{"id":4404,"date":"2013-07-13T01:55:45","date_gmt":"2013-07-13T01:55:45","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/localhost\/?p=4404"},"modified":"2013-07-13T01:55:45","modified_gmt":"2013-07-13T01:55:45","slug":"07-8-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\/07-8-january-1951-vol-04-questions-and-answers-volume-04","title":{"rendered":"-07_8 January 1951.htm"},"content":{"rendered":"\n\n
\n
\n


\n
\n8
\n January 1951<\/font><\/span><\/b> <\/font> <\/span><\/b><\/p>\n

 <\/span><\/p>\n

Mother reads out her article \u201cWhat a Child
\nShould <\/font> <\/span><\/p>\n

Always Remember\u201d (On Education).<\/i> <\/font> <\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/span><\/p>\n

You
\nsay that one should have \u201cthe certitude of Truth’s final victory\u201d. But doesn’t
\nthis certitude seem very different from, and often the very opposite of, what
\none teaches in ordinary life? <\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

 <\/span><\/p>\n

Yes. Generally it is believed that things always end badly in
\nNature. Everyone knows the story of those who have met a lamentable end after
\nhaving enjoyed great success in their life; of those who had extraordinary
\ncapacities and who finally lost them; of a nation which for a long period was
\nthe model of a marvellous civilisation \u2013 the civilisation vanishes and the
\nnation is changed into something so deplorable that one can no longer recollect
\nwhat it was. It seems that the story of the earth is a story of victories
\nfollowed by defeats and not of defeats followed by victories. <\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/span>But
\nin fact, whenever it is a question of universal and divine things, what is
\nneeded is the universal vision and divine understanding of things in order to
\nknow how the truth expresses itself. There is a kind of general pessimism which
\nsays that even if things begin well they end badly, that it is weakness,
\nhypocrisy, falsehood and wickedness which always seem to have the upper hand.
\nThat is why those who see the world in their own personal dimension have said
\nthat the world is bad and that we have only to finish with it and get out of it
\nas soon as possible. Teachers have taught this but their teaching only proves that
\ntheir vision is too narrow and in the dimension of their human individuality. <\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/span>In
\ntruth, the movements of Nature are like those of the tides: they advance, they
\nrecede, advance and recede; in the uni- <\/span><\/p>\n

\nPage – 22<\/span><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n
\n

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

versal life and even in terrestrial life, this means a progressive
\nadvance, though apparently it is cut up by withdrawals. But these withdrawals
\nare only an appearance, as when one draws back to spring forward. You seem to
\nbe drawing back but it is simply in order to go much farther. <\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/span>You
\nwill tell me that all this is very well, but how to give a child the certitude
\nthat the truth will triumph? For, when he learns history, when he observes
\nNature, he will see that things don’t always end well.\u00b9 <\/span><\/p>\n

Children
\nmust be taught to see the divine manifestation in the world and not the side
\nwhich ends badly. <\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

 <\/span><\/p>\n

No, if the child thinks that the Divine is different from the
\nworld, his idea that everything ends badly will be quite justified. <\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/span><\/p>\n

Children
\nmust be given the idea of divine justice. <\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

 <\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

But we know nothing about it, for this justice does not manifest
\nin the world as it is today. <\/span><\/p>\n

However, if one observes things a little
\ndeeply, one perceives that there is progress, that things become better and
\nbetter, though apparently they do not improve. And for a consciousness seated a
\nlittle higher, it is quite evident that all evil \u2013 at <\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/span><\/p>\n


\n\u00b9 In
\n1963, at the time this conversation was first published, Mother made the
\nfollowing remark:<\/font><\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/font><\/span>\u201cAfter all, as long as there is death, things
\nalways end badly. It is only victory over death which will make it possible for
\nthings not to end badly; that is when the return into the Inconscience will no
\nlonger be necessary to allow a new progress.<\/font><\/span><\/p>\n


\n\u201cThe
\nwhole process of development, at least terrestrial development, is like that.(<\/span> I do not know how it happens on the other planets!)
\nTraditions say that a universe is created, then<\/span>
\nwithdrawn in the pralaya<\/i>, then a new
\none comes and so on; and according to them we should be the seventh universe,
\nand being the seventh universe, we are that which will not return into pralaya<\/i> but progress constantly without
\ngoing back. It is because of this, besides, that there is in the human being
\nthis need of permanence and of an uninterrupted progress; it is because the
\ntime has come.\u201d<\/font> <\/font><\/span><\/p>\n

