{"id":4305,"date":"2013-07-13T01:55:03","date_gmt":"2013-07-13T01:55:03","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/localhost\/?p=4305"},"modified":"2013-07-13T01:55:03","modified_gmt":"2013-07-13T01:55:03","slug":"01-jnana-58-1-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\/01-jnana-58-1-vol-10-on-thoughts-and-aphorisms-volume-10","title":{"rendered":"-01_jnana-58_1.htm"},"content":{"rendered":"\n\n
\n

JNANA<\/b><\/p>\n

(KNOWLEDGE)<\/p>\n

First period of Commentaries<\/p>\n

(1958)<\/p>\n

\n
\n


\nJnana (Knowledge) <\/font> <\/span><\/i><\/b><\/p>\n

\n
\n <\/span><\/font><\/i><\/p>\n


\nIt is no use reading
\nbooks of guidance if one is not determined to live what they teach.<\/font><\/span><\/i><\/p>\n


\n
\n
\n              <\/span><\/span>
\n
\nBlessings <\/span><\/font> <\/font> <\/i><\/p>\n

\n
\n\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>The
\nMother <\/font> <\/span> <\/p>\n

\n <\/font><\/span><\/p>\n

\n1 \u2013 There are two allied powers
\nin man: knowledge and Wisdom. Knowledge is so much of the truth, seen in a
\ndistorted medium, as the mind arrives at by groping; Wisdom what the eye of
\ndivine vision sees in the spirit. <\/font> <\/span><\/p>\n

\n <\/font><\/span><\/p>\n

\nSomeone has asked me, why
\nare the powers allied?<\/font><\/span><\/p>\n

\nI suppose that we are so
\nused to seeing all the elements in man quarrelling among themselves that the
\nidea of their being allied causes astonishment. But these quarrels are only
\napparent. All the powers which come from the higher regions are in fact
\nnecessarily allied \u2013 they are united, they have agreed to fight the Ignorance.
\nAnd Sri Aurobindo says clearly enough \u2013 for those who understand \u2013 that one of
\nthese powers belongs to the mind and that the other belongs to the Spirit. This
\nis precisely the profound truth that Sri Aurobindo wants to reveal in his
\nAphorism: if the mind tries to obtain the second power, it is unable to do so,
\nsince it is a power that belongs to the Spirit and arises in the human being
\ntogether with the spiritual consciousness. <\/font> <\/span><\/p>\n

\nKnowledge is something
\nthat the mind can obtain through much effort, although this is not the true
\nknowledge, but only a mental aspect of knowledge; whereas Wisdom does not at
\nall belong to the mind, which is altogether incapable of obtaining it, because,
\nin fact, it doesn’t even know what it is. I repeat, Wisdom is essentially a
\npower of the Spirit and it can arise only with the spiritual consciousness.<\/font><\/span> <\/span><\/font><\/p>\n

\nPage – 1<\/font><\/span><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n
\n

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

\n
\nIt would have been
\ninteresting to ask what Sri Aurobindo means when he speaks of the truth seen in
\na distorted medium. First of all, what is this distorted medium, and what does
\nthe truth become in a distorted medium? <\/span><\/font><\/span><\/p>\n

\nAs always, what Sri
\nAurobindo says can have several levels of meaning \u2013 one is more specific, the
\nother more general. In the most specific sense, the distorted medium is the
\nmental medium which works in ignorance and which is therefore unable to express
\ntruth in its purity. But since life as a whole is lived in ignorance, the
\ndistorted medium is also the earth-atmosphere which, in its entirety, distorts
\nthe truth seeking to express itself through it. <\/font> <\/span><\/p>\n

\nAnd here lies the most
\nsubtle point of this Aphorism. What can the mind arrive at by groping? We know
\nthat it is always groping, seeking to know, erring, returning upon its previous
\nattempts and trying again\u2026 Its progress is very, very halting. But what can it
\ngrasp of the truth? Is it a fragment, a piece, something which is still the
\ntruth, but only partially, incompletely, or is it something which is no longer
\nthe truth? That is the interesting point. <\/font> <\/span><\/p>\n

\nWe are used to being told
\n\u2013 perhaps we have also repeated many times \u2013 that one can only have partial,
\nincomplete, fragmentary knowledge which therefore cannot be true knowledge.
\nThis point of view is rather trite: one need only to have studied a little in
\nlife to be aware of it. However, what Sri Aurobindo means by the truth seen in
\na distorted medium is far more interesting than that. <\/font> <\/span><\/p>\n

\nTruth itself takes on
\nanother aspect; in this medium it is no longer the truth, but a distortion of
\nthe truth. Consequently, what can be seized of it is not a fragment which would
\nbe true, but an aspect, the false appearance of a truth which has itself melted
\naway. <\/font> <\/span><\/p>\n

