{"id":4376,"date":"2013-07-13T01:55:34","date_gmt":"2013-07-13T01:55:34","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/localhost\/?p=4376"},"modified":"2013-07-13T01:55:34","modified_gmt":"2013-07-13T01:55:34","slug":"30-12-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\/30-12-march-1951-vol-04-questions-and-answers-volume-04","title":{"rendered":"-30_12 March 1951.htm"},"content":{"rendered":"\n\n
\n
\n


\n12 March 1951<\/font><\/span><\/b>
\n<\/font> <\/span><\/b><\/p>\n

 <\/span><\/p>\n

In the vital world, forces exist: do
\nmental forms exist in the mental world? <\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

 <\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

Yes, there is a
\nconcrete mental world and there are mental forms which do not resemble vital forces
\nbut have their own law. There are many, innumerable mental forms. They are
\nalmost indestructible; one can only say that they change forms and relations,
\nit is something very fluid, and moving all the time. <\/span><\/p>\n

\u201c…You can
\nunderstand only what you already know in your own inner self. What strikes you
\nin a book is what you have already experienced deep within you… The knowledge
\nthat seems to come to you from outside is only an occasion for bringing out the
\nknowledge that is within you.\u201d <\/span><\/p>\n

Questions and Answers 1929 (19 May)
\n<\/font> <\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

 <\/span>     Why are certain subjects so very
\ndifficult? <\/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 is due to
\nmany things<\/span> \u2014 <\/span>to the formation of the brain, to atavism,
\nto the early years of education, particularly to atavism. <\/span><\/p>\n

But there is a
\nvery interesting phenomenon here: each new idea forms a kind of small
\nconvolution in the brain, and that takes time. You see, you are told something
\nwhich you have never heard before; you listen, but it is incomprehensible, it
\ndoes not penetrate into your head. But if you hear the same thing a second
\ntime, a little later, it makes sense. It is because the shock of the new idea
\nhas done a little work in the brain and prepared just what was necessary for
\nunderstanding. And not only does it build itself up, but it perfects itself.
\nThat is why if you read a difficult book, at the end of six months or a year
\nyou will understand it infinitely better than at the first reading and, at <\/span><\/p>\n

\nPage – 198<\/span><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n
\n

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

times, in a very
\ndifferent way. This work in the brain is done without the participation of your
\nactive consciousness. The way the human being is at present constituted, the
\ntime factor must always be taken into account. <\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

Is it the brain or the presence of thought
\nthat produces the shock ? <\/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

No, it is the
\nconsciousness. Most people are not aware of it, but it works all the time in
\neveryone. <\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cWe say something that is quite clear, but
\nthe way in which it is understood is stupefying! Each sees in it something else
\nthan what was intended or even puts into it something that is quite the
\ncontrary of its sense. If you want to understand truly and avoid this kind of
\nerror, you must go behind the sound and the movement of the words and learn to
\nlisten in silence.\u201d <\/span><\/i><\/p>\n


\nQuestions and Answers 1929 (19 May<\/font><\/span>)  <\/span><\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

How can one learn to listen in silence? <\/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 a matter of
\nattention. If you concentrate your attention on what is being said, with the
\nwill to understand it correctly, the silence is created spontaneously<\/span> \u2014<\/span> <\/span>it is attention
\nthat creates the silence. <\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/span><\/p>\n

Is it possible to get out of the \u201cmental
\nfortress\u201d?\u00b9<\/span><\/i> <\/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

But there are
\npeople who do get out of the fortress! One can even send an army out of the
\nfortress !\u00a0\u00a0 <\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

No, it is not the
\nchief of the place who goes out, he clings to his fort: he orders out the
\nsoldiers. He values his fortress, for <\/span><\/p>\n

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

\u00b9See the talk of <\/font> <\/span>
\n10 March 1951<\/span><\/font>.<\/font><\/span><\/p>\n

