{"id":4454,"date":"2013-07-13T01:56:06","date_gmt":"2013-07-13T01:56:06","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/localhost\/?p=4454"},"modified":"2013-07-13T01:56:06","modified_gmt":"2013-07-13T01:56:06","slug":"23-30-june-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\/23-30-june-vol-06-questions-and-answers-volume-06","title":{"rendered":"-23_30 June.htm"},"content":{"rendered":"\n\n
\n


\n30 June 1954<\/font><\/span><\/b>
\n<\/font> <\/span><\/b><\/p>\n

 <\/span><\/p>\n

This talk is based upon Sri Aurobindo’s
\nElements <\/font> <\/span><\/p>\n

of Yoga, Chapter 14, \u201cSome Explanations\u201d.
\n<\/font> <\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cQ: What is the place of occult power in Yoga? <\/span><\/i><\/p>\n


\n          <\/span>\u201cA: To know and use the subtle forces of the supraphysical<\/span>
\nplanes is part of the Yoga <\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

\u201cQ: What is the meaning of occult endeavour and power? <\/span><\/i><\/p>\n


\n         <\/span>\u201cA: It depends on the context. Usually it would mean power to use the
\nsecret forces of Nature and an endeavour by means of these forces. But \u2018occult\u2019
\nmay mean something else in another context. <\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

\u201cQ: Has every Yogi to pass through occult endeavour? <\/span><\/i><\/p>\n


\n         <\/span>\u201cA: No, everyone has not the capacity. Those who do not have it, must wait
\ntill it is given to them.\u201d <\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

 <\/span><\/p>\n

That’s the end of the book! <\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/span><\/p>\n

Sweet Mother, Sri Aurobindo is speaking about occult endeavour here and
\nsays that those who don’t have the capacity must wait till it is given to them.
\nCan’t they get it through practice? <\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

 <\/span><\/p>\n

No. That is, if it is latent in someone,
\nit can be developed by practice. But if one doesn’t have occult power, he may
\ntry for fifty years, he won’t get anywhere. Everybody cannot have occult power.
\nIt is as though you were asking whether everybody could be a musician,
\neverybody could be a painter, everybody could…\u00a0\u00a0 <\/span>Some can, some can’t. It is a question of
\ntemperament. <\/span><\/p>\n

\nPage – 189<\/font><\/span><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n
\n

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

What is the difference between occultism and mysticism? <\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

 <\/span><\/p>\n

They are not at all the same thing. <\/span><\/p>\n

Mysticism is a more or less emotive
\nrelation with what one sees to be a divine power \u2013 that kind of highly
\nemotional, affective, very intense relation with something invisible which is
\nor is taken for the Divine. That is mysticism. <\/span><\/p>\n

Occultism is exactly what he has said: it
\nis the knowledge of invisible forces and the power to handle them. It is a
\nscience. It is altogether a science. I always compare occultism with chemistry,
\nfor it is the same kind of knowledge as the knowledge of chemistry for material
\nthings. It is a knowledge of invisible forces, their different vibrations,
\ntheir interrelations, the combinations which can be made by bringing them
\ntogether and the power one can exercise over them. It is absolutely scientific;
\nand it ought to be learnt like a science; that is, one cannot practise
\noccultism as something emotional or something vague and imprecise. You must
\nwork at it as you would do at chemistry, and learn all the rules or find them
\nif there is nobody to teach you. But it is at some risk to yourself that you
\ncan find them. There are combinations here as explosive as certain chemical
\ncombinations.<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/span><\/p>\n

Is occultism necessary in this life? <\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

 <\/span><\/p>\n

In this life? That depends upon what one
\nwants to do. You mean in the life of yoga? Not at all necessary. And besides, as
\nhe says, there are many who are not gifted, who don’t have the faculty. Lots of
\npeople, as soon as they have the least experience, the least experience, for
\ninstance when they just begin to come out of their body, are panic-stricken,
\nand this indeed is something very difficult to cure. It can be cured if one has
\na strong will and a great self-mastery. But many people are not able to
\ndissociate their states of being. If they dissociate them, something goes
\nwrong,
\n <\/span><\/p>\n

