{"id":4270,"date":"2013-07-13T01:54:43","date_gmt":"2013-07-13T01:54:43","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/localhost\/?p=4270"},"modified":"2013-07-13T01:54:43","modified_gmt":"2013-07-13T01:54:43","slug":"26-03-september-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\/26-03-september-1958-vol-09-questions-and-answers-volume-09","title":{"rendered":"-26_03 September 1958.htm"},"content":{"rendered":"\n\n
\n
\n


\n
\n3 September
\n 1958<\/font><\/span><\/i><\/b>
\n<\/font> <\/span><\/i><\/b><\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

Sweet Mother, the other day you told
\nme that it was necessary to learn how to discipline the imagination. <\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

 <\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

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

           How
\nis it done? <\/i><\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/span><\/p>\n

Imagination is something very
\ncomplex and manifold \u2013 what is vaguely called \u201cimagination\u201d. <\/span><\/p>\n

It can be
\nthe capacity for seeing and recording, noting the forms in some mental or other
\ndomain. There are artistic, literary, poetic domains, domains of action,
\nscientific domains, all belonging to the mind \u2013 not a very high and abstract
\nmind, a mind above the physical mind which, without our knowing it, pours out
\nconstantly through the individual and collective mind to manifest in action. <\/span><\/p>\n

      Some
\npeople, through a special faculty, are in contact with these domains, take up
\none formation or other that is there, draw them to themselves and give them an
\nexpression. This power of expression is different in different people, but
\nthose who can open themselves to these domains, to see<\/i> things there, to
\ndraw these forms towards themselves and express them \u2013 either in literature or
\nin painting or music or in action or science \u2013 are, according to the degree of
\ntheir power of expression either very highly talented beings or else geniuses.<\/span><\/p>\n

      There
\nare higher geniuses still. They are people who can open to a higher region, a
\nhigher force which, passing through the mental layers, comes and takes a form
\nin a human mind and reveals itself in the world as new truths, new
\nphilosophical systems, new spiritual teachings, which are the works and at the
\nsame time the actions of the great beings who come to take birth on earth. That
\nis an imagination which can be called  <\/span><\/p>\n

\nPage \u2013 385<\/font><\/span><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n
\n

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

\u201cTruth-imagination\u201d.<\/span><\/p>\n

These
\nhigher forces, when they come down into the earth-atmosphere, take living,
\nactive, powerful forms, spread throughout the world and prepare a new age. <\/span><\/p>\n

      These
\ntwo kinds of imagination are what could be called higher imaginations. <\/span><\/p>\n

      And
\nnow, to come down to a more ordinary level, everyone has in him, in a greater
\nor lesser measure, the power to give form to his mental activity and use this
\nform either in his ordinary activity or to create and realise something. We are
\nall the time, always<\/i>, creating images, creating forms. We send them into
\nthe atmosphere without even knowing that we are doing so \u2013 they go roaming
\nabout, pass from one person to another, meet companions, sometimes join
\ntogether and get on happily, sometimes create conflicts, and there are battles;
\nfor often, very often, in these mental imaginations there is a small element of
\nwill which tries to realise itself, and then everyone tries to send out his
\nformation so that it can act, so that things can happen as he wants and, as
\neveryone does this, it creates a general confusion. If our eyes were open to
\nthe vision of all these forms in the atmosphere, we would see very amazing
\nthings: battlefields, waves, onsets, retreats of a crowd <\/i>of small mental
\nentities which are constantly thrown out into the air and always try to realise
\nthemselves. All these formations have a common tendency to want to materialise
\nand realise themselves physically, and as they are countless \u2013 they are far too
\nmany for there to be room enough on earth to manifest them \u2013 they jostle and
\nelbow one another, they try to push back those which do not agree with them or
\neven form armies marching in good order, always to take up the available room
\nboth in time and space \u2013 it is only a very small space compared with the
\ncountless number of creations. <\/span><\/p>\n

 
\n      So, individually, this is what happens.
\nSome people do all that without knowing it \u2013 perhaps everybody \u2013 and they are
\nconstantly tossed from one thing to another, and hope, wish, <\/span><\/p>\n

\nPage \u2013 386<\/font><\/span><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n
\n

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

desire, are disappointed, sometimes
\nhappy, sometimes in despair, for they don\u2019t have any control or mastery over
\nthese things. But the beginning of wisdom is to look at ourselves thinking and
\nto see this phenomenon, become aware of this constant projection into the
\natmosphere of small living <\/i>entities which are trying to manifest. All
\nthis comes out of the mental atmosphere which we carry within ourselves. Once
\nwe see and observe, we can begin to sort them out, that is, to push back what
\nis not in conformity with our highest will or aspiration and allow to move
\ntowards manifestation only the formations which can help us to progress and
\ndevelop normally. <\/span><\/p>\n

This is the
\ncontrol of active thought, and that was what I meant the other day. <\/span><\/p>\n

      How
\nmany times you sit and become aware that the thought is beginning to form
\nimages for itself, to tell itself a story; and so, when you have become a
\nlittle expert at it, not only do you see unfolding before you the history of
\nwhat you would like to happen in life, in your own life, but you can take
\nsomething away, add a detail, perfect your work, make a really fine<\/i>
\nstory in which everything conforms with your highest aspiration. And once you
\nhave made a complete harmonious construction, as perfect as you can make it,
\nthen you open your hands and let the bird fly away. <\/span><\/p>\n

