{"id":4417,"date":"2013-07-13T01:55:51","date_gmt":"2013-07-13T01:55:51","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/localhost\/?p=4417"},"modified":"2013-07-13T01:55:51","modified_gmt":"2013-07-13T01:55:51","slug":"42-24-november-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\/42-24-november-vol-06-questions-and-answers-volume-06","title":{"rendered":"-42_24 November.htm"},"content":{"rendered":"\n\n
\n


\n24
\n November 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 2, <\/font> <\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cFaith \u2013 Aspiration
\n\u2013 Surrender\u201d. <\/font> <\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cTo keep the psychic awake and in front\u201d: what does \u201cin front\u201d mean,
\nSweet Mother? <\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

 <\/span><\/p>\n

That is to say, in the forefront of the
\nconsciousness, instead of being pushed behind, in a background which is only
\nvery rarely seen; to keep it right in front of the consciousness, in the active
\nconsciousness. In any case, you must want it and try to do it. <\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cDesire…\u00a0\u00a0 <\/span>leads to pulling down
\nthe force\u201d: what does this mean? <\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

 <\/span><\/p>\n

You see, one has an aspiration for Light,
\nfor Knowledge, for all kinds of things. Now, if a desire is mixed with your
\naspiration, instead of simply aspiring and awaiting the answer, you begin to
\npull, as one draws things when one desires them \u2013 you draw them to yourself. So
\ninstead of waiting for the Force and Light and Consciousness and Truth to
\nanswer your aspiration, you pull them down like that, towards yourself with a
\nvery egoistical movement, as though you were pulling a rope or something, and
\nso anything at all can come in answer. Instead of its being, for example, a
\ntrue light, it can be a false light which takes brilliant appearances to
\ndeceive you; instead of its being a true force, it can be an adverse force of
\nthe vital which wants to take possession of you. It means that when one has an
\naspiration, it is better that no desires get mixed up in it, because desires
\nalways spoil everything. <\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/span><\/p>\n

What does \u201cinner tapasya\u201d mean, exactly? <\/span><\/i>
\n
\n <\/span><\/p>\n

\nPage – 409<\/font><\/span><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n
\n

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

Inner tapasya? It means the tapasya for
\nthe character, and for changing the psychological movements of the being,
\nprecisely to conquer the desires, conquer the passions, overcome egoism, get
\nrid of fears. This is the inner tapasya.<\/span><\/p>\n

Outer tapasya is all the ascetic or
\nhathayogic methods; to make use of physical means for one’s yoga is an outer
\ntapasya But inner tapasya consists of attending to one’s character and trying
\nto change it. <\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/span><\/p>\n

Sweet Mother, what is the difference between willing and desiring? <\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

 <\/span><\/p>\n

They are not at all the same thing. When
\nyou see that something ought to be done, for instance, that it is good to do it
\n\u2013 take your reason: say your reason decides that this ought to be done \u2013 then
\nyour will starts working and makes you do the things required for this thing to
\nbe done. Your will is an executing power, which ought to be at the disposal,
\nthe service of what was decided by the reason or a higher force. It is
\nsomething coordinated, organised, which acts in accordance with a plan,
\nprecisely in a fully controlled way. <\/span><\/p>\n

Desire is an impulse. It takes hold of
\nyou…\u00a0 <\/span>it doesn’t necessarily hold you
\nwith any conscious thought. It is an impulse which pushes you to get possession
\nof something. You can put your will at the service of your desire, but desire
\nis not will. Desire is an impulse. There are people who are full of desires and
\nwho have no will. So they simply are eaten up, as we say, by their desires; but
\nthis leads to nothing, because they don’t even have the will to realise them.
\nMost people always put the little bit of will that’s at their disposal at the
\nservice of their desires. But will is a force with a power of organisation and
\nit can be put at the service of any purpose whatever. It is something that,
\nwhen one has will-power, one has […]\u00b9 to a definite purpose. This is will.<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/span><\/p>\n

\n\u00b9 <\/font> <\/span>Words missing in transcript.<\/font> <\/font><\/span><\/p>\n

\nPage – 410<\/font><\/span><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n
\n

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

You must not mistake desire for will.
\nDesire is an impulse: it seizes you, you know, it clings to you, holds you. And
\nthen, if you let desire do what it likes, well, it makes you do anything at
\nall, and it makes use of your will. But usually, a desire is something violent,
\npassionate and transient. Rarely is it very sustained; it does not have the
\nstuff, the organisation of a sustained effort. When a desire seizes you, it can
\nmake you do anything whatever \u2013 but impulsively, not methodically. <\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/span><\/p>\n

Sweet Mother, why do some children have the habit of always asking for
\nthings? <\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

 <\/span><\/p>\n

What things? <\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/span><\/p>\n

