{"id":4449,"date":"2013-07-13T01:56:04","date_gmt":"2013-07-13T01:56:04","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/localhost\/?p=4449"},"modified":"2013-07-13T01:56:04","modified_gmt":"2013-07-13T01:56:04","slug":"43-08-december-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\/43-08-december-vol-06-questions-and-answers-volume-06","title":{"rendered":"-43_08 December.htm"},"content":{"rendered":"\n\n
\n


\n8
\n December 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

Sweet Mother, what is the meaning of \u201cthe psychic surrender in the
\nphysical\u201d? <\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

 <\/span><\/p>\n

Why, we spoke about it last time, didn’t
\nwe? I think so. It is the psychic surrender expressing itself in the physical
\nconsciousness; that is, the physical consciousness takes an attitude of psychic
\nsurrender. The physical consciousness receives the influence of the psychic and
\ntakes the attitude which psychic surrender gives. We said that; I am sure I
\nsaid something very much the same. <\/span><\/p>\n

(To
\na child<\/i>) And you, you said you had something? <\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/span><\/p>\n

Here it is said: \u201cDevelop the cosmic consciousness.\u201d How can we do it? <\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

 <\/span><\/p>\n

Cosmic? Why, I have been asked this
\nbefore. Someone asked me, \u201cHow can we teach the children to develop the cosmic
\nconsciousness?\u201d And so I replied, \u201cDevelop it first in yourself.\u201d <\/span><\/p>\n

How can you do it? You know what the
\ncosmic consciousness is? You must first begin by knowing that. The cosmic
\nconsciousness means that, instead of feeling that one is an altogether
\nseparate, isolated being, different from all others, one feels that he is only
\na part of an immense whole and in relation with the whole totality, receiving
\nthe movements and vibrations of all others and transmitting to all others its own
\nvibrations, that the movements of consciousness, the psychological vibrations
\ndo not stop inside a small individual enclosed in himself, who is as in a
\nshell, without any contact with the rest; the forces pass across, going from
\none to another, touching one
\n <\/span><\/p>\n

\nPage – 419<\/font><\/span><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n
\n

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

here, another there, and these forces are
\nso complex and multiple that we can no longer tell where one begins and another
\nends. One has exactly the impression of an immense whole moving within itself. It
\nis something like that \u2013 the cosmic consciousness. <\/span><\/p>\n

So, first of all, you must think of this;
\nyou must first become aware that you are a point in the universal immensity,
\nand not isolated but altogether joined with it. And then you must study
\nyourself, observe yourself. You will immediately have the opportunity of seeing
\nthe vibrations which come from outside and pass through you but are not
\ngenerated in you, which you receive and express. So gradually, by studying,
\nlooking, observing, you become aware of that which is not limited. This is how
\nyou begin to acquire the universal or cosmic consciousness. Cosmic and
\nuniversal mean the same thing. <\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/span><\/p>\n

Here it is written: \u201cNo snatching or clutching at realisation.\u201d What
\ndoes that mean \u2013 \u201csnatching and clutching at realisation\u201d, Sweet Mother? <\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

 <\/span><\/p>\n

No snatching, no…\u00a0\u00a0 <\/span>? <\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/span><\/p>\n

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

 <\/span><\/p>\n

You know what \u201cclutching\u201d means? (The child expresses the meaning by a
\ngesture. Mother laughs.<\/i>)\u00a0\u00a0 <\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

All right, it means…\u00a0\u00a0 <\/span>Does he say one should not or one cannot? <\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/span><\/p>\n

One should not, Sweet Mother. <\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

 <\/span><\/p>\n

That means one must not try to do it,
\nbecause it does not obey this kind of movement. These people try to progress
\nthrough violence. They have no patience, they have no persistence; and when a
\ndesire arises in them they must realise it immediately.
\n <\/span><\/p>\n

\nPage – 420<\/font><\/span><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n
\n

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

Now, they want to have something \u2013 let us
\nsay a change in their character or a change in the circumstances or a set of
\nthings \u2013 and then, they want it at once; and as this usually does not happen
\nall at once, they pull it down from above. This is what he calls \u201cclutching\u201d.
\nThey seize it, pull it towards themselves. But in this way one has neither the
\nreal thing nor the true movement; one mixes violence with one’s aspiration and
\nthis always produces some confusion somewhere, and into the bargain one cannot
\nhave the true thing, one can only have an imitation of the true thing; because
\nthis is not how it comes, not by pulling it as though one were pulling it by
\nthe tail; it will not come. Clutching! One clutches the rope when one wants to
\nclimb up. That’s how it is when one pulls! That’s exactly the movement one
\nshould not have once one holds the rope. That’s all. <\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/span><\/p>\n