      If
\nit is well made, it always realises itself in the end. And that is what one
\ndoesn\u2019t know. <\/span><\/p>\n

      But
\nthe thing is realised in the course of time, sometimes long afterwards, when
\nyou have forgotten your story, can no longer remember having told it to
\nyourself \u2013 you have changed much, are thinking about other things, making other
\nstories, and the first one no longer interests you; and if you are not very
\nattentive, when the result of the first story comes, you are already very far
\naway from it and no longer remember at all that this is the result of your own
\nstory.\u2026And that is why it is so important to control yourself, for if within
\nyou there are multiple and contradictory wills \u2013 not only wills but tendencies,
\n <\/span><\/p>\n

\nPage \u2013 387<\/font><\/span><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n
\n

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

orientations, levels of life \u2013 all
\nthis causes battles in your life. For example, at your highest level you have
\nfashioned a beautiful story which you send out into the world, but then,
\nperhaps the next day, perhaps on the very same day, perhaps a little later, you
\nhave come down to a much more material level, and these things from above seem
\nto you a little\u2026fairylike, unreal; and you begin to make very concrete, very
\nutilitarian formations which are not always very pretty\u2026and these too go out. <\/span><\/p>\n

I have
\nknown people with such opposite sides in their nature, so contradictory, that
\none day they could make a magnificent, luminous, powerful formation for
\nrealisation, and then the next day a defeatist, dark, black formation \u2013 a
\nformation of despair \u2013 and so both would go out. And I was able to follow in
\nthe course of circumstances the beautiful one being realised, and while it was
\nbeing realised, the dark one demolishing what the first one had done. And that
\nis how it is in the larger lines of life as in its smaller details. And all
\nthat because one does not watch oneself thinking, because one believes one is
\nthe slave of these contradictory movements, because one says, \u201cOh! Today I am
\nnot feeling well. Oh! Today things seem sad to me\u201d, and one says this as if it
\nwere an ineluctable fate against which one could do nothing. But if one stands
\nback or ascends a step, one can look at all these things, put them in their
\nplace, keep some, destroy or get rid of those one does not want and put all
\none\u2019s imaginative power \u2013 what is called imaginative \u2013 only in those one wants
\nand which conform with one\u2019s highest aspiration. That is what I call
\ncontrolling one\u2019s imagination. <\/span><\/p>\n

      It
\nis very interesting. When one learns to do it and does it regularly one no
\nlonger has time to feel bored. <\/span><\/p>\n

      And
\ninstead of being a cork afloat on the waves of the sea and tossed here and
\nthere by each wave, defencelessly, one becomes a bird which opens its wings,
\nflies above the waves and goes wherever it wants. That\u2019s all   <\/span>
\n <\/font><\/span><\/p>\n

\nPage \u2013 388<\/font><\/span><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n
\n

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


\n
\n10
\n September 1958<\/font><\/a><\/span><\/i><\/b> <\/font> <\/a> <\/span><\/i><\/b><\/p>\n

\u201cIn modern times, as physical Science enlarged its discoveries and
\nreleased the secret material forces of Nature into an action governed by human
\nknowledge for human use, occultism receded and was finally set aside on the
\nground that the physical alone is real and Mind and Life are only departmental
\nactivities of Matter. On this basis, believing material Energy to be the key of
\nall things, Science has attempted to move towards a control of mind and life
\nprocesses by a knowledge of the material instrumentation and process of our
\nnormal and abnormal mind and life functionings and activities; the spiritual is
\nignored as only one form of mentality. It may be observed in passing that if
\nthis endeavour succeeded, it might not be without danger for the existence of
\nthe human race, even as now are certain other scientific discoveries misused or
\nclumsily used by a humanity mentally and morally unready for the handling of
\npowers so great and perilous; for it would be an artificial control applied
\nwithout any knowledge of the secret forces which underlie and sustain our
\nexistence. Occultism in the West could be thus easily pushed aside because it
\nnever reached its majority, never acquired ripeness and a philosophic or sound
\nsystematic foundation. It indulged too freely in the romance of the
\nsupernatural or made the mistake of concentrating its major effort on the
\ndiscovery of formulas and effective modes for using supernormal powers. It
\ndeviated into magic white and black or into a romantic or thaumaturgic<\/span>
\nparaphernalia of occult mysticism and the exaggeration of what was after all a
\nlimited and scanty knowledge. These tendencies and this insecurity of mental
\nfoundation made it difficult<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

\nPage \u2013 389<\/font><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

\n
<\/p>\n
\n

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

to
\ndefend and easy to discredit, a target facile and vulnerable. In Egypt and the East
\nthis line of knowledge arrived at a greater and more comprehensive endeavour:
\nthis ampler maturity can be seen still intact in the remarkable system of the Tantras<\/span>; it was not only a many-sided science of the
\nsupernormal but supplied the basis of all the occult elements of religion and
\neven developed a great and powerful system of spiritual discipline and
\nself-realisation. For the highest occultism is that which discovers the secret
\nmovements and dynamic supernormal possibilities of Mind and Life and Spirit and
\nuses them in their native force or by an applied process for the greater
\neffectivity of our mental, vital and spiritual being. <\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

