{"id":4407,"date":"2013-07-13T01:55:46","date_gmt":"2013-07-13T01:55:46","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/localhost\/?p=4407"},"modified":"2013-07-13T01:55:46","modified_gmt":"2013-07-13T01:55:46","slug":"12-25-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\/12-25-january-1951-vol-04-questions-and-answers-volume-04","title":{"rendered":"-12_25 January 1951.htm"},"content":{"rendered":"\n\n
\n
\n


\n25
\n January 1951<\/font><\/span><\/b> <\/font>
\n <\/font><\/span><\/b><\/p>\n

 <\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cThe
\nvital being in us is the seat of impulses and desires, of enthusiasm and violence,
\nof dynamic energy and desperate depression, of passions and revolt. It can set
\nin motion everything, build up and realise, it can also destroy and mar
\neverything. It seems to be, in the human being, the most difficult part to
\ntrain. It is a long labour requiring great patience, and it demands a perfect
\nsincerity, for without sincerity one will deceive oneself from the very first
\nstep, and all endeavour for progress will go in vain.\u201d <\/span><\/i><\/p>\n


\n\u201cThe
\nScience of Living\u201d, On Education <\/font> <\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/span><\/p>\n

It is very <\/i>difficult to find the borderland between a true need
\nand a desire (the yogic ideal, of course, is never to have any need, and
\ntherefore not to want anything), but this essay is written for all men of
\ngoodwill who try to know themselves and control themselves. And there we really
\nface a problem which compels an extraordinary sincerity, for the very first way
\nin which the vital meets life is through desire \u2013 and yet, there are
\nnecessities. But how to know if things are really necessary, not desired?…For
\nthat you must observe yourself very, very attentively, and if there is anything
\nin you which produces something like a small intense vibration, then you may be
\nsure that there lies a desire. For example, you say, \u201cThis food is necessary
\nfor me\u201d \u2013 you believe, you imagine, you think that you need such and such a
\nthing and you find the necessary means to obtain the thing. To know if it is a
\nneed or a desire, you must look at yourself very closely and ask yourself,
\n\u201cWhat will happen if I cannot get the thing?\u201d Then if the immediate answer is,
\n\u201cOh, it will be very bad\u201d, you may be sure that it is a matter of desire. It is
\nthe same for everything. For every problem you draw back, look at yourself and
\nask, \u201cLet us see, am <\/span><\/p>\n

\nPage – 49<\/span><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n
\n

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

\u00a0<\/span>I going to have the thing?\u201d
\nIf at that moment something in you jumps up with joy, you may be certain there
\nis a desire. On the other hand, if something tells you, \u201cOh, I am not going to
\nget it\u201d, and you feel very depressed, then again it is a desire. <\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/span>If
\nthe vital is not to deceive you, you must not only be very mindful but your
\nsincerity must also be almost miraculous \u2013 it is not to discourage you that I
\nhave used the word \u201cmiraculous\u201d; on the contrary, it is in order to give you a
\ngreater aspiration for sincerity.<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cWith
\nthe collaboration of the vital no realisation seems impossible, no transformation
\nimpracticable.\u201d <\/span><\/i><\/p>\n


\n\u201cThe
\nScience of Living\u201d, On Education <\/font> <\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/span><\/p>\n

It is this which is so wonderful. I believe the vital is very
\nconscious of its power and that is why it is important: it has that dynamic
\nenergy which makes no difficulty too difficult for it; but it must be on the
\nright side. If it collaborates, everything is wonderful, but it is not easy to
\nget from it this constant collaboration. It is a very good worker, it works
\nvery, very well, but in working it seeks always its own satisfaction, it wants
\nto get something from the work, all the pleasure that can be drawn from it, all
\nthe advantage that can be had, and when this satisfaction is not given for one
\nreason or another (there may be many reasons), it is not happy, not at all
\nhappy: \u201cThat’s not fair, I work, and I am given nothing in return\u201d; then it
\nsulks, it does not move, it keeps mum, and at times it says, \u201cI do not exist.\u201d
\nThen all energy runs out from the body, you get tired, exhausted, you can no
\nlonger do anything. And all of a sudden this becomes worse, for I must tell you
\nthat the mind is very friendly with the vital \u2013 not the reasoning mind but the
\nphysical mind is very, very friendly with the vital; so, as soon as the vital
\nbegins to say, \u201cI have nothing to do with that, I have been badly treated, I
\nwon’t have anything to do with it\u201d, the mind naturally comes in to encourage
\nit, to explain, give good reasons, <\/span><\/p>\n

