{"id":4416,"date":"2013-07-13T01:55:50","date_gmt":"2013-07-13T01:55:50","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/localhost\/?p=4416"},"modified":"2013-07-13T01:55:50","modified_gmt":"2013-07-13T01:55:50","slug":"36-06-october-vol-06-questions-and-answers-volume-06","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/worksofthemotherandsriaurobindo.org\/index.php\/02-works-of-the-mother\/01-cwmce\/06-questions-and-answers-volume-06\/36-06-october-vol-06-questions-and-answers-volume-06","title":{"rendered":"-36_06 October.htm"},"content":{"rendered":"\n\n
\n


\n6 October 1954<\/font><\/span><\/b>
\n<\/font> <\/span><\/b><\/p>\n

 <\/span><\/p>\n

This talk is based
\nupon Sri Aurobindo’s Bases of Yoga, Chapter 1, <\/font> <\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cCalm \u2013 Peace \u2013
\nEquality\u201d. <\/font> <\/span><\/p>\n

\n <\/font><\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cAbsolute faith \u2013 faith that what is for the best will happen, but also
\nthat if one can make oneself a true instrument, the fruit will be that which
\none’s will guided by the Divine Light sees as the thing to be done \u2013 kartavyam
\nkarma.\u201d <\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

 <\/span><\/p>\n

\u2013 Faith that always what is for the best
\nhappens. We may for the moment not consider it as the best because we are
\nignorant and also blind, because we do not see the consequences of things and
\nwhat will happen later. But we must keep the faith that if it is like that, if
\nwe rely on the Divine, if we give Him the full charge of ourselves, if we let
\nHim decide everything for us, well, we must know that it is always what is best
\nfor us which happen. This is an absolute fact. To the extent to which you
\nsurrender, the best happen to you. This may not be in conformity with what you
\nwould like, your preference or desire, because these things are blind: it is
\nthe best from the spiritual point of view, the best for your progress, your
\ndevelopment, your spiritual growth, your true life. It is always that. And you
\nmust keep this faith, because faith is the expression of a trust in the Divine
\nand the full self-giving you make to the Divine. And when you make it, it is
\nsomething absolutely marvellous. That’s a fact, these are not just words, you
\nunderstand, it is a fact. When you look back, all kinds of things which you did
\nnot understand when they happened to you, you realise as just the thing which
\nwas necessary in order to compel you to make the needed progress. Always,
\nwithout exception. It is our blindness which prevents us from seeing it.
\n <\/span><\/p>\n

\nPage – 349<\/font><\/span><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n
\n

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

Is blaming oneself a good method of progressing? <\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

 <\/span><\/p>\n

Blaming oneself? No, not necessarily. It
\nmay be useful, it is indeed useful from time to time in order to get out of the
\nillusion of one’s own perfection. But one wastes much energy in self-criticism.
\nIt is much better to use this same energy in making progress, a concrete
\nprogress, something more useful. For example, if you have thoughts which are
\nunpleasant, ugly, vulgar and disturbing, and you say, \u201cAh, ah, how intolerable
\nI am, I still have such thoughts, what a nuisance it is!\u201d, it would be much
\nbetter to use this very energy simply to do this (gesture<\/i>)\u00a0\u00a0 <\/span>and drive away the
\nthoughts. <\/span><\/p>\n

And this is only the first step. The
\nsecond is to try to have other thoughts, to take interest in something else:
\neither read or reflect, but in any case try to fill your mind with something
\nmore interesting, to use your energy in constructing rather than in destroying.
\n<\/span><\/p>\n

It is of course necessary from time to
\ntime to recognise one’s faults; it is altogether indispensable. But to dwell
\ntoo much upon them is not necessary. What is necessary is to use all one’s
\nenergy in order to build up the qualities one wants to have and do what one
\nwants to do. This is much more important. <\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cAt present your experiences are on the mental plane….\u201d <\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

 <\/span><\/p>\n

This is in reply to someone, I don’t know
\nto whom. Someone who wrote a letter and to whom Sri Aurobindo has replied: \u201cAt
\npresent your experiences are on the mental plane.\u201d I don’t know what letter it
\nwas nor this person. <\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/span><\/p>\n

But what does \u201conly on the mental plane\u201d means? <\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

 <\/span><\/p>\n

What does it mean? Well, these are
\nexperiences concerning thought, mental activity, the understanding of things,
\nthe observation <\/span><\/p>\n

\nPage – 350<\/font><\/span><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n
\n

