own theories were correct, they quoted
\nparagraphs from Sri Aurobindo without saying what went before or what came
\nafter, in support of their own theory. They said, \u201cYou see, Sri Aurobindo in The Life Divine <\/i>has written that.\u201d He
\nhas written that, but that does not mean that it was his own way of seeing. And
\nnow we are facing the same difficulty. For the last two lessons, I think, I
\nhave been reading the detailed demonstration of one of the modern theories of
\nlife, evolution, the purpose of existence \u2013 or the purposelessness of existence
\n\u2013 and Sri Aurobindo presents this in quite a\u2026conclusive way, as if it were his
\nown theory and own way of seeing. We stop in the middle and are left with a kind
\nof uneasiness and the feeling, \u201cBut that is not what he told us! How is it that
\nhe is expounding that to us now?…\u201d It is quite a big drawback. But if I were
\nto read to you the whole argument, when we came to the end you wouldn\u2019t
\nremember the beginning and you wouldn\u2019t be able to follow! So the best thing is
\nto go on quietly, one paragraph at a time, trying to understand what he is
\nsaying, but without thinking that he wants to prove to us <\/span><\/p>\n

\nPage \u2013 249<\/span><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n
\n

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

that it is true. He simply wants to expound the theories with
\neverything that supports them, without telling us that this is the best way of
\nseeing things. <\/span><\/p>\n

In reality, you should take this reading as an opportunity to
\ndevelop the philosophical mind in yourself and the capacity to arrange ideas in
\na logical order and establish an argument on a sound basis. You must take this
\nlike dumb-bell exercises for developing muscles: these are dumb-bell exercises
\nfor the mind to develop one\u2019s brain. And you must not jump to hasty
\nconclusions. If we wait with patience, at the end of the chapter he will tell
\nus \u2013 and tell us on a basis of irrefutable argument \u2013 why he has come to the
\nconclusion he arrives at. <\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 <\/span>Now, if there is
\nanything that gives rise to a question\u2026<\/span><\/p>\n

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

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 <\/span>\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 <\/span>Not in the text, Mother.<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

 <\/span><\/p>\n

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

 <\/span><\/p>\n

Mother, we
\nsometimes have sudden ideas. Where do they come from and how do they work in
\nthe head? <\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

 <\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

Where do they come from? \u2013 From the mental atmosphere. <\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 <\/span>Why do they
\ncome?\u2026Perhaps you meet them on your way as one meets a passer-by in a public
\nsquare. Most often it is that; you are on a road where ideas are moving about
\nand it so happens that you meet this particular one and it passes through your
\nhead. Obviously, those who are in the habit of meditating, of concentrating,
\nand for whom intellectual problems have a very concrete and tangible reality,
\nby concentrating their minds they attract associated ideas, and a \u201ccompany of
\nideas\u201d is formed which they organise so as to solve a problem or clarify the
\nquestion they are considering. But for this, one must have the habit of mental
\nconcentration and precisely that philosophical mind I was speaking about, for
\nwhich ideas are living entities with their own life, which are organised on the
\nmental chess-board like<\/span> <\/span><\/p>\n

\nPage \u2013 250<\/span><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n
\n

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

pawns in a game of chess: one takes them, moves them, places them,
\norganises them, one makes a coherent whole out of these ideas, which are
\nindividual, independent entities with affinities among themselves, and which
\norganise themselves according to inner laws. But for this, one must also have
\nthe habit of meditation, reflection, analysis, deduction, mental organisation.
\nOtherwise, if one is just \u201clike that\u201d, if one lives life as it comes, then it
\nis exactly like a public square: there are roads and on the roads people pass
\nby, and then you find yourself at cross-roads and it all passes through your
\nhead \u2013 sometimes even ideas without any connection between them, so much so
\nthat if you were to write down what passes through your head, it would make a
\nstring of admirable nonsense! <\/span><\/p>\n

