{"id":4464,"date":"2013-07-13T01:56:11","date_gmt":"2013-07-13T01:56:11","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/localhost\/?p=4464"},"modified":"2013-07-13T01:56:11","modified_gmt":"2013-07-13T01:56:11","slug":"33-21-october-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\/33-21-october-1953-vol-05-questions-and-answers-volume-05","title":{"rendered":"-33_21 October 1953.htm"},"content":{"rendered":"<table border=\"0\" cellpadding=\"6\" style=\"border-collapse: collapse\" width=\"100%\">\n<tr>\n<td>\n<div class=\"Section1\">\n<p class=\"MsoNormal\" style=\"line-height: 150%;margin: 0\"><b><span lang=\"EN-GB\">&nbsp;<\/span><\/b><span lang=\"EN-GB\"><b><font size=\"3\">21 October 1953 <\/font><\/b> <\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"MsoNormal\" style='margin:0;text-align:justify;line-height:150%'><span lang=\"EN-GB\">&nbsp;<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"MsoNormal\" style='margin:0;text-align:justify;text-indent:.5in;line-height:150%'><i><span lang=\"EN-GB\">When a true artist concentrates and sees<br \/>\nthe Divine in himself, can he use art to express the Divine? <\/span><\/i><\/p>\n<p class=\"MsoNormal\" style='margin:0;text-align:justify;line-height:150%'><span lang=\"EN-GB\">&nbsp;<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"MsoNormal\" style='margin:0;text-align:justify;line-height:150%'><span lang=\"EN-GB\">And why<br \/>\nnot? Whom do you call an artist, first of all? A painter, a sculptor \u2013 Is that<br \/>\nall? What else? What meaning do you give to the word \u201cartist\u201d? Of whom do you<br \/>\nthink when you speak of an artist? Of a painter or a sculptor? <\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"MsoNormal\" style='margin:0;text-align:justify;line-height:150%'><span lang=\"EN-GB\">&nbsp;<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"MsoNormal\" style='margin:0;text-align:justify;text-indent:.5in;line-height:150%'><i><span lang=\"EN-GB\">Someone who can draw. <\/span><\/i><\/p>\n<p class=\"MsoNormal\" style='margin:0;text-align:justify;line-height:150%'><span lang=\"EN-GB\">&nbsp;<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"MsoNormal\" style='margin:0;text-align:justify;line-height:150%'><span lang=\"EN-GB\">Yes, a<br \/>\npainter, someone who can draw, it is the same thing. Of a painter, a sculptor,<br \/>\nthat\u2019s all? Painter and sculptor? Not of a musician or a writer or.. I am<br \/>\nasking you because the answer would be different according to the instances <\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"MsoNormal\" style='margin:0;text-align:justify;line-height:150%'><span lang=\"EN-GB\">&nbsp;<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"MsoNormal\" style='margin:0;text-align:justify;text-indent:.5in;line-height:150%'><i><span lang=\"EN-GB\">I had thought of someone who can draw. <\/span><\/i><\/p>\n<p class=\"MsoNormal\" style='margin:0;text-align:justify;line-height:150%'><span lang=\"EN-GB\">&nbsp;<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"MsoNormal\" style='margin:0;text-align:justify;line-height:150%'><span lang=\"EN-GB\">For<br \/>\ninstance, there were in the Middle Ages &#8211; there still are today, but they were<br \/>\nalready there in the Middle Ages men who made stained-glass windows, designs with<br \/>\npieces of coloured glass and in various forms. In the churches, in cathedrals,<br \/>\nthere were always stained-glass windows. Instead of ordinary windows, there<br \/>\nwere these coloured panes which made designs. It is a wonderful material, for<br \/>\nthere is the sun behind (in any case the full light), and these glasses were<br \/>\ntransparent; so they gave out a colour which was as though self-luminous, and<br \/>\nthese men made designs, made pictures with these coloured glasses cut out, you<br \/>\nknow, in special forms and painted in different colours. And that indeed was<br \/>\nart. In all the cathedrals, the big churches, there were stained-glass windows;<br \/>\nsome of them were quite marvellous. And they expressed, for instance, the life<br \/>\nof a saint or scenes from the life of Christ or\u2026 all kinds of things like that.