\nI am going to give you an
\nimage to try to make myself understood; it is nothing more than an image, do
\nnot take it literally. <\/font> <\/span>
\n
\n <\/span><\/font><\/p>\n

\nPage – 2<\/font><\/span><\/span><\/b><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n
\n

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

\nIf we compare the
\nessential truth to a sphere of immaculate, dazzling white light, we can say
\nthat in the mental medium, in the mental atmosphere, this integral white light is
\ntransformed into thousands and thousands of shades, each of which has its own
\ndistinct colour, because they are all separated from one another. The medium
\ndistorts the white light and makes it appear as innumerable different colours:
\nred, green, yellow, blue, etc., which are sometimes very discordant. And the
\nmind seizes, not a little fragment of the white light of the white sphere, but
\na larger or smaller number of little lights of various colours, with which it
\ncannot even reconstitute the white light. Therefore it cannot reach the truth.
\nIt does not possess fragments of truth, but a truth that is broken up. It is a
\nstate of decomposition. <\/font> <\/span><\/p>\n

\nThe truth is a whole and
\neverything is necessary. The distorted medium through which you see, the mental
\natmosphere, is unsuited for the manifestation or the expression or even the
\nperception of all the elements \u2013 and one can say that the better part is lost.
\nSo it can no longer be called the truth, but rather something which in essence
\nis true, and yet no longer so at all in the mental atmosphere \u2013 it is an
\nignorance. <\/font> <\/span><\/p>\n

\nSo, to summarise, I shall
\nsay that knowledge, as it can be grasped by the human mind, is necessarily
\nknowledge in ignorance, one could almost say an ignorant knowledge. <\/font> <\/span><\/p>\n

\nWisdom is the vision of
\ntruth in its essence and of its application in the manifestation. <\/font> <\/span><\/p>\n

\n12 September 1958
\n<\/font> <\/span> <\/p>\n

\n <\/font><\/span><\/p>\n

\n
\n
\n2<\/span><\/a><\/font><\/i> \u2013 Inspiration is a
\nslender river of brightness leaping from a vast and eternal knowledge; it
\nexceeds reason more perfectly than reason exceeds the knowledge of the senses.
\n<\/font> <\/i> <\/span><\/p>\n

\n <\/font><\/span><\/p>\n

\nA certain number of the
\nquestions you have asked are alike:<\/font><\/span> <\/span><\/font><\/p>\n

\nPage – 3<\/font><\/span><\/span><\/b><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n
\n

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


\n\u201cWhy did Sri Aurobindo
\nsay it like this?\u201d \u2013 one thing or another.<\/span><\/font><\/span><\/p>\n

\nI could reply, He said it
\nlike this because he saw it like this. But, to begin with, one thing should be understood;
\nthese are definitions given by Sri Aurobindo, definitions which he gives mostly
\nin a paradoxical form to compel us to think. <\/font> <\/span><\/p>\n

\nThere are dictionary
\ndefinitions, which are the ordinary explanations of words as they are commonly
\nunderstood. These do not make you think. What Sri Aurobindo says, however, is
\nsaid in order to break up the usual conception, to bring you in touch with a
\ndeeper truth. In this way a whole lot of questions are eliminated. <\/font> <\/span><\/p>\n

\nThe effort one must make
\nis to try to find the deeper knowledge, the deeper truth that Sri Aurobindo has
\nexpressed in this way, which is not the usual way of defining a word. <\/font> <\/span><\/p>\n

\nI shall select some
\nquestions: the first one, which interested me because it comes from a
\nthoughtful person, concerns the word knowledge and compares the way Sri
\nAurobindo has used the word in this Aphorism with the way he used it in the
\nAphorism we read last week. <\/font> <\/span><\/p>\n

\nWhen, in last week’s
\nAphorism, Sri Aurobindo opposed \u2013 as one might say \u2013 \u201cknowledge\u201d to \u201cWisdom\u201d,
\nhe was speaking of knowledge as it is lived in the average human consciousness,
\nthe knowledge which is obtained through effort and mental development, whereas
\nhere, on the contrary, the knowledge he speaks of is the essential Knowledge,
\nthe supramental divine Knowledge, Knowledge by identity. And this is why he
\ndescribes it here as vast and eternal, which clearly indicates that it is not
\nhuman knowledge as we normally understand it. <\/font> <\/span><\/p>\n