\nPage – 50<\/span><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n
\n

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

\nand it is the same old
\nstory: \u201cLife is not worth living, people are truly disgusting and all
\ncircumstances are against me, it is better to leave it all\u201d, and so on. This
\nhappens very often, but at times there is a little glimmer of reason somewhere
\nwhich tells you, \u201cAh, enough of this comedy!\u201d <\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/span>But
\nif this becomes very strong and you do not react in time, then you fall into
\ndespair: \u201cReally this life is not made for people like me; I would be happier
\nelsewhere, in heaven where everybody is very nice and one can do whatever one
\nwants\u201d, etc…, whence paradisiac conceptions \u2013 indeed I think it is these two
\naccomplices, the mind and the vital, who have invented paradise! For if life,
\nexistence, does not conform to your desires, you begin to lament: \u201cOh, I have
\nhad enough of it, this world is miserable and deceitful, I want to die.\u201d Then
\nthere is a moment when this situation becomes serious; discouragement changes
\ninto revolt and depression into dissatisfaction: I speak of people who are
\nrather ill-natured \u2013 there are people who are ill-natured (it is not their
\nfault!) and there are people who are good-natured (it is not their fault
\neither!) but things are like that \u2013 well, those who are ill-natured get angry,
\nrevolt, want to break and pull down everything: \u201cYou will see, they do not do
\nwhat I want, they will be punished!\u201d Then this becomes a little more serious,
\nbecause the mind is always there to serve as the accomplice and it begins to
\nhave wonderful ideas of revenge \u2013 from discouragement you do one kind of stupid
\nthing, from wickedness you do another. The stupidities of discouragement
\nconcern you personally, whilst the stupidities of wickedness concern others;
\nand sometimes these latter stupidities are very serious. If you have a little
\ngoodwill, it is better at the time when such fits seize you to make it a rule
\nnot to stir, telling yourself, \u201cI am not going to move, I shall wait for the
\nstorm to pass\u201d, for in a few moments one can destroy or ruin months of regular
\neffort. <\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/span>But
\nhere I give you a consolation: <\/span><\/p>\n

\nPage – 51<\/span><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n
\n

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

\u201cThese
\ncrises are of less duration and are less dangerous in the case of those who have
\nestablished a contact with their psychic being sufficient to keep alive in them
\nthe flame of aspiration and the consciousness of the ideal to be realised. They
\ncan, with the help of this consciousness, deal with their vital as one deals
\nwith a child in revolt, with patience and perseverance showing it the truth and
\nlight, endeavouring to convince it and awaken in it the goodwill which for a
\nmoment was veiled.\u201d<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n


\n\u201cThe
\nScience of Living\u201d, On Education <\/font> <\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/span><\/p>\n

And the last consolation. For those who are truly sincere, truly
\ngood-willed, all these fits can be changed into a means for progress. Each time
\nthat you have an attack of this kind, a sort of storm, you can change the
\ncrisis into a new progress, into one more step towards the goal. If precisely
\nyou have the necessary sincerity to look straight in the face, within you, at
\nthe cause of the fit \u2013 the wrong you have done, the wrong you have thought, the
\nwrong you have felt \u2013 if you see the weakness, the violence or the vanity (for
\nI forgot to tell you that the vital is much more full of vanity than the mind),
\nif you look at all that full in the face and if you recognise honestly and sincerely
\nthat what has happened is due to your fault, then you are able to put a red-hot
\niron as it were on the affected spot. You can purify the weakness and turn it
\ninto a new consciousness. And you find after the storm that you have grown a
\nlittle more, you have truly made a progress.<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cProgress
\nmay be slow, falls may be frequent, but if a courageous will is maintained one
\nis sure to triumph some day and see all difficulties melt and vanish before the
\nradiant consciousness of truth.\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<\/span>Ibid.<\/span><\/p>\n

