{"id":4385,"date":"2013-07-13T01:55:38","date_gmt":"2013-07-13T01:55:38","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/localhost\/?p=4385"},"modified":"2013-07-13T01:55:38","modified_gmt":"2013-07-13T01:55:38","slug":"38-31-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\/38-31-march-1951-vol-04-questions-and-answers-volume-04","title":{"rendered":"-38_31 March 1951.htm"},"content":{"rendered":"\n\n
\n
\n


\n31 March 1951<\/font><\/span><\/b>
\n<\/font> <\/span><\/b><\/p>\n

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

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

\u201cCan all physical ailments be traced to
\nsome disorder in the mind?\u201d <\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

Questions and Answers 1929 (16 June)
\n<\/font><\/span><\/i>  <\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

If there is one
\nmental disorder which can bring about all illnesses, it is fear. <\/span><\/p>\n

But, each man can
\nmake his own experiment. If one has a bad throat, this may be due to the fact
\nthat the day before one was in a state of depression. Or perhaps one is very
\nunhappy, dissatisfied, one finds everything very bad, and the next day one gets
\na cold in the head… Everyone must make his own observations. <\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

\u201cEach spot of the body is symbolical of an
\ninner movement; there is there a world of subtle correspondences… The
\nparticular place in the body affected by an illness is an index to the nature
\nof the inner disharmony that has taken place. It points to the origin,<\/span> it is a sign of the cause of the ailment. It reveals
\ntoo the nature of the resistance that prevents the whole being from advancing
\nat the same high speed. It indicates the treatment and the cure. If one could
\nperfectly understand where the mistake is, find out what has been unreceptive,
\nopen that part and put the force and the light there, it would be possible to
\nre-establish in a moment the harmony that has been disturbed and the illness
\nwould\u00a0 <\/span>immediately go.\u201d <\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

Questions and Answers 1929 (16 June) <\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

\nPage – 263<\/span><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n
\n

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

      <\/span>Will you explain how each part of the body
\nis symbolical of an inner movement ?<\/span> <\/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

In the ancient
\nschools of initiation there was the practice of saying simply \u201cThis is true\u201d or
\n\u201cThis is false\u201d to those who already had the knowledge of these things. <\/span><\/p>\n

Can anyone relate
\nhis experience on this subject? Naturally you must be able to give the
\ncorrelation between a certain psychological state and a particular part of the
\nbody. <\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/span><\/p>\n

Once, I complained to you about some pain
\nand you asked me which part of the body was affected. When I told you which, I
\ndid not know about its correspondence with the vital, the mind, etc…, yet the
\npain disappeared. <\/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 don’t see any contradiction !<\/span>… There are two ways of curing an illness
\nspiritually. One consists in putting a force of consciousness and truth on the
\nphysical spot which is affected. In this case the effect produced depends
\nnaturally on the receptivity of the person. Supposing the person is receptive;
\nthe force of consciousness is put upon the affected part and its pressure
\nrestores order. Many of you here can tell how Sri Aurobindo cured them. It was
\nlike a hand which came and took away the pain. It is as clear as that. <\/span><\/p>\n

In other cases, if
\nthe body lacks receptivity altogether or if its receptivity is insufficient,
\none sees the inner correspondence with the psychological state which has
\nbrought about the illness and acts on that. But if the cause of the illness is
\nrefractory, not much can be done. Let us say the origin is vital. The vital
\nabsolutely refuses to change, it clings terrifically to the condition in which
\nit is; then<\/span> that is hopeless. You put the force, and
\nusually it provokes an increase in the illness, produced by the resistance of
\nthe vital which did not want to accept anything. I speak of the vital but it
\ncan be the mind or something else.<\/span><\/p>\n

\nPage – 264<\/span><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n
\n

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

 <\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/span>When the action is directly upon the body,
\nthat is, on the affected part, it is possible that one is relieved; then, some
\nhours later or even after a few days, the illness returns. This means that the
\ncause has not been changed, that the cause is in the vital and is still there;
\nit is only the effect which has been cured. But if one can act simultaneously
\nupon both the cause and the effect, and the cause is sufficiently receptive to
\nconsent to change, then one is completely cured, once for all. <\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/span><\/p>\n

I once had an illness which was almost
\nlike an experience. I wanted to get rid of jealousy. The whole night I felt a
\nstrong pressure, I had pain all over the body, to the very bones. The next
\nmorning I had a stomach-ache and sent you word with my brother. You told him
\nthat if I did not get better in a few hours, you would send the doctor. He
\nforgot to tell me that he had seen you and what you had told him, but I learnt
\nlater that it was at the exact moment you had spoken to him that I was cured. <\/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 knew it was that !<\/span> <\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/span><\/p>\n