<br \/>\n&nbsp;<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"MsoNormal\" align=\"center\" style='margin:0;text-align:center;line-height:150%'>\n<span lang=\"EN-GB\"><font size=\"3\">Page \u2013 321<\/font><\/span><\/p>\n<div class=\"MsoNormal\" align=\"center\" style='text-align:center'><span lang=\"EN-GB\" style='font-size:10.0pt;color:blue'><\/p>\n<hr size=\"2\" width=\"100%\" align=\"center\">\n<p><\/span><\/div>\n<p class=\"MsoNormal\" style='margin:0;text-align:justify;line-height:150%'><span lang=\"EN-GB\">So, what is<br \/>\nyour question? Put it clearly. <\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"MsoNormal\" style='margin:0;text-align:justify;line-height:150%'><span lang=\"EN-GB\">&nbsp;<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"MsoNormal\" style='margin:0;text-align:justify;text-indent:.5in;line-height:150%'><i><span lang=\"EN-GB\">Whether one can express the Divine<br \/>\nhimself.. <\/span><\/i><\/p>\n<p class=\"MsoNormal\" style='margin:0;text-align:justify;line-height:150%'><span lang=\"EN-GB\">&nbsp;<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"MsoNormal\" style='margin:0;text-align:justify;line-height:150%'><span lang=\"EN-GB\">Whether one<br \/>\ncan express the Divine himself in art? But in what can one express Him? I mean,<br \/>\nwhat exactly do you call \u201cexpressing the Divine\u201d? In words? In teachings? In<br \/>\nbooks, finally? Or how else? Who has expressed the Divine completely in the<br \/>\nmaterial world?.. It is only when the material world is transformed that it<br \/>\nwill be possible to express the Divine in his purity. And I don\u2019t see what<br \/>\ndifference there can be between art and any other activity. It is something<br \/>\nwhich has the capacity to become fused, but not entirely, and it remains (how<br \/>\nto put it?) an instrument for giving a form. And I don\u2019t see what difference<br \/>\nthis makes, whatever may be the form. If one can express the Divine with words,<br \/>\none can express Him with colours, express Him with sounds, express Him with<br \/>\nforms. But in none of these instances is the expression perfect, for the union<br \/>\nis not perfect. But when the world is transformed and the Divine is able to<br \/>\nmanifest Himself without being deformed, the expression will be perfect. But<br \/>\nfor the moment all expressions are on the same plane. None of them is better<br \/>\nthan any other. One mode of expression (I mean in itself) is not better than<br \/>\nanother. There is always <i>something<\/i> of<br \/>\nthe human personality, the being in form, which is there to give a limitation<br \/>\nor deformation to what has to be expressed. <\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"MsoNormal\" style='margin:0;text-align:justify;text-indent:.25in;line-height:150%'><span lang=\"EN-GB\">Art<br \/>\nis just one activity like all others. Truly speaking, I was too polite to tell<br \/>\nthat lady <\/span><span lang=\"EN-GB\" style='font-family:\"Lucida Console\"'>\u00b9<\/span><span lang=\"EN-GB\"><br \/>\nthis, but I thought: \u201cWhy do you make distinctions like that, all this is the<br \/>\nsame thing.\u201d Do you catch what I mean?<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"MsoNormal\" style='margin:0;text-align:justify;line-height:150%'><span lang=\"EN-GB\">&nbsp;<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"MsoNormal\" style='margin:0;text-align:justify;text-indent:.5in;line-height:150%'><i><span lang=\"EN-GB\">When one is identified with the Divine,<br \/>\ndoes one see Him in the form one thinks He has? <\/span><\/i><\/p>\n<p class=\"MsoNormal\" style='margin:0;text-align:justify;line-height:150%'><u><span lang=\"EN-GB\"><span style='text-decoration:none'>&nbsp;<\/span><\/span><\/u><\/p>\n<p class=\"MsoNormal\" style='margin:0;text-align:justify;text-indent:.25in;line-height:150%'><span lang=\"EN-GB\" style='font-family:\"Lucida Console\"'><font size=\"2\">\u00b9<\/font><\/span><span lang=\"EN-GB\"><font size=\"2\"> <\/font> <\/span><br \/>\n<span lang=\"EN-GB\"><font size=\"2\">The one who asked the question in the conversation of<br \/>\n28 July: see Questions and Answers 1929.<\/font><span><font size=\"2\">\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<br \/>\n<\/font> <\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"MsoNormal\" style='margin:0;text-align:center;line-height:150%'><span lang=\"EN-GB\">&nbsp;&nbsp;<\/span><span lang=\"EN-GB\"><font size=\"3\">Page \u2013 322<\/font><\/span><\/p>\n<div class=\"MsoNormal\" align=\"center\" style='text-align:center'><span lang=\"EN-GB\" style='font-size:10.0pt;color:blue'><\/p>\n<hr size=\"2\" width=\"100%\" align=\"center\">\n<p><\/span><\/div>\n<p class=\"MsoNormal\" style='margin:0;text-align:justify;line-height:150%'><span lang=\"EN-GB\">Usually. It<br \/>\nis very rare &#8211; unless one is able to get rid of one\u2019s mental formation<br \/>\ncompletely &#8211; it is very rare to see Him quite objectively. Besides, Sri<br \/>\nAurobindo always used to say that the relation with the Divine depended on what<br \/>\none wanted it to be. Everyone aspires for a particular form of relation, and<br \/>\nfor him the relation takes that form. <\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"MsoNormal\" style='margin:0;text-align:justify;line-height:150%'><span lang=\"EN-GB\">&nbsp;<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"MsoNormal\" style='margin:0;text-align:justify;text-indent:.5in;line-height:150%'><span lang=\"EN-GB\">Then,<br \/>\nwhat is it in truth? <\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"MsoNormal\" style='margin:0;text-align:justify;line-height:150%'><span lang=\"EN-GB\">&nbsp;<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"MsoNormal\" style='margin:0;text-align:justify;line-height:150%'><span lang=\"EN-GB\">Probably something<br \/>\nthat escapes form totally &#8211; or that can take all forms. There is no limitation<br \/>\nto the expression of the Divine. He can express Himself without form and He can<br \/>\nexpress Himself in all forms. And He expresses Himself in everyone according to<br \/>\neach one\u2019s need. For even if somebody succeeds in becoming sufficiently<br \/>\nimpersonal so as to identify himself completely with the Divine, at that moment<br \/>\nhe will not be able to express it. And as soon as he is in a condition to<br \/>\nexpress it, there will be something of the limited personality intervening and<br \/>\nthrough this the experience has to pass. The moment of the experience is one<br \/>\nthing and the expression of this experience is another. It may be simultaneous:<br \/>\nthere are people who while having the experience express what they feel in some<br \/>\nform or other. Then it is simultaneous. But that does not prevent that which<br \/>\nhas the experience in its purity and that which expresses it from being two<br \/>\nfairly different modes of being. And this difference is enough for one to be able<br \/>\nto say in truth that it is impossible to know the Divine unless one becomes the<br \/>\nDivine. <\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"MsoNormal\" style='margin:0;text-align:justify;text-indent:.25in;line-height:150%'><span lang=\"EN-GB\">As<br \/>\nfor expressing Him, there is always a shifting; it always causes something like<br \/>\nthis (gesture of changing levels), whatever the mode of expression. <\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"MsoNormal\" style='margin:0;text-align:justify;text-indent:.25in;line-height:150%'><span lang=\"EN-GB\">There<br \/>\nremains only one field in which the experience has not been totally achieved,<br \/>\nthat is the purely material field. And there, it may be asked if truly, when<br \/>\nthe divine Consciousness descends into the body, the transformations will not<br \/>\nbe sufficient <\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"MsoNormal\" align=\"center\" style='margin:0;text-align:center;line-height:150%'>\n<span lang=\"EN-GB\"><font size=\"3\">Page \u2013 323<\/font><\/span><\/p>\n<div class=\"MsoNormal\" align=\"center\" style='text-align:center'><span lang=\"EN-GB\" style='font-size:10.0pt;color:blue'><\/p>\n<hr size=\"2\" width=\"100%\" align=\"center\">\n<p><\/span><\/div>\n<p class=\"MsoNormal\" style='margin:0;text-align:justify;line-height:150%'><span lang=\"EN-GB\">for there<br \/>\nto be a possibility of integral expression But that is yet to come; it has not<br \/>\nyet been done. And so long as it is not done, one cannot know. For even in the<br \/>\nhighest mental expression there is something which intervenes, due to the<br \/>\nphysical body. For the inspiration to come right down to the paper, for<br \/>\ninstance, well, despite everything, it must pass through very material<br \/>\nvibrations which may change it. But if these very vibrations are transformed,<br \/>\nthen in that case it is possible that the outer expression is absolutely<br \/>\nidentical with the inner; that is, the corporeal manifestation truly becomes a<br \/>\nmanifestation of the divine essence. <\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"MsoNormal\" style='margin:0;text-align:justify;text-indent:.25in;line-height:150%'><span lang=\"EN-GB\">Is<br \/>\nthat all? <\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"MsoNormal\" style='margin:0;text-align:justify;line-height:150%'><span lang=\"EN-GB\">&nbsp;<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"MsoNormal\" style='margin:0;text-align:justify;text-indent:.5in;line-height:150%'><i><span lang=\"EN-GB\">Aren\u2019t the incidents of the Mahabharata<br \/>\nand the Ramayana true? <\/span><\/i><\/p>\n<p class=\"MsoNormal\" style='margin:0;text-align:justify;line-height:150%'><span lang=\"EN-GB\">&nbsp;<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"MsoNormal\" style='margin:0;text-align:justify;line-height:150%'><span lang=\"EN-GB\">True, in<br \/>\nwhat sense? Whether it all really happened on earth like that? Hanuman and the<br \/>\nmonkeys and the?.. (laughter) I can\u2019t tell. I have the feeling that it is<br \/>\nsymbolical; that, for instance, when one speaks of Hanuman, this represents the<br \/>\nevolutionary man, and Rama is the involutionary being, the one who comes from<br \/>\nabove. But.. <\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"MsoNormal\" style='margin:0;text-align:justify;line-height:150%'><span