{"id":4462,"date":"2013-07-13T01:56:10","date_gmt":"2013-07-13T01:56:10","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/localhost\/?p=4462"},"modified":"2013-07-13T01:56:10","modified_gmt":"2013-07-13T01:56:10","slug":"21-29-july-1953-vol-05-questions-and-answers-volume-05","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/worksofthemotherandsriaurobindo.org\/index.php\/02-works-of-the-mother\/01-cwmce\/05-questions-and-answers-volume-05\/21-29-july-1953-vol-05-questions-and-answers-volume-05","title":{"rendered":"-21_29 July 1953.htm"},"content":{"rendered":"\n\n
\n
\n

\n29 July 1953 <\/font> <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

 <\/span><\/p>\n

Mother, you told us one day that all that
\nhappens to us has been decided in advance. What does that mean? <\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

 <\/span><\/p>\n

This is but
\na way of speaking. This happens because to express a thing I can\u2019t be saying all
\nthe words at the same time, can I? I am obliged to say them one after another.
\nOtherwise, if all the words were spoken at the same time, it would make a big
\nnoise and nobody would understand anything! Well, when you try to explain the
\nuniverse, you do as you would when you speak. You say one thing after another,
\nbut to tell the truth, you must say everything at one go. Now, how can that be
\ndone?.. Indeed, since you repeat it to me, it is very likely that I must have
\nsaid that somewhere I must have said the contrary also! But if you put it in
\nthis way, that everything that happens has been decided in advance, then with
\nthe consciousness of time that you have now, it is as if you said: yesterday it
\nwas decided what would happen today; and this year it is decided what will
\nhappen next year. It is in this way that the thing is translated in your
\nconsciousness – naturally, because it is thus that we see, think, understand
\nand above all speak and express ourselves. But it is not like that. <\/span><\/p>\n

There
\nare people who have perceived this unreality so strongly that they have felt
\nthere was no reason why they could not go back instead of going forward, for
\nbackward, forward, the present, everything that we express in this way exists
\nall at the same time. It is on different levels. If I tell you: \u201cWhat is
\nhappening to you had been decided in advance\u201d, I could also say: \u201cWhat is
\nhappening here, has already happened elsewhere\u201d, that would be equally true,
\nand equally false, because it is impossible to express this in words. <\/span><\/p>\n

I
\nam going to give you an example which perhaps will make 188you understand. I do
\nnot remember exactly when it happened;
\n <\/span><\/p>\n

\nPage \u2013 189<\/font><\/span><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n
\n

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

it must
\nhave been some time in the year 1920 probably (perhaps earlier, perhaps in
\n1914-1915, but I don\u2019t think so, it was some time in the year 1920). One day –
\nevery day I used to meditate with Sri Aurobindo: he used to sit on one side of
\na table and I on the other, on the veranda – and one day in this way, in
\nmeditation, I entered (how to put it?…\u00a0
\n<\/span>), I went up very high, entered very deep or came out of myself (well,
\nwhatever one may say does not express what happened, these are merely ways of
\nspeaking), I reached a place or a state of consciousness from which I told Sri
\nAurobindo just casually and quite simply: \u201cIndia is free.\u201d It was in 1920. Then
\nhe put to me a question: \u201cHow?\u201d And I answered him: \u201cWithout any fight, without
\na battle, without a revolution. The English themselves will leave, for the
\ncondition of the world will be such that they won\u2019t be able to do anything else
\nexcept go away.\u201d <\/span><\/p>\n

It
\nwas done. I spoke in the future when he asked me the question, but there where
\nI had seen, I said, India is free, it was a fact. Now, India was not free at
\nthat time: it was 1920. Yet it was there, it had been done. And it happened in
\n1947. That is to say, from the external physical point of view I saw it
\ntwenty-seven years in advance. But it had been done. <\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/span><\/p>\n

Could you see Pakistan? <\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

 <\/span><\/p>\n

No, for the
\nfreedom could have come about without Pakistan. Indeed, if they had listened to
\nSri Aurobindo there would have been no Pakistan. <\/span><\/p>\n

