{"id":4296,"date":"2013-07-13T01:54:58","date_gmt":"2013-07-13T01:54:58","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/localhost\/?p=4296"},"modified":"2013-07-13T01:54:58","modified_gmt":"2013-07-13T01:54:58","slug":"13-jnana-62-66-101-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\/13-jnana-62-66-101-vol-10-on-thoughts-and-aphorisms-volume-10","title":{"rendered":"-13_jnana-62-66_101.htm"},"content":{"rendered":"\n\n
\n
\n

\n101 \u2013 In God’s sight there is no near or distant, no present, past or
\nfuture. These things are only a convenient perspective for His world-picture. <\/span><\/p>\n

\n <\/span><\/p>\n

\n102 \u2013 To the senses it is always true that the sun moves round the
\nearth; this is false to the reason. To the reason it is always true that the
\nearth moves round the sun; this is false to the supreme vision. Neither earth
\nmoves nor sun; there is only a change in the relation of sun-consciousness and
\nearth-consciousness. <\/span>
\n <\/span><\/p>\n

(Long
\nsilence<\/i>) <\/span><\/p>\n

Impossible, I can’t say anything. <\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/span><\/p>\n

This would mean that our normal perception of the physical world is a
\nfalse perception<\/span><\/i>.
\n<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/span><\/p>\n

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

 <\/span><\/p>\n

But then what would the true perception be like? <\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

 <\/span><\/p>\n

Well, yes, there it is! <\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/span><\/p>\n

The true perception of the physical world \u2013 trees, people, stones \u2013 what
\ndo they look like to a supramental eye? <\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

 <\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

This is precisely what one cannot say!
\nWhen you have the vision and the consciousness of the Order of Truth, of what
\nis direct, <\/span>
\n
\n <\/span><\/p>\n

\nPage – 187<\/span><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n
\n

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

the direct expression of the Truth, you
\nimmediately have an impression of something inexpressible, because all words
\nbelong to the other domain; all images, all comparisons, all expressions belong
\nto the other domain.<\/span><\/p>\n

This is precisely the great difficulty I
\nhad \u2013 it was on the 29th of February. During the whole time that I lived in
\nthis consciousness of the direct manifestation of the Truth, I tried to
\nformulate what I was feeling, what I was seeing \u2013 it was impossible. There were
\nno words. And immediately, simply the formulation would cause an instantaneous
\nfall back into the other consciousness. <\/span><\/p>\n

On that occasion, the memory of this
\nAphorism about the sun and the earth came back to me\u2026 even to say a \u201cchange of
\nconsciousness\u201d \u2013 a change of consciousness is also a movement. <\/span><\/p>\n

I don’t think one can say anything. I feel
\nincapable of saying anything, because all the things we say are uninteresting
\napproximations. <\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/span><\/p>\n

But when you are in this Truth-Consciousness, is it a subjective
\nexperience or does Matter itself change its appearance? <\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

 <\/span><\/p>\n

Yes, everything \u2013 the whole world is
\ndifferent! Everything is different. And the experience has convinced me of one
\nthing, which I still feel continually, that both states \u2013 of Truth and
\nFalsehood \u2013 are simultaneous, concomitant, and that only\u2026 yes, what he calls a
\nchange of consciousness, that is to say that one is either in this
\nconsciousness or in that consciousness, but one does not move for all that. <\/span><\/p>\n

We are obliged to use words that move,
\nbecause for us everything moves; but this change of consciousness is not a
\nmovement \u2013 it is not a movement. So then how can we speak about it or describe
\nit?\u2026<\/span><\/p>\n

Even if we say, \u201cone state taking the
\nplace of another\u201d, with \u201ctaking the place of\u201d we immediately introduce
\nmovement\u2026 All <\/span><\/p>\n

\nPage – 188<\/span><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n
\n

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

\u00a0<\/span>our
\nwords are like that, what can we say?\u2026\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0
\n<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

Yesterday again, the experience was
\nabsolutely concrete and powerful, that there is no need to move oneself or to
\nmove anything whatever for this Truth-Consciousness to replace the
\nconsciousness of deformation or distortion. That is to say, the capacity to
\nlive and be this true \u2013 essential and true \u2013 vibration seems to have the power
\nto substitute this vibration for the vibration of falsehood and distortion, to
\nsuch an extent that\u2026 for example, the natural result of distortion or of the
\nvibration of distortion, should be an accident or a catastrophe; but if, inside
\nthese vibrations, there is a consciousness which has the power to become
\nconscious of the vibration of Truth and therefore to manifest the vibration of
\nTruth, it can \u2013 and must \u2013 annul the other, which would be translated in the
\nexternal phenomenon by an intervention that would avert the catastrophe. <\/span><\/p>\n