We once said that we could usefully try out a little game: to ask
\nsomebody suddenly, \u201cWhat are you thinking about?\u201d Well, it is not often that he
\ncan answer you clearly, \u201cAh! I was just thinking of that particular thing.\u201d If
\nhe says that, you may infer that he is a thoughtful person. Otherwise, the
\nusual spontaneous reply is, \u201cOh! I don\u2019t know.\u201d <\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 <\/span>You see, all those who
\nhave done ordered and organised physical exercises, have the knowledge, for
\ninstance, of the various muscles which must be moved to obtain a particular
\nmovement, and the best way to move them and how to obtain the maximum result
\nwith the minimum loss of energy. Well, it is the same thing with thought. When
\nyou train yourself methodically, there comes a time when you can follow a train
\nof reasoning quite objectively, as you would project a picture on a screen \u2013
\nyou can follow the logical deduction of one idea from another, and the normal,
\nlogical, organised movement, with the minimum loss of time, from a proposition
\nto its conclusion. Once you have acquired the habit of doing that, just as you
\nhave the habit of methodically moving the muscles which must be moved to obtain
\na certain result, your thought becomes clear. Otherwise, movements of thought,
\nintellectual movements, are vague, imprecise, elusive; all of a sudden
\nsomething rises up, one <\/span><\/p>\n

\nPage – 251<\/span><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n
\n

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

doesn\u2019t know why, and something else comes to contradict it, one doesn\u2019t
\nknow why either. And if one tries to organise this clearly in order to become
\naware of the exact relation between ideas, the first few times one does it, one
\ngets a fine headache! And one has the feeling of trying to find one\u2019s way in a
\nvery dark virgin forest. <\/span><\/p>\n

The speculative mind needs discipline for its development. If it
\nis not disciplined methodically, one is always in a sort of a cloud. The vast
\nmajority of human beings can harbour the most contradictory ideas in their
\nbrains without being in the least troubled by them. <\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 <\/span>Well, until you try to
\norganise your mind clearly, you risk at the very least having no control over
\nwhat you think. And very often, you must come down to action before you begin
\nto realise the value of what you think! Or, if not as far as action, at least
\nas far as the feelings: suddenly you become aware that you have feelings which
\nare not very desirable; then you realise you have not controlled your way of
\nthinking at all. <\/span><\/p>\n

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

Sweet
\nMother, do people have bad thoughts because they have no control over their
\nminds? <\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

 <\/span><\/p>\n

Bad thoughts?.\u2026There can be several reasons for that. In fact
\nthere are several reasons. It may be due to a bad nature \u2013 if people have nasty
\nfeelings, these nasty feelings can be the cause of nasty thoughts. It may be
\nthe opposite. Perhaps they are wide open to all sorts of suggestions from
\noutside and, as I said, these suggestions enter them and gradually create nasty
\nfeelings. It may be due to subconscious influences which are conflicting
\nprecisely because they are uncontrolled. When these influences rise to the
\nsurface, instead of being controlled and those which are undesirable refused,
\neverything is allowed to enter as it likes, the doors are open. <\/span><\/p>\n

You are bathed<\/i> in all
\nkinds of things \u2013 good, bad,\u00a0 <\/span>neutral,
\nluminous, dark; it\u2019s all there, and each one\u2019s consciousness
\n <\/span><\/p>\n

\nPage \u2013 252<\/span><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n
\n

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

should, in principle, act as a filter. You should receive only
\nwhat you want to receive, you should think only what you want to think; and
\nthen, you should not allow these thoughts to be changed into feelings and
\nactions without formal authorisation. <\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 <\/span>In fact, this is the
\nvery purpose of physical existence. Each person is an instrument for
\ncontrolling a certain set of vibrations which represent his particular field of
\nwork; each one must receive only the ones which are in conformity with the
\ndivine plan and refuse the rest. <\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 <\/span>But not one in a
\nthousand does that. You do it a little, half consciously, due to the friction
\nof circumstances and surroundings, but as for doing it deliberately, surely
\nthere are very few human beings who do it deliberately; and even when it\u2019s done
\ndeliberately, to do it in the true way and with the true knowledge, that indeed
\nis still more exceptional. <\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 <\/span>Thought-control! Who
\ncan control his thoughts? Only those who have trained themselves to it, who
\nhave tried hard since their childhood. <\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 <\/span>There is the whole
\nrange, you see, from total lack of control, which for most people comes to
\nthis: it is their thoughts which rule them and not they their thoughts. The
\nvast majority of people are troubled by thoughts they cannot get rid of, which
\nliterally possess them, and they don\u2019t have the power to close the door of
\ntheir active consciousness to these thoughts. Their thoughts govern them, rule
\nthem. You hear people saying every day, \u201cOh! That thought, all the time it
\ncomes back to me, again and again, and I can\u2019t get rid of it!\u201d So they are
\nassailed by all kinds of things, from anxiety to ill-will and fear. Thoughts
\nwhich express dread are extremely troublesome; you try to send them away, they
\nreturn like a rubber band and fall back on you. Who has control? It requires
\nyears of labour and such a long practice. And so, to come to something which is
\nnot complete control but anyway already represents a stage: to have the ability
\nto do this in your head (Mother moves her
\nhand across her brow<\/i>), to annul all the movements, to stop the vibrations.
\nAnd<\/span> <\/span><\/p>\n

