{"id":4345,"date":"2013-07-13T01:55:21","date_gmt":"2013-07-13T01:55:21","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/localhost\/?p=4345"},"modified":"2013-07-13T01:55:21","modified_gmt":"2013-07-13T01:55:21","slug":"07-that-which-is-speaking-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\/07-that-which-is-speaking-vol-02-words-of-long-ago-volume-02","title":{"rendered":"-07_That which is speaking.htm"},"content":{"rendered":"\n\n
\n
\n


\nPart Three<\/font><\/span><\/b><\/p>\n

 <\/span><\/p>\n

        B<\/b>etween 1911 and 1913
\nthe Mother gave a number of talks to different groups in <\/span><\/i>Paris<\/span><\/i>. Two
\nof them, \u201cOn Thought\u201d and \u201cOn Dreams\u201d, appear in Part 1. The same talk was
\nsometimes presented to two or more groups with suitable variations. Additions
\nand alternative versions have been given here as footnotes. <\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

The
\nfirst piece in this part is a note found among the Mother’s manuscripts. <\/span><\/i>
\n
\n <\/span><\/p>\n

\nPage – 71 <\/span><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n
\n

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

\n      T<\/font><\/span>hat which is
\nspeaking to you now, is a faithful servant of the Divine. From all time, since
\nthe beginning of the earth, as a faithful servant of the Divine, it has spoken
\nin the name of its Master. And as long as earth and men exist, it will be there
\nin a body to preach the divine word. <\/span><\/p>\n

So, wherever I am asked to speak, I do my
\nbest, as a servant of the Divine. <\/span><\/p>\n

But to speak in the name of a particular
\ndoctrine or of a man, however great he may be, that I cannot do! <\/span><\/p>\n

The Eternal Transcendent forbids me. <\/span><\/p>\n

\n\u00a0<\/span>1912<\/font><\/span> <\/font><\/p>\n

\nPage – 73 <\/font> <\/p>\n

<\/p>\n
\n

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


\n
\nOn Thought
\n\u2013 Introduction <\/font> <\/a> <\/span><\/b><\/p>\n

 <\/span><\/p>\n

\nM<\/font><\/span>lle. Molitor<\/span> has very kindly asked me to say a few words on
\nthought. <\/span><\/p>\n

Since you have been good enough to come
\nand listen to me today, I conclude that you are among those who, knowing the
\nprimary importance of thought, its master-role in life, strive to build up for
\nthemselves an ever stronger and more conscious thought. <\/span><\/p>\n

So I hope you will excuse me if, while
\nshowing you what this primary importance of thought is, I venture to give you \u2013
\nto give us \u2013 some advice on learning how to think well. <\/span><\/p>\n

In this, I shall act only as an
\ninterpreter for you on behalf of the great instructors, the great initiates who
\nhave come from age to age to bring to men their words of wisdom and peace. <\/span><\/p>\n

But before translating for you as best I
\ncan their beautiful teachings on the rational, effective and just use of the
\nmarvellous faculty in us which is thought, it seems to me indispensable that we
\nshould first of all enquire a little into what thought is. <\/span>
\n
\n <\/span><\/p>\n

5 February 1912<\/span> <\/span><\/p>\n

\nPage – 74<\/span><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n
\n

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


\n
\nOn Thought
\n\u2013 II <\/font> <\/a> <\/span><\/b><\/p>\n

 <\/span><\/p>\n

You probably remember that, last month, we
\nmade two observations. The first is that thought is a living, active,
\nautonomous entity. <\/span><\/p>\n

The second is that in order to contend
\nvictoriously with the injurious effects of the polluted mental atmosphere in
\nwhich we live, we must build up within ourselves a pure, luminous and powerful
\nintellectual synthesis. <\/span><\/p>\n

For this purpose we must bring down into
\nourselves the highest thoughts within our reach, that is, within the field of
\nour mental activity, and make them our own. <\/span><\/p>\n

But since thoughts are living beings, they
\nhave, as we do, their likes and dislikes, their attractions and repulsions. <\/span><\/p>\n

We must therefore adopt a special attitude
\ntowards them, treat them as people, make advances and concessions to them and
\nshow them the same attentions as we would to someone we would wish to be our
\nfriend. <\/span><\/p>\n