\nMany people have asked
\nwhy Sri Aurobindo said that the river is slender. This is an expressive image
\nwhich creates a striking contrast between the immensity of the divine,
\nsupramental Knowledge \u2013 the origin of this inspiration, which is infinite \u2013 and
\nwhat a human mind can perceive of it and receive from it. Even when you are in
\ncontact with these domains, the por<\/font><\/span>tion, <\/span><\/font><\/p>\n

\nPage – 4<\/font><\/span><\/span><\/b><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n
\n

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


\nso to say, which
\nyou perceive, is minimal, slender. It is like a tiny little stream or a few
\nfalling drops and these drops are so pure, so brilliant, so complete in themselves,
\nthat they give you the sense of a marvellous inspiration, the impression that
\nyou have reached infinite domains and risen very high above the ordinary human
\ncondition. And yet this is nothing in comparison with what is still to be
\nperceived. <\/span><\/font><\/span><\/p>\n

\n\u00a0<\/span>I have also been asked if the psychic being or
\npsychic consciousness is the medium through which the inspiration is perceived.
\n<\/font>
\n<\/span><\/p>\n

\nGenerally, yes. The first
\ncontact you have with higher regions is a psychic one. Certainly, before an
\ninner psychic opening is achieved, it is difficult to have these inspirations.
\nIt can happen as an exception and under exceptional conditions as a grace, but
\nthe true contact comes through the psychic; because the psychic consciousness
\nis certainly the medium with the greatest affinity with the divine Truth. <\/font> <\/span><\/p>\n

\nLater, when one has
\nemerged from the mental consciousness into a higher consciousness beyond the
\nmind, beyond even the higher mind, and when one opens oneself to the Overmind
\nregions, and through the Overmind to the Supermind, one can receive
\ninspirations directly. And naturally at that point they become more frequent,
\nricher, if one may say so, more complete. There comes a time when inspiration
\ncan be obtained at will, but this obviously demands considerable inner
\ndevelopment. <\/font> <\/span><\/p>\n

\nAs we have just said,
\nthis inspiration from regions far above the mind surpasses in value and quality
\nthe highest achievements of the mind, such as reason. Reason is certainly at
\nthe apex of human mental activity. It can review and control the knowledge acquired
\nwith the help of the senses. It has often been said that the senses are
\naltogether defective instruments of knowledge, that they are incapable of
\nperceiving things as they are, that the information they supply is superficial
\nand very often faulty. When it is fully developed, the human reason knows this
\nand does not<\/font><\/span> <\/font><\/span><\/p>\n

\nPage – 5<\/font><\/span><\/span><\/b><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n
\n

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


\ntrust the knowledge of
\nthe senses. It is only if one is infra-rational, if I may say so, that one
\nbelieves that all one sees, hears, or touches is absolutely true. As soon as one
\nis developed in the region of higher reason, one knows that all these notions
\nare almost essentially false, and that one can in no way rely on them. But the
\nknowledge one receives from this supramental or divine region surpasses all
\nthat can be conceived or understood by reason, at least to the same extent that
\nreason surpasses the knowledge of the senses. <\/span><\/font><\/span><\/p>\n

\nSeveral questions concern
\na practical point: How to develop the capacity for inspiration?\u201d; \u201cWhat are the
\nconditions needed to receive inspiration and is it possible to have it
\nconstantly?\u201d <\/font> <\/span><\/p>\n

\nI have already replied to
\nthis. When one opens oneself to the supramental regions, one puts oneself in
\nthe right state for receiving constant inspirations. Until then, the best
\nmethod is to silence the mind as much as possible, to turn it upwards and to
\nremain in a state of silent and attentive receptivity. The more one is able to
\nestablish a silent, perfect calm in the mind, the more one becomes capable of
\nreceiving inspirations. <\/font> <\/span><\/p>\n

\nIt was also asked whether
\ninspirations are of different qualities. <\/font> <\/span><\/p>\n

\nIn their origin, no. They
\nalways come down from the regions of pure Knowledge and penetrate whatever part
\nof the human being is most receptive, best adapted to receive them \u2013 but these
\ninspirations may apply to different domains of action. They can be inspirations
\nof pure knowledge, they can also be inspirations that contribute to one’s
\neffort to progress, and they can also be inspirations for action which help in
\nthe practical and outer realisation. But the question here is the use one makes
\nof the inspiration, rather than of the quality of the inspiration \u2013 the
\ninspiration is always like a drop of light and truth which succeeds in
\npenetrating the human consciousness. <\/font> <\/span><\/p>\n

\nWhat the human
\nconsciousness does with this drop depends on the attitude, the need, the
\noccasion, the circumstances; it does<\/font><\/span> <\/span><\/font><\/p>\n

\nPage – 6<\/font><\/span><\/span><\/b><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n
\n

