{"id":4351,"date":"2013-07-13T01:55:24","date_gmt":"2013-07-13T01:55:24","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/localhost\/?p=4351"},"modified":"2013-07-13T01:55:24","modified_gmt":"2013-07-13T01:55:24","slug":"05-7-may-1912-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\/05-7-may-1912-vol-02-words-of-long-ago-volume-02","title":{"rendered":"-05_7 May 1912.htm"},"content":{"rendered":"<table border=\"0\" cellpadding=\"6\" style=\"border-collapse: collapse\" width=\"100%\">\n<tr>\n<td>\n<div class=\"Section1\">\n<p class=\"MsoNormal\" align=\"center\" style='margin:0;text-align:center;line-height:150%'>\n<b><br \/>\n<span style='font-family:\"Times New Roman\"'><font size=\"4\">Part Two<\/font><\/span><\/b><\/p>\n<p class=\"MsoNormal\" align=\"center\" style='margin:0;text-align:center;line-height:150%'>\n<span style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:\"Times New Roman\";font-weight:700'>Meetings<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"MsoNormal\" align=\"center\" style='margin:0;text-align:center;line-height:150%'>\n&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p class=\"MsoNormal\" style='margin:0;text-align:justify;line-height:150%'><i><span style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:\"Times New Roman\"'>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; In 1912 a small group of seekers met regularly with the aim of<br \/>\ngaining self-knowledge and self-mastery. <\/span><\/i><\/p>\n<p class=\"MsoNormal\" style='margin:0;text-align:justify;text-indent:.25in;line-height:150%'><i><span style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:\"Times New Roman\"'><span>\u00a0<\/span>At<br \/>\nthe end of each session, a general question was set, which each member was to answer<br \/>\nindividually. These answers were read out at the next meeting. Then, to close<br \/>\nthe session, a small essay was read out. Here are the essays. <\/span><\/i><\/p>\n<hr>\n<p class=\"MsoNormal\" style='margin:0;text-align:justify;line-height:150%'><b><br \/>\n<span style='font-family:\"Times New Roman\"'><font size=\"3\">7 May 1912<br \/>\n<\/font><br \/>\n<\/span><\/b><\/p>\n<p class=\"MsoNormal\" style='margin:0;text-align:justify;text-indent:.25in;line-height:150%'><span style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:\"Times New Roman\"'>&nbsp;<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"MsoNormal\" style='margin:0;text-align:justify;text-indent:.5in;line-height:150%'><i><span style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:\"Times New Roman\"'>What is the most useful<br \/>\nwork to be done at the present moment? <\/span><\/i><\/p>\n<p class=\"MsoNormal\" style='margin:0;text-align:justify;text-indent:.25in;line-height:150%'><span style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:\"Times New Roman\"'>&nbsp;<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"MsoNormal\" style='margin:0;text-align:justify;line-height:150%'><span style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:\"Times New Roman\"'>The general aim to be attained is the advent of a progressing<br \/>\nuniversal harmony. <\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"MsoNormal\" style='margin:0;text-align:justify;text-indent:.25in;line-height:150%'><span style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:\"Times New Roman\"'>The means for attaining this aim, in<br \/>\nregard to the earth, is the realisation of human unity through the awakening in<br \/>\nall and the manifestation by all of the inner Divinity which is One. <\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"MsoNormal\" style='margin:0;text-align:justify;text-indent:.25in;line-height:150%'><span style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:\"Times New Roman\"'>In other words, \u2013 to create unity by<br \/>\nfounding the <\/span><span style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:\"Times New Roman\"'>Kingdom<\/span><span style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:\"Times New Roman\"'> of <\/span><span style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:\"Times New Roman\"'>God<\/span><span style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:\"Times New Roman\"'> which is within us all. <\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"MsoNormal\" style='margin:0;text-align:justify;text-indent:.25in;line-height:150%'><span style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:\"Times New Roman\"'>This, therefore, is the most useful work<br \/>\nto be done: <\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"MsoNormal\" style='margin:0;text-align:justify;text-indent:.25in;line-height:150%'><span style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:\"Times New Roman\"'>(1) For each individually, to be conscious<br \/>\nin himself of the Divine Presence and to identify himself with it. <\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"MsoNormal\" style='margin:0;text-align:justify;text-indent:.25in;line-height:150%'><span style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:\"Times New Roman\"'>(2) To <span class=\"SpellE\">individualise<\/span><br \/>\nthe states of being that were never till now conscious in man and, by that, to<br \/>\nput the earth in connection with one or more of the fountains of universal<br \/>\nforce that are still sealed to it. <\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"MsoNormal\" style='margin:0;text-align:justify;text-indent:.25in;line-height:150%'><span style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:\"Times New Roman\"'>(3) To speak again to the world the<br \/>\neternal word under a new form adapted to its present mentality. <\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"MsoNormal\" style='margin:0;text-align:justify;text-indent:.25in;line-height:150%'><span style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:\"Times New Roman\"'>It will be the synthesis of all human<br \/>\nknowledge. <\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"MsoNormal\" style='margin:0;text-align:justify;text-indent:.25in;line-height:150%'><span style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:\"Times New Roman\"'>(4) Collectively, to establish an ideal<br \/>\nsociety in a propitious spot for the flowering of the new race, the race of the<br \/>\nSons of God. <span>\u00a0<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"MsoNormal\" align=\"center\" style='margin:0;text-align:center;text-indent:.25in;line-height:150%'><span style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:\"Times New Roman\"'>&nbsp;<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"MsoNormal\" style='margin:0;text-align:justify;text-indent:.25in;line-height:150%'><span style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:\"Times New Roman\"'>The terrestrial transformation and <span class=\"SpellE\">harmonisation<\/span> can