{"id":4357,"date":"2013-07-13T01:55:26","date_gmt":"2013-07-13T01:55:26","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/localhost\/?p=4357"},"modified":"2013-07-13T01:55:26","modified_gmt":"2013-07-13T01:55:26","slug":"44-14-april-1951-vol-04-questions-and-answers-volume-04","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/worksofthemotherandsriaurobindo.org\/index.php\/02-works-of-the-mother\/01-cwmce\/04-questions-and-answers-volume-04\/44-14-april-1951-vol-04-questions-and-answers-volume-04","title":{"rendered":"-44_14 April 1951.htm"},"content":{"rendered":"\n\n
\n
\n


\n14 April 1951<\/font><\/span><\/b><\/p>\n


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

Mother reads a question asked during her talk in 1929:
\n<\/font>
\n<\/span><\/p>\n

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

\u201cIs not surrender the same as sacrifice ?\u201d
\n<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

                Questions and Answers 1929 (4 August)<\/font>
\n  <\/span><\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

Who is going to
\nanswer? What is the difference? <\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/span><\/p>\n

Surrender comes spontaneously. <\/span><\/i><\/p>\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 <\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

I congratulate
\nthose whose surrender is spontaneous ! It is not so easy. No, that is not the
\ndifference. <\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/span><\/p>\n

Sacrifice diminishes the being. <\/span><\/i><\/p>\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<\/span><\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

That is true, but
\nwhy ? One thing is so, so simple \u2013 is the very meaning of the word. To
\nsacrifice means to give up something to which one clings. To sacrifice one’s
\nlife is to give up one’s life to which one clings; otherwise it would not be a
\nsacrifice, it would be a gift. If you use the word \u201csacrifice\u201d, it means it is
\nsomething which makes you suffer when you give it up. The word \u201csacrifice\u201d is
\nused at random, that is understood, but I am speaking of the true sense. One
\ncan sacrifice only what one holds dear. If one does not cling to it, it is not
\na sacrifice, it is a gift with all the joy of the giving. Surrender has no
\nvalue if it is painful, if it is a sacrifice. Surrender must be truly a joyous
\noffering (I am using the word soumission<\/i><\/span> <\/i>in the
\nsense of surrender, but it is not quite surrender \u2013 surrender is between soumission<\/span> and <\/i> abandon<\/i>).
\nOne gives up something, surrenders oneself, but without sacrifice. <\/span><\/p>\n

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

\u201cIn our Yoga there is no room for
\nsacrifice. But everything depends on the meaning you put<\/span><\/i> <\/span><\/p>\n

\nPage – 315<\/span><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n
\n

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

 <\/span>in the word. In its pure sense it means a
\nconsecrated giving, a making sacred to the Divine. But in the significance that
\nit now bears, sacrifice is something that works for destruction; it carries
\nabout it an atmosphere of negation. This kind of sacrifice is not fulfilment<\/span>; it is a deprivation, a self-immolation… When
\nyou do anything with the sense of a compression of your being, be sure that you
\nare doing it in the wrong way.\u201d <\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Questions and Answers 1929 (4 August)<\/font><\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

Why does sacrifice have such a great value
\nin religion ? <\/span><\/i><\/p>\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 <\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

Many religions are
\nfounded upon the idea of sacrifice; for instance, all the Chaldean<\/span>
\nreligions. The reforms of the Muslim religion also had a very strong tendency
\ntowards sacrifice. All the first adepts, the first faithful, paid with their
\nlife for changing their religion. In <\/span>Persia<\/span>, they were
\npersecuted beyond all telling. There are even many writings in which the joys of
\nsacrifice are praised highly \u2013 that is a Chaldean<\/span> idea.
\nBut you should be on your guard; all depends upon the meaning given to the
\nword. It is obvious that for him who sacrifices himself willingly, that is, who
\ngives up his life voluntarily and with joy, it is no longer a sacrifice, by the
\nvery definition we have given to the word. <\/span><\/p>\n

We also speak of
\nthe \u201csacrifice\u201d of the Divine. But I have noticed that this is called
\n\u201csacrifice\u201d when one understands that if obliged to do it oneself it would be
\nvery difficult ! It would give you much pain, it would be very hard (laughing)
\nso one speaks of sacrifice, but it is probable that for the Divine it was not
\npainful and he did it willingly, with all the joy of self-giving. <\/span><\/p>\n

I knew Abdul Baha<\/span> very well, the successor of Baha<\/span>
\nUllah<\/span>, founder of the Bahai<\/span>
\nreligion; Abdul Baha<\/span> was his son. He was born in
\nprison and lived in prison till he was forty, I believe. When he came out of
\nprison his father was dead and he began <\/span><\/p>\n