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


\nnot alter the essential
\nnature of the inspiration but it does alter the use one makes of it, its
\npractical application. <\/span><\/font><\/span><\/p>\n

\nSome of the other
\nquestions concern the difference between inspiration and intuition. They are
\nnot the same thing; but I think that we will have the opportunity of returning
\nto this subject in the course of our reading. When Sri Aurobindo tells us what
\nhe considers intuition to be, we shall come back to it. <\/font> <\/span><\/p>\n

\nIn a general and almost
\nabsolute way, if you truly wish to profit from these readings, as from all of
\nSri Aurobindo’s writings, the best method is this: having gathered your
\nconsciousness and focused your attention on what you are reading, you must
\nestablish a minimum of mental tranquility \u2013 the best thing would be to obtain
\nperfect silence \u2013 and achieve a state of immobility of the mind, immobility of
\nthe brain, I might say, so that the attention becomes as still and immobile as
\na mirror, like the surface of absolutely still water. Then what one has read
\npasses through the surface and penetrates deep into the being where it is
\nreceived with a minimum of distortion. Afterwards \u2013 sometimes long afterwards \u2013
\nit wells up again from the depths and manifests in the brain with its full
\npower of comprehension, not as knowledge acquired from outside, but as a light
\none carried within. <\/font> <\/span><\/p>\n

\nIn this way the faculty
\nof understanding is at its highest, whereas if, while you read, the mind
\nremains agitated and tries to understand at once what it is reading, you lose
\nmore than three-quarters of the force, the knowledge and the truth contained in
\nthe words. And if you are able to refrain from asking questions until this
\nprocess of absorption and inner awakening is completed, well, then you will
\nfind that you have far fewer questions to ask because you will have a better
\nunderstanding of what you have read. <\/font> <\/span><\/p>\n

\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\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>
\n
\n19
\nSeptember 1958<\/span><\/font> <\/span>
\n<\/font>
\n
\n <\/font><\/span><\/p>\n

\nPage \u2013 7<\/font><\/span><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n
\n

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

\n
\n
\n3<\/span><\/a> \u2013 When I speak, the
\nreason says, This will I say; but God takes the word\u00a0\u00a0 <\/span>out\u00a0
\n<\/span>of my mouth and the lips say something else at which reason trembles. <\/span>
\n<\/font><\/i><\/span><\/b><\/p>\n

\n <\/font><\/span><\/p>\n

\nWhen Sri Aurobindo says
\nI, he speaks of himself and of his own experience. We would like to be able to
\nsay that what he says is symbolic and that it could apply to many people, but unfortunately
\nthis is not so at all. <\/font> <\/span><\/p>\n

\nThis experience, of not
\nsaying what you had meant to say when you speak, but something else, is very
\ncommon; but it is the opposite of what Sri Aurobindo speaks of here. That is to
\nsay, when you are sitting calmly at home using your reason to its full extent,
\nyou decide to say this or that, that this is the reasonable thing, but all too
\noften, when you begin to speak, it is the lower impulses, the unreasonable
\nemotions and the vital reactions which take hold of the tongue and make you say
\nthings which you should not say. <\/font> <\/span><\/p>\n

\nHere it is the same
\nphenomenon, but, as I said, the other way round. Instead of infrarational
\nimpulses which make you speak with excitement and passion, it is, on the
\ncontrary, an inspiration coming from above, a light and a knowledge greater
\nthan those of the reason which take hold of the tongue and make you say things
\nthat you would have been incapable of saying even with the most enlightened
\nreason. <\/font> <\/span><\/p>\n

\nSri Aurobindo tells us
\nthat \u201cthe reason trembles\u201d because these higher truths always appear in the
\nhuman domain as paradoxes, revelations contrary to reason; not because reason
\nis incapable of understanding what comes from the higher regions, but because
\nthese revelations are always ahead of, very much ahead of, that which reason
\nhas understood or accepted. What the human reason of today finds reasonable has
\nbeen paradoxical and mad in the past; and probably \u2013 one may say, certainly \u2013
\nthese unexpected, paradoxical, revolutionary revelations which are manifesting
\nnow and making the reason tremble, will in time to come be very reasonable
\nknowledge, which in turn <\/font> <\/span>
\n
\n <\/font><\/span><\/p>\n

\nPage \u2013 8<\/font><\/span><\/span><\/b><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n
\n

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


\nwill tremble before new
\nrevelations.<\/span><\/font><\/span><\/p>\n

\nIt is this sense of
\nsomething which is always moving, progressing, being transformed, that Sri
\nAurobindo is trying to give us with these compact phrases which for a time
\nshake our understanding of things. It is to push us forward, to give us the
\nsense of the complete relativity of all that manifests in the world, and of
\nthis universe which is always in motion, ever moving towards a higher and
\ngreater Truth. <\/font> <\/span><\/p>\n