Well,
\nexternally it seems to take time, but in fact it is like that. <\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/span><\/p>\n

If you see some catastrophe coming, can
\nyou, Mother, by your effort change it? <\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

 <\/span><\/p>\n

That
\ndepends upon the nature of the event. There are many things That depends also
\nupon the level from which one sees.
\n <\/span><\/p>\n

\nPage \u2013 190<\/font><\/span><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n
\n

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

There is a
\nplane where there are all the possibilities, and on that level, as there are
\nall the possibilities, there is the possibility also of changing these
\npossibilities. If a catastrophe is foreseen in that plane, one can have the
\npower of preventing it also. In other cases, even though one is forewarned, one
\nhas no action upon the event. And yet there, it depends on the level from where
\none sees.<\/span><\/p>\n

A
\ncase of this kind was reported to me once where the very seeing of a thing
\nprevented it from happening. An American gentleman had arrived at one of those
\nbig American hotels where there are lifts (you do not go down a staircase, you
\ntake a lift to go up or come down); now, early in the morning just before
\ngetting up, he had a dream which he remembered well: he had seen a boy dressed
\nas a lift-boy and making the same movement a lift-boy makes directing you to
\nget in. He was there. And then, at the end of the movement, instead of a lift,
\nthere was a hearse! \u2013 that is to say, that kind of carriage.. oh! you must have
\nseen some here now and then, to carry the dead to the cemetery; when they are
\nnot burnt, they are carried on a bier with black draperies, etc. So there was
\nsuch a carriage, a hearse for carrying the dead. And the boy was signing to him
\nto get into the carriage. When he came out of his room, the boy was there with
\nthe lift to take him down: exactly the same boy, the same face, the same dress,
\nthe same gesture. He remembered the hearse – he did not get into the lift. He
\nsaid: \u201cNo, no!\u201d and he walked down. And before he reached the ground floor, he
\nheard a terrible noise and the lift had crashed down to the ground and all who
\nwere in it were killed. It was because of the dream that he had not got in, for
\nhe had understood. <\/span><\/p>\n

Therefore
\nin such a case when you have the vision, you can avert the catastrophe. <\/span><\/p>\n

There
\nare other cases, as I said, when you are simply forewarned. You are forewarned.
\nIn reality, it is to help you to prepare within for what must come, so that you
\nmay take the right inner attitude to face the event. It is like a lesson
\ntelling you:
\n <\/span><\/p>\n

\nPage \u2013 191<\/font><\/span><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n
\n

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

\u201dThis is
\nwhat it must teach you.\u201d You cannot change the thing, but you can change your
\nattitude and your inner reaction. Instead of having a bad reaction, a wrong
\nattitude towards the experience that occurs, you have a good reaction, a good
\nattitude, and you derive as much benefit as possible out of what has happened. <\/span><\/p>\n

In
\neither case, it depends absolutely on the plane on which you see. When you have
\ncontrol over your nights and are conscious of your sleep and your dreams or of
\nyour visions, you also see the difference between the two; you can distinguish
\nthe difference: what is given to you as a warning so that you may intervene and
\nwhat is given to you as an intimation so that you may take the right attitude
\ntowards what is going to happen. It is always a lesson, but it is not always
\nthe same lesson. At times you can act with your will; at times you must learn the
\ninner lesson which the incident is about to give you so that you may be ready
\nfor the event to have a fully favourable consequence. The same thing holds for
\neverything that you see, there are hundreds of different varieties of visions
\nand dreams and each one brings you the lesson it has to bring. <\/span><\/p>\n

For
\nexample, when people are taken ill or when they are caught in an accident.
\nWell, whether I see it myself or come to know of it from outside through
\nsomeone\u2019s telling me about it \u2013 In every case it is not the same. There are
\ncases when I am informed and I see that it is for intervening and I have the
\nfull power to change the consequence, that is, to cure the sick person. There
\nare cases where I see I am not to intervene. For instance, it is time for the
\nperson to leave his body: he will leave the body. But knowing this, I must do
\nfor the person and for those around him what has to be done for the event to
\nhave the maximum beneficial effect or the minimum adverse effect it depends on
\nthe circumstances. <\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/span><\/p>\n