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

of things, thought, deduction,
\nreasoning, the contact with teaching, knowledge, the result of this knowledge
\non your understanding \u2013 all these things which are purely mental. And in fact
\none should always begin with that. <\/span><\/p>\n

If one has vital experiences \u2013 for
\nexample, visions \u2013 certain vital experiences without having a sufficient mental
\npreparation, this may result in destroying one’s balance and, in any case, one
\nunderstands nothing of what is happening and it is practically useless, if not
\nharmful. On the other hand, if to begin with, one has developed his
\nunderstanding, has studied, has understood and knows the reasons for things,
\nand the goal of yoga, for instance, and if one has studied the methods of
\nattaining it \u2013 indeed, the whole mental approach to the subject \u2013 then, when an
\nexperience comes one has a chance of being able to understand what it is;
\notherwise one understands nothing. A sufficient mental preparation is needed \u2013
\nif not a complete one at least a sufficient one \u2013 to be able to understand a
\nlittle the experiences which come. <\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/span><\/p>\n

On what do experiences depend, Mother? <\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

 <\/span><\/p>\n

Ah, it depends on many things… Some
\npeople have experiences quite spontaneously and it is understood that this
\ndepends on their former lives or the way in which they were formed, the forces
\nwhich presided over the constructions of their present physical being, and the
\ninfluence they came under even before their birth. These people have
\nexperiences spontaneously. There are not many of these, but there are some.
\nThere are others for whom it is the result of a very sustained effort. They
\naspire to have experiences and impose a discipline upon themselves or adopt a
\ndiscipline so as to be able to have them. Sometimes it takes very long to
\nobtain something. It depends altogether upon the way one is built. I knew
\npeople who were ignorant, yes, and who had quite remarkable experiences of
\nclairvoyance, of inner perception. They understood nothing of what was
\nhappening to
\n <\/span><\/p>\n

\nPage – 351<\/font><\/span><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n
\n

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

them or of what they saw. But they had the
\ngift. <\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/span><\/p>\n

But then this has no effect on their outer life, has it? <\/span><\/i>
\n
\n <\/span><\/p>\n

No.
\n <\/span><\/p>\n

Then what’s the use of having experiences? <\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

 <\/span><\/p>\n

It is not a questions of \u201cuse\u201d. Not
\neverything in the world is utilitarian. It’s like that because it’s like that.
\nYes, you can say \u201cwhat’s the use\u201d to someone who is exclusively preoccupied with
\nhaving experiences, who has no inner intellectual and spiritual preparation,
\nand who through some sort of fantasy would like to have experiences. You could
\nsay to him, \u201cYes, what’s the use? It is not this that will lead you to the
\nspiritual life. It can help you if you have taken up the path. And if you have
\ntaken up the path in all sincerity, well, they will come to the extent that
\nthey are useful. But to seek experience for experience’s sake is altogether
\nuseless.\u201d And you can tell people, \u201cWhat’s the good? It is a fantasy, a fantasy
\non another plane; it is another kind of desire, but it is a desire.\u201d <\/span><\/p>\n

However, in the normal course, to the
\ndegree that you progress inwardly, every step that you take towards the true
\nconsciousness is accompanied by a certain number of experiences corresponding
\nto it which allow you to understand the situation you are in: this of course is
\nnormal. It ought to be like that. <\/span><\/p>\n

But these usually are not such sensational
\nexperiences as to be made much of. People often have all of a sudden an
\nillumination of consciousness, an inner indication, an unusual perception. But
\nwhen they are not turned exclusively towards the desire to have experiences,
\nthey don’t attach much importance to it. Sometimes they don’t even attach
\nenough importance. The indication came, showed them something, but they were
\nnot even aware of it. Yet it is not these things which give you the impression
\nthat you are living in a wonderful world. These
\n <\/span><\/p>\n

\nPage – 352<\/font><\/span><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n
\n

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

things are quite normal. Suddenly an
\nopening in the mind, a light that comes, one understands something which he did
\nnot before. You take that for a very natural phenomenon. But it is a spiritual
\nexperience \u2013 or the clear seeing of a situation, the understanding of what is
\nhappening in oneself, of the state one is in, the indication of the exact
\nprogress one ought to make, of the thing that’s to be corrected. This too is an
\nexperience and an experience that comes from within; it is an indication given
\nto you by the psychic. People take this also as quite a natural fact. They do
\nnot attach any importance to it. <\/span><\/p>\n