\nFor us, right now, the
\nsupramental transformation is the expression of the highest truth, it is the
\nrevolution we must bring about on earth; and certainly this revolution must be
\nfelt as an absolute by the majority of human beings, otherwise they will not be
\nable to bring it about. But Sri Aurobindo insists that we should not forget
\nthat this absolute is still relative and that any manifestation must always be
\nrelative with regard to an Absolute which is even more absolute \u2013 the
\nUnmanifest that will manifest later. \u00a0<\/span><\/font><\/span><\/p>\n

\n
\n26
\n September 1958<\/span><\/font><\/span><\/p>\n

\n <\/font><\/span><\/p>\n

\n
\n
\n4<\/span><\/a><\/font><\/i> \u2013 I am not a Jnani,\u00b9 for
\nI have no knowledge except what God gives me for His work. How am I to know
\nwhether what I see be reason or folly? Nay, it is neither; for the thing seen
\nis simply true and neither folly nor reason.<\/font><\/i><\/span><\/p>\n

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

\n\u201cI am not a Jnani\u2026\u201d The
\nJnani is one who follows the path of Knowledge, one who wants to realise Yoga
\nexclusively through Knowledge, and who follows a purely intellectual path with
\nthe will to go beyond it and attain Knowledge, which is no longer intellectual,
\nbut spiritual. And Sri Aurobindo says: I am not a Jnani\u2026I do not seek
\nknowledge. I have given myself to the Divine to accomplish His work and, by the
\ndivine Grace, at <\/font> <\/span><\/p>\n


\n <\/span><\/font><\/p>\n

\n
\n\u00b9 <\/font> <\/span>
\nOne
\nwho follows the path of Knowledge (j\u00f1āna<\/i>)
\nas opposed to the path of Love (bhakti<\/i>),
\nor the path of Works (karma<\/i>)<\/font><\/span><\/font> <\/font><\/span><\/p>\n

\nPage – 9<\/font><\/span><\/span><\/b><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n
\n

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


\nevery moment I know what
\nmust be known in order to accomplish this work.<\/span><\/font><\/span><\/p>\n

\n\u00a0<\/span>It is an admirable state; it is perfect peace of
\nmind. There is no longer any need to accumulate acquired knowledge, received
\nideas which have to be memorised; it is no longer necessary to clutter one’s
\nbrain with thousands and thousands of things in order to have at one’s command,
\nwhen the time comes, the knowledge that is needed to perform an action, to
\nimpart a teaching, to solve a problem. The mind is silent, the brain is still,
\neverything is clear, quiet, calm; and at the right moment, by divine Grace a
\ndrop of light falls into the consciousness and what needs to be known is known.
\nWhy should one care to remember \u2013 why try to retain that knowledge? On the day
\nor at the moment that it is needed one will have it again. At each second one
\nis a blank page on which what must be known will be inscribed \u2013 in the peace,
\nthe repose, the silence of a perfect receptivity.<\/font><\/span><\/p>\n

\nOne knows what must be
\nknown, one sees what must be seen, and since what must be known and seen comes
\ndirectly from the Supreme, it is Truth itself; and it completely eludes all
\nnotions of reason or folly. What is true is true \u2013 that is all. And one has to
\nsink very low to wonder whether it is folly or reason.<\/font><\/span><\/p>\n

\nSilence and a modest,
\nhumble, attentive receptivity; no concern for appearances or even any anxiety
\nto be \u2013 one is quite modestly, quite humbly, quite simply the instrument which
\nof itself is nothing and knows nothing, but is ready to receive everything and
\ntransmit everything. <\/font> <\/span><\/p>\n

\nThe first condition is
\nself forgetfulness, a total self giving, the absence of ego. <\/font> <\/span><\/p>\n

\nAnd the body says to the
\nSupreme Lord: What You want me to be, I shall be; what You want me to know, I
\nshall know; what You want me to do, I shall do. <\/font> <\/span><\/p>\n

\n <\/font><\/span><\/p>\n


\n
\n\u00a0<\/font><\/span>3 October 1958<\/font><\/span> <\/font><\/span><\/font><\/p>\n

\nPage – 10<\/font><\/span><\/span><\/b><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n
\n

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

\n
\n
\n5<\/span><\/a> \u2013 If mankind only caught
\na glimpse of what infinite enjoyments, what perfect forces, what luminous
\nreaches of spontaneous knowledge, what wide calms of our being lie waiting for
\nus in the tracts which our animal evolution has not yet conquered, they would
\nleave all and never rest till they had gained these treasures. But the way is
\nnarrow, the doors are hard to force, and fear, distrust and scepticism are
\nthere, sentinels of Nature, to forbid the turning away of our feet from her
\nordinary pastures. <\/span><\/font><\/i><\/span><\/b><\/p>\n