\u201cOccultism
\nis associated in popular idea with magic and magical formulas and a supposed
\nmechanism of the supernatural. But this is only one side, nor is it altogether
\na superstition as is vainly imagined by those who have not looked deeply or at
\nall at this covert side of secret Nature-Force or experimented with its
\npossibilities. Formulas and their application, a mechanisation<\/span>
\nof latent forces, can be astonishingly effective in the occult use of
\nmind-power and life-power just as it is in physical Science, but this is only a
\nsubordinate method and a limited direction. For mind and life forces are
\nplastic, subtle and variable in their action and have not the material
\nrigidity; they need a subtle and plastic intuition in the knowledge of them, in
\nthe interpretation of their action and process and in their application, \u2013 even
\nin the interpretation and action of their established formulas. An overstress
\non mechanisation<\/span> and rigid formulation is likely to
\nresult in sterilisation<\/span> or a formalised<\/span>
\nlimitation of knowledge and, on the pragmatic side, to much error, ignorant
\nconvention, misuse and failure. Now that <\/span><\/i>
\nPage \u2013 390<\/font><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n
\n

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

we
\nare outgrowing the superstition of the sole truth of Matter, a swing backward
\ntowards the old occultism and to new formulations, as well as to a scientific
\ninvestigation of the still hidden secrets and powers of Mind and a close study
\nof psychic and abnormal or supernormal psychological phenomena, is possible
\nand, in parts, already visible. But if it is to fulfil itself, the true
\nfoundation, the true aim and direction, the necessary restrictions and
\nprecautions of this line of inquiry have to be rediscovered; its most important
\naim must be the discovery of the hidden truths and powers of the mind-force and
\nthe life-power and the greater forces of the concealed spirit. Occult science
\nis, essentially, the science of the subliminal, the subliminal in ourselves and
\nthe subliminal in world-nature, and of all that is in connection with the
\nsubliminal, including the subconscient<\/span> and the
\nsuperconscient, and the use of it as part of self-knowledge and world-knowledge
\nand for the right dynamisation<\/span> of that knowledge.\u201d <\/span><\/i><\/p>\n


\nThe Life Divine, pp. 875-77<\/font><\/span><\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 <\/span>Sweet Mother, what is white magic? <\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

What we call \u201cwhite magic\u201d is a
\nbeneficial magic and \u201cblack magic\u201d is a harmful magic. But in fact these are
\nmere words, they have no meaning. <\/span><\/p>\n

Magic?\u2026It
\nis a knowledge that has been reduced to purely material formulas. They are some
\nkind of words or numbers or combinations of words and numbers, which, if they
\nare simply pronounced or written, even by someone who has no inner power, must
\nact. In occultism, this is what corresponds to chemical formulas in science.
\nYou see, in science you have chemical formulas for combining certain elements
\nand producing others from them; even if you do not have any mental or vital or
\neven physical power, if you just follow to the letter the formula you<\/span> <\/font><\/span><\/p>\n

\nPage
\n\u2013 391<\/font><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n
\n

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

have, you obtain the required
\nresult \u2013 is enough simply to have a memory. Well, the same thing has been tried
\nin occultism, making combinations of sounds, letters, numbers, words, which, by
\ntheir inherent qualities, have the power to obtain a certain result. In this
\nway, any fool, if he learns this and does exactly what he is told, obtains \u2013 or
\nbelieves he will obtain \u2013 the result he wants. While\u2026let us take the mantra,
\nfor instance, which is a form of occultism; unless the mantra is given by a
\nguru and the guru transmits his occult or spiritual power to you with the
\nmantra, you may repeat your mantra thousands of times, it will have no effect. <\/span><\/p>\n

That is to
\nsay, in true occultism, one must have the quality, the ability, the inner gift
\nin order to use it, and that is the safeguard. True occultism cannot be
\npractised by any fool. And this is no longer magic \u2013 neither white magic nor
\nblack nor golden \u2013 is not magic at all, it is a spiritual power which must be
\nacquired by long discipline; and finally, it is given to you only by a divine
\ngrace. <\/span><\/p>\n

This means
\nthat as soon as one draws near the Truth, one is safe from all charlatanism,
\nall pretension and falsehood. Of this I have had numerous and extremely
\nconclusive proofs. And so someone who has the true occult power possesses at
\nthe same time, by the strength of this inner truth, the power to undo any
\nmagic, white or black or whatever colour<\/span> it may be,
\nsimply by applying a drop of that truth, one might say. There is nothing that
\ncan resist that power. And this is very well known to those who practise magic,
\nfor they always take very great care, in all countries but especially in India,
\nnever to try out any of their formulas against yogis and saints, because they
\nknow that these formulas which they send out with their little mechanical, very
\nsuperficial power, will go and strike, like a ball on a wall, the true power
\nthat protects one who leads a spiritual life, and quite naturally their formula
\nwill rebound and fall back on them. <\/span><\/p>\n

The yogi
\nor saint doesn\u2019t need to do anything, he doesn\u2019t even have to want to protect
\nhimself: it is something automatic. <\/span><\/p>\n

\nPage \u2013 392<\/font><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n
\n

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

He is in a state of consciousness
\nand inner power which automatically protects him from everything that is inferior.
\nNaturally, he can also use his power deliberately to protect others. This
\nrebounding of the bad formation from his atmosphere automatically protects him,
\nbut if this bad formation is made against someone he is protecting or simply
\nsomeone who asks for his help, then he can, by a movement of his own
\natmosphere, his own aura, surround the person who is exposed to the evil magic
\nspells, and the rebounding process acts in the same way and causes the bad
\nformation to fall back quite naturally on the one who made it. But in this case
\nthe conscious will of the yogi or saint or sage is needed. He has to be
\ninformed about what has happened and he must decide to intervene.<\/span><\/p>\n