be brought about by two processes which,<br \/>\nthough opposite in appearance, must combine \u2013 must act upon each other and<br \/>\ncomplete each other: <\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"MsoNormal\" style='margin:0;text-align:justify;text-indent:.25in;line-height:150%'><span style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:\"Times New Roman\"'>(1) Individual transformation, an inner<br \/>\ndevelopment leading to the union with the Divine Presence. <\/span><br \/>\n<span style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:\"Times New Roman\"'><br \/>\n&nbsp;<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"MsoNormal\" align=\"center\" style='margin:0;text-align:center;line-height:150%'>\n<span style='font-family:\"Times New Roman\"'>Page &#8211; 47<\/span><\/p>\n<div class=\"MsoPlainText\" align=\"center\" style='text-align:center'><span><\/p>\n<hr size=\"2\" width=\"100%\" align=\"center\">\n<p><\/span><\/div>\n<p class=\"MsoNormal\" style='margin:0;text-align:justify;text-indent:.25in;line-height:150%'><span style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:\"Times New Roman\"'>(2) Social transformation, the<br \/>\nestablishment of an environment favourable to the flowering and growth of the<br \/>\nindividual. <\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"MsoNormal\" style='margin:0;text-align:justify;text-indent:.25in;line-height:150%'><span style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:\"Times New Roman\"'>Since the environment reacts upon the<br \/>\nindividual and, on the other hand, the value of the environment depends upon<br \/>\nthe value of the individual, the two works should proceed side by side. But<br \/>\nthis can be done only through division of labour, and that necessitates the<br \/>\nformation of a group, <span class=\"SpellE\">hierarchised<\/span>, if possible. <\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"MsoNormal\" style='margin:0;text-align:justify;text-indent:.25in;line-height:150%'><span style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:\"Times New Roman\"'>The action of the members of the group<br \/>\nshould be threefold: <\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"MsoNormal\" style='margin:0;text-align:justify;text-indent:.25in;line-height:150%'><span style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:\"Times New Roman\"'>(1) To realise in oneself the ideal to be<br \/>\nattained: to become a perfect earthly representative of the first manifestation<br \/>\nof the Unthinkable in all its modes, attributes and qualities. <\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"MsoNormal\" style='margin:0;text-align:justify;text-indent:.25in;line-height:150%'><span style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:\"Times New Roman\"'>(2) To preach this ideal by word, but,<br \/>\nabove all, by example, so as to find out all those who are ready to realise it<br \/>\nin their turn and to become also announcers of liberation. <\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"MsoNormal\" style='margin:0;text-align:justify;text-indent:.25in;line-height:150%'><span style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:\"Times New Roman\"'>(3) To found a <span class=\"SpellE\">typic<\/span><br \/>\nsociety or <span class=\"SpellE\">reorganise<\/span> those that already exist. &nbsp;<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"MsoNormal\" style='margin:0;text-align:justify;text-indent:.25in;line-height:150%'><span style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:\"Times New Roman\"'>&nbsp;<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"MsoNormal\" style='margin:0;text-align:justify;text-indent:.25in;line-height:150%'><span style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:\"Times New Roman\"'>For each individual also there is a<br \/>\ntwofold labour to be done, simultaneously, each side of it helping and<br \/>\ncompleting the other: <\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"MsoNormal\" style='margin:0;text-align:justify;text-indent:.25in;line-height:150%'><span style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:\"Times New Roman\"'>(1) An inner development, a progressive<br \/>\nunion with the Divine Light, sole condition in which man can be always in<br \/>\nharmony with the great stream of universal life. <\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"MsoNormal\" style='margin:0;text-align:justify;text-indent:.25in;line-height:150%'><span style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:\"Times New Roman\"'>(2) An external action which everyone has<br \/>\nto choose according to his capacities and personal preferences. He must find<br \/>\nhis own place, the place which he alone can occupy in the general concert, and<br \/>\nhe must give himself entirely to it, not forgetting that he is playing only one<br \/>\nnote in the terrestrial symphony and yet his note is indispensable to the<br \/>\nharmony of the whole, and its value depends upon its justness.<br \/>\n&nbsp;<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"MsoNormal\" align=\"center\" style='margin:0;text-align:center;line-height:150%'>\n<span style='font-family:\"Times New Roman\"'>Page &#8211; 48<\/span><\/p>\n<div class=\"MsoPlainText\" align=\"center\" style='text-align:center'><span><\/p>\n<hr size=\"2\" width=\"100%\" align=\"center\">\n<p><\/span><\/div>\n<p class=\"MsoNormal\" style='margin:0;text-align:justify;line-height:150%'><b><br \/>\n<span style='font-family:\"Times New Roman\"'><a name=\"01_14 May 1912\"><font size=\"3\">14 May 1912 <\/font> <\/a> <\/span><\/b><\/p>\n<p class=\"MsoNormal\" style='margin:0;text-align:justify;text-indent:.25in;line-height:150%'><span style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:\"Times New Roman\"'>&nbsp;<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"MsoNormal\" style='margin:0;text-indent:.5in;line-height:150%'><i><span style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:\"Times New Roman\"'>What is my place in the universal work?