Material things, like sweets, everything they see…\u00a0\u00a0 <\/span><\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

 <\/span><\/p>\n

Oh, because they are full of desires. They
\nwere probably formed with vibrations of desires, and as they have no control
\nover themselves it is expressed freely. Older people are also full of desires,
\nbut usually they have a kind of… how do we call it?… they are a little shy
\nof showing their desires or they feel a bit ashamed or perhaps are afraid they
\nwill be laughed at; so they don’t show them. Well, they too are full of
\ndesires. Only children are more simple. When they want something they say so.
\nThey don’t tell themselves that perhaps it would be wiser not to show this,
\nbecause they don’t yet have this kind of reasoning. But I think, generally
\nspeaking, with very few exceptions, that people live in perpetual desires.
\nOnly, they don’t express them, and sometimes they are ashamed also to
\nacknowledge it to themselves. But it is there, this need of having
\nsomething…\u00a0\u00a0 <\/span>you know, one sees
\nsomething pretty, it is immediately translated into a desire for possession;
\nand this is one of the things…\u00a0\u00a0 <\/span>it is
\nabsolutely childish. It is childish and indeed it is ridiculous, because at
\nleast ninety times out of a hundred, when the one who had a desire for
\nsomething possesses it, he doesn’t even
\n <\/span><\/p>\n

\nPage – 411<\/font><\/span><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n
\n

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

look at it any longer. It is very rarely
\nthat this thing continues to interest him once he has it, whatever the nature
\nof the object. <\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/span><\/p>\n

Sweet Mother, how can we help a child to come out of this habit of
\nalways asking? <\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

 <\/span><\/p>\n

There are many ways. But first of all you
\nmust know whether you will not just stop him from freely expressing what he
\nthinks and feels. Because this is what people usually do. They scold, even
\nsometimes punish him; and so the child forms the habit of concealing his
\ndesires. But he is not cured of them. And you see, if he is always told, \u201cNo,
\nyou won’t have that\u201d, then, simply, this state of mind gets settled in him:
\n\u201cAh, when you are small, people don’t give you anything! You must wait till you
\nare big. When I am big I shall have all that I want.\u201d That’s how it is. But
\nthis does not cure them. It is very difficult to bring up a child. There is a
\nway which consists in giving him all he wants; and naturally, the next minute
\nhe will want something else, because that’s the law, the law of desire: never
\nto be satisfied. And so, if he is intelligent, one can tell him, \u201cBut you see,
\nyou insisted so much on having this and now you no longer care for it. You want
\nsomething else.\u201d Yet if he was very clever he would answer, \u201cWell, the best way
\nof curing me is to give me what I ask for.\u201d <\/span><\/p>\n

Some people cherish this idea all their
\nlife. When they are told that they should overcome their desires, they say,
\n\u201cThe easiest way is to satisfy them.\u201d This kind of logic seems impeccable. But
\nthe fact is that it is not the object desired that has to be changed, it is the
\nimpulse of desire, the movement of desire. And for this a great deal of
\nknowledge is needed, and this is difficult for a very young child. <\/span><\/p>\n

It is difficult. Indeed, they don’t have
\nthe capacity for reasoning; one can’t explain things to them, because they
\ndon’t understand the reasons. So you see, when it is like that the parents
\nusually tell the child, \u201cKeep quiet, you are a nuisance!\u201d
\n <\/span><\/p>\n

\nPage – 412<\/font><\/span><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n
\n

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

In this way they get out of the
\ndifficulty. But this is no solution. It is very difficult. It asks for a
\nsustained effort and an unshakable patience. Some people are like that all
\ntheir life; they are like babies throughout their existence and it is
\nimpossible to make them see reason. As soon as one tells them that they are not
\nreasonable and that one can’t all the time be giving them things to satisfy
\ntheir desires, they simply think, \u201cThese people are unpleasant. This person is
\nnot nice.\u201d That’s all. <\/span><\/p>\n

In fact, perhaps one should begin by
\nshifting the movement to things which it is better to have from the true point
\nof view, and which it is more difficult to obtain. If one could turn this
\nimpulsion of desire towards a…\u00a0\u00a0 <\/span>For
\nexample, when a child is full of desires, if one could give him a desire of a
\nhigher kind \u2013 instead of its being a desire for purely material objects, you
\nunderstand, an altogether transitory satisfaction \u2013 if one could awaken in him
\nthe desire to know, the desire to learn, the desire to become a remarkable
\nperson…\u00a0 <\/span>in this way, begin with that.
\nAs these things are difficult to do, so, gradually, he will develop his will
\nfor these things. Or even, from the material point of view, the desire to do
\nsomething difficult, as for example, construct a toy which is difficult to make
\n\u2013 or give him a game of patience which requires a great deal of perseverance. <\/span><\/p>\n

