{"id":4393,"date":"2013-07-13T01:55:41","date_gmt":"2013-07-13T01:55:41","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/localhost\/?p=4393"},"modified":"2013-07-13T01:55:41","modified_gmt":"2013-07-13T01:55:41","slug":"13-27-january-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\/13-27-january-1951-vol-04-questions-and-answers-volume-04","title":{"rendered":"-13_27 January 1951.htm"},"content":{"rendered":"\n\n
\n
\n


\n
\n27
\n January 1951<\/font><\/span><\/b> <\/font><\/span><\/b>
\n
\n
\n <\/font><\/span><\/b><\/p>\n

 <\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cMore than a third of our existence is passed in sleep…\u201c <\/span><\/i><\/p>\n


\n\u201cOn
\nDreams\u201d, Words of Long Ago<\/font><\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/span><\/p>\n

Physical sleep therefore well deserves our attention. I said
\n\u201cphysical sleep\u201d, for we are inclined to believe that the whole of our being
\ngoes to sleep when the body is asleep. <\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cIt is often said that in sleep men’s true nature is revealed.\u201d <\/span><\/i><\/p>\n


\nIbid. <\/font>
\n<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/span><\/p>\n

Their true nature does not mean their deeper nature but their
\nspontaneous nature which is not under control, for the control of the will
\nceases during sleep. And all that one does not do in the waking state, one does
\nduring sleep because the control of the will is removed. <\/span><\/p>\n

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

\u201cAll
\nthe desires that have been repressed without being dissolved …try to seek satisfaction
\nwhile the will is asleep. <\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

 <\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

\u201cAnd as desires are veritable dynamic centres of formation, they
\ntend to organise in and around us an assemblage of circumstances most
\nfavourable to their satisfaction.\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 <\/font> <\/span>
\nIbid . <\/font> <\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/span><\/p>\n

In another lesson we spoke of the power of mental formation: the
\nmind shapes entities which have a more or less independent life and try to
\nmanifest themselves. Here I do not speak of thought but of desire. Desire
\nbelongs to the vital domain but at the core of this desire there is always a
\nthought, and the desire becomes all the more active and dynamic when it holds
\nin itself this power of mental formation and the power of vital reali- <\/span><\/p>\n

\nPage – 58<\/span><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n
\n

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

sation. The vital is the centre of dynamism of the being, of
\nactive energy, and the two combined make something very strong which has a
\nconsiderable tendency towards realising itself \u2013 besides, everything in the
\nuniverse tends towards manifestation, and things which are prevented from
\nmanifesting lose, by that very fact, their force and capacity. Most of the
\nmethods aiming at self-control have indeed made use of repression, of the
\nsuppression of movements with the idea that if one continues this suppression
\nlong enough, one succeeds in killing the element that is not wanted. This would
\nbe quite true if it were a question only of the physical world, but behind the
\nphysical world there is the subconscious world and behind the subconscious
\nworld there lies the immensity of the Inconscient. And what you do not know is
\nthis that unless you destroy within you the desire itself, that is, the seed of
\nthe formation, this formation which you are preventing from manifesting is so
\nto say repressed in the subconscient \u2013 driven down and repressed right at the
\nbottom \u2013 and if you go and search in the subconscient you will find that it is
\nwaiting there to do its work. That is why so many people who have for years and
\nyears been able to control an unwanted movement are suddenly taken by surprise
\nwhen this movement rushes up from below with all the greater force the longer
\nit has been repressed. Hence dreams are of great use because this movement of
\nrepression exists no longer, the conscious will not being there (for it falls
\nasleep or goes elsewhere) and the desire repressed below leaps up and manifests
\nitself in the form of dreams, so much so that you come to know a good many
\nthings about your own nature; that is why it is said that man can discover in
\nsleep and dreams his true nature; it is not his true nature, his deeper nature,
\nwhich is his psychic nature, but the spontaneous, uncontrolled nature.<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cThus
\nis destroyed in a few hours of the night the fruit60of many efforts made by our
\nconscious thought during the day… <\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

