{"id":4294,"date":"2013-07-13T01:54:57","date_gmt":"2013-07-13T01:54:57","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/localhost\/?p=4294"},"modified":"2013-07-13T01:54:57","modified_gmt":"2013-07-13T01:54:57","slug":"02-jnana-58-7-vol-10-on-thoughts-and-aphorisms-volume-10","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/worksofthemotherandsriaurobindo.org\/index.php\/02-works-of-the-mother\/01-cwmce\/10-on-thoughts-and-aphorisms-volume-10\/02-jnana-58-7-vol-10-on-thoughts-and-aphorisms-volume-10","title":{"rendered":"-02_jnana-58_7.htm"},"content":{"rendered":"\n\n
\n
\n

\n7 \u2013 What men call
\nknowledge is the reasoned acceptance of false appearances. Wisdom looks behind
\nthe veil and sees. Reason divides, fixes details and contrasts them; Wisdom
\nunifies, marries contrasts in a single harmony. <\/span><\/span><\/b><\/p>\n

\n <\/span><\/p>\n

All that Sri Aurobindo
\nwrites about knowledge, reason, Wisdom is said in order to bring us out of the
\nrut of conventional thinking, and, if possible, make us perceive the reality
\nbehind the appearances. <\/span><\/p>\n

As a general rule, with a
\nfew very rare exceptions, men are content to observe more or less accurately
\neverything that happens around them, and sometimes within themselves, and to
\nclassify all these observations according to one superficial system of logic or
\nanother. And they call this organisation, these systems, knowledge. It has
\nnever occurred to them, they have not even begun to perceive that all the
\nthings they see, touch, feel, experience, are false appearances and not reality
\nitself. <\/span><\/p>\n

The constant, general
\nargument is, \u201cBut I see it, I touch it, I feel it \u2013 consequently it is true.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

They should, on the
\ncontrary, tell themselves, \u201cI see it, I touch it, I feel it \u2013 consequently it
\nis false.\u201d We are at opposite poles and there is no way of coming to an
\nunderstanding. <\/span><\/p>\n

For Sri Aurobindo, true
\nknowledge is precisely Knowledge by identity, and wisdom is the state one
\nachieves when one is in this true knowledge. He says it here: Wisdom looks
\nbehind the veil of false appearances and sees the reality behind it. And Sri
\nAurobindo emphasises<\/span> that when one defines something
\nwith the superficial, outer knowledge, it is always in opposition to something
\nelse; it is always by means of a contrast that one explains what one sees,
\nfeels, touches \u2013 and does not understand. <\/span><\/p>\n

Reason always sets one
\nthing against another and compels you to make a choice. People whose thought
\nand reason are clear see all the differences between things. It is rather
\nremarkable that reason can only work through differences; it is because one
\nperceives the difference between this and that, one act and
\n <\/span><\/p>\n

\nPage – 17<\/font><\/span><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n
\n

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

another, one object and
\nanother, that one makes decisions and that reason works. <\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/span>But it is precisely true Knowledge, Knowledge
\nby identity and the wisdom which results from it that always see the point
\nwhere all apparently contradictory things harmonise, complement each other,
\nform a perfectly coherent, coordinated whole. And naturally that changes
\nentirely the point of view, the perception, and the consequences in action. <\/span><\/p>\n

The first absolutely
\nindispensable step is not to repeat, more or less mechanically and without
\nquite knowing what you are saying, that appearances are false. You say it
\nbecause Sri Aurobindo has told us so \u2013 but without really understanding it. And
\nyet, when you want to understand something, you continue to look, to observe,
\nto touch, to taste and to feel, because you believe there are no other means of
\nobservation. It is only when you have had the experience of the reversal of
\nconsciousness, when you have gone behind these things, when you can feel,
\nexperience, in the most concrete manner, their illusory appearance, that you
\nare able to understand. But, unless you have had the experience, you can read
\nall the Aphorisms, repeat and learn them, have faith in them and still not
\nperceive: they have no reality for you. All these appearances remain the only
\nway of coming into contact with the outer world and of becoming aware of what
\nit is. And sometimes you can spend a whole lifetime learning how things are in
\ntheir appearances and be considered very cultured, very intelligent, highly
\nknowledgeable, when you have observed all this in detail and remembered all
\nthat you have observed or learnt\u2026 <\/span><\/p>\n

Strictly speaking, you
\ncan, when you have worked hard, have some slight effect on these appearances,
\nchange them a little \u2013 this is how, through science, you learn to manipulate
\nmatter \u2013 but there is no true change and there is no true power. And when you
\nare in that state, you are wholly convinced that there is nothing you can do to
\nchange your character. You feel trapped in a kind of fatalism that weighs you
\ndown, you know <\/span><\/p>\n