On this matter, a modern philosopher
\nwrites: <\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cSometimes thinkers in their meditations,
\nexplorers and prospectors of the intellectual world in their discoveries, and
\npoets \u2013 the diviners of thought \u2013 in their dreams, feel and vaguely sense that
\nthe idea is not something abstract and bodiless. It appears to them to be
\nwinged, something which soars, comes close and flees, denies and gives itself,
\nsomething which must be called, pursued and won. <\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cTo the most clairvoyant, the idea seems
\nto be an aloof person with her whims and desires, her preferences, her queenly
\ndisdain, her virgin modesty. They know that it takes much care to win her and
\nbut a little thing to lose her, that there is a love of the mind for the idea,
\na love made of consecration and sacrifice, and without this the idea cannot
\nbelong to it. <\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cBut these are pretty symbols, and few
\nindeed can perceive the very precise reality which lies beneath them. <\/span>
\n
\n <\/span><\/p>\n

\nPage – 75<\/span><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n
\n

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

\u201cIt needed a Plato to identify this thing
\nwhich lives and vibrates, which moves and shines, travels and is propagated
\nthrough time and space, which acts and wills and freely chooses its own time
\nand place \u2013 in short, to know the Idea as a being.\u201d <\/span><\/p>\n

Let us take especially one phrase from
\nthis beautiful page: \u201cThere is a love of the mind for the idea, a love made of
\nconsecration and sacrifice, and without this the idea cannot belong to it.\u201d <\/span><\/p>\n

This is not an image. To enter into an
\nintimate and conscious relation with the idea, we must consecrate ourselves to
\nit, love it with a disinterested love, in itself, for itself. <\/span><\/p>\n

Today we shall try to find out what this
\nlove consists of and, at the same time, what we must do for it to blossom
\nwithin us. <\/span><\/p>\n

The first attitude to be taken, the most
\nindispensable, is the most perfect mental sincerity it is within our power to
\nacquire. <\/span><\/p>\n

Of all sincerities, this is perhaps the
\nmost difficult. Not to deceive oneself mentally is not an easy thing to
\nachieve. <\/span><\/p>\n

First of all we have, as I explained to
\nyou last December, a certain habit of thought which comes from the education we
\nhave received, from the influence of the environment, and which is most often
\nmade up of social conventions and collective suggestions. This habit naturally
\nmakes us give a far better reception to all the thoughts which are similar, if
\nnot conformable, to those which already fill our minds, than to those which
\ncould, to however small an extent, unsettle this mental structure. <\/span><\/p>\n

For the same reason, as you probably
\nremember, it is sometimes so difficult for us to learn to think for ourselves:
\nwe hesitate to change anything whatsoever in our customary way of thinking,
\nwhich is most often made up of social conventions and collective suggestions.
\nFor our whole existence is based upon this habit. It takes a great courage and
\na great love of progress to consent to examine one’s existence in the light of
\nthoughts that are deeper, and consequently more independent of the customs and
\nusages of the environment. <\/span>
\n
\n <\/span><\/p>\n

\nPage – 76<\/span><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n
\n

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

You can judge from this the great, the
\nvery great love of the idea that is needed to achieve such a revolution in
\none’s habits, for the sole purpose of gaining the power to enter into a more
\nintimate, more conscious relationship with it! <\/span><\/p>\n

And even when our mental synthesis is made
\nup of thoughts that we have received and made our own in the course of a
\nconstant and persevering effort of meditation, we must love the idea with a
\nvery powerful love, perhaps even more powerful still, so that we may always be
\nin quest of a new idea, ready to give it the most eager reception if it is
\nwilling to come to us. For we are well aware that each new idea will constrain
\nus to modify our synthesis, relegate to the background ideas which had seemed
\nto us master-ideas, bring to the light other ideas too long disregarded, rearrange
\nthem all so that they do not clash, to the great detriment of our brain, in
\nbrief, a long and sometimes painful task. Indeed we are very seldom
\ndisinterested with regard to ideas; there are some which we prefer to others
\nand which, consequently, occupy a place in our mental activity which they do
\nnot always deserve. <\/span><\/p>\n

And if we must replace them with others
\nthat are more precise, more true, we often hesitate long before doing so, we
\ncling to them as indispensable friends, and we love their defects as well as
\ntheir qualities, \u2013 which is the worst way to love people, as well as the
\nlaziest and most selfish, \u2013 for we are always more highly esteemed by those we
\nflatter than by those from whom we demand a constant effort of progress. But
\nour difficulties do not stop there. <\/span><\/p>\n

As a consequence of the intellectual
\neducation we have received or of some personal preference, we are also
\nprejudiced about the way, or ways, in which ideas should be introduced to us. <\/span><\/p>\n

These preconceptions are so many veritable
\nsuperstitions that we must overcome. <\/span><\/p>\n

They are different for each person. <\/span><\/p>\n

Some people have the superstition of the
\nbook. For an idea <\/span>
\n
\n <\/span><\/p>\n