\nPage – 59<\/span><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n
\n

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

\u201cWe
\nshould therefore learn to recognise our dreams and, above all, to distinguish between
\nthem, for they vary greatly in their nature and quality. Often in the same
\nnight we may have several dreams which belong to different categories,
\ndepending on the depth of our sleep.\u201d<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n


\n\u201cOn
\nDreams\u201d, Words of Long Ago <\/font> <\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/span><\/p>\n

I do not know if anyone here has observed the phenomenon, but
\naccording to the hours of the night or according to how long you have slept,
\nyour sleep changes its quality. If you take the trouble of observing (there are
\nvery few people however who do take the trouble), it may happen that roused
\nsuddenly at an abnormal hour, you have noticed that you were not in the same
\nstate of sleep twice. There are also hours when you have different types of
\ndreams; if you are careful you will see this very clearly. There are hours when
\nit is very difficult for you to wake up, for you are in deep sleep, you are
\naltogether unconscious of external things. At other times, on the contrary,
\njust a little noise, however slight, is sufficient to startle you out of your
\nsleep.<\/span><\/p>\n

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

During
\nthe night I am not afraid of certain things, but during the day I am afraid of
\nthem. Why? <\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

 <\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

That means your vital being is older than your physical being. <\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cThere
\nis no doubt that from many points of view our subconscient has greater knowledge
\nthan our habitual consciousness<\/span><\/i>.\u201d <\/span><\/p>\n

\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>
\nIbid<\/font>.
\n<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/span><\/p>\n

Here I am going to correct one word: it is not the subconscient
\nwhich has more knowledge than our normal consciousness but the superconscient,
\nthat which escapes our consciousness, not because it is lower but because it is
\nhigher. When at night <\/span><\/p>\n

\nPage – 60<\/span><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n
\n

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

\u00a0<\/span>we put a problem to
\nourselves, the problem goes to the higher regions of our being and in the
\nmorning we get the answer, the solution, because there, in the depths of our
\nconsciousness, we know things which we do not know in our external
\nconsciousness. <\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/span><\/p>\n

During
\nsleep one has often the impression of entering into a region of light, of higher
\nknowledge, but on waking up one brings back only the impression, the memory.
\nWhy? <\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

 <\/span><\/p>\n

That is because in the ladder of being which climbs from the most
\nexternal to the highest consciousness, there are gaps, breaks of continuity,
\nand when the consciousness rises, descends and goes up again, it passes through
\nsome kind of dark holes where there is nothing. Then it enters into a sleep, a
\nsort of unconsciousness, and wakes up as best it can on the other side and
\nhardly remembers what it has brought back from above. This is what happens very
\nfrequently and particularly in the state called samadhi.\u00b9<\/i> People who enter into samadhi find out that between their
\nactive external consciousness and their consciousness in meditation, there lies
\na blank. Up there, they are almost necessarily conscious \u2013 conscious of the
\nstate in which they find themselves \u2013 but when coming down again towards their
\nbody, on the way they enter into a kind of hole where they lose everything \u2013they
\nare unable to bring back the experience with them. Quite a discipline is needed
\nto create in oneself the many steps which enable the consciousness not to
\nforget what it has experienced up there. It is not an impossible discipline but
\nit is extremely long and requires an unshakable patience, for it is as if you
\nwanted to build up in you a being, a body; and for that you require first of
\nall the necessary knowledge, but also such a prolonged persistence and perseverance
\nas would discourage many. But it is altogether indispensable if you want to <\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/span><\/p>\n


\n\u00b9 Ecstasy
\nor yogic trance.<\/font><\/span> <\/span><\/p>\n

\nPage – 61<\/span><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n
\n

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

take part in the knowledge of your higher being. <\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/span><\/p>\n

Is it useful to note down one’s dreams? <\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