\nPage – 18<\/font><\/span><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n
\n

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

\nneither whence nor how; you are born like
\nthis, in such and such a place, into such and such an environment, with such
\nand such a character, and you get through life as best you can, adapting to
\nthings without having much influence on them, and trying to mitigate the
\ndrawbacks of your own character without having the power to transform it. You
\nfeel caught in a net, you are the slave of something of which you are unaware.
\nYou are the plaything of circumstances, of unknown forces, of a will you do not
\nsubmit to, but which constrains you. Even the most rebellious are slaves,
\nbecause the only thing that liberates you is precisely the act of passing
\nbehind the veil and discovering what lies beyond it. Once you have seen, you
\nknow who you are and once you have established your true identity, you have the
\nkey to the true transformation.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/span>We read, we try to understand, we explain, we
\ntry to know. But a single minute of true experience teaches us more than
\nmillions of words and hundreds of explanations. <\/span><\/p>\n

So the first question is:
\nHow to have the experience? <\/span><\/p>\n

To go within yourself,
\nthat is the first step. <\/span><\/p>\n

And then, once you have
\nsucceeded in going within yourself deeply enough to feel the reality of that
\nwhich is within, to widen yourself progressively, systematically, to become as
\nvast as the universe and lose the sense of limitation. <\/span><\/p>\n

These are the first two
\npreparatory movements. <\/span><\/p>\n

And these two things must
\nbe done in the greatest possible calm, peace and tranquillity<\/span>.
\nThis peace, this tranquillity<\/span> brings about silence in
\nthe mind and stillness in the vital. <\/span><\/p>\n

This effort, this attempt
\nmust be renewed very regularly, persistently. And after a certain lapse of
\ntime, which may be longer or shorter, you begin to perceive a reality that is
\ndifferent from the reality perceived in the ordinary, external consciousness.<\/span><\/p>\n

Naturally, by the action
\nof Grace, the veil may suddenly be rent from within, and at once you can enter
\nthe true truth; but even when that happens, in order to obtain the full value
\nand full effect of the experience, you must maintain yourself in a <\/span><\/p>\n

\nPage – 19<\/font><\/span><\/span><\/b><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n
\n

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

state of inner
\nreceptivity, and to do that, it is indispensable for you to go within each day.
\n\u00a0<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

\n
\n24 October 1958<\/span><\/font><\/p>\n

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

\n8<\/a> \u2013 Either do not give
\nthe name of knowledge to your beliefs only and of error, ignorance or
\ncharlatanism to the beliefs of others; or do not rail at the dogmas of the
\nsects and their intolerance. <\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/span><\/p>\n

The dogmas of sects and
\nthe intolerance of religions come from the fact that the sects and religions
\nconsider their beliefs alone to be knowledge, and the beliefs of others to be
\nerror, ignorance or charlatanism. <\/span><\/p>\n

This simple movement
\ncauses them to set up what they believe to be true as dogma and to violently
\ncondemn what others believe to be true. To think that your knowledge is the
\nonly true one, that your belief is the only true one and that others’ beliefs
\nare not true, is to do precisely what is done by all sects and religions. <\/span><\/p>\n

So, if you are doing
\nexactly the same thing as the sects and religions, you have no right to mock
\nthem. You do the same thing without being aware of it because it seems quite
\nnatural to you. What Sri Aurobindo wants to make you understand is that when
\nyou say, \u201cWe are in possession of the truth and what is not this truth is an
\nerror\u201d \u2013 though you may not dare say it in such a crude way \u2013 you are doing
\nexactly the same thing as all the religions and all the sects. <\/span><\/p>\n

If you objectify a little
\nyou will see that you have spontaneously, without realising it, established as
\nknowledge everything you have learnt, everything you have thought, everything
\nwhich has given you the impression of being particularly true and of major
\nimportance; and you are quite ready to contradict any different notion held by
\nthose who say, \u201cNo, no, it is like this, it is not like that.\u201d
\n <\/span><\/p>\n

\nPage – 20<\/font><\/span><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n
\n

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

If you watch yourself in
\naction, you will understand the mechanism of this intolerance and you will
\nimmediately be able to put an end to all these useless discussions. This brings
\nus back to what I have already told you once: the contact which you have had
\nwith the truth of things, your personal contact \u2013 a contact which is more or
\nless clear, profound, vast, pure \u2013 may have given you, as an individual, an
\ninteresting, perhaps even a decisive experience; but although this contact may
\nhave given you an experience of decisive importance, you must not imagine that
\nit is a universal experience and that the same contact would give others the
\nsame experience. And if you understand this, that it is something purely personal,
\nindividual, subjective, that it is not at all an absolute and general law, then
\nyou can no longer despise the knowledge of others, nor seek to impose your own
\npoint of view and experience upon them. This understanding obviates all mental
\nquarrels, which are always totally useless. <\/span><\/p>\n