That is
\nthe difference between true knowledge and magic.<\/span><\/p>\n

Anything
\nelse?\u2026Is that all? <\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 <\/span>Mother,
\ncan physical science by its progress open to occultism? <\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

 <\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

It does
\nnot call it \u201coccultism\u201d, that\u2019s all. It is only a question of words.\u2026They are
\nmaking sensational discoveries which people with occult knowledge already knew
\nthousands of years ago! They have made a long circuit and come to the same
\nthing. <\/span><\/p>\n

With the
\nmost recent discoveries in medicine, in the applied sciences, for instance,
\nthey are contacting in this way, with a wonder-struck interest, things which
\nwere known to certain sages a very, very long time ago. And then they present
\nall this before you as new marvels \u2013 but indeed they are rather old, their
\nmarvels!<\/span><\/p>\n

They will
\nend up by practising<\/span> occultism without knowing that
\nthey are doing so! For, in fact, as soon as one draws close, however slightly,
\nto the truth of things and when one is sincere in one\u2019s search, not satisfied
\nby mere appearances, when one really wants to find something and goes deep,
\npenetrates behind appearances, then one begins to advance towards the truth of <\/span><\/p>\n

\nPage – 393<\/font><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n
\n

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

things; and as one comes closer to
\nit, well, one finds again the same knowledge that others who began by going
\nwithin have brought back from their inner discoveries.<\/span><\/p>\n

Only the
\nmethod and the path are different but the thing discovered will be the same, because
\nthere are not two things to be found, there is only one. It will necessarily be
\nthe same. It all depends on the path one follows; some go fast, others slowly,
\nsome go straight, others, as I said, go a long way round \u2013 and what labour! How
\nthey have laboured<\/span>!\u2026Besides, it is very respectable. <\/span><\/p>\n

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

Now they are finding out that they
\ncan replace anaesthetics<\/span> by hypnotism with infinitely
\nbetter results. Well, hypnotism is a form \u2013 a form modernised<\/span>
\nin its expression \u2013 of occultism; a very limited, very small form of a very
\ntiny power compared with occult power, but still it is a form of occultism
\nwhich has been put in modern terms to make the thing modern. And I don\u2019t know
\nif you have heard about these things, but they are very interesting from a certain
\npoint of view: for instance, this process of hypnotism has been tried on
\nsomeone who had to have a skin-graft on a wound. I don\u2019t remember all the
\ndetails now, but the arm had to remain attached to the leg for a fortnight.\u2026If
\nthe person were immobilised<\/span> by plaster and bandages
\nand all sorts of things, at the end of the fortnight he wouldn\u2019t be able to
\nmove \u2013 everything would become stiff and he would need weeks of treatment to
\nrecover the free use of his arm. In this case, nothing was tied up, nothing was
\nphysically immobilised<\/span> \u2013 no plaster, no bandages,
\nnothing \u2013 the person was just hypnotised<\/span> and told to
\nkeep his arm in that position. He kept it for a fortnight, without any effort,
\nany difficulty, without any intervention from his will: it was the will of the hypnotiser<\/span> which intervened. It was perfectly successful,
\nthe arm remained in the required position, and when the fortnight was over and
\nthe hyp<\/span><\/span>notism<\/span><\/span> <\/span><\/p>\n

\nPage \u2013 394<\/font><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n
\n

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

removed, and the person was told,
\n\u201cNow you may move\u201d, he began to move! Well, that\u2019s a step forward. <\/span><\/p>\n

They are
\nsoon going to meet \u2013 it will be nothing more than a question of words \u2013 then,
\nif they are not too rigid, they can agree on the value given to the words! <\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 <\/span>Sweet Mother, they say hypnotism has
\na bad after-effect on the hypnotised<\/span> person? <\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

 <\/span><\/p>\n

No, no! If somebody practises<\/span> hypnotism to impose his will on another, it can
\nobviously do much harm to the other person, but we are speaking of a hypnotism
\nwhich is practised in a humanitarian way, it might be said, and for precise reasons.
\n<\/span><\/p>\n

All the
\nbad effects can be avoided if the one who does it has no bad intentions. <\/span><\/p>\n

If you use
\nchemical formulas in an ignorant way, you can cause an explosion (laughter<\/i>), and that is very dangerous!
\nWell, if you use occult formulas ignorantly \u2013 or egoistically, which is even
\nworse than ignorantly \u2013 you can also have harmful results. But that doesn\u2019t
\nmean that occultism is bad or hypnotism is bad or chemistry is bad. You are not
\ngoing to ban chemistry because there are people who cause explosions! (Laughter) <\/i><\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 <\/span>To learn occultism one must have
\nspecial qualities, whereas for learning science\u2026<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

 <\/span><\/p>\n

But for everything one must have
\nspecial qualities! <\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 <\/span>Scientific knowledge is accessible
\nto all. <\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

 <\/span><\/p>\n

Listen, if you are not an artist,
\nyou may work for years with paint-brushes, colours<\/span>,
\ncanvases, and spend much money and much effort, and yet produce horrible
\nthings. If you are not a musician, you may labour hard for hours at playing the
\npiano <\/span><\/p>\n

\nPage \u2013 395<\/font><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n
\n

