{"id":4430,"date":"2013-07-13T01:55:56","date_gmt":"2013-07-13T01:55:56","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/localhost\/?p=4430"},"modified":"2013-07-13T01:55:56","modified_gmt":"2013-07-13T01:55:56","slug":"28-04-august-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\/28-04-august-vol-06-questions-and-answers-volume-06","title":{"rendered":"-28_04 August.htm"},"content":{"rendered":"\n\n
\n


\n4
\n August 1954<\/font><\/span><\/b>
\n<\/font> <\/span><\/b><\/p>\n

 <\/span><\/p>\n

This talk is based upon Chapter 5 of The
\nMother by Sri Aurobindo. <\/font> <\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/span><\/p>\n

Sweet Mother, what is the difference between a servant and a worker? <\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

 <\/span><\/p>\n

I don’t think there is much difference; it
\nis almost the same thing. Perhaps the attitude is not quite the same, but there
\nis not much of a difference. In \u201cservant\u201d there seems to be something more: it
\nis the joy of serving. The worker \u2013 he has only the joy of the work. But the
\nwork that is done as a service brings still greater joy. <\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/span><\/p>\n

What does \u201cself-love\u201d mean? <\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

 <\/span><\/p>\n

I think self-love is a pleasant word for
\nvanity. Self-love means that one loves oneself more than anything else; and
\nwhat he implies by this, you see, are exactly those reactions of a vanity which
\nis vexed when one is not appreciated at one’s true worth, when one does not
\nreceive the praise he thinks he deserves, or the reward he believes he has
\nearned, and when one is not complimented for everything he does. Indeed, all
\nthese movements come from dissatisfaction, because one doesn’t receive what he
\nhoped to, what he thought he deserved to receive! <\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/span><\/p>\n

Sweet Mother, what is a \u201cdynamic identification\u201d? <\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

 <\/span><\/p>\n

It is the opposite of a passive or inert
\nidentification. It is an identification that is full of energy, will, action,
\nenthusiasm; whereas one can be identified also in a kind of torpor. <\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/span><\/p>\n

You have written in Words of Long Ago that we<\/span><\/i> <\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

\nPage – 266<\/font><\/span><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n
\n

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

justify all our
\nweaknesses when we lack self-confidence. Why do we do this? <\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

 <\/span><\/p>\n

Um! So! We justify all our weaknesses? It
\nis not a positive want of self-confidence; it is a lack of confidence in what
\nthe divine Grace can do for us. To justify one’s weaknesses is a kind of
\nlaziness and inertia.<\/span><\/p>\n

Well, when one doesn’t want to make an
\neffort to correct oneself, one says, \u201cOh, it is impossible, I can’t do it, I
\ndon’t have the strength, I am not made of that stuff, I don’t have the
\nnecessary qualities, I could never do it.\u201d It is absolute laziness, it is in
\norder to avoid the required effort. When you are asked to make progress: \u201cOh,
\nit is beyond my capacity, I am a poor creature, I can do nothing!\u201d That’s all.
\nIt is almost ill-will. It is extreme laziness, a refusal to make any effort.
\nOne accepts all one’s defects and incapacities in order not to have to make the
\nnecessary effort to overcome them. One says, \u201cI am like that, I can’t be
\notherwise!\u201d It is a refusal to let the divine Grace work in you. It is a
\njustification of your own ill-will. <\/span><\/p>\n

Has someone there a question? Or isn’t
\nthere any? <\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/span><\/p>\n

Sweet Mother, here Sri Aurobindo writes: \u201cYou will know and see and feel
\nthat you are a person and power formed by her out of herself, put out from her
\nfor the play…. \u201cWhat play? <\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

 <\/span><\/p>\n

The universe is called the play of the
\nDivine! <\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/span><\/p>\n

Why? <\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

 <\/span><\/p>\n

Why? That’s a way of speaking! You feel
\nthat it is not an amusing game? There are many who don’t (Laughter), who find
\nthat the play is not amusing. But still, it’s a way of speaking…\u00a0 <\/span>One speaks of \u2013 without thinking that it is
\njoyful \u2013 one speaks of \u201cthe play of forces\u201d; it is the movement, the
\ninteraction. All
\n <\/span><\/p>\n

\nPage – 267<\/font><\/span><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n
\n

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

activities are the play of forces. So one
\ncan take it in that see. But, you see, it means that the divine Force, the
\ndivine Consciousness, has exteriorised itself to create the universe and all
\nthe play of forces in the universe. That’s what it means, nothing else. I don’t
\nmean necessarily playing in the Playground! It can mean many other things! <\/span><\/p>\n