Obviously, the first part
\nof the Aphorism can be taken as advice, but this is not what Sri Aurobindo
\nmeant when he wrote it; he wanted to make us conscious of the error we make
\nourselves but ridicule in others. This is a habit with us, not only in this
\nparticular case, but in all cases. It is rather remarkable that when we have a
\nweakness \u2013 for example a ridiculous habit, a defect or an imperfection \u2013 since
\nit is more or less part of our nature, we consider it to be very natural, it
\ndoes not shock us. But as soon as we see this same weakness, this same
\nimperfection, this same ridiculous habit in someone else, it seems quite
\nshocking to us and we say, \u201cWhat! He’s like that?\u201d \u2013 without noticing that we
\nourselves are \u201clike that.\u201d And so to the weakness and imperfection we add the
\nabsurdity of not even noticing them. <\/span><\/p>\n

There is a lesson to be
\ndrawn from this. When something in a person seems to you completely
\nunacceptable or ridiculous \u2013 \u201cWhat! He is like that, he behaves like that, he
\nsays things like that, he does things like that\u201d \u2013 you should say to yourself,
\n <\/span><\/p>\n

\nPage \u2013 21<\/font><\/span><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n
\n

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

\u201cWell, well, but perhaps
\nI do the same thing without being aware of it. I would do better to look into
\nmyself first before criticising<\/span> him, so as to make
\nsure that I am not doing the very same thing in a slightly different way.\u201d If
\nyou have the good sense and intelligence to do this each time you are shocked
\nby another person’s behaviour<\/span>, you will realise that
\nin life your relations with others are like a mirror which is presented to you
\nso that you can see more easily and clearly the weaknesses you carry within
\nyou. <\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

In a general and almost
\nabsolute way anything that shocks you in other people is the very thing you
\ncarry in yourself in a more or less veiled, more or less hidden form, though
\nperhaps in a slightly different guise which allows you to delude yourself. And
\nwhat in yourself seems inoffensive enough, becomes monstrous as soon as you see
\nit in others. <\/span><\/p>\n

Try to experience this;
\nit will greatly help you to change yourselves. At the same time it will bring a
\nsunny tolerance to your relationships with others, the goodwill which comes
\nfrom understanding, and it will very often put an end to these completely
\nuseless quarrels. <\/span><\/p>\n

One can live without
\nquarrelling. It seems strange to say this because as things are, it would seem,
\non the contrary, that life is made for quarrelling in the sense that the main
\noccupation of people who are together is to quarrel, overtly or covertly. You
\ndo not always come to words, you do not always come to blows \u2013 fortunately \u2013
\nbut you are in a state of perpetual irritation within because you do not find
\naround you the perfection that you would yourself wish to realise, and which
\nyou find rather difficult to realise \u2013 but you find it entirely natural that
\nothers should realise it. <\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cHow can they be like
\nthat?\u2026\u201d You forget how difficult you find it in yourself not to be \u201clike that\u201d
\n!<\/span><\/p>\n

Try, you will see. <\/span><\/p>\n

Look upon everything with
\na benevolent smile. Take all the things which irritate you as a lesson for
\nyourself and your life
\n <\/span><\/p>\n

\nPage – 22<\/font><\/span><\/span><\/b><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n
\n

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

will be more peaceful and
\nmore effective as well, for a great percentage of your energy certainly goes to
\nwaste in the irritation you feel when you do not find in others the perfection
\nthat you would like to realise in yourself. <\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/span>You stop short at the perfection that others
\nshould realise and you are seldom conscious of the goal you should be pursuing
\nyourself. If you are conscious of it, well then, begin with the work which is
\ngiven to you, that is to say, realise what you have to do and do not concern
\nyourself with what others do, because, after all, it is not your business. And
\nthe best way to the true attitude is simply to say, \u201cAll those around me, all
\nthe circumstances of my life, all the people near me, are a mirror held up to
\nme by the Divine Consciousness to show me the progress I must make. Everything
\nthat shocks me in others means a work I have to do in myself.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

And perhaps if one
\ncarried true perfection in oneself, one would discover it more often in others.
\n<\/span>
\n <\/span><\/p>\n

\n
\n7
\n November 1958<\/font><\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

\n\u00a0<\/span>9<\/a> \u2013 What the soul sees and has experienced,
\nthat it knows; the rest is appearance, prejudice and opinion.<\/span><\/p>\n