\nPage – 52<\/span>\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 <\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n
\n

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

If I lay stress here upon defects and difficulties, it is not to
\ndiscourage you from making an effort but to tell you that you must do things
\nwith the necessary courage and precisely not be disheartened because you are
\nnot successful at once; but if the aspiration is there in you, if the will is
\nthere in you, it is absolutely certain that sooner or later you will succeed.
\nAnd I am saying this for people who live in very ordinary circumstances, less
\nfavourable perhaps than yours, but who can, even so, learn to know themselves
\nand conquer themselves, master themselves, control themselves. Therefore, if
\nthe conditions are favourable you have a much greater chance of succeeding. One
\nthing is always necessary, not to give up the game for it is a great game \u2013 and
\nthe result is worth the trouble of playing it through.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 <\/span>\u201cLastly, we must, by means of a rational and
\nclear-seeing physical education, make our body strong and supple so that it may
\nbecome in the material world a fit instrument for the truth-force which wills
\nto manifest through us.\u201d <\/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 <\/span>Ibid. <\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/span><\/p>\n

It is much easier to organise the body than the vital, for
\ninstance. But the mind and the vital, with the character and temperament they
\nhave, what do they not do with this poor slave of a body! After having
\nill-treated it, perhaps ruined it (it protests a little, falls ill a little),
\nthis is what the two accomplices say: \u201cWhat a beast is this body, it cannot
\nfollow us in our movement!\u201d Unhappily, the body obeys its masters, the mind and
\nthe vital, blindly, without any discrimination. The mind comes along with its
\ntheories: \u201cYou must not eat that, it will harm you; you must not do that, it is
\nbad\u201d, and if the mind is not wise and clear-sighted, the poor body suffers the
\nconsequences of the orders it receives. I do not speak of the orders it
\nreceives from the vital. The mind with its rigid principles and the vital with
\nits excesses and outbursts and passions are quick to
\n <\/span><\/p>\n

\nPage – 53<\/span><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n
\n

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

destroy the body’s equilibrium and to create a condition of
\nfatigue, exhaustion and illness.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cIt
\nmust be freed from this tyranny; that can be done only through a constant union
\nwith the psychic centre of the being.\u201d <\/span><\/i><\/span><\/p>\n


\n\u201cThe
\nScience of Living\u201d, On Education <\/font> <\/span>
\n
\n <\/font><\/span><\/p>\n

That is evidently the cure of all ills. <\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cThe
\nbody has a remarkable capacity of adaptation and endurance. It is fit to do so many
\nmore things than one can usually imagine. If instead of the ignorant and
\ndespotic masters that govern it, it is ruled by the central truth of the being,
\none will be surprised at what it is capable of doing.\u201d <\/span><\/i><\/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>lbid.
\n<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/span><\/p>\n

During the last war, it was proved that the body was capable of
\nenduring such suffering as is normally impossible to endure. You have surely
\nread or heard these stories of war in which the body was made to suffer and
\nendure terrible things, and it withstood all that, it proved that it had almost
\ninexhaustible capacities of endurance. Some people happened to be under
\nconditions that should have killed them; if they survived, it was because they
\nhad in them a very strong will to survive and the body obeyed that will. <\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cIn this sound and balanced life a new harmony will manifest in the
\nbody, reflecting the harmony of the higher regions, which will give it the
\nperfect proportions and the ideal beauty of form.\u201d <\/i><\/span><\/p>\n