(Turning
\nto the other children to induce them to ask questions<\/i>) Nothing? You don’t
\nhave anything either? <\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/span><\/p>\n

What is the meaning of \u201ckeep yourself free from all taint of the
\nperversions of the ego\u201d? <\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

 <\/span><\/p>\n

Perversions of the ego? <\/span><\/p>\n

(After
\na silence<\/i>) Perversion is something that goes astray from the divine truth
\nand purity. The moment you start living in ignorance and falsehood, you live in
\nperversion; and the whole world is made of ignorance and falsehood at present.
\nSo this means that if you remain in the ordinary consciousness, you are
\nnecessarily in the perversion of the ego. <\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/span><\/p>\n

Mother, here it is said: \u201cEven if the idea of the separate worker is
\nstrong in you and you feel that it is you who do the act, yet it must be done
\nfor her.\u201d For example, our study of sports \u2013 we must think that it is for the
\nDivine? <\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

 <\/span><\/p>\n

But surely…\u00a0\u00a0 <\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/span><\/p>\n

How? <\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

 <\/span><\/p>\n

It is not even very difficult. You can
\nfirst do it as a preparation so as to become capable of receiving the divine
\nforces, and then, as a service, so that you may help in constructing the whole
\norganisation of the Ashram. You can do it not with any personal gain in view,
\nbut with the intention of making yourselves ready
\n <\/span><\/p>\n

\nPage – 268<\/font><\/span><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n
\n

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

to accomplish the divine work! This seems
\nto me even quite indispensable if you want to profit fully from the situation.
\nIf you keep the ordinary point of view, well, you will always find yourselves
\nin conditions which are not quite satisfactory, and incapable of receiving all
\nthe forces you can receive. <\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/span><\/p>\n

Mother, if for instance in the long jump one makes an effort to jump a
\ngreater and greater distance, how does one do the divine work? <\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

 <\/span><\/p>\n

Eh? Excuse me, it is not for the pleasure
\nof doing the long jump, it is to make your body more perfect in its
\nfunctioning, and, therefore, a more suitable instrument for receiving the
\ndivine forces and manifesting them. <\/span><\/p>\n

Why, everything, everything one does in
\nthis place must be done in this spirit, otherwise you do not even profit by the
\nopportunity given to you, the circumstances given to you. I explained to you
\nthe other day, didn’t I, that the Consciousness is here, penetrating all things
\nand trying to manifest in all movements? But if you, on your side, tell
\nyourself that the effort you are making, the progress you are making, you make
\nin order to become more capable of receiving this Consciousness and of
\nmanifesting it, the work will naturally be much better and much quicker. And
\nthis seems to me even quite elementary, to tell you the truth; I am surprised
\nthat it could be otherwise! Because your presence in an Ashram organised as it
\nis organised would have no meaning if it were not that! Of what use would it
\nbe? There are any number of universities, schools in the world which are very
\nwell organised! <\/span><\/p>\n

But if you are here, it is for a special
\nreason! It is because here there is a possibility of absorbing consciousness
\nand progress which is not found elsewhere. And if you don’t prepare yourselves
\nto receive this, well, you will lose the chance that’s given to you! <\/span><\/p>\n

Why, I have never spoken of this before,
\nbecause it seemed
\n <\/span><\/p>\n

\nPage – 269<\/font><\/span><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n
\n

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

so obvious to me that it was not at all
\nnecessary to say it. <\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/span><\/p>\n

Like that, Mother, one knows one must do all that! But when one does it,
\nthen the intention is different! <\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

 <\/span><\/p>\n

No, but… (Silence) What do you think, in
\na general way? It is by some kind of chance or luck \u2013 or just because your
\nparents are here \u2013 that by chance you happen to be here, or what? I don’t know!
\n(laughing)\u00a0 <\/span>That you could as well be
\nhere as anywhere else, or what? <\/span><\/p>\n

You are all old enough to have thought a
\nlittle, and reflected a little. You have never asked yourselves, \u201cWhy am I
\nhere?\u201d Have you asked yourselves this? Or is it something which… I indeed
\nthought that you ought to take it as something quite… that it was understood,
\nquite natural! So, I never spoke to you about it. Why, I would be interested in
\nknowing… (To a child) Have you thought of this, you there? <\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/span><\/p>\n

I told you, Sweet Mother, the other day! <\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

 <\/span><\/p>\n

That’s right, but you can repeat it. (To another child<\/i>) And you? Have you
\nthought about it? Or do you take it like that… because papa and mamma are here,
\nso I am here? (Laughter) (To another<\/i>)\u00a0 <\/span>And you? <\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/span><\/p>\n