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

and you will never do anything
\nworthwhile. Special qualities are always needed.\u2026Why, even for an athlete \u2013 if
\nyou are not born an athlete, you may try as hard as you like, you will only
\nsucceed in doing something quite mediocre and ordinary. It will be better than
\nsomeone who does not try at all, but that does not mean that you are
\nautomatically going to succeed. Besides, if we go a step further, everyone has
\ncountless possibilities within him of which he is unaware and which develop
\nonly if he does what is to be done in the way it should be done.\u2026But there are
\ntwo types of progress, not only one; there is the progress that consists in
\nperfecting more and more the capacities, possibilities, faculties and qualities
\nyou have \u2013 this is what is normally obtained by education; but if you go in for
\na little more thorough development by approaching a deeper truth, you can add,
\nto the qualities you already have, other new ones which seem to be asleep in
\nyour being.<\/span><\/p>\n

You can
\nmultiply your possibilities, enlarge and increase them; you can suddenly bring
\nup something you did not think you had. I have already explained this to you
\nseveral times. When one discovers one\u2019s psychic being within, at the same time
\nthere develop and manifest, quite unexpectedly, things one could not do at all
\nbefore and which one didn\u2019t think were in one\u2019s nature. Of this too I have had
\nnumerous examples. I have given you this one, but I am repeating it to you once
\nmore to make myself understood. <\/span><\/p>\n

I used to
\nknow a young girl who was born in a very ordinary environment, who had not
\nreceived much education and wrote rather clumsy French, who had not developed
\nher imagination and had absolutely no literary sense: that seemed to be among
\nthe possibilities she did not have. Well, when she had the inner experience of
\ncontact with her psychic being, and as long as the contact was living and very
\npresent, she wrote admirable things. When she fell back from that state into an
\nordinary one, she could not even put two sentences together correctly! And I
\nsaw examples of both kinds of her writing. <\/span><\/p>\n

\nPage \u2013 396<\/font><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n
\n

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

There is a genius within everyone
\nof us \u2013 we don\u2019t know it. We must find the way to make it come out \u2013 but it is
\nthere sleeping, it asks for nothing better than to manifest; we must open the
\ndoor to it.
\n <\/span><\/p>\n

\nPage \u2013 397<\/font><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n
\n

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


\n
\n17 September 1958<\/font><\/a><\/span><\/b><\/span><\/b><\/p>\n

 <\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cAn
\nintellectual approach to the highest knowledge, the mind\u2019s possession of it, is
\nan indispensable aid to this movement of Nature in the human being. Ordinarily,
\non our surface, man\u2019s chief instrument of thought and action is the reason, the
\nobserving, understanding and arranging intellect. In any total advance or
\nevolution of the Spirit, not only the intuition, insight, inner sense, the
\nheart\u2019s devotion, a deep and direct life-experience of the things of the Spirit
\nhave to be developed, but the intellect also must be enlightened and satisfied;
\nour thinking and reflecting mind must be helped to understand, to form a
\nreasoned and systematised idea of the goal, the method, the principles of this
\nhighest development and activity of our nature and the truth of all that lies
\nbehind it. Spiritual realisation and experience, an intuitive and direct
\nknowledge, a growth of inner consciousness, a growth of the soul and of an
\nintimate soul-perception, soul-vision and a soul-sense, are indeed the proper
\nmeans of this evolution: but the support of the reflective and critical reason
\nis also of great importance; if many can dispense with it, because they have a
\nvivid and direct contact with inner realities and are satisfied with experience
\nand insight, yet in the whole movement it is indispensable. If the supreme
\ntruth is a spiritual Reality, then the intellect of man needs to know what is
\nthe nature of that original Truth and the principle of its relations to the
\nrest of existence, to ourselves and the universe. The intellect is not capable
\nby itself of bringing us into touch with the concrete spiritual reality, but it
\ncan help by a mental formulation of the truth of the Spirit which explains it
\nto the mind and <\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

\nPage \u2013 <\/i>398<\/font><\/span><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n
\n

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

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 <\/span>\u00a0<\/span>can be applied even in the more direct
\nseeking: this help is of a capital
\nimportance.\u201d <\/span>
\n <\/span><\/i><\/p>\n


\n
\nThe Life
\nDivine, pp. 877-78<\/font><\/span><\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

 <\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

Sweet
\nMother, here Sri Aurobindo writes: \u201cAn intellectual approach to the highest
\nknowledge, the mind\u2019s possession of it…\u201d How is this possible? <\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

 <\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

Everything that happens to us in
\nthe spiritual world we always have a tendency to translate mentally; we want to
\nexplain it to ourselves, draw conclusions from it, change the experience into a
\nrule of action, profit mentally by what has happened in order to transform the
\nexperience into something practically useful. That is what Sri Aurobindo calls
\n\u201cthe mind\u2019s possession of it\u201d. This is done automatically, so to say.
\nUnfortunately, the best part of the experience always escapes; and besides, if
\none wants to keep it intact, one would have to remain in a state in which the
\nexperience is not mentalised<\/span>, and if one lives in the
\nouter world this is practically impossible. That is why those who wished to
\nenjoy their spiritual experience without intervention from the mind used to
\nremain in states of trance and to carefully avoid coming down to the level of
\naction. But if one wants to transform life, if one wants the spiritual
\nexperience to have an effect on the mind, the vital and the body, on the daily
\nactivities, it is indispensable to try to express it mentally and accept the
\ninevitable diminution, until the mind itself is transformed and capable of
\nparticipating in the experience without deforming it. <\/span><\/p>\n