Mother, on what does the central will of the being depend? <\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

 <\/span><\/p>\n

Eh? On what does it depend? That means? What
\nexactly do you want to say? On what does its manifestation depend, or on what
\ndoes it itself depend for its existence? <\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/span><\/p>\n

It itself. <\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

 <\/span><\/p>\n

The central will? It depends on the divine
\nWill. <\/span><\/p>\n

It is the individualised expression of the
\ndivine Will; and the divine Will is the expression of the divine Consciousness
\nseeking to manifest itself, to realise itself. <\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/span><\/p>\n

How can one become aware of the central will? <\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

 <\/span><\/p>\n

Ah, this of course is another side of the
\nproblem. First of all one must become aware of what is highest, most true, most
\nuniversal and eternal in one’s consciousness. <\/span><\/p>\n

\nPage – 421<\/font><\/span><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n
\n

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

This is learnt gradually. One learns to
\ndiscern among one’s ordinary, external movements and the different gradations
\nof the movements of one’s inner consciousness. And if one continues to do this
\nwith a certain persistence, one realises what it is that puts this highest part
\nof one’s being into motion, which represents the ideal of the being. There is
\nno other way. Sometimes this awake through reading something, sometimes through
\na conversation, sometimes through a more or less dramatic, that is, unexpected
\nevent, which gives you a shock, shakes you up, brings you out of your usual
\nlittle rut. Sometimes when you are in very great danger, suddenly you feel as
\nthough you are above yourself and beyond your small habitual weakness, having
\nwithin you something higher which can hold out against circumstances. <\/span><\/p>\n

Such occasions make you enter, first, into
\ncontact with that. Afterwards by a methodical discipline you can make the
\ncontact continuous; but usually this takes time. But first you get it like
\nthat, suddenly, for one reason or another.
\n <\/span><\/p>\n

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

\n\t\t
\n\t\t <\/span><\/p>\n

This may come with a very strong emotion,
\nwith a very great sorrow, a very great enthusiasm. When one is called to
\nperform a fairly exceptional action, in circumstances which are a little
\nexceptional, all of a sudden, one feels something as though breaking or opening
\nwithin him, and one feels as though he were dominating himself, as though he
\nhad climbed up a higher rung and from there was looking at his own existence
\nwith the habitual sees. Once one has experienced this, one does not forget;
\neven if only once it has happened, one does not forget it. And one can by
\nconcentration reproduce the state at will, later. This is the first step to
\ncultivate it. <\/span><\/p>\n

Afterwards one can very easily call up
\nthis state each time a decision is to be taken, and then one takes it in full
\nawareness of the implications and foreseeing everything that’s going
\n <\/span><\/p>\n

\nPage – 422<\/font><\/span><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n
\n

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

to happen. I don’t think there’s one
\nindividual in the world who hasn’t experienced it \u2013 in any case one cultured
\nindividual \u2013 at least once in his life, something that breaks and opens… and
\none understands. This seems to astonish you very much!…\u00a0 <\/span>(To a
\nchild<\/i>)\u00a0 <\/span>You have never felt this,
\nyou? Yes? <\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/span><\/p>\n

I don’t know. <\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

 <\/span><\/p>\n

You are not sure! (Long silence<\/i>)\u00a0\u00a0 <\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

When one has had it one feels that one has
\nbegun to live, that before this one did not know what life was. Suddenly one
\nhas entered fully into life. This is not forgotten. <\/span><\/p>\n

(To
\na child<\/i>) So? <\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/span><\/p>\n

Sweet Mother, to what plane does intuition belong? <\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

 <\/span><\/p>\n

It is one of those planes, one of those
\nregions we were speaking about last time, which are intermediary between the
\nhigher mind and the Overmind. <\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/span><\/p>\n

How does it manifest, Sweet Mother? \u2013 Intuition. <\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