<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n<p class=\"MsoNormal\" style='margin:0;text-align:justify;text-indent:.25in;line-height:150%'><span style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:\"Times New Roman\"'>&nbsp;<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"MsoNormal\" style='margin:0;text-align:justify;text-indent:.25in;line-height:150%'><span style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:\"Times New Roman\"'>We all have a role to fulfil, a work to<br \/>\naccomplish, a place which we alone can occupy. <\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"MsoNormal\" style='margin:0;text-align:justify;text-indent:.25in;line-height:150%'><span style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:\"Times New Roman\"'>But since this work is the expression, the<br \/>\nouter manifestation of the inmost depth of our being, we can become conscious<br \/>\nof its definitive form only when we become conscious of this depth within<br \/>\nourselves. <\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"MsoNormal\" style='margin:0;text-align:justify;text-indent:.25in;line-height:150%'><span style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:\"Times New Roman\"'>This is what sometimes happens in cases of<br \/>\ntrue conversion. <\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"MsoNormal\" style='margin:0;text-align:justify;text-indent:.25in;line-height:150%'><span style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:\"Times New Roman\"'>The moment we perceive the transfiguring<br \/>\nlight and give ourselves to it without reserve, we can suddenly and precisely<br \/>\nbecome aware of what we are made for, of the purpose of our existence on earth.<br \/>\n<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"MsoNormal\" style='margin:0;text-align:justify;text-indent:.25in;line-height:150%'><span style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:\"Times New Roman\"'>But this enlightenment is exceptional. It<br \/>\nis brought about within us by a whole series of efforts and inner attitudes.<br \/>\nAnd one of the essential conditions if we want to achieve and maintain within<br \/>\nourselves these attitudes, these soul-states, is to devote part of our time<br \/>\neach day to some impersonal action; every day, we must do something useful for<br \/>\nothers. <\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"MsoNormal\" style='margin:0;text-align:justify;text-indent:.25in;line-height:150%'><span style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:\"Times New Roman\"'>Until we know the essential thing we are<br \/>\nintended to do, we must therefore find a temporary occupation which will be the<br \/>\nbest possible manifestation of our present capacities and our goodwill. <\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"MsoNormal\" style='margin:0;text-align:justify;text-indent:.25in;line-height:150%'><span style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:\"Times New Roman\"'>Then we shall give ourselves to this<br \/>\noccupation with conscientiousness and perseverance, knowing that it may well be<br \/>\nonly a stage and that with the progress of our ideal and our energies, we shall<br \/>\ncertainly one day be led to see more clearly the work we must accomplish. To<br \/>\nthe extent that we lose the habit of referring everything to ourselves and<br \/>\nlearn more and more to give ourselves more completely, with greater love, to<br \/>\nearth and men, we shall see our horizons widen and our duties become more<br \/>\nnumerous and clear. <\/span><br \/>\n<span style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:\"Times New Roman\"'><br \/>\n&nbsp;<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"MsoNormal\" align=\"center\" style='margin:0;text-align:center;line-height:150%'>\n<span style='font-family:\"Times New Roman\"'>Page &#8211; 49<\/span><\/p>\n<div class=\"MsoPlainText\" align=\"center\" style='text-align:center'><span><\/p>\n<hr size=\"2\" width=\"100%\" align=\"center\">\n<p><\/span><\/div>\n<p class=\"MsoNormal\" style='margin:0;text-align:justify;text-indent:.25in;line-height:150%'><span style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:\"Times New Roman\"'>We shall find that our action follows a<br \/>\ngeneral line of progression determined by our own particular temperament. <\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"MsoNormal\" style='margin:0;text-align:justify;text-indent:.25in;line-height:150%'><span style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:\"Times New Roman\"'>Indeed, the successive occupations we<br \/>\nshall hold before we become conscious of the definitive form of our action will<br \/>\nalways point in the same direction, be of the same type and mode, which is the<br \/>\nspontaneous expression of our character, our nature, our own characteristic<br \/>\nvibration. <\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"MsoNormal\" style='margin:0;text-align:justify;text-indent:.25in;line-height:150%'><span style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:\"Times New Roman\"'>The discovery of this tendency, this<br \/>\nparticular orientation, should come about quite naturally; it is a matter of<br \/>\ntaste and free choice, beyond all outer selfish considerations. <\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"MsoNormal\" style='margin:0;text-align:justify;text-indent:.25in;line-height:150%'><span style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:\"Times New Roman\"'>People are often blamed for choosing an<br \/>\naction for themselves which does not correspond to their abilities. There is a<br \/>\nslight confusion here. <\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"MsoNormal\" style='margin:0;text-align:justify;text-indent:.25in;line-height:150%'><span style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:\"Times New Roman\"'>Those who freely set out to accomplish<br \/>\ntheir own <span class=\"SpellE\">favourite<\/span> work cannot, in my opinion, be on<br \/>\nthe wrong track; this work must surely be the expression of their own<br \/>\nparticular tendency. But their mistake lies in wanting to accomplish this work<br \/>\nall at once in its entirety, in its integrality, in depth and above all on the<br \/>\nsurface, forgetting that the very conception of the work is imperfect as they<br \/>\nare imperfect and that to be wise, they should add to the knowledge of what<br \/>\nthey wish to do the more immediate and practical knowledge of what they are<br \/>\ncapable of doing at the present moment. <\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"MsoNormal\" style='margin:0;text-align:justify;text-indent:.25in;line-height:150%'><span style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:\"Times New Roman\"'>By taking both these factors into account,<br \/>\nthey can employ themselves with a minimum waste of time and energy. <\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"MsoNormal\" style='margin:0;text-align:justify;text-indent:.25in;line-height:150%'><span style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:\"Times New Roman\"'>But few people act with so much insight<br \/>\nand wisdom. And it very often happens that one who is seeking his way falls<br \/>\ninto one of these two possible errors: <\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"MsoNormal\" style='margin:0;text-align:justify;text-indent:.25in;line-height:150%'><span style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:\"Times New Roman\"'>Either he takes his desires for realities,<br \/>\nthat is, he overestimates his present strength and capacity and imagines that<br \/>\nhe is capable of immediately assuming a place and a