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

This amounts to saying
\nthat all knowledge which is not the result of the soul’s vision or experience
\nis without true value. <\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/span>But the question immediately arises \u2013 it was,
\nin fact, put to me \u2013 \u201cHow do we know what the soul sees?\u201d <\/span><\/p>\n

Obviously there is only
\none solution: to become conscious of one’s soul. And this completes the
\nAphorism: unless one is conscious of one’s soul one does not have true
\nknowledge. Therefore the first effort must be to find the soul within, to unite
\nwith it and allow it to govern one’s life. <\/span><\/p>\n

Some people ask, \u201cHow do
\nwe know whether this is the soul?\u201d I have already answered this question
\nseveral times. Those who ask this question, by the very fact of asking it,
\nprove <\/span><\/p>\n

\nPage – 23<\/font><\/span><\/b><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n
\n

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

that they are not
\nconscious of their souls, because as soon as you are conscious of your soul and
\nidentified with it, you have a positive knowledge of it and you no longer ask
\nhow you are to know. And that experience can neither be counterfeited nor
\nimagined; you cannot pretend to be in contact with your soul \u2013 it is something
\nwhich cannot be contrived or counterfeited. When the soul governs your life,
\nyou know it with absolute certainty and no longer ask any questions. <\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/span>But the usefulness of the Aphorism we have
\njust read is to make you understand that everything you think you know,
\neverything you have learnt, anything that has come to you in your life through
\npersonal observation, deduction, comparison \u2013 all that is a very relative
\nknowledge on which you cannot found a durable and truly effective way of life. <\/span><\/p>\n

How many times have we
\nrepeated this: all that comes from the mind is wholly relative. The more the
\nmind is educated and has applied itself to various disciplines, the more it
\nbecomes capable of proving that what it puts forward or what it says is true.
\nOne can prove the truth of anything by reasoning, but that does not make it
\ntrue. It remains an opinion, a prejudice, a knowledge based on appearances
\nwhich are themselves more than dubious. <\/span><\/p>\n

So there seems to be only
\none way out and that is to go in search of one’s soul and to find it. It is
\nthere, it does not make a point of hiding itself, it does not play with you
\njust to make things difficult; on the contrary, it makes great efforts to help
\nyou find it and to make itself heard. Only, between your soul and your active
\nconsciousness there are two characters who are in the habit of making a lot of
\nnoise, the mind and the vital. And because they make a lot of noise, while the
\nsoul does not, or, rather, makes as little as possible, their noise prevents
\nyou from hearing the voice of the soul. <\/span><\/p>\n

When you want to know
\nwhat your soul knows, you have to make an inner effort, to be very attentive;
\nand indeed, if you are attentive, behind the outer noise of the mind and the
\nvital, <\/span><\/p>\n

\nPage – 24<\/font><\/span><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n
\n

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

you can discern something
\nvery subtle, very quiet, very peaceful, which knows and says what it knows. But
\nthe insistence of the others is so imperious, while that is so quiet, that you
\nare very easily misled into listening to the one that makes the most noise;
\nmost often you become aware only afterwards that the other one was right. It
\ndoes not impose itself, it does not compel you to listen, for it is without
\nviolence. <\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/span>When you hesitate, when you wonder what to do
\nin this or that circumstance, there come the desire, the preference both mental
\nand vital, that press, insist, affirm and impose themselves, and, with the best
\nreasons in the world, build up a whole case for themselves. And if you are not
\non the alert, if you don’t have a firm discipline, if you don’t have the habit
\nof control, they finally convince you that they are right. And as I was saying
\na little while ago, they make so much noise that you do not even hear the tiny
\nvoice or the tiny, very quiet indication of the soul which says, \u201cDon’t do it.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

This \u201cDon’t do it\u201d comes
\noften, but you discard it as something which has no power and follow your
\nimpulsive destiny. But if you are truly sincere in your will to find and live
\nthe truth, then you learn to listen better and better, you learn to discriminate
\nmore and more, and even if it costs you an effort, even if it causes you pain,
\nyou learn to obey. And even if you have obeyed only once, it is a powerful
\nhelp, a considerable progress on the path towards the discrimination between
\nwhat is and what is not the soul. With this discrimination and the necessary
\nsincerity you are sure to reach the goal. <\/span><\/p>\n

But you must not be in a
\nhurry, you must not be impatient, you must be very persevering. You do the
\nwrong thing ten times for every time that you do the right thing. But when you
\ndo the wrong thing you must not give up everything in despair, but tell
\nyourself that the Grace will never abandon you and that next time it will be
\nbetter. <\/span><\/p>\n

So, in conclusion, we
\nshall say that in order to know things as they are you must first unite with
\n <\/span><\/p>\n

\nPage – 25<\/font><\/span><\/b><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n
\n

