{"id":4408,"date":"2013-07-13T01:55:47","date_gmt":"2013-07-13T01:55:47","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/localhost\/?p=4408"},"modified":"2013-07-13T01:55:47","modified_gmt":"2013-07-13T01:55:47","slug":"40-5-april-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\/40-5-april-1951-vol-04-questions-and-answers-volume-04","title":{"rendered":"-40_5 April 1951.htm"},"content":{"rendered":"<table border=\"0\" cellpadding=\"6\" style=\"border-collapse: collapse\" width=\"100%\">\n<tr>\n<td>\n<div class=\"Section1\">\n<p class=\"MsoNormal\" style='margin:0;text-align:justify;line-height:150%'><b><br \/>\n<span lang=\"EN-US\" style='font-family:\"Times New Roman\"'><font size=\"3\">5 April 1951<\/font><\/span><\/b><b><span lang=\"EN-US\" style='font-family:\"Times New Roman\"'><font size=\"3\"><br \/>\n<\/font> <\/span><\/b><\/p>\n<p class=\"MsoNormal\" style='margin:0;text-align:justify;line-height:150%'><b><br \/>\n<span lang=\"EN-US\" style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:\"Times New Roman\"'>&nbsp;<\/span><\/b><i><span lang=\"EN-US\" style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:\"Times New Roman\"'>&nbsp;<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n<p class=\"MsoNormal\" style='margin:0;text-align:justify;line-height:150%'><i><span lang=\"EN-US\" style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:\"Times New Roman\"'>\u201cEverything here is followed by the <span class=\"SpellE\">supermind<\/span>; the mind movements and not less the vital, the<br \/>\nmaterial movements, all the play of the universe have for it a very deep<br \/>\ninterest, but of another kind. It is about the same difference as that between<br \/>\nthe interest taken in a puppet-play by one who holds the strings and knows what<br \/>\nthe puppets are to do and the will that moves them and knows that they can do<br \/>\nonly what it moves them to do, and the interest taken by another who observes the<br \/>\nplay but sees only what is happening from moment to moment and knows nothing<br \/>\nelse. The one who follows the play and is outside its secret has a stronger, an<br \/>\neager and passionate interest in what will happen and he gives an excited<br \/>\nattention to its unforeseen or dramatic events; the other, who holds the<br \/>\nstrings and moves the show, is unmoved and tranquil. There is a certain<br \/>\nintensity of interest which comes from ignorance and is bound up with illusion,<br \/>\nand that must disappear when you are out of the ignorance. The interest that<br \/>\nhuman beings take in things founds itself on the illusion; if that were<br \/>\nremoved, they would have no interest at all in the play; they would find it dry<br \/>\nand dull. That is why all this ignorance, all this illusion has lasted so long;<br \/>\nit is because men like it, because they cling to it and its peculiar kind of<br \/>\nappeal that it endures.\u201d <\/span><\/i><\/p>\n<p class=\"MsoNormal\" style='margin:0;text-align:justify;line-height:150%'>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p class=\"MsoNormal\" align=\"right\" style='margin:0;text-align:right;line-height:150%'><i><span lang=\"EN-US\" style='font-family:\"Times New Roman\"'><font size=\"2\">Questions and Answers 1929 (23 June)<br \/>\n<\/font> <\/span><\/i><\/p>\n<p class=\"MsoNormal\" style='margin:0;text-align:justify;text-indent:.5in;line-height:150%'><i><span lang=\"EN-US\" style='font-family:\"Times New Roman\"'>&nbsp;<\/span><span lang=\"EN-US\" style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:\"Times New Roman\"'>How can interest be founded on illusion? <\/span><\/i><span lang=\"EN-US\" style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:\"Times New Roman\"'><\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"MsoNormal\" style='margin:0;text-align:justify;line-height:150%'><span lang=\"EN-US\" style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:\"Times New Roman\"'><span>\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<p class=\"MsoNormal\" style='margin:0;text-align:justify;line-height:150%'><span lang=\"EN-US\" style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:\"Times New Roman\"'>So you think you<br \/>\nare not in the <span class=\"GramE\">illusion ?<\/span> You imagine you are outside<br \/>\nthe illusion? In the world as it is now, all is illusion. <\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"MsoNormal\" align=\"center\" style='margin:0;text-align:center;line-height:150%'>\n<span lang=\"EN-US\" style='font-family:\"Times New Roman\"'>Page &#8211; 277<\/span><\/p>\n<div class=\"MsoPlainText\" align=\"center\" style='text-align:center'><span lang=\"EN-US\" style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:\"Times New Roman\"'><\/p>\n<hr size=\"2\" width=\"100%\" align=\"center\">\n<p><\/span><\/div>\n<p class=\"MsoNormal\" style='margin:0;text-align:justify;line-height:150%'><span lang=\"EN-US\" style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:\"Times New Roman\"'>It is perhaps an<br \/>\nadvantage, but you see only the surface of things, at most a very small part \u2013<br \/>\nyou do not see the depth of things, you do not see the core of things, you do<br \/>\nnot see the cause of things. Do you know what is going to happen tomorrow ?