How can one increase the receptivity of
\nthe body <\/span>?<\/span><\/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

It depends on the
\npart. The method is almost the same for all parts of the being. To begin with,
\nthe first condition: to remain as quiet as possible. You may notice that in the
\ndifferent parts of your being, when something comes and you do not receive it,
\nthis produces a shrinking<\/span> \u2014 <\/span>there is something which hardens in the vital, the
\nmind or the body. There is a stiffening<\/span> and this
\nhurts, one feels a mental, vital or physical pain. So, the first thing is to
\nput one’s will and relax this shrinking, as one does a twitching nerve or a
\ncramped muscle; you must learn how to relax, be able to relieve this tension in
\nwhatever part of the being it may be.<\/span> <\/span><\/p>\n

\nPage – 265<\/span><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n
\n

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

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/span>The method of
\nrelaxing the contraction may be different in the mind, the vital or the body,
\nbut logically it is the same thing. Once you have relaxed the tension, you see
\nfirst if the disagreeable effect ceases, which would prove that it was a small
\nmomentary resistance, but if the pain continues and if it is indeed necessary
\nto increase the receptivity in order to be able to receive what is helpful,
\nwhat should be received, you must, after having relaxed this contraction, begin
\ntrying to widen yourself \u2013 you feel you are widening yourself. There are many
\nmethods. Some find it very useful to imagine they are floating on water with a
\nplank under their back. Then they widen themselves, widen, until they become
\nthe vast liquid mass. Others make an effort to identify themselves<\/span>
\nwith the sky and the stars, so they widen, widen themselves, identifying
\nthemselves more and more with the sky. Others again don’t need these pictures;
\nthey can become conscious of their consciousness, enlarge their consciousness
\nmore and more until it becomes unlimited. One can enlarge it till it becomes
\nvast as the earth and even the universe. When one does that one becomes really
\nreceptive. As I have said, it is a question of training. In any case, from an
\nimmediate point of view, when something comes and one feels that it is too
\nstrong, that it gives a headache, that<\/span> one can’t bear
\nit, the method is just the same, you must act upon the contraction. One can act
\nthrough thought, by calling the peace, tranquillity<\/span>
\n(the feeling of peace takes away much of the difficulty) like this: \u201cPeace,
\npeace, peace… tranquillity<\/span>… calm.\u201d Many
\ndiscomforts, even physical, like all these contractions of the solar plexus,
\nwhich are so unpleasant and give you at times nausea, the sensation of being
\nsuffocated, of not being able to breathe again, can disappear thus. It is the
\nnervous centre which is affected, it gets affected very easily. As soon as
\nthere is something which affects the solar plexus, you must say, \u201cCalm… calm…
\ncalm\u201d, become more and more calm until the tension is destroyed. <\/span><\/p>\n

In thought also.<\/span><\/span> For instance, you are reading something
\nand come across a thought you don’t understand \u2013 it is beyond you,<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/span>Page – 266<\/span><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n
\n

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

 <\/span>you<\/span><\/span> understand
\nnothing and so in your head it lies like a brick, and if you try to understand,
\nit becomes more and more like a brick, a stiffening, and if you persist it
\ngives you a headache. There is but one thing to do: not to struggle with the
\nwords, remain just like this (gesture,
\nstretched out,<\/i> immobile<\/i>), create
\na relaxation, simply widen, widen. And don’t try to understand, above all,
\ndon’t try to understand \u2013 let it enter like that, quite gently, and relax,
\nrelax, and in this relaxing your headache goes away. You no longer think of
\nanything, you wait for a few days and after some days you see from inside: \u201cOh!
\nHow clear it is !<\/span> I understand what I had not
\nunderstood.\u201d It is as easy as that. When you read a book which is beyond you,
\nwhen you come across sentences which you cannot understand \u2013 one feels that
\nthere is no correspondence in the head \u2013 well, you must do this; one reads the
\nthing once, twice, thrice, then remains calm and makes the mind silent. A
\nfortnight later, one takes up the same passage again and it is clear as
\ndaylight. Everything has been organised<\/span> in the head,
\nthe elements of the brain which were wanted for the understanding have been
\nformed, everything has been done gradually and one understands. I knew many
\npeople who, when I used to tell them something, argued,<\/span>
\nthey did not understand anything at all. They were shut up in their mind which
\ncould not catch the thought, which threw it out, refused it violently. You have
\nsaid something, you don’t insist; you have said it, that’s all; if need be you
\nsay it a second time, but you don’t insist. A week, a month later, those very
\npeople come looking for you and tell you with strong conviction, \u201cBut things
\nare like that, you don’t understand, things are like that !\u201d<\/span>
\nIt is exactly what you have told them, you know. But they tell you, \u201cI thought
\nabout it, now I know, it is this, it is truly this.\u201d If you have the misfortune
\nto tell them, \u201cBut this is exactly what I had told you\u201d, they pull a long face !<\/span> And they don’t understand\u00a0 <\/span>any<\/span> longer. <\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/span><\/p>\n