lang=\"EN-GB\">&nbsp;<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"MsoNormal\" style='margin:0;text-align:justify;text-indent:.5in;line-height:150%'><i><span lang=\"EN-GB\">What do you mean by the involutionary and<br \/>\nevolutionary being? <\/span><\/i><\/p>\n<p class=\"MsoNormal\" style='margin:0;text-align:justify;line-height:150%'><span lang=\"EN-GB\">&nbsp;<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"MsoNormal\" style='margin:0;text-align:justify;line-height:150%'><span lang=\"EN-GB\">The<br \/>\nevolutionary being is the one that\u2019s the continuation of the animals, and the<br \/>\nother is a being from higher worlds who, when the earth was formed,<br \/>\nmaterialised itself upon earth &#8211; it does not come from below, it has come from<br \/>\nabove. But in the evolutionary being there is that central light which is the<br \/>\norigin of the psychic being, which will develop into the psychic being, and<br \/>\nwhen the psychic being is fully formed, there is a moment when it can unite<br \/>\nwith a being from above which can incarnate in it. So this being from above<br \/>\nwhich descends into a psychic<br \/>\n&nbsp;<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"MsoNormal\" align=\"center\" style='margin:0;text-align:center;line-height:150%'>\n<span lang=\"EN-GB\"><font size=\"3\">Page \u2013 324<\/font><\/span><\/p>\n<div class=\"MsoNormal\" align=\"center\" style='text-align:center'><span lang=\"EN-GB\" style='font-size:10.0pt;color:blue'><\/p>\n<hr size=\"2\" width=\"100%\" align=\"center\">\n<p><\/span><\/div>\n<p class=\"MsoNormal\" style='margin:0;text-align:justify;line-height:150%'><span lang=\"EN-GB\">being is an<br \/>\ninvolutionary being \u2013 a being of the Overmind plane or from elsewhere. <\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"MsoNormal\" style='margin:0;text-align:justify;text-indent:.25in;line-height:150%'><span lang=\"EN-GB\">That<br \/>\nis all? <\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"MsoNormal\" style='margin:0;text-align:justify;line-height:150%'><span lang=\"EN-GB\">&nbsp;<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"MsoNormal\" style='margin:0;text-align:justify;text-indent:.5in;line-height:150%'><i><span lang=\"EN-GB\">Was Anatole France\u2019s \u201cjongleur\u201d an artist?<br \/>\n<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n<p class=\"MsoNormal\" style='margin:0;text-align:justify;line-height:150%'><span lang=\"EN-GB\">&nbsp;<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"MsoNormal\" style='margin:0;text-align:justify;line-height:150%'><span lang=\"EN-GB\">I don\u2019t<br \/>\nknow. That depends (that\u2019s just what I was asking Parul, it depends on the<br \/>\ndefinition you give to the word \u201cartist\u201d. <\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"MsoNormal\" style='margin:0;text-align:justify;text-indent:.25in;line-height:150%'><span lang=\"EN-GB\">If<br \/>\nyou ask me, I believe that all those who produce something artistic are<br \/>\nartists! A word depends upon the way it is used, upon what one puts into it.<br \/>\nOne may put into it all that one wants. For instance, in Japan there are<br \/>\ngardeners who spend their time correcting the forms of trees so that in the<br \/>\nlandscape they make a beautiful picture. By all kinds of trimmings, props, etc.<br \/>\nthey adjust the forms of trees. They give them special forms so that each form<br \/>\nmay be just what is needed in the landscape. A tree is planted in a garden at<br \/>\nthe spot where it is needed and moreover, it is given the form that\u2019s required<br \/>\nfor it to go well with the whole set-up. And they succeed in doing wonderful<br \/>\nthings. You have but to take a photograph of the garden, it is a real picture,<br \/>\nit is so good. Well, I certainly call the man an artist. One may call him a<br \/>\ngardener but he is an artist All those who have a sure and developed sense of<br \/>\nharmony in all its forms, and the harmony of all the forms among themselves,<br \/>\nare necessarily artists, whatever may be the type of their production. <\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"MsoNormal\" style='margin:0;text-align:justify;line-height:150%'><span lang=\"EN-GB\">&nbsp;<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"MsoNormal\" style='margin:0;text-align:justify;text-indent:.5in;line-height:150%'><i><span lang=\"EN-GB\">You did not finish telling us about Rama<br \/>\nand Hanuman. (Laughter) <\/span><\/i><\/p>\n<p class=\"MsoNormal\" style='margin:0;text-align:justify;line-height:150%'><span lang=\"EN-GB\">&nbsp;<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"MsoNormal\" style='margin:0;text-align:justify;line-height:150%'><span lang=\"EN-GB\">I did not<br \/>\nfinish? But yes, I said.. Oh! because he asked what difference there was<br \/>\nbetween an involutionary and an evolutionary being. But that\u2019s enough as it is.