role which he can <span class=\"SpellE\">honourably<\/span> fulfil only after many years of methodical and<br \/>\npersevering effort. <\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"MsoNormal\" style='margin:0;text-align:justify;text-indent:.25in;line-height:150%'><span style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:\"Times New Roman\"'>Or he underestimates his latent powers and<br \/>\ndeliberately confines himself, in spite of his deeper aspirations, to a task<br \/>\nwhich <\/span><br \/>\n<span style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:\"Times New Roman\"'><br \/>\n&nbsp;<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"MsoNormal\" align=\"center\" style='margin:0;text-align:center;line-height:150%'>\n<span style='font-family:\"Times New Roman\"'>Page &#8211; 50 <\/span><\/p>\n<div class=\"MsoPlainText\" align=\"center\" style='text-align:center'><span><\/p>\n<hr size=\"2\" width=\"100%\" align=\"center\">\n<p><\/span><\/div>\n<p class=\"MsoNormal\" style='margin:0;text-align:justify;line-height:150%'><span style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:\"Times New Roman\"'>is far beneath his abilities and which will gradually extinguish<br \/>\nwithin him the light that could have shone for others. <\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"MsoNormal\" style='margin:0;text-align:justify;text-indent:.25in;line-height:150%'><span style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:\"Times New Roman\"'>It seems difficult at first to steer clear<br \/>\nof these pitfalls and find the balanced way, the middle way. <\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"MsoNormal\" style='margin:0;text-align:justify;text-indent:.25in;line-height:150%'><span style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:\"Times New Roman\"'>But we have a sure pointer to guide us. <\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"MsoNormal\" style='margin:0;text-align:justify;text-indent:.25in;line-height:150%'><span style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:\"Times New Roman\"'>Above all, whatever we undertake should<br \/>\nnot be done for the purpose of self-assertion. If we are attached to fame and<br \/>\nglory, to the esteem of our peers, we are soon led to make concessions to them;<br \/>\nand if we seek any opportunity to admire ourselves, it becomes easy to make<br \/>\nourselves out to be what we are not, and nothing more obscures the ideal within<br \/>\nus. <\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"MsoNormal\" style='margin:0;text-align:justify;text-indent:.25in;line-height:150%'><span style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:\"Times New Roman\"'>We should never tell ourselves, openly or<br \/>\nindirectly, \u201cI want to be great, what vocation can I find for myself in order<br \/>\nto become great?\u201d <\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"MsoNormal\" style='margin:0;text-align:justify;text-indent:.25in;line-height:150%'><span style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:\"Times New Roman\"'>On the contrary, we should tell ourselves,<br \/>\n\u201cThere must certainly be something I can do better than anyone else, since each<br \/>\none of us is a special mode of manifestation of the divine power which, in its<br \/>\nessence, is one in all. However humble and modest it may be, this is precisely<br \/>\nthe thing to which I should devote myself, and in order to find it, I shall<br \/>\nobserve and <span class=\"SpellE\">analyse<\/span> my tastes, tendencies and<br \/>\npreferences, and I shall do it without pride or excessive humility, whatever<br \/>\nothers may think I shall do it just as I breathe, just as the flower smells<br \/>\nsweet, quite simply, quite naturally, because I cannot do otherwise.\u201d <\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"MsoNormal\" style='margin:0;text-align:justify;text-indent:.25in;line-height:150%'><span style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:\"Times New Roman\"'>As soon as we have abolished within us,<br \/>\neven for a moment, all egoistic desires, all personal and selfish aims, we can<br \/>\nsurrender to this inner spontaneity, this deep inspiration which will enable us<br \/>\nto commune with the living and progressive forces of the universe. <\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"MsoNormal\" style='margin:0;text-align:justify;text-indent:.25in;line-height:150%'><span style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:\"Times New Roman\"'>The conception of our work will inevitably<br \/>\ngrow more perfect as we grow more perfect ourselves; and to realise this<br \/>\ngrowing perfection, no effort to exceed ourselves should be\u2026 neglected, but the<br \/>\nwork we perform must become always more and more joyful and spontaneous, like<br \/>\nwater welling from a pure spring.<br \/>\n&nbsp;<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"MsoNormal\" align=\"center\" style='margin:0;text-align:center;line-height:150%'>\n<span style='font-family:\"Times New Roman\"'>Page &#8211; 51 <\/span><\/p>\n<div class=\"MsoPlainText\" align=\"center\" style='text-align:center'><span><\/p>\n<hr size=\"2\" width=\"100%\" align=\"center\">\n<p><\/span><\/div>\n<p class=\"MsoNormal\" style='margin:0;text-align:justify;line-height:150%'><b><br \/>\n<span style='font-family:\"Times New Roman\"'><br \/>\n<a name=\"02_21 May 1912\"><font size=\"3\">21 May<br \/>\n1912 <\/font> <\/a> <\/span><\/b><\/p>\n<p class=\"MsoNormal\" style='margin:0;text-align:justify;text-indent:.25in;line-height:150%'><span style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:\"Times New Roman\"'>&nbsp;<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"MsoNormal\" style='margin:0;text-indent:1.0in;line-height:150%'><i><span style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:\"Times New Roman\"'>What is the greatest obstacle in ourselves to our consecration to<br \/>\nimpersonal work?