Ibid.
\n<\/span>
\n
\n <\/span><\/p>\n

That is the last stage. If you compare the human body as it <\/span><\/p>\n

\nPage – 54<\/span><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n
\n

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

now is with a higher ideal of beauty, obviously very few would
\npass the examination. In almost everyone there is a sort of unbalance in the
\nproportions; we are so accustomed to it that we do not notice it, but if we
\nlook from the standpoint of the higher beauty, it becomes visible; very few
\nbodies would bear comparison with perfect beauty. There are a thousand reasons
\nfor this unbalance but only one remedy, to instil into the being this instinct,
\nthis sense of true beauty, a supreme beauty which will gradually act on the
\ncells and make the body capable of expressing beauty. This is still a thing
\nwhich is not known: the body is infinitely more plastic than you believe. You
\nmust have surely noticed (perhaps very vaguely) that those who live in an inner
\npeace, in an inner beauty, a light, and perfect goodwill, have an expression
\nwhich is not quite the same as of people who live in bad thoughts, in the lower
\npart of their nature. When the human being is at his best, above his base
\nanimality, he reflects something which is not there when he lives in a state of
\nbestiality.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/span>If
\none tried to change one’s form out of egoism or that famous thing, vanity,
\nnaturally, one would not succeed, for it is something deeper which has the
\npower to act; but if one could refrain from having at all times bad will,
\nwicked thoughts, one would see a kind of harmony beginning to express itself
\ngradually in the forms and features, for it is a fact that the body expresses
\nthe inner states. <\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/span>But
\nyou forget one thing. If you have in the whole day five or six hours of higher
\nconsciousness, you feel that it is already much, and the rest of the time you
\nlive more or less like a little animal, you let yourself go, you are driven by
\ncircumstances. And you forget completely to approach the Thing which is above,
\nwhich can prevent you from descending into the lower regions of your nature. <\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/span>You
\ncould get much more from your body if you only took the trouble. <\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0<\/span>You must not despise it nor scold it too much,
\nfor it is not
\n <\/span><\/p>\n

\nPage – 55<\/span><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n
\n

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

the culprit; if you follow a suitable method to train and educate
\nyour body, you will have an infinitely greater output than you have now. It is
\nquite recently that men have begun to speak of physical culture as an important
\nthing; if you go back a hundred years, it was the privilege of those who had
\nnothing else to do. A hundred years ago it was a luxury. When someone said, \u201cI
\ndo not want to send my child to school, he must earn his living\u201d, there were
\nmany who answered, \u201cNo, pardon me, you make a serious mistake; if you do not
\nprepare your child for his adult life, he will be incapable of doing what he
\nshould do.\u201d People said this about the mind but it was not said about the body.
\nSo many children lived in more or less good conditions, with a body which was
\nindeed a difficulty, but it used to be said, \u201cThat will get corrected, that
\nwill be all right…\u201cWith training and patience you can acquire a body with
\nwhich you can get along in life. Nowadays, people recognise the value of a
\nhealthy and balanced life. And I have said that this harmony will be
\nprogressive: <\/span><\/p>\n

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

\u201cThis
\nharmony will be progressive, for the truth of the being is never static, it is
\na continual unfolding of a growing, a more and more global and comprehensive
\nperfection. As soon as the body learns to follow the movement of progressive
\nharmony, it will be possible for it, through a continuous process of
\ntransformation, to escape the necessity of disintegration and destruction. Thus
\nthe irrevocable law of death will have no reason for existing any more. <\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

 <\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

\u201c…These four attributes of the Truth will spontaneously express
\nthemselves in our being. The psychic will be the vehicle of true and pure love,
\nthe mind that of infallible knowledge, the vital will manifest an invincible
\npower and strength and the body will be the expression of a perfect beauty and
\na perfect harmony.\u201d <\/span><\/i><\/p>\n


\n\u201cThe
\nScience of Living\u201d, On Education<\/font> <\/font><\/span><\/p>\n

\nPage – 56<\/span><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n
\n

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

This is a thing very little known among mystics and religious
\npeople: in each part of the being the Divine manifests Himself differently. In
\nthe higher parts He manifests as Power, Love, etc…, but in the physical He
\nmanifests as Harmony and Beauty. <\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/span>Hence, the problem of the expression of
\nphysical beauty is a spiritual problem. <\/span><\/p>\n

\nPage – 57<\/span><\/p>\n

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

25 January 1951     \u201cThe vital being in us is the seat of impulses and desires, of enthusiasm and violence, of dynamic energy and…<\/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-4407","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\/4407","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=4407"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/worksofthemotherandsriaurobindo.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4407\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/worksofthemotherandsriaurobindo.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4407"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/worksofthemotherandsriaurobindo.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4407"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/worksofthemotherandsriaurobindo.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4407"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}