\nPage – 77<\/span><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n
\n

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

to merit consideration in their eyes, it must have been expressed
\nin some famous book, in one of the bibles of humanity, and any thought coming
\nin any other way will appear suspect to them. <\/span><\/p>\n

There are some who accept an idea only
\nfrom the official sciences, and those who recognise one only in the established
\nreligions, old or new. For others, the idea must come from the mouth of a man
\nof renown with enough honorary titles so that none can question his value. <\/span><\/p>\n

Still others, more sentimental, in order
\nto come into contact with thought, need a master who should be the perfect
\nincarnation of the ideal human standard constructed by their imagination. But
\nthey are bound to be sorely disappointed, for they forget that they alone are
\ncapable of realising their own ideal, that the one in whom they have placed
\ntheir confidence has a duty to realise his own ideal which, consequently,
\nhowever great it may be, may very well differ considerably from their own. So,
\nmost often, when they become aware of these divergences, since they had
\nattached themselves to the ideas only for the sake of the man, they will reject
\nboth man and ideas together. <\/span><\/p>\n

This is absurd, for ideas are worth what
\nthey are worth regardless of the individuals who have expressed them. <\/span><\/p>\n

Finally, there is a whole category of
\npeople enamoured of the miraculous, who will recognise a truth only if it has
\ncome to them clothed in the mystery of a supramundane revelation, in dream or
\ntrance. <\/span><\/p>\n

For them the master must be their God, an
\nangel or a Mahatma, and give them his precious teachings during their
\ncontemplation or their sleep. <\/span><\/p>\n

Needless to say, this method is still more
\nunreliable than the others. That a thought should reach us by extraordinary
\nmeans is no guarantee of its correctness or its truth. \u00b9<\/span><\/p>\n

You see, the true lover of the idea knows
\nthat by seeking<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n\u00b9 <\/font> <\/span>Paragraph added when this talk was presented to a different group:
\n<\/font>
\n<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n


\nI do
\nnot mean that it is impossible to come into contact with an idea by these
\nmeans, but they are far from being the only ones or even perhaps the best.<\/font><\/span> <\/font><\/span><\/p>\n

\nPage – 78<\/span><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n
\n

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

it ardently he will find it everywhere, and even more so in the
\nsubterranean and secret fountainheads than in those which have lost their
\npristine purity by turning into rivers that are majestic and renowned but also
\npolluted by the waste of all kinds which they carry with them. <\/span><\/p>\n

The lover of the idea knows that it can
\ncome to him from the mouth of a child as from the mouth of a learned man. <\/span><\/p>\n

And it is even in this unexpected way that
\nit can reach him most often. <\/span><\/p>\n

That is why it is said: \u201cOut of the mouths
\nof babes and sucklings<\/span> comes forth truth.\u201d <\/span><\/p>\n

For if the thought of a child cannot have
\nthe precision of the thought of a man, neither does it have the fixity which
\nresults from laziness of habit and which in the adult prevents the thought from
\nexpressing itself whenever it does not belong to the categories which are
\nfamiliar to him. <\/span><\/p>\n

Moreover, it was to escape the distortion
\nof an environment made up of habit and fixity that the schools of ancient times
\nwhere the young prophets were educated were established far from the cities. <\/span><\/p>\n

That is also why the great instructors of
\nmen began their apprenticeship in solitude. For if too many things are absent
\nfor the thought to be able to express itself in the minds of unrefined men, too
\nmany things are also absent from the mind of the cultivated man shaped by the
\nartificial life of human societies. <\/span><\/p>\n

How much silence is needed \u2013 not the
\nouter, illusory and momentary silence, but on the contrary the true, profound,
\nintegral, permanent silence \u2013 to be able to hear the far-off voices of thought!
\n<\/span><\/p>\n

That is why the sincere lover of knowledge
\nalso knows that the greatest sages are always the most modest and the most
\nunknown. For one who has the knowledge and the capacity prefers silence and
\nretirement where he is free to accomplish his work without being disturbed by
\nanything, to the fanfares of glory which would throw him as fodder to men. <\/span>
\n
\n <\/span><\/p>\n

\nPage – 79<\/span><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n
\n

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

The lover of thought knows that he will
\nfind thought everywhere around him, in the little flower as in the radiant sun;
\nnothing and no one appears to him too humble or too obscure to be for him an
\nintermediary of the idea he is ever seeking. <\/span><\/p>\n

But above all he knows that the best, the
\nmost reliable contact with the idea is certainly a direct contact. <\/span><\/p>\n

Since we are made out of the universal
\nsubstance, we are this universe in miniature. <\/span><\/p>\n