<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n<p class=\"MsoNormal\" style='margin:0;text-align:justify;text-indent:.25in;line-height:150%'><span style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:\"Times New Roman\"'>&nbsp;<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"MsoNormal\" style='margin:0;text-align:justify;text-indent:.25in;line-height:150%'><span style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:\"Times New Roman\"'>Regarded from the most general point of<br \/>\nview, this obstacle is indistinguishable from the very reason for the work to<br \/>\nbe accomplished: it is the present state of imperfection of physical Matter. <\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"MsoNormal\" style='margin:0;text-align:justify;text-indent:.25in;line-height:150%'><span style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:\"Times New Roman\"'>Since we are made up of an imperfect<br \/>\nsubstance, we cannot but share in this imperfection. <\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"MsoNormal\" style='margin:0;text-align:justify;text-indent:.25in;line-height:150%'><span style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:\"Times New Roman\"'>Therefore, whatever degree of perfection,<br \/>\nconsciousness or knowledge is possible to our inmost being, the very fact that<br \/>\nit incarnates in a physical body gives rise to obstacles to the purity of its<br \/>\nmanifestation; and on the other hand, the aim of its incarnation is victory<br \/>\nover these obstacles, the transformation of Matter. We must therefore not be<br \/>\nsurprised or saddened if we encounter obstacles within ourselves, for every<br \/>\nsingle being on earth has difficulties to overcome. <\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"MsoNormal\" style='margin:0;text-align:justify;text-indent:.25in;line-height:150%'><span style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:\"Times New Roman\"'>The cause of this imperfection may become<br \/>\napparent to us from two points of view, one general, the other individual. <\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"MsoNormal\" style='margin:0;text-align:justify;text-indent:.25in;line-height:150%'><span style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:\"Times New Roman\"'>From the general point of view, the<br \/>\nimperfection of Matter comes from its lack of receptivity to the more subtle<br \/>\nforces which are to be manifested through it. But this lack of receptivity<br \/>\nitself has many causes, and to explain them would lead us too far away from the<br \/>\nheart of our subject. Besides, I think that, in the last analysis, all<br \/>\ndifficulties lie in the illusion of personality, that is, the illusion that one<br \/>\nthing can be distinct from the whole. <\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"MsoNormal\" style='margin:0;text-align:justify;text-indent:.25in;line-height:150%'><span style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:\"Times New Roman\"'>To avoid speculating on the necessity of<br \/>\nthis illusion for the very existence of the universe as we know it, I shall<br \/>\nconsider the question solely from the terrestrial and human angle. <\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"MsoNormal\" style='margin:0;text-align:justify;text-indent:.25in;line-height:150%'><span style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:\"Times New Roman\"'>This illusion of a self separate from the<br \/>\nwhole brings about two tendencies within ourselves. <\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"MsoNormal\" style='margin:0;text-align:justify;text-indent:.25in;line-height:150%'><span style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:\"Times New Roman\"'>The first comes from an unconscious need<br \/>\nfor identification <\/span><br \/>\n<span style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:\"Times New Roman\"'><br \/>\n&nbsp;<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"MsoNormal\" align=\"center\" style='margin:0;text-align:center;line-height:150%'>\n<span style='font-family:\"Times New Roman\"'>Page &#8211; 52 <\/span><\/p>\n<div class=\"MsoPlainText\" align=\"center\" style='text-align:center'><span><\/p>\n<hr size=\"2\" width=\"100%\" align=\"center\">\n<p><\/span><\/div>\n<p class=\"MsoNormal\" style='margin:0;text-align:justify;line-height:150%'><span style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:\"Times New Roman\"'>with the whole. But by the very fact of the illusion of<br \/>\npersonality, each one conceives this identification only as an absorption into<br \/>\nhimself and seeks more or less to be the centre of this whole. As a result, in<br \/>\nproportion to his intellectual or physical strength, each one attempts to draw<br \/>\nto himself everything he is conscious of in order to continually increase his<br \/>\npersonality. <\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"MsoNormal\" style='margin:0;text-align:justify;text-indent:.25in;line-height:150%'><span style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:\"Times New Roman\"'>This is the outcome of a desire which is<br \/>\njustified in essence \u2013 to become conscious of everything \u2013 but ignorant in<br \/>\nexpression, for if a way to become conscious of everything does exist, it<br \/>\ncertainly does not lie in trying to draw everything to oneself, which is absurd<br \/>\nand unrealisable, but in identifying one&#8217;s consciousness with the consciousness<br \/>\nof the whole, which demands the very opposite action and attitude. <\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"MsoNormal\" style='margin:0;text-align:justify;text-indent:.25in;line-height:150%'><span style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:\"Times New Roman\"'>The second tendency, which is in fact a<br \/>\nnormal consequence of the first, is an excessively conservative spirit, a<br \/>\nfixity of the whole nature \u2013 intellectual, moral and physical \u2013 which makes it<br \/>\nimpossible for us to transform ourselves as rapidly as we should in order to be<br \/>\nalways in harmony with the law of universal progress. <\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"MsoNormal\" style='margin:0;text-align:justify;text-indent:.25in;line-height:150%'><span style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:\"Times New Roman\"'>It is as if the individual were afraid of<br \/>\nnot being different enough from others if he encouraged too free and large an<br \/>\nexchange with the whole. <\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"MsoNormal\" style='margin:0;text-align:justify;text-indent:.25in;line-height:150%'><span style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:\"Times New Roman\"'>Moreover, this fixity comes from the<br \/>\ndesire to appropriate and the error of believing that we can own something in<br \/>\nthe universe. We think that the elements we are made of are our own.<br \/>\nConsciously or unconsciously, we want to hold on to them for ourselves while at<br \/>\nthe same time we are quite ready to add to them by drawing other elements to<br \/>\nourselves; but we forget that since there is no real separation, we can receive<br \/>\nnothing if we do not give. <\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"MsoNormal\" style='margin:0;text-align:justify;text-indent:.25in;line-height:150%'><span style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:\"Times New Roman\"'>We must be a link in the chain: the link<br \/>\ndoes not grow bigger at the expense of its <span class=\"SpellE\">neighbours<\/span>.