\nPage – 190<\/font><\/span><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n
\n

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

their body suffers; while there are others
\nwho go out, take a walk, return. For them this is quite natural. Usually, those
\nwho are interested in this \u2013 unless it is only a kind of mental curiosity \u2013 are
\nalso gifted. They may not know it but they can be taught. But these things have
\nto be practised with precaution. For instance \u2013 I am going to give you an
\nexample: as soon as one goes out of the body, no matter how slightly, and even
\njust mentally, well, that part of the mind which controls the functioning goes
\nout; and the automatic side of the mind which makes or produces movements or
\nglandular secretions, that whole automatic side, you see, remain without the
\nprotection and control of the conscious, thinking part. Well, in the atmosphere
\nthere are always numerous little entities, very tiny, usually originating from
\nhuman disintegrations, which are like physical microbes, some kind of microbes
\nof the vital. They are more visible and have a will of their own. One can’t say
\nthey are wicked but they are full of mischief. They like to have a good time
\nand enjoy themselves at people’s expense. So, as soon as they see that you are
\nnot sufficiently protected, they get hold of the automatic mind and bring upon
\nyou all sorts of quite unpleasant things \u2013 as, for example, some people swallow
\ntheir tongue when in a trance; this suffocates them if they don’t take care.
\nOthers bite their tongue; sometimes this hurts very badly. All sorts of things
\nlike this may happen to you \u2013 which means that normally you should never enter
\ninto a trance without having somebody nearby to watch over you, and not only
\nwatch just physically but… watch with the conscious power of preventing these
\nlittle entities from getting hold of your nervous centres which are not
\nprotected by the conscious Presence. This is a general rule. There are greater
\ndangers than that. When one goes out of the body materially \u2013 and nothing but
\nthe contact of a link remain, you understand, it is a kind of link like a
\nthread of light joining the being that has gone out with the one that remain behind
\n\u2013 if this link is protected, nothing happen. But if it is not protected, there
\nmay be adverse forces, not only full of mischief but with
\n <\/span><\/p>\n

\nPage – 191<\/font><\/span><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n
\n

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

much ill-will also, which could come and
\ncut it. And then, once it is cut, you may try as hard as you like, but you
\ncannot get back into the body.<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/span><\/p>\n

One dies? <\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

 <\/span><\/p>\n

Yes, after a while. Which means that all
\nthis is not at all a joke, you understand, or just a matter of having fun or
\nsomething one can do simply to amuse oneself. It must be done in the right way
\nand in the required conditions, and with great care. And then, one thing is
\nabsolutely essential, absolutely: you must not touch this occult science if you
\nhave the least fear in you. For instance, if in your dreams you meet terrible
\nthings and get frightened, you should not practise occultism. If, on the other
\nhand, the most frightful dreams you have leave you absolutely calm, and even at
\ntimes amused and very much interested, if you can handle all that and know how
\nto get out of the difficulty in every circumstance, then that means you have
\nthe ability and can do it. Some people are very brave warriors in their dreams.
\nWhen they meet enemies, they know how to fight; they know not only how to
\ndefend themselves, but also to conquer; they are full of ardour, energy,
\ncourage; these indeed are the true candidates for occultism. But those who rush
\nback into their body as fast as a rat into its hole, they should surely not
\ntouch it. And then, you must also have an infinite patience; because just as it
\ntakes many years to learn how to handle the different chemical substances, just
\nas you have to work for long periods without getting any visible results when
\nyou want to discover the least thing that’s new, so in occultism you may try
\nfor years together and not have the least experience. And that becomes very
\nmonotonous and hardly interesting; and there is always in man that kind of
\nphysical mind, practical and positive, which keeps on telling you, \u201cWhy are you
\ntrying? You see quite well there is nothing in it, these are all stories people
\ntell you; why are you working for nothing? You are wasting your time. There is noth<\/span>– <\/span><\/p>\n