<br \/>\nOnce you know that you have the key to the whole story. Besides, I don\u2019t know<br \/>\nwhether there is a single authentic text or many texts of the Ramayana. For I<br \/>\nhave heard different versions. There are different versions,<br \/>\n&nbsp;<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"MsoNormal\" align=\"center\" style='margin:0;text-align:center;line-height:150%'>\n<span lang=\"EN-GB\"><font size=\"3\">Page \u2013 325<\/font><\/span><\/p>\n<div class=\"MsoNormal\" align=\"center\" style='text-align:center'><span lang=\"EN-GB\" style='font-size:10.0pt;color:blue'><\/p>\n<hr size=\"2\" width=\"100%\" align=\"center\">\n<p><\/span><\/div>\n<p class=\"MsoNormal\" style='margin:0;text-align:justify;line-height:150%'><span lang=\"EN-GB\">aren\u2019t<br \/>\nthere? Above all, for two very important facts (<i>Mother turns to Nolini<\/i>) concerning the end: the defeat and death of<br \/>\nRavana, and then the death of Sita. I have heard it narrated very differently,<br \/>\nwith different significances, by different pandits. According to their turn of<br \/>\nmind, if I may say so, some who were very very very orthodox told me certain<br \/>\nthings and others who were not orthodox told me something very different. So I<br \/>\ndon\u2019t know if there are several texts or whether it was their own<br \/>\ninterpretation. <\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"MsoNormal\" style='margin:0;text-align:justify;line-height:150%'><span lang=\"EN-GB\">&nbsp;<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"MsoNormal\" style='margin:0;text-align:justify;text-indent:.5in;line-height:150%'><span lang=\"EN-GB\">(Nolini)<i> There are several texts. There is one text<br \/>\nin the North and another in the South. <\/i><\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"MsoNormal\" style='margin:0;text-align:justify;line-height:150%'><span lang=\"EN-GB\">&nbsp;<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"MsoNormal\" style='margin:0;text-align:justify;line-height:150%'><span lang=\"EN-GB\">Ah! as for<br \/>\nBuddhism. The people of the South and the North have different kinds of<br \/>\nimagination. The southern people are generally more rigid, aren\u2019t they?.. I<br \/>\ndon\u2019t know, but for Buddhism, the Buddhism of the South is quite rigid and<br \/>\ndoesn\u2019t allow any suppleness in the understanding of the text. And it is a<br \/>\nterribly strict Buddhism in which all notion of the Godhead in any form<br \/>\nwhatsoever, is completely done away with. On the other hand, the Buddhism of<br \/>\nthe North is an orgy of gods! It is true that these are former Buddhas, but<br \/>\nstill they are turned into gods. And it is this latter that has spread into<br \/>\nChina and from China gone to Japan. So, one enters a Buddhist temple in Japan<br \/>\nand sees.. There is a temple where there were more than a thousand Buddhas, all<br \/>\nsculptured &#8211; a thousand figures seated around the central Buddha &#8211; they were<br \/>\nthere all around, the entire back wall of the temple was covered with images:<br \/>\nsmall ones, big ones, fat ones, thin ones, women, men &#8211; there was everything, a<br \/>\nwhole pantheon there, formidable, and they were like gods. And then too, there<br \/>\nwere little beings down below with all kinds of forms including those of<br \/>\nanimals, and these were the worshippers. It was.. it was an orgy of images. But<br \/>\nthe Buddhism of the South has the austerity of Protestantism: there must be no<br \/>\nimages. And there is no divine Consciousness,<br \/>\n&nbsp;<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"MsoNormal\" align=\"center\" style='margin:0;text-align:center;line-height:150%'>\n<span lang=\"EN-GB\"><font size=\"3\">Page \u2013 326<\/font><\/span><\/p>\n<div class=\"MsoNormal\" align=\"center\" style='text-align:center'><span lang=\"EN-GB\" style='font-size:10.0pt;color:blue'><\/p>\n<hr size=\"2\" width=\"100%\" align=\"center\">\n<p><\/span><\/div>\n<p class=\"MsoNormal\" style='margin:0;text-align:justify;line-height:150%'><span lang=\"EN-GB\">besides.<br \/>\nOne comes into the world through desire, into a world of desire, and abandoning<br \/>\ndesire one goes out of the world and creation and returns to Nirvana \u2013 even the<br \/>\nnought is something too concrete. There is no Creator in Buddhism. So, I don\u2019t<br \/>\nknow. The Buddhism of the South is written in Pali and that of the North in<br \/>\nSanskrit. And naturally, there is Tibetan Buddhism written in Tibetan, and<br \/>\nChinese Buddhism written in Chinese and Japanese Buddhism in Japanese. And each<br \/>\none, I believe, is very very different from the others. Well, probably there<br \/>\nmust be several versions of the Ramayana. And still more versions of the<br \/>\nMahabharata \u2013 that indeed is amazing!