<br \/>\nBut when it faithfully transmits the current it has received, it will receive<br \/>\nanother, and the more complete and swift its transmission, the more it will be<br \/>\nbrought into contact with a great number of forces or things <\/span><br \/>\n<span style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:\"Times New Roman\"'><br \/>\n&nbsp;<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"MsoNormal\" align=\"center\" style='margin:0;text-align:center;line-height:150%'>\n<span style='font-family:\"Times New Roman\"'>Page &#8211; 53<\/span><\/p>\n<div class=\"MsoPlainText\" align=\"center\" style='text-align:center'><span><\/p>\n<hr size=\"2\" width=\"100%\" align=\"center\">\n<p><\/span><\/div>\n<p class=\"MsoNormal\" style='margin:0;text-align:justify;line-height:150%'><span style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:\"Times New Roman\"'>for it to use or manifest. And so, little by little, by taking and<br \/>\nkeeping nothing for itself, it can become aware of everything by communing with<br \/>\neverything. <\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"MsoNormal\" style='margin:0;text-align:justify;text-indent:.25in;line-height:150%'><span style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:\"Times New Roman\"'>Foreseeing the objections which could be<br \/>\nraised, I shall add this: <\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"MsoNormal\" style='margin:0;text-align:justify;text-indent:.25in;line-height:150%'><span style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:\"Times New Roman\"'>When I speak of the illusion of<br \/>\npersonality, I am not denying that each one has a special mode of<br \/>\nmanifestation. Differentiation does not mean division. <\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"MsoNormal\" style='margin:0;text-align:justify;text-indent:.25in;line-height:150%'><span style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:\"Times New Roman\"'>Why should there be so many countless<br \/>\nlinks in the chain if each one did not have its own function? <\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"MsoNormal\" style='margin:0;text-align:justify;text-indent:.25in;line-height:150%'><span style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:\"Times New Roman\"'>And here another comparison is needed to<br \/>\ncomplete the first, for any comparison is necessarily incomplete. <\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"MsoNormal\" style='margin:0;text-align:justify;text-indent:.25in;line-height:150%'><span style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:\"Times New Roman\"'>If we consider ourselves as cells of an<br \/>\nimmense living organism, we shall immediately understand that a cell, which is<br \/>\ndependent for its own life on the life of the whole and can separate itself<br \/>\nfrom it only at the risk of destruction, does in fact have its own special part<br \/>\nto play in the whole. <\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"MsoNormal\" style='margin:0;text-align:justify;text-indent:.25in;line-height:150%'><span style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:\"Times New Roman\"'>But this role is precisely what is most<br \/>\nprofoundly spontaneous in our being; no egoistic assertion of our personality<br \/>\nis needed to discover it. On the contrary, the more fully we give ourselves to<br \/>\nan impersonal action, the more this role will gain in strength and clarity<br \/>\nwithin us. But this role is precisely what constitutes our true individuality,<br \/>\nsince it is our own special way of manifesting the Divine Essence, which is one<br \/>\nin everything and in all.<br \/>\n&nbsp;<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"MsoNormal\" align=\"center\" style='margin:0;text-align:center;line-height:150%'>\n<span style='font-family:\"Times New Roman\"'>Page &#8211; 54<\/span><\/p>\n<div class=\"MsoPlainText\" align=\"center\" style='text-align:center'><span><\/p>\n<hr size=\"2\" width=\"100%\" align=\"center\">\n<p><\/span><\/div>\n<p class=\"MsoNormal\" style='margin:0;text-align:justify;line-height:150%'><b><br \/>\n<span style='font-family:\"Times New Roman\"'><br \/>\n<a name=\"03_28 May 1912\"><font size=\"3\">28 May<br \/>\n1912 <\/font> <\/a> <\/span><\/b><\/p>\n<p class=\"MsoNormal\" style=\"line-height: 150%;margin: 0\"><span style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:\"Times New Roman\"'>&nbsp;<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"MsoNormal\" style=\"line-height: 150%;margin: 0\"><i><span style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:\"Times New Roman\"'>What is the<br \/>\npsychological difficulty which I can best study by experience?<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n<p class=\"MsoNormal\" style='margin:0;text-align:justify;text-indent:.25in;line-height:150%'><span style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:\"Times New Roman\"'>&nbsp;<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"MsoNormal\" style='margin:0;text-align:justify;line-height:150%'><span style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:\"Times New Roman\"'>In each one of us there is a difficulty which is more central than<br \/>\nall the others; it is the one which, relative to the part we have to play in<br \/>\nthe world, is like the shadow of that light, a shadow which gradually<br \/>\ndissolves, fades more and more as the light becomes more intense, more<br \/>\nbrilliant, more powerful and extends to the whole being. <\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"MsoNormal\" style='margin:0;text-align:justify;text-indent:.25in;line-height:150%'><span style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:\"Times New Roman\"'>This difficulty, which is particular to<br \/>\neach one, seems to me to be the one which deserves all our attention and<br \/>\neffort, for if we know how to observe ourselves, we shall see that it is the<br \/>\nsource of all the others which may obstruct our way. <\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"MsoNormal\" style='margin:0;text-align:justify;text-indent:.25in;line-height:150%'><span style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:\"Times New Roman\"'>So this evening, I shall make a brief<br \/>\nsurvey of a difficulty of this kind. <\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"MsoNormal\" style='margin:0;text-align:justify;text-indent:.25in;line-height:150%'><span style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:\"Times New Roman\"'>Some people have an excessive sensitivity,<br \/>\nwhich becomes most acute when it does not manifest itself outwardly. This<br \/>\nsensitivity is of an affective, emotional kind. <\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"MsoNormal\" style='margin:0;text-align:justify;text-indent:.25in;line-height:150%'><span style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:\"Times New Roman\"'>It usually comes from a supra-nervous<br \/>\nsubstance which is highly <span class=\"SpellE\">intellectualised<\/span> but not<br \/>\nspiritualised enough for its degree of <span class=\"SpellE\">intellectualisation<\/span>.