\n Page – 316<\/span><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n
\n

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

 to preach his
\nfather’s religion. He told me his story and what had happened in <\/span>Persia<\/span> at the beginning
\nof the religion. And I remember him telling me with what intense joy, what a
\nsense of the divine Presence, of the divine Force, these people went to the
\nsacrifice \u2013 it can’t be called \u201csacrifice\u201d, it was a very joyful gift of their
\nlife… He always spoke to me of someone who was, it appears, a very great poet
\nand who had been arrested as a heretic because he followed the Bahai<\/span> religion. They wanted to take him away to kill him \u2013
\nor burn or hang or crucify him, I don’t know what, the manner of death in vogue
\nat the time \u2013 and, because he expressed his faith and said he would be happy to
\nsuffer anything for his faith and his God, people devised the plan of fixing
\nsmall lighted candle-ends on his body, his arms, his shoulders. Naturally the
\ncandles melted with the hot wax all over, till the wick of the candle burnt the
\nskin. It seems Abdul Baha<\/span> was there when this man was
\ntortured and as they came to the spot where he was to be killed, Abdul Baha<\/span> went up to speak to him affectionately and he was in
\nan ecstasy of joy. Abdul Baha<\/span> spoke to him of his
\nsufferings; he replied, \u201cSuffer ! It is one of the most beautiful hours of my
\nlife…\u201c This cannot be called a sacrifice, can it ? <\/span><\/p>\n

Generally, all
\nthose who have suffered tortures for their faith, that is, for their highest
\nthought, their most sublime ideal, have always felt a kind of divine grace
\nhelping them and keeping them from suffering. Of course, outsiders call this a
\n\u201csacrifice\u201d (that is understandable, they have sacrificed their life), but one
\ncannot use the word for what personally concerns them, because for them it was
\nnot a sacrifice, it was a joy. All depends on the inner attitude. Now, if for a
\nsingle moment during the torture they had had the least idea, \u201cWhy am I being tortured
\n?\u201d they would have undergone unbearable suffering. A single passing thought
\nsuffices. <\/span><\/p>\n

Almost all events \u2013
\nat least all the important circumstances of human life \u2013 may be looked at from
\ntwo sides: from below or from above. If you see them from below, with the
\nfeelings<\/span><\/p>\n

\n Page – 317<\/span><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n
\n

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

of the ordinary
\nman, you are terrified by the amount of suffering of all those who have
\npreached a new religion or wished to set an example to humanity- they have all
\nsuffered, that is, they have all been persecuted by men. Generally speaking,
\nwith a very few exceptions, men do not like what is superior to them, and when
\nthey meet someone who is far above them (I am saying, apart from some
\nexceptions), that makes them furious. They suffer an almost insurmountable
\nannoyance in meeting something so infinitely higher than what they are. They
\nhave only one idea, to destroy it, and in fact that is what they have done.
\nThroughout human history it has been thus. Those who have come with special
\nabilities, a special grace, and have tried to make men come out of their
\nordinary rut, have been more or less persecuted, martyred, burnt alive, put on
\nthe cross… The situation now is apparently a little better because now
\nslightly more plausible reasons than those of old are needed to burn men- the
\nhabit of doing so is no longer there but the feelings are not very different.
\nThe human race, generally, has a sort of rancour<\/span>
\nagainst what surpasses it; it feels humiliated, and men do not like to be
\nhumiliated. <\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/span><\/p>\n

Sometimes, on waking up, one forgets
\neverything, one forgets where one is. Why ? <\/span><\/i><\/p>\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 <\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

It is because you
\nhave gone into the inconscient<\/span> and lost all contact
\nwith the consciousness, and this takes a little time to be reestablished. Of
\ncourse, it may happen that instead of going into the inconscient<\/span>
\none goes into the superconscient<\/span>, but this is not
\nfrequent. And the feeling is not the same because, instead of having this
\nnegative impression of not knowing who one is or where one is or what is what,
\none has a positive sensation of having risen into something other than one’s
\nordinary life, of no longer being the same person. But when one has altogether
\nlost contact with one’s ordinary consciousness, generally it is that one has
\nslept and been for a long time in the inconscient<\/span>. <\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/span>Page – 318<\/span><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n
\n

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

 Then the being is
\nscattered, it is absorbed by this inconscient<\/span> and all
\nthe pieces have to be put together again. Naturally, this is done much more
\nquickly than at the beginning of existence, but the conscious elements have to
\nbe gathered up again and a cohesion re-formed to begin to know once more who
\none is. <\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/span><\/p>\n

Sometimes in dreams one goes into houses,
\nstreets, places one has never seen. What does this mean ? <\/span><\/i><\/p>\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 <\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

There may be many
\nreasons for this. Perhaps it is an exteriorisation<\/span>:
\none has come out of the body and gone for a stroll. They may be memories of
\nformer lives. Perhaps one has become identified with someone else’s
\nconsciousness and has the memories of this other person. Perhaps it is a
\npremonition (this is the rarest case, but it may happen): one sees ahead what
\none will see later. <\/span><\/p>\n