What we
\nwant to do is still more difficult, for we want the vital also to be transformed
\nand capable of participating in the experience without deforming it, and
\nfinally the physical itself, the body, to be transformed by the spiritual
\naction and no longer be an obstacle to the experience. <\/span><\/p>\n

This
\ntransformation is precisely the point that ordinary thought finds most
\ndifficult to accept, for it is almost the faculty <\/span><\/p>\n

\nPage \u2013 399<\/font><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n
\n

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

of thought itself which must be
\nchanged. Its whole functioning has to be changed for this transformation to be
\npossible, and we are so used to identifying the faculty with its functioning
\nthat we wonder if it is possible to think otherwise than in the way we
\nordinarily do. <\/span><\/p>\n

It is
\npossible only when one has had the experience of complete silence in the mental
\nregion and when the spiritual force with its light and power descends through
\nthe mind and makes it act directly without its following its usual method of
\nanalysis, deduction, reasoning. All these faculties which are usually
\nconsidered the normal activities of the mind, must be stopped, and yet the
\nspiritual Light, Knowledge and Power must be able to transform them into a
\nchannel of direct expression, without using these means to express themselves. <\/span><\/p>\n

The mind,
\nin its outermost form, is a means of action, an instrument for organisation and
\nexecution. It puts concepts in order, relates them to one another, draws
\nconclusions for action from them and gives impulse to this action. This power
\nof organisation and impulse to action can be produced directly by the spiritual
\nforce which takes hold of the mental consciousness without these processes of
\nanalysis, deduction, reasoning being necessary. In intuition things already
\nhappen somewhat in this way; but spiritual intervention is, as it were, a
\nsuper-intuition, a direct expression of the vision, of the experience, of
\nknowledge by identity. <\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/span><\/p>\n

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

 <\/span><\/p>\n

There are
\nmany stages in this transformation and the first are like a kind of mental
\nimitation of the movement. The whole process of analysis, reasoning, deduction
\nand formulation of conclusions occurs almost spontaneously in a mental
\nbackground and gives us the result which seems to us an intuition but which is
\nstill the result of all that work which was carried out very swiftly and, as I
\nsaid, in a sort of background of which we are <\/span><\/p>\n

\nPage \u2013 400<\/font><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n
\n

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

not fully conscious, so that we see
\nthe starting-point and the result without following the whole process in
\ndetail, the whole development of the mental activity. People who have a very
\nquick mind and can grasp things very fast, people whose mental activity is
\nextremely swift, immediate, can give the impression that they have intuition
\nbut this is only an outer form and almost an imitation of true intuition.
\nIntuition is already a direct vision, something that dispenses with reasoning
\nand deduction. Through intuition there is already an expression of direct
\nknowledge. <\/span><\/p>\n

But before
\nreaching this stage, all the experiences one has must pass through the ordinary
\nmental method of observation, analysis and deduction in order to reach the
\nouter consciousness. The very essence of the experience fades away and there
\nremains only a sort of very dry husk which has lost all its power of
\nrealisation \u2013 almost, almost lost it. <\/span><\/p>\n

But those
\nwhose intellectual activity is very dominant find it almost absolutely
\nnecessary to catch hold of everything, all inner experiences, and to begin to
\nformulate them. If, in addition, they have a power of expression, they try to
\nformulate them in words and sentences; and when one has lived these experiences
\nand becomes aware of the descending curve, one sees at each stage the deep
\nreality of the experience withdrawing, fading into the background, instead of
\nbeing in the forefront and commanding the whole being; it retreats slowly like
\nthis (gesture), and outside there remains only something\u2026which is a kind of dry
\nand cold imitation. It may be expressed in very enthusiastic words, but in
\ncomparison with what the thing itself was, in itself, in its deep truth, it is
\nso shrivelled<\/span> up, diminished.\u2026All the true joy, the
\ntrue beauty, the inner enthusiasm, that wonderful warmth of the experience \u2013
\nall this retreats far behind. You try to keep a hold on it, but it eludes you.
\nAnd you pay dearly for this power of formulation. <\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

Mother,
\nin our life here, what do we mean by the \u201cdevelopment of the mind\u201d? And how is
\nit useful? <\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

\nPage \u2013 401<\/font><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n
\n

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

I believe I have already explained
\nthis to you once. I think I have even explained it in detail in the articles on
\neducation. It is quite similar to the results of physical education for the
\nbody. <\/span><\/p>\n

We have
\nlimbs and muscles and nerves, indeed everything that constitutes the body; if
\nwe don\u2019t give them a special development, a special education, all these things
\ndo what they can to express the Power in the body, but it is a very clumsy and
\nvery incomplete expression. It is beyond question that a physical body which
\nhas been trained according to the most complete and rational methods of
\nphysical culture is capable of things it could never do otherwise. I think no
\none can deny that. Well, for the mind it is the same thing. You have a mental
\ninstrument with many possibilities, faculties, but they are latent and need a
\nspecial education, a special training so that they can express the Light. It is
\ncertain that in ordinary life the brain is the seat of the outer expression of
\nthe mental consciousness; well, if this brain is not developed, if it is crude,
\nthere are innumerable things which cannot be expressed, because they do not
\nhave the instrument required to express themselves. It would be like a musical
\ninstrument with most of its notes missing, and that produces a rough
\napproximation but not something precise. <\/span><\/p>\n

Mental
\nculture, intellectual education changes the constitution of your brain,
\nenlarges it considerably, and as a result the expression becomes more complete
\nand more precise. <\/span><\/p>\n

