{"id":4360,"date":"2013-07-13T01:55:27","date_gmt":"2013-07-13T01:55:27","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/localhost\/?p=4360"},"modified":"2013-07-13T01:55:27","modified_gmt":"2013-07-13T01:55:27","slug":"25-1-march-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\/25-1-march-1951-vol-04-questions-and-answers-volume-04","title":{"rendered":"-25_1 March 1951.htm"},"content":{"rendered":"\n\n
\n
\n


\n1
\nMarch 1951 <\/font> <\/span><\/b><\/p>\n

\n <\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cThere is a plane of divine consciousness
\nin which all is known absolutely, and the whole plan of things foreseen and
\npredetermined. That way of seeing lives in the highest reaches of the Supramental<\/span>; it is the Supreme’s<\/span>
\nown vision. But when we do not possess that consciousness, it is useless to
\nspeak in terms that hold good only in that region and are not our present
\neffective way of seeing things. For at a lower level of consciousness nothing
\nis realised<\/span> or fixed beforehand; all is in the
\nprocess of making. Here there are no settled facts, there is only the play of
\npossibilities; out of the clash of possibilities is realised<\/span>
\nthe thing that has to happen. On this plane we can choose and select; we can
\nrefuse one possibility and accept another; we can follow one path, turn away
\nfrom another. And that we can do, even though what is actually happening may
\nhave been foreseen and predetermined in a higher plane.\u201d <\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

Questions and Answers 1929 (28 April)
\n<\/font> <\/span><\/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

The word
\n\u201cpredetermined\u201d does not correspond to the reality; the word \u201cpre-existent\u201d
\nwould be more correct. The consciousness of an unfolding has a reality, it is
\nnot only an appearance. <\/span><\/p>\n

Imagine
\nthe world as a single whole and, in a certain sense, finite, limited but
\ncontaining potentially innumerable possibilities of which the combinations are
\nso numerous that they are equivalent to an infinite (you must be careful with
\nwords, however; I am very much cramped by words, they do not express exactly
\nwhat I mean). So, the universe is objectified by the Divine Consciousness, by
\nthe Supreme, according to certain determined laws of which we shall speak
\nlater. The universe is a single whole, in the sense that it is<\/i> the Divine <\/span>
\n−<\/font><\/span> it<\/span> does not<\/span> <\/font><\/span><\/p>\n

\n
\nPage – 160<\/font><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n
\n

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

\ncontain
\nthe whole of the Divine, but it is as though the Divine deployed Himself so as
\nto objectify Himself; that is the raison d’<\/span>\u00ea<\/font><\/span>tre of the manifestation of the universe. It is as if
\nthe divine Consciousness wandered into all divine possibilities following a
\npath it had chosen. Imagine then a multitude of possibles<\/span>
\nof which all the possible combinations are equivalent to an infinite. The
\ndivine Consciousness is essentially free − It wanders therein and
\nobjectifies Itself. The path traversed is free in the midst of an infinite
\nmultiplicity which is at the same time pre-existent and absolutely undetermined
\naccording to the action of the free divine Will. It may be conceived that this
\nWill, being free, is able to change the course of the deployment, change the path
\nand, although everything is pre-existent and consequently inevitable, the road,
\nthe path is free and absolutely unexpected. These changes of the route, if one
\nmay say so, can therefore change the relations between things and
\ncircumstances, and consequently the determinism is changed. This change of the
\ncircuit is called \u201cthe effect of the Grace\u201d; well, through the aid of the
\nGrace, if the Grace decides it, things can change, the course can be different.
\nThings can change their places and instead of following a certain circuit
\nfollow another. A circumstance which, according to a particular determinism,
\nshould occur at a certain place ahead, for instance, would instead occur
\nbehind, and so on. The relations between things consequently change. <\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/span><\/p>\n

At what moment does Time begin? The
\nConsciousness that chooses − is it in Time as soon as the unrolling
\nbegins?<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n\u00b9 Returning to the definition of the word
\n\u201cpre-existent\u201d, Mother added the following commentary at the time of the
\npublication of this talk: \u201cSat, <\/i>that
\nis, absolute Existence, is not in the Manifestation; it exists without being
\nmanifested; it is the non-manifest state of existence. There is Tat<\/i> which is the state of non-existence
\nand Sat <\/i>which is the state of
\nexistence; and Tat<\/i> naturally is not
\nmanifested, but Sat also is not manifested: it is only when Chit-Tapas<\/span><\/i>
\ncomes, the Consciousness-Energy, the Consciousness which realises<\/span>,
\nthat Sat manifests itself.\u201d<\/font><\/span><\/p>\n