&#8230;You<br \/>\nmay guess it more or less, telling yourself that it will be like today but you<br \/>\ndon&#8217;t know it at all. You do not know what is going to happen tomorrow, still<br \/>\nless in a month&#8217;s time, yet less in a year. And do you know where you were<br \/>\nbefore your birth? And do you know what will happen to you after your <span class=\"GramE\">death ?<\/span>&#8230;You take interest in what you do just because you<br \/>\ndo not know what is going to happen. If you were fully in the know of what is<br \/>\ngoing to happen, I am sure that 999 persons in a 1000 would sit down quietly<br \/>\nwaiting for it to happen. If you know exactly what is going to take place, all<br \/>\nyour enthusiasm would evaporate and in most cases you would say, \u201cHave I to do<br \/>\nall this to get <span class=\"GramE\">there ?<\/span> <span class=\"GramE\">Ah !<\/span> <span class=\"GramE\">no \u201d<\/span> <\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"MsoNormal\" style='margin:0;text-align:justify;line-height:150%'><span lang=\"EN-US\" style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:\"Times New Roman\"'>&nbsp;<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"MsoNormal\" style='margin:0;text-align:justify;text-indent:.5in;line-height:150%'><i><span lang=\"EN-US\" style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:\"Times New Roman\"'>Then illusion is <span class=\"GramE\">necessary<br \/>\n?<\/span> <\/span><\/i><\/p>\n<p class=\"MsoNormal\" style='margin:0;text-align:justify;line-height:150%'><span lang=\"EN-US\" style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:\"Times New Roman\"'><span>\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<p class=\"MsoNormal\" style='margin:0;text-align:justify;line-height:150%'><span lang=\"EN-US\" style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:\"Times New Roman\"'>I do not say it is<br \/>\nnecessary, I say that it is evident, which is not quite the same thing. What is<br \/>\nnecessary is to change. <\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"MsoNormal\" style='margin:0;text-align:justify;text-indent:.25in;line-height:150%'><span lang=\"EN-US\" style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:\"Times New Roman\"'>One of the great<br \/>\nthings, you see, is just to be able to do something with as much interest, as<br \/>\nmuch intensity, as much energy, while knowing perfectly what the result will be<br \/>\nand even if the result is the opposite of what you seem to expect. This is not<br \/>\neasy, but still it is indispensable.<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"MsoNormal\" style='margin:0;text-align:justify;text-indent:.25in;line-height:150%'><span lang=\"EN-US\" style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:\"Times New Roman\"'>&nbsp;<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"MsoNormal\" style='margin:0;text-align:justify;text-indent:.5in;line-height:150%'><span lang=\"EN-US\" style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:\"Times New Roman\"'><i><span>\u00a0<\/span>I don&#8217;t see why it<br \/>\nis indispensable. <\/i> <\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"MsoNormal\" style='margin:0;text-align:justify;line-height:150%'><span lang=\"EN-US\" style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:\"Times New Roman\"'><span>\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<p class=\"MsoNormal\" style='margin:0;text-align:justify;line-height:150%'><span lang=\"EN-US\" style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:\"Times New Roman\"'><span>\u00a0<\/span>I am saying that it is indispensable to reach<br \/>\nthe state in which one can do things, continue to act, while knowing perfectly<br \/>\nwhat the result will be and even if this result is the opposite of what one<br \/>\nhopes for. It is this condition of detachment which is indispensable \u2013 not<br \/>\nbeing in <span class=\"GramE\">illusion !<\/span><\/span><span lang=\"EN-US\" style='font-family:\"Times New Roman\"'>&nbsp;<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"MsoNormal\" align=\"center\" style='margin:0;text-align:center;line-height:150%'>\n<span lang=\"EN-US\" style='font-family:\"Times New Roman\"'>Page &#8211; 278<\/span><\/p>\n<div class=\"MsoPlainText\" align=\"center\" style='text-align:center'><span lang=\"EN-US\" style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:\"Times New Roman\"'><\/p>\n<hr size=\"2\" width=\"100%\" align=\"center\">\n<p><\/span><\/div>\n<p class=\"MsoNormal\" style='margin:0;text-align:justify;line-height:150%'><span lang=\"EN-US\" style='font-family:\"Times New Roman\"'>During the 1929 talk someone asked what should be done<br \/>\nto effect the cure of an illness, whether one should exercise one&#8217;s willpower<br \/>\nor only live in the confidence that it will be done or rely entirely on the<br \/>\ndivine Power. Mother replied: <\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"MsoNormal\" style='margin:0;text-align:justify;line-height:150%'><span