{"id":4285,"date":"2013-07-13T01:54:52","date_gmt":"2013-07-13T01:54:52","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/localhost\/?p=4285"},"modified":"2013-07-13T01:54:52","modified_gmt":"2013-07-13T01:54:52","slug":"16-series-eight-vol-16-some-answers-from-the-mother-volume-16","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/worksofthemotherandsriaurobindo.org\/index.php\/02-works-of-the-mother\/01-cwmce\/16-some-answers-from-the-mother-volume-16\/16-series-eight-vol-16-some-answers-from-the-mother-volume-16","title":{"rendered":"-16_Series Eight.htm"},"content":{"rendered":"\n\n
\n
\n

\nSERIES EIGHT<\/font><\/span> <\/span><\/p>\n


\n\u00a0<\/font><\/span>Series Eight
\n<\/font> <\/span><\/i><\/b><\/p>\n

 <\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/span>To a young captain in the
\nSri Aurobindo Ashram Department of Physical Education. <\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

 <\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

Sweet Mother, <\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

\n   
\n<\/span><\/i><\/font>
\nWhat
\nis the difference between the psychic change and the spiritual change? <\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

 <\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/span>The psychic change is the change that puts you
\nin contact with the immanent Divine, the Divine who is at the centre of each
\nbeing and of whom the psychic being is the sheath and the expression. By the
\npsychic change one passes from the individual Divine to the universal Divine
\nand finally to the Transcendent. <\/span><\/p>\n


\n    <\/span><\/font>
\nThe spiritual change puts
\nyou directly in contact with the Supreme. <\/span> <\/span><\/i><\/p>\n


\n\u00a0<\/span><\/i>9
\n September 1959<\/span><\/i> <\/span><\/i>\u00a0<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

Sweet Mother, <\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

\n   
\n<\/span><\/i><\/font>
\nHow can one make one’s psychic personality
\ngrow? <\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

 <\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/span>It is through all the experiences of life that
\nthe psychic personality forms, grows, develops and finally becomes a complete,
\nconscious and free being. <\/span><\/p>\n


\n    <\/span><\/font>
\nThis process of development
\ngoes on tirelessly through innumerable lives, and if one is not conscious of
\nit, it is because one is not conscious of one’s psychic being for that is the
\nindispensable starting-point. Through interiorisation and concentration one has
\nto enter into conscious contact with one’s psychic being. This psychic being
\nalways has an influence on the outer being, but that influence is almost always
\noccult, neither seen nor perceived nor felt, save on truly exceptional
\noccasions. <\/span><\/p>\n

\nPage \u2013 223<\/span><\/p>\n

\n


\n    <\/span><\/font>
\nIn order to strengthen the contact and aid, if possible, the
\ndevelopment of the conscious psychic personality, one should, while
\nconcentrating, turn towards it, aspire to know it and feel it, open oneself to
\nreceive its influence, and take great care, each time that one receives an
\nindication from it, to follow it very scrupulously and sincerely. To live in a
\ngreat aspiration, to take care to become inwardly calm and remain so always as
\nfar as possible, to cultivate a perfect sincerity in all the activities of
\none’s being these are the essential conditions for the growth of the psychic
\nbeing. <\/span> <\/span><\/i><\/p>\n


\n\u00a0<\/span><\/i>10
\n September 1959<\/span><\/i> <\/span><\/i>\u00a0<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

Sweet Mother, <\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

\n   
\n<\/span><\/i><\/font>
\nHow can one draw energy into oneself from outside?
\n<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

 <\/span><\/p>\n

That depends
\non the kind of energy one wants to absorb, for each region of the being has a
\ncorresponding kind of energy. If it is physical energy, we absorb it
\nprincipally through respiration, and all that facilitates and improves
\nrespiration increases at the same time the absorption of physical energy. <\/span><\/p>\n


\n    <\/span><\/font>
\nBut there are many other
\nkinds of energies, or rather many other forms of Energy, which is one and
\nuniversal. <\/span><\/p>\n


\n    <\/span><\/font>
\nAnd it is through the
\nvarious yogic exercises of breathing, meditation, japa<\/i> and concentration that one puts oneself in contact with these
\nvarious forms of Energy. <\/span> <\/span><\/i><\/p>\n


\n\u00a0<\/span><\/i>10
\n September 1959<\/span><\/i> <\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

Sweet Mother, <\/span><\/p>\n

\n   
\n<\/span><\/font>
\nWhat are these other forms
\nof Energy and how do they help us in our sadhana? <\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/span>Each region of the being and each activity has
\nits energies. We may classify them generally into vital energies, mental
\nenergies,  <\/span><\/p>\n

\nPage \u2013 224<\/span><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n
\n

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

spiritual
\nenergies. Modern science tells us that Matter is ultimately nothing but energy
\ncondensed. <\/span><\/p>\n

