{"id":4448,"date":"2013-07-13T01:56:03","date_gmt":"2013-07-13T01:56:03","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/localhost\/?p=4448"},"modified":"2013-07-13T01:56:03","modified_gmt":"2013-07-13T01:56:03","slug":"09-24-march-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\/09-24-march-vol-06-questions-and-answers-volume-06","title":{"rendered":"-09_24 March.htm"},"content":{"rendered":"\n\n
\n


\n24
\n March 1954<\/font><\/span><\/b>
\n<\/font> <\/span><\/b><\/p>\n

 <\/span><\/p>\n

This talk is based upon Mother’s essay
\n\u201cThe <\/font> <\/span><\/p>\n

Four Austerities and the Four
\nLiberations\u201d, Part I. <\/font> <\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/span><\/p>\n

If one eats a heavy meal, why is the sleep disturbed by nightmares? <\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

 <\/span><\/p>\n

Because there is a very close connection between
\ndreams and the condition of the stomach. Observations have been made and it has
\nbeen noticed that in accordance with what is eaten, dreams are of one kind or
\nanother, and that if the digestion is difficult, the dream always turns into a
\nnightmare \u2013 those nightmares which have no reality but still are nightmares all
\nthe same and very unpleasant \u2013 seeing tigers, cats, etc…\u00a0 <\/span>Or else you experience things like…\u00a0\u00a0 <\/span>for instance, you are facing a great danger
\nand must hurry up, get dressed quickly and go out, and then you can’t dress,
\ntry as you will, you can’t put on your things, you don’t find your things any
\nmore, and if you want to put on your shoes they never fit you, and if you want
\nto go somewhere very fast, the legs don’t move any longer, they are paralysed
\nand you are stuck there making formidable efforts to advance, and you can’t
\nmove. It is this kind of nightmare that comes from a disordered stomach. <\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/span><\/p>\n

Why do tobacco and alcohol destroy the memory and will? <\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

 <\/span><\/p>\n

Why? Because, they do so. There is no
\nmoral reason. It is a fact. There is a poison in alcohol, there is a poison in
\ntobacco; and this poison goes into the cells and damages them. Alcohol is never
\nexpelled, so to say; it accumulates in a certain part of the brain, and then,
\nafter the accumulation, these cells no longer function at all \u2013 some people
\neven go mad because of it, that
\n <\/span><\/p>\n

\nPage – 74<\/font><\/span><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n
\n

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

is what is called delirium tremens<\/i>, the result of having swallowed too much alcohol
\nwhich is not absorbed but remain in this way concentrated in the brain. And it
\nis so radical even that…\u00a0\u00a0 <\/span>There is a
\nprovince in <\/span>France<\/span>, for instance, which produces wine, a
\nwine with a very low percentage of alcohol: I believe it is four or five per
\ncent, a very low percentage, you understand; and these people, because they
\nmake it, drink wine as one drinks water. They drink it neat, and after some
\ntime they become ill. They have cerebral disorders. I knew people of this kind,
\nthe brain was disordered, didn’t function any more. And tobacco \u2013 nicotine is a
\nvery serious poison. It is a poison that destroys the cells. I have said that
\nit is a slow poison because one doesn’t feel it immediately except when one
\nsmokes for the first time and it makes one very ill. And this should make you
\nunderstand that it ought not to be done. Only, people are so stupid that they
\nthink it is a weakness and so continue until they get used to the poison. And
\nthe body no longer reacts, it allows itself to be destroyed without reacting:
\nyou get rid of the reaction. <\/span><\/p>\n

It is the same thing physically as
\nmorally. When you do something you ought not to do and your psychic tells you
\nin its still small voice not to do it, then if you do it in spite of that,
\nafter a while it will no longer tell you anything, and you will no longer have
\nany inner reactions at all to your bad actions, because you have refused to
\nlisten to the voice when it spoke to you. And then, naturally, you go from bad
\nto worse and tumble into the hole. Well, for tobacco it is the same thing: the
\nfirst time the body reacts violently, it vomits, it tells you, \u201cI don’t want it
\nat any cost.\u201d You compel it with your mental and vital stupidity, you force it
\nto do so; it doesn’t react any longer and so lets itself be poisoned gradually
\nuntil it decomposes. The functioning deteriorates; it is the nerves that are
\naffected; they no longer transmit the will because they are affected, they are
\npoisoned. They no longer have the strength to transmit the will. And finally
\npeople begins to tremble they have nervous movements. There are quite a few, one
\ndoesn’t need to go very far
\n <\/span><\/p>\n