lang=\"EN-US\" style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:\"Times New Roman\"'>&nbsp;<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"MsoNormal\" style='margin:0;text-align:justify;line-height:150%'><i><span lang=\"EN-US\" style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:\"Times New Roman\"'>\u201cAll these are so many ways of doing the same thing&#8230;<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n<p class=\"MsoNormal\" style='margin:0;text-align:justify;text-indent:.25in;line-height:150%'><i><span lang=\"EN-US\" style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:\"Times New Roman\"'>But whatever you ask for or whatever your<br \/>\neffort, you must feel, even while trying your best, using knowledge or putting<br \/>\nforth power that the result depends upon the Divine Grace.\u201d <\/span><\/i><\/p>\n<p class=\"MsoNormal\" align=\"right\" style='margin:0;text-align:right;line-height:150%'><i><span lang=\"EN-US\" style='font-family:\"Times New Roman\"'><font size=\"2\">Questions and Answers 1929 (23 June)<br \/>\n<\/font> <\/span><\/i><\/p>\n<p class=\"MsoNormal\" style='margin:0;text-align:justify;line-height:150%'><span lang=\"EN-US\" style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:\"Times New Roman\"'><span>\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<p class=\"MsoNormal\" style='margin:0;text-align:justify;line-height:150%'><span lang=\"EN-US\" style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:\"Times New Roman\"'>But first you must<br \/>\nwill it, I believe that is quite <span class=\"GramE\">important !<\/span> There is<br \/>\nno one method to follow&#8230; I read this and at the same time ask myself how many<br \/>\npeople would be satisfied to hear this. All the materialism and positivism in<br \/>\nthe world have been constructed just because people do not want the Divine<br \/>\nGrace to come in at all. If they are cured they want to say, \u201cIt is I who cured<br \/>\n<span class=\"GramE\">myself<\/span>\u201d; if they make a progress, they want to think,<br \/>\n\u201cIt is I who have progressed\u201d; if they <span class=\"SpellE\">organise<\/span><br \/>\nsomething, they want to proclaim, \u201cIt is I who am <span class=\"SpellE\">organising<\/span>.\u201d<br \/>\nAnd many, many of those who try to do otherwise, if they look within<br \/>\nthemselves, would see how seldom spontaneously, sincerely (not as when one says<br \/>\nsomething because one knows it should be said, or as one thinks something<br \/>\nbecause it is the fashion to think like that but spontaneously, sincerely, with<br \/>\nall their heart) they know that it is not they who have done the thing, but the<br \/>\ndivine force. When they have made a progress, when they have changed something<br \/>\nin themselves, when they have learnt something, then when is it that<br \/>\nspontaneously, without an effort of will, without thinking, without needing to<br \/>\ntell oneself, \u201cOne ought to think like this\u201d, spontaneously one <i>knows<\/i> that without the divine force<br \/>\nnothing would have been done ? Look into yourself, it is a very interesting<br \/>\nthing, very interesting, how many times a day you<br \/>\n&nbsp;<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"MsoNormal\" align=\"center\" style='margin:0;text-align:center;line-height:150%'>\n<span lang=\"EN-US\" style='font-family:\"Times New Roman\"'>Page &#8211; 279<\/span><\/p>\n<div class=\"MsoPlainText\" align=\"center\" style='text-align:center'><span lang=\"EN-US\" style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:\"Times New Roman\"'><\/p>\n<hr size=\"2\" width=\"100%\" align=\"center\">\n<p><\/span><\/div>\n<p class=\"MsoNormal\" style='margin:0;text-align:justify;line-height:150%'><span lang=\"EN-US\" style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:\"Times New Roman\"'>think (without<br \/>\neven telling yourself), \u201cI have done this\u201d, \u201cI have been able to do that\u201d, \u201cI<br \/>\nsucceeded in this\u201d, \u201cI failed in that\u201d, and when you have made a good effort,<br \/>\nwhen you have obtained a result, you need a little moment for thought, or more,<br \/>\nto tell yourself, \u201cIf the divine force had not helped me, probably I would not<br \/>\nhave been able to do it.\u201d The spontaneous thing is, \u201c<span class=\"GramE\">Oh !<\/span><br \/>\nI have succeeded\u201d, isn&#8217;t that <span class=\"GramE\">true ?<\/span> There is indeed a<br \/>\npart of the mind which has been educated, which has learnt, has reflected,<br \/>\nunderstood, which is well-disposed and truly feels that in reality it is like<br \/>\nthat, but this is only one part of the mind, and it is not always active,<br \/>\nsometimes it must be called up, asked its advice, \u201cWhat is then the best<br \/>\nattitude to <span class=\"GramE\">have ?<\/span>\u201d, \u201cWhat should I think ?\u201d I believe<br \/>\nall who have taken up yoga, if they are sincere, if they reflect for a moment,<br \/>\ntell <span class=\"GramE\">themselves<\/span>, \u201cI was not aware of it, but if I have<br \/>\nsucceeded, it was probably because the divine forces were there to help me,<br \/>\notherwise I would not have been able to succeed.