<br \/>\n<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"MsoNormal\" style='margin:0;text-align:justify;text-indent:.25in;line-height:150%'><span style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:\"Times New Roman\"'>It is a stage of evolution in which the<br \/>\nbeing is ready for self-giving, for he is conscious of himself; but, as a<br \/>\nresult of the work of individualisation, of <span class=\"SpellE\">intellectualisation<\/span><br \/>\nhe has undergone, he has acquired the habit of considering everything in<br \/>\nrelation to himself and has carried the illusion of personality to its utmost<br \/>\nlimit. <\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"MsoNormal\" style='margin:0;text-align:justify;text-indent:.25in;line-height:150%'><span style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:\"Times New Roman\"'>Thus it is sometimes very difficult for<br \/>\nhim not to watch himself acting, feeling and thinking, and this results in a<br \/>\nlack of spontaneity which verges on insincerity. <\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"MsoNormal\" style='margin:0;text-align:justify;text-indent:.25in;line-height:150%'><span style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:\"Times New Roman\"'>The being takes pleasure in his extreme<br \/>\nsensitivity; he is a delicate instrument which responds <span class=\"SpellE\">marvellously<\/span><br \/>\nto the least <\/span><br \/>\n<span style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:\"Times New Roman\"'><br \/>\n&nbsp;<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"MsoNormal\" align=\"center\" style='margin:0;text-align:center;line-height:150%'>\n<span style='font-family:\"Times New Roman\"'>Page &#8211; 55<\/span><\/p>\n<div class=\"MsoPlainText\" align=\"center\" style='text-align:center'><span><\/p>\n<hr size=\"2\" width=\"100%\" align=\"center\">\n<p><\/span><\/div>\n<p class=\"MsoNormal\" style='margin:0;text-align:justify;line-height:150%'><span style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:\"Times New Roman\"'>vibration, and so, instead of <span class=\"SpellE\">exteriorising<\/span><br \/>\nhimself and forgetting his own self as he should, he withdraws into himself,<br \/>\nobserves and analyses and almost contemplates himself. <\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"MsoNormal\" style='margin:0;text-align:justify;text-indent:.25in;line-height:150%'><span style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:\"Times New Roman\"'>Thus cultivated, the emotional sensitivity<br \/>\ngoes on increasing, sharpening and refining itself. And since in life<br \/>\nopportunities for suffering are more frequent than opportunities for joy, the<br \/>\nneed to experience and study these subtle movements of feeling develops an<br \/>\ninclination, a taste for suffering, a true mystical aberration which is nothing<br \/>\nbut self-seeking through suffering, a refined but very pernicious form of<br \/>\negoism. <\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"MsoNormal\" style='margin:0;text-align:justify;text-indent:.25in;line-height:150%'><span style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:\"Times New Roman\"'>The practical results of this need to<br \/>\nsuffer are altogether disastrous if you add to it the intuitive but still<br \/>\ninaccurate perception that the work you have to accomplish, your purpose in<br \/>\nlife, is to draw towards yourself, to take upon yourself, the suffering of<br \/>\nothers and change it into harmony. <\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"MsoNormal\" style='margin:0;text-align:justify;text-indent:.25in;line-height:150%'><span style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:\"Times New Roman\"'>As a matter of fact, on one hand this<br \/>\nknowledge is incomplete because you do not know that the only way to relieve<br \/>\nothers, to eliminate a little suffering in this world, is not to allow any<br \/>\nsensitivity, however painful it may seem, to arouse suffering in yourself or to<br \/>\ndisturb your peace and serenity. On the other hand the idea of the work to be<br \/>\naccomplished is itself warped by the illusion of personality. The correct idea<br \/>\nis not to draw all suffering to yourself, which is unrealisable, but to<br \/>\nidentify yourself with all suffering, in all others, to become in it and in<br \/>\nthem a seed of light and love which will give birth to a deep understanding, to<br \/>\nhope, trust and peace. <\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"MsoNormal\" style='margin:0;text-align:justify;text-indent:.25in;line-height:150%'><span style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:\"Times New Roman\"'>Until this is well understood, the taste<br \/>\nfor sacrifice rises in the being; and each time an opportunity for it appears,<br \/>\nsince you are not <i>disinterested<\/i> in<br \/>\nthis matter, since you<span>\u00a0 <\/span>desire this<br \/>\nsacrifice, it becomes something sentimental and irrational and results in<br \/>\nabsurd errors which sometimes have disastrous consequences. Even if you are in<br \/>\nthe habit of reflecting before acting, the reflections preceding the act will<br \/>\nnecessarily be biased, since they are warped by the taste for suffering, by the<br \/>\ndesire to have an opportunity to impose a painful sacrifice on yourself. <\/span><br \/>\n<span style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:\"Times New Roman\"'><br \/>\n&nbsp;<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"MsoNormal\" align=\"center\" style='margin:0;text-align:center;line-height:150%'>\n<span style='font-family:\"Times New Roman\"'>Page &#8211; 56<\/span><\/p>\n<div class=\"MsoPlainText\" align=\"center\" style='text-align:center'><span><\/p>\n<hr size=\"2\" width=\"100%\" align=\"center\">\n<p><\/span><\/div>\n<p class=\"MsoNormal\" style='margin:0;text-align:justify;text-indent:.25in;line-height:150%'><span style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:\"Times New Roman\"'>Thus, consciously or not, instead of<br \/>\nsacrificing yourself for the good of others, you sacrifice yourself for the<br \/>\npleasure of it, which is perfectly absurd and of no benefit to anyone. <\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"MsoNormal\" style='margin:0;text-align:justify;text-indent:.25in;line-height:150%'><span style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:\"Times New Roman\"'>No action should be deemed good, no action<br \/>\nshould be undertaken until we know its immediate and, if possible, its distant<br \/>\nconsequences, and until it appears that they must in the end add, however<br \/>\nlittle, to earthly happiness. But to be able to give a sound judgment on the<br \/>\nmatter, this judgment must in no way be disturbed by