\nPage – 23<\/span><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n
\n

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

least what we call evil \u2013 all falsehood, all that is contrary to
\nthe Truth, all suffering, all opposition is the result of a disequilibrium. I
\nbelieve that one who is habituated to seeing things from this higher plane sees
\nimmediately that it is like that. Consequently, the world cannot be founded
\nupon a disequilibrium, for if so it would have long since disappeared. One
\nfeels that at the origin of the universe there must have been a supreme
\nEquilibrium and, perhaps, as we said the other day, a progressive equilibrium,
\nan equilibrium which is the exact opposite of all that we have been taught and
\nall that we are accustomed to call \u201cevil\u201d. There is no absolute evil, but an<\/i> evil, a more or less partial
\ndisequilibrium. <\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/span>This
\nmay be taught to a child in a very simple way; it may be shown with the help of
\nmaterial things that an object will fall if it is not balanced, that only
\nthings in equilibrium can keep their position and duration. <\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/span>There
\nis another quality which must be cultivated in a child from a very young age:
\nthat is the feeling of uneasiness, of a moral disbalance which it feels when it
\nhas done certain things, not because it has been told not to do them, not
\nbecause it fears punishment, but spontaneously. For example, a child who hurts
\nits comrade through mischief, if it is in its normal, natural state, will
\nexperience uneasiness, a grief deep in its being, because what it has done is
\ncontrary to its inner truth. <\/span><\/p>\n

For in spite of all teachings, in spite of
\nall that thought can think, there is something in the depths which has a
\nfeeling of a perfection, a greatness, a truth, and is painfully contradicted by
\nall the movements opposing this truth. If a child has not been spoilt by its
\nmilieu, by deplorable examples around it, that is, if it is in the normal
\nstate, spontaneously, without its being told anything, it will feel an
\nuneasiness when it has done something against the truth of its being. And it is
\nexactly upon this that later its effort for progress must be founded. <\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/span>For, if you want to find one teaching, one
\ndoctrine upon which to base your progress, you will never find anything \u2013 or, <\/span><\/p>\n

\nPage – 24<\/span><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n
\n

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

\u00a0<\/span>to<\/span>
\nbe more exact, you will find something else, for in accordance with the
\nclimate, the age, the civilisation, the teaching given is quite conflicting.
\nWhen one person says, \u201cThis is good\u201d, another will say, \u201cNo, this is bad\u201d, and
\nwith the same logic, the same persuasive force. Consequently, it is not upon
\nthis that one can build. Religion has always tried to establish a dogma, and it
\nwill tell you that if you conform to the dogma you are in the truth and if you
\ndon’t you are in the falsehood. But all this has never led to anything and has
\nonly created confusion.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0<\/span>There is only one true guide, that is the
\ninner guide, who does not pass through the mental consciousness. <\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0<\/span>Naturally, if a child gets a disastrous
\neducation, it will try ever harder to extinguish within itself this little true
\nthing, and sometimes it succeeds so well that it loses all contact with it, and
\nalso the power of distinguishing between good and evil. That is why I insist
\nupon this, and I say that from their infancy children must be taught that there
\nis an inner reality \u2013 within themselves, within the earth, within the universe \u2013
\nand that they, the earth and the universe exist only as a function of this
\ntruth, and that if it did not exist the child would not last, even the short
\ntime that it does, and that everything would dissolve even as it comes into
\nbeing. And because this is the real basis of the universe, naturally it is this
\nwhich will triumph; and all that opposes this cannot endure as long as this
\ndoes, because it is That, the eternal thing which is at the base of the
\nuniverse.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0<\/span>It is not a question, of course, of giving a child
\nphilosophical explanations, but he could very well be given the feeling of this
\nkind of inner comfort, of satisfaction, and sometimes, of an intense joy when
\nhe obeys this little very silent thing within him which will prevent him from
\ndoing what is contrary to it. It is on an experience of this kind that teaching
\nmay be based. The child must be given the impression that nothing can endure if
\nhe does not have within himself this true satisfaction which alone is
\npermanent. <\/span><\/p>\n

\nPage – 25<\/span><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n
\n

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

Can a
\nchild become conscious of this inner truth like an adult? <\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