It is a growing impression that the True
\nis the only way to change the world, that all the other processes of slow
\ntransformation are always at a tangen \u2013 tone draws nearer and nearer but one
\nnever arrives \u2013 and that the last step must be this: the substitution of the
\ntrue vibration. <\/span><\/p>\n

We do have partial proofs. But since they
\nare partial, they are not conclusive, because for the ordinary vision and
\nunderstanding explanations can always be found: one can say that the accident,
\nfor example, was intended and fated to be forestalled, and that it was not
\nforestalled by this intervention at all, but by the determinism that had
\ndecided it.And how to prove it? How to prove even to oneself that it is not so?
\nIt is impossible. <\/span><\/p>\n

As soon as you express it, you enter into
\nthe mind, and as soon as you enter the mind, there is this kind of logic, which
\nis frightful because it is all-powerful: if everything already exists, co \u2014
\nexisting from all eternity, how can one thing be changed into another?\u2026 How can
\nanything change? <\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 <\/span>You are told \u2013 Sri Aurobindo<\/span> has just said it himself \u2013 that for the
\nconsciousness of the Lord there is no past, no time, <\/span>
\n
\n <\/span><\/p>\n

\nPage – 189<\/span><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n
\n

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

no movement, nothing \u2013 everything is. To
\ntranslate this, we say from all eternity, which is nonsense, but anyway,
\neverything is. So everything is (Mother
\nfolds her arms<\/i>), and that is all there is to it, there is nothing to be
\ndone. This conception, or rather this way of speaking \u2013 for it is only a way of
\nspeaking \u2013 cancels all sense of progress, it cancels evolution, it cancels\u2026 You
\nare told that it is part of the determinism that you should strive for progress
\n\u2013 yes, all that is empty talk. <\/span><\/p>\n

And note that this way of speaking is only
\na minute of experience, it is not the whole experience. There is a moment when
\none feels like that, but it is not total, it is partial. It is only one way of
\nfeeling, it is not everything. There is something much deeper and much more
\ninexpressible than that in the eternal consciousness \u2013 much more. This is only
\nthe first bewilderment one feels when one leaves the ordinary consciousness,
\nbut that is not everything. It is not everything. When the memory of this
\nAphorism came back to me recently, I had the impression that it was merely a
\nlittle glimpse one suddenly has, and a feeling of opposition between the two
\nstates, but that is not everything, it is not everything. There is something
\nelse. <\/span><\/p>\n

There is something else which is
\naltogether different from what we understand, but which is translated by what
\nwe understand. <\/span><\/p>\n

And this is what cannot be said. It cannot
\nbe said because it is inexpressible, inexpressible. <\/span><\/p>\n

This amounts to a feeling that everything
\nwhich in our ordinary consciousness becomes false, untrue, distorted, crooked,
\nis all\u00a0 <\/span>essentially true for the Truth-Consciousness. But<\/span> true in what way? That is precisely
\nsomething which cannot be put into words, because words belong to Falsehood. <\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/span><\/p>\n

That is to say, the materiality of the world would not be annulled by
\nthis Consciousness, it would be transfigured?\u2026 Or would it be a completely
\ndifferent world? <\/span><\/i>
\n <\/span><\/p>\n

\nPage – 190<\/span><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n
\n

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

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

 <\/span><\/p>\n

Let us be clear\u2026 I am afraid that what we
\ncall Matter is in fact only the false appearance of the world.<\/span><\/p>\n

There is something\u00a0 <\/span>corresponding, but\u2026<\/span><\/p>\n

This Aphorism would lead to an absolute
\nsubjectivity and only this absolute subjectivity would be true \u2013 well, it is
\nnot like that. For that is Pralaya, Nirvana. But Nirvana is not the only thing,
\nthere is an objectivity which is real, which is not false \u2013 but how to put it!\u2026
\nIt is something I have felt several times \u2013 several times, not only in a flash
\n\u2013 the reality of\u2026 how to express it? One is always betrayed by one’s own words\u2026
\nIn the perfect sense of Oneness and in the consciousness of Oneness, there is
\nroom for objectiveness, objectivity \u2013 the one does not destroy the other, not
\nat all. One can have a feeling of differentiation: not that it is not oneself,
\nbut it is a different vision. I have told you, everything one can say is
\nnothing, it is nonsense, because words are meant to express the unreal world,
\nbut\u2026 Yes, perhaps this is what Sri Aurobindo calls the sense of multiplicity in
\nunity, it may correspond a little; just as one feels the inner multiplicity of
\none’s being, something like that\u2026 I no longer have the feeling of a separate
\nself, not at all, not at all, even in the body, but that does not prevent me
\nfrom having a certain sense of objective relation \u2013 yes, look \u2013 this is the
\nsame thing as his relation of consciousness between earth and sun, which
\nchanges (Mother laughs<\/i>). It is true
\nthat this is perhaps the best way of saying it! It is a relation of
\nconsciousness. It is not at all a relation of self and others \u2013 not at all,
\nthat is completely cancelled \u2013 but it might be like a relation of consciousness
\nbetween the different parts of one’s being. And obviously, that gives
\nobjectivity to the different parts. <\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