Usually people mean by \u201cexperience\u201d either
\naltogether extravagant phenomena, levitation and things like that, or else
\nsensational visions: being able to see the future or seeing at a distance or
\nmaybe ordinary things like being able to tell where a lost object can be found
\nor all kinds of little tricks like that. This is what people call
\n\u201cexperiences\u201d. <\/span><\/p>\n

Well, usually people who have these
\nfaculties are not well educated, but for some reason they are born with a gift,
\nas some are born musicians, others painters, and others scientists. These are
\nborn clairvoyants, and so it may be, when they are in need they use this
\nfaculty to earn their living, and they spoil it completely. If they happen to
\nbe in comfortable circumstances and do not need to earn their living, then they
\nbecome famous among their friends. In any case, this is always an opportunity
\nfor a certain kind of commercialism. There are very few who can have these
\ngifts without using them either to make a name for themselves or to earn money.
\nBut these gifts are not of a very high level. One can have them without having
\na very spiritual life. They do not depend at all on an inner spiritual height.
\nOne should not mistake them for signs of progress. <\/span><\/p>\n

Besides, one thing is certain: those who
\ndo not have these faculties and want to acquire them, for instance the capacity
\nof foresight, foreseeing what is going to come, which is analogous to prophecy,
\nthe capacity to know events before they happen \u2013 as I said, there are people
\nwho have this spontaneously because
\n <\/span><\/p>\n

\nPage – 353<\/font><\/span><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n
\n

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

of some peculiarity from birth \u2013 and if
\none wants to acquire them himself, that is to say, enter into contact with
\nregions where these things can be seen \u2013 and not by chance or accidentally or
\nwithout having any control over the thing, but on the contrary to see them at
\nwill \u2013 then this indeed means a formidable work. And that is why some people
\nattach a very great value to these things. But they have some value only when
\nthey are under one’s control, done at will and the result of an inner
\ndiscipline. In this case, yes, because this proves that you have entered into
\ncontact with a certain region where it is difficult to enter consciously, at
\nwill, and permanently. It is very difficult, it requires much development. And
\nthen, for you to be sure of what you have seen…\u00a0\u00a0 <\/span>because I haven’t told you that with these
\npeople who make a profession of their clairvoyance, it becomes… I said
\n\u201ccommercialism\u201d, but it is worse than that, you know, it is a fraud! When they
\ndo not see anything, they invent. When they make a profession of it, and people
\ncome to ask them something about the future, and they can see nothing at all,
\nthey are obliged to invent something, otherwise they would lose their
\nreputation and their clientele. So this becomes a deception, you see, a
\nfalsehood, fraud or falsification. <\/span><\/p>\n

But when one wants to have a pure, correct
\ninformation, to be in contact with the truth of things, and see in advance \u2013
\nnot according to one’s petty mental constructions, but how things are decreed,
\nin the place where they are decreed and the time when they are decreed \u2013 then
\nthat requires a [it very great] mental purity, a very great<\/i> vital equilibrium, an absence of desire, of preference.
\nOne must never want anything to be of one kind or another, for this falsifies
\nyour vision immediately. <\/span><\/p>\n

All who have visions usually deform them,
\nall, almost without exception. I don’t think there is one in a million who
\ndoesn’t deform his vision, because the minute it touches the brain it touches
\nthe domain of preferences, desires, attachments, and this indeed is enough to
\ngive a colouring, a special look to what you have seen. Even if you have seen
\ncorrectly, you translate
\n <\/span><\/p>\n

\nPage – 354<\/font><\/span><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n
\n

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

it wrongly in your consciousness. This
\ntruly asks for a great perfection. But you can have perfection without the gift
\nof vision. And the perfection can be as great without the gift as with it. If
\nit interests you specially, you can make an effort to obtain it. But only if it
\ninterests you specially. If you lay great store by knowing certain things, you
\ncan undertake a discipline; you may undertake a discipline also in order to
\nchange the functioning of your sees. I think I have already explained to you
\nhow one can hear at a distance, see at a distance, even physically; but this
\nmeans considerable effort, which perhaps is not always in proportion to the
\nresult, because these are side issues, not the central, the most important
\nthing. These are side issues which may be interesting, but in itself this is
\nnot the spiritual life; one may have a spiritual life without this. Now, the
\ntwo together can give you perhaps a greater capacity. But for this too you must
\ntell yourself, \u201cIf I ought to have it \u2013 if I take the true attitude of
\nsurrender to the Divine and of complete consecration \u2013 if I ought to have it I
\nshall have it. As, if I ought to have the gift of speech, I shall have it.\u201d And
\nin fact, if one is truly surrendered, in the true way and totally, at every
\nminute one is what he ought to be and does what he ought to do and knows what
\nhe ought to know. This… but naturally, for this one should have overcome the
\npetty limitations of the ego, and this does not happen overnight. But it can
\nhappen. <\/span><\/p>\n

