{"id":4419,"date":"2013-07-13T01:55:51","date_gmt":"2013-07-13T01:55:51","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/localhost\/?p=4419"},"modified":"2013-07-13T01:55:51","modified_gmt":"2013-07-13T01:55:51","slug":"13-21-april-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\/13-21-april-vol-06-questions-and-answers-volume-06","title":{"rendered":"-13_21 April.htm"},"content":{"rendered":"\n\n
\n
\n


\n
\n21 April 1954<\/font> <\/font> <\/span><\/b><\/p>\n

 <\/span><\/p>\n

On this date
\nMother began the reading of <\/font> \u00a0<\/font><\/span>Elements of Yoga<\/i> by Sri Aurobindo.<\/span> <\/font> <\/span><\/p>\n

The <\/font> book<\/font><\/span> contains his answers to elementary
\n<\/font> questions<\/font><\/span> about Yoga which were<\/font><\/span><\/p>\n

 asked
\n<\/font> during<\/font><\/span> the years 1933 to 1936.
\n<\/font><\/span><\/p>\n

\nThe following talk is based upon Chapter 1, <\/font> <\/span><\/p>\n

\n
\n1<\/span><\/sup>\u201cThe Call and Fitness\u201d and Chapter 2, \u201cThe Foundation\u201d. <\/span> <\/font> <\/p>\n

 <\/span><\/p>\n

You have asked some questions. Now you are
\ngoing to put questions on your questions. Yes? <\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/span><\/p>\n

Mother, here it is written: \u201cIn our Yoga our aim is to be united [with
\nthe Divine] in the physical consciousness and on the supramental plane\u201d; then,
\nwhen the physical consciousness is united with the Divine, does transformations
\nfollow? <\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

 <\/span><\/p>\n

Yes. Follow, but not instantaneously. It
\ntakes time. Only if the Divine descends into the physical consciousness \u2013 or rather,
\nto put it more precisely, if the physical consciousness is totally receptive to
\nthe Divine \u2013 naturally transformations ensues. But a transformation does not
\ncome about by waving a magic wand. It takes time and is done progressively. <\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/span><\/p>\n

But it is sure to come once the physical consciousness is united, isn’t
\nthat so? <\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

 <\/span><\/p>\n

I shall tell you this a little later! <\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/span><\/p>\n

For, if so, it is not the final aim <\/span> \u2013 if<\/span>
\ntransformations does not follow! <\/span><\/i>
\n
\n <\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n
\n1<\/span><\/sup>\u201cTo be in full union with the Divine is the
\nfinal aim.\u201d<\/span><\/font><\/p>\n

\nPage – 109<\/font><\/span><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n
\n

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

No. It is not what we<\/i> call the final aim. But transformations must follow, it must
\nfollow automatically. But what I mean is the degree of totality, so to speak,
\nof integrality<\/span>, which is not assured,<\/span>
\nin the see that probably there are many stages in this transformation. We speak
\nof transformations vaguely, in this way; it gives us the impression of
\nsomething that is going to happen which will see to it that all is well \u2013 I
\nthink it comes to that approximately. If we have difficulties, the difficulties
\nwill disappear; those who are ill their illness will vanish; and again, if
\nthere are physical shortcomings, these will disappear, and so on. But it is all
\nvery hazy, it’s just an impression. <\/span><\/p>\n

There is something quite remarkable: the
\nphysical consciousness, the body-consciousness, cannot know a thing with
\nprecision, in all its details, except when it is on the point of being
\nrealised. And this will be a sure indication when, for instance, one can
\nunderstand the process: through what sequence of movements and transformations
\nwill the total transformation come about, in what order, in what way, to put it
\nthus? What will happen first? What will happen later? \u2013 all<\/span>
\nthat, in all its details. Each time you see a detail with exactitude, it means
\nthat it is on the point of being realised. <\/span><\/p>\n