 <\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

For a child this is very clear, for it is a perception without any
\ncomplications of word or thought\u2014there is that which puts him at ease and that which
\nmakes him uneasy (it is not necessarily joy or sorrow which come only when the
\nthing is very intense). And all this is much clearer in the child than in an
\nadult, for the latter has always a mind which works and clouds his perception
\nof the truth. <\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/span>To
\ngive a child theories is absolutely useless, for as soon as his mind awakes he
\nwill find a thousand reasons for contradicting your theories, and he will be
\nright. <\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 <\/span>This little true
\nthing in the child is the divine Presence in the psychic \u2013 is also there in
\nplants and animals. In plants it is not conscious, in animals it begins to be
\nconscious, and in children it is very conscious. I have known children who were
\nmuch more conscious of their psychic being at the age of five than at fourteen,
\nand at fourteen than at twenty-five; and above all, from the moment they go to
\nschool where they undergo that kind of intensive mental training which draws
\ntheir attention to the intellectual part of their being, they lose almost
\nalways and almost completely this contact with their psychic being. <\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 <\/span>If only you were an
\nexperienced observer, if you could tell what goes on in a person, simply by
\nlooking into his eyes!…It is said the eyes are the mirror of the soul; that
\nis a popular way of speaking but if the eyes do not express to you the psychic,
\nit is because it is very far behind, veiled by many things. Look carefully,
\nthen, into the eyes of little children, and you will see a kind of light \u2013 some
\ndescribe it as frank \u2013 but so true, so true, which looks at the world with
\nwonder. Well, this sense of wonder, it is the wonder of the psychic which sees
\nthe truth but does not understand much about the world, for it is too far from
\nit. Children have this but as they learn more, become more intelligent, more
\neducated, this is effaced, and you see all sorts of
\n <\/span><\/p>\n

\nPage – 26<\/span><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n
\n

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

things in their eyes: thoughts, desires, passions, wickedness \u2013 but
\nthis kind of little flame, so pure, is no longer there. And you may be sure it
\nis the mind that has got in there, and the psychic has gone very far behind. <\/span><\/p>\n

Even a child who does not have a
\nsufficiently developed brain to understand, if you simply pass on to him a
\nvibration of protection or affection or solicitude or consolation, you will see
\nthat he responds. But if you take a boy of fourteen, for example, who is at
\nschool, who has ordinary parents and has been ill-treated, his mind is very
\nmuch in the forefront; there is something hard in him, the psychic being has
\ngone behind. Such boys do not respond to the vibration. One would say they are
\nmade of wood or plaster. <\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/span><\/p>\n

If
\nthe inner truth, the divine presence in the psychic is so conscious in the
\nchild, it could no longer be said that a child is a little animal, could it? <\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

 <\/span><\/p>\n

Why not? In animals there is sometimes a very intense psychic
\ntruth. Naturally, I believe that the psychic being is a little more formed, a
\nlittle more conscious in a child than in an animal. But I have experimented
\nwith animals, just to know; well, I assure you that in human beings I have rarely
\ncome across some of the virtues which I have seen in animals, very simple,
\nunpretentious virtues. As in cats, for example: I have studied cats a lot; if
\none knows them well they are marvellous creatures. I have known mother-cats
\nwhich have sacrificed themselves entirely for their babies \u2013 people speak of
\nmaternal love with such admiration, as though it were purely a human privilege,
\nbut I have seen this love manifested by mother-cats to a degree far surpassing
\nordinary humanity. I have seen a mother-cat which would never touch her food
\nuntil her babies had taken all they needed. I have seen another cat which
\nstayed eight days beside her kittens, without satisfying any of her needs
\nbecause she was afraid to leave them alone; and a cat which repeated more than
\nfifty <\/span><\/p>\n

\nPage – 27<\/span><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n
\n

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

\ntimes the same movement to
\nteach her young one how to jump from a wall on to a window, and I may add, with
\na care, an intelligence, a skill which many uneducated women do not have. And
\nwhy is it thus? \u2013 because there was no mental intervention. It was altogether
\nspontaneous instinct. But what is instinct? \u2013it is the presence of the Divine
\nin the genus of the species, and that, that is the psychic of animals; a
\ncollective, not an individual psychic. <\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/span>I
\nhave seen in animals all the reactions, emotional, affective, sentimental, all
\nthe feelings of which men are so proud. The only difference is that animals
\ncannot speak of them and write about them, so we consider them inferior beings
\nbecause they cannot flood us with books on what they have felt. <\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/span><\/p>\n

When
\nI was a child if I did something bad immediately I felt uneasy and I would
\ndecide never to do that again. Then my parents also used to tell me never again
\nto do it. Why? Because I had myself decided not to do it any more. <\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

 <\/span><\/p>\n

A child should never be scolded. I am accused of speaking ill of
\nparents! But I have seen them at work, you see, and I know that ninety per cent
\nof parents snub a child who comes spontaneously to confess a mistake: \u201cYou are
\nvery naughty. Go away, I am busy\u201d \u2013 instead of listening to the child with
\npatience and explaining to him where his fault lies, how he ought to have
\nacted. And the child, who had come with good intentions, goes away quite hurt,
\nwith the feeling: \u201cWhy am I treated thus?\u201d Then the child sees his parents are not
\nperfect \u2013 which is obviously true of them today \u2013 he sees that they are wrong
\nand says to himself: \u201cWhy does he scold me, he is like me!\u201d <\/span><\/p>\n

\nPage – 28<\/span><\/p>\n

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

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