\n
\nPage – 161<\/font><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n
\n

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

No, Time is a
\nsuccession; you must be able to conceive that the Supreme Consciousness, before
\nobjectifying itself, becomes aware of Itself in Itself. There is a global,
\ntotal and simultaneous perception and there, there is no Time. Likewise one
\ncannot speak of \u201cSpace\u201d, for the same reason, because all is simultaneous. It
\nis something more; it corresponds to a state of consciousness subjective rather
\nthan objective, for the aim, the motive of creation is objectivisation<\/span>;
\nbut there is a first step in this objectivisation<\/span> in
\nwhich there is a plenary consciousness, total and simultaneous, beyond Time and
\nSpace, of what will constitute the content of this universe; and there, the
\nuniverse is pre-existent, but not manifested, and Time begins with objectivisation<\/span>. <\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/span><\/p>\n

Can it be said that Time begins with the supramental<\/span> plane? <\/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 not the
\nsame kind of Time. There is only a beginning of Time and a beginning of form.
\nTime there is of a very different quality. There is a global, static
\nconsciousness before arriving at the supramental<\/span>
\nlevel, in which everything appears simultaneously <\/span>
\n− <\/font> <\/span>Time is the result of the fact that there is a
\nsuccession in the organisation<\/span> of the whole. While
\nthe totality you perceive all at once, on the supramental<\/span>
\nlevel, is not a static totality −<\/span> <\/font> <\/span>the static totality gives place to another totality
\nwhich gives the impression of Time. These are inner relations within the Supermind<\/span>, in the sense that one is not aware of something
\nwhich happens outside oneself; one is conscious only of something within
\noneself, internal, but the internal relations vary, and this gives a first
\nimpression of Time. <\/span><\/p>\n

In this state of
\nconsciousness one does not have the impression of things being born, passing,
\ndisappearing, does one?<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/span><\/p>\n

Oh, no! Nothing of
\nthe kind.<\/span> <\/span><\/p>\n

\nPage – 162<\/span><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n
\n

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

\u201cThe Supreme Consciousness knows everything beforehand, because everything
\nis realised<\/span> there in her eternity. But for the sake
\nof her play and in order to carry out actually on the physical plane what is
\nforeordained in her own supreme self, she moves here upon earth as if she did
\nnot know the whole story; she works as if it was a new and untried thread that
\nshe was weaving.\u201d<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

Questions and Answers 1929 (28 April)
\n<\/font> <\/span><\/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

If you undertake a
\nwork and are told beforehand that all will be useless and you will not be able
\nto do what you want, would you do it? No, surely not! Well, it is something
\nlike that which happens. Ninety times out of a hundred, what you do does not
\ngive the expected result. Not one person in a million would do his work if he
\nwere told: \u201cDo this, but the result will not be at all what you want.\u201d But in
\nthe play of forces many must work for the aggregate of forces, for the totality
\nof forces, although individually this work has no personal utility for the one
\nwho does it. So, if the individual had the knowledge that the part he plays in
\nthe whole is infinitesimal, he would not play it. But the moment you go above
\nthat, when you do things, not with a fixed end in view, but because you know
\nwithin yourself that this is the thing to be done, whatever the result, then
\nwith this kind of detachment you know and see in the higher Consciousness that
\nall action is done exclusively because it has to be done whatever may be the
\nresult; and generally you are sufficiently clear-sighted to know, at least
\nvaguely, what will be the result of this action. For knowing it will not change
\nin the least your way of doing it. <\/span><\/p>\n

Instead of an
\nexplanation which goes from below upward, it would be wiser to look for an
\nexplanation which comes from above downward and rather to conceive that little
\nby little the Consciousness comes down and as it comes down is obscured, and
\none no longer understands by what mechanism things are <\/span><\/p>\n

\nPage – 163<\/span><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n
\n

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

done − that
\nis what is called a state of ignorance. <\/span><\/p>\n

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

\u201cIn a picture you need a definite scheme
\nof composition and colour<\/span>; you have to set a limit,
\nto put the whole thing within a fixed framework; but the limit is illusory, the
\nframe is a mere convention. There is a constant continuation of the picture
\nthat stretches beyond any particular frame, and each continuation can be drawn
\nin the same conditions in an unending series of frames. Our aim is this or
\nthat, we say, but we know that it is only the beginning of another aim beyond
\nit, and that in its turn leads to yet another…\u201d <\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