\nPage \u2013 253<\/span><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n
\n

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

the mental surface becomes smooth. Everything stops, as when you open
\na book at a blank page \u2013 but almost materially, you understand\u2026blank! <\/span><\/p>\n

Try a little when you are at home, you will see, it is very
\ninteresting. <\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 <\/span>And so, one follows
\nthe place in one\u2019s head where the little point is dancing. I have seen \u2013 I have
\nseen Sri Aurobindo doing this in somebody\u2019s head, somebody who used to complain
\nof being troubled by thoughts. It was as if his hand reached out and took hold
\nof the little black dancing point and then did this (gesture with the finger-tips<\/i>), as when one picks up an insect, and
\nhe threw it far away. And that was all. All still, quiet, luminsous<\/span>.\u2026It
\nwas clearly visible like this, you know, he took it out without saying anything
\n\u2013 and it was over. <\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 <\/span>And things are very
\nclosely interdependent: I also saw the case when someone came to him with an
\nacute pain somewhere: \u201cOh, it hurts here! Oh, it hurts! Oh!…\u201d He said
\nnothing, he remained calm, he looked at the person, and I saw, I saw something
\nlike a subtle physical hand which came and took hold of the little point
\ndancing about in disorder and confusion, and he took it like this (same gesture<\/i>) and there, everything had
\ngone. <\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 <\/span>\u201cOh, oh! Look my pain
\nhas gone.\u201d <\/span><\/p>\n

There. <\/span><\/p>\n

\nPage \u2013 254<\/span><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n
\n

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


\n
\n15 January 1958<\/font><\/a><\/span><\/i><\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

 <\/span><\/p>\n

Mother reads a paragraph
\nfrom The Life Divine continuing arguments<\/font><\/span><\/p>\n

 from the point of view
\nthat each type of being, including man, is fixed<\/font><\/span><\/p>\n

 in its type and does
\nnot progress, and that if a new creation is intended,<\/font><\/span><\/p>\n

 it cannot develop out
\nof man. (page 832) <\/font> <\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/span><\/p>\n

If all these arguments were true and there were to be no higher
\nrealisation\u2026there would be nothing left to do. But fortunately this is not
\ntrue. <\/i><\/span><\/p>\n

Only, Sri Aurobindo has said many times that there will be no
\nirrefutable proof of the truth of what he has said and predicted until it is
\naccomplished; only when everything is accomplished will those who refuse to
\nbelieve be obliged to recognise their mistake \u2013 but perhaps they won\u2019t be there
\nto do it! <\/span><\/p>\n

So there is only one thing to do: to proceed on one\u2019s way keeping
\none\u2019s own faith and certitude, and to pay no heed to contradictions and
\ndenials. <\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 <\/span>There are people who
\nneed the support and trust and certitude of others to feel comfortable and to
\nbe at ease \u2013 they are always unhappy because, of course, they will always come
\nacross people who do not believe, and so they will be upset and it will trouble
\nthem. One must find one\u2019s certitude within oneself, keep it in spite of
\neverything and go one\u2019s way whatever the cost, to the very end. The Victory is
\nfor the most enduring. <\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 <\/span>To maintain one\u2019s
\nendurance in spite of all oppositions, the support must be unshakable, and one<\/i> support alone<\/i> is unshakable, that of the Reality, the Supreme Truth. <\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 <\/span>It is useless to look
\nfor any other. This is the only one that never fails. <\/span><\/p>\n

\nPage \u2013 255<\/span><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n
\n

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


\n
\n22 January 1958<\/font><\/a><\/span><\/i><\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

 <\/span><\/p>\n

Mother reads a passage from
\nThe Life Divine which <\/font><\/span><\/p>\n

\nconcludes<\/span> <\/font> the exposition of the
\nintellectual arguments<\/font><\/span><\/p>\n