Another question? <\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/span><\/p>\n

Sweet Mother, what is the \u201cvital desire-soul\u201d? <\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

 <\/span><\/p>\n

My child, the vital soul is what animates
\nthe body, the life which animates the body. You see, in ordinary language it is
\nsaid, \u201cYou die when your soul leaves your body\u201d or \u201cYour soul leaves your body
\nwhen you die\u201d, in one way or the other; but it is not the soul, it is not only
\nthis soul \u2013 what we call soul, I mean the psychic being \u2013 it is the vital
\nbeing. When the vital being leaves the body for whatever reason, the body dies
\nor death cuts off
\n <\/span><\/p>\n

\nPage – 355<\/font><\/span><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n
\n

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

the vital being from the body…\u00a0 <\/span>So it is in the see of animating, that is,
\ngiving life. <\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/span><\/p>\n

Is this the \u201cvital desire-soul\u201d, Sweet Mother? <\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

 <\/span><\/p>\n

Yes, the vital soul is full of desires.
\nThe vital being is full of desires. It is built of desires. <\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/span><\/p>\n

Sweet Mother, here it is written: \u201cA spiritual atmosphere is more
\nimportant than outer conditions; if one can get that and also create one’s own
\nspiritual air to breathe in and live in it, that is the true condition of
\nprogress.\u201d How can one get that and also create one’s true spiritual
\natmosphere? <\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

 <\/span><\/p>\n

Get what? This \u2013 it is by… precisely by
\ninner discipline; you can create your atmosphere by controlling your thoughts,
\nturning them exclusively towards the sadhana, controlling your actions, turning
\nthem exclusively towards the sadhana, abolishing all desires and all useless,
\nexternal, ordinary activities, living a more intense inner life, and separating
\nyourself from ordinary things, ordinary thoughts, ordinary reactions, ordinary
\nactions; then you create a kind of atmosphere around you. <\/span><\/p>\n

For example, instead of reading any odd
\nthing and chatting and doing anything whatever, if you read only what helps you
\nto follow the path, if you act only in conformity with what can lead you to the
\ndivine realisation, if you abolish in yourself all desires and impulses turned
\ntowards external things, if you calm your mental being, appease your vital
\nbeing, if you shut yourself against suggestions coming from outside and become
\nimmune to the action of people surrounding you, you create such a spiritual
\natmosphere that nothing can touch it, and it no longer depends at all on
\ncircumstances or on whom you live with or on the conditions you live in,
\nbecause you are enclosed in your own spiritual atmosphere. And that is how one
\nobtains it:
\n <\/span><\/p>\n

\nPage – 356<\/font><\/span><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n
\n

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

by turning\u00a0
\n<\/span>one’s attention solely to the spiritual life, by reading only what can help
\nin the spiritual life, by doing only what leads you to the spiritual life, and
\nso on. Then you create your own atmosphere. But naturally, if you open all the
\ndoors, listen to what people tell you, follow the advice of this one and the
\ninspirations of that one, and are full of desires for outside things, you
\ncannot create a spiritual atmosphere for yourself. You will have an ordinary
\natmosphere like everybody else. <\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/span><\/p>\n

Sweet Mother, here it is written: \u201cDo not be troubled by your
\nsurroundings and their opposition. These conditions are often imposed at first
\nas a kind of ordeal.\u201d Imposed by the Divine? <\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

 <\/span><\/p>\n

He has not put it that way, has he? You
\nmust take it in the way it helps you most. This is a very difficult question. <\/span><\/p>\n

Oh, I have already explained to you very
\noften that when you live in an ordinary consciousness, and to the extent you
\nremain on a certain plane which is a combination of the most material mind,
\nvital, physical, that is, the ordinary plane of life, you are subject to the
\ndeterminism of this plane and it is this subjection to the determinism of this
\nplane which puts you exactly in these conditions, for you have deep within you
\nsomething which aspires for another life but doesn’t yet know how to live that
\nother life, and which pushes from inside in order to get the conditions
\nnecessary for this other life. These are inner conditions, they are not outer
\nconditions. But this takes its support on outside obstacles in order to
\nstrengthen itself in its will to progress; and so, if you look at it from
\nwithin, you can even say that it is you yourself who create the difficulties to
\nhelp you to go forward. <\/span><\/p>\n