\u201d This is well understood. But<br \/>\nthere comes a moment when one knows that one would not have been able to lift a<br \/>\nfinger if these forces had not been there. That comes later&#8230;But to begin<br \/>\nwith, how many times, if one thinks, if one quite simply observes oneself, does<br \/>\none catch oneself saying, \u201cIt is <span class=\"GramE\">I !\u201d<\/span> And, then, one<br \/>\ncongratulates oneself sometimes, one says, \u201cAfter all I can do something, I am <span class=\"GramE\">capable !\u201d<\/span> I am going further: how many people would be<br \/>\ncapable of doing anything at all if simply deprived of the pleasure of being<br \/>\nable to tell themselves, \u201cI have done this, I have realised that, I have made a<br \/>\nprogress, how well I played this game<span class=\"GramE\">\u201d ?<\/span> How many<br \/>\npeople would be able to sincerely do something if this pleasure were taken <span class=\"GramE\">away ?<\/span> I have known individuals whose mind was much more<br \/>\ndeveloped than the rest of the being, they had understood very well (almost too<br \/>\nwell); they sat down to meditate and all their energy was gone, all vitality<br \/>\nevaporated into a kind of peace, not unpleasant, but very still. There is no<br \/>\nmore need to do anything, no longer any need to move, one dreams&#8230; Under a<br \/>\ntree, arms crossed, one leaves the Divine to do everything<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"MsoNormal\" align=\"center\" style='margin:0;text-align:center;line-height:150%'>\n<span lang=\"EN-US\" style='font-family:\"Times New Roman\"'>Page &#8211; 280<\/span><\/p>\n<div class=\"MsoPlainText\" align=\"center\" style='text-align:center'><span lang=\"EN-US\" style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:\"Times New Roman\"'><\/p>\n<hr size=\"2\" width=\"100%\" align=\"center\">\n<p><\/span><\/div>\n<p class=\"MsoNormal\" style='margin:0;text-align:justify;line-height:150%'><span lang=\"EN-US\" style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:\"Times New Roman\"'><span>\u00a0<\/span><span class=\"GramE\">for<\/span> oneself,<br \/>\nincluding feeding you if you need it. This is perhaps very well, but this shows<br \/>\nthat the instrument is not ready; it is not really at the service of the<br \/>\nDivine, it is at the service of the ego, and when the ego is taken away, it<br \/>\ndoes nothing any longer. Therefore, so long as one lives in the ego this<br \/>\nillusion is necessary to make you act; it is necessary to keep up action until<br \/>\none is completely transformed or, in any case, till the true consciousness is<br \/>\nestablished. <\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"MsoNormal\" style='margin:0;text-align:justify;text-indent:.25in;line-height:150%'><span lang=\"EN-US\" style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:\"Times New Roman\"'>I have said this<br \/>\nand I repeat it (Mother takes up her book): <\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"MsoNormal\" style='margin:0;text-align:justify;line-height:150%'><span lang=\"EN-US\" style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:\"Times New Roman\"'><span>\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 <\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"MsoNormal\" style='margin:0;text-align:justify;line-height:150%'><i><span lang=\"EN-US\" style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:\"Times New Roman\"'>\u201cWhatever you do, whatever the process you<br \/>\nuse, and even if you happen to have acquired in it a great skill and power, you<br \/>\nmust leave the result in the hands of the Divine. Always you may try, but it is<br \/>\nfor the Divine to give you the fruit of your effort or not to give it. There<br \/>\nyour personal power stops; if the result comes, it is the Divine Power and not<br \/>\nyours that brings it.\u201d <\/span><\/i><\/p>\n<p class=\"MsoNormal\" align=\"right\" style='margin:0;text-align:right;line-height:150%'><span lang=\"EN-US\" style='font-family:\"Times New Roman\"'><font size=\"2\">Questions and Answers 1929 (23 June)<br \/>\n<\/font> <\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"MsoNormal\" style='margin:0;text-align:justify;line-height:150%'><span lang=\"EN-US\" style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:\"Times New Roman\"'><span>\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<p class=\"MsoNormal\" style='margin:0;text-align:justify;line-height:150%'><span lang=\"EN-US\" style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:\"Times New Roman\"'>Well, it is this<br \/>\nidea, which has been taught in almost all religions, that <span class=\"GramE\">has<\/span><br \/>\nmade men atheistic, so much does it anger them \u2013 an anger of revolt: \u201cWhat! It<br \/>\nis not <span class=\"GramE\">I !