\nOur yoga being integral, all these various
\nforms or kinds of energy are indispensable to our realisation.  <\/span><\/p>\n


\n\u00a0<\/span><\/i>12
\n September 1959<\/span><\/i> <\/span><\/i>\u00a0<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

Sweet Mother, <\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

\n   
\n<\/span><\/i><\/font>
\nWhat is meant by \u201ca subtle physical
\nprolongation of the superficial form of the mental envelope\u201d?<\/span>\u00b9<\/span> <\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

 <\/span><\/p>\n

It means
\nthat the ghost one sees and wrongly takes for the departed being itself, is
\nonly an image of it, an imprint (like a photographic imprint) left in the
\nsubtle physical by the superficial mental form, an image that can become
\nvisible under certain conditions. These images can move about (like cinema
\nimages), but they have no substantial reality. It is the fear or emotion of
\nthose who see these images that sometimes gives them the appearance of a power
\nor an action they do not possess in themselves. Hence the necessity of never
\nbeing afraid and of recognising them for what they area deceptive appearance. <\/span> <\/span><\/i><\/p>\n


\n\u00a0<\/span><\/i>14
\n September 1959<\/span><\/i> <\/span><\/i>\u00a0<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

Sweet Mother, <\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

\n   
\n<\/span><\/i><\/font>
\nHow can one silence the mind, remain quiet,
\nand at the same time have an aspiration, an intensity or a widening? Because as
\nsoon as one aspires, isn’t it the mind that aspires? <\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

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

No;
\naspiration, as well as widening and intensity, comes from the heart, the
\nemotional centre, the door of the psychic or rather the door leading to the
\npsychic. <\/span><\/p>\n


\n    <\/span><\/font>
\n\u00a0<\/span>The mind by its nature is
\ncurious and interested; it sees, it <\/span>observes,
\n <\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/span><\/p>\n

\n
\n    <\/span><\/font>
\n\u00b9<\/font><\/span>Sri Aurobindo, The Life Divine.
\n<\/font> <\/span>
\n
\n <\/font> <\/font><\/span><\/p>\n

\nPage \u2013 225<\/span><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n
\n

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

\nit
\ntries to understand and explain; and with all this activity, it disturbs the
\nexperience and diminishes its intensity and force. <\/span><\/p>\n


\n    <\/span><\/font>
\nOn the other hand, the more
\nquiet and silent the mind is, the more can aspiration rise up from the depths
\nof the heart in the fullness of its ardour. <\/span> <\/span><\/i><\/p>\n


\n\u00a0<\/span><\/i>17
\n September 1959<\/span><\/i> <\/span><\/i>\u00a0<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

Sweet Mother, <\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

\n   
\n<\/span><\/i><\/font>
\nHow can one eliminate the will of the ego? <\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

 <\/span><\/p>\n

This amounts
\nto asking how one can eliminate the ego. It is only by yoga that one can do it.
\nThere have been, throughout the spiritual history of humanity, many methods of
\nyoga which Sri Aurobindo has described and explained for us in The Synthesis of
\nYoga. <\/span><\/p>\n


\n    <\/span><\/font>
\nBut before eliminating the
\nwill of the ego, which takes a very long time, one can begin by surrendering the
\nwill of the ego to the Divine Will at every opportunity and finally in a
\nconstant way. For this, the first step is to understand that the Divine knows
\nbetter than we what is good for us and what we truly need, not only for our
\nspiritual progress but also for our material well-being, the health of our body
\nand the proper functioning of all the activities of our being. <\/span><\/p>\n


\n    <\/span><\/font>
\nNaturally, this is not the
\nopinion of the ego, which thinks it knows better than anyone else what it
\nneeds, and claims for itself independence of judgment and decision. But it
\nthinks and feels this way because it is ignorant, and gradually one has to
\nconvince it that its perception and understanding are too limited for it truly
\nto be able to know and that it judges only according to its desires, which are
\nblind, and not according to truth. <\/span><\/p>\n


\n    <\/span><\/font>
\nFor the desires are not the
\nexpression of needs but of preferences. <\/span> <\/span><\/i><\/p>\n


\n\u00a0<\/span><\/i>19
\n September 1959<\/span><\/i> <\/span><\/p>\n

\nPage \u2013 226<\/span> <\/span> <\/p>\n

<\/p>\n
\n

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

Sweet Mother, <\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

\n   
\n<\/span><\/i><\/font>
\nWhy has the Divine made His path so difficult?
\nHe can make it easier if He wants, can’t He? <\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

 <\/span><\/p>\n

First of
\nall, one should know that the intellect, the mind, can understand nothing of
\nthe Divine, neither what He does nor how He does it and still less why He does
\nit. To know something of the Divine, one has to rise above thought and enter
\ninto the psychic consciousness, the consciousness of the soul, or into the
\nspiritual consciousness. <\/span><\/p>\n