any personal preference,<br \/>\nand this implies self-detachment. <\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"MsoNormal\" style='margin:0;text-align:justify;text-indent:.25in;line-height:150%'><span style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:\"Times New Roman\"'>Not the detachment which is equivalent to<br \/>\nthe annihilation of the capacity to feel, but the detachment which brings about<br \/>\nthe abolition of the capacity to suffer. <\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"MsoNormal\" style='margin:0;text-align:justify;text-indent:.25in;line-height:150%'><span style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:\"Times New Roman\"'>By this you should understand that for the<br \/>\ntime being I am excluding insensitive people, those who do not suffer because<br \/>\nthe substance they are made of is still too unrefined, too crude to feel, those<br \/>\nwho are not even ready for suffering. <\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"MsoNormal\" style='margin:0;text-align:justify;text-indent:.25in;line-height:150%'><span style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:\"Times New Roman\"'>But of those who have achieved a high<br \/>\ndevelopment of sensitivity, it can be said that their capacity to suffer is the<br \/>\nexact measure of their imperfection. <\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"MsoNormal\" style='margin:0;text-align:justify;text-indent:.25in;line-height:150%'><span style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:\"Times New Roman\"'>Indeed, the expression of a true psychic<br \/>\nlife in the being is peace, a joyful serenity. <\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"MsoNormal\" style='margin:0;text-align:justify;text-indent:.25in;line-height:150%'><span style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:\"Times New Roman\"'>Any suffering is therefore a precious<br \/>\nindication to us of our weak point, of the point which demands a greater<br \/>\nspiritual effort from us. <\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"MsoNormal\" style='margin:0;text-align:justify;text-indent:.25in;line-height:150%'><span style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:\"Times New Roman\"'>Thus, to cure in ourselves this attraction<br \/>\nfor suffering, we must understand the absurdity, the petty egoism of the<br \/>\nvarious causes of our sufferings. <\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"MsoNormal\" style='margin:0;text-align:justify;text-indent:.25in;line-height:150%'><span style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:\"Times New Roman\"'>And to cure our excessive and ridiculous<br \/>\ndesire for sacrifice \u2013 too frequently for its own sake, regardless of any<br \/>\nuseful results \u2013 we must understand that if we are to remain in contact with<br \/>\nall human sufferings through our sensitivity, we must also be vigilant and<br \/>\ndiscerning enough to dissolve these sufferings as they come; to the<br \/>\nclear-sighted, they are purely imaginary. <\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"MsoNormal\" style='margin:0;text-align:justify;text-indent:.25in;line-height:150%'><span style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:\"Times New Roman\"'>For, from this point of view, the only way<br \/>\nto come to the <\/span><br \/>\n<span style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:\"Times New Roman\"'><br \/>\n&nbsp;<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"MsoNormal\" align=\"center\" style='margin:0;text-align:center;line-height:150%'>\n<span style='font-family:\"Times New Roman\"'>Page &#8211; 57<\/span><\/p>\n<div class=\"MsoPlainText\" align=\"center\" style='text-align:center'><span><\/p>\n<hr size=\"2\" width=\"100%\" align=\"center\">\n<p><\/span><\/div>\n<p class=\"MsoNormal\" style='margin:0;text-align:justify;line-height:150%'><span style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:\"Times New Roman\"'>help of men is to oppose to their suffering an immutable and<br \/>\nsmiling serenity which will be the highest human expression of Impersonal Love.<br \/>\n<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"MsoNormal\" style='margin:0;text-align:justify;text-indent:.25in;line-height:150%'><span style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:\"Times New Roman\"'>Finally, in a case such as the one I have<br \/>\njust shown to you, even more than in any other, it is indispensable to keep in<br \/>\nmind that true impersonality does not consist only in forgetting ourselves in<br \/>\nour acts, but above all in the fact of not being aware that we are forgetting<br \/>\nourselves. <\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"MsoNormal\" style='margin:0;text-align:justify;text-indent:.25in;line-height:150%'><span style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:\"Times New Roman\"'>In short, to be truly impersonal, we must<br \/>\nstop noticing that we are being impersonal. <\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"MsoNormal\" style='margin:0;text-align:justify;text-indent:.25in;line-height:150%'><span style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:\"Times New Roman\"'>And then the work can be accomplished with<br \/>\na large-hearted spontaneity, in all its perfection.<br \/>\n&nbsp;<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"MsoNormal\" align=\"center\" style='margin:0;text-align:center;line-height:150%'>\n<span style='font-family:\"Times New Roman\"'>Page &#8211; 58<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/table>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Part Two Meetings &nbsp; &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; In 1912 a small group of seekers met regularly with the aim of gaining self-knowledge and self-mastery. \u00a0At the end&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[123],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-4351","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-02-words-of-long-ago-volume-02","wpcat-123-id"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/worksofthemotherandsriaurobindo.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4351","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=4351"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/worksofthemotherandsriaurobindo.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4351\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/worksofthemotherandsriaurobindo.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4351"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/worksofthemotherandsriaurobindo.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4351"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/worksofthemotherandsriaurobindo.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4351"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}