\u201d<\/span> <\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"MsoNormal\" style='margin:0;text-align:justify;line-height:150%'><span lang=\"EN-US\" style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:\"Times New Roman\"'><span>\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 <\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"MsoNormal\" style='margin:0;text-align:justify;text-indent:.25in;line-height:150%'><span lang=\"EN-US\" style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:\"Times New Roman\"'>And this \u201cI\u201d, if<br \/>\nyou only knew how big it <span class=\"GramE\">is !<\/span> <span class=\"GramE\">how<\/span><br \/>\nit occupies the whole place&#8230; It is this which is the base of all materialism.<br \/>\n<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"MsoNormal\" style='margin:0;text-align:justify;line-height:150%'><span lang=\"EN-US\" style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:\"Times New Roman\"'>&nbsp;<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"MsoNormal\" style='margin:0;text-align:justify;line-height:150%'><i><span lang=\"EN-US\" style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:\"Times New Roman\"'>In silent meditation, should not one make oneself completely <span class=\"GramE\">empty ?<\/span> But, then, how can it depend on the one who <span class=\"GramE\">meditates ?<\/span> <\/span><\/i><\/p>\n<p class=\"MsoNormal\" style='margin:0;text-align:justify;line-height:150%'><span lang=\"EN-US\" style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:\"Times New Roman\"'><span>\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<p class=\"MsoNormal\" style='margin:0;text-align:justify;line-height:150%'><span lang=\"EN-US\" style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:\"Times New Roman\"'>I think there is <span class=\"GramE\">a confusion<\/span> between silence in the mind and the complete<br \/>\nemptiness in the being, they are two very different things. Besides, I don&#8217;t<br \/>\nsee very well how one can make oneself completely empty \u2013 one would not exist<br \/>\nany <span class=\"GramE\">longer !<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"MsoNormal\" align=\"center\" style='margin:0;text-align:center;line-height:150%'>\n<span lang=\"EN-US\" style='font-family:\"Times New Roman\"'>Page &#8211; 281<\/span><\/p>\n<div class=\"MsoPlainText\" align=\"center\" style='text-align:center'><span lang=\"EN-US\" style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:\"Times New Roman\"'><\/p>\n<hr size=\"2\" width=\"100%\" align=\"center\">\n<p><\/span><\/div>\n<p class=\"MsoNormal\" style='margin:0;text-align:justify;line-height:150%'><i><span lang=\"EN-US\" style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:\"Times New Roman\"'>\u201cTo make <span class=\"GramE\">yourself<\/span><br \/>\nblank in meditation creates an inner silence; it does not mean that you have<br \/>\nbecome nothing or have become a dead and inert mass. Making yourself an empty<br \/>\nvessel, you invite that which shall fill it. It means that you release the<br \/>\nstress of your inner consciousness towards <span class=\"SpellE\">realisation<\/span>.<br \/>\nThe nature of the consciousness and the degree of its stress determine the<br \/>\nforces that you bring into play and whether they shall help and <span class=\"SpellE\">fulfil<\/span> or fail or even harm and hinder.\u201d <\/span><\/i><\/p>\n<p class=\"MsoNormal\" align=\"right\" style='margin:0;text-align:right;line-height:150%'><i><span lang=\"EN-US\" style='font-family:\"Times New Roman\"'><font size=\"2\">Questions and Answers 1929 (23 June)<br \/>\n<\/font> <\/span><\/i><\/p>\n<p class=\"MsoNormal\" style='margin:0;text-align:justify;line-height:150%'><span lang=\"EN-US\" style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:\"Times New Roman\"'>&nbsp;<\/span><i><span lang=\"EN-US\" style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:\"Times New Roman\"'>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; What does \u201cthe degree of its stress\u201d <span class=\"GramE\">mean ?<\/span> <\/span><\/i><\/p>\n<p class=\"MsoNormal\" style='margin:0;text-align:justify;line-height:150%'><span lang=\"EN-US\" style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:\"Times New Roman\"'><span>\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<p class=\"MsoNormal\" style='margin:0;text-align:justify;line-height:150%'><span lang=\"EN-US\" style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:\"Times New Roman\"'>Aspiration and will<br \/>\nproduce a stress in the being. But I say \u201cdegree\u201d, for there is also the point<br \/>\nupon which the stress works. I say \u201cto make yourself blank\u201d is to release the<br \/>\nstress of your consciousness towards <span class=\"SpellE\">realisation<\/span>,<br \/>\ntowards the goal you want to <span class=\"SpellE\">realise<\/span>. The \u201cstress\u201d is<br \/>\nthe pressure upon a point, what is concentrated upon a point and insists that<br \/>\nit be done. Consciousness \u2013 the consciousness of the being, individual<br \/>\nconsciousness \u2013 puts a pressure upon a point, you see. We may take the example<br \/>\nwe were just speaking of: you have a chronic illness, a malformation of the<br \/>\nbody, a physical defect. Then your consciousness, in its aspiration and will<br \/>\nputs