One can have the vision of the whole. For
\ninstance, it is quite certain that the transformations of the
\nbody-consciousness will take place first, that a progress in the mastery and
\ncontrol of all the movements of the body will come next, that this mastery will
\ngradually change (here it becomes more vague), gradually, into a sort of
\ntransformations of the movement itself: alteration and transformation\u00a0\u00a0 <\/span>\u2013 all that is certain. But what must happen
\nin the end, what Sri Aurobindo has spoken about in one of his last articles <\/span> in which he says that even the organs will be
\ntransformed, in the see that they will be replaced by centres of concentration
\nof forces (of concentration and action of forces) of different qualities and
\nkinds which will replace all the organs of the body \u2013 that, my children, is
\nmuch more distant, <\/span>
\n
\n <\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n
\n1<\/span><\/sup>"The Divine Body",
\nCent. Vol. 17, pp. 20-40.<\/span><\/font><\/p>\n

\nPage – 110<\/font><\/span><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n
\n

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

that<\/span><\/span> is, it is something which…\u00a0 <\/span>one cannot yet grasp the means of doing it.
\nTake, for instance, the heart: by what means is this function of the heart
\nwhich makes the blood flow through the whole body going to be replaced by a
\nconcentration of forces? By what means will the blood be replaced by a certain
\nkind of force, and all the rest? By what means will the lungs be replaced by
\nanother concentration of forces, and what forces, and with what vibrations, and
\nin what way?…<\/span>\u00a0
\n<\/span>All that will come much later. It cannot yet be realised. One can have
\nan inkling of it, foresee it, but…\u00a0 \u00a0<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

For the body, to know is to have the power
\nto do. I shall give you an example that’s just at hand. You do not know a
\ngymnastic movement except when you do it. Don’t you see, when you have done it
\nwell, you know it, understand it, but not before that. Physical knowledge is
\nthe power of doing. Well, that applies to everything, including
\ntransformations. <\/span><\/p>\n

A certain number of years must pass before
\nwe can speak with knowledge of how this is going to happen, but all that I can
\ntell you is<\/span> that it has begun. If you read attentively
\nthe next issue of the Bulletin<\/i> which
\nyou will get on the 24th of April, you will see that it has begun. But in fact
\nwe shall see later if I can explain to you what it means.\u00a0 <\/span>Voil\u00e0<\/i>.<\/span> <\/span><\/p>\n

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

 <\/span><\/p>\n

Sweet Mother, \u201clater\u201d means when? When will you explain? <\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

 <\/span><\/p>\n

Explain when? I don’t know, my children! <\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/span><\/p>\n

I did not understand very well \u201cthe real meaning of activity and
\npassivity in sadhana\u201d. <\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

 <\/span><\/p>\n

You don’t know what activity and passivity
\nare? Do you know what the two words mean? <\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/span><\/p>\n

Yes. <\/span><\/i>
\n
\n <\/span><\/p>\n

\nPage – 111<\/font><\/span><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n
\n

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

Yes! So, what does it mean when you are
\nactive? <\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/span><\/p>\n

When I work.<\/span><\/i><\/span> <\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

 <\/span><\/p>\n

Work ?<\/span><\/span> Good! And when are you passive, when you sleep?\u00a0 <\/span>(Laughter)\u00a0
\n\u00a0<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/span><\/p>\n

When I am lazy, I cannot do…\u00a0 \u00a0<\/span><\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

 <\/span><\/p>\n

No, my child, not necessarily.<\/span><\/span> Passivity is not laziness. An active
\nmovement is one in which you throw your force out, that is, when something
\ncomes out from you \u2013 in a movement, a thought, a feeling \u2013 something which goes
\nout from you to others or into the world. Passivity is when you remain just
\nyourself like this, open, and receive what comes from outside. It does not at
\nall depend on whether one moves or sits still. It is not that at all. To be
\nactive is to throw out the consciousness or force or movement from within
\noutwards. To be passive is to remain immobile and receive what comes from
\noutside. So it is said here… I don’t know what is written… (Mother turns the pages of the book.<\/i>) It
\nis very clear! \u201cActivity in aspiration\u201d, that means that your aspiration goes
\nout from you and rises to the Divine \u2013 in the tapasya, the discipline you
\nundertake and when there are forces contrary to your sadhana you reject them.
\nThis is a movement of activity. <\/span><\/p>\n