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

 <\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 <\/span>To come back to the example, which is
\nvery easy to under- <\/span><\/p>\n

\nPage – 191<\/span><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n
\n

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

stand, of the accident that is
\nforestalled, one can very well imagine that the intervention of the Truth-Consciousness
\nwas decided from all eternity and that there is no new element, but
\nnevertheless, it was this intervention which stopped the accident \u2013 which gives
\nan exact picture of the power of this true consciousness over the other one.
\nAnd if you project your own way of being onto the Supreme, you can imagine that
\nit amuses Him to make all kinds of experiments, to see how things play
\nthemselves out. That is another matter. Nevertheless there is an
\nAll-Consciousness that knows all things from all eternity \u2013 all this in words
\nthat are absolutely inadequate. But nevertheless, when you look at the process,
\nit was this intervention which was able to forestall the accident: the
\nsubstitution of a false consciousness by a true one arrested the process of the
\nfalse consciousness. <\/span><\/p>\n

It seems to me that this happens quite
\noften \u2013 much more often than one might think. For example, each time an illness
\nis cured, each time an accident is avoided, each time a catastrophe, even a
\nterrestrial catastrophe, is averted, in all these things, it is always an
\nintervention of the vibration of harmony in the vibration of disorder that
\ncauses the disorder to cease. <\/span><\/p>\n

So the people, the faithful, who always
\nsay, By the grace of God, this has happened, are not so wrong. <\/span><\/p>\n

I am simply observing a fact, that this
\nvibration of order and harmony intervenes \u2013 the causes of its intervention have
\nnothing to do with it, it is merely a scientific observation \u2013 and I have
\nexperienced this quite a number of times. <\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/span><\/p>\n

Would that be the process of world transformation? <\/span><\/i>
\n <\/span><\/p>\n

Yes.  <\/span><\/p>\n

A more and more constant incarnation of this vibration of harmony. <\/span><\/i>
\n
\n <\/span><\/p>\n

\nPage – 192<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n
\n

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

That’s it, yes, exactly. Exactly. <\/span><\/p>\n

And from this point of view, I have even
\nseen\u2026 The ordinary idea that this phenomenon must necessarily occur first in
\nthe body where the Consciousness is expressed more constantly, seems absolutely
\nuseless and subordinate; on the contrary, it occurs everywhere at the same
\ntime, wherever it can do so most easily and completely, and it is not
\nnecessarily this agglomerate of cells (Mother
\npoints to her own body<\/i>) that is most prepared for this operation. Therefore
\nit may remain as it is in its appearance for a very long time, even if its
\nunderstanding and receptivity are exceptional. I mean that the awareness, the
\nconscious perception of this body is infinitely superior to the awareness of
\nall the others with which it is in contact, except at those moments \u2013 the
\nmoments \u2013 when other bodies, as if by Grace, have this perception; whereas for
\nthis body, it is a natural and constant state. It is the effective result of
\nthe fact that this Truth-Consciousness is more constantly concentrated on this
\ngroup of cells than on any other \u2013 more directly. But the substitution of one
\nvibration for the other \u2013 in circumstances, in action, in objects \u2013 occurs at
\nthe point where it can have the most striking and effectual results. <\/span><\/p>\n

It is something I have felt very, very
\nclearly and which one cannot feel so long as the physical ego is there, because
\nthe physical ego has the sense of its own importance and that disappears
\nentirely with the physical ego. And when it disappears one has the precise
\nperception that the intervention or the manifestation of the true vibration
\ndoes not depend on egos or individualities \u2013 human or national individualities
\nor even those of Nature: animals, plants, etc. It depends on a certain play of
\nthe cells and Matter in which some agglomerates are particularly favourable to
\nthe transformation \u2013 not transformation, but substitution, to be precise: the
\nsubstitution of the vibration of Truth for the vibration of Falsehood. And this
\nphenomenon can be quite independent of any groupings or individualities \u2013 it
\nmay be one piece here, one piece there, one thing here, one thing
\n <\/span><\/p>\n