It is not
\nnecessary if you want to escape from life and go into inexpressible heights,
\nbut it is indispensable if you want to express your experience in outer life. <\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/span><\/p>\n

Mother,
\nyou said that if one develops these faculties of analysis, deduction and all
\nthat too much, they become obstacles to spiritual experiences, no? <\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

 <\/span><\/p>\n

If they are not controlled,
\nmastered, yes. But not necessarily. Not necessarily. It might make the control
\na little more difficult, for naturally it is more difficult to master an individualised<\/span> being <\/span><\/p>\n

\nPage \u2013 402<\/font><\/span><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n
\n

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

than a crude one \u2013 with a completer
\nindividualisation the ego becomes more crystallised<\/span>
\nand also self-satisfied, doesn\u2019t it?\u2026But granting that this difficulty has been
\novercome, well, in a highly developed individuality the result is infinitely superior
\nto the one obtained in a crude and uneducated nature. I am not saying that the
\nprocess of transformation or rather of consecration is not more difficult but
\nonce it is achieved the result is far superior. <\/span><\/p>\n

This may
\nvery well be compared with musical instruments, one of which has a certain
\nnumber of notes and the other ten times as many. Well, it is perhaps easier to
\nplay an instrument of four or five notes but the music that could be played on
\na complete keyboard is obviously far superior! <\/span><\/p>\n

One could
\neven compare this to an orchestra much more than to a simple instrument. A
\nhuman being, a fully developed human individuality is very much like one of
\nthose stupendous orchestras which has hundreds and hundreds of players. It is
\nobviously very difficult to control and conduct them but the result can be
\nmarvellous.
\n <\/span><\/p>\n

\nPage \u2013 403<\/font><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n
\n

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


\n
\n24 September 1958<\/font><\/a><\/span><\/b>
\n<\/a> <\/span><\/b><\/p>\n

 <\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

\u201cOur
\nthinking mind is concerned mainly with the statement of general spiritual
\ntruth, the logic of its absolute and the logic of its relativities, how they stand
\nto each other or lead to each other, and what are the mental consequences of
\nthe spiritual theorem of existence.\u2026<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

\u201cThe
\nmeans by which this need [of intellectual understanding] can be satisfied and
\nwith which our nature of mind has provided us is philosophy, and in this field
\nit must be a spiritual philosophy. Such systems have arisen in numbers in the
\nEast; for almost always, wherever there has been a considerable spiritual
\ndevelopment, there has arisen from it a\u00a0\u00a0
\n<\/span>philosophy justifying it to the intellect. The method was at first an
\nintuitive seeing and an intuitive expression, as in the fathomless thought and
\nprofound language of the Upanishads, but afterwards there was developed a
\ncritical method, a firm system of dialectics, a logical organisation. The later
\nphilosophies were an intellectual account\u00b9 or a logical justification of what
\nhad been found by inner realisation; or they provided themselves with a mental
\nground or a systematised method for realisation and experience.\u00b2 In the West
\nwhere the syncretic<\/span> tendency of the consciousness was
\nreplaced by the analytic and separative, the spiritual urge and the
\nintellectual reason parted company almost at the outset; philosophy took from the first a turn towards a purely intellectual
\nand ratiocinative explanation of things. Nevertheless, there were systems like
\nthe Pythagorean, Stoic, and Epicurean, which were dynamic not only for thought
\nbut for conduct of life and<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

 <\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

\n
\n\u00b9
\nE.g., the Gita.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 <\/span>\u00b2 E.g., the Yoga
\nphilosophy of Patanjali.<\/font><\/span> <\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

\nPage -404<\/font><\/span><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n
\n

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

developed
\na discipline, an effort at inner perfection of the being; this reached a higher
\nspiritual plane of knowledge in later Christian or Neo-pagan thought-structures
\nwhere East and West met together. But later on the intellectualisation<\/span>
\nbecame complete and the connection of philosophy with life and its energies or
\nspirit and its dynamism was either cut or confined to the little that the
\nmetaphysical idea can impress on life and action by an abstract and secondary
\ninfluence. Religion has supported itself in the West not by philosophy but by a
\ncredal<\/span> theology; sometimes a spiritual philosophy
\nemerges by sheer force of individual genius, but it has not been as in the East
\na necessary adjunct to every considerable line of spiritual experience and
\nendeavour. It is true that a philosophic development of spiritual thought is
\nnot entirely indispensable; for the truths of spirit can be reached more
\ndirectly and completely by intuition and by a concrete inner contact. It must
\nalso be said that the critical control of the intellect over spiritual
\nexperience can be hampering and unreliable, for it is an inferior light turned
\nupon a field of higher illumination; the true controlling power is an inner discrimination,
\na psychic sense and tact, a superior intervention of guidance from above or an
\ninnate and luminous inner guidance. But still this line of development too is
\nnecessary, because there must be a bridge between the spirit and the
\nintellectual reason: the light of a spiritual or at least a spiritualised
\nintelligence is necessary for the fullness of our total inner evolution, and
\nwithout it, if another deeper guidance is lacking, the inner movement may be
\nerratic and undisciplined, turbid and mixed with unspiritual elements or
\none-sided or incomplete in its catholicity. For the transformation of the
\nIgnorance into the integral Knowledge the growth in <\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

\nPage \u2013 <\/i>405<\/font><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n
\n