\nPage – 75<\/font><\/span><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n
\n

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

to find them. And they are like that only
\nbecause they have committed excesses: they drank and smoked. And when they lift
\nan object, their hands shake (gesture<\/i>).\u00a0\u00a0 <\/span>That’s what one gets by doing this. <\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/span><\/p>\n

Some people have a well-developed body but in spite of that they are
\nvery nervous. Then …? <\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

 <\/span><\/p>\n

Usually it is… Perhaps they have a very
\nweak vital build: their nerves may be weak, they may have a weak nervous system;
\nperhaps it is that, perhaps it is an irregularity from birth. But it could also
\nbe a mental weakness, because while it is true that a healthy body gives strong
\nnerves, it is still more important to have healthy thoughts in order to have
\nsolid nerves. If your thought is not healthy, if your feelings and thoughts are
\nbad so to speak, your nerves become very bad, still worse. For instance, those
\nwho entertain all kinds of unhealthy fancies, those who like unhealthy reading,
\nunhealthy conversations \u2013 there are many of this kind, there is a large number
\nof them \u2013 well, they may lose all control over their nerves, they may become
\nextremely nervous and yet have a body that’s in a fine condition and very
\nhealthy. Unhealthy conversations and reading \u2013 I can tell you that there’s
\nnothing worse than that, and when you do sadhana truly, when you are really
\ntrying to progress, you notice that when you say useless words, no matter how
\nfew they are, immediately there is a terrible uneasiness which gets hold of you;
\nyou feel as though all the nerves of the head were being pulled and there is
\nalso something churning here (gesture<\/i>)
\nwhich hurts you, and you feel a great emptiness within and have heartburn, as
\nthough you had eaten something very bad \u2013 all this only because of some
\nuselessly spoken words. Besides, it is a sure indication: as soon as the
\nuneasiness begins, one knows one must stop: \u201cNow it is finished.\u201d Only, most
\npeople are so unconscious that they don’t even notice it, and with their warped
\nwill they compel their system to do what it should not. So, the
\n <\/span><\/p>\n

\nPage – 76<\/font><\/span><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n
\n

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

system is more or less docile, obeys and
\ncontinues to deteriorate slowly, in this way, without even showing visible
\nreactions. <\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/span><\/p>\n

I did not understand this passage from the text: \u201cContinence is therefore
\nthe rule for all those who aspire for progress. But especially for those who
\nwant to prepare themselves for the supramental manifestation, this continence
\nmust be replaced by a total abstinence, achieved not by coercion and
\nsuppression but by a kind of inner alchemy, as a result of which the energies
\nthat are normally used in the act of procreation are transmuted into energies
\nfor progress and integral transformations.\u201d <\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

 <\/span><\/p>\n

This is quite well known in yogic
\ndisciplines in India, when one begins to become conscious of one’s energies and
\nhave control over them. You know, don’t you, the theory of the different
\n\u201ccentres\u201d where the energies are concentrated? Generally, it is said that there
\nare five. But the true number is seven or even twelve. Anyway, these centres
\nare centres of accumulation of energy, energies which control certain
\nactivities. Thus, there is an accumulation of energy at the sex-centre, a great
\naccumulation of energy, and those who have control over these energies succeed
\nin mastering them and raising them up, and they place them here (Mother points to the centre of the chest<\/i>)
\n. And here is the centre of the energies of progress. This is what is called
\nthe seat of Agni<\/i>, but it is the
\nenergies of progress, the will to progress, that are here. So the energies
\nconcentrated in the sex-centre are pulled upwards and placed here. And they
\nincrease considerably, so that the sex-centre becomes absolutely calm,
\npeaceful, immobile. <\/span><\/p>\n

The ordinary practice for controlling
\nthese energies is to manage to \u201cuncoil\u201d the Kundalini which is coiled up at the
\nbase of the spine and raise the energies through the spinal column to the
\ndifferent centres, and awaken the centres, open them,
\n <\/span><\/p>\n

\nPage – 77<\/font><\/span><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n
\n