\nagainst the<\/span><\/font> appearance of a higher
\nspecies. <\/font> <\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/span><\/p>\n

Next time we begin the argument. All these arguments take place in
\na field where you don\u2019t usually go, do you? It is a domain which is unfamiliar
\nto you. <\/span><\/p>\n

In fact it is a very special domain, far removed from action or
\nany practical realisation. It has always seemed to me that one could take up
\nany idea at all and use it as the starting-point for an argument and through
\nintellectual logic succeed in proving that this idea is altogether true, simply
\nby the power of argumentation. <\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 <\/span>It is quite remarkable
\nthat these are two fields of human activity \u2013 action and speculation \u2013 which
\nusually find it difficult to be together at the same time in the consciousness;
\nand it is even unusual that a man with a highly developed speculative mind
\nshould ever be a man of action, and on the other hand, that a man of action
\nshould ever feel at ease in the speculative intellect. <\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 <\/span>When one has an
\nessentially practical bent for accomplishing things, one always feels that all
\nthese speculations, arguments, deductions are a more or less interesting
\noccupation for idle people. But\u2026I dare not say this too loud, for it is not appreciated
\nby intellectuals, this has always seemed to me a gymnastic exercise that\u2019s very
\ninteresting from the point of view of mental development, but without much
\npractical result. Now, if you listen to people with an abstract turn of mind,
\nthey will tell you that physical gymnastics are a thoroughly futile occupation
\nwithout any practical result: \u201cWhat\u2019s the use of doing gymnastics? It is simply
\nto exercise your muscles. And why should we not exercise our mental muscles as
\nyou exercise the muscles of your <\/span>
\n
\n <\/span><\/p>\n

\nPage \u2013 256<\/span><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n
\n

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

body?\u201d And both arguments are of equal value. <\/span><\/p>\n

For me the solution lies elsewhere. \u00a0<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

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

 <\/span><\/p>\n

As soon as one is convinced that there is a living and real Truth seeking
\nto express itself in an objective universe, the only thing that seems to have
\nany importance or value is to come into contact with this Truth, to identify
\noneself with it as perfectly as possible, and to no longer be anything but a
\nmeans of expressing it, making it more and more living and tangible so that it
\nmay be manifested more and more perfectly. All theories, all principles, all
\nmethods are more or less good according to their capacity to express that
\nTruth; and as one goes forward on this path, if one goes beyond all the limits
\nof the Ignorance, one becomes aware that the totality of this manifestation,
\nits wholeness, its integrality<\/span> is necessary for the
\nexpression of that Truth, that nothing can be left out, and perhaps that there
\nis nothing more important or less important. The one thing that seems necessary
\nis a harmonisation of everything which puts each thing in its place, in its
\ntrue relation with all the rest, so that the total Unity may manifest
\nharmoniously. <\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 <\/span>If one comes down from
\nthis level, according to me one no longer understands anything and all
\narguments are of equal worth in the narrowness and limitation which take away
\nall their real value. <\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 <\/span>Each thing in its
\nplace, in harmony with all the rest, and then one can begin to understand and
\nto live. <\/span><\/p>\n

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

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

 <\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 <\/span>One feels that a
\nsingle movement, however small it may be, however insignificant it may seem,
\nwhich is in harmony with that <\/span><\/p>\n

\nPage \u2013 257<\/span><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n
\n

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

Truth, is of more value than the most wonderful arguments.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 <\/span>Let one single drop
\nof light shine in you and it will be more effective in dissolving the darkness
\nthan the most beautiful speeches in the world on what light is or on what it
\ncan do. <\/span><\/p>\n

\nPage \u2013 258<\/span><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n
\n

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


\n
\n29 January 1958<\/font><\/a><\/span><\/i><\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

 <\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 <\/span>\u00a0<\/span>\u201cEven in the Inconscient there seems to be at
\nleast an urge of inherent necessity producing the evolution of forms\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 <\/span>and in the forms a developing
\nConsciousness, and it may well be held that this urge is the evolutionary will
\nof a secret Conscious-Being and its push of progressive manifestation the
\nevidence of an innate intention in the evolution.\u2026Truth of Being inevitably
\nfulfilling itself would be the fundamental fact of the evolution, but Will and
\nits purpose must be there as part of the instrumentation, as an element in the
\noperative principle.\u201d
\n <\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