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

your soul and to unite
\nwith your soul you must want it with persistence and perseverance.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

Only the degree of
\nconcentration on the goal can shorten the way. \u00a0<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

\n
\n14 November 1958 <\/span>
\n<\/font> <\/p>\n

 <\/span><\/p>\n

\n10 <\/a>\u2013 My soul knows that
\nit is immortal. But you take a dead body to pieces and cry triumphantly, \u201cWhere
\nis your soul and where is your immortality?\u201d <\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/span><\/p>\n

It has often been
\nrepeated \u2013 but except in certain cases very rarely understood \u2013 that only like
\nknows like. If this were understood, a great deal of ignorance would vanish. <\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/span>Only the soul can know the soul, and on each
\nlevel of being, only the equivalent level can recognise the other. Only the
\nDivine can know the Divine, and because we carry the Divine in ourselves we are
\ncapable of seeing Him and recognising<\/span> Him. But if we
\ntry to understand something of the inner life by using our senses and external
\nmethods, the result is sure to be total failure and we shall also deceive
\nourselves totally. <\/span><\/p>\n

So when you imagine that
\nyou can know the secrets of Nature and still remain in a purely physical
\nconsciousness, you are entirely deceived. And this habit of demanding concrete,
\nmaterial proofs before accepting the reality of something, is one of the most
\nglaring effects of ignorance. With that attitude any fool imagines that he can
\nsit in judgment on the highest things and deny the most profound experiences. <\/span><\/p>\n

It is certainly not by
\ndissecting a body which is dead because the soul has departed from it that the
\nsoul can be found. Had the soul not departed, the body would not have been
\ndead! It is to bring home to us the absurdity of this claim that Sri Aurobindo
\nhas written this Aphorism. <\/span><\/p>\n

It applies to all
\njudgments of the critical mind and to all scientific methods when they would
\njudge any but purely material phenomena.
\n <\/span><\/p>\n

\nPage – 26<\/font><\/span><\/b><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n
\n

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

The conclusion is always
\nthe same: the only true attitude is one of humility, of silent respect before
\nwhat one does not know, and of inner aspiration to come out of one’s ignorance.
\nOne of the things which would make humanity progress most would be for it to
\nrespect what it does not know, to acknowledge willingly that it does not know
\nand is therefore unable to judge. We constantly do just the opposite. We pass
\nfinal judgments on things of which we have no knowledge whatsoever, and say in
\na peremptory manner, \u201cThis is possible. That is impossible,\u201d when we do not
\neven know what it is we are speaking of. And we put on superior airs because we
\ndoubt things of which we have never had any knowledge. <\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

Men believe that doubt is
\na sign of superiority, whereas it is really a sign of inferiority. <\/span><\/p>\n

Scepticism<\/span><\/span> and doubt are two of the
\ngreatest obstacles to progress; they add presumptuousness to ignorance.
\n\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 <\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

\n
\n21
\n November 1958<\/font><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

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

\n11<\/a> \u2013 Immortality is not
\nthe survival of the mental personality after death, though that also is true,
\nbut the waking possession of the unborn and deathless Self of which body is
\nonly an instrument and a shadow. <\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/span><\/p>\n

There are three
\nstatements here which have raised questions. First, \u201cWhat is the mental
\npersonality?\u201d <\/span><\/p>\n

In each human being the
\nbody is animated by the vital being, and governed, or partially governed, by a
\nmental being. This is a general rule, but the extent to which the mental being
\nis formed and individualised<\/span> varies greatly from one
\nindividual to the next. In the great mass of human beings the mind is something
\nfluid which has no organisation of its own, and therefore it is not a
\npersonality. And as long as the mind is like that, fluid, unorganised<\/span>,
\nwith no cohesive life of its own and without personality, it cannot survive.
\nWhat made up the mental being dissolves in <\/span><\/p>\n

\nPage – 27<\/font><\/span><\/span><\/b><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n
\n

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

the mental region when
\nthe body, the substance which made up the body, dissolves in the physical
\nsubstance.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/span>But as soon as the mental being is formed,
\norganised, individualised<\/span>, and has become a
\npersonality, it does not depend, it no longer depends on the body for its
\nexistence, and it therefore survives the body. The earth’s mental atmosphere is
\nfilled with beings, mental personalities which lead an entirely independent
\nexistence, even after the disappearance of the body; they can reincarnate in a
\nnew body when the soul, that is to say, the true Self, reincarnates, thus
\ncarrying with it the memory of its previous lives. <\/span><\/p>\n