Questions and Answers 1929 (28 April)
\n<\/font> <\/span><\/p>\n

If I were told
\nthat things are going to stop at a certain point, I would find it very boring,
\nso boring that I would not stir ! <\/span><\/p>\n

The only thing
\nwhich consoles me is that everything continues always, infinitely, that there
\nis always something new to be done. <\/span><\/p>\n

Whatever be the
\ngoal attained, it is only a beginning. <\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

What is the difference between \u201cspiritual\u201d
\nand \u201cpsychic\u201d? <\/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 not
\nthe same thing. The psychic is the being organised<\/span> by
\nthe divine Presence and it belongs to the earth <\/span>
\n− <\/font> <\/span>I am not speaking of the universe, only of the earth;
\nit is only upon earth that you will find the psychic being. The rest of the
\nuniverse is formed in quite a different way. <\/span><\/p>\n

The
\nuniverse contains all the domains higher than the physical: there is a global
\nphysical comprising the mental, the vital, etc…, and all the domains above
\nthe mental are domains of a spiritual order, domains which are, for us, domains
\nof the spirit, and it is this \u201cspirit\u201d which little by little, progressively, materialises<\/span> itself to arrive at Matter as we conceive it.
\nThe beings <\/span><\/p>\n

\n
\nPage – 164<\/font><\/span><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n
\n

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

of
\nthe Overmind<\/span>, for instance, and all the beings of the
\nhigher regions have no psychic being −<\/span> <\/font> <\/span>the \u201cangels\u201d have no psychic being. It is only upon
\nearth that the psychic life begins, and it is just the process by which the
\nDivine has awakened material life to the necessity of rejoining its divine
\norigin. Without the psychic, Matter would never have awakened from its inconscience<\/span>, it would never have aspired for the life of
\nits origin, the spiritual life. Therefore, the psychic being in the human being
\nis the manifestation of spiritual aspiration; but there is a spiritual life
\nindependent of the psychic. <\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/span><\/p>\n

Is there a correspondence between the
\npsychic world and the earth? <\/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

But I have already
\ntold you that it is only upon earth that the psychic being gets its experiences
\nto individualise<\/span> itself. Hence there is an almost
\nabsolute interdependence between the psychic world and the earth. <\/span><\/p>\n

What is the most effective means of
\nawakening the psychic 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><\/p>\n

But it is wide
\nawake ! And not only is it awake, but it acts, only you are not aware of it. It
\nappears to you asleep because you don’t perceive it ! <\/span><\/p>\n

Fundamentally,
\nwithout this kind of inner will of the psychic being, I believe human beings
\nwould be quite dismal, dull, they would have an altogether animal life. Every gleam
\nof aspiration is always the expression of a psychic influence. Without the
\npresence of the psychic, without the psychic influence, there would never be
\nany sense of progress or any will for progress.<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/span><\/p>\n

Would there be a sense of beauty? <\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

 <\/span><\/p>\n

Yes. Perhaps not
\nthe highest sense of beauty, but in the vital <\/span><\/p>\n

\nPage – 165<\/span><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n
\n

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

one finds a
\ncomplete sense of beauty and harmony. The beauty which is fundamental,
\nprofound, universal, constant belongs only to the psychic, but the sense of the
\nbeauty of form, of appearance, of colour<\/span>, the
\neducated, refined vital fully possesses. <\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/span><\/p>\n

And not love? <\/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

That depends on
\nwhat you mean by \u201clove\u201d ! There would not be divine love there, naturally, but
\nall passions, attractions, desires exist in the vital. Only, the quality of
\nthese movements has been completely changed due to the descent and diffusion of
\nthe divine Consciousness in Matter. It has awakened the possibility of true
\nlove; otherwise, all those things which are taken for love, all passions and
\nattractions and desires<\/span> − <\/span>the need of devouring<\/span> − <\/span>all that exists
\nvery well in the vital. The first form of love in Matter is the need of
\ndevouring: one wants to possess, assimilate; and the best way of doing it is to
\nswallow and to digest ! It can be said that the cat is full of love for its
\nkittens when it eats them and the tiger full of love for the lamb it devours ! <\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/span><\/p>\n

