{"id":4341,"date":"2013-07-13T01:55:19","date_gmt":"2013-07-13T01:55:19","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/localhost\/?p=4341"},"modified":"2013-07-13T01:55:19","modified_gmt":"2013-07-13T01:55:19","slug":"11-prayers-and-meditations-vol-02-words-of-long-ago-volume-02","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/worksofthemotherandsriaurobindo.org\/index.php\/02-works-of-the-mother\/01-cwmce\/02-words-of-long-ago-volume-02\/11-prayers-and-meditations-vol-02-words-of-long-ago-volume-02","title":{"rendered":"-11_Prayers and Meditations.htm"},"content":{"rendered":"\n\n
\n
\n

\n\t
\n\tPart Four<\/span><\/b><\/font><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Prayers
\nand meditations, some written between 1914 and 1916, the rest undated but
\nprobably belonging to the pre-1920 period. <\/span><\/i>
\n
\n <\/span><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n
\n

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

\nI<\/font><\/span>nsofar as the activities of the physical organism are egocentric,
\nit is both legitimate and necessary to separate the consciousness from it and
\nto regard the body as a servant to be directed, guided and made obedient. As
\nthe terrestrial being grows more receptive to the divine forces and manifests
\nthem in its illumined activities, one can identify oneself with it once more
\nand cease to distinguish between the instrument and the Doer. But since, by the
\nvery necessity of preservation, these two modes of activity inevitably coexist,
\nboth these points of view, both these ways of feeling must also coexist. <\/span><\/p>\n

24 July 1914<\/span> <\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/span><\/p>\n

True impersonality of the nervous being
\ndoes not consist in an entire and absolute surrender to the Divine Will. This
\nsubmission is but a preparation. Perfect impersonality \u2013 whether in the prana<\/i> or in the other worlds of being \u2013 lies
\nin identification with the terrestrial prana<\/i>,
\nor rather with the divine bliss deep within all sensations as within all
\nuniversal activities. The result is that instead of feeling the joy of a
\nsensation, one is this very sensation in all those who enjoy it. Then the
\nindividual prana<\/i> no longer exists;
\nbut there is instead a force, at once impersonal and conscious, which manifests
\nin all the organs that are capable of perceiving it. <\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/span>For
\nexample, there is a subtle joy, both sweet and profound, in the sensation one
\nfeels while walking alone or with a companion with whom one is in perfect
\nharmony, through seldom trod or virgin tracts of countryside unspoiled by any
\nhuman atmosphere, where Nature is tranquil, vast, pure like an aspiration, holy
\nlike a prayer; on mountains, in forests, along stray paths beside limpid
\nstreams, or on the shores of a boundless ocean. So long as the prana remains
\nindividual, this joy can only be experienced when certain outer conditions are
\nfulfilled. On <\/span>
\n
\n <\/span><\/p>\n

\nPage – 115<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n
\n

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

the other hand, when the prana is truly impersonalised<\/span>,
\nuniversalised<\/span>,\u00a0
\n<\/span>one becomes this delightful bliss <\/i>in
\nall those who feel it; one no longer needs, in order to enjoy it, to be
\nsurrounded by certain specific material conditions.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/span>With regard to the nervous plane, one is then perfectly
\nfree from all circumstances. One has attained liberation. <\/span><\/p>\n

30 July 1914<\/span> <\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/span>I
\nlistened to the voice of the waves and it told me of many marvels. It spoke to
\nme of the joy of life and of the ecstasies of movement. O Sea, in a song
\nwithout end and ever renewed, thou didst tell me again of the power of love
\nwhich makes all things true. Contemplating the splendour<\/span>
\nof thy invincible action, I perceived the irresistible surge that carries the
\nuniverse towards the Supreme Reality. The force that lifts thee and changes thy
\nsurface into mountains is like the force that raises the world out of its
\ninertia and awakens in it the aspiration for the Divine. <\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/span>Then as I watched thee in the silence, thou
\ndidst speak to me more deeply still, and thou didst tell me of the great
\nmystery of eternal Love that loves itself in all forms and is self-revealed in
\nall activities. Already in my being this ineffable Love lived self-aware, but
\nat that hour its life took on an exceptional intensity, or perhaps the
\nindividual perception was exceptionally clear. O adorable Lord, Sovereign
\nMaster of the world, Thou who, being all, possessest<\/span>
\nand delightest<\/span> in all, didst Thou in that moment of
\nThy eternity cast a closer glance towards us, that we were thus bathed in such
\na magnificence of love? Or was it that Thou didst wish, in the humble
\ninstrument of this ephemeral and limited being, to taste more strongly and
\nfully, with more intensity and precision, Thy own delight of being and
\nself-manifestation? Suddenly all was lit with the inexpressible beauty of Thy
\nTruth, and in the mirror of the individual consciousness Thou didst reflect all
\nthe infinitely varied modes of self-expression of Thy being of <\/span>
\n
\n <\/span><\/p>\n