 <\/span><\/p>\n

Um! How does it manifest? It is something,
\nwhich takes place without any reasoning, any analysis, any deduction. Suddenly
\none knows a thing, without having reasoned, without having analysed, without
\ndeducing, without having reflected, without having made use of one’s brain,
\nwithout having put together the elements of the problem and tried to resolve
\nthem \u2013 it is not like that. All of a sudden it comes like a light in the
\nconsciousness; it can be in the head, it can be lower down, elsewhere; it is a
\nlight in the consciousness which brings a precise knowledge on a particular
\npoint and it is not at all a result of analyses and deductions. In fact, it is
\nthe first manifestation of the knowledge by identity. Knowledge by identity \u2013
\nyou understand clearly what that means?
\n <\/span><\/p>\n

\nPage – 423<\/font><\/span><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n
\n

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

If one succeeds in identifying himself
\nwith something, well, one becomes this thing for a time, and becoming this
\nthing one knows all that is in it, without needing either to guess or to
\nconstruct. (Long silence<\/i>) That’s all.
\n<\/span><\/p>\n

Of course, there is also a form of
\nforesight, but this does not have altogether the same nature. Foresight usually
\ncomes from the faculty of knowing by identity. If one can project his
\nconsciousness into something \u2013 a circumstance or an event or a person \u2013 if one
\ncan project his consciousness, well, one receives, afterwards, the precise
\nindication of the thing with which the consciousness was mingled. And this
\nleads gradually to a total and absolute knowledge. In fact it is the only way
\nof knowing, and if one pushes this far enough and succeeds in identifying
\nhimself with the Divine, one has the divine knowledge, and this is not
\nimpossible. It is something possible because the universe is made like that,
\nfor that. Only, it has gone off the right track; for what reasons, one doesn’t
\nknow. Ah, what strange things we see!…\u00a0\u00a0
\n<\/span>To be sure that one knows, and then, at the same time to wonder how it
\nhappens. <\/span><\/p>\n

You have never tried to enter another
\nperson’s consciousness to know exactly what is going on there? Not projecting
\nyour consciousness into someone else, because then you find yourself inside him
\nand this is not interesting \u2013 but entering into relation with his consciousness
\nwhich is within him, for example when, for one reason or another, you don’t see
\nthings eye to eye; one sees them in one way, the other in another. If people
\nare reasonable they do not quarrel. But if they are not reasonable, they begin
\nquarrelling. Then, instead of quarrelling, the best thing to do is to enter into
\nthe other’s consciousness and ask yourself why he says things like that, what
\nis it that pushes him to do this or say that? What is the inner reason, what is
\nhis vision of things which makes him take this attitude? It is extremely
\ninteresting. If you do this, immediately you stop being angry. First thing: you
\ncan no longer be angry. So this is already a great gain. But also, if the other
\ncontinues being
\n <\/span><\/p>\n

\nPage – 424<\/font><\/span><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n
\n

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

angry, it has no effect on you. <\/span><\/p>\n

And then, later, one can try to identify oneself
\nmore perfectly and prevent the movements of division and deformation and stop
\nquarrels. Very useful. <\/span><\/p>\n

(To
\na child<\/i>) I have already recommended this procedure to you several times, I think.
\nI remember. Did you try? You, there, I am talking to you! You have tried? No?
\nAh, you are obstinate. No? (The child
\ndoes not say anything.<\/i>)\u00a0 <\/span>It won’t
\ncome out…\u00a0 <\/span>Good, let’s not talk about
\nit any more. <\/span><\/p>\n

So, that’s all, my children? Anything
\nelse? No more questions? Nothing over there, no? <\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/span><\/p>\n

Mother, is the central being the psychic being? <\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

 <\/span><\/p>\n

For the immense majority of people the
\npsychic being is the central being. But the central being can be identified
\nwith another consciousness and another state which is more central and is not
\npurely human. And this is \u2013 I can’t say that it is extremely rare, but still it
\nis not frequent. <\/span><\/p>\n

That’s all? <\/span><\/p>\n

It is <\/span>nine o’clock<\/span>. That’s all? <\/span><\/p>\n

Good. Finished.
\n <\/span><\/p>\n

\nPage – 425<\/font><\/span><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n


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

8 December 1954   This talk is based upon Sri Aurobindo’s Bases of Yoga, Chapter 2, \u201cFaith \u2013 Aspiration \u2013 Surrender\u201d.   Sweet Mother, what…<\/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-4449","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\/4449","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=4449"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/worksofthemotherandsriaurobindo.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4449\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/worksofthemotherandsriaurobindo.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4449"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/worksofthemotherandsriaurobindo.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4449"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/worksofthemotherandsriaurobindo.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4449"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}