\nPage – 192<\/font><\/span><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n
\n

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

ing<\/span><\/span> at all in it, it is all imagination.\u201d It
\nis very difficult to keep one’s conviction and faith when there is nothing upon
\nwhich to found them. <\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/span><\/p>\n

Sweet Mother, are religious exercises very important for those who have
\nan ordinary consciousness? <\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

 <\/span><\/p>\n

Religious exercises? I don’t know! What do
\nyou mean by religious exercises? <\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/span><\/p>\n

Japa<\/span><\/i><\/span>, etc. <\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

 <\/span><\/p>\n

Oh, those things! If it helps you, it is all
\nright. If it doesn’t help you, it is just… This is one of those altogether
\nrelative things. It is altogether relative. Its value lies only in the effect
\nit has on you and the extent to which you believe in it. If it helps you to
\nconcentrate, it is good. The ordinary consciousness always does it just through
\nsuperstition, with the idea that \u201cIf I do this, if I go to the temple or church
\nonce a week, if I offer prayers, something very fine will happen to me.\u201d This
\nis superstition, spread all over the world, but it has no value at all from the
\nspiritual point of view. <\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/span><\/p>\n

Mother, for instance, on certain days of the year we have Lakshmi-puja<\/span>, Mahakali-puja<\/span>, and
\nall that…\u00a0 <\/span><\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

 <\/span><\/p>\n

That’s because it amuses you, my children!
\n<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/span><\/p>\n

But on these days you give us blessings also! <\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

 <\/span><\/p>\n

Yes, because that amuses you!
\n(Laughter)\u00a0\u00a0 <\/span>Eh? <\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/span><\/p>\n

You give us blessings only to amuse us? <\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

 <\/span><\/p>\n

Come now! It pleases you; I said \u201camuses\u201d;
\nit’s… I was disres<\/span>– <\/span><\/p>\n

\nPage – 193<\/font><\/span><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n
\n

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

pectful<\/span><\/span>; but it’s because it pleases you. <\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/span><\/p>\n

Mahakali day, for instance…\u00a0 \u00a0<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/span><\/p>\n

Yes, yes, sometimes Kali comes three days
\nearlier or four days later or at some other time in the year. She is not
\nnecessarily there on that very day; at times, to make you happy, I call her a
\nlittle. (Laughter) In any case, it is not I who believe in these things! <\/span><\/p>\n

In all religious monuments, in monuments
\nconsidered the most…\u00a0\u00a0 <\/span>well, as
\nbelonging to the highest religion, whether in France or any other country or
\nJapan \u2013 it was never the same temples or churches nor the same gods, and yet my
\nexperience was everywhere almost the same, with very small differences \u2013 I saw
\nthat whatever concentrated force there was in the church depended exclusively
\nupon the faithful, the faith of the devotees. And there was still a difference
\nbetween the force as it really was and the force as they felt it. For instance,
\nI saw in one of the most beautiful cathedrals of France, which, from the
\nartistic point of view, is one of the most magnificent monuments imaginable \u2013
\nin the most sacred spot I saw an enormous black, vital spider which had made
\nits web and spread it over the whole place, and was catching in it and then
\nabsorbing all the forces emanating from people’s devotion, their prayers and
\nall that. It was not a very cheering sight; the people who were there and were praying,
\nfelt a divine touch, they received all kinds of boo from their prayers, and yet
\nwhat was there was this, this thing. But they had their faith which could
\nchange that evil thing into something good in them; they had their faith. So,
\ntruly, if I had gone and told them, \u201cDo you think you are praying to God? It is
\nan enormous vital spider that’s feeding upon all your forces!\u201d, that would
\nreally not have been very charitable. And that’s how it is most of the time,
\nalmost everywhere; it is a vital force which is there, for these vital entities
\nfeed upon the vibration of human emotions, and very few people, very few, an
\ninsignificant num- <\/span><\/p>\n

\nPage – 194<\/font><\/span><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n
\n