<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"MsoNormal\" style='margin:0;text-align:justify;line-height:150%'><span lang=\"EN-GB\">&nbsp;<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"MsoNormal\" style='margin:0;text-align:justify;text-indent:.5in;line-height:150%'><span lang=\"EN-GB\">(Nolini<i>) Of the Ramayana also. <\/i><\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"MsoNormal\" style='margin:0;text-align:justify;line-height:150%'><span lang=\"EN-GB\">&nbsp;<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"MsoNormal\" style='margin:0;text-align:justify;line-height:150%'><span lang=\"EN-GB\">Then texts<br \/>\nhave been added later. <\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"MsoNormal\" style='margin:0;text-align:justify;line-height:150%'><span lang=\"EN-GB\">&nbsp;<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"MsoNormal\" style='margin:0;text-align:justify;text-indent:.5in;line-height:150%'><i><span lang=\"EN-GB\">Did it exist, Mother, the Mahabharata? <\/span><\/i><\/p>\n<p class=\"MsoNormal\" style='margin:0;text-align:justify;line-height:150%'><span lang=\"EN-GB\">&nbsp;<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"MsoNormal\" style='margin:0;text-align:justify;line-height:150%'><span lang=\"EN-GB\">I suppose something<br \/>\ndid exist. In all these things, there is \u201csomething\u201d that\u2019s true and then what<br \/>\nhas been made of it. These are two very different things. But in all religions,<br \/>\neverywhere, it is the same thing: there is something which is there, something<br \/>\nexists, and then one makes quite a different thing of it. That\u2019s the difference<br \/>\nbetween history and legend &#8211; but history itself is a legend. <\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"MsoNormal\" style='margin:0;text-align:justify;text-indent:.25in;line-height:150%'><span lang=\"EN-GB\">The<br \/>\nsame story, even taken quite objectively, when it is repeated several times,<br \/>\nchanges; and so after thousands of years it is altogether deformed. Which are<br \/>\nthe original texts &#8211; I mean the first recognised original texts &#8211; of the<br \/>\nMahabharata? It was related orally for a very long time, wasn\u2019t it? So you can<br \/>\nimagine how it could have changed. These were oral traditions for a very long<br \/>\ntime. But who wrote the first version? <\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"MsoNormal\" style='margin:0;text-align:justify;line-height:150%'><span lang=\"EN-GB\">&nbsp;<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"MsoNormal\" style='margin:0;text-align:justify;text-indent:.5in;line-height:150%'><span lang=\"EN-GB\">(Nolini)<br \/>\n<i>Vyasa. <\/i><\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"MsoNormal\" style='margin:0;text-align:justify;line-height:150%'><span lang=\"EN-GB\">&nbsp;<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"MsoNormal\" style='margin:0;text-align:justify;line-height:150%'><span lang=\"EN-GB\">Ah!&nbsp;<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"MsoNormal\" align=\"center\" style='margin:0;text-align:center;line-height:150%'>\n<span lang=\"EN-GB\"><font size=\"3\">Page \u2013 327<\/font><\/span><\/p>\n<div class=\"MsoNormal\" align=\"center\" style='text-align:center'><span lang=\"EN-GB\" style='font-size:10.0pt;color:blue'><\/p>\n<hr size=\"2\" width=\"100%\" align=\"center\">\n<p><\/span><\/div>\n<p class=\"MsoNormal\" style='margin:0;text-align:justify;text-indent:.5in;line-height:150%'><span lang=\"EN-GB\">(Nolini)<br \/>\n<i>At first there were 36,000 verses. Now it<br \/>\nis more than a lakh or two. <\/i><\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"MsoNormal\" style='margin:0;text-align:justify;line-height:150%'><span lang=\"EN-GB\">&nbsp;<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"MsoNormal\" style='margin:0;text-align:justify;line-height:150%'><span lang=\"EN-GB\">Oh! Oh! it<br \/>\nhas grown: from 36,000 it has become quite inflated! But the Gita &#8211; are there<br \/>\nseveral versions? <\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"MsoNormal\" style='margin:0;text-align:justify;line-height:150%'><span lang=\"EN-GB\">&nbsp;<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"MsoNormal\" style='margin:0;text-align:justify;text-indent:.5in;line-height:150%'><span lang=\"EN-GB\">(Nolini)<br \/>\n<i>No. <\/i><\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"MsoNormal\" style='margin:0;text-align:justify;line-height:150%'><span lang=\"EN-GB\">&nbsp;<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"MsoNormal\" style='margin:0;text-align:justify;line-height:150%'><span lang=\"EN-GB\">But the<br \/>\nGita is a part of the