The Life Divine<\/font><\/span><\/i>, p.
\n834 <\/font> <\/span><\/p>\n


\n       <\/span>Sweet
\nMother, I did not understand the last part of the sentence. <\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

 <\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

What don\u2019t you understand? He says that evolution is the result of
\nthe inevitable fulfilment of the Truth of Being which is the essential reality
\nof the universe. The fulfilment of this Truth, the fulfilment of the Truth of
\nBeing, is the fundamental fact of evolution, that is, it is the cause and
\nprinciple of the evolution; but naturally, if this Truth of Being is inevitably
\nfulfilled, it must be by means of a will and a purpose. There has to be an aim
\nand the will to fulfil that aim. <\/span><\/p>\n

To fulfil itself this truth must contain a will to fulfilment and
\nan aim, a purpose, a project it wants to fulfil. In order to accomplish
\nsomething, one must have the will to do it, and to have the will to do it, one
\nmust know what one wants to do. If one doesn\u2019t know what one wants to do, one
\ncan\u2019t do it. First one must know, have a plan, a purpose, a programme if you
\nlike; one must know what one wants to do, and then one must will to do it, and
\nthen one can do it. <\/span><\/p>\n

\nPage \u2013 259<\/span><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n
\n

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

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 <\/span>You see, he says: the
\nuniverse is the evolutionary fulfilment of the truth of the universal Being.
\nThe deploying of the universe is the progressive, evolutionary fulfilment of the
\ntruth of the universal Being, but for this truth to be fulfilled it must
\nnecessarily contain a plan, that is, it must know what it wants to do and must
\nhave the will to do it. <\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 <\/span>When you do something
\nyou know what you want to do, don\u2019t you? And then you will to do it, otherwise
\nyou couldn\u2019t. But it is the same thing, this is what he says. <\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 <\/span>It must necessarily be
\nadmitted that there is a plan in the universe, that it is not something that
\ncomes about by chance, and that there is a Will to fulfil this plan, otherwise
\nnothing could happen. You see, Sri Aurobindo contradicts those who say that the
\nuniverse has no plan and no will. But the minute we admit that there is a
\nconsciousness \u2013 a conscious existence \u2013 behind the universe, we admit at the same
\ntime, automatically, that there is a plan in this universe and a will to fulfil
\nthis plan. That is all he says. It is simple, isn\u2019t it? <\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 <\/span>You only have to
\nreduce this to the individual scale. When someone is conscious and does
\nsomething consciously, he necessarily does it knowing what he wants to do, with
\na plan. For instance, when you prepare a programme for the anniversary of your
\n\u201cboarding\u201d, you have a purpose, don\u2019t you? \u2013 you want to make a programme for
\nthe anniversary, and so you have a plan, you choose what you are going to enact
\nand how it is going to be enacted, and at the same time you want <\/i>\u00a0<\/span>to do it, otherwise you would not do it \u2013 so,
\nSri Aurobindo says just that. That is, that if the universe is a conscious
\nentity, if there is a Consciousness which expresses itself, it necessarily
\nexpresses itself in accordance with a plan and with a will to express itself \u2013
\nit is quite simple. <\/span><\/p>\n

Have you understood?\u2026A little! <\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 <\/span>Don\u2019t you know this,
\nthat in order to do something one must know what one wants to do and then one
\nmust do it, have the will to do it? Even if you decide to walk from here to
\nthere, <\/span><\/p>\n

\nPage \u2013 260<\/span><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n
\n

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

you must decide that you want to walk from here to there, and
\nafterwards you must have the will to walk, otherwise you would not move. No? <\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/span><\/p>\n