If one can orient them \u2013 it requires much
\ndiscernment, much patience, but it can be done\u00a0
\n<\/span>and if one can orient them towards something like this, to succeed in
\nvery difficult games or to work out something which requires much care and
\nattention, and can push them in some line like this so that it exercises a
\npersevering will in them, then this can have results: turn their attention away
\nfrom certain things and towards others. This needs constant care and it seems
\nto be a way that’s most \u2013 I can’t say the easiest, for it is certainly not easy
\n\u2013 but the most effective way. To say \u201cNo\u201d does not cure and to say \u201cYes\u201d does
\nnot cure either; and sometimes it becomes extremely difficult also, naturally. <\/span><\/p>\n

I knew people, for example, whose children
\nwanted to eat
\n <\/span><\/p>\n

\nPage – 413<\/font><\/span><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n
\n

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

everything they saw. They were allowed to
\ndo it. So they fell very ill. After that, they felt disgusted. But this is a
\nlittle risky, isn’t it? There are children who fidget with everything. Now, one
\nday, you see, one child got hold of a box of matches. Then, instead of telling
\nhim, \u201cDon’t touch it\u201d, they let him do it: he burnt himself. He never touched
\nthem again. <\/span><\/p>\n

But it is a little dangerous, because some
\nchildren are altogether unconscious and very bold in their desires: for
\nexample, those who like to walk on the edge of a wall or the top of a roof or
\nhave the desire to plunge into water when they see it or to dive into a
\nriver… you see, this becomes sometimes very difficult… or those who have
\nthe mania for crossing the street: each time they see a car coming… they try
\nto cross it. So if they are allowed to do so, the experience may one day be
\nfatal. <\/span><\/p>\n

Well, I knew people who did this. I don’t
\nknow if they succeeded much in it. As I said, the child was burnt, but this was
\na nuisance because it left scars. And then too, one who played quite
\nunthinkingly on the railing of a staircase and fell and half-broke his
\nhead…\u00a0\u00a0 <\/span>you see, this has its
\nconsequences. But to say \u201cNo\u201d to them too doesn’t cure them, quite the
\ncontrary. And to tell them, \u201cEspecially don’t take this, this will harm you\u201d \u2013
\nthey don’t believe it; they think it is just to get rid of their desire. <\/span><\/p>\n

It is a very difficult problem. There was
\nsomeone who had ideas like this, on freedom in education and who made theories
\nto tell me that individual freedom should be respected to the extent of never
\nmaking use of past experience for new people, and that we ought to leave them
\nto make all their experiments themselves. This goes very far and they
\ncriticised me very much because I was trying to prevent accidents. So they told
\nme, \u201cYou are absolutely wrong in preventing them.\u201d So I said, \u201cBut if someone
\ndies?\u201d \u2013 \u201cWell, it means he had to die. You have no right to intervene in their
\ndestiny and the freedom of their development. They want to commit stupidities,
\nlet them do stupid things. When they realise that these are stupidities, they
\nwon’t
\n <\/span><\/p>\n

\nPage – 414<\/font><\/span><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n
\n

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

do them.\u201d And there are cases in which one
\nis sure never to do it again, because one has gone beyond the limit.<\/span><\/p>\n

It is a very difficult problem, if one
\nwants to make a theory of it. But each case is absolutely different and asks
\nfor a different procedure. And in fact, if one truly wanted to give the best
\neducation to a child, well, one would have to spend all his time on it. One
\ncould not do anything else, because, even considering that one should not watch
\nover him visibly, in order to do the right thing at the right time, one should
\nalways observe him, even without his knowing it. One would not be able to do
\nanything else.<\/span><\/p>\n

So, probably, one needs to find a middle
\nterm between the two, between the two extremes: that of watching over him all
\nthe time and that of leaving him absolutely free to do what he likes, without even
\nwarning him against the accidents which are likely to occur. An adjustment to
\nmake every minute! Difficult.<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/span><\/p>\n

Here it is written: \u201cIt is very unwise for anyone to claim prematurely
\nto have possession of the supermind or even to have a taste of it.\u201d What is a
\nforetaste of the supermind? <\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

 <\/span><\/p>\n

It is still more unwise to imagine that
\none has it. That’s it. Yes, because some people, as soon as they find a phrase
\nin a book, in a teaching, immediately imagine that they have realised that. So,
\nwhen Sri Aurobindo began speaking about the supermind \u2013 in what he was writing
\n\u2013 everyone wrote to him: \u201cI have seen the supramental Light, I had an
\nexperience of the supermind!\u201d Now, it is better to keep the word \u201csupermind\u201d
\nfor a later time. For the moment let us not speak about it. <\/span><\/p>\n