\nPage – 193<\/span><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n
\n

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

there \u2013 and it always corresponds to a
\ncertain quality of vibration that brings about an expansion \u2013 a receptive
\nexpansion. Then the phenomenon can take place. <\/span><\/p>\n

Unfortunately, as I said at the beginning,
\nall words belong to the world of appearances. <\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/span><\/p>\n

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

 <\/span><\/p>\n

And this has been my experience all this
\ntime, with a vision and a conviction \u2013 the conviction of experience: the two
\nvibrations are like that (gesture
\nindicating superimposition and infiltration<\/i>), all the time. All the time,
\nall the time. <\/span><\/p>\n

Perhaps the feeling of wonder comes when
\nthe amount of infiltration is great enough to become perceptible. But I have
\nthe impression \u2013 and a very acute impression \u2013 that this phenomenon is taking
\nplace all the time, all the time, everywhere (gesture indicating dots of infiltration<\/i>), in a minute,
\ninfinitesimal way; and in certain circumstances, certain conditions which are
\nvisible, visible to that vision \u2013 it is a kind of luminous expansion, I cannot
\nexplain \u2013 there, the mass of infiltration is great enough to give the
\nimpression of a miracle. But otherwise it is something that occurs all the
\ntime, all the time, ceaselessly, in the world (same gesture of dots<\/i>), like an infinitesimal quantity of Falsehood
\nbeing replaced by Light, Falsehood being replaced by Light\u2026 constantly. <\/span><\/p>\n

And this vibration \u2013 which I feel and see
\n\u2013 gives an impression of fire. This is what the Vedic Rishis must have
\ntranslated as the \u201cFlame\u201d \u2013 in the human consciousness, in man, in Matter they
\nalways spoke of a Flame. It is in fact a vibration which has the intensity of a
\nhigher fire. <\/span><\/p>\n

Several times, when the work was very
\nconcentrated or condensed, the body even felt that it was the equivalent of a
\nfever. <\/span><\/p>\n

Two or three nights ago, something like
\nthat happened; there was this descent of Force, a descent of this Truth-Power
\nwith a special intensity\u2026 Well, that is what is happening \u2013 happening <\/span><\/p>\n

\nPage – 194<\/span><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n
\n

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

everywhere, all the time. So, if it
\nhappens in an agglomerate that is large enough, it appears to be a miracle \u2013
\nbut it is the miracle of the whole earth.<\/i><\/span><\/p>\n

One must hold firm, because it has
\nconsequences, it brings a sensation of Power, and very few people can feel it,
\nexperience it, without their balance being more or less disturbed, because they
\ndo not have a sufficient basis of peace, of vast and very, very quiet peace.
\nMany times I have said: There is only one answer, one single answer: one must
\nbe quiet, quiet, and even more quiet, more and more quiet, and not trying to
\nfind a solution with the head, because it cannot. One must only be quiet \u2013
\nquiet, quiet, immovably quiet.Calm and peace, calm and peace \u2013 that is the only
\nanswer. <\/span><\/p>\n

I do not say that it is the cure, but it
\nis the only answer: to endure in calm and peace, to endure in calm and peace\u2026<\/span><\/p>\n

Then something will happen.
\n\u00a0<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n


\n25 March 1964 <\/span>
\n<\/font> <\/i><\/p>\n

 <\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

\n103<\/a> \u2013 Vivekananda, exalting Sannyasa,\u00b9 has said that in all Indian
\nhistory there is only one Janaka.\u00b2 Not so, for Janaka<\/span>
\nis not the name of a single individual, but a dynasty of self-ruling kings and
\nthe triumph-cry of an ideal. <\/span><\/p>\n

\n <\/span><\/p>\n

\n104 \u2013 In all the lakhs<\/span> of ochre-clad
\nSannyasins,\u00b3 how many are perfect? It is the few attainments and the many
\napproximations that justify an ideal. <\/span><\/p>\n

\n <\/span><\/p>\n

\n105 \u2013 There have been hundreds of perfect Sannyasins<\/span>,
\nbecause Sannyasa<\/span> has been widely preached and <\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/span><\/p>\n

\n\u00b9 <\/font> <\/span>Renunciation of the life and works of the
\nworld.<\/font><\/span><\/p>\n

\u00b2 Ancient king of Mithila<\/span>, famous for having attained spiritual knowledge
\nwhile leading the life of the world.<\/font><\/span><\/p>\n

\u00b3 Monks who have
\nrenounced the life and works of the world.<\/font> <\/font><\/span><\/p>\n

\nPage – 195<\/span><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n
\n

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

\nnumerously practised<\/span>; let it be the same with
\nthe ideal freedom and we shall have hundreds of Janakas<\/span>.<\/span><\/p>\n

