{"id":4405,"date":"2013-07-13T01:55:46","date_gmt":"2013-07-13T01:55:46","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/localhost\/?p=4405"},"modified":"2013-07-13T01:55:46","modified_gmt":"2013-07-13T01:55:46","slug":"52-5-may-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\/52-5-may-1951-vol-04-questions-and-answers-volume-04","title":{"rendered":"-52_5 May 1951.htm"},"content":{"rendered":"\n\n
\n
\n


\n5
\nMay 1951 <\/font> <\/span><\/b><\/p>\n

 <\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cIf you want to be a true doer of divine
\nworks, your first aim must be to be totally free from all desire and
\nself-regarding ego.\u201d <\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Sri Aurobindo, The Mother, p. 15 <\/font> <\/span><\/p>\n

 Sometimes we go to the bazaar to buy our things.
\nIs that good ? <\/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

One cannot make
\ngeneral rules. This depends on the spirit in which you make your purchases. It
\nis said that you should have no desires \u2013 if this is not a desire, it is all
\nright. You understand, there is no movement, no action which in itself is good
\nor bad; it depends absolutely on the spirit in which it is done. If, for
\ninstance, you are in a state of total indifference about what you have and what
\nyou do not (it is a condition a little difficult to realise<\/span>,
\nbut after all, one can attain it \u2013 a state of detachment: \u201cIf I have it, I have
\nit; if I don’t, I don’t\u201d), there comes a moment when, if your state is quite
\nsincere and you really need something (it must not be a fancy or a desire or a
\ncaprice but a true need), automatically the thing comes to you. Since I have
\nbeen here \u2013 it is a long time, isn’t it ? \u2013 I have known people who have never
\nasked me for anything; I don’t even think (naturally there are always
\nweaknesses in human nature), but I don’t even think they have had a violent
\ndesire for anything at all, but when it was a need, automatically it came to
\nthem. Suddenly the idea would come to me, \u201cAh ! This must be given to
\nso-and-so\u201d, and if it was not directly through me, in some way, quite
\nunexpectedly, the thing came to them. On the other hand, if one is preoccupied
\nwith one’s needs (I don’t want even to speak of desires, for that is quite
\nanother thing), but if one is preoccupied with one’s needs, if one thinks of
\nthem, tells oneself, \u201cTruly I must have this\u201d, it is not often <\/span><\/p>\n

\nPage – 384<\/span><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n
\n

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

that it comes to
\nyou; so you are obliged to do something to satisfy yourself and, if you have
\nthe means, to go and buy the thing. Now there are people who always take their
\ndesires for their needs, that… we do not speak of these, they form the great
\nmajority. They are convinced that without this or that one cannot live: \u201cIt is
\nimpossible, one can’t live without that… I shall fall ill or something very
\nunpleasant will happen to me or I shall not be able to do my work. It is
\nimpossible, if I don’t have this I can’t do my work.\u201d So, the first step for
\nthese people is to try a small experiment (if they are sincere): \u201cWell, I won’t
\nhave this thing and we are going to see what happens.\u201d This is a very
\ninteresting experiment. And I can guarantee that 999 times out of a thousand,
\nafter a few days one asks oneself, \u201cBut why the devil did I think I had such a
\ngreat need of this thing, I can do without it very well !\u201d There you are. And
\nlike this, little by little, one makes progress. <\/span><\/p>\n

It is a question
\nof training \u2013 educating oneself. The sooner one begins, the easier it is. When
\none begins very young, it becomes very easy, for one gets accustomed to one’s
\ninner reactions and so can act with wisdom and discernment \u2013 whereas for those
\nwho are accustomed from their childhood to take all their desires for needs or
\nnecessities, and have flung themselves into them with passionate zeal, the road
\nis much more difficult, because first they must acquire discernment and
\ndistinguish a desire from what it is not; and sometimes this is very difficult,
\nit is so mixed up that it can hardly be perceived. <\/span><\/p>\n

But after all, I
\nbelieve one doesn’t need much. Once, I remember, four of us had gone on a
\nwalking tour across the mountains of <\/span>France<\/span>. We had started
\nfrom one town and had to reach another. It was about an eight or ten days’
\njourney across the mountain. Naturally, each of us carried a bag slung across
\nour back, for one needs a few things. But then, before starting we had a little
\ndiscussion to find out what things we really needed, what was quite
\nindispensable. And always we came to this: \u201cLet us see, that thing we can
\nmanage in this way\u201d <\/span><\/p>\n