The other day I
\nspoke to you about those landscapes of Japan; well, almost all \u2013 the most beautiful,
\nthe most striking ones \u2013 I had seen in vision in France; and yet I had not seen
\nany pictures or photographs of Japan, I knew nothing of Japan. And I had seen
\nthese landscapes without human beings, nothing but the landscape, quite pure,
\nlike that, and it had seemed to me they were visions of a world other than the
\nphysical; they seemed to me too beautiful for the physical world, too perfectly
\nbeautiful. Particularly I used to see very often those stairs rising straight
\nup into the sky; in my vision there was the impression of climbing straight up,
\nstraight up, and as though one could go on climbing, climbing, climbing… It
\nhad struck me, and the first time I saw this in Nature down there, I understood
\nthat I had already seen it in <\/span>France<\/span> before having
\nknown anything about <\/span>Japan<\/span>. <\/span><\/p>\n

There are always
\nmany explanations possible and it is very difficult to explain for someone
\nelse. For oneself, if one has studied very carefully one’s dreams and
\nactivities of the night, one can distinguish fine nuances. I was saying I
\nthought I had a<\/span><\/p>\n

\n Page – 319<\/span><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n
\n

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

 vision of another
\nworld \u2013 I knew it was something which existed, but I could not imagine there
\nwas a country where it existed; this seemed to me impossible, so very beautiful
\nit was. It was the active mind which interfered. But I knew that what I was
\nseeing truly existed, and it was only when I saw these landscapes physically
\nthat I realised in fact that I had seen something which existed, but I had seen
\nit with inner eyes (it was the subtle-physical) before seeing it physically.
\nEveryone has certain very small indications, but for that one must be very,
\nvery methodical, very scrupulous, very careful in one’s observation and not
\nneglect the least signs, and above all not give favourable mental explanations
\nto the experiences one has. For if one wants to explain to oneself (I don’t
\neven speak of explaining to others), if one wants to explain the experience to
\noneself advantageously, to draw satisfaction, one does not understand anything
\nany more. That is, one may mix up the signs without even noticing that they are
\nmixed up. For instance, when one sees somebody in a dream (I am not speaking of
\ndreams in which you see somebody unknown, but of those where you see somebody
\nyou know, who comes to see you) there are all sorts of explanations possible.
\nIf it is someone living far away from you, in another country, perhaps that
\nperson has written a letter to you and the letter is on the way, so you see
\nthis person because he has put a formation of himself in his letter, a
\nconcentration; you see the person and the next morning you get the letter. This
\nis a very frequent occurrence. If it is a person with a very strong
\nthought-power, he may think of you from very far, from his own country and
\nconcentrate his thought, and this concentration takes the form of that person
\nin your consciousness. Perhaps it is that this person is calling you
\nintentionally; deliberately he comes to tell you something or give you a sign,
\nif he is in danger, if he is sick. Suppose he has something important to tell
\nyou, he begins to concentrate (he knows how to do it, as everyone does not) and
\nhe enters your atmosphere, comes to tell you something special. Now if you are
\npassive and attentive, you receive<\/span><\/p>\n

\n Page – 320<\/span><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n
\n

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

 the message. And
\nthen, two more instances still: someone has exteriorized himself more or less
\nmaterially in his sleep and has come to see you. And you become conscious of
\nthis person because (almost by miracle) you are in a corresponding state of
\nconsciousness. And finally, a last instance, this person may be dead and may
\ncome to see you after his death (one part of him or almost the whole of his
\nbeing according to the relation you have with him). Consequently, for someone
\nwho is not very, very careful it is very difficult to distinguish these
\nnuances, very difficult. On the other hand, quite often imaginative people will
\ntell you, \u201cOh ! I saw this person \u2013 he is dead.\u201d I have heard that I don’t know
\nhow many times. These are people whose imagination runs freely. It is possible
\nthat the person is dead, but not because he has appeared to you !… One must
\npay great attention to the outer forms things take. There are shades very
\ndifficult to distinguish, one must be very, very careful. For oneself, if one
\nis in the habit of studying all this, one can become aware of the differences,
\nbut to interpret another’s experiences is very difficult, unless he gives you
\nin great detail all that surrounds the dream, the vision: the ideas he had
\nbefore, the ideas he had later, the state of his health, the feelings he
\nexperienced when going to sleep, the activities of the preceding day, indeed,
\nall sorts of things. People who tell you, \u201cOh ! I had this vision, explain it
\nto me !\u201d, that is childishness \u2013 unless it is someone whom you have followed
\nvery carefully, whom you yourself have taught how to recognise<\/span>
\nthe planes, and whose habits, whose reactions you know; otherwise it is
\nimpossible to explain, for there are innumerable explanations for one single
\nthing. <\/span><\/p>\n