\n <\/span><\/p>\n

\n106 \u2013 Sannyasa<\/span> has a formal garb and outer
\ntokens; therefore men think they can easily recognise<\/span>
\nit; but the freedom of a Janaka<\/span> does not proclaim
\nitself and it wears the garb of the world; to its presence even Narada\u00b9\u00a0 <\/span>was blinded.<\/span><\/p>\n

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

\n107 \u2013 Hard is it to be in the world, free, yet living the life of
\nordinary men; but because it is hard, therefore it must be attempted and
\naccomplished. <\/span><\/p>\n

\n <\/span><\/p>\n

It seems so obvious! <\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/span><\/p>\n

It is obvious, but difficult. <\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

 <\/span><\/p>\n

To be free from all attachment does not
\nmean running away from all occasion for attachment. All these people who assert
\ntheir asceticism, not only run away but warn others not to try! <\/span><\/p>\n

This seems so obvious to me. When you need
\nto run away from a thing in order not to experience it, it means that you are
\nnot above it, you are still on the same level. <\/span><\/p>\n

Anything that suppresses, diminishes or
\nlessens cannot bring freedom. Freedom has to be experienced in the whole of
\nlife and in all sensations. <\/span><\/p>\n

As a matter of fact I have made a whole
\nseries of studies on the subject, on the purely physical plane\u2026 In order to be
\nabove all possible error, we tend to eliminate any occasion for error. For
\nexample, if you do not want to say any useless words, you stop speaking; people
\nwho take a vow of silence imagine that this is control of speech \u2013 it is not
\ntrue! It is only eliminating the occasion for speech and therefore for saying
\nuseless things. It is the same thing with food: eating only what is neces<\/span>–<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/span><\/p>\n

\n\u00b9 <\/font> <\/span>famous Devarshi<\/span>
\nor divine seer.<\/font><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

\nPage – 196<\/span><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n
\n

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

sary<\/span><\/span>. In the transitional state we have
\nreached, we no longer want to lead this entirely animal life based on material
\nexchange and food; but it would be foolish to believe that we have reached a state
\nwhere the body can subsist entirely without food \u2013 nevertheless there is
\nalready a great difference, since they are trying to find the essential
\nnutrients in things in order to lessen the volume. But the natural tendency is
\nto fast \u2013 it is a mistake! <\/span><\/p>\n

For fear of being mistaken in our actions,
\nwe stop doing anything at all; for fear of being mistaken in our speech, we
\nstop speaking; for fear of eating for the pleasure of eating, we do not eat at
\nall \u2013 this is not freedom, it is simply reducing the manifestation to a
\nminimum; and the natural conclusion is Nirvana. But if the Lord wanted only
\nNirvana, nothing but Nirvana would exist! It is obvious that He conceives of
\nthe co-existence of all opposites, and that for Him this must be the beginning
\nof a totality. So obviously, if one feels meant for that, one can choose only
\none of His manifestations, that is to say, the absence of manifestation. But it
\nis still a limitation. And this is not the only way to find Him, far from it! <\/span><\/p>\n

It is a very common tendency which
\nprobably originates from an ancient suggestion or perhaps from some lack, some
\nincapacity \u2013 reduce, reduce, reduce one’s needs, reduce one’s activities,
\nreduce one’s words, reduce one’s food, reduce one’s active life \u2013 and all that
\nbecomes so narrow. In one’s aspiration not to make any more mistakes, one
\neliminates any occasion for making them. It is not a cure. <\/span><\/p>\n

But the other way is much, much more
\ndifficult.  <\/span><\/p>\n

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

 <\/span><\/p>\n

No, the solution is to act only under the
\ndivine impulsion, to speak only under the divine impulsion, to eat only under
\nthe divine impulsion. That is the difficult thing, because naturally, you
\nimmediately confuse the divine impulsion with your personal impulses.
\n <\/span><\/p>\n

\nPage – 197<\/span><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n
\n

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

I suppose this was the idea of all the
\napostles of renunciation: to eliminate everything coming from outside or from
\nbelow so that if something from above should manifest one would be in a
\ncondition to receive it. But from the collective point of view, this process
\ncould take thousands of years. From the individual point of view, it is
\npossible; but then one must keep intact the aspiration to receive the true
\nimpulsion \u2013 not the aspiration for complete liberation, but the aspiration
\nfor\u00a0 <\/span>active identification with the Supreme,
\nthat is to say, to will only what He wills, to do only what He wants: to exist
\nby and in Him alone. So one can try the method of renunciation, but this is for
\none who wants to cut himself off from others. And in that case, can there be
\nany integrality? It seems impossible to me. <\/span><\/p>\n