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

\u00a0<\/span>us of a spiritual intelligence ready to
\nreceive a higher light and canalise<\/span> it for all the parts
\nof our nature is an intermediate necessity of great importance.\u201d <\/span><\/i><\/p>\n


\n\u00a0<\/font><\/span>The Life Divine, pp. 878-80<\/font> <\/font><\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

There\u2019s enough matter here to ask
\nme at least a dozen questions! (To a
\nchild)<\/i> So, the first of the twelve? <\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/span><\/p>\n

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

 <\/span><\/p>\n

I have a question
\nhere, but it is a verbal question, which means that it is not very interesting.
\nIt is a phrase from the beginning of the passage: What is the meaning of \u201cthe
\nmental consequences of the spiritual theorem of existence\u201d? <\/span><\/p>\n

It is
\nprobably from someone who doesn\u2019t know what \u201ctheorem\u201d means! <\/span><\/p>\n

A theorem
\nis the statement of a truth which has been arrived at through reasoning. The
\nword is used quite concretely in mathematics and all the external sciences.
\nFrom the philosophical point of view it is the same thing. In the present
\ninstance, the spiritual theorem of existence may be stated in this way: the
\nAbsolute in the relativities or Oneness in multiplicity. But to explain \u201cthe
\nmental consequences\u201d, we must go into philosophy and I believe you are rather
\nunprepared for that. And to really understand what it means, one feels that
\nphilosophy is always skirting the truth, like a tangent that draws closer and
\ncloser but never touches \u2013 that there is something that escapes. And this
\nsomething is in truth everything. <\/span><\/p>\n

To
\nunderstand these things\u2026there is only experience \u2013 to live this truth, not to
\nfeel it in the way the ordinary senses do but to realise within oneself the
\ntruth, the concrete existence of both states, simultaneously, existing together
\neven while they are opposite conditions. All words can lead only to confusion;
\nonly experience gives the tangible reality of the thing: the simultaneous
\nexistence of the Absolute and the relativities, of Oneness<\/span> <\/font><\/span><\/p>\n

\nPage \u2013 406<\/font><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n
\n

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

and multiplicity, not as two states
\nfollowing each other and one resulting from the other, but as a state which can
\nbe perceived in two opposite ways depending on\u2026the position one takes in
\nrelation to the Reality. <\/span><\/p>\n

Words in
\nthemselves falsify the experience. To speak in words one must take not a step backwards
\nbut a step downwards, and the essential truth escapes. One must use them simply
\nas a more or less accessible path to reach the thing] itself which cannot be
\nformulated. And from this point of view no formulation is better than any
\nother; the best of all is the one that helps each one to remember, that is, the
\nway in which the intervention of the Grace has crystallised<\/span>
\nin the thought. <\/span><\/p>\n

Probably
\nno two ways are identical, everyone must find his own. But one must not be
\nmistaken, it is not \u201cfinding\u201d by reasoning, it is \u201cfinding\u201d by aspiration; it
\nis not by study and analysis, but by the intensity of the aspiration and the
\nsincerity of the inner opening. <\/span><\/p>\n

When one
\nis truly and exclusively turned to the spiritual Truth, whatever name may be
\ngiven to it, when all the rest becomes secondary, when that alone is imperative
\nand inevitable, then, one single moment <\/i>of intense, absolute, total
\nconcentration is enough to receive the answer. <\/span><\/p>\n

The
\nexperience comes first, in this case, and it is only later, as a consequence
\nand a memory that the formulation becomes clear. In this way one is sure not to
\nmake a mistake. The formulation may be more or less exact, that is of no
\nimportance, so long as one doesn\u2019t make a dogma out of it. <\/span><\/p>\n

It is good
\nfor you, that is all that is needed. If you want to impose it on others,
\nwhatever it may be, even if it is perfect in itself, it becomes false. <\/span><\/p>\n

That is
\nwhy religions are always mistaken \u2013 always \u2013 because they want to standardise<\/span> the expression of an experience and impose it
\non everyone as an irrefutable truth. The experience was true, complete in
\nitself, convincing \u2013 for the one who had it. The formulation he made of it was
\nexcellent \u2013 for him- <\/span><\/p>\n

\nPage \u2013 407<\/font><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n
\n

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

self. But to want to impose it on others
\nis a fundamental error which has altogether disastrous consequences, always,
\nwhich always leads far, very far from the Truth. <\/span><\/p>\n

That is
\nwhy all the religions, however beautiful they may be, have always led man to
\nthe worst excesses. All the crimes, the horrors perpetrated in the name of
\nreligion are among the darkest stains on human history, and simply because of
\nthis little initial error: wanting what is true for one individual to be true
\nfor the mass or collectivity.
\n <\/span><\/p>\n

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

 <\/span><\/p>\n

The path
\nmust be shown and the doors opened but everyone must follow<\/i> the path, pass
\nthrough the doors and go towards his personal realisation. <\/span><\/p>\n

The only
\nhelp one can and should receive is that of the Grace which formulates itself in
\neveryone according to his own need. <\/span><\/p>\n

\nPage \u2013 408<\/font><\/span><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n
\n

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

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

3 September 1958   Sweet Mother, the other day you told me that it was necessary to learn how to discipline the imagination.   Yes….<\/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-4270","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\/4270","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=4270"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/worksofthemotherandsriaurobindo.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4270\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/worksofthemotherandsriaurobindo.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4270"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/worksofthemotherandsriaurobindo.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4270"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/worksofthemotherandsriaurobindo.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4270"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}