There are
\nevents appertaining to a universal necessity and those one cannot change. There
\nare events still in the balance which can be decided either way. The whole
\nthing is to have a
\n <\/span><\/p>\n

\nPage \u2013 192<\/font><\/span><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n
\n

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

perception
\nthat\u2019s not only clear-sighted but also quite impartial and impersonal, without
\neven the shadow of a shadow of preference. Then, when one is in that perfect
\nstate – it can\u2019t be said, of neutrality, it is not neutrality: it is a state of
\nconsciousness which is immobile like a mirror – then one can see within it the
\nquality of the thing that\u2019s happening, one can see the things that have been
\ndecided so that they cannot be altered and those that are still in the balance
\nand can be changed. <\/span><\/p>\n

To
\ntell the truth, for each event the situation is different. There are some that
\ncan be changed completely, reversed altogether; there are some that are capable
\nof undergoing quite a considerable change; there are others that can suffer
\nonly a slight modification \u2013 a slight modification but one that has a
\nconsiderable consequence; and there are some that are inevitable; they are so
\nbecause they are so; if you tried to oppose, you would break your head against
\na wall and that would serve no purpose. The whole thing is to have this
\nperspicacity, know to which domain the event belongs and not will any other
\nthing than what must be. <\/span><\/p>\n

I
\ncould give hundreds of instances of different cases. <\/span><\/p>\n

A
\nthing seems to have been completely determined: it is going to be so. But you
\nhave within you a will that surges up, a flame that is kindled, a great
\naspiration that is in harmony with a higher Will and you force it upon the
\nevent. And then a kind of combination takes place: what had to happen will
\nhappen, but along with something else which comes at the same time and changes
\nthe nature of the former. For events of importance to the earth, this happens
\nvery often. For example, when an entire set of movements, circumstances,
\ncombinations of forces bring about an absolute necessity of war, one can, by
\ncalling in another force, change the extent and the consequences, and sometimes
\neven the nature of the war, but one is not able to avert it. I could give you
\nexamples of this kind, of a very general nature. <\/span><\/p>\n

I
\ntold you the other day with regard to the \u201cspirit\u201d
\n <\/span><\/p>\n

\nPage \u2013 193<\/font><\/span><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n
\n

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

of death, what
\ncan be done, through an inner action, to prevent Death from coming to someone\u2019s
\nhouse; but then it goes to another\u2019s. You cannot deprive Death of what is its
\ndue. I have explained this to you. There are other cases where one might say in
\na somewhat childish way: \u201cDeath was not yet informed\u201d, and so you can take away
\nfrom it its booty without any consequences. But that does not always happen.
\nThere are cases when one does that. But put in this way it sounds childish like
\na fairy tale. Yet, it corresponds to something in the setting of the
\ncircumstances: it depends on the way the circumstances move. <\/span><\/p>\n

What
\nI would like to bring home to you is that the problem is extremely complicated
\nand subtle, and that at times the direction of the movement can be altered a
\nlittle; at other times, the movement can be reversed; and at still others just
\nthe consequences and the inner attitude with regard to the movement alone can
\nbe changed. And naturally men see all these things in a too simplified way and
\ntranslate all this by their prayer to God: they say, in one case, \u201cGod has
\ngiven me what I asked from him\u201d, in another case, \u201cHe has refused me.\u201d And so,
\nthat\u2019s that. That is how they understand and it is sheer stupidity. To know how
\nit happens, you must have a general, collective consciousness, at least as wide
\nas the earth. That is the minimum. To understand truly one must have a
\nuniversal consciousness. Then you can understand. For, I have said it somewhere
\nin what I was reading today; I have said that all things are interdependent and
\nthere is neither any \u201cbeginning\u201d nor any \u201cend\u201d. Where do you put the
\nbeginning?\u201d<\/span>\u00b9<\/span>
\nTo understand that, you have to go beyond the earth-bound consciousness, you
\nhave to enter a universal consciousness. Then you will be able to understand.<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/span><\/p>\n