\nPage – 199<\/span><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n
\n

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

it is that which
\ngives him the impression of existing and of being an individual. <\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/span><\/p>\n

What if one gets rid of the fortress ? <\/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

Oh, but you
\nmust take care ! You had better not get rid of it unless you are able to live
\nwithout a fortress<\/span> \u2013
\nsom<\/span>ething which is infinitely more difficult to do. What
\nmen generally do, with much effort and a good deal of suffering which gives
\nthem the impression that they are heroes, is to knock down their fortress… only
\nto enter immediately into another ! That does not make much difference from the
\nstandpoint of the Truth, but it gives them the impression of having made a
\ngreat progress, because the old fortress is razed and they have built up
\nanother.<\/span><\/p>\n

To
\nlive without a fortress is extremely difficult<\/span> \u2013 <\/span>people have the feeling that they are not
\nliving, that they are not individualised<\/span>, that they
\nare floating about. It is extremely difficult to live in something infinitely
\nvast, moving, constantly changing, perpetually in progress, not to be held by
\nanything to which one can cling, saying \u201cI am this; this is my way of
\nthinking.\u201d It is very difficult, one must not try it too soon; there are those
\nwhose mind gets deranged by it. <\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

What is it that makes the mental construction ? <\/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 the mental
\nego which makes the construction and it clings to it desperately. <\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/span><\/p>\n

Are the \u201cI\u201d and the ego the same thing? <\/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

Generally they
\nare.<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/span><\/p>\n

How does it happen that there are people who think one thing and say
\nanother?<\/span><\/i> <\/span>
\n
\n <\/span><\/p>\n

\nPage – 200<\/span><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n
\n

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

Yes, that often
\nhappens. They think one thing and when they begin talking they say just the
\ncontrary. If thought controlled the tongue, many stupidities would be avoided.
\nYou lose control and speak on impulse any kind of nonsense; it is like a
\nmachine which begins talking for the pleasure of talking. That seems like an
\nabsurdity, but it is happening all the time; there are very few people who
\nescape this. They say all kinds of things and they ask, \u201cWhy did I say all
\nthat?\u201d They do not even know why. I know some who always say what the other
\nwants to hear. The person with whom they are speaking says to himself, \u201cHe is
\ngoing to tell me this or that,\u201d or he fears, \u201cI hope he will not tell me that,\u201d
\nand the other one, like a little puppet, begins to say it, very calmly without
\nknowing why ! <\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/span><\/p>\n

Is it because of a lack of will ? <\/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

No, it is a mental
\ndeformation. There is not much will in this. If the will intervened, it would
\nbecome less absurd, perhaps. <\/span><\/p>\n

No, they are
\nmental movements, the formation of the mind, the mental force which moves all
\nthe time, which comes and goes, like a squirrel in a cage which runs round and
\nround and does not know why. <\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/span><\/p>\n

Then, is it a universal play? <\/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

No, not
\nvery universal; it exists in humanity, it is very human. How many human beings
\nhave a thought of their own ? I am pretty sure there are none in ordinary
\nhumanity with its ordinary mental make-up. How many people have a thought as a
\nresult of reflection ? Very few, and if they have it, they are considered
\nterribly hard or remarkably intelligent or despotic or authoritative<\/span> \u2013 <\/span>they are
\ncovered with all sorts of compliments ! And that, simply because they have a
\nprecise fashion of thinking. <\/span><\/p>\n

Take
\nany general idea; for example: \u201cIs the world’s duration indefinite?\u201d or \u201cHas it
\na beginning and an end?\u201d Who has
\n <\/span><\/p>\n

\n
\nPage – 201<\/font><\/span><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n
\n