\n    <\/span><\/font>
\nThose who have had the
\nexperience have always said that the difficulties and sufferings of the path
\nare not real, but a creation of human ignorance, and that as soon as one gets
\nout of this ignorance one also gets out of the difficulties, to say nothing of
\nthe inalienable state of bliss in which one dwells as soon as one is in
\nconscious contact with the Divine. <\/span><\/p>\n


\n    <\/span><\/font>
\nSo according to them, the
\nquestion has no real basis and cannot be posed. <\/span> <\/span><\/i><\/p>\n


\n\u00a0<\/span><\/i>21
\n September 1959<\/span><\/i> <\/span><\/i>\u00a0<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

Sweet Mother, <\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

\n   
\n<\/span><\/i><\/font>
\nYou have written that to enter into conscious
\ncontact with one’s psychic being, one must \u201caspire to know it and feel it, open
\noneself to receive its influence, and take great care to follow it very
\nscrupulously and sincerely\u201d. But, Sweet Mother, I don’t know how to do this. I
\nfind it easier when I think of you, try to enter into contact with you and open
\nto you. <\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

 <\/span><\/p>\n

This too is
\na way which is certainly as good as the other. <\/span><\/p>\n


\n    <\/span><\/font>
\nThere are many ways to
\nattain self-realisation, and each one must choose the way that comes to him
\nmost naturally. <\/span><\/p>\n


\n    <\/span><\/font>
\nBut each way has its
\ndemands in order to be truly effective. <\/span><\/p>\n


\n    <\/span><\/font>
\nIn thinking of me, you must
\nthink not only of the outer person. but of what she represents, what stands
\nbehind her. For <\/span> <\/span><\/p>\n

\nPage \u2013 227<\/span><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n
\n

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

you must
\nnever forget that the outer person is only the form and symbol of an eternal
\nReality, and through the physical appearance, it is to this higher Reality that
\nyou must turn. The physical being cannot become truly expressive of the eternal
\nReality until it is completely transformed by the supramental manifestation.
\nAnd until then, it is through it that you must find the Truth. <\/span> <\/span><\/i><\/p>\n


\n\u00a0<\/span><\/i>22
\n September 1959<\/span><\/i> <\/span><\/i>\u00a0<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

Sweet Mother, <\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

\n   
\n<\/span><\/i><\/font>
\nIs it possible to have control over oneself
\nduring sleep? For example, if I want to see you in my dreams, can I do it at
\nwill? <\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

 <\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/span>Control during sleep is entirely possible and
\nit is progressive if you persist in the effort. You begin by remembering your
\ndreams, then gradually you remain more and more conscious during your sleep,
\nand not only can you control your dreams but you can guide and organise your
\nactivities during sleep. <\/span><\/p>\n


\n    <\/span><\/font>
\nIf you persist in your will
\nand your effort, you are sure to learn how to come and find me at night during
\nyour sleep and afterwards to remember what has happened. <\/span><\/p>\n


\n    <\/span><\/font>
\nFor this, two things are
\nnecessary, which you must develop by aspiration and by calm and persistent
\neffort. <\/span><\/p>\n

\n(1)<\/span>  
\n<\/font> <\/span>
\nConcentrate your thought on the will to come and find me; then
\npursue this thought, first by an effort of<\/span><\/p>\n

\nimagination, afterwards in a
\ntangible and increasingly real way, until you are in my presence.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/span>(2) Establish a sort of
\nbridge between the waking and the sleeping consciousness, so that when you wake
\nup you remember what has happened.<\/span><\/p>\n

\nIt may be that you succeed
\nimmediately, but more often it takes a certain time and you must persist in the
\neffort.  <\/span><\/p>\n


\n\u00a0<\/span><\/i>25
\n September 1959<\/span><\/i> <\/span><\/i>
\n <\/span><\/p>\n

\nPage \u2013 228<\/span><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n
\n

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

Sweet Mother, <\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

\n   
\n<\/span><\/i><\/font>
\nWhat is the role of the soul? <\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

 <\/span><\/p>\n

But without
\nthe soul we wouldn’t exist! <\/span><\/p>\n


\n    <\/span><\/font>
\nThe soul is that which
\ncomes from the Divine without ever leaving Him, and returns to the Divine
\nwithout ceasing to be manifest. <\/span><\/p>\n


\n    <\/span><\/font>
\nThe soul is the Divine made
\nindividual without ceasing to be divine. <\/span><\/p>\n


\n    <\/span><\/font>
\n\u00a0<\/span>In the soul the individual
\nand the Divine are eternally one; therefore, to find one’s soul is to find God;
\nto identify with one’s soul is to unite with the Divine. <\/span><\/p>\n