\n <\/font><\/span><\/p>\n

\nWhat Sri Aurobindo has
\nwritten, the words [\u201ccaught a glimpse\u201d] which have been translated\u00b9 as entrevoyaient<\/i>, means to see something in
\nits totality, but for a very brief moment. It is obvious that a constant vision
\nof all these wonders would automatically compel you to set out on the path. It
\nis also certain that a little fragmentary glimpse is not enough would not have
\nenough \u2013 it weight to compel you to follow the path. <\/font> <\/span><\/p>\n

\n\u00a0<\/span>But if you had a total vision, however brief,
\nyou would not be able to resist the temptation of making the effort needed to
\nrealise it. But, in fact, the total vision is exceptional, and that is why Sri
\nAurobindo says to us: \u201cIf mankind only\u2026\u201d\u00a0
\n<\/span><\/font><\/span><\/p>\n

\nTo tell the truth, it
\nvery seldom happens that those who are ready, who are undoubtedly meant for
\nrealisation, do not have, at a certain moment in their lives, even if only for
\na few seconds, the experience of what this realisation is. <\/font> <\/span><\/p>\n

\nBut even those whose
\ndestiny is certain have to struggle mightily, resolutely, against this
\nsomething which one seems to take in with the very air one breathes: this fear,
\nthis dread of what may happen. And this is so stupid, because, in the final
\nanalysis, the destiny of each individual is the same: you are born, you live \u2013
\nmore or less satisfactorily \u2013 and you die; then you wait for a certain length
\nof time, and again you are born, you live \u2013 more or less satisfactorily \u2013 and
\nagain you die, and <\/font> <\/span><\/p>\n


\n <\/span><\/font><\/p>\n

\n
\n\u00b9 <\/span><\/font>
\n
\nIn
\nthe French text of\u00a0 <\/span>Thoughts and
\nAphorisms read by the Mother.<\/font><\/span> <\/font><\/span><\/p>\n

\nPage -11<\/font><\/span><\/span><\/b><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n
\n

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


\nso on indefinitely, until
\nyou feel you have had enough of it. <\/span><\/font><\/span><\/p>\n

\n\u00a0<\/span>Fear of what? Fear of coming out of the rut? Fear
\nof being free? Fear of no longer being a prisoner? <\/font> <\/span><\/p>\n

\nAnd then, when you have
\nenough courage to overcome this, when you say, Come what may! After all,
\nthere’s not much to lose, then you become wary, you wonder if it is reasonable,
\nif it is true, if all that is not an illusion, if you are not just imagining
\nthings, if there is really any substance to it\u2026 And mind you, this mistrust
\nseems stupid, but you encounter it even in the most intelligent, even in those
\nwho have repeatedly had conclusive experiences \u2013 it is something that you take
\nin with the food you eat, the air you breathe, your contacts with others; and
\nthat is why you can speak of the tentacles of Nature,\u201d\u00b9 everywhere, in all
\nthings, like an octopus stealing in and catching you and binding you. <\/font> <\/span><\/p>\n

\nEven when you have
\novercome these two obstacles, when the experiences are so strong that you can
\nno longer doubt, that doubt becomes impossible \u2013 like doubting one’s own life \u2013
\nthen there remains something awful, petty, dry, corrosive: scepticism. And this
\nis founded on human pride, that is why it lasts so long. You want to think that
\nyou are above all these things, Oh, I am not one to fall into those traps! I am
\na reasonable man, I see things from a practical point of view; I’m not so
\neasily deceived. It is awful!\u2026 It is sordid. But it is dangerous.<\/font><\/span><\/p>\n

\nEven in moments of
\ngreatest enthusiasm, even when one is filled with an exceptional, marvellous
\nexperience \u2013 it rises from the lowest depths. It is ugly, slimy, disgusting.
\nAnd yet it rises, and spoils everything. <\/font> <\/span><\/p>\n

\nTo conquer it, one must
\nbe a mighty warrior. One must struggle against all the obscurities of Nature,
\nagainst all her tricks, all her temptations. <\/font> <\/span><\/p>\n

\nWhy does she do this? It
\nis as if she were moving away from her own goal. But I have already explained this
\nto you many<\/font><\/span><\/p>\n


\n <\/span><\/font><\/p>\n

\n
\n\u00b9 <\/span><\/font>
\n
\nThe
\ntranslation the Mother had before her was based on a text which read tentacles
\nof Nature instead of sentinels of Nature.<\/font><\/span> <\/font><\/span><\/p>\n