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

a precise
\nthought on this subject ? Or again: \u201cHow did the earth begin and how did
\nhumanity commence on earth?\u201d The mind is incapable of resolving this question;
\nit will find itself before an indefinite number of possibilities and will not
\nknow how to choose. Then, what does it do, how does it choose ? by personal
\npreference, the thought that gives it an agreeable, comfortable feeling; it
\nsays, \u201cYes, that must be it.\u201d But if you are quite honest and scrupulous and do
\nnot allow your preferences to come into play, how will you decide? It is a
\nsubject close enough to humanity for it to take an interest in it, isn’t it ?
\nEarth is, after all, its domain. Well, if you read one book, it will tell you
\none thing; if you read another, it will tell you another. Then the religions
\nwith their theories take a hand in the matter and, moreover, they will tell you
\nthat such and such an idea is the \u201cabsolute Truth\u201d and you must believe it,
\notherwise you will be damned ! You read the scientists<\/span> \u2013 <\/span>they will tell you scientific things. You
\nread the philosophers<\/span> \u2013
\n<\/span>they will tell you philosophical things. You read the spiritualists,
\nthey will dish up spirituality for you and… you will be exactly at the same
\npoint from which you started. But there are people who like to have a kind of
\nstability in their mind (precisely those who build \u201cfortresses\u201d<\/span> \u2013 <\/span>they like
\nto be in a fortress very much, it gives them a comfortable sensation), so they
\nmake a choice, and if they have sufficient mental strength, they make a choice
\nout of a considerable number of ideas; then they trim it up for you, set up a
\nfine wall by putting each thing in what they consider to be its proper place
\n(that is, there must not be too many contradictions close together lest they
\nclash ! It must make a proper organisation<\/span>) and they
\ntell you, \u201cNow, I know!\u201d<\/span>
\n\u2013 <\/span>They know nothing at all ! <\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/span>It is quite interesting, for the more mental
\nactivity one has, the more does one indulge in this little game. And there are
\nideas to which one clings ! One hangs on to them as though all life depended
\nupon it ! I have known people who had fixed upon one central idea in their
\nformation and said, \u201cAll the rest may <\/span><\/p>\n

\nPage – 202<\/span><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n
\n

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

go to pieces, I
\ndon’t care, but this idea will stand: this is the truth.\u201d And when they come to
\nyoga, amusingly enough it is this idea which is constantly battered, all the
\ntime ! All events, all circumstances come and strike at it until it begins to
\ntotter, and then one fine day they say in despair, \u201cAh, my idea has gone.\u201d <\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/span>Someone has said rather poetically, \u201cOne must know
\nhow to lose all to win all.\u201d And it is true, especially for the mind, for if
\nyou do not know how to lose everything, you can gain nothing. <\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/span><\/p>\n

How did this earth begin ? <\/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

Ask the
\nscientists, they will tell you ! <\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/span><\/p>\n

If, finally, progress consists in
\nunlearning all that one has learned, what is the use of learning? <\/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
\nas with gymnastics. You make all kinds of movements to form your body and make
\nit strong, but that does not mean that you are going to spend all your life
\nlifting weights and exercising on parallel bars ! You may continue to do that
\nas a pastime, as a profession, but surely it is not the supreme goal. For the
\nmind it is the same thing. To have a mind capable of progressing, of adapting
\nitself to a new life, of opening itself to higher forces, it must be put
\nthrough all kinds of gymnastics. That is why children are sent to school, it is
\nnot in order that they may remember all that they learn<\/span> \u2013 <\/span>who remembers what he has learnt ? When they
\nare obliged to teach others, later on, they have to relearn it all, they have
\nforgotten everything. It comes back quickly, but they have forgotten it. But if
\nthey had never gone to school, if they had never learned and had to begin
\neverything… well, when you begin to do parallel bars at forty-five, it hurts,
\ndoesn’t it ? It is the same thing for the brain, it lacks plasticity. Do you
\nknow what the best gymnastics is ? It <\/span>
\n
\n <\/span><\/p>\n

\n
\nPage – 203<\/font><\/span><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n
\n