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

ber<\/span><\/span>, go to church or temple with a true religious
\nfeeling, that is, not to pray and beg for something from God but to offer
\nthemselves, give thanks, aspire, give themselves. There is hardly one in a
\nmillion who does that. So they do not have the power of changing the
\natmosphere. Perhaps when they are there, they manage to get across, break
\nthrough and go somewhere and touch something divine. But the large majority of
\npeople who go only because of superstition, egoism and self-interest, create an
\natmosphere of this kind, and that is what you breathe in when you go to a
\nchurch or temple. Only, as you go there with a very good feeling, you tell
\nyourself, \u201cOh, what a quiet place for meditation!\u201d <\/span><\/p>\n

I am sorry, but that’s how it is. I tell
\nyou I have deliberately tried this experiment a little everywhere. Maybe I
\nfound some very tiny places, like a tiny village church at times, where there
\nwas a very quiet little spot for meditation, very still, very silent, where
\nthere was some aspiration; but this was so rare! I have seen the beautiful
\nchurches of <\/span>Italy<\/span>, magnificent places; they were full of
\nthese vital beings and full of terror. I remember painting in a basilica of <\/span>
\nVenice<\/span>, and while I was working, in the
\nconfessional a priest was hearing the confession of a poor woman. Well, it was
\ntruly a frightful sight! I don’t know what the priest was like, what his
\ncharacter was, he could not be seen you know, don’t you, that they are not
\nseen. They are shut up in a box and receive the confession through a grille.
\nThere was such a dark and sucking power over him, and that poor woman was in
\nsuch a state of fearful terror that it was truly painful to see it. And all
\nthese people believe this is something holy! But it is a web of the hostile
\nvital forces which use all this to feed upon. Besides, in the invisible world hardly
\nany beings love to be worshipped, except those of the vital. These, as I said,
\nare quite pleased by it. And then, it gives them importance. They are puffed up
\nwith pride and feel very happy, and when they can get a herd of people to
\nworship them they are quite satisfied. <\/span><\/p>\n

But if you take real divine beings, this
\nis not at all some- <\/span><\/p>\n

\nPage – 195<\/font><\/span><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n
\n

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

thing they value. They do not like to be
\nworshipped. No, it does not give them any special pleasure at all! Don’t think
\nthey are happy, for they have no pride. It is because of pride that a man likes
\nto be worshipped; if a man has no pride he doesn’t like to be worshipped; and
\nif, for instance, they see a good intention or a fine feeling or a movement of
\nunselfishness or enthusiasm, a joy, a spiritual joy, these things have for them
\nan infinitely greater value than prayers and acts of worship and pujas<\/span>…\u00a0\u00a0 <\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

I assure you what I am telling you is very
\nserious: if you seat a real god in a chair and oblige him to remain there all
\nthe while you are doing puja<\/span>, he may perhaps have a
\nlittle fun watching you do it, but it certainly gives him no satisfaction. None
\nat all! He does not feel either flattered or happy or glorified by your pujas<\/span> You must get rid of that idea There is an entire
\ndomain between the spiritual and the material worlds which belongs to vital
\nbeings, and it is this domain that is full of all these things, because these
\nbeings live upon that, are happy with it, and it immediately gives them
\nimportance; and the one who has the greatest number of believers, devotees and
\nworshippers is the happiest and the most puffed up. But how can anyone imagine
\nthat the gods could value…\u00a0 <\/span>The gods \u2013
\nI am speaking of the true gods, even those of the Overmind, though they are still
\na bit… well, so-so… they seem to have taken on many human defects, but
\nstill, despite all that, they really have a higher consciousness \u2013 it does not
\nplease them at all. An act of true goodness, intelligence, unselfishness or a
\nsubtle understanding or a very sincere aspiration are for them infinitely
\nhigher than a small religious ceremony. Infinitely! There is no comparison.
\nReligious ceremony! For example, there are so many of these entities called
\nKali \u2013 who are given, besides, quite terrible appearances \u2013 so many are even
\nplaced in houses as the family-goddess; they are full of a terrible vital
\nforce! I knew people who were so frightened of the Kali they had at home that
\nindeed they trembled to make the least mistake, for when catastrophes came they
\nthought it was Kali who sent them! It is a frightful thing,
\n <\/span><\/p>\n