\n    <\/span><\/font>
\n\u00a0<\/span>Thus it may be said that
\nthe role of the soul is to make a true being of man. <\/span> <\/span><\/i><\/p>\n


\n\u00a0<\/span><\/i>29
\n September 1959<\/span><\/i> <\/span><\/i>\u00a0<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

Sweet Mother, <\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

\n   
\n<\/span><\/i><\/font>
\nIs there anything like good luck and bad luck,
\nor is it something that one creates for oneself? <\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

 <\/span><\/p>\n

\nThere is nothing that can truly be called
\nluck. What men call luck are the effects of causes they do not know. <\/span><\/p>\n

\n   
\n<\/span><\/font>
\nNor is there anything that
\nin itself is good or bad luck; each one characterises circumstances as good or
\nbad depending on whether they are more or less favourable to him; and this
\nestimation itself is very superficial and ignorant, for one must already be a
\ngreat sage to know what is truly favourable or unfavourable to oneself. <\/span><\/p>\n

\n   
\n<\/span><\/font>
\nMoreover, the same event
\nmay be very good for one person and at the same time very bad for another.
\nThese estimations are purely subjective and depend on each one’s reaction to
\ncontacts coming from outside. <\/span><\/p>\n

\n   
\n<\/span><\/font>
\nFinally, the circumstances
\nof our life, the surroundings in which we live and the way in which people
\nregard us are the <\/span> <\/span><\/p>\n

\nPage \u2013 229<\/span><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n
\n

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

expression,
\nthe objective projection of what we ourselves are, within and without. So we
\nmay say with certainty that what we carry in ourselves in all our states of
\nbeing, mentally, vitally and physically, is that which constitutes our life
\nobjectified in what surrounds us. <\/span><\/p>\n


\n    <\/span><\/font>
\nAnd this is easily
\nverifiable, for in proportion as we improve ourselves and advance towards
\nperfection, our circumstances also improve. <\/span><\/p>\n


\n    <\/span><\/font>
\n\u00a0<\/span>Likewise, in the case of
\nthose who degenerate and fall back, the circumstances of their lives also
\nworsen. <\/span> <\/span><\/i><\/p>\n


\n\u00a0<\/span><\/i>5
\n October 1959<\/span><\/i> <\/span><\/i>\u00a0<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

Sweet Mother, <\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

\n   
\n<\/span><\/i><\/font>
\nWhat do you give us in the morning at the
\nbalcony,<\/span>\u00b9<\/span> and what should we try to do in order to receive what you are
\ngiving? <\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

 <\/span><\/p>\n

Every
\nmorning at the balcony, after establishing a conscious contact with each of
\nthose who are present, I identify myself with the Supreme Lord and dissolve
\nmyself completely in Him. Then my body, completely passive, is nothing but a
\nchannel through which the Lord passes His forces freely and pours upon all His
\nLight, His Consciousness and His Joy, according to each one’s receptivity. <\/span><\/p>\n


\n    <\/span><\/font>
\nThe best way to receive
\nwhat He gives is to come to the balcony with trust and aspiration and to keep
\noneself as calm and quiet as one can in a
\nsilent and passive state of expectation.<\/i> If one has something precise to
\nask, it is better to ask it beforehand, not while I am there, because any
\nactivity lessens the receptivity.<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/span><\/i><\/p>\n


\n\u00a0<\/span><\/i>12
\n October 1959<\/span><\/i> <\/span><\/i> <\/span><\/p>\n

\n
\n   <\/font> <\/font>
\n<\/span>
\n\u00b9<\/font><\/span>During this period the Mother stood for a
\nwhile every morning on a balcony facing the street and gazed at the sadhaks
\nassembled below.<\/font><\/span> <\/font><\/span><\/p>\n

\nPage \u2013 230<\/span><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n
\n

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

Sweet Mother, <\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

\n   
\n<\/span><\/i><\/font>
\nWhat is meant by the \u201csilence of the physical
\nconsciousness\u201d<\/span>\u00b9<\/span> and how can one remain in this silence? <\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

 <\/span><\/p>\n

The physical
\nconsciousness is not only the consciousness of our body, but of all that
\nsurrounds us as well all that we perceive with our senses. It is a sort of
\napparatus for recording and transmission which is open to all the contacts and
\nshocks coming from outside and responds to them by reactions of pleasure and
\npain which welcome or repel. This makes in our outer being a constant activity
\nand noise that we are only partially aware of, because we are so accustomed to
\nthem. <\/span><\/p>\n


\n    <\/span><\/font>
\nBut if through meditation
\nor concentration we turn inward or upward, we can bring down into ourselves or
\nraise up from the depths calm, quiet, peace and finally silence. It is a
\nconcrete, positive silence (not the negative silence of the absence of noise),
\nimmutable so long as it remains, a silence one can experience even in the outer
\ntumult of a hurricane or battlefield. This silence is synonymous with peace and
\nit is all-powerful; it is the perfectly effective remedy for the fatigue,
\ntension and exhaustion arising from that internal over-activity and noise which
\ngenerally escape our control and cease neither by day nor night.<\/span><\/p>\n