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

is to have
\na daily conversation with a metaphysician because there is nothing concrete
\nthere, you cannot concentrate on something that has a form, an objective
\nreality; indeed, everything is carried on exclusively with words in a field of
\nabstraction, it is purely mental gymnastics. And if you can enter into the
\nmental formation of a metaphysician and are able to understand and answer him,
\nit is perfect gymnastics !<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/span><\/p>\n

(A mathematician
\ndisciple:) The same thing applies to
\nmathematicians, I suppose? <\/i> <\/span><\/p>\n

Yes. <\/span><\/p>\n

           If at the time of death the vital being is
\nattacked in the vital world by hostile forces or entities, does it not look for
\na shelter somewhere ? <\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

 <\/span><\/p>\n

Yes, it is for
\nthis reason that in all countries and in all religions, it is recommended that
\nfor a period of at least seven days after someone’s death, people should gather
\nand think of him. Because when you think of him with affection (without any
\ninner disorder, without weeping, without any of those distraught passions), if
\nyou can be calm, your atmosphere becomes a kind of beacon for him, and when he
\nis attacked by hostile forces (I am speaking of the vital being of course, not
\nthe psychic being which goes to take rest), he may feel altogether lost, not
\nknow what to do and find himself in great distress; then he sees through
\naffinity the light of those who are thinking of him with affection and he
\nrushes there. It happens almost constantly that a vital formation, a part of
\nthe vital being of the dead person (or at times the whole vital if it is well organised<\/span>) takes shelter in the aura, the atmosphere of the
\npeople or the person who loved him. There are people who always carry with them
\na part of the vital of the person who is gone. That is the real utility of
\nthese so-called ceremonies, which otherwise have no sense.<\/span><\/p>\n

\nPage – 204<\/span><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n
\n

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

It is preferable
\nto do this without ceremonies. Ceremonies are, if anything, rather harmful, for
\na very simple reason: When you are busy with a ceremony, you think more about
\nthat than about the person. When you are busy with gestures, movements, with
\nthe following of a ritual, you think much more of all that than of the person
\nwho is dead. Moreover, people perform these ceremonies most of the time for
\nthat very reason, for they are almost always in the habit of trying to forget.
\nThe fact is that one of the two principal occupations of man is to try to
\nforget what is painful to him, and the other is to try to seek amusement in
\norder to escape boredom. These are the two principal occupations of humanity,
\nthat is, humanity spends half of its time in doing nothing true. <\/span><\/p>\n

And when people
\nget bored (some do not absolutely need to keep busy, or they have the
\nmisfortune of being rich) they do silly things ! The origin of all excesses,
\nall human stupidity is \u201cennui\u201d, what is called dullness, the state in which you
\nare like a damp rag: you do not react to anything and are compelled to whip
\nyourself (figuratively) just to make yourself move and get along.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/span>In Nature’s economy, moments of respite are
\ngiven to men to rediscover themselves but they do not know how to make use of
\nthem. <\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/span><\/p>\n

When<\/font><\/span> <\/font> <\/span>
\ngoing
\nover the conclusion of this talk, Mother made the following remark (<\/font><\/span>10 March 1965<\/font><\/span>): <\/span><\/font> <\/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 would say many
\nthings now…<\/span><\/p>\n

For instance, when
\nthe Lord draws closest to men, to establish a conscious contact with them, it
\nis then that in their folly they commit the grossest stupidities. <\/span><\/p>\n

This is true,
\naltogether true, it is at the moment when all is silenced in order that man may
\nbecome conscious of his origin that he, in his folly, in order to distract
\nhimself conceives or carries out the worst stupidities.<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/span><\/p>\n

To distract himself because he is unable
\nto bear the force of the Light ? <\/span><\/i> <\/span><\/p>\n

Yes. <\/span><\/p>\n

The pressure is too strong? <\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

 <\/span><\/p>\n

Yes, there are
\nthose who are afraid, they are panic-stricken. They cannot bear it so they turn
\nto anything at all to get out of it. <\/span><\/p>\n

\nPage – 205<\/span><\/p>\n

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

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