\nPage – 196<\/font><\/span><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n
\n

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

thought. I know them, those entities. I
\nknow them very well, but they are vital beings, vital forms which, so to say,
\nare given a form by human thought, and what forms! And to think that men
\nworship such terrible and monstrous things; and what’s more that these poor
\ngods are given, are paid the compliment of believing that it is…\u00a0\u00a0 <\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

From this point of view, it is good that
\nfor some time men get out of this religious atmosphere, so full of fear, and
\nthis sort of blind, superstitious submission of which the hostile forces have
\ntaken a dreadful advantage. The period of denial, positivism, is from this
\nviewpoint quite indispensable in order to free men from superstition. It is
\nonly when one comes out of that and the abject submission to monstrous vital
\nforces that one can rise to truly spiritual heights and there become the
\ncollaborator and true instrument of the forces of Truth, the real
\nConsciousness, the true Power. <\/span><\/p>\n

One must leave all this far behind before
\none can climb higher. <\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/span><\/p>\n

Mother, the other day you said that you go everywhere during the night,
\ndidn’t you? Then you know everything that happen in the Ashram…\u00a0 <\/span><\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

 <\/span><\/p>\n

I act as a policeman! <\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/span><\/p>\n

And then, Mother, what is the difference between what you know in this
\nway and what you know physically? That is, why is it necessary for all
\nthe…\u00a0\u00a0 <\/span><\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

 <\/span><\/p>\n

Do you suppose I can go everywhere and see
\neverything? Unfortunately, I have only one head, two arms and two legs, and all
\nthat would take a long time; I would be spending my time running about
\neverywhere. <\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/span><\/p>\n

No! I mean since you already know what is going on
\n <\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

\nPage – 197<\/font><\/span><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n
\n

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

in the Ashram, why is it necessary for the heads of departments to come
\nand give you the information? <\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

 <\/span><\/p>\n

No, no, they do not come to give me
\ninformation: they come to ask me for orders. That’s not the same thing. And if
\nI were to give them my orders in the night, they would not hear me, or if by
\nchance they heard something, it would probably be the contrary! They would do
\nany odd thing according to their own fancy. No, no! Information? That’s because
\nit pleases them to say what they have to say. If I were to tell them at once,
\n\u201cIt is all right, I know, I know!\u201d…\u00a0 <\/span>At
\ntimes I do that, when I am in a great hurry; but they are quite shocked and
\nthink, \u201cHow can she know? She has not asked me!\u201d They alone can give me the
\nexact information, according to them. If they don’t explain things to me, I
\ndon’t know them. That’s what they think, so I have to let them explain.
\nSometimes, if it takes too long, and I don’t have much time, I tell them, \u201cIt’s
\nall right, it’s all right, I know it; come on, come to the point, what do you
\nwant to know?\u201d Well, that upsets them a great deal. <\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/span><\/p>\n

For example, Mother, if one has done something…\u00a0\u00a0 <\/span><\/span><\/i> <\/span><\/p>\n

Bad.  <\/span><\/p>\n

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

 <\/span><\/p>\n

Sometimes good, eh? <\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/span><\/p>\n

No, mostly bad; then one thinks, \u201cMother knows it.\u201d Instead of that,
\nwouldn’t it be better to come and tell you about it? <\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

 <\/span><\/p>\n

Yes. Because here there is… Note that if
\none has done something bad, if one has done something one knows very well
\nshould not be done; for instance, if one tells oneself, \u201cMother knows
\n <\/span><\/p>\n

\nPage – 198<\/font><\/span><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n
\n