a more or less constant stress on the thing it wants to <span class=\"SpellE\">realise<\/span>, what you want to <span class=\"SpellE\">cure. Well<\/span>,<br \/>\nwhen you make yourself empty within in meditation (this is one form of<br \/>\nmeditation if you like), this means that you stop this concentration of will:<br \/>\nyour consciousness becomes neutral for the moment. Its stress is upon this<br \/>\npoint (it may be on other points, on things more or less concrete or abstract,<br \/>\nbut the stress is on one point) and when you make yourself empty you withdraw<br \/>\nthis pressure, this stress, and you remain like a blank page upon which nothing<br \/>\nis written. This is what I call \u201cmaking yourself empty\u201d, not to have any active<br \/>\nwill concentrated upon one <\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"MsoNormal\" align=\"center\" style='margin:0;text-align:center;line-height:150%'>\n<span lang=\"EN-US\" style='font-family:\"Times New Roman\"'>Page &#8211; 282<\/span><\/p>\n<div class=\"MsoPlainText\" align=\"center\" style='text-align:center'><span lang=\"EN-US\" style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:\"Times New Roman\"'><\/p>\n<hr size=\"2\" width=\"100%\" align=\"center\">\n<p><\/span><\/div>\n<p class=\"MsoNormal\" style='margin:0;text-align:justify;line-height:150%'><span class=\"GramE\"><span lang=\"EN-US\" style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:\"Times New Roman\"'>point<\/span><\/span><span lang=\"EN-US\" style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:\"Times New Roman\"'> or another. And<br \/>\nso I say the moment you make yourself empty, the stress in effect stops, and<br \/>\nyet in your silent aspiration you put yourself <span class=\"GramE\">in<span>\u00a0 <\/span>contact<\/span> with the forces attracted by<br \/>\nthis stress you usually have, the special point of stress you have normally.<br \/>\nThat is why I have <span class=\"SpellE\">emphasised<\/span> the fact that all<br \/>\ndepends upon the person, because everything depends upon his habitual<br \/>\naspiration, the thing he usually wants to <span class=\"SpellE\">realise<\/span>,<br \/>\nfor he is naturally in touch with the forces which will answer his aspiration.<br \/>\nSo, if for a certain time one stops the activity of this aspiration and remains<br \/>\nsilently receptive, passive, <span class=\"GramE\">well<\/span>, the effect of the<br \/>\nhabitual aspiration remains and will draw just those forces which ought to answer<br \/>\nit. <\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"MsoNormal\" style='margin:0;text-align:justify;line-height:150%'><span lang=\"EN-US\" style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:\"Times New Roman\"'>&nbsp;<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"MsoNormal\" style='margin:0;text-align:justify;line-height:150%'><i><span lang=\"EN-US\" style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:\"Times New Roman\"'>You have said that the world and the<br \/>\ndarkness were concomitant. What is the cause of this <span class=\"GramE\">concomitance<br \/>\n?<\/span> <\/span><\/i><\/p>\n<p class=\"MsoNormal\" style='margin:0;text-align:justify;line-height:150%'><span lang=\"EN-US\" style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:\"Times New Roman\"'><span>\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<p class=\"MsoNormal\" style='margin:0;text-align:justify;line-height:150%'><span lang=\"EN-US\" style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:\"Times New Roman\"'>The cause&#8230; is<br \/>\nthe light which has become the darkness and the consciousness which has become<br \/>\nthe <span class=\"SpellE\"><span class=\"GramE\">inconscience<\/span><\/span><span class=\"GramE\"> !<\/span> How to speak about these things? You may call this an<br \/>\naccident if you like, if that satisfies your mind. It was perhaps, after all,<br \/>\nthe best thing that could have happened, one can&#8217;t tell. All depends upon the<br \/>\npoint of view one takes. There must certainly be a consciousness in which this<br \/>\nwas foreseen, and if it has not been avoided, it means that it forms part of<br \/>\nthe <span class=\"SpellE\"><span class=\"GramE\">programme<\/span><\/span><span class=\"GramE\"> !<\/span>&#8230; It is a human way of looking at the problem, for<br \/>\nthings do not happen quite like that in those regions. One may also relate a story<br \/>\nwhich could make a subject, a magnificent drama, but it would be only a story,<br \/>\na way of saying things. <\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"MsoNormal\" style='margin:0;text-align:justify;text-indent:.25in;line-height:150%'><span lang=\"EN-US\" style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:\"Times New Roman\"'>A story is of<br \/>\nvalue only to the extent it can help you to understand things. <span class=\"GramE\">Ah !<\/span> Here is an interesting subject&#8230; A story, that is, a<br \/>\nway of saying things, is of value only if it can make you understand the thing.