\n\u00b9<\/font><\/span> If you look from one plane of
\nconsciousness, the individual will appear to you as if he were not only an
\ninstrument and recorder, but a creator. But look from another and higher plane
\nof consciousness with a wider view of things and you will see that this is only
\nan appearance. In the workings of the universe whatever happens is the result
\nof all that has happened before. How do you propose to separate one being from
\nthe integral play of the manifestation or one movement from the whole mass of
\nmovements? Where are you going to put the origin of a thing or its beginning?
\nThe whole play is a rigidly connected chain; one link merges imperceptibly into
\nanother. Nothing can be taken out of the chain and explained by itself as if it
\nwere its own source and beginning.\u201d<\/font><\/span><\/p>\n


\nQuestions and Answers 1929 (26 May) ..<\/font><\/span><\/i> <\/font><\/span><\/p>\n

\nPage \u2013 194<\/font><\/span><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n
\n

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

But we are
\ncompelled \u2013 I am repeating what I said at the beginning – we are compelled to
\nsay things one after another. We say: \u201cWhen the universe began.. When the
\ncreation began.. it begins in that way This happened and then that happened and
\nthen this took place and then that took place….\u00a0 <\/span>\u201c We say one thing after another, and to say
\nthe truth, it is not really like that at all! From a certain point of view, it
\nis foolishness, but we cannot do otherwise. I cannot say all the words at the
\nsame time. So it is the state of our consciousness and the means at our
\ndisposal for expressing ourselves which make us say things that are stupid from
\nthe point of view of the absolute knowledge. But it is an approximation. Our
\nstupidity is an approximation and becomes less stupid when we become aware that
\nit happens only because we cannot express ourselves otherwise. We are obliged
\nto say things in succession, but they are a single whole.<\/span><\/p>\n

And
\nfor most people it is not merely a question of saying but of knowing. They know
\nthings only one after another, feel them still more thus, live them yet more
\nso. But there is a consciousness in which one knows all at the same time,
\nunderstands all at the same time, can express all at the same time and can live
\nwholly at the same time. But how to do it? Here it is not like that!<\/span><\/p>\n

And
\nso, you see, what one tries to do is to bring the two modes of consciousness as
\nnear each other as one is able to, so that even while living externally in the
\nway we are compelled to do (because the physical world is like that and our
\nphysical consciousness is like that), we may be able at the same time to join
\nthe other Consciousness so closely that while doing things according to the
\nmaterial law and in the material way, in our consciousness we may not lose
\nsight of the fact that it is only an approximation, a translation, and that it
\nis not the Thing itself. <\/span><\/p>\n

\nPage \u2013 195<\/font><\/span><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n
\n

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

Mother, I do not understand the question
\nput here: \u201cIf our will is only an expression or echo of the universal Will,
\nwhere is the place of individual initiative? Is the individual only an
\ninstrument to register universal movements? Has he no power of creation or
\norigination?\u201d <\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Questions and Answers 1929 (26 May)
\n<\/font> <\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

 <\/span><\/p>\n

Ah! Nor do I.
\nWhen these questions were put to me, I had the utmost difficulty in answering
\nthem, for they were altogether outside my understanding of things. Here
\nprecisely, when I read the question, I felt like telling you: \u201cI am very sorry,
\nbut the person who put the question had a terribly confused thought and
\nconsciousness, she was mixing up everything.\u201d For there are three things mixed
\nup here. <\/span><\/p>\n

First
\nof all, I do not know who told her that our will is only an expression or echo
\nof the universal Will Perhaps I had said somewhere before that there is only
\none Will and it is translated or rather deformed in the individual
\nconsciousness and this Will is taken as one\u2019s own will. I must have said
\nsomething like that, and that our will becomes truly our own will by the fact
\nthat it separates itself from the initial universal Will and it is so deformed
\nthat it no longer resembles that Will at all. So, it must be that which worked
\nin her head and she asked whether our will was only the expression or echo of
\nthe universal Will.<\/span><\/p>\n