Now, if you want to get true inspiration,
\ninner guidance, the guide, and if you want to have the force, to receive the
\nforce which will guide you and make you act as you should, then you do not move
\nany longer, that is \u2013 I don’t mean not move physically but nothing must come
\nout from you any more and, on the contrary, you remain as though you were quite
\nstill, but open, and wait for the Force to enter, and then open yourself as
\nwide as possible to take in all that comes into you. And it is this movement:
\ninstead of out-going vibrations there is a kind of calm quietude, but
\ncompletely open, as though you were
\n <\/span><\/p>\n

\nPage – 112<\/font><\/span><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n
\n

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

opening<\/span><\/span> all your pores in this way to the force
\nwhich must descend into you and transform your action and consciousness. <\/span><\/p>\n

Receptivity is the result of a fine
\npassivity. <\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/span><\/p>\n

But Mother, to be able to become passive an effort has to be made,
\nhasn’t it? <\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

 <\/span><\/p>\n

Not necessarily, that depends upon people.
\nAn effort?<\/span> One must, yes, one must want it. But is the
\nwill an effort?…<\/span>\u00a0
\n<\/span>Naturally, one must think about it, must want it. But the two things can
\ngo together, you see, there is a moment when the two \u2013 aspiration and passivity
\n\u2013 can be not only alternate but simultaneous. You can be at once in the state
\nof aspiration, of willing, which calls down something \u2013 exactly the will to
\nopen oneself and receive, and the aspiration which calls down the force you
\nwant to receive \u2013 and at the same time be in that state of complete inner
\nstillness which allows full penetration, for it is in this immobility that one
\ncan be penetrated, that one becomes permeable by the Force. Well, the two can
\nbe simultaneous without the one disturbing the other, or can alternate so
\nclosely that they can hardly be distinguished. But one can be like that, like a
\ngreat flame rising in aspiration, and at the same time as though this flame
\nformed a vase, a large vase, opening and receiving all that comes down. <\/span><\/p>\n

And the two can go together. And when one
\nsucceeds in having the two together, one can have them constantly, whatever one
\nmay be doing. Only there may be a slight, very slight displacement of
\nconsciousness, almost imperceptible, which becomes aware of the flame first and
\nthen of the vase of receptivity \u2013 of what seeks to be filled and the flame that
\nrises to call down what must fill the vase \u2013 a very slight pendular<\/span>
\nmovement and so close that it gives the impression that one has the two at the
\nsame time. <\/span><\/p>\n

(Silence) <\/span><\/p>\n

\nPage – 113<\/font><\/span><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n
\n

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

This is one of the things one discovers
\ngradually as the body becomes ready for transformations. It is quite a remarkable
\ninstrument in the see that it can experience two contraries at the same time.
\nThere is a certain state of body-consciousness which brings things together,
\ntotalises things that in other states of consciousness alternate or even in
\ncertain others oppose each other. But if one has reached up there, in the vital
\nand the mind, a development sufficient for harmonising opposites (that of
\ncourse, is quite indispensable), when one has succeeded in doing this, there
\nare moments when it alternates, you see, one thing comes after the other, while
\nwhat is remarkable in the consciousness of the body is that it can feel
\n(\u201cfeel\u201d, can we say \u201cfeel\u201d? \u2013 \u201cexperience\u201d \u2013 the word \u201caware\u201d expresses it
\nbest) all things simultaneously, as though you were hot and cold at once, as
\nthough you were active and passive at once, and everything becomes like that.
\nThen you begin to grasp the totality of movements in the cells. It is something
\nmuch more concrete naturally, but much more perfect in the body than in any
\nother part of the being. This means that if things continue in this way, it
\nwill be proved that the physical, material instrument is the most perfect of
\nall. That is why perhaps it is the most difficult to transform, to perfect. But
\nof all, it is the one most capable of perfection. <\/span><\/p>\n

That’s enough for today, isn’t it? <\/span><\/p>\n

So, my children, if we go at this rate, we
\nshall finish the book in three or four lessons, and we must already think about
\nwhat we shall take up next… \u00a0<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/span><\/p>\n

The Mother, Sweet Mother. <\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

 <\/span><\/p>\n

Ah! You want to take up The Mother? Good,
\nwe shall read The Mother<\/i>. That is
\ndecided. <\/span><\/p>\n

Good night!
\n <\/span><\/p>\n

\nPage – 114<\/font><\/span><\/p>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/table>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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