\nPage – 12<\/font><\/span><\/span><\/b><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n
\n

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


\ntimes. Nature knows very
\nwell where she is going and what the outcome is. She wants it, but\u2026 in her own
\nway. She does not feel that any time is being wasted. She has all eternity
\nbefore her. She wants to follow her own way as she likes, meandering as much as
\nshe likes, going back on her tracks, straying from the straight path, starting
\nthe same thing all over again several times to see what will happen. And these
\nenlightened cranks, who want to get there at once, as soon as possible, who
\nthirst for truth, light, beauty, balance \u2013 they bother her, they urge her on,
\nthey tell her that she is wasting her time. Her time! She always replies, But I
\nhave all eternity before me. Am I in a hurry? Why are you in such a hurry? And
\nagain, with a smile: Your haste is all too human; widen yourselves, become
\ninfinite, be eternal, and you will no longer be in a hurry. <\/span><\/font><\/span><\/p>\n

\nThere is so much fun on
\nthe way, for her\u2026 but not for everyone. <\/font> <\/span><\/p>\n

\nThis is what happens when
\none sees things from a great height, from a great distance, when one’s view is
\nvast, almost infinite. Everything that upsets human beings and makes them
\nsuffer, disappears; so those who are very wise, who have abandoned life for the
\nsake of higher wisdom tell you with a smile, Why suffer? Come out of it and you
\nwill suffer no more. That is all very well individually but, in fact, if you
\nthink about others you may wish this rather tragic comedy would come to an end
\nsooner. And it is very justifiable to feel tired of living like a beast at
\npasture, of roaming from one patch of grass to another, of ruminating in a
\ncorner, of having such narrow horizons and of missing all the splendours of
\nlife. <\/font> <\/span><\/p>\n

\nPerhaps it amuses Nature
\nthat we should be like that, but we are tired of it, we want to be different.
\n<\/font> <\/span><\/p>\n

\nAnd that is it. When you
\nhave truly had enough of it and want things to be different, then you have the
\ncourage, the strength, the capacity to conquer these three terrible enemies:
\nfear, doubt and scepticism. But I repeat, it is not enough to sit down one fine
\nday, watch yourself be, and struggle with these<\/font><\/span> <\/font><\/span><\/p>\n

\nPage \u2013 13<\/font><\/span><\/b><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n
\n

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


\nthings inside you once and
\nfor all. You have to do it and do it again and again and continue in a way
\nwhich seems almost endless, to be sure that you have got rid of it all. In
\nreality, you are perhaps never truly rid of it, but there comes a time when
\ninside yourself, you are so different that you can no longer be touched by
\nthese things. You can see them, but you see them with a smile, and at a simple
\ngesture they go away, back to where they came from, perhaps a little changed,
\nperhaps a little less strong, less obstinate, less aggressive \u2013 until the time
\nwhen the Light is so strong that all darkness vanishes. <\/span><\/font><\/span><\/p>\n

\nAs for the marvels Sri
\nAurobindo tells us about, it is better not to describe them, because each
\nindividual feels them, undergoes them, experiences them in his own way \u2013 and
\nfor each person that is the best way. One must not adopt another’s way, one
\nmust go one’s own way, then the experience has its full value, its full
\ninestimable value. <\/font> <\/span><\/p>\n

\nAnd finally, I wish that
\nyou may all have these experiences yourselves. And for that, faith, confidence,
\nmuch humaneness and great goodwill are needed. <\/font> <\/span><\/p>\n

\nOpen, aspire, and\u2026 wait.
\nIt will surely come, the Grace is there. It asks only to be able to work for
\neveryone. \u00a0<\/span><\/font><\/span><\/p>\n

\n10 October 1958 <\/font><\/span> <\/font><\/span><\/p>\n

\n
\n
\n6<\/span><\/a><\/font><\/i> \u2013 Late, I learned that
\nwhen reason died then Wisdom was born; before that liberation, I had only
\nknowledge.<\/font><\/i><\/span><\/p>\n

\n <\/font><\/span><\/p>\n

\nOnce again I must repeat
\nthat the form of these Aphorisms is purposely paradoxical in order to give the
\nmind a little shock and awaken it enough for it to make an effort to
\nunderstand. One must not take this Aphorism literally. Some people seem worried
\nby the idea that reason must disappear for one to become wise. It is not that,
\nit is not that at all. <\/font> <\/span><\/p>\n

\nReason must no longer be
\nthe summit and the master. <\/font> <\/span>
\n
\n <\/span><\/font><\/p>\n

\nPage \u2013 14<\/font><\/span><\/b><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n
\n