What
\nplace does there remain then for individual initiative.. that is to say, what
\ncan the individual do? Can he say, \u201cIt is I who have decided? It is I, I have
\ndecided that?\u201d Then the second question; but here I do not understand at all:
\n\u201cIs the individual merely an instrument for recording universal movements?\u201d
\nWhat does that mean? I do not understand quite well what was meant by that. An
\ninstrument for recording? A gramophone, probably, yes, for recording universal
\nmovements
\n <\/span><\/p>\n

\nPage \u2013 196<\/font><\/span><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n
\n

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

There are
\nvery few people who are capable of recording universal movements, to start
\nwith. Generally, they record only the movements of their small surrounding,
\nthemselves and what\u2019s around them. And then, a third idea is added to that:
\n\u201cHas he no power of creation?\u201d This is yet another thing. But I answered
\n(perhaps at that time I understood better what she meant than I do now!), I
\nanswered, for I speak of the three things in the text that follows. I said that
\nonly when the individual rises in his consciousness up to the highest
\nConsciousness which is the origin of all things, where is the origin of all
\nthings, can he become a creator. That is to say, if he is identified with the
\ncreative Consciousness, he is naturally and he becomes the creative
\nConsciousness. If he identifies himself, he is identified.\u201d<\/span>\u00b9<\/span> <\/span><\/p>\n

So,
\nwhat was it that was troubling you in the question? What did you not
\nunderstand? <\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/span><\/p>\n

The whole question. <\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

 <\/span><\/p>\n

The whole
\nquestion? And now, do you understand?.. Not quite? I told you that you did not
\nunderstand because it was muddled up; in one question three different ideas
\nwere included. So naturally it created a confusion. But taken separately they
\nare what I explained to you just now, most probably; that is to say, one has
\nthis altogether ignorant and obliterated consciousness and is convinced that he
\nis the cause and effect, the origin and result of himself, separate from all
\nothers, separate with a limited power to act upon others and a little greater
\ncapacity to be set in movement by others or to react to others\u2019 influence. That
\nis how people think usually, something like that, isn\u2019t that so? How do you
\nfeel, you? What effect do you have upon yourself? And you? And you?..<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/span><\/p>\n

\n\u00b9<\/font><\/span>If a being were able to create in that
\nway a thought or feeling or action or anything else, he would be the creator of
\nthe world He can initiate a movement only by identifying himself with the
\nconscious Power which is the ultimate source of all movements.\u201d<\/font><\/span><\/p>\n


\n\u00a0<\/font><\/span>Questions and Answers 1929 (26
\nMay)<\/font><\/span><\/i> <\/font><\/span><\/p>\n

\nPage \u2013 197<\/font><\/span><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n
\n

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

You
\nhave never thought about it? You have never looked into yourself to see what
\neffect you exercise upon yourself? Never thought over it? No? How do you feel?
\nNobody will tell me? Come, you tell me that. Never tried to understand how you
\nfeel? Yes? No? How strange! Never sought to understand how, for example,
\ndecisions take place in you? From where do they come? What makes you decide one
\nthing rather than another? And what is the relation between a decision of yours
\nand your action? And to what extent do you have the freedom of choice between
\none thing and another? And how far do you feel you are able to, you are free to
\ndo this or that or that other or nothing at all?.. You have pondered over that?
\nYes? Is there any one among the students who has thought over it? No? Nobody
\nput the question to himself? You? You?.. <\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/span><\/p>\n

Even if one thinks over it, perhaps one is
\nnot able to answer! <\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

 <\/span><\/p>\n

One cannot
\nexplain? <\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/span><\/p>\n