\n    <\/span><\/font>
\n\u00a0<\/span>This is why the first thing
\nrequired when one wants to do Yoga is to bring down and establish in oneself
\nthe calm, the peace, the silence. <\/span> <\/span><\/i><\/p>\n


\n\u00a0<\/span><\/i>15
\n October 1959<\/span><\/i> <\/span><\/i>\u00a0<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

Sweet Mother, <\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

\n   
\n<\/span><\/i><\/font>
\nHow can one enter into the feelings of a piece
\nof music played by someone else? <\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

 <\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/span>In the same way that one can share the
\nemotions of another
\n <\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/span><\/p>\n

\n
\n <\/font>   <\/font>
\n<\/span>
\n\u00b9<\/font><\/span> <\/font> <\/span>\u00a0<\/font><\/span>Sri Aurobindo, The Life Divine.<\/font><\/span> <\/font><\/span><\/p>\n

\nPage \u2013 231<\/span><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n
\n

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

person by
\nsympathy, spontaneously, by an affinity more or less deep, or else by an effort
\nof concentration which ends in identification. It is this latter process that
\nwe adopt when we listen to music with an intense and concentrated attention, to
\nthe point of stopping all other noise in the head and obtaining a complete
\nsilence into which fall, drop by drop, the notes of the music whose sound alone
\nremains; and with the sound all the feelings, all the movements of emotion can
\nbe captured, experienced, re-felt as if they were produced in ourselves. <\/span> <\/span><\/i><\/p>\n


\n\u00a0<\/span><\/i>20
\n October 1959<\/span><\/i> <\/span><\/i>\u00a0<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

Sweet Mother, <\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

\n   
\n<\/span><\/i><\/font>
\nHow can one distinguish between good and evil
\nin a dream? <\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

 <\/span><\/p>\n

In
\nprinciple, to judge the activities of sleep one needs the same capacity of
\ndiscrimination as to judge the waking activities. <\/span><\/p>\n


\n    <\/span><\/font>
\nBut since we usually give
\nthe name \u201cdream\u201d to a considerable number of activities that differ completely
\nfrom one another, the first point is to learn to distinguish between these
\nvarious activities that is, to recognise what part of the being it is that
\n\u201cdreams\u201d, what domain it is that one \u201cdreams\u201d in, and what the nature of that
\nactivity is. In his letters, Sri Aurobindo has given very complete and detailed
\ndescriptions and explanations of all the activities of sleep. Reading these
\nletters is a good introduction to the study of this subject and to its
\npractical application . <\/span> <\/span><\/i><\/p>\n


\n\u00a0<\/span><\/i>2
\n November 1959<\/span><\/i> <\/span><\/i>\u00a0<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

Sweet Mother, <\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

\n   
\n<\/span><\/i><\/font>
\nHow should we read your books and the books of
\nSri Aurobindo so that they may enter into our consciousness instead of being
\nunderstood only by the mind? <\/span><\/i> <\/span><\/p>\n

\nPage \u2013 232<\/span><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n
\n

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

To read my
\nbooks is not difficult because they are written in the simplest language,
\nalmost the spoken language. To get help from them, it is enough to read with
\nattention and concentration and an attitude of inner good-will, with a desire
\nto receive and live what <\/span><\/p>\n


\n    <\/span><\/font>
\nTo read what Sri Aurobindo
\nwrites is more difficult because the expression is highly intellectual and the
\nlanguage far more literary and philosophic. The brain needs a preparation to
\nreally be able to understand and generally this preparation takes time, unless
\none is specially gifted with an innate intuitive faculty. <\/span><\/p>\n


\n    <\/span><\/font>
\nIn any case, I always
\nadvise reading a little<\/i> at a time,
\nkeeping the mind as quiet as one can, without making an effort to understand,
\nbut keeping the head as silent as possible and letting the force <\/i>contained in what one reads enter deep inside<\/i>. This force, received in calm and silence, will
\ndo its work of illumining and will create in the brain, if necessary, the cells
\nrequired for understanding. Thus, when one re-reads the same thing some months
\nlater, one finds that the thought expressed has become much clearer and closer
\nand even at times quite familiar. <\/span><\/p>\n


\n    <\/span><\/font>
\nIt is preferable to read
\nregularly, a little every day and at a fixed hour if possible; this facilitates
\nthe brain’s receptivity. <\/span> <\/span><\/i><\/p>\n


\n\u00a0<\/span><\/i>2
\n November 1959<\/span><\/i>\u00a0<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

Sweet Mother, <\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

\n   
\n<\/span><\/i><\/font>
\nWhy does meditation in front of different
\nphotos of you give different experiences? <\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