Is there a sense of beauty in flowers ? <\/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

As soon as there
\nis organic life, the vital element comes in, and it is this vital element which
\ngives to flowers the sense of beauty. It is not perhaps individualised<\/span>
\nin the sense we understand it, but it is a sense of the species and the species
\nalways tries to realise<\/span> it. I have noticed a first
\nrudiment of the psychic presence and vibration in vegetable life, and truly
\nthis blossoming one calls a flower is the first manifestation of the psychic
\npresence. The psychic is individualised<\/span> only in man,
\nbut it was there before him; but it is not the same kind of individualisation<\/span>
\nas in man, it is more fluid: it manifests as force, as consciousness rather
\nthan as individuality. Take the rose, for example; its great perfection of
\nform, colour<\/span>, scent expresses an aspiration and <\/span><\/p>\n

\nPage – 166<\/span><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n
\n

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

a psychic giving.
\nLook at a rose opening in the morning at the first touch of the sun, it is a
\nmagnificent self-giving in aspiration. <\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/span><\/p>\n

Each flower has its special significance,
\nhasn’t it? <\/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

Not as we
\nunderstand it mentally. There is a mental projection when one gives a precise
\nmeaning to a flower. It may answer, vibrate to the touch of this projection,
\naccept the meaning, but a flower has no equivalent of the mental consciousness.
\nIn the vegetable kingdom there is a beginning of the psychic, but there is no beginning
\nof the mental consciousness. In animals it is different; mental life begins to
\nform and for them things have a meaning. But in flowers it is rather like the
\nmovement of a little baby<\/span> − <\/span>it is<\/span> <\/span>neither a
\nsensation nor a feeling, but something of both; it is a spontaneous movement, a
\nvery special vibration. So, if one is in contact with it, if one feels it, one
\ngets an impression which may be translated by a thought. That is how I have
\ngiven a meaning to flowers and plants<\/span> − <\/span>there is a kind of
\nidentification with the vibration, a perception of the quality it represents
\nand, little by little, through a kind of approximation (sometimes this comes
\nsuddenly, occasionally it takes time), there is a coming together of these
\nvibrations (which are of a vital-emotional order) and the vibration of the
\nmental thought, and if there is a sufficient harmony, one has a direct
\nperception of what the plant may signify. <\/span><\/p>\n

In some countries
\n(particularly here) certain plants are used as the media for worship, offering,
\ndevotion. Certain plants are given on special occasions. And I have often seen
\nthat this identification was quite in keeping with the nature of the plant,
\nbecause spontaneously, without knowing anything, I happened to give the same
\nmeaning as that given in religious ceremonies. The vibration was really there
\nin the flower itself… Did it come from the use that had been made of it or
\ndid it come from very far, from somewhere deep down, from a beginning of the
\npsychic life? It would be difficult to say. <\/span><\/p>\n

\nPage – 167<\/span><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n
\n

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

\n
\nCan it happen that the psychic being does
\nnot fall at the place where it wanted to take birth? <\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

 <\/span><\/p>\n

If a psychic being
\nsees from its psychic world a light on the earth, it may rush down there
\nwithout knowing exactly where it is. Everything is possible. But if the psychic
\nbeing is very conscious, sufficiently conscious, it will seek the light of
\naspiration in a precise place, because of the culture, the education it will
\nfind there. This happens much more frequently than one believes, especially in somewhat
\neducated circles. An intelligent woman with some artistic or philosophical
\nculture, a beginning of conscious individuality, may aspire that the child she
\nis going to have may be the best possible according to her idea or according to
\nwhat she has read. Hence it is not so very complicated to find a place. The
\nnumber of psychic beings born constantly being considerable, if each time
\nexceptional conditions have to be found it would be difficult. Surely, there
\nare instances where the psychic being seems to have fallen headlong and been
\nstunned, but this is bad luck; in such a case it generally requires a long time
\nto wake up. It is bad luck in the sense that it probably lacked a certain power
\nof discrimination, or perhaps it had to face certain forces which thwarted its
\ndecision and won a partial victory over it. There are a thousand possibilities,
\nyou know. One cannot say that everything goes according to the same plan<\/span> − <\/span>every psychic
\nbeing is different.<\/span><\/p>\n


\nPage – 168<\/font><\/span><\/p>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/table>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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