Illnesses enter through the subtle body,
\ndon’t they ?<\/span> <\/span><\/i>
\n
\n <\/span><\/p>\n

\nPage – 267<\/span><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n
\n

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

 <\/span>How can they be stopped ?<\/span><\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

 <\/span><\/p>\n

Ah !<\/span><\/span> Here we are… If
\none is very sensitive, very sensitive \u2013 one must be very sensitive \u2013 the moment
\nthey touch the subtle body and try to pass through, one feels it. It is not
\nlike something touching the body, it is a sort of feeling. If you are able to
\nperceive it at that moment, you have still the power to say \u201cno\u201d, and it goes
\naway. But for this one must be extremely sensitive. However, that develops. All
\nthese things can be developed methodically by the will. You can become quite
\nconscious of this envelope, and if you develop it sufficiently, you don’t even
\nneed to look and see,<\/span> you feel that something has
\ntouched you. I can give you an instance of this, there are many similar ones. <\/span><\/p>\n

Someone was
\nseeking to establish a constant and conscious contact \u2013 absolutely constant and
\nconscious \u2013 with the inner Godhead, not only with the psychic being but the
\ndivine Presence in the psychic being, and she had decided that she would be
\nlike this, that she would busy herself with nothing else, that is to say,
\nwhatever she might be doing, her concentration was upon this, and even when she
\nwent out walking in the street, her concentration was upon this. She lived in a
\nbig city where there was much traffic: buses, tramways, etc…, many things,
\nand to cross the street one had to be considerably careful, wide-awake and
\nattentive, otherwise one could get run over, but this person had resolved that
\nshe would not come out of her concentration. One day when she was crossing one
\nof the big avenues with all its cars and its tramways, still deep in her
\nconcentration, in her inner seeking, she suddenly felt at about an arm’s length
\na little shock, like this; she jumped back and a car passed just by her side.
\nIf she had not jumped back she would have been run over… This is an extreme
\npoint, but without going so far one can very easily feel a kind of little
\ndiscomfort (it is not something which is imposed with a great force), a little
\nuneasiness coming near you from anywhere at all: front, <\/span><\/p>\n

\nPage – 268<\/span><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n
\n

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

 <\/span>behind<\/span><\/span>, above, below. If
\nat that moment you are sufficiently alert, you say \u201cno\u201d, as though you were
\ncutting off the contact with great strength, and it is finished. If you are not
\nconscious at that moment, the next minute or a few minutes later you get a
\nqueer sick feeling inside, a cold in the back, a little uneasiness, the
\nbeginning of some disharmony; you feel a maladjustment<\/span>
\nsomewhere, as though the general harmony had been disturbed. Then you must concentrate
\nall the more and with a great strength of will keep the faith that nothing can
\ndo you harm, nothing can touch you. This suffices,<\/span> you
\ncan throw off the illness at that moment. But you must do this immediately, you
\nunderstand, you must not wait five minutes, it must be done at once. If you
\nwait too long and begin to feel really an uneasiness somewhere, and something
\nbegins to get quite disturbed, then it is good to sit down, concentrate and
\ncall the Force, concentrate it on the place which is getting disturbed, that is
\nto say, which is beginning to become ill. But if you don’t do anything at all,
\nan illness indeed gets lodged somewhere; and all this, because you were not
\nsufficiently alert. And sometimes one is obliged to follow the entire curve to
\nfind the favourable<\/span> moment again and get rid of the
\nbusiness. I have said somewhere that in the physical domain all is a question
\nof method \u2013 a method is necessary for realising<\/span>
\neverything. And if the illness has succeeded in touching the physical-physical,
\nwell, you must follow the procedure needed to get rid of it. This is what
\nmedical science calls \u201cthe course of the illness\u201d. One can hasten the course
\nwith the help of spiritual forces, but all the same the procedure must be
\nfollowed. There are some four different stages. The very first is
\ninstantaneous. The second can be done in some minutes,<\/span>
\nthe third may take several hours and the fourth several days. And then, once
\nthe thing is lodged there, all will depend not only on the receptivity of the
\nbody but still more on the willingness of the part which is the cause of the
\ndisorder. You know, when the thing comes from outside it is in affinity with
\nsomething inside. If it manages to pass through, to enter<\/span> <\/span><\/p>\n