But this is not what Sri
\nAurobindo calls Immortality. Immortality is a life without beginning or end,
\nwithout birth or death, which is altogether independent of the body. It is the
\nlife of the Self, the essential being of each individual, and it is not separate
\nfrom the universal Self. And this essential being has a sense of oneness with
\nthe universal Self; it is in fact a personified, individualised<\/span>
\nexpression of the universal Self and has neither beginning nor end, neither
\nlife nor death, it exists eternally and that is what is immortal. When we are
\nfully conscious of this Self we participate in its eternal life, and we
\ntherefore become immortal. <\/span><\/p>\n

But there is some
\nmisunderstanding about this word \u201cImmortality\u201d \u2013 and this is not something new;
\nit is a misunderstanding which has recurred very frequently. When one speaks of
\nimmortality most people understand it as the indefinite survival of the body. <\/span><\/p>\n

The body can survive
\nindefinitely only if, in the first place, it becomes fully conscious of this
\nimmortal Self and unites with it, identifies with it to the extent of having
\nthe same capacity, the same faculty of constant transformation which would
\nenable it to follow the universal movement. This is an absolutely indispensable
\ncondition if the body is to endure. Because the body is rigid, because it does
\nnot follow the movement, because it cannot transform itself rapidly enough to
\nconstantly identify <\/span><\/p>\n

\nPage – 28<\/font><\/span><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n
\n

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

\nitself with the universal evolution, it
\ndecomposes and dies. Its fixity, its rigidity, its incapacity to transform
\nitself, make its destruction necessary, so that its substance may return to the
\ngeneral realm of physical substance and so that the body may be remoulded<\/span> into new forms in order to become capable of
\nfurther progress. But usually, when one speaks of immortality, people think of
\nphysical immortality \u2013 it goes without saying that this has not yet been
\nrealised. <\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/span>Sri Aurobindo says that it is possible and
\neven that it will happen, but he lays down one condition: the body must be
\nsupramentalised, it must have some of the qualities of the supramental being,
\nwhich are qualities of plasticity and constant transformation. And when Sri
\nAurobindo writes that the body is \u201conly an instrument and a shadow,\u201d he is
\nspeaking of the body as it is now and will probably continue to be for a long
\ntime to come. It is only the instrument of the Self, a very inadequate
\nexpression of this Self, and a shadow \u2013 a shadow, something vague and obscure
\nin comparison with the light and precision of the eternal Self. <\/span><\/p>\n

How this shadow, this
\ninstrument, can serve the development of the soul, and how by cultivating the
\ninstrument one can be of help to future lives, are questions which are not
\nwithout interest. <\/span><\/p>\n

Each time that the soul
\ntakes birth in a new body it comes with the intention of having a new
\nexperience which will help it to develop and to perfect its personality. This
\nis how the psychic being is formed from life to life and becomes a completely
\nconscious and independent personality which, once it has arrived at the summit
\nof its development, is free to choose not only the time of its incarnation, but
\nthe place, the purpose and the work to be accomplished. <\/span><\/p>\n

Its descent into the
\nphysical body is necessarily a descent into darkness, ignorance,
\nunconsciousness; and for a very long time it must labour simply to bring a
\nlittle consciousness into the material substance of the body, before it can
\nmake use of<\/span> <\/span><\/p>\n

\nPage – 29<\/font><\/span><\/span><\/b><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n
\n

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

\u00a0<\/span>it for the experience it has come for. So, if we
\ncultivate the body by a clear-sighted and rational method, at the same time we
\nare helping the growth of the soul, its progress and enlightenment. <\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

Physical culture is the
\nprocess of infusing consciousness into the cells of the body. One may or may
\nnot know it, but it is a fact. When we concentrate to make our muscles move
\naccording to our will, when we endeavour to make our limbs more supple, to give
\nthem an agility, or a force, or a resistance, or a plasticity which they do not
\nnaturally possess, we infuse into the cells of the body a consciousness which
\nwas not there before, thus turning it into an increasingly homogeneous and
\nreceptive instrument, which progresses in and by its activities. This is the
\nprimary importance of physical culture. Of course, that is not the only thing
\nthat brings consciousness into the body, but it is something which acts in an
\noverall way, and this is rare. I have already told you several times that the
\nartist infuses a very great consciousness into his hands, as the intellectual
\ndoes into his brain. But these are, as it were, local phenomena, whereas the
\naction of physical culture is more general. And when one sees the absolutely
\nmarvellous results of this culture, when one observes the extent to which the
\nbody is capable of perfecting itself, one understands how useful this can be to
\nthe action of the psychic being which has entered into this material substance.
\nFor naturally, when it is in possession of an organised and harmonised
\ninstrument which is full of strength and suppleness and possibilities, its task
\nis greatly facilitated. <\/span><\/p>\n