\nPage – 116<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n
\n

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

Love. Pain and enjoyment united and fused in an ecstasy which
\nseemed as if it must consume the whole being in its blaze. Oh, how well it
\nunderstood Thee, this portion of Thyself that has crystallised<\/span>
\ninto what I call my being, how powerfully it loved Thee in those unforgettable
\nmoments! All barriers of thought and sensation had vanished, consumed by the ardour<\/span> of Thy divine fire, and indeed it was Thou who at
\nthat moment didst delight in Thy eternal and infinite presence in all things.
\nThou wast<\/span> all actions and all resistances, all
\nsensations and all thoughts, the one who loves and the one who is loved, that
\nwhich gives itself and that which receives, in an inexhaustible and ever-moving
\nharmony. <\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/span>I
\nlistened to the song of the waves, and it told me of such great marvels…<\/span><\/p>\n

March
\nor April 1915 <\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/span>To
\nknow how to renounce the satisfaction of the present moment for the sake of
\nrealising one’s ideal is the great art of those who want to make their
\ntransient, total existence yield its utmost. <\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/span>There are innumerable categories of
\n\u201csuccessful\u201d people; these categories are determined by the greater or lesser
\nbreadth, nobility, complexity, purity and luminosity of their ideal. One may
\n\u201csucceed\u201d as a rag-picker or \u201csucceed\u201d as master of the world or even as a
\nperfect ascetic; in all three cases, although on very different levels, it is
\none’s more or less integral and extensive self-mastery which makes the
\n\u201csuccess\u201d possible. <\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/span>On
\nthe other hand, there is only one way of being a \u201cfailure\u201d; and that happens to
\nthe greatest, to the most sovereign intelligence, as well as to the smallest,
\nthe most limited, to all those who are unable to subordinate the sensation of
\nthe present moment to the ideal they wish to achieve, but without having the
\nstrength to take up the path \u2013 identical for all in nature if not in extent and
\ncomplexity \u2013 that leads to this achievement. <\/span>
\n
\n <\/span><\/p>\n

\nPage – 117<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n
\n

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

\u00a0<\/span>Between the extreme of an individual who has
\nfully and perfectly realised all he had conceived and that of one who has been
\nincapable of realising anything at all, there is, of course, an almost
\nunlimited range of intermediate cases; this range is remarkably complex,
\nbecause not only is there a difference in the degree of realisation of the
\nideal, but there is also a difference between the varied qualities of the ideal
\nitself. There are ambitions which pursue mere personal interests, material,
\nsentimental or intellectual, others which have more general, more collective or
\nhigher aims, and yet others which are superhuman, so to say, and strive to
\nscale the peaks that open on the splendours of eternal Truth, eternal
\nConsciousness and eternal Peace. It is easy to understand that the power of
\none’s effort and renunciation must be commensurate with the breadth and height
\nof the goal one has chosen. <\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/span>At
\nany level, from the most modest to the most transcendent, one rarely finds a
\nperfect balance between the sum of self-control, the power of sacrifice
\navailable to the individual who has chosen a goal, and the sum of renunciations
\nof every kind and nature which the goal requires. <\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/span>When the constitution of an individual permits
\nthis perfect balance, then his earthly existence yields its utmost possible
\nresult.
\n <\/span><\/p>\n

23 April 1915<\/span> <\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/span>At
\ntimes Thou kindlest<\/span> in the being an ardent brasier<\/span>; at such moments, all seems possible to it \u2013 the
\nmost extreme and the most supreme realisations as well as the most obscure and
\nmodest. <\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/span>When there is not this ardent brasier<\/span>, the being is like a heap of ashes; and Thou
\nlightest rarely the brasier<\/span>. Is it to spare this
\nfrail instrument? <\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/span>The
\nmind puts questions; but the integral being is satisfied; it asks for nothing
\nelse than what Thou willest<\/span>. <\/span>
\n
\n <\/span><\/p>\n