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

 <\/span><\/p>\n

It is
\ndifficult to explain? Even this simple little thing, to see where in your consciousness
\nthe wills that come from outside meet your will (which you call yours, which
\ncomes from within), at what place the two join together and to what extent the
\none from outside acts upon that from within and the one from within acts upon
\nthat from outside? You have never tried to find this out? It has never seemed
\nto you unbearable that a will from outside should have an action upon your
\nwill? No? <\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/span><\/p>\n

I do not know. <\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

 <\/span><\/p>\n

Oh! I am
\nputting very difficult problems! But, my children, I was preoccupied with that
\nwhen I was a child of five!.. So I
\n <\/span><\/p>\n

\nPage \u2013 198<\/font><\/span><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n
\n

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

thought you
\nmust have been preoccupied with it since a long time.<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/span><\/p>\n

In oneself, there are contradictory wills.
\n<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

 <\/span><\/p>\n

Yes, many.
\nThat is one of the very first discoveries. There is one part which wants things
\nthis way; and then at another moment, another way, and a third time, one wants
\nstill another thing! Besides, there is even this: something that wants and
\nanother which says no. So? But it is exactly that which has to be found if you
\nwish in the least to organise yourself. Why not project yourself upon a screen,
\nas in the cinema, and then look at yourself moving on it? How interesting it
\nis! <\/span><\/p>\n

This
\nis the first step.<\/span><\/p>\n

You
\nproject yourself on the screen and then observe and see all that is moving
\nthere and how it moves and what happens. You make a little diagram, it becomes
\nso interesting then. And then, after a while, when you are quite accustomed to
\nseeing, you can go one step further and take a decision. Or even a still
\ngreater step: you organise \u2013 arrange, take up all that, put each thing in its
\nplace, organise in such a way that you begin to have a straight movement with
\nan inner meaning. And then you become conscious of your direction and are able
\nto say: \u201cVery well, it will be thus; my life will develop in that way, because
\nthat is the logic of my being. Now, I have arranged all that within me, each
\nthing has been put in its place, and so naturally a central orientation is
\nforming. I am following this orientation. One step more and I know what will happen
\nto me for I myself am deciding it….\u00a0 <\/span>\u201cI
\ndo not know, I am telling you this; to me it seemed terribly interesting, the
\nmost interesting thing in the world. There was nothing, no other thing that
\ninterested me more than that.<\/span><\/p>\n

This
\nhappened to me I was five or six or seven years old (at seven the thing became
\nquite serious) and I had a father who loved the circus, and he came and told
\nme: \u201cCome with me,
\n <\/span><\/p>\n

\nPage \u2013 199<\/font><\/span><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n
\n

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

I am going
\nto the circus on Sunday.\u201d I said: \u201cNo, I am doing something much more interesting
\nthan going to the circus!\u201d Or again, young friends invited me to attend a
\nmeeting where we were to play together, enjoy together: \u201cNo, I enjoy here much
\nmore…. \u201cAnd it was quite sincere. It was not a pose: for me, it was like
\nthis, it was true. There was nothing in the world more enjoyable than that. <\/span><\/p>\n

And
\nI am so convinced that anybody who does it in that way, with the same freshness
\nand sincerity, will obtain most interesting results To put all that on a screen
\nin front of yourself and look at what is happening. And the first step is to
\nknow all that is happening and then you must not try to shut your eyes when
\nsomething does not appear pleasant to you! You must keep them wide open and put
\neach thing in that way before the screen. Then you make quite an interesting
\ndiscovery. And then the next step is to start telling yourself: \u201cSince all that
\nis happening within me, why should I not put this thing in this way and then
\nthat thing in that way and then this other in this way and thus wouldn\u2019t I be
\ndoing something logical that has a meaning? Why should I not remove that thing
\nwhich stands obstructing the way, these conflicting wills? Why? And what does
\nthat represent in the being? Why is it there? If it were put there, would it
\nnot help instead of harming me?\u201d And so on. <\/span><\/p>\n