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

\n\u00a0<\/span>For a very long time in life, until one
\npossesses anything resembling Knowledge, it is indispensable that reason be the
\nmaster, otherwise one is the plaything of one’s impulses, one’s fancies, one’s
\nmore or less disordered emotional imaginings, and one is in danger of being
\nvery far removed not merely from wisdom but even from the knowledge needed for
\nconducting oneself acceptably. But when one has managed to control all the
\nlower parts of the being with the help of reason, which is the apex of ordinary
\nhuman intelligence, then if one wants to go beyond this point, if one wants to
\nliberate oneself from ordinary life, from ordinary thought, from the ordinary
\nvision of things, one must, if I may say so, stand upon the head of reason, not
\ntrampling it down disdainfully, but using it as a stepping stone to something
\nhigher, something beyond it, to attain to something which concerns itself very
\nlittle with the decrees of reason; something which can allow itself to be
\nirrational because it is a higher irrationality, with a higher light; something
\nwhich is beyond ordinary knowledge and which receives its inspirations from
\nabove, from high above, from the divine Wisdom.<\/font><\/span><\/p>\n

\nThat is what this means.
\n<\/font> <\/span><\/p>\n

\nAs for the knowledge of
\nwhich Sri Aurobindo speaks here, it is ordinary knowledge, it is not Knowledge
\nby identity; it is knowledge that can be acquired by the intellect through
\nthought, through ordinary means. <\/font> <\/span><\/p>\n

\nBut once again \u2013 and in
\nany case we shall have occasion to return to this when we study the next
\nAphorism \u2013 do not be in a hurry to abandon reason in the conviction that you
\nwill immediately attain to Wisdom, because you must be ready for Wisdom;
\notherwise, by abandoning reason, you run a great risk of falling into unreason,
\nwhich is rather dangerous. <\/font> <\/span><\/p>\n

\nMany times in his
\nwritings, particularly in The Synthesis
\nof Yoga<\/i>, Sri Aurobindo warns us against the imaginings of those who believe
\nthey can do sadhana without rigorous self-control and who heed all sorts of
\ninspirations, which lead them to a dangerous imbalance where all their repressed,
\nhidden, secret<\/font><\/span> <\/span><\/font><\/p>\n

\nPage – 15<\/font><\/span><\/span><\/b><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n
\n

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


\ndesires come out into the
\nopen under the pretence of liberation from ordinary conventions and ordinary
\nreason.<\/span><\/font><\/span><\/p>\n

\n\u00a0<\/span>One can be free only by soaring to the heights,
\nhigh above human passions. Only when one has achieved a higher, selfless
\nfreedom and done away with all desires and impulses does one have the right to
\nbe free. <\/font> <\/span><\/p>\n

\nBut neither should people
\nwho are very reasonable, very moral according to ordinary social laws, think
\nthemselves wise, for their wisdom is an illusion and holds no profound truth.<\/font><\/span><\/p>\n

\nOne who would break the
\nlaw must be above the law. One who would ignore conventions must be above
\nconventions. One who would despise all rules must be above all rules. And the
\nmotive of this liberation should never be a personal, egoistic one: the desire
\nto satisfy an ambition, aggrandise one’s personality, through a feeling of
\nsuperiority, out of contempt for others, to set oneself above the herd and
\nregard it with condescension. Be on your guard when you feel yourself superior
\nand look down on others ironically, as if to say, I’m no longer made of such
\nstuff. That’s when you go off the track and are in danger of falling into an
\nabyss. <\/font> <\/span><\/p>\n

\nWhen one truly attains
\nwisdom, the true wisdom, the wisdom Sri Aurobindo is speaking of here, there is
\nno longer higher and lower; there is only a play of forces in which each thing
\nhas its place and its importance. And if there is a hierarchy it is a hierarchy
\nof surrender to the Supreme. It is not a hierarchy of superiority with regard
\nto what is below. <\/font> <\/span><\/p>\n

\nAnd with human
\nunderstanding, human reason, human knowledge, one is unable to discern this
\nhierarchy. Only the awakened soul can recognise another awakened soul, and then
\nthe sense of superiority disappears completely. <\/font> <\/span><\/p>\n

\nTrue wisdom comes only
\nwhen the ego disappears, and the ego disappears only when you are ready to
\nabandon yourself completely to the supreme Lord without any personal motive and
\nwithout any expectation of profit \u2013 when you do it because you cannot do
\notherwise.  <\/font><\/span><\/p>\n

\n
\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\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>
\n
\n17
\nOctober 1958<\/span><\/font> <\/span><\/font><\/p>\n

\nPage – 16<\/font><\/span><\/span><\/b><\/p>\n


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

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