\nPage – 118<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n
\n

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

\u00a0<\/span>But
\nit knows itself to be poor and miserable, naked and worthless without Thy
\nactive Presence. <\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/span>It
\nis Thy Presence that always it calls and for that it waits. <\/span><\/p>\n

9 December 1916<\/span> <\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/span>Silence comes and the flame of aspiration is
\nlit, the body is suffused with warmth, and in this warmth there is a blissful
\nimpulse towards transformation; the song of divine harmony is heard, calm and
\nsmiling: it is a sweet symphony, almost imperceptible and yet full of power.
\nThen silence returns, deeper and vaster, yes, vast unto infinity, and the being
\nexists beyond all bounds of time or space. <\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/span>O
\nmy sweet Lord, my beloved God, all my being cries out to Thee in an
\nirresistible surge: \u201cI love Thee! I love Thee! I love Thee!\u201d… with a love no
\nwords can ever express. The whole being is aflame, fused in this intensity.
\nOnly my heart, so often disappointed, so cruelly deceived, murmurs timidly:
\n\u201cWilt Thou not do as men have done? Wilt Thou not repulse this love as unworthy
\nof Thee, or too heavy to bear?\u201d O doubting heart! Dost thou not see that it is
\nthe adored One Himself who loves in thee and feeds this fire that will never
\ndie? No more timidity, no more vain reserve\u2026 the past fades away like a dream.
\nAll that remains is a marvellous Present made of sublime Eternity…O my
\nbeloved God, Thou hast taken me into Thy arms that are so strong and so gentle,
\nand nothing exists but Thy divine Ecstasy. <\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/span>Art
\nis the human language of the nervous plane, intended to express and communicate
\nthe Divine, who in the domain of sen<\/span>–<\/span> <\/span><\/p>\n

\nPage – 119<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n
\n

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

sation<\/span><\/span> manifests as beauty. <\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/span>The
\npurpose of art is therefore to give those for whom it is meant a freer and more
\nperfect communion with the Supreme Reality. The first contact with this Supreme
\nReality expresses itself in our consciousness by a flowering of the being in a
\nplenitude of vast and peaceful delight. Each time that art can give the
\nspectator this contact with the infinite, however fleetingly, it fulfils its
\naim; it has shown itself worthy of its mission. <\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/span>Thus no art which has for many centuries moved
\nand delighted a people can be dismissed, since it has at least partially
\nfulfilled its mission \u2013 to be the powerful and more or less perfect utterance
\nof that which is to be expressed. <\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/span>What makes it difficult for the sensibility of
\na nation to enjoy the delight that another nation finds in one art or another
\nis the habitual limitation of the nervous being which, even more than the
\nmental being, is naturally exclusive in its ability to perceive the Divine and
\nwhich, when it has entered into relation with Him through certain forms, feels
\nan almost irresistible reluctance to recognise Him through other forms of
\nsensation. <\/span><\/p>\n

  <\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/span>What is this \u201cI\u201d that speaks from time to
\ntime, perceiving its limitation in the very midst of the consciousness of the
\ninfinite? It is the point of concentration where the Will which is beyond
\nbecomes individually conscious so that it can manifest through the terrestrial
\ninstrument; in short, it is the individualised<\/span>
\nintermediary between the instrument and the thought of the worker, a kind of
\nmore or less skilled hand. The \u201cI\u201d knows itself to be completely independent of
\nthe present mode of manifestation \u2013 form, body, surroundings, education,
\nsensory experiences; it is a constituent element of the All, an infinitesimal
\npart of the universe; its duration as an \u201cI\u201d is identical to the duration of
\nthe universe and dependent on it. It knows that only That which is not an \u201cI\u201d
\ncan be free from this dependence, can <\/span>
\n
\n <\/span><\/p>\n

\nPage – 120<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n
\n

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

be eternally. The \u201cI\u201d knows that it is perfectly surrendered to That
\nwhich it cannot think, that it is moved by That, and therefore it does not say,
\n\u201cI want\u201d, but \u201cI have to want\u201d or \u201cI am made to want\u201d. And, surrendered to its
\nEternal Master, the Master of his temporary instrument, knowing that it will
\ndisappear at the same time as the work for which it was created, it
\naccomplishes it joyfully, without impatience for its completion, nor any desire
\nfor its prolongation.
\n <\/span><\/p>\n

\nPage – 121<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/table>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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