When you gave us \u201cTo the Children of the Ashram\u201d \u2013 after that I
\nunderstood. <\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

 <\/span><\/p>\n

Ah, you understood! Not before that? <\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/span><\/p>\n

I did not think about it before. <\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

 <\/span><\/p>\n

But how old are you all, on an average,
\nhere? Fifteen or sixteen? Seventeen? Twenty? No? It is not like that? The Red
\n <\/span><\/p>\n

\nPage – 270<\/font><\/span><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n
\n

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

Group is between fifteen and twenty, isn’t
\nit? Are there some here who are younger? <\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/span><\/p>\n

No! <\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

 <\/span><\/p>\n

But one begins to think at thirteen. One
\nbegins to think, to ask oneself questions, one even wonders, \u201cWhat is life, and
\nwhy do we live?\u201d And still more when one finds oneself in a place like this,
\nwhich is not quite an ordinary place: \u201cWhy am I here?\u201d and \u201cWhat is the use of
\nbeing here?\u201d and \u201cWhat is the reason for being here?\u201d Eh? \u2013 You do not think?
\nYou do not think? I know two or three of you who think about it because you
\nhave told me. But (laughing) the others? You have never asked yourselves these
\nquestions, no?…\u00a0\u00a0 <\/span>Nobody is saying a word!
\n(Laughter)\u00a0\u00a0 <\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

(To
\na child<\/i>) So you, you have never thought about it? You have.\u00a0 <\/span>(Nobody
\nreplies.<\/i>) Ah! They don’t want to say anything. All right, let’s not talk
\nany more about it then. (Laughter)\u00a0\u00a0 <\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

That’s all? Is that enough? <\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/span><\/p>\n

Mother, what’s interesting is this: What is there in us that has made us
\ncome here? <\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

 <\/span><\/p>\n

Ah, that is interesting! What is the
\nreason of your being here? Well, it’s for each one to find it. Have you found
\nit, you? No, not yet? Why, that’s another very interesting question! <\/span><\/p>\n

If you… (Silence) If you asked yourselves
\nthis, you would be obliged to seek the answer somewhere, within \u2013 because it is
\n[it within] you, the answer. \u201cWhat is there in us that has made us come here?\u201d
\nThe answer is within. There is nothing outside. And if you go deep enough, you
\nwill find a very clear answer…\u00a0\u00a0
\n<\/span>(Silence) and an interesting answer. If you go deep enough, into a
\nsufficiently complete silence from all outer things, you will find within you
\nthat flame about which I often speak, and in this flame you will see your
\ndestiny. You will see the aspiration of
\n <\/span><\/p>\n

\nPage – 271<\/font><\/span><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n
\n

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

centuries which has been concentrated
\ngradually, to lead you through countless births to the great day of realization
\nthat preparation which has been made through thousands of years, and is
\nreaching its culmination. <\/span><\/p>\n

And as you will have gone very deep to
\nfind this, all your incapacities, all your weaknesses, everything in you that
\ndenies and does not understand, all that \u2013 you will feel that it is not
\nyourself, it is just like a garment which serves in some way and which you have
\nput on for the time being. But you will understand that in order to be truly
\ncapable of profiting fully by the opportunity to do what you wanted to do, what
\nyou have aspired to do for such a long time, you must gradually bring the light,
\nthe consciousness, the truth into all these obscure elements of the external
\ngarment, so that you may be able to understand integrally why you are here<\/i>! And not only that you may understand it, but that
\nyou may be able to do it. For centuries this has been prepared in you, not in
\nthis… (Mother pinches the skin of her
\nforearm<\/i>) this is quite recent, isn’t it?… but in your true self. And for
\ncenturies it has been awaiting this opportunity.<\/span><\/p>\n

And then you enter immediately into the
\nmarvellous. You see to what an extent it is extraordinary… that things which
\none has so long hoped for, things for which one has prayed so much, made so
\nmany efforts, suddenly a moment comes when they are realised. <\/span><\/p>\n

It is the moment when great things are
\ndone. One must not miss the opportunity. <\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/span><\/p>\n

(Long
\nsilence<\/i>)<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/span><\/p>\n

On the 15th of August I shall give you
\nsomething written by Sri Aurobindo which is precisely on this subject \u2013 it is
\ncalled The Hour of God. <\/span><\/p>\n

You will read it carefully and you will
\nunderstand. <\/span><\/p>\n

There we are. <\/span><\/p>\n

\nPage – 272<\/font><\/span><\/p>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/table>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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