 <\/span><\/p>\n

It is
\nbecause each photo represents a different aspect, sometimes even a different
\npersonality of my being; and by concentrating on the photo, one enters into
\nrelation with that special aspect or different personality which the photo has
\ncaptured and whose image it conveys. <\/span><\/p>\n


\n    <\/span><\/font>
\nThe photo is a real and
\nconcrete presence, but fragmentary and limited. <\/span><\/p>\n


\n\u00a0<\/span><\/i>4
\n November 1959<\/span><\/i> <\/span><\/i>
\n
\n  <\/span><\/p>\n

\nPage \u2013 233<\/span><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n
\n

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

Sweet Mother, <\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

\n   
\n<\/span><\/i><\/font>
\nWhy is the photo a fragmentary and limited
\npresence? <\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

 <\/span><\/p>\n

Because the
\nphoto catches only the image of a moment, an instant of a person’s appearance
\nand of what that appearance can reveal of a passing psychological condition and
\nfragmentary soul-state. Even if the photograph is taken under the best possible
\nconditions at an exceptional and particularly expressive moment, it cannot in
\nany way reproduce the whole personality. <\/span> <\/span><\/i><\/p>\n


\n\u00a0<\/span><\/i>5
\n November 1959<\/span><\/i> <\/span><\/i>\u00a0<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

Sweet Mother, <\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

\n   
\n<\/span><\/i><\/font>
\nWhat exactly are the subconscient and the
\ninconscient? <\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

 <\/span><\/p>\n

The
\ninconscient is that part of Nature which is so obscure and asleep that it seems
\nto be wholly devoid of consciousness; at any rate, as in the stone, the mineral
\nkingdom, the consciousness there is entirely inactive and hidden. The history
\nof the earth begins with this inconscience. <\/span><\/p>\n


\n    <\/span><\/font>
\nWe too carry it in
\nourselves, in the substance of our body, since the substance of our body is the
\nsame as that of the earth.     <\/span><\/p>\n


\n    <\/span><\/font>
\nBut by evolution, this
\nsleeping and hidden consciousness gradually awakens through the vegetal and
\nanimal kingdoms, and in them subconscience begins; this subconscience, with the
\nappearance of mind in man, culminates in consciousness. This consciousness
\nlikewise is progressive, and in proportion as man evolves, it will change into
\nsuperconscience. <\/span><\/p>\n


\n    <\/span><\/font>
\nWe too, then, carry in
\nourselves the subconscience which links us to the animal, and the
\nsuperconscience which is our hope and assurance of future realisation. <\/span> <\/span><\/i><\/p>\n


\n\u00a0<\/span><\/i>7
\n November 1959<\/span><\/i> <\/span><\/i>
\n
\n  <\/span><\/p>\n

\nPage \u2013 234<\/span> <\/span> <\/p>\n

\n

\n
\nSweet Mother, <\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

\n   
\n<\/span><\/i><\/font>
\nWhat should one try to do when one meditates
\nwith your music at the Playground? <\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

 <\/span><\/p>\n

This music
\naims at awakening certain profound feelings. <\/span><\/p>\n


\n    <\/span><\/font>
\nIn listening to it, one
\nshould make oneself as silent and passive as possible. And if, in the mental
\nsilence, a part of the being can take the attitude of the witness who observes
\nwithout reacting or participating, then one can notice the effect that the
\nmusic produces on the feelings and emotions; and if it produces a state of deep
\ncalm and semi-trance, that is very good. <\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

15
\n November 1959<\/span><\/i>\u00a0<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

Sweet Mother, <\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

\n   
\n<\/span><\/i><\/font>
\nWhat is the work of the Overmind?<\/span>\u00b9<\/span> <\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

 <\/span><\/p>\n

The overmind
\nis the region of the gods, the beings of divine origin who have been charged
\nwith supervising, directing and organising the evolution of the universe; and
\nmore specifically, since the formation of the earth they have served as
\nmessengers and intermediaries to bring to the earth the aid of the higher
\nregions and to preside over the formation of the mind and its progressive
\nascension. It is usually to the gods of the overmind that the prayers of the
\nvarious religions are addressed. These religions most often choose, for various
\nreasons, one of these gods and transform him for their personal use into the
\nsupreme God. <\/span><\/p>\n


\n    <\/span><\/font>
\nIn the individual
\nevolution, one must develop in oneself a zone corresponding to the overmind and
\nan overmind consciousness, before one can rise above it, to the Supermind, or
\nopen oneself to it. <\/span><\/p>\n


\n    <\/span><\/font>
\nAlmost all the occult
\nsystems and disciplines aim at the <\/span>development
\nand mastery of the overmind.<\/span><\/p>\n


\n\u00a0<\/span><\/i>27
\n November 1959<\/span><\/i> <\/span><\/i>
\n
\n <\/span><\/p>\n