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

about it, I don’t need to tell her\u201d, then
\none takes that in. One carefully shuts a door upon it and then keeps it in one’s
\nheart, or elsewhere. While if one doesn’t think of all that…\u00a0 <\/span>one feels uneasy, something turns there
\ninside, it is not pleasant… \u201cWell, I am going to tell Mother about it.\u201d When
\nyou set out you have to make a great effort, eh? There’s a lump in the throat,
\nthe tongue goes dry, and then it is so difficult to find your words \u2013 truly,
\none doesn’t know how to go about it, eh! But now you have resolved, you make a
\nbig effort: you draw out the words one by one, like that, with much effort and
\nfinally speak, and you try to say it as exactly as possible. My child, that
\nopens a door as wide as this, and I can enter straight into the psychic being,
\njust through this effort of sincerity that you have made. And then, when I
\nenter, I pour in all the light, all the force, the will, the consciousness, all
\nthe resolution necessary, so that you cannot repeat what you have done; much…
\nas when too much is poured into a cup, it overflows \u2013 there is much that
\noverflows, but all the same a little remain and this little works. And if you
\nrepeat this effort once again, until you feel \u2013 well, that you have nothing
\nmore to say, for there is now nothing more to hide \u2013 then that’s very fine, you
\nhave made great progress. <\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/span><\/p>\n

Sweet Mother, in class when we ask you questions, at times they come
\nquite easily, automatically, and at times we hesitate…\u00a0\u00a0 <\/span><\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

 <\/span><\/p>\n

You know, most of the questions are badly
\nworded, because you really do not know what you want to know. I mean, you are
\nnot quite clearly aware of the thing you want to know. There’s a grouping of
\nwords in your head, not the consciousness of an idea trying to become clear;
\nthere are only words knocking about in your brain which you cannot manage to
\nfit in, so as to be able to understand what they mean. So you cannot speak
\neasily, because you do not think. It does not proceed from thought. It is a
\nkind of automatic thing coming from the brain;
\n <\/span><\/p>\n

\nPage – 199<\/font><\/span><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n
\n

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

if you have a clear awareness of an
\nexperience you want to state accurately or some knowledge you want to arrange
\nin your head, then you can state it very clearly and at the same 0time your
\nbrain is ready to receive the answer; but if, merely with the clash of words \u2013
\nwords come like that, don’t they? You connect three or four words and then
\nlaunch an idea.. I answer, because I think there will always be someone… that
\nit could drop into a brain somewhere; but otherwise, most of the time, the head
\nis not ready to understand even what I say. You must think well and be well
\nconcentrated and see very clearly what you want to ask before asking.
\nOtherwise, it is not the part of the mind which can understand that asks. It is
\njust a surface which is in a perpetual movement of words linking up more or
\nless aptly, coming and going and passing on, and it is this which speaks, it’s
\nthis which asks and this, indeed, cannot understand. <\/span><\/p>\n

How many times have I told you things \u2013
\nthe same thing, and if I ask you about it, sometimes just a week later, you do
\nnot remember it! How many times you ask me the same questions, because you
\nasked the questions but were not at all in a condition to understand the
\nanswer. Nothing remain inside, these are only passing words, just that. It’s as
\nwhen you learn a lesson by heart: they are only passing words. There is
\nnothing, there’s nothing which enters within, gets settled somewhere in the
\nreal thought, and so it has no effect and does not help you to understand
\nanything at all. The proof: how many times I have asked you, said to you, \u201cBut
\nindeed I have told you this\u201d; you don’t even remember it! <\/span><\/p>\n

It has often happened, hasn’t it? \u2013 but
\nusually with the very small children \u2013 and well, even with you it has sometimes
\nhappened, that someone has asked me a questions, I have answered. Another
\nperson asks me the same questions in different words. If you had listened to what
\nI just said, I have already replied to what you are asking me! All that goes by
\nlike that, you know, altogether passingly<\/span> like that,
\nabsolutely in the superficial thought, nothing enters within and gets settled
\nin an inner <\/span><\/p>\n

\nPage – 200<\/font><\/span><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n
\n

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

understanding. That is why you cannot ask
\nquestions: it is because you don’t think…\u00a0\u00a0
\n<\/span>only words playing about…\u00a0 <\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/span><\/p>\n