To proclaim publicly what one wants to do
\nis a considerable help. It may give rise to objections, scorn, conflict, but
\nthis is largely compensated for by public expectation, so to say, by what other
\npeople expect from you. This was certainly the reason for those robes: to let
\npeople know. Of course, that may bring you the scorn, the bad will of some
\npeople, but then there are all those who feel they must not interfere or meddle
\nwith this, that it is not their concern. <\/span><\/p>\n

I do not know why, but it always seemed to
\nme like showing off \u2013 it may not be and in some cases it is not, but all the
\nsame it is a way of saying to people, \u201cLook, this is what I am.\u201d And as I say,
\nit may help, but it has its drawbacks. <\/span><\/p>\n

It is another childishness. <\/span><\/p>\n

All these things are means, stages, steps,
\nbut\u2026 true freedom is to be free of everything \u2013 including means.<\/span><\/p>\n

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

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

 <\/span><\/p>\n

It is a restriction, a constriction,
\nwhereas the True Thing is an opening, a widening, an identification with the
\nwhole. <\/span><\/p>\n

When you reduce, reduce, reduce yourself,
\nyou do not have any feeling of losing yourself, it takes away your fear of
\nlosing <\/span><\/p>\n

\nPage – 198<\/span><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n
\n

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

yourself \u2013 you become something solid and
\ncompact. But if you choose the method of widening \u2013 the greatest possible widening
\n\u2013 you must not be afraid of losing yourself. <\/span><\/p>\n

It is much more difficult. <\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/i><\/span><\/p>\n

Then how can one do this in an external world which absorbs you
\nconstantly? I am thinking of people who live in the West, for example; they are
\nconstantly swallowed up by their work, their appointments, the telephone, they
\ndon’t even have a minute to purify what comes pouring in on them all the time,
\nand recover. In such conditions, how can one do this? <\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

 <\/span><\/p>\n

Oh, you must know what to take and what to
\nleave! <\/span><\/p>\n

That is the other extreme\u2026 Certainly,
\nmonasteries, retreats, escape into the forests or caves are necessary to
\ncounterbalance modern hyper-activity; and yet there is less of all that now
\nthan there was one or two thousand years ago. But to me this seems to have been
\na lack of understanding \u2013 it did not last. <\/span><\/p>\n

Of course, it is this excessive activity
\nwhich makes an excessive immobility necessary. <\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/i><\/span><\/p>\n

But how can one find a way to be what one should be, in normal
\nconditions? <\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

 <\/span><\/p>\n

How can one avoid falling into one kind of
\nexcess or the other? <\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/span><\/p>\n

Yes, to live normally and to be free. <\/span><\/i><\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

My child, that is why the Ashram was
\ncreated! That was the idea. Because, in France, I was always asking myself: How
\ncan one find the time to find oneself? How can one even find the time to
\nunderstand how to become free? So then I thought: a place where material needs
\nwill be sufficiently provided for, so that if one truly wants to become free,
\none can do so. And the
\n <\/span><\/p>\n

\nPage – 199<\/span><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n
\n

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

Ashram was founded on this idea, not on
\nany other \u2013 a place where people would have enough to live on so as to have
\ntime to think of the True Thing. <\/span><\/p>\n

(Mother
\nsmiles<\/i>) Human nature is such that laziness has taken the place of
\naspiration \u2013 not for everyone, but anyway in quite a general way \u2013 and licence<\/span> or libertinism has taken the place of freedom \u2013
\nwhich would tend to prove that the human race has to pass through a period of
\nrough handling before it is ready to pull itself away more sincerely from its
\nslavery to activity. <\/span><\/p>\n

Indeed, the first movement is this: \u201cOh! To
\nfind the place where one can concentrate, find oneself, truly live without
\nbeing preoccupied with material things.\u201d That is the first aspiration. It was
\neven on this basis, at any rate in the beginning, that disciples were chosen
\nbut it does not last! Things become easy and so one lets oneself go. There are
\nno moral restraints and so one acts foolishly. <\/span><\/p>\n

But one cannot even say that there was a
\nmistake in the selection \u2013 one would be tempted to believe it, but it is not
\ntrue; because the selection was made according to a very precise and clear
\ninner indication\u2026 It is probably the difficulty of keeping the inner attitude
\nunmixed. This is exactly what Sri Aurobindo<\/span> wanted,
\nwhat he was trying for. He said: \u201cIf I could find one hundred people, that
\nwould be enough.\u201d But it did not stay one hundred for long, and I must say that
\neven when it was a hundred, it was already mixed. <\/span><\/p>\n