\n
\n  <\/font>
\n
\n  <\/font>
\n<\/span>
\n\u00b9<\/font><\/span> This question and the three that follow
\nare based on terms used by Sri Aurobindo in The Life Divine, especially in its
\nfinal chapters. <\/font><\/span>
\n <\/font><\/span><\/p>\n

\nPage \u2013 235<\/span><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n
\n

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

Sweet Mother, <\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

\n   
\n<\/span><\/i><\/font>
\nWhat is meant by \u201ca zone corresponding to the
\novermind\u201d and how can one develop it in oneself? What is meant by the \u201cmastery
\nof the overmind\u201d? <\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

 <\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

The
\nindividual being is made up of states of being corresponding to cosmic zones or
\nplanes, and it is as these inner states of being are developed that one becomes
\nconscious of those domains. This consciousness is double, at first
\npsychological and subjective, within oneself, expressing itself through
\nthoughts, feelings, emotions, sensations; then objective and concrete when one
\nis able to go beyond the limits of the body in order to move about in the
\nvarious cosmic regions, grow conscious of them and act freely in them\\ is this
\nthat is called \u201cmastery\u201d; it is this that I spoke of when I mentioned the
\nmastery of the overmind.<\/span><\/p>\n


\n    <\/span><\/font>
\nIt goes without saying that
\nall this is not done in a day, nor even in a year. This mastery, in whatever
\ndomain it may be, vital, mental, overmental, demands assiduous effort and a
\ngreat concentration. These masteries are no easier than the mastery of the
\nphysical world; and everyone knows how much time and effort are needed merely
\nto learn the things indispensable for leading one’s life properly, not to speak
\nof \u201cmastery\u201d, which is truly something exceptional on earth. <\/span> <\/span><\/i><\/p>\n


\n\u00a0<\/span><\/i>28
\n November 1959<\/span><\/i> <\/span><\/i>\u00a0<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

Sweet Mother, <\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

\n   
\n<\/span><\/i><\/font>
\nWhat is Supernature? <\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

 <\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/span>Supernature is the Nature superior to material
\nor physical Nature what we usually call \u201cNature\u201d. But this Nature that <\/span>
\n <\/span><\/p>\n

\nPage \u2013 236<\/span><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n
\n

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

we see, feel
\nand study, this Nature that has been our familiar environment since our birth
\nupon earth, is not the only one. There is a vital nature, a mental nature, and so
\non. It is this that, for the ordinary consciousness, is Supernature. <\/span><\/p>\n


\n    <\/span><\/font>
\nVery often the word
\n\u201cNature\u201d is used as a synonym for Prakriti, the executive force of Purusha. But
\nto answer your question more precisely, the context would be needed in order to
\nknow on what occasion Sri Aurobindo spoke about Super\\-nature. <\/span> <\/span><\/i><\/p>\n


\n\u00a0<\/span><\/i>15
\n December 1959<\/span><\/i> <\/span><\/i>\u00a0<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/span>Sweet Mother, <\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

\n   
\n<\/span><\/i><\/font>
\nSri Aurobindo has written in The Life Divine:
\n\u201cThere is as yet no overmind being or organised overmind nature, no supramental
\nbeing or organised supermind nature acting either on our surface or in our
\nnormal subliminal parts.\u201d <\/span>\u00b9<\/span> Sweet Mother, now after the descent of the Supermind,<\/span>\u00b2 <\/span>is it still like that? <\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

 <\/span><\/p>\n

What Sri
\nAurobindo means is that only a few exceptional beings who do not belong to the
\nordinary humanity, have a conscious and organised overmind being and overmind
\nlife, and still fewer are those who have an organised supramental being and
\nsupramental life, even admitting that there are any at all. Certainly the very
\nrecent descent of the first elements of the Supermind into the earth’s
\natmosphere (not yet quite four years ago) cannot have changed this state of
\nthings. <\/span><\/p>\n


\n    <\/span><\/font>
\nWe are still only in a
\nperiod of preparation. <\/span> <\/span><\/i><\/p>\n


\n\u00a0<\/span><\/i>18
\n December 1959<\/span><\/i> <\/span><\/i>
\n
\n  <\/span><\/p>\n

\n
\n   <\/font> <\/font>
\n<\/span>
\n\u00b9<\/font><\/span>Cent. Vol. 19, p. 921.<\/font><\/span><\/p>\n

\n     
\n<\/font> <\/span>
\n\u00b2<\/font><\/span> <\/font> <\/span>
\nOn 29
\nFebruary 1956 there took place, in the Mother’s words, \u201cthe manifestation of
\nthe Supramental upon earth\u201d; \u201cThen the supramental Light and Force and
\nConsciousness rushed down upon earth in an uninterrupted flow.\u201d <\/font><\/span>
\n <\/span><\/p>\n