Now, if you enter another plane and tell
\nyourself (but this is a thing subject to many explanations and discussions), if
\nyou say that there is nothing in the universe that is not the work of the
\nDivine, which is essentially true, though not true here, then
\n <\/span><\/p>\n

\nPage – 357<\/font><\/span><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n
\n

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

you say, \u201cGood. It is the Divine who
\norganises everything; consequently it is He who has organised the difficulties
\nalso.\u201d But this is indeed a very childish way of putting things \u2013 oversimple.
\nOnly, as I said at the beginning, \u201cIf it helps you to think in this way, think
\nin this way.\u201d You see, thought is so approximate a thing, it is so far from the
\ntruth…\u00a0\u00a0 <\/span>it is only a kind of vague,
\nincomplete, confused reflection, full of falsehood, even at its best. So, in
\ntruth, it is the moment to be practical and tell yourself, \u201cWell, I shall adopt
\nthis thought if it helps me to progress.\u201d But if you think that it is the absolute
\ntruth, you are sure to go wrong, for there is not a single thought which is the
\nabsolute truth. <\/span><\/p>\n

Ah, yes, we are going to put into the
\nbooks of the lending library of the University one of Sri Aurobindo’s short
\nreflections, which is wonderful \u2013 I had it printed today \u2013 in which he says
\nthat any teaching, however great it may be, however pure, noble, true it may
\nbe, is only one aspect of the Truth and not the Truth itself (I am commenting,
\nthe text\u00b9 is not exactly this), it is not the entire Truth. Well, that is it.
\nWhatever your thought may be, even if it is very high, very pure, very noble,
\nvery true, it is only a very tiny microscopic aspect of the Truth, and
\nconsequently it is not entirely true. So in that field one must be practical,
\nas I said, adopt the thought for the time being, the one which will help you to
\nmake progress when you have it. Sometimes it comes as an illumination and this
\nhelps you to progress. So long as it helps you to make progress, keep it; when
\nit begins to crumble, not to act any longer, well, drop it, and try to get
\nanother which will lead you a little farther. <\/span><\/p>\n

Many miseries and misfortunes in the world
\nwould disappear if people knew the relativity of knowledge, the relativity of
\nfaith, the relativity of the teachings and also the relativity of
\ncircumstances… to what extent a thing is so relatively important! For the
\nmoment it may be capital, it may lead you to life or to death \u2013 I am not
\nspeaking of physical life and death, I <\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/span><\/p>\n

\u00b9 \u201cBut thought nor
\nword can seize eternal truth.\u201d\u00a0 <\/span>\u2013 Sri
\nAurobindo<\/font><\/span> <\/span><\/p>\n

\nPage – 358<\/font><\/span><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n
\n

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

am speaking of the life and death of the
\nspirit \u2013 but this is for the moment; and when you have made a certain progress,
\nwhen you have grown a few years older from the spiritual point of view, and you
\nlook back on this thing, this circumstance or idea which perhaps has decided
\nyour life, it will seem so relative, so insignificant to you…\u00a0\u00a0 <\/span>and you will need something much higher to
\nmake new progress. <\/span><\/p>\n

If one could always remember this, well,
\none would avoid much sectarianism, much intolerance, and annul all quarrels
\nimmediately, because a quarrel means just this, that one thinks in one way and
\nthe other in another, that one has taken one attitude and the other another,
\nand that instead of trying to bring them together and find out how they could be
\nharmonised, one puts them over against each other as one fights with one’s
\nfists. It is nothing else. <\/span><\/p>\n

But if you become aware of the complete
\nrelativity of your point of view, your thought, your conviction of what is
\ngood, to what an extent it is relative in the march of the universe, then you
\nwill be less violent in your reactions and more tolerant. Here we are.
\n <\/span><\/p>\n

\nPage – 359<\/font><\/span><\/p>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/table>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

6 October 1954   This talk is based upon Sri Aurobindo’s Bases of Yoga, Chapter 1, \u201cCalm \u2013 Peace \u2013 Equality\u201d.   \u201cAbsolute faith \u2013…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[125],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-4416","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-06-questions-and-answers-volume-06","wpcat-125-id"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/worksofthemotherandsriaurobindo.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4416","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=4416"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/worksofthemotherandsriaurobindo.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4416\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/worksofthemotherandsriaurobindo.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4416"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/worksofthemotherandsriaurobindo.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4416"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/worksofthemotherandsriaurobindo.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4416"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}