Page – 385<\/span><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n
\n

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

and everything was
\nreduced to so little… I knew a Danish painter who used to say, \u201cDo you know,
\nwhen I travel, I need only one thing, a tooth-brush.\u201d But somebody replied,
\n\u201cBut no, if you don’t have a brush, you can rub with your finger !\u201d <\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/span><\/p>\n

Before undertaking any action one tries to know
\nwhether the impulse comes from the Mother or not, but generally one doesn’t
\nhave enough discernment to know it and yet one acts. Can one know from the
\nresult of the action whether it came from the Mother or not ? <\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

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

One does not have
\nthe discernment because one does not care to have it ! Listen, I don’t think
\nthere is a single instance in which one does not find within oneself something
\nvery clear, but you must sincerely want to know \u2013 we always come back to the
\nsame thing \u2013 you must sincerely want it. The first condition is not to begin
\nthinking about the subject and building all sorts of ideas: opposing ideas,
\npossibilities, and entering into a formidable mental activity. First of all,
\nyou must put the problem as though you were putting it to someone else, then
\nkeep silent, remain like that, immobile. And then, after a little while you
\nwill see that at least three different things may happen, sometimes more. Take
\nthe case of an intellectual, one who acts in accordance with the indications of
\nhis head. He has put the problem and he waits. Well, if he is indeed attentive,
\nhe will notice that there is (the chronological order is not absolute, it may
\ncome in a different order) at first (what is most prominent in an intellectual)
\na certain idea: \u201cIf I do that in this way, it will be all right; it must be
\nlike that\u201d, that is to say, a mental construction. A second thing which is a
\nkind of impulse: \u201cThat will have to be done. That is good, it must be done.\u201d
\nThen a third which does not make any noise at all, does not try to impose
\nitself on the others, but has the tranquillity<\/span> of a
\ncertitude \u2013 not very active, not giving a shock, not pushing to
\n <\/span><\/p>\n

Page – 386<\/span><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n
\n

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

action, but
\nsomething that knows and is very quiet, very still. This will not contradict
\nthe others, will not come and say, \u201cNo, that’s wrong\u201d; it says simply, \u201cSee, it
\nis like this\u201d, that’s all, and then it does not insist. The majority of men are
\nnot silent enough or attentive enough to be aware of it, for it makes no noise.
\nBut I assure you it is there in everybody and if one is truly sincere and
\nsucceeds in being truly quiet, one will become aware of it. The thinking part
\nbegins to argue, \u201cBut after all, this thing will have this consequence and that
\nthing will have that consequence, and if one does this… \u201c and this, and
\nthat… and its noise begins again. The other (the vital) will say, \u201cYes, it must<\/i> be done like that, it must<\/i> be done, you don’t understand, it must<\/i>, it is indispensable.\u201d There! Then
\nyou will know. And according to your nature you will choose either the vital
\nimpulse or the mental leading, but very seldom do you say quite calmly, \u201cGood, it
\nis this I am going to do, whatever happens\u201d, and even if you don’t like it very
\nmuch. But it is always there. I am sure that it is there even in the murderer
\nbefore he kills, you understand, but his outer being makes such a lot of noise
\nthat it never even occurs to him to listen. But it is always there, always
\nthere. In every circumstance, there is in the depth of every being, just this
\nlittle (one can’t call it \u201cvoice\u201d, for it makes no sound) this little
\nindication of the divine Grace, and sometimes to obey it requires a tremendous
\neffort, for all the rest of the being opposes it violently, one part with the
\nconviction that what it thinks is true, another with all the power, the
\nstrength of its desire. But don’t tell me that one can’t know, for that is not
\ntrue. One can know. But one does not always know what is necessary, and
\nsometimes, if one knows what is to be done, well, one finds some excuse or
\nother for not doing it. One tells oneself, \u201cOh! I am not so sure, after all, of
\nthis inner indication; it does not assert itself with sufficient force for me
\nto trust it.\u201d But if you were quite indifferent, that is, if you had no desire,
\neither mental or vital or physical desire, you would know with certainty that
\nit is that which must be done and nothing else. What comes <\/span><\/p>\n