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

 <\/span><\/p>\n

Ah! it is nothing but that, it is as simple as that.
\n <\/span><\/p>\n

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

 <\/span><\/p>\n

People usually do things so automatically and spontaneously,
\nwithout watching themselves doing them, that if they were to ask themselves how
\nit comes about, they would require some time before the process becomes
\nconscious to them. You are so used to living that you don\u2019t even know how it
\nhappens. All the gestures and movements of life are made spontaneously,
\nautomatically, almost unconsciously, in a semi-conscious state, and one doesn\u2019t
\neven realise this very simple fact that in order to do something, one must
\nfirst know what one is going to do and then must want to do it. It is only when
\nsomething goes wrong with one of these elements \u2013 for instance, the ability to make
\na plan in one\u2019s mind and the ability to carry out this plan \u2013 when these two
\nbegin to go wrong, one starts worrying about whether one\u2019s being is in good
\norder. For example, if one morning on waking up in bed you did not know or
\nremember that you had to get up, wash and dress, have your breakfast, do this
\nand that, you would say to yourself, \u201cWhy, what\u2019s the matter? Something is
\nwrong \u2013 I don\u2019t know what I ought to do any more; something must be out of
\norder.\u201d <\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 <\/span>And if, later, knowing
\nwhat you have to do \u2013 you must get up, go for your bath, dress \u2013 you know you
\nhave to do it but you can\u2019t do it: there is something, the stimulus of the
\nwill, which is no longer working, has no effect on the body; then once again
\nyou begin to feel anxious, you say, \u201cWell, well, could I be ill by any chance?\u201d <\/span><\/p>\n

\nPage \u2013 261<\/span><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n
\n

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

Otherwise you are not even aware that the whole of life is like
\nthat. It seems quite natural to you, it is \u201clike that\u201d. That means that you act
\nin a way which is hardly semi-conscious; it is automatic, it is a kind of
\nspontaneous habit and you don\u2019t watch what you are doing. And so, if you want
\nto have some control over your movements, the first thing is to know what is
\nhappening. <\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 <\/span>And in fact, this
\nperhaps is the reason why things don\u2019t always go well. For if they went
\naccording to a normal, usual rhythm, one would never be conscious of what one
\nis doing; one would do it by habit, automatically, spontaneously, without
\nthinking, and would not watch what one is doing, and so one would never be able
\nto acquire self-mastery. It would be \u201csomething\u201d, a vague consciousness in the
\nbackground expressing itself without your even watching what you are doing, and
\nwhich would make you act; and then if there came along some strange or unknown
\ncurrent of force, it could make you do anything at all, without your even
\nnoticing the process by which it makes you act. And in fact that is what does
\nhappen. <\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 <\/span>It is only when one is
\nfully conscious of the process, when one knows how life works, the movement of
\nlife and the process of life, that one can begin to have control; otherwise at
\nfirst one doesn\u2019t even think at all of having any control; but if unpleasant
\nthings occur, if, for instance, you do something which has unfortunate
\nconsequences and you tell yourself, \u201cOh! But I should stop doing that\u201d, then,
\nat that moment, you realise that there is a whole technique of \u201chow to live\u201d
\nwhich is necessary to be able to control your life! Otherwise one is a kind of
\nmore or less coordinated medley of actions and reactions, of movements and
\nimpulses, and one doesn\u2019t know at all how things happen. This is what is
\ndeveloped in the being by shocks, frictions, all the apparent disorders of
\nlife, and what forms the consciousness in very small children. A small child is
\naltogether unconscious, and only gradually, very gradually, does he begin to
\ngrow aware of things. But unless they take special care, people <\/span><\/p>\n

\nPage \u2013 262<\/span><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n
\n

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

live almost their whole life without even knowing how they do it!
\nThey are not aware of it. <\/span><\/p>\n

So anything at all can happen. <\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 <\/span>But that is the very first little step<\/i> towards becoming
\nconscious of oneself in the material world. <\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 <\/span>You have vague
\nthoughts and feelings, don\u2019t you, which develop more or less logically in the
\nbeing \u2013 rather less than more \u2013 then you have a faint impression of that; and
\nagain, when you get burnt, you realise that something is wrong, when you fall
\nand hurt yourself, you realise that something is wrong: it begins to make you
\nreflect that you must pay attention to this and that, so as not to fall, not to
\nburn yourself, not to cut yourself.\u2026It dawns on you gradually with external
\nexperience, external contacts. But otherwise one is a half-conscious mass which
\nmoves without even knowing why or how. <\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 <\/span>This is the very small
\nbeginning of the emergence from the primary state of unconsciousness. <\/span><\/p>\n

\nPage \u2013 263<\/span><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n
\n

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


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

1 January 1958     O Nature, material Mother,\u00a0 Thou hast said that thou wilt collaborate\u00a0 and there is no limit\u00a0 to the splendour of…<\/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-4258","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\/4258","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=4258"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/worksofthemotherandsriaurobindo.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4258\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/worksofthemotherandsriaurobindo.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4258"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/worksofthemotherandsriaurobindo.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4258"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/worksofthemotherandsriaurobindo.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4258"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}