 <\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

Yes, for more than a year I applied myself to this kind of
\nself-discipline. I noted down everything \u2013 a few words, just a little thing, an
\nimpression \u2013 and I tried to pass from one memory to another. At first it was
\nnot very fruitful, but at the end of about fourteen months I could follow,
\nbeginning from the end, all the movements, all the dreams right up to the
\nbeginning of the night. That puts you in such a conscious, continuously
\nconscious state that finally I was not sleeping at all. My body lay\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 <\/span>stretched, deeply asleep, but
\nthere was no rest in the consciousness. The result was absolutely wonderful;
\nyou become conscious of the different phases of sleep, conscious absolutely of
\neverything that happens there, to the least detail, then nothing can any longer
\nescape your control. But if during the day you have a lot of work and you truly
\nneed sleep, I advise you not to try! <\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/span>In
\nany case, there is one thing altogether indispensable, not to make the least
\nmovement when you wake up; you must learn to wake up in a state of complete
\nimmobility, otherwise everything disappears. <\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/span><\/p>\n

Has the mind need of rest apart from the physical body and the
\nphysical brain? <\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

 <\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

Yes, an absolute need. And it is only in silence that the mind can
\nreceive the true light from above. I do not think that the mental being is
\nliable to fatigue; if it feels tired, that is rather a reaction of the brain.
\nIt is only in silence that it can rise above itself. But from the point of view
\nof sleep and dreams of which we were speaking, there is a very remarkable
\nphenomenon. I have tried it out. If you are able to establish not only silence
\nin your head but also repose in your vital, the stoppage of all the activities
\nof your being, and if coming out of the domain
\n <\/span><\/p>\n

\nPage – 62<\/span><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n
\n

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

of forms you enter into what is called Sachchidananda, the supreme
\nconsciousness, then with three minutes of that state you can have more rest
\nthan in eight hours of sleep. It is not very easy, no…It is the consciousness
\nabsolutely conscious but completely still, in the full original Light. If you
\nget that, if you are able to immobilise everything in you, then your whole
\nbeing participates in this supreme consciousness and I have well observed that
\nas regards rest (and I mean by rest bodily rest, the repose of the muscles)
\nthree minutes of that state were equivalent to eight hours of ordinary sleep.<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/span><\/p>\n

Does the vital body also need rest? <\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

 <\/span><\/p>\n

Yes. The vital body surrounds the physical body with a kind of
\nenvelope which has almost the same density as the vibrations of heat observable
\nwhen the day is very hot. And it is this which is the intermediary between the
\nsubtle body and the most material vital body. It is this which protects the
\nbody from all contagion, fatigue, exhaustion and even from accidents. Therefore
\nif this envelope is wholly intact, it protects you from everything, but a
\nlittle too strong an emotion, a little fatigue, some dissatisfaction or any
\nshock whatsoever is sufficient to scratch it as it were and the slightest
\nscratch allows any kind of intrusion. Medical science also now recognises that
\nif you are in perfect vital equilibrium, you do not catch illness or in any
\ncase you have a kind of immunity from contagion. If you have this equilibrium,
\nthis inner harmony which keeps the envelope intact, it protects you from
\neverything. There are people who lead quite an ordinary life, who know how to
\nsleep as one should, eat as one should, and their nervous envelope is so intact
\nthat they pass through all dangers as though unconcerned. It is a capacity one
\ncan cultivate in oneself. If one becomes aware of the weak spot in one’s
\nenvelope, a few minutes’ concentration, a call to the force, an inner peace is
\nsufficient for it to be all right, get cured, and for the untoward thing to
\nvanish.
\n <\/span><\/p>\n

\nPage – 63<\/span><\/p>\n

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

27 January 1951     \u201cMore than a third of our existence is passed in sleep…\u201c \u201cOn Dreams\u201d, Words of Long Ago   Physical sleep…<\/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-4393","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\/4393","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=4393"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/worksofthemotherandsriaurobindo.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4393\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/worksofthemotherandsriaurobindo.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4393"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/worksofthemotherandsriaurobindo.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4393"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/worksofthemotherandsriaurobindo.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4393"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}