Somewhere he has written a very detailed
\ndescription of all the mental functions accessible to man. Well, when we read
\nthis, we say that merely to traverse the mental domain to its highest limit
\nthere are so many stages which have not yet been crossed
\n <\/span><\/p>\n

\nPage – 415<\/font><\/span><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n
\n

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

that truly we don’t need to speak about
\nthe supermind for the time being.<\/span><\/p>\n

When he speaks of the higher ranges of the
\nmind, one becomes aware that one very rarely lives in these places. It is very
\nrare for one to be in this state of consciousness. On the contrary it is in
\nwhat he calls the altogether ordinary mind, the mind of the ordinary man that
\nwe live. And to the ordinary consciousness the reason seems to belong to a very
\nhigh region; and the reason for him is one of the average faculties of the
\nhuman mind. There are mental regions very much higher than that, which he has
\ndescribed in detail. And it is quite certain that those correspondents, if they
\nhad…\u00a0\u00a0 <\/span>Suddenly they said that they
\nwere having wonderful supramental experiences, because one is rarely in these
\nregions which lie beyond the reason, which are regions of direct perception,
\nintuition and other faculties of intuition of the same kind, which go far
\nbeyond the reason; and these are still mental regions, they have nothing of the
\nsupramental.<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/span><\/p>\n

Mother, you said that between the supermind and the mind there are many
\nstages, didn’t you? And it is written that the next logical stage in the
\nevolution of Nature is the superman. Why not a race which is…\u00a0\u00a0 <\/span><\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

 <\/span><\/p>\n

Intermediary? We shall see that later. <\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/span><\/p>\n

Does this mean that from the mind we can go to the supermind without
\npassing through the intermediary stages? <\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

 <\/span><\/p>\n

I did not say that they were between the
\nmind and the supermind. I said it is in the mind itself, without coming out of
\nthe mind, that there are all these regions which are almost inaccessible for
\nmost human beings. I did not say between<\/i>
\nthe mind and supermind. You mean this evening or at some other time?
\n <\/span><\/p>\n

\nPage – 416<\/font><\/span><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n
\n

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

What are you speaking of, of something I
\nsaid this evening or something I said on another day? <\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/span><\/p>\n

This very evening, you were saying…\u00a0\u00a0
\n<\/span><\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

 <\/span><\/p>\n

No, you did not hear. I said in the mind
\nitself. Before reaching the extreme limit of the mind, there are so many
\nregions and mental activities which are not at all accessible to most human
\nbeings. And even for those who can reach them, they are not regions where they
\nconstantly live. They must make an effort of concentration to get there and
\nthey don’t always arrive. There are regions which Sri Aurobindo has described
\nwhich only very rare individuals can reach, and still he speaks of them as
\nmental regions. He does not use for them the word supramental. <\/span><\/p>\n

It can very well happen \u2013 besides, when he
\nspoke of the supermind he said that there are many regions in the supermind
\nitself and that it would naturally be the first ones, the lowest regions, which
\nwould manifest to begin with \u2013 it can very well happen that there are still a
\nnumber of intermediary states of being, this is possible \u2013 intermediary stages.
\n<\/span><\/p>\n

Certainly the perfect race will not come
\nspontaneously. Very probably not. But already, even the first attempts… in
\ncomparison with the present human being, it will make a great difference, great
\nenough for one to feel that this is something miraculous. <\/span><\/p>\n

It can very well happen that the first
\nsupramental manifestations will be altogether incomplete. But even to these,
\nman as he is at present will seem something absolutely gross. There is no halt
\nin the universal development and even the thing, which would seem at a certain
\ntime absolutely perfect and finished, will still be only a stage for future
\nmanifestations. But men very much like to sit down and say, \u201cNow I have done
\nwhat I had to do.\u201d <\/span><\/p>\n

But the universe is not like that; it does
\nnot sit down, it does not rest, it always goes on. One can never say, \u201cNow it
\n <\/span><\/p>\n

\nPage – 417<\/font><\/span><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n
\n

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

is over, I close the door and that’s all.\u201d
\nOne may shut the door but then one cuts himself off from the universal
\nmovement. Expressions are always relative, and the first being which is no
\nlonger a human animal but begins to be a divine human, a divine man, will seem
\nsomething absolutely marvellous, even if he is still very incomplete as the
\nperfect type of this new race. One must get accustomed to living in a perpetual
\nmovement. There is something which likes very much \u2013 perhaps it is necessary
\nfor facilitating the action \u2013 to fix a goal and say, \u201cThis indeed is the end\u201d,
\nbut not at all. \u201cThis is perfection\u201d \u2013 there is no absolute perfection. All
\nthings are always relative and constantly they are changing. <\/span><\/p>\n

There we are. I think this is enough.
\nThere are no important questions? That’s good.
\n <\/span><\/p>\n

\nPage – 418<\/font><\/span><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n


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

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