\nPage – 269<\/span><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n
\n

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

\u00a0<\/span>without<\/span> one’s being
\naware of it, it means there is some affinity somewhere, and the part of the
\nbeing which has responded must be convinced. <\/span><\/p>\n

I have known some
\ntruly extraordinary instances. If you can at the moment…<\/span>
\nWait,<\/span> take an example which is quite concrete:
\nsunstroke. This upsets you considerably, it is one of the things which makes<\/span> you most ill \u2013 a sunstroke upsets everything, it
\ndisturbs the inner functions, it generally causes a congestion in the head and
\nvery high fever. So, if this has happened, if it has succeeded in getting
\nthrough the protection and entering you, well, if you can just go into a quiet
\nplace, stretch yourself out flat, go out of your body (naturally, you must
\nlearn this; there are people who do this spontaneously, for others a long
\ndiscipline is necessary), go out of your body, remain above in a way to be able
\nto see the body (you know the phenomenon, seeing one’s body when one is outside
\n? This can be done at will, going out of one’s body and remaining just above
\nit), the body is stretched out on a bed, a bench, on the ground, anywhere; you
\nare stretched just above it and from there, consciously, you pull the Force
\nfrom above, and if you are used to doing it, if your aspiration is strong
\nenough, you get the answer; and then, from there, taking care not to re-enter your
\nbody, you begin to push these forces into the body, like that, regularly, until
\nyou see the body receiving them (for, the first few moments they don’t enter,
\nbecause the body is quite upset by the illness, it is not receptive, it is
\ncurled up), you push them gently, gently, quietly, without nervousness, very
\npeacefully, into the body. But you must not be disturbed by anyone. If someone
\ncomes along, sees you stretched out and shakes you, it is extremely dangerous.
\nYou must do this in quiet conditions, ask people not to disturb you or better
\nshut yourself up where they can’t disturb you. But you can concentrate slowly
\n(this takes more or less time \u2013 ten minutes, half an hour, one hour, two hours \u2013
\ndepends upon the seriousness of the disorder which has set in), slowly, from
\nabove, you concentrate the Force until you see that the body <\/span><\/p>\n

\nPage – 270<\/span><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n
\n

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

 <\/span>is<\/span><\/span> receiving, that
\nthe Force is entering, the disorder is being set right and there is a
\nrelaxation in the body itself. Once that is done you can get back and you are
\ncured. This has been done for a sunstroke, which is a fairly violent thing, and
\nalso for typhoid fever, and many other illnesses, as, for instance, for a liver
\nwhich was suddenly upset somehow (not due to indigestion, but a liver which
\ndoesn’t function properly for the moment); it may also be cured in the same
\nway. There was a case of cholera which was healed like that. The cholera had
\njust been caught, had entered, but was not yet lodged; it was completely cured.
\nConsequently, when I say that if one masters the spiritual force and knows how
\nto use it, there is no malady which cannot be cured. I don’t say it just like
\nthat in the air; it is said from experience with the thing. Of course, you will
\nsay you don’t know how to go out of the body, draw the Force, concentrate it, have<\/span> all this mastery… It is not very frequent, but it is
\nnot impossible. And one can be sure that if one is helped… In fact, there is
\na much easier method,<\/span> it is to call for help. <\/span><\/p>\n

But the condition
\nin every case \u2013 in every case \u2013 whether one does it oneself and depending only
\non oneself or whether one does it by asking someone to do it for one, the first
\ncondition: not to fear and to be calm. If you begin to boil and get fidgety in
\nyour body, it is finished, you can do nothing. <\/span><\/p>\n

For everything \u2013
\nto live the spiritual life, heal sickness \u2013 for everything, one must be calm.<\/span><\/p>\n

\n <\/font>Page – 271<\/font><\/span><\/p>\n

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

31 March 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 \u201cCan all physical ailments be traced to some disorder in…<\/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-4385","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\/4385","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=4385"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/worksofthemotherandsriaurobindo.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4385\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/worksofthemotherandsriaurobindo.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4385"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/worksofthemotherandsriaurobindo.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4385"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/worksofthemotherandsriaurobindo.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4385"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}