Mahabharata. <\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"MsoNormal\" style='margin:0;text-align:justify;line-height:150%'><span lang=\"EN-GB\">&nbsp;<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"MsoNormal\" style='margin:0;text-align:justify;text-indent:.5in;line-height:150%'><span lang=\"EN-GB\">(Nolini)<br \/>\n<i>Yes<\/i>. <\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"MsoNormal\" style='margin:0;text-align:justify;line-height:150%'><span lang=\"EN-GB\">&nbsp;<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"MsoNormal\" style='margin:0;text-align:justify;line-height:150%'><span lang=\"EN-GB\">Is the<br \/>\nRamayana more recent? <\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"MsoNormal\" style='margin:0;text-align:justify;line-height:150%'><span lang=\"EN-GB\">&nbsp;<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"MsoNormal\" style='margin:0;text-align:justify;text-indent:.5in;line-height:150%'><span lang=\"EN-GB\">(Nolini)<br \/>\n<i>No. <\/i><\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"MsoNormal\" style='margin:0;text-align:justify;line-height:150%'><span lang=\"EN-GB\">&nbsp;<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"MsoNormal\" style='margin:0;text-align:justify;line-height:150%'><span lang=\"EN-GB\">Is it of<br \/>\nthe same period? And is the author known? <\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"MsoNormal\" style='margin:0;text-align:justify;line-height:150%'><span lang=\"EN-GB\">&nbsp;<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"MsoNormal\" style='margin:0;text-align:justify;text-indent:.5in;line-height:150%'><span lang=\"EN-GB\">(Nolini)<br \/>\n<i>Valmiki. <\/i><\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"MsoNormal\" style='margin:0;text-align:justify;line-height:150%'><span lang=\"EN-GB\">&nbsp;<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"MsoNormal\" style='margin:0;text-align:justify;line-height:150%'><span lang=\"EN-GB\">Yes, and<br \/>\nthis has not changed so much. <\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"MsoNormal\" style='margin:0;text-align:justify;line-height:150%'><span lang=\"EN-GB\">&nbsp;<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"MsoNormal\" style='margin:0;text-align:justify;text-indent:.5in;line-height:150%'><span lang=\"EN-GB\">(Nolini)<br \/>\n<i>Not as much as the other. Not so much as<br \/>\nthe Mahabharata. <\/i><\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"MsoNormal\" style='margin:0;text-align:justify;line-height:150%'><span lang=\"EN-GB\">&nbsp;<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"MsoNormal\" style='margin:0;text-align:justify;line-height:150%'><span lang=\"EN-GB\">But there<br \/>\nare differences. There is one tradition which says that Ravana died<br \/>\ndeliberately, that it was deliberately he chose the role of the Asura and that<br \/>\nhe died willingly in order to shorten his \u201cstay\u201d outside the Divine. He<br \/>\ndissolved into Rama when he died, saying that thus he had succeeded sooner in<br \/>\nuniting with him definitively. Which version is this? Is it orthodox or not?<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"MsoNormal\" style='margin:0;text-align:justify;line-height:150%'><span lang=\"EN-GB\">&nbsp;<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"MsoNormal\" style='margin:0;text-align:justify;text-indent:.5in;line-height:150%'><span lang=\"EN-GB\">(Nolini)<br \/>\n<i>Everything is orthodox! <\/i><\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"MsoNormal\" style='margin:0;text-align:justify;line-height:150%'><span lang=\"EN-GB\">&nbsp;<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"MsoNormal\" style='margin:0;text-align:justify;line-height:150%'><span lang=\"EN-GB\">It is<br \/>\northodox. The idea (it is an idea, isn\u2019t it?) is that the Asuras<br \/>\n&nbsp;<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"MsoNormal\" align=\"center\" style='margin:0;text-align:center;line-height:150%'>\n<span lang=\"EN-GB\"><font size=\"3\">Page \u2013 328<\/font><\/span><\/p>\n<div class=\"MsoNormal\" align=\"center\" style='text-align:center'><span lang=\"EN-GB\" style='font-size:10.0pt;color:blue'><\/p>\n<hr size=\"2\" width=\"100%\" align=\"center\">\n<p><\/span><\/div>\n<p class=\"MsoNormal\" style='margin:0;text-align:justify;line-height:150%'><span lang=\"EN-GB\">have chosen<br \/>\nto be Asuras because they will be dissolved by the Divine and thus return more<br \/>\nquickly, unite more swiftly with the divine essence than the gods or sages who<br \/>\ntake a big round of labour before being able to return to the Divine. The<br \/>\nAsuras, on the other hand, having chosen to be very wicked, will be destroyed<br \/>\nmuch more quickly, they will return much faster. It\u2019s one way of looking at it!