I do not say that people
\nwho practise physical culture necessarily do it for this purpose, because very
\nfew are aware of this result. But whether they are aware of it or not, this is
\nthe result. Moreover, if you are at all sensitive, when you observe the moving
\nbody of a person who has practised physical culture in a methodical and
\nrational way, you see a light, a consciousness, a life, which is not there in
\nothers.<\/span><\/p>\n

There are always people
\nwith a wholly external view of
\n <\/span><\/p>\n

\nPage – 30<\/font><\/span><\/span><\/b><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n
\n

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

things who say, \u201cWorkers,
\nfor example, who have to do hard physical labour and who are compelled by their
\nwork to learn to carry heavy weights \u2013 they too build up their muscles, and
\ninstead of spending their time like aristocrats doing exercises with no useful
\noutward results, they at least produce something.\u201d This is ignorance. Because
\nthere is an essential difference between the muscles developed through
\nspecialised, local and limited use and muscles which have been cultivated
\ndeliberately and harmoniously according to an integral programme<\/span>
\nwhich leaves no part of the body without work or exercise. <\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/span>People like workers and peasants, who have a
\nspecialised occupation and develop only certain muscles, always end up with
\noccupational deformities. And this in no way helps their psychic progress
\nbecause, although the whole of life necessarily contributes to the psychic
\ndevelopment, it does so in such an unconscious way and so slowly that the poor
\npsychic being must come back again and again and again, indefinitely, to
\nachieve its purpose. Therefore we can say without fear of being mistaken that
\nphysical culture is the sadhana of the body and that all sadhana necessarily
\nhelps to hasten the achievement of the goal. The more consciously you do it,
\nthe quicker and more general the result, but even if you do it blindly, if you
\ncan see no further than the tips of your fingers or your feet or your nose, you
\nhelp the overall development. <\/span><\/p>\n

Finally, one can say that
\nany discipline that is followed rigorously, sincerely, deliberately, is a
\nconsiderable help, for it enables life on earth to attain its goal more rapidly
\nand prepares it to receive the new life. To discipline oneself is to hasten the
\narrival of this new life and the contact with the supramental reality. <\/span><\/p>\n

As it is, the physical
\nbody is truly nothing but a very disfigured shadow of the eternal life of the
\nSelf. But this physical body is capable of progressive development; through
\neach individual formation, the physical substance progresses, and one day it
\nwill be capable of building a bridge between phy<\/span>–<\/span> <\/font><\/span><\/p>\n

\nPage – 31<\/font><\/span><\/span><\/b><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n
\n

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

sical<\/span><\/span> life as we know it and
\nthe supramental life which is to manifest. \u00a0<\/span>\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 <\/span> <\/span><\/p>\n

\n
\n28 November 1958 <\/span>
\n<\/font> <\/p>\n

 <\/span><\/p>\n

\n12<\/a> \u2013 They proved to me by
\nconvincing reasons that God did not exist, and I believed them. Afterwards I
\nsaw God, for He came and embraced me. And now which am I to believe, the reasonings of others or my own experience? <\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/span><\/p>\n

Sri Aurobindo is not
\nasking a question, but rather making an ironic comment. It is to bring out
\nclearly the stupidity of the reasonings of the mind, which imagines it can
\nspeak of what it does not know. It is nothing else. <\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/span>You can prove anything with the mind. When you
\nknow how to use it and have mastered reasoning and deduction, you can prove
\nanything. As a matter of fact, this is an exercise that is given in
\nuniversities to make the mind supple: you are given a thesis to prove and
\nimmediately afterwards, with equal conviction, you have to prove its antithesis
\n\u2013 in the hope that if you rise a little above both, you will discover the
\nsynthesis. <\/span><\/p>\n

Therefore, once it is
\nconceded that anything can be proved, it follows that reasoning leads nowhere;
\nbecause if you can prove something and in the next moment prove its opposite,
\nthis is the proof that your proofs are worthless. <\/span><\/p>\n

There is experience. For
\na simple heart, a sincere and honest nature, a nature which knows that its
\nexperience is sincere, that it is not a falsification of desire or of mental
\nambition, but a spontaneous movement which comes from the soul \u2013 the experience
\nis absolutely convincing. It loses its power of conviction when the desire to
\nhave an experience, or the ambition to think oneself very superior, becomes
\nmixed with it. If you have that in you, then beware, because desires and
\nambitions falsify experience. The mind is a formative power, and if you have a <\/span><\/p>\n

\nPage – 32<\/font><\/span><\/span><\/b><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n
\n