<br \/>\nA language (which is a kind of story) is of value only to the extent it is<br \/>\ncapable of putting you in contact with the Reality. Science is a language, Art<br \/>\nis a language \u2013 all activity is a sort of language, that is, a way of<br \/>\nexpression. <\/span><br \/>\n<span lang=\"EN-US\" style='font-family:\"Times New Roman\"'><br \/>\n&nbsp;<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"MsoNormal\" align=\"center\" style='margin:0;text-align:center;line-height:150%'>\n<span lang=\"EN-US\" style='font-family:\"Times New Roman\"'>Page &#8211; 283<\/span><\/p>\n<div class=\"MsoPlainText\" align=\"center\" style='text-align:center'><span lang=\"EN-US\" style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:\"Times New Roman\"'><\/p>\n<hr size=\"2\" width=\"100%\" align=\"center\">\n<p><\/span><\/div>\n<p class=\"MsoNormal\" style='margin:0;text-align:justify;line-height:150%'><span lang=\"EN-US\" style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:\"Times New Roman\"'>And the way of<br \/>\nexpression is of value only in as far as it puts you in contact with what it<br \/>\nwants to express. It is a very interesting <span class=\"SpellE\">generalisation<\/span>,<br \/>\nfor you can bring into it all the categories you want and you will see that it<br \/>\nis true.<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"MsoNormal\" style='margin:0;text-align:justify;text-indent:.25in;line-height:150%'><span lang=\"EN-US\" style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:\"Times New Roman\"'>It is the same for<br \/>\neverything. The way of approaching the universe and the universal truth is also<br \/>\na language and all depends upon the person who uses it, the person to whom the<br \/>\nunderstanding is to be communicated. Whatever may be the way of telling, if you<br \/>\nunderstand, that is all that is necessary. If you do not understand, even if it<br \/>\nbe the wonder of wonders, the truth of truths, it will have no value for you.<br \/>\nThis is an essentially pragmatic point of view of the universe; things have<br \/>\nvalue only in so far as they <span class=\"SpellE\">realise<\/span> that for which<br \/>\nthey have been made, and the most beautiful philosophies of the world are of no<br \/>\nuse to those who do not understand them. The most beautiful works of art in the<br \/>\nworld are quite useless to those whom they do not put on the path of the Truth.<br \/>\nAnd the most perfect yoga in the world is useless to those whom it does not<br \/>\nlead to the <span class=\"SpellE\">Realisation<\/span>. And if you have this sense<br \/>\nof relativity, you have finished with all dogmatism, all sectarianism, all that<br \/>\nkind of absolutism which leads one always to think that all that has done us <span class=\"GramE\">good<\/span> is \u201cthe truth\u201d \u2013 it is the truth for us, it is not<br \/>\nnecessarily the truth for our <span class=\"SpellE\">neighbour<\/span>. And what our<br \/>\n<span class=\"SpellE\">neighbour<\/span> thinks is the truth for him, and when you<br \/>\nsay, \u201cIt is idiotic, it is quite useless\u201d, if it helps him to <span class=\"SpellE\">realise<\/span> the truth, it is excellent, it is the best thing<br \/>\npossible for him. And everything, everything on earth is like that. And if you<br \/>\ndo not want to be altogether narrow, to put on visors and not see farther than<br \/>\nthe tip of your nose, you must first of all understand this. You must<br \/>\nunderstand that all things in the universe tend towards a goal and that it is<br \/>\nto the extent they help to <span class=\"SpellE\">realise<\/span> this goal that<br \/>\nthey have a value, and that this value is quite relative; and what is good for<br \/>\none may not be so for another, what is good at one moment may not be so at<br \/>\nanother and, consequently, every kind of dogmatism is an absurdity.&nbsp;<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"MsoNormal\" align=\"center\" style='margin:0;text-align:center;line-height:150%'>\n<span lang=\"EN-US\" style='font-family:\"Times New Roman\"'>Page &#8211; 284<\/span><\/p>\n<div class=\"MsoPlainText\" align=\"center\" style='text-align:center'><span lang=\"EN-US\" style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:\"Times New Roman\"'><\/p>\n<hr size=\"2\" width=\"100%\" align=\"center\">\n<p><\/span><\/div>\n<p class=\"MsoNormal\" style='margin:0;text-align:justify;text-indent:.25in;line-height:150%'><span lang=\"EN-US\">It<br \/>\nis very easy to say<span class=\"GramE\">, \u201d<\/span>That, that&#8217;s true, now I know<br \/>\nthat it is true and I shall not think otherwise\u201d; this is very easy, and in<br \/>\nfact something has suddenly put you in touch with a light, you have had an<br \/>\nexperience, you have become conscious of yourself, conscious of something which<br \/>\ntranscends you and is the reality of your being, so for you it is perfect. But<br \/>\ndo not imagine that you must go from door to door, from city to city, country<br \/>\nto country, telling people, \u201cI proclaim the Truth\u201d, because what is true for<br \/>\nyou may not be at all good for another. What you have seen has its truth in<br \/>\nitself \u2013 everything has its truth in itself \u2013 