And
\nlittle by little, little by little, you see clearer and then you see why you
\nare made like that, what is the thing you have got to do – that for which you
\nare born. And then, quite naturally, since all is organised for this thing to
\nhappen, the path becomes straight and you can say beforehand: \u201cIt is in this
\nway that it will happen.\u201d And when things come from outside to try and upset
\nall that, you are able to say: \u201cNo, I accept this, for it helps; I reject that,
\nfor that harms.\u201d And then, after a few years, you curb yourself as you curb a
\nhorse: you do whatever you like, in the way you like and you go wherever you
\nlike. <\/span><\/p>\n

It
\nseems to me this is worth the trouble. I believe it is the most interesting
\nthing. <\/span><\/p>\n

\nPage \u2013 200<\/font><\/span><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n
\n

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

Mother, what is this little screen? <\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

 <\/span><\/p>\n

This
\nscreen? It is the psychic consciousness. <\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/span><\/p>\n

And this play?\u201d<\/span><\/i>\u00b9<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/span><\/p>\n

Play? It is
\nthe play of the central consciousness. It is precisely the consciousness that
\nis at the origin of the psychic being. And then there you have to take only a
\ntiny step to find out how this psychic consciousness should reflect and
\ntranslate the one supreme Consciousness. And there the matter ends. This last
\nstep becomes very easy. <\/span><\/p>\n

But
\nit is the secret that\u2019s discovered at the end. And when it is discovered, there
\nis no more fighting, for the battle has already been fought and everything
\narranged; so it is in one single movement and in a way as simple, as natural
\nand as straight as possible that the thing happens, without any reaction. <\/span><\/p>\n

I
\nthink that is what the sages of the past meant when they said: \u201cKnow thyself.\u201d
\nNot anything else. But then, instead of going in there as if with a bandage on
\nyour eyes, and knocking your nose or forehead against something hard to find
\nout that it is hard or that it is a wall or a closed door or an obstruction or
\nsome bad will; instead of all that, there is no need of years of experience and
\nall kinds of misfortune and more or less unpleasant circumstances, in order to
\nlearn to know oneself: you do the work quietly, as I said. <\/span><\/p>\n

When
\nI did that, there was no cinema, so I could not compare what I was doing with
\nthe cinema \u2013 it was not yet there, <\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/span><\/p>\n

\n\u00b9<\/font><\/span> \u201cIn the universal play there are some,
\nthe majority, who are ignorant instruments; they are actors who are moved about
\nlike puppets, knowing nothing. There are others who are conscious, and these
\nact their part, knowing that it is a play. And there are some who have the full
\nknowledge of the universal movement and are identified with it and with the one
\nDivine Consciousness and yet consent to act as though they were something
\nseparate, a division of the whole. There are many intermediary stages between
\nthat ignorance and this full knowledge, many ways of participating in the
\nplay.\u201d <\/font> <\/span><\/p>\n


\nQuestions and Answers 1929 (26 May)<\/font> <\/font><\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

\nPage \u2013 2 01<\/font><\/span><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n
\n

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

but it is
\nexactly like projecting on the screen what is inside, objectifying it. And a
\nscreen that\u2019s all white, quite smooth, that does not deform. If the screen were
\nnot quite smooth and very white, your image would be all hazy, you would not be
\nable to see anything. Well, it is the same thing. The screen must be very
\nwhite, quite smooth, quite clean, quite pure. Then one sees things as they are.
\n<\/span><\/p>\n

You
\nmust have a great deal of sincerity, a little courage and perseverance and then
\na sort of mental curiosity, you understand, curious, seeking to know,
\ninterested, wanting to learn. To love to learn: that, one must have in one\u2019s
\nnature. To find it impossible to stand before something grey, all hazy, in
\nwhich nothing is seen clearly and which gives you quite an unpleasant feeling,
\nfor you do not know where you begin and where you end, what is yours and what
\nis not yours and what is settled and what is not settled \u2013 what is this
\npulp-like thing you call yourself in which things get intermingled and act upon
\none another without even your being aware of it? You ask yourself: \u201cBut why
\nhave I done this?\u201d You know nothing about it. \u201cAnd why have I felt that?\u201d You
\ndon\u2019t know that, either. And then, you are thrown into a world outside that is
\nonly fog and you are thrown into a world inside that is also for you another
\nkind of fog, still more impenetrable, in which you live, like a cork thrown
\nupon the waters and the waves carry it away or cast it into the air, and it
\ndrops and rolls on. That is quite an unpleasant state. I do not know, but to me
\nit appears unpleasant. <\/span><\/p>\n