Mother, one last question: Tomorrow we are having sports. So…\u00a0\u00a0 <\/span><\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

 <\/span><\/p>\n

Now, if we were to offer a fine little
\nsuperstitious prayer to ask that it does not rain! (Laughter) But you know, in
\nthe clouds, the wind, there are little entities. These entities belong to the
\nvital domain; they are not all wicked, they are often very mischievous. Most of
\nthe time they obey the laws of Nature of a much vaster and more general order,
\nbut some of these entities are half-independent and bring about local rain, e.
\nPerhaps (we said that they like prayers, these small entities), perhaps if we
\ntell them, \u201cI beg of you, be a little kind, tomorrow we have our opening, don’t
\nbe up to mischief, wait till the evening to send rain if you want to do so,
\ndon’t come and disturb our little session\u201d, perhaps this will have some effect!
\n<\/span><\/p>\n

Do you remember how when there was no
\nrain, people told us that if we prayed, we would bring rain? And what a good
\ntime we had one day trying that out \u2013 calling the rain \u2013 and it rained? It
\nreally rained afterwards. Well, that’s how it happens. This domain is that of
\nthe vital. <\/span><\/p>\n

Now say what you wanted to say! <\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/span><\/p>\n

Mother, especially on the day we have an event, we call you a lot. Then,
\nMother, isn’t it…\u00a0\u00a0 <\/span><\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

 <\/span><\/p>\n

Yes, yes, my children. <\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/span><\/p>\n

Mother, then it is not bad to call you in order to satisfy one’s own
\npurpose? <\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

 <\/span><\/p>\n

Own purpose? You are here for that. If you
\ncall me in order to do things as well as you can, there’s nothing wrong. But,
\nit
\n <\/span><\/p>\n

\nPage – 201<\/font><\/span><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n
\n

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

is true, you know, when I come back from
\nthere, at the end of the session, well, I am drained. I have to rest… It
\ndraws and draws, sometimes terribly… The performances we have on the 1st and
\n2nd of December or other events of this kind, draw, draw, draw… After a while
\nit is made up for again. It isn’t serious but it’s true that it draws. <\/span><\/p>\n

But I have no objection; on the contrary,
\nI myself tell you, \u201cMy children, if you are doing something difficult, call me,
\ncall me.\u201d No, not in order to come first or gain a victory, but so that nothing
\nunpleasant happen to you. Call me so that things may go as well as possible,
\nnot for showing off but for the joy of doing well. And you may also call in
\norder to do the thing as an offering, and then it becomes very good. <\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/span><\/p>\n

Sweet Mother, isn’t there another way of calling, rather than drawing? <\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

 <\/span><\/p>\n

Yes, my child, but that’s much more
\ndifficult. Yes, there is another way. There is a true way… it is more
\ndifficult. <\/span><\/p>\n

But this one is all right, I have nothing
\nto say against it, it is all right. I prefer this to having the experience,
\nwhen looking at people, of seeing a little black cloud turning around their
\nhead, of feeling that there’s going to be an accident, something that’s going
\nto happen, and trying to break through that to give protection, and finding
\nmyself before someone who is absolutely closed up, unconscious and persuaded
\nthat he alone is capable of protecting himself and… not being able to avoid
\nthe accident! That has happened! This is much more unpleasant for me. <\/span><\/p>\n

I prefer to be called…\u00a0 <\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

So, no rain tomorrow, yes! <\/span><\/p>\n

Au revoir.
\n <\/span><\/p>\n

\nPage – 202<\/font><\/span><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n


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

30 June 1954   This talk is based upon Sri Aurobindo’s Elements of Yoga, Chapter 14, \u201cSome Explanations\u201d.   \u201cQ: What is the place of…<\/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-4454","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\/4454","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=4454"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/worksofthemotherandsriaurobindo.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4454\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/worksofthemotherandsriaurobindo.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4454"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/worksofthemotherandsriaurobindo.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4454"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/worksofthemotherandsriaurobindo.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4454"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}