Since no phenomenon can exist without a
\ncorresponding medium, the existence of ideas implies the existence of a
\ncorresponding domain, the realm of free intelligence always in form but not
\nsubject to form, and this realm is within us as within the great universe. <\/span><\/p>\n

If then we concentrate sufficiently, if we
\nbecome conscious of our inmost being, we shall come into contact, within it and
\nthrough it, with the free universal intelligence, the world of ideas. <\/span><\/p>\n

Then, if we have taken care to polish our
\nmirror well and to clear it of all the dust of preconception and habit, all
\nideas will be able to reflect themselves there with a minimum of distortion,
\nand we shall have acquired bodhi (knowledge), we shall have acquired the power
\nof reflecting the rays of the Sun of Truth\u00b9 \u2013 such was the hope which
\nSiddhartha Gautama<\/span> held out to us. When he was asked,
\n\u201cHow shall we obtain bodhi?\u201d, he would reply: <\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cBodhi has no distinctive signs or marks:
\nwhat can be known in respect of it is of no use whatsoever; but the care we
\ntake in practising its spirit is of great importance. It is like a <\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/span><\/p>\n

\n\u00b9 <\/font> <\/span>In a version presented to another group
\nthe paragraph ends here and is followed by these two paragraphs: <\/font> <\/span><\/i><\/p>\n


\nThen
\nwill our mental actions take on their full power and effectivity. Our thought-
\nformations will become useful and luminous messengers going forth to do their
\nwork of goodness and harmony wherever material circumstances prevent us from
\ndoing it physically. <\/font> <\/span><\/p>\n


\nAnd
\nby a little effort of concentration we shall rapidly succeed in becoming
\nconscious of these actions while at the same time remaining in touch with the
\nemanated thought.<\/font><\/span> <\/font><\/span><\/p>\n

\nPage – 80<\/span><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n
\n

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

cleansed and polished mirror that has become clear and bright, so
\nthat images are reflected in it sharply and vividly.\u201d <\/span><\/p>\n

And again: <\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cOne who is without darkness, free from
\nblemish, of blameless conduct, perfectly pure, that one, even though he does
\nnot know and has never heard and in short has no knowledge, however little, of
\nany of the things that are in the world of the ten regions since time without
\nbeginning until today, none the less, he possesses the highest knowledge of the
\none who knows all. He is the one of whom it is said: Clarity.\u201d You see here a
\npanegyric of the direct relationship with the idea as opposed to the wholly
\nexternal and superficial method of erudition. <\/span><\/p>\n

The advantages of this direct relationship
\nare incalculable. <\/span><\/p>\n

It enables us to recover and love the idea
\nbehind all appearances, all veils, all forms, even the most barbarous, the most
\ncrude, the most superstitious. <\/span><\/p>\n

Thus we can put into living practice the
\nstate of mind of the sage, of which I spoke to you in my first talk and which a
\nmaster defines in this way: <\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cOne who advances in Truth is not troubled
\nby any error, for he knows that error is the first effort of life towards
\ntruth.\u201d <\/span><\/p>\n

Consequently, not a single fragment of an
\nidea can ever be lost for us; wherever it is concealed, we know how to discover
\nand cherish it. <\/span><\/p>\n

Moreover, when we have become familiar
\nwith an idea, when we know it in itself, for itself, we recognise it behind the
\nmost diverse appearances, the most varied forms. <\/span><\/p>\n

This faculty can even serve as a criterion
\nto discover whether someone is in contact with the idea itself, that is to say,
\nwhether he has understood it well and made it his own or whether he is part of
\nthe mass of those who have assimilated as best they could a doctrine, a special
\nlanguage, and who can think only in the words of that language outside this
\nformula, they no longer understand anything. <\/span><\/p>\n

This attachment to form, which consists
\nentirely of intel<\/span>–<\/span> <\/span><\/p>\n

\nPage – 81<\/span><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n
\n

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

lectual<\/span><\/span> impotence, is one of the most powerful causes
\nof dissension among men. <\/span><\/p>\n

But one who penetrates deeply enough to
\nsee the thought, the naked truth, soon realises that it is the same behind its
\nvaried and more or less opaque veils. <\/span><\/p>\n

This is the surest way to achieve true
\ntolerance. <\/span><\/p>\n

Indeed, how can we have an exclusive
\npassion for one particular doctrine or school or religion when we have had the
\nexperience that each one of them contains treasures of light and truth, however
\nvaried the caskets which enclose them? <\/span><\/p>\n

\n\u00a0<\/span>16 February 1912<\/span> <\/span>
\n
\n <\/span><\/p>\n

\nPage – 82<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/table>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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