Many came, attracted by the True Thing,
\nbut\u2026 one lets oneself go. That is, it is impossible to hold firm in one’s true
\nposition. <\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

Yes, I have noticed that in the extreme difficulty of the outer
\nconditions of the world, the aspiration was much more intense. <\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

 <\/span><\/p>\n

Yes, of course!
\n <\/span><\/p>\n

\nPage – 200<\/span><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n
\n

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

It is much more intense, it is almost a question of life and death. <\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

 <\/span><\/p>\n

Yes, that’s it! That is to say, man is
\nstill so crude that he needs extremes. That is what Sri Aurobindo<\/span>
\nsaid: For love to be true, hatred was necessary; true love could be born only
\nunder the pressure of hatred.\u00b9 That’s it. Well, one must accept things as they
\nare and try to go further. That is all. <\/span><\/p>\n

That is probably why there are so many
\ndifficulties \u2013 difficulties accumulate here: difficulties of character, health
\nand circumstances. It is because the consciousness awakens under the stress of
\ndifficulties. If everything is easy and peaceful, one falls asleep. <\/span><\/p>\n

That is also how Sri Aurobindo<\/span>
\nexplained the necessity of war. In peacetime, one becomes slack. <\/span><\/p>\n

It is a pity. <\/span><\/p>\n

I cannot say that I find it very pretty,
\nbut it seems to be like that. <\/span><\/p>\n

This is just what Sri Aurobindo<\/span>
\nsaid in The Hour of God: If you have the Force and the Knowledge and misuse the
\nmoment, woe to you. <\/span><\/p>\n

It is not revenge, it is not punishment,
\nnot at all, but you draw upon yourself a necessity, the necessity for a violent
\nimpulsion \u2013 to react to something violent.<\/span><\/p>\n

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

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

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

This is an experience I am having more and
\nmore: for the contact with this true divine Love to be able to manifest, that
\nis, to express itself freely, it demands an extraordinary strength in beings
\nand things, which does not yet exist. Otherwise everything falls apart. <\/span><\/p>\n

There are lots of very convincing details,
\nbut of course, because they are details or very personal things, one cannot <\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/span><\/p>\n

\n\u00b9 <\/font> <\/span>See Aphorisms 88 to 92.<\/font><\/span><\/p>\n

\nPage – 201<\/span><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n
\n

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

speak of them; but on the evidence of repeated
\nexperiences, I have to say this: when this Power of pure<\/i> Love \u2013 which is so wonderful, which is beyond all expression \u2013
\nas soon as it begins to manifest abundantly, freely, it is as if quantities of
\nthings crumbled down immediately \u2013 they cannot stand. They cannot stand, they
\nare dissolved. Then\u2026 then everything stops. And this stopping, which one might
\nthink is a disgrace, is just the opposite! It is an infinite Grace. <\/span><\/p>\n

Simply to perceive, a little concretely
\nand tangibly, the difference between the vibration in which one lives normally
\nand almost continually, and that vibration \u2013 simply to observe this infirmity,
\nwhich I call sickening \u2013 it really makes you feel sick \u2013 that is enough to stop
\neverything. <\/span><\/p>\n

Only yesterday, this morning, there are
\nlong moments when this Power manifests; then suddenly, there is a kind of
\nwisdom, an immeasurable wisdom which causes everything to subside in perfect tranquillity<\/span>: what must be shall be, it will take the time
\nthat is needed. And then everything is all right. In this way, everything is
\nall right immediately. But the splendour<\/span> fades. <\/span><\/p>\n

One has only to be patient. <\/span><\/p>\n

Sri Aurobindo<\/span>
\nalso has written this: Aspire intensely, but without impatience\u2026 The difference
\nbetween intensity and impatience is very subtle \u2013 it is all a difference in
\nvibration. It is subtle, but it makes all the difference. <\/span><\/p>\n

Intensely, but without impatience. That’s
\nit. One must be in that state. <\/span><\/p>\n

And for a very long time, a very long
\ntime, one must be satisfied with inner results, that is, results in one’s
\npersonal and individual reactions, one’s inner contact with the rest of the
\nworld \u2013 one must not expect or be premature in wanting things to materialise<\/span>. Because our hastiness usually delays things. <\/span><\/p>\n

If it is like that, it is like that. <\/span><\/p>\n

We \u2013 I mean men \u2013 live harassed lives. It
\nis a kind of half-awareness of the shortness of their lives; they do not think
\nof it, but they feel it half-consciously. And so they are always <\/span><\/p>\n