There are some
\nvery remarkable instances of exteriorisation<\/span>. I am
\ngoing to tell you two incidents about cats which occurred quite a long time ago
\nin <\/span>France<\/span>. One happened
\nvery long ago, long before the war even. We used to have small meetings every
\nweek \u2013 quite a small number of friends, three or four, who discussed
\nphilosophy, spiritual experiences, etc… There was a young boy, a poet, but
\none who was rather light-hearted; he was very<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/span>Page – 321<\/span><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n
\n

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

 \u00a0<\/span>intelligent, he was a student in <\/span>
\nParis<\/span>. He used to come
\nregularly to these meetings (they took place on Wednesday evenings) and one
\nevening he did not come. We were surprised; we had met him a few days before
\nand he had said he would come \u2013 he did not come. We waited quite a long time,
\nthe meeting was over and at the time of leaving I opened the door to let people
\nout (it was at my house that these meetings were held), I opened the door and
\nthere before it sat a big dark grey cat which rushed into the room like mad and
\njumped upon me, like this, mewing desperately. I looked into its eyes and told
\nmyself, \u201cWell, these are so-and-so’s eyes\u201d (the one who was to come). I said,
\n\u201cSurely something has happened to him.\u201d And the next day we learnt that he had
\nbeen assassinated that night; the next morning he had been found lying
\nstrangled on his bed. This is the first story. The other happened long afterwards,
\nat the time of the war \u2013 the First [World] War, not the Second \u2013 the war of the
\ntrenches. There was a young man I knew very well; he was a poet and artist (I
\nhave already spoken about him), who had gone to the war. He had enlisted, he
\nwas very young; he was an officer. He had given me his photograph. (This boy
\nwas a student of Sanskrit and knew Sanskrit very well, he liked Buddhism very
\nmuch; indeed he was much interested in things of the spirit, he was not an
\nordinary boy, far from it.) He had given me his photograph on which there was a
\nsentence in Sanskrit written in his own hand, very well written. I had framed
\nthis photograph and put it above a sort of secretaire<\/span>
\n(a rather high desk with drawers); well, above it I had hung this photograph.
\nAnd at that time it was very difficult to receive news, one did not know very
\nwell what was happening. From time to time we used to receive letters from him,
\nbut for a long time there had been nothing, when, one day, I came into my room,
\nand the moment I entered, without any apparent reason the photograph fell from
\nthe wall where it had been well fixed, and the glass broke with a great
\nclatter. I felt a little anxious, I said, \u201cThere is something wrong.\u201d But we
\nhad no news. Two or three days later (it was<\/span><\/p>\n

\nPage – 322<\/span><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n
\n

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

 \u00a0<\/span>on the first floor; I lived in a house with
\none room upstairs, all the rest on the ground-floor, and there was a flight of
\nsteps leading to the garden) I opened the entrance door and a big grey cat
\nrushed in \u2013 \u00a0<\/span>light grey, this time<\/span> \u2013 a magnificent cat, and, just as the other one had
\ndone, it flung itself upon me, like this, mewing. I looked into its eyes \u2013 had
\nthe eyes of… that boy. And this cat, it turned and turned around me and all
\nthe time tugged at my dress and miaowed<\/span>. I wanted to
\nput it out, but it would not go, it settled down there and did not want to
\nmove. The next day it was announced in the papers that this boy had been found
\ndead between two trenches, dead for three days. That is, at the time he must
\nhave died his photograph had fallen. The consciousness had left the body
\ncompletely: he was there abandoned, because they did not always go to see what
\nwas happening between the trenches; they could not, you understand; he was
\nfound two or three days later; at that time probably he had gone out altogether
\nfrom his body and wanted definitely to inform me about what had happened and he
\nhad found that cat. For cats live in the vital being, they have a very
\ndeveloped vital consciousness and can easily be taken possession of by vital
\nforces. <\/span><\/p>\n

But these two
\nexamples are quite extraordinary, for they both came about almost in the same
\nway, and in both instances the eyes of these cats had completely changed \u2013 they
\nhad become human eyes. <\/span>
\n
\n <\/span><\/p>\n

\nPage – 323<\/span><\/p>\n

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

14 April 1951  \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Mother reads a question asked during her talk in 1929: \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u201cIs not surrender the same as sacrifice ?\u201d                 Questions…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[124],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-4357","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-04-questions-and-answers-volume-04","wpcat-124-id"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/worksofthemotherandsriaurobindo.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4357","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=4357"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/worksofthemotherandsriaurobindo.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4357\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/worksofthemotherandsriaurobindo.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4357"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/worksofthemotherandsriaurobindo.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4357"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/worksofthemotherandsriaurobindo.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4357"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}