\nPage \u2013 237<\/span><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n
\n

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

Sweet Mother, <\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

\n   
\n<\/span><\/i><\/font>
\nWhat is meant by the yoga of devotion and the
\nyoga of knowledge? <\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

 <\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/span>The yoga of knowledge is the path that leads
\nto the Divine through the exclusive pursuit of the pure and absolute Truth. <\/span><\/p>\n


\n    <\/span><\/font>
\nThe yoga of devotion is the
\npath that leads to union with the Divine through perfect, total and eternal
\nlove. <\/span><\/p>\n


\n    <\/span><\/font>
\nIn the integral yoga of Sri
\nAurobindo, the two combine with the yoga of works and the yoga of
\nself-perfection to make a homogeneous whole, culminating in the yoga of
\nsupramental realisation. <\/span> <\/span><\/i><\/p>\n


\n\u00a0<\/span><\/i>5
\n February 1960<\/span><\/i> <\/span><\/i>\u00a0<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

Sweet Mother, <\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

\n   
\n<\/span><\/i><\/font>
\nWhat are the \u201csupreme faculties\u201d? <\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

 <\/span><\/p>\n

It is
\ndifficult to reply without having the context. Which \u201csupreme faculties\u201d are
\nbeing referred to here? Those of man on the way to becoming superman, or those
\nthat the supramental being will possess when he appears on earth? <\/span><\/p>\n


\n    <\/span><\/font>
\nIn the first case, they are
\nthe faculties that develop in man as he opens to the higher mind and overmind,
\nand through those regions he receives the light of the Truth. These faculties
\nare not a direct expression of the supreme Truth, but a transcription, an
\nindirect reflection of it. They include intuition, foreknowledge, knowledge by
\nidentity and certain powers such as that of healing and, to an extent, of
\nacting upon circumstances. <\/span><\/p>\n


\n    <\/span><\/font>
\nIf it refers to the supreme
\nfaculties of the supramental being, we cannot say much about them, for all we
\ncan say at the moment belongs more to the realm of imagination than to the
\nrealm of knowledge, since this supramental being has not yet manifested on
\nearth. <\/span> <\/span><\/i><\/p>\n


\n\u00a0<\/span><\/i>23
\n April 1960<\/span><\/i> <\/span><\/p>\n

\nPage \u2013 238<\/span> <\/span> <\/p>\n

<\/p>\n
\n

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

\n<\/p>\n

 \n<\/p>\n

\nTHE MOTHER – 1960<\/b><\/font><\/p>\n

\n

\n
\nSweet Mother, <\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

\n   
\n<\/span><\/i><\/font>
\nWhat are \u201cthe different psychological
\ndivisions of the human being\u201d? <\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

 <\/span><\/p>\n

These
\ndivisions are merely arbitrary. They have been established in order to
\nfacilitate the study of human nature and especially to constitute a definite
\nbasis for the various methods of self-development and self-discipline. That is
\nwhy each philosophic, educational or Yogic system has, as it were, its own
\ndivision based on the experience of its founder. Nevertheless, despite these
\ndivergences, there is a sort of tradition which, behind the different terms, makes
\nfor an essential analogy. This analogy can be expressed by a quaternary: the
\nphysical, the vital, the mental and the psychic or soul.<\/span><\/p>\n


\n    <\/span><\/font>
\nSri Aurobindo has written
\non this subject in great detail in some of his letters, in The Synthesis of
\nYoga and in Essays on the Gita. <\/span> <\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/span>30 May 1960 <\/span><\/i>\u00a0<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

Sweet Mother,<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

\n   
\n<\/span><\/i><\/font>
\nIs it possible to have a correct conception of
\nthe Divine? <\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

 <\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/span>No conception of the Divine can be correct;
\nfor conceptions are mental activities, and no mental activity is fit to
\nmanifest the Divine. <\/span><\/p>\n


\n    <\/span><\/font>
\nIt is only by experience
\nthat one can know Him, and the experience cannot be translated into words. <\/span> <\/span><\/i><\/p>\n


\n\u00a0<\/span><\/i>20
\n June 1960<\/span><\/i> <\/span><\/p>\n

\n
\nPage \u2013 239<\/span><\/font><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/table>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

SERIES EIGHT  \u00a0Series Eight   \u00a0To a young captain in the Sri Aurobindo Ashram Department of Physical Education.     Sweet Mother,     What is…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[121],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-4285","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-16-some-answers-from-the-mother-volume-16","wpcat-121-id"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/worksofthemotherandsriaurobindo.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4285","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=4285"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/worksofthemotherandsriaurobindo.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4285\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/worksofthemotherandsriaurobindo.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4285"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/worksofthemotherandsriaurobindo.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4285"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/worksofthemotherandsriaurobindo.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4285"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}