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

wake them up and set them in motion one
\nafter another right up to the top of the head, and then, go out from up there.
\nAnd when one has succeeded in doing this (this is the first practice), when one
\nhas uncoiled the Kundalini, next to master it, guide and develop it, to guide
\nit to all the centres, awaken all these centres. Once that has been done, one
\nis master of the functioning. Once one is master of the functioning, instead of
\nleaving the energies in places where they are not wanted, one pulls them up and
\nputs them in places where they are useful, and uses them in this way for
\nprogress, for transformations. <\/span><\/p>\n

All this is the result of enlightened,
\nassiduous, very patient practice; this is not done it just like that, while
\nthinking of other things or playing about. These are disciplines. Naturally,
\nonce one is master of the working, it becomes very interesting. But this is not
\ndone in a flash without one’s doing what is necessary. <\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/span><\/p>\n


\n             <\/span>Once you said that human love was distorted and disfigured by men. What
\nwas love in its origin? <\/span><\/i> <\/span><\/p>\n

What?  <\/span><\/p>\n

Human love. <\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

 <\/span><\/p>\n

Human? Why, haven’t I said it? It is Love.
\nWhen it becomes human love, it is as I have described it. Love in its origin is
\ndivine love. Love in man, that is, love grown human, is distorted, deformed; it
\nis only divine love which is pure. <\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/span><\/p>\n

How can the sees be used for self-development? <\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

 <\/span><\/p>\n

Developing through sensations? It is very
\nmuch in fashion. <\/span><\/p>\n

It is much in fashion. Now in the schools
\ncertain disciplines are invented to develop children’s power of observation,
\nthe quickness of decision, of choice, the capacity to reckon with the eyes,
\nappreciation, all that. All kinds of games are made for
\n <\/span><\/p>\n

\nPage – 78<\/font><\/span><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n
\n

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

children now, to teach them all that. The
\nsense of hearing can also be developed, the sense of smell, the sense of sight
\n\u2013 all these can be methodically developed. If, instead of merely living in
\none’s sensations \u2013 this is \u201cpleasant or unpleasant\u201d, this is \u201cpleasing or
\ndispleasing\u201d and all kinds of things which are perfectly useless \u2013 one succeeds
\nin calculating, measuring, comparing, noting, studying in detail all the
\nvibrations… You see, human beings live like blind men, constantly, absolutely
\nunconscious, and they plunge into sensations and reactions, all the impulses,
\nand so it is pleasant, it is unpleasant, it is pleasing, it is displeasing, all
\nthat. What is all that, then? What’s the see in it? \u2013 None at all. One ought to
\nbe able to appreciate, calculate, judge, compare, note, know exactly and
\nscientifically the full value of the vibrations, the relations between things,
\nstudy everything, everything \u2013 for instance, study all sensations in connection
\nwith the reactions they produce, follow the movement from the sensation to the
\nbrain, and then follow the movement of response from the brain to the
\nsensations. And in this way one succeeds in controlling one’s will, one’s
\nsensations completely, to such an extent that if there is something one does
\nnot want to feel, it is enough, with one’s will, to cut it off: one feels it no
\nlonger. There are many disciplines of this kind. Some of them keep you busy for
\na lifetime, and if they are well followed, you don’t waste a moment and are
\naltogether interested. You no longer have time for impulses, this takes away
\nall impulses. When you become scientific in these studies, you are no longer
\nlike a cork: one wave sending you here, another sending you there! There is a
\npassing movement of Nature. Nature, oh how she plays with men! Good heave, when
\nyou see how it is, oh! Truly it is enough to make you revolt. I don’t
\nunderstand how they do not revolt…\u00a0 <\/span>She
\nsends round a wave of desire, and they are all like sheep running after their
\ndesires; she sends round a wave of violence, they are once again like other
\nsheep living in violence, and so on, for everything. Anger \u2013 she just does
\n\u201cpoof\u201d, and everybody gets into a rage. She has but to make a
\n <\/span><\/p>\n

\nPage – 79<\/font><\/span><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n
\n

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

gesture \u2013 a gesture of her caprice \u2013 and
\nthe human mobs follow. Or else it passes from one to another, just like that;
\nthey don’t know why. They are asked, \u201cWhy?\u201d \u2013 \u201cWell, suddenly I felt angry.
\nSuddenly I was seized by desire.\u201d Oh! It is shameful. <\/span><\/p>\n

Good night.
\n <\/span><\/p>\n

\nPage – 80<\/font><\/span><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n


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

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