To
\nsee clearly, to see one\u2019s way, where one is going, why one is going there, how
\none is to go there and what one is going to do and what is the kind of relation
\nwith others.. But that is a problem so wonderfully interesting – it is
\ninteresting – and you can always discover things every minute! One\u2019s work is
\nnever finished. <\/span><\/p>\n

There
\nis a time, there is a certain state of consciousness when you have the feeling
\nthat you are in that condition with all the weight of the world lying heavy
\nupon you and besides you are
\n <\/span><\/p>\n

\nPage \u2013 202<\/font><\/span><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n
\n

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

going in
\nblinkers and do not know where you are going, but there is something which is
\npushing you. And that is truly a very unpleasant condition. And there is
\nanother moment when one draws oneself up and is able to see what is there
\nabove, and one becomes it; then one looks at the world as though from the top
\nof a very very high mountain and one sees all that is happening below; then one
\ncan choose one\u2019s way and follow it. That is a more pleasant condition. This
\nthen is truly the truth, you are upon earth for<\/i>
\nthat<\/i>, surely. All individual beings
\nand all the little concentrations of consciousness were created to do this work.
\nIt is the very reason for existence: to be able to become fully conscious of a
\ncertain sum of vibrations representing an individual being and put order there
\nand find one\u2019s way and follow the way. <\/span><\/p>\n

And
\nso, as men do not know it and do not do it, life comes and gives them a blow
\nhere: \u201cOh! that hurts\u201d, then a blow there: \u201cAh! that\u2019s hurting me.\u201d And the
\nthing goes on like that and all the time it is like that. And all the time they
\nare getting pain somewhere. They suffer, they cry, they groan. But it is simply
\ndue to that reason, there is no other: it is that they have not done that
\nlittle work. If, when they were quite young, there had been someone to teach
\nthem to do the work and they had done it without losing time, they could have
\ngone through life gloriously and instead of suffering they would have been
\nall-powerful masters of their destiny. <\/span><\/p>\n

This
\nis not to say that necessarily all things would become pleasant. It is not at
\nall that. But your reaction towards things becomes the true reaction and instead
\nof suffering, you learn; instead of being miserable, you go forward and
\nprogress. <\/span><\/p>\n

After
\nall, I believe it is for this that you are here \u2013 so that there is someone who
\ncan tell you: \u201cThere, well, try that. It is worth trying.\u201d Indeed, this should
\nbe said when children are quite young. For unless it be awakened in their
\nconsciousness, they won\u2019t understand. Yet it can be done even with a very young
\nbrain, for at five one doesn\u2019t have a very big brain; <\/span><\/p>\n

\nPage \u2013 203<\/font><\/span><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n
\n

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

you have
\nparticularly the feeling that there are gaps, that many things should be known
\nbut are not known. The brain has not yet been formed. There is the
\nconsciousness there, fully conscious, luminous, clear-sighted, all is there;
\nbut there are gaps, and when one tries to draw anything out of it, it does not
\ncome through. That is what happens when one is quite young. But if one
\ncontinues little by little, little by little, the ideas are organised as they
\ncome, and instead of being a chaos which must be put into order afterwards, it
\ngets organised as it takes shape. It is a great advantage. <\/span><\/p>\n

Anyway,
\nyou are all still very young. You can try. Try for five minutes every day \u2013 not
\nmore \u2013 looking at yourself, seeing what happens there, within. It is so
\ninteresting! <\/span><\/p>\n

\nPage \u2013 204<\/font><\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/table>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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