Page – 387<\/span><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n
\n

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

and gets in the
\nway is preference \u2013 preferences and desires. Every day one may have hundreds
\nand hundreds of examples. When people begin to say, \u201cTruly I don’t know what to
\ndo\u201d, it always means that they have a preference. But as here in the Ashram
\nthey know there is something else and as at times they have been a little
\nattentive, they have a vague sensation that it is not quite that: \u201cIt is not
\nquite that, I don’t feel quite at ease.\u201d Besides, you were saying a while ago
\nthat it is the result which gives you the indication; it has even been said (it
\nhas been written in books) that one judges the divine Will by the results! All
\nthat succeeds has been willed by the Divine; all that doesn’t, well, He has not
\nwilled it! This is yet again one of those stupidities big as a mountain. It is
\na mental simplification of the problem, which is quite comic. That’s not it. If
\none can have an indication (in proportion to one’s sincerity), it is
\nuneasiness, a little uneasiness \u2013 not a great uneasiness, just a little
\nuneasiness. <\/span><\/p>\n

Here, you know,
\nyou have another means, quite simple (I don’t know why you do not use it,
\nbecause it is quite elementary); you imagine I am in front of you and then ask
\nyourself, \u201cWould I do this before Mother, without difficulty, without any
\neffort, without something holding me back ?\u201d That will never deceive you. If
\nyou are sincere you will know immediately. That would stop many people on the
\nverge of folly. <\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/span><\/p>\n

It sometimes happens that when one is playing one
\ndoes not remember the Divine, then suddenly one remembers and has the feeling
\nthat something breaks and one no longer plays well. Why ? <\/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

Because everything
\nis upset. That’s the problem ! So you think that when you are playing and do
\nnot remember, you play well ! No, it is not quite that. It is that you do
\nsomething with a certain concentration \u2013 work or play \u2013 and you are
\nconcentrated, but you have not developed the habit of mixing the remembrance of
\nthe Divine with the concentration (which is not <\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/span>Page – 388<\/span><\/font><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n
\n

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

 difficult, but
\nanyway, you do not have the habit) and then, suddenly the remembrance comes;
\nthen two things may happen: either the concentration is broken because you make
\nan abrupt movement to seize the new attitude entering the consciousness, or
\nelse you feel a little remorse, a regret, a disquiet: \u201cOh ! I did not
\nremember\u201d; that suffices, it upsets all you have done. For you change
\nconditions completely. It is not the fact of remembering which makes you no
\nlonger play well, it is the fact of having disturbed your concentration. If you
\ncould remember without disturbing the concentration (which is not difficult),
\nyou would not only play well but would play better. <\/span><\/p>\n

And then, you may
\nalso take another attitude. When you are playing and suddenly become aware that
\nsomething is going wrong \u2013 you are making mistakes, are inattentive, sometimes
\nopposing currents come across what you are doing \u2013 if you develop the habit,
\nautomatically at this moment, of calling as by a mantra, of repeating a word,
\nthat has an extraordinary effect. You choose your mantra; or rather, one day it
\ncomes to you spontaneously in a moment of difficulty. At a time when things are
\nvery difficult, when you have a sort of anguish, anxiety, when you don’t know
\nwhat is going to happen, suddenly this springs up in you, the word springs up
\nin you. For each one it may be different. But if you mark this and each time
\nyou face a difficulty you repeat it, it becomes irresistible. For instance, if
\nyou feel you are about to fall ill, if you feel you are doing badly what you
\nare doing, if you feel something evil is going to attack you, then… But it
\nmust be a spontaneity in the being, it must spring up from you without your
\nneeding to think about it: you choose your mantra because it is a spontaneous
\nexpression of your aspiration; it may be one word, two or three words, a
\nsentence, that depends on each one, but it must be a sound which awakens in you
\na certain condition. Then, when you have that, I assure you that you can pass
\nthrough everything without difficulty. Even in the face of a real, veritable
\ndanger, an attack, for instance, by someone who wants to kill you, if, without <\/span><\/p>\n

\n <\/span>Page – 389<\/span><\/font><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n
\n