but the true <i>raison d&#8217;<\/i><\/span><i><span lang=\"EN-US\">\u00ea<\/span><\/i><i><span lang=\"EN-US\">tre<\/span><\/i><span lang=\"EN-US\"> of this truth is that it has helped you to find<br \/>\nyourself, to find the truth of your being, and it may quite possibly not help<br \/>\nyour <span class=\"SpellE\">neighbour<\/span>, unless you have a considerable power<br \/>\nof persuasion and oblige him to see things as you have seen them yourself, but<br \/>\nthis is not tremendously valuable. <\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"MsoNormal\" style='margin:0;text-align:justify;text-indent:.25in;line-height:150%'><span lang=\"EN-US\" style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:\"Times New Roman\"'>When you have<br \/>\nunderstood this, you will no longer say, \u201cWhy is there such a diversity in the<br \/>\nworld, why all this multiplicity, why all this confusion, why<span class=\"GramE\">&#8230;<br \/>\n?\u201d<\/span> It is <span class=\"GramE\">a confusion<\/span> simply because you don&#8217;t<br \/>\nunderstand and things are not in their place. If things were in their place,<br \/>\nthere would be no confusion. And we come to this, that you cannot take away one<br \/>\natom from this world without dislocating the universe. All that is, was<br \/>\nnecessary \u2013 if it had not been necessary, it would not have been. The whole<br \/>\ntotality of things is indispensable for <span class=\"SpellE\">realising<\/span> the<br \/>\nDivine. If you took away one of these things, there would be a hole in the <span class=\"SpellE\">realisation<\/span>. And I am not speaking only of material things,<br \/>\nmaterial points, I am speaking of all the depths. So when you say as many do,<br \/>\n\u201cAh! If that were not there in the world, how fine the world would be\u201d, you are<br \/>\ndisplaying your ignorance. <\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"MsoNormal\" style='margin:0;text-align:justify;text-indent:.25in;line-height:150%'><span lang=\"EN-US\" style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:\"Times New Roman\"'>I met in Japan one<br \/>\nof the sons of Tolstoy; he was going round the world preaching human unity. He<br \/>\nhad caught this from his father and was going everywhere in the world preaching<br \/>\nhuman unity. I met him at some friends&#8217; place and asked him, \u201cHow are you going<br \/>\nto <span class=\"SpellE\">realise<\/span> this human unity?\u201d Do you<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"MsoNormal\" align=\"center\" style='margin:0;text-align:center;line-height:150%'>\n<span lang=\"EN-US\" style='font-family:\"Times New Roman\"'>Page &#8211; 285<\/span><\/p>\n<div class=\"MsoPlainText\" align=\"center\" style='text-align:center'><span lang=\"EN-US\" style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:\"Times New Roman\";color:blue'><\/p>\n<hr size=\"2\" width=\"100%\" align=\"center\">\n<p><\/span><\/div>\n<p class=\"MsoNormal\" style='margin:0;text-align:justify;line-height:150%'><span lang=\"EN-US\" style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:\"Times New Roman\"'><span>\u00a0<\/span><span class=\"GramE\">know<\/span> what reply he<br \/>\ngave me ? \u201c<span class=\"GramE\">Oh !<\/span> It is very simple if everybody spoke<br \/>\nthe same language, if everybody dressed in the same way, if everybody lived in<br \/>\nthe same fashion, the whole world would be <span class=\"GramE\">united !\u201d<\/span><br \/>\nThen I told him, \u201cThat would be a poor world not worth living in.\u201d He did not<br \/>\nunderstand <span class=\"GramE\">me !<\/span> <\/span><br \/>\n<span lang=\"EN-US\"><br \/>\n<font size=\"3\">&nbsp;<\/font><\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"MsoNormal\" align=\"center\" style='margin:0;text-align:center;line-height:150%'>\n<span lang=\"EN-US\"><br \/>\n<font size=\"3\">Page &#8211; 286<\/font><\/span><span lang=\"EN-US\" style='color:blue'><\/span><\/p>\n<div class=\"MsoNormal\" align=\"center\" style='text-align:center'><span lang=\"EN-US\" style='color:blue'><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/table>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>5 April 1951 &nbsp;&nbsp; \u201cEverything here is followed by the supermind; the mind movements and not less the vital, the material movements, all the play&#8230;<\/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-4408","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\/4408","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=4408"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/worksofthemotherandsriaurobindo.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4408\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/worksofthemotherandsriaurobindo.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4408"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/worksofthemotherandsriaurobindo.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4408"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/worksofthemotherandsriaurobindo.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4408"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}