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

very strong desire for
\nsomething very important and very interesting to happen to you, you can make it
\nhappen, at least in the eyes of those who see things superficially. But apart
\nfrom these cases, if you are honest, sincere, spontaneous, and especially when
\nexperiences come to you without any effort on your part to have them, and as a
\nspontaneous expression of your deeper aspiration, then these experiences carry
\nwith them the seal of an absolute authenticity; and even if the whole world
\ntells you that they are nonsense and illusion, it does not change your personal
\nconvictions. But naturally, for this, you must not deceive yourself. You must
\nbe sincere and honest with a complete inner rectitude.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/span>Someone has asked me, \u201cHow is it possible for
\nGod to reveal Himself to an unbeliever?\u201d That’s very funny; because if it
\npleases God to reveal Himself to an unbeliever, I don’t see what would prevent
\nHim from doing so! <\/span><\/p>\n

On the contrary, He has a
\nsense of humour<\/span> Sri Aurobindo<\/span>
\nhas told us many times already that the Supreme has a sense of humour<\/span>, that we are the ones who want to make Him into a
\ngrave and invariably serious character \u2013 and He may find it very amusing to come
\nand embrace an unbeliever. Someone who has only the day before declared, \u201cGod
\ndoes not exist. I do not believe in Him. All that is folly and ignorance\u2026\u201d, He
\ngathers him into His arms, He presses him to His heart \u2013 and He laughs in his
\nface. <\/span><\/p>\n

Everything is possible,
\neven things which to our small and limited intelligence seem absurd. <\/span><\/p>\n

Indeed, it is only when
\nwe have come to the end of these Aphorisms that we will be able to understand
\nthem; because with each one, Sri Aurobindo places us in an entirely different
\nposition with regard to the truth to be discovered. There are innumerable
\nfacets. There are innumerable points of view. One can say the most
\ncontradictory things without being inconsistent or contradicting oneself.
\nEverything depends on the way in which you look at it. And even once we have
\nseen everything, from <\/span><\/p>\n

\nPage – 33<\/font><\/span><\/span><\/b><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n
\n

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

all the points of view
\naccessible to us, around the central Truth, we will still have had only a very
\nsmall glimpse \u2013 the Truth will escape us on all sides at once. But what is remarkable
\nis that once we have had the experience of a single contact with the Divine, a
\ntrue, spontaneous and sincere experience, at that moment, in that experience,
\nwe will know everything, and even more. That is why it is so important to live
\nthe little you know in all sincerity in order to make yourself capable of
\nhaving experiences, and of knowing by experience, not mentally, but because you
\nlive these things, because they become a part of your being and consciousness. <\/span><\/p>\n

To put into practice the
\nlittle you know is the best way to learn more; it is the most powerful means of
\nadvancing on the way \u2013 a little bit of really sincere practice. For example,
\nnot to do something that you know must not be done. When you have seen a
\nweakness, a disability in your being, you must not allow it to happen again.
\nWhen, if only for a moment, you have had the vision of what you must be, in an
\nardent aspiration, you must not \u2013 you must never forget to become that.<\/span><\/p>\n

Some people are always
\ncomplaining about their disabilities. But that doesn’t lead you very far. If,
\nonce, you have truly seen your weaknesses and truly, sincerely understood, seen
\nthat you must not be like that \u2013 that’s the end of complaining. Then there is
\nthe daily effort, the building up of the will, the vigilance of every moment \u2013
\nyou must never allow a recognised<\/span> mistake to renew
\nitself. To err through ignorance, to err through unconsciousness, is obviously
\nvery unfortunate, but it can be put right. Whereas to go on making the same
\nmistake, knowing that it must not be made, is an act of cowardice which we must
\nnot permit ourselves. <\/span><\/p>\n

To say, \u201cOh, human nature
\nis like this. Oh, we are in the inconscience. Oh, we are in the ignorance,\u201d \u2013
\nall this is laziness and weakness. And behind this laziness and weakness there
\nis a huge bad will. There! <\/span><\/p>\n

I say this because many
\npeople have made this remark to <\/span><\/p>\n

\nPage – 34<\/font><\/span><\/span><\/b><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n
\n

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

me, many. And it is
\nalways a way of justifying oneself: \u201cOh, we are doing what we can.\u201d It is not
\ntrue. Because if you are sincere, once you have seen \u2013 as long as you have not
\nseen, nothing can be said \u2013 but the moment you see is the moment when you
\nreceive the Grace, and once you have received the Grace, you no longer have the
\nright to forget it. \u00b9<\/span> <\/span><\/p>\n

\n5 December 1958<\/font> <\/font><\/span> <\/span><\/p>\n

\n\u00b9 <\/font> <\/span>The Friday Classes, which took place
\nin the Ashram Playground, end here, and with them the first section of the
\nMother’s commentaries.<\/font> <\/font><\/span><\/p>\n

\nPage – 35<\/font><\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n


\n
\n
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