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

 getting excited,
\nwithout being perturbed, you quietly repeat your mantra, one can do nothing to
\nyou. Naturally, you must truly be master of yourself; one part of the being
\nmust not be trembling there like a leaf; no, you must do it entirely,
\nsincerely, then it is all-powerful. The best is when the word comes to you
\nspontaneously: you call in a moment of great difficulty (mental, vital,
\nphysical, emotional, whatever it may be) and suddenly that springs up in you,
\ntwo or three words, like magical words. You must remember these and form the
\nhabit of repeating them in moments when difficulties come. If you form the
\nhabit, one day it will come to you spontaneously: when the difficulty comes, at
\nthe same time the mantra will come. Then you will see that the results are
\nwonderful. But it must not be an artificial thing or something you arbitrarily
\ndecide: \u201cI shall use those words\u201d; nor should somebody else tell you, \u201cOh ! You
\nknow, this is very good\u201d \u2013 it is perhaps very good for him but not for
\neveryone. <\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cYour only object in action shall be to serve, to
\nreceive, to fulfil<\/span>, to become a manifesting
\ninstrument of the Divine Shakti<\/span> in her works.\u201d <\/span>
\n<\/i><\/p>\n

Sri Aurobindo, The Mother, p. 15 <\/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

When you act your
\nonly object is to serve, that is, instead of acting for your personal good, you
\nact with the feeling of serving, of receiving the Divine Force, not from
\noutside (you must not at all believe in that) but from within you, of opening
\nyourself to the Divine Force which will use you for its action, and of
\nfulfilling what that Force wants you to fulfil<\/span>. There
\nis no place there for egoism. It is not a matter of giving one thing and
\nreceiving another in exchange, it is not that; it is not a question of
\nreceiving from outside. <\/span><\/p>\n

There are
\ndisciplines which make it a rule (we don’t like rules, for they are always
\narbitrary and artificial) that one should receive absolutely nothing from
\nanybody except the Divine or the Guru who represents the Divine. Some people
\nwould not <\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/span>Page – 390<\/span><\/font><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n
\n

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

 receive even a
\nfruit from anybody because it does not come from the Guru. That is an
\nexaggeration \u2013 this depends on circumstances, on conditions, and it also
\ndepends very much on the attitude one takes oneself, it depends on many things,
\nit would take very long to explain- but there is one thing you must learn,
\nnever to rely on anyone or anything whatever except the Divine. For if you lean
\nupon anyone for support, that support will break, you may be sure of that. From
\nthe minute you start doing yoga (I always speak of those who do yoga, I do not
\nspeak about ordinary life), for those who do yoga, to depend upon someone else
\nis like wanting to transform that person into a representative of the Divine
\nForce; now you may be sure there is not one in a hundred millions who can carry
\nthe weight: he will break immediately. So never take the attitude of hoping for
\nsupport, help, comfort from anyone except the Divine. That is absolute; I have
\nnever, not once, met anyone who tried to cling to something to find a support
\nthere (someone doing yoga or who has been put into touch with yoga) and who was
\nnot deceived \u2013 it breaks, it stops, one loses one’s support. Then one says,
\n\u201cLife is difficult\u201d \u2013 it is not difficult but one must know what one is doing.
\nNever seek a support elsewhere than in the Divine. Never seek satisfaction
\nelsewhere than in the Divine. Never seek the satisfaction of your needs in
\nanyone else except the Divine \u2013 never, for anything at all. All your needs can
\nbe satisfied only by the Divine. All your weaknesses can be borne and healed
\nonly by the Divine. He alone is capable of giving you what you need in
\neverything, always, and if you try to find any satisfaction or support or help
\nor joy or… heaven knows what, in anyone else, you will always fall on your
\nnose one day, and that always hurts, sometimes even hurts very much.<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/span>Page – 391<\/span><\/font><\/p>\n

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

5 May 1951   \u201cIf you want to be a true doer of divine works, your first aim must be to be totally free from…<\/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-4405","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\/4405","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=4405"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/worksofthemotherandsriaurobindo.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4405\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/worksofthemotherandsriaurobindo.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4405"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/worksofthemotherandsriaurobindo.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4405"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/worksofthemotherandsriaurobindo.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4405"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}