\nPage – 202<\/span><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n
\n

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

wanting \u2013 quick, quick, quick \u2013 to rush
\nfrom one thing to another, to do one thing quickly and move on to the next one,
\ninstead of letting each thing live in its own eternity. They are always
\nwanting: forward, forward, forward\u2026 And the work is spoilt. <\/span><\/p>\n

That is why some people have preached: the
\nonly moment that matters is the present moment. In practice it is not true, but
\nfrom the psychological point of view it ought to be true. That is to say, to
\nlive to the utmost of one’s capacities at every minute, without planning or
\nwanting, waiting or preparing for the next. Because you are always hurrying,
\nhurrying, hurrying\u2026 And nothing you do is good. You are in a state of inner
\ntension which is completely false \u2013 completely false. <\/span><\/p>\n

All those who have tried to be wise have
\nalways said it \u2013 the Chinese preached it, the Indians preached it \u2013 to live in
\nthe awareness of Eternity. In Europe also they said that one should contemplate
\nthe sky and the stars and identify oneself with their infinitude \u2013 all things
\nthat widen you and give you peace.<\/span><\/p>\n

These are means, but they are indispensable.
\n<\/span><\/p>\n

And I have observed this in the cells of
\nthe body; they always seem to be in a hurry to do what they have to do, lest
\nthey have no time to do it. So they do nothing properly. Muddled people \u2013 some
\npeople turn everything upside down, their movements are jerky and confused \u2013
\nhave this to a high degree, this kind of haste \u2013 quick, quick, quick\u2026
\nYesterday, someone was complaining of rheumatic pains and he was saying, \u201cOh,
\nit is such a waste of time. I do things so slowly!\u201d I said (Mother smiles<\/i>), \u201cSo what!\u201d He didn’t
\nlike it. You see, for someone to complain when he is in pain means that he is
\nsoft, that is all; but to say, \u201cI am wasting so much time, I do things so
\nslowly!\u201d It gave a very clear picture of the haste in which men live. You go
\nhurtling through life\u2026 to go where?\u2026 You end with a crash! <\/span><\/p>\n

What is the use of that?<\/span><\/p>\n

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

\nPage – 203<\/span><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n
\n

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

In reality, the moral of all these
\nAphorisms is that it is much more important to be than to seem to be \u2013 one must
\nlive and not pretend to live \u2013 and that it is much more important to realise<\/span> something entirely, sincerely, perfectly than to
\nlet others know that you are realising<\/span> it! <\/span><\/p>\n

It is the same thing again: when you are
\ncompelled to say what you are doing, you spoil half your action. <\/span><\/p>\n

And yet, at the same time, this helps you
\nto take your bearings, to find out exactly where you are. <\/span><\/p>\n

That was the wisdom of the Buddha who
\nspoke of \u201cthe Middle Way\u201d: neither too much of this nor too much of that,
\nneither falling into this nor falling into that \u2013 a little of everything and a
\nbalanced way\u2026 but\u00a0 <\/span>pure. Purity and
\nsincerity are the same thing. \u00a0<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n


\n16 September 1964
\n<\/font> <\/span><\/i>\n<\/p>\n

\n108 \u2013 When he watched the actions of Janaka, even Narada the divine sage
\nthought him a luxurious worldling and libertine. Unless thou canst see the
\nsoul, how shalt thou say that a man is free or bound? <\/span><\/p>\n

\n <\/span><\/p>\n

This raises all sorts of questions. For
\nexample, how is it that Narada could not see the soul? <\/span><\/p>\n

For me, it is very simple. Narada was a
\ndemi-god, he belonged to the overmind world and he was able to materialise
\nhimself, but these beings have no psychic. The gods do not have within them the
\ndivine spark, which is the core of the psychic, because only on earth \u2013 I am
\nnot even speaking of the material universe \u2013 only on earth did this descent of
\ndivine Love take place, which was the origin of the divine Presence in the core
\nof Matter. And naturally, since they have no psychic being, they do not know
\nthe psychic being. Some of these beings have even wanted to take a physical
\nbody so as to have the experience of the psychic being \u2013 but not many of them.
\n <\/span><\/p>\n

\n
\n <\/font><\/span><\/p>\n

\nPage – 204<\/span><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n


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

101 \u2013 In God’s sight there is no near or distant, no present, past or future. These things are only a convenient perspective for His…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[122],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-4296","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-10-on-thoughts-and-aphorisms-volume-10","wpcat-122-id"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/worksofthemotherandsriaurobindo.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4296","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=4296"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/worksofthemotherandsriaurobindo.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4296\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/worksofthemotherandsriaurobindo.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4296"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/worksofthemotherandsriaurobindo.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4296"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/worksofthemotherandsriaurobindo.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4296"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}