<br \/>\n(<i>Laughter<\/i>) <\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"MsoNormal\" style='margin:0;text-align:justify;text-indent:.25in;line-height:150%'><span lang=\"EN-GB\">In<br \/>\nthe same way, I have heard two versions (but as I said, one was broad-minded<br \/>\nand the other extremely orthodox) about the end of Sita; one said that Sita<br \/>\nchose to be swallowed up in the earth to prove her innocence, whilst the very<br \/>\northodox version said that it was just because she was not innocent that she<br \/>\nwas swallowed up! (<i>Laughter<\/i>) <\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"MsoNormal\" style='margin:0;text-align:justify;line-height:150%'><span lang=\"EN-GB\">&nbsp;<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"MsoNormal\" style='margin:0;text-align:justify;text-indent:.5in;line-height:150%'><i><span lang=\"EN-GB\">Flowers fell from the skies, didn\u2019t they?<\/span><span lang=\"EN-GB\" style='font-family:\"Lucida Console\"'>\u00b9<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n<p class=\"MsoNormal\" style='margin:0;text-align:justify;line-height:150%'><span lang=\"EN-GB\"><span>\u00a0<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"MsoNormal\" style='margin:0;text-align:justify;line-height:150%'><span lang=\"EN-GB\">Ah! that<br \/>\nagain is another story I heard the Ramayana from a man called Pandit, and he<br \/>\nwas the son of a pandit and had come to Paris to study Law. But he had remained<br \/>\northodox, as orthodox as one could be, it was tremendous! And he had with him a<br \/>\nRamayana translated into English, with pictures, and he showed it to me. And he<br \/>\ntold me the story. And then, when he came to the end he told me that. So I<br \/>\nsaid: \u201cWhat do you mean?\u201d He told me: \u201cYou understand, for an Indian, if a<br \/>\nwoman has lived even for a few hours in another man\u2019s house, she is<br \/>\nimpure&#8230;.<span>\u00a0 <\/span>\u201cOh! it is terrible.. So, it<br \/>\nwas because she was impure that she was swallowed up I remember, he was quite<br \/>\nshort. He was from a Bombay family \u2013 not Bombay proper but from that side. He<br \/>\nwas a Gujarati. I believe he spoke Gujarati.<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"MsoNormal\" style='margin:0;text-align:justify;text-indent:.25in;line-height:150%'><span lang=\"EN-GB\">And<br \/>\nthen the other version, I heard that from\u2026 that man was called Shastri. He was<br \/>\nanother pandit. He was in Japan. There we are, then. <\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"MsoNormal\" style='margin:0;text-align:justify;text-indent:.25in;line-height:150%'><span lang=\"EN-GB\">Is<br \/>\nthat all? No questions? You.. Be quick, it is late.<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"MsoNormal\" style='margin:0;text-align:justify;text-indent:.25in;line-height:150%'><span lang=\"EN-GB\">&nbsp;<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"MsoNormal\" style='margin:0;text-align:justify;text-indent:.25in;line-height:150%'>\n<span lang=\"EN-GB\" style='font-family:\"Lucida Console\"'><font size=\"2\">\u00b9<\/font><\/span><span lang=\"EN-GB\"><font size=\"2\"> According to the texts, it seems, flowers<br \/>\nfell from the skies after Sita\u2019s disappearance, proving her innocence. <\/font><br \/>\n<font size=\"3\">&nbsp;<\/font><\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"MsoNormal\" align=\"center\" style='margin:0;text-align:center;line-height:150%'>\n<span lang=\"EN-GB\"><font size=\"3\">Page \u2013 329<\/font><\/span><\/p>\n<div class=\"MsoNormal\" align=\"center\" style='text-align:center'><span lang=\"EN-GB\" style='font-size:10.0pt;color:blue'><\/p>\n<hr size=\"2\" width=\"100%\" align=\"center\">\n<p><\/span><\/div>\n<p class=\"MsoNormal\" style='margin:0;text-align:justify;line-height:150%'><i><span lang=\"EN-GB\">In one of your writings you have said that<br \/>\nbeauty is universal and that one must be universal in order to see and<br \/>\nrecognise it. <\/span><\/i><\/p>\n<p class=\"MsoNormal\" style='margin:0;text-align:justify;line-height:150%'><span lang=\"EN-GB\">&nbsp;<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"MsoNormal\" style='margin:0;text-align:justify;line-height:150%'><span lang=\"EN-GB\">Yes. I mean<br \/>\none must have a universal consciousness in order to see and recognise it. For<br \/>\ninstance, if your consciousness is limited to one place, that is, it is a<br \/>\nnational consciousness (the consciousness of any one country), what is<br \/>\nbeautiful for one country is not beautiful for another. The sense of beauty is<br \/>\ndifferent. For example (I could make you laugh with a story), I knew in Paris<br \/>\nthe son of the king of Dahomey (he was a negro \u2013 the king of Dahomey was a<br \/>\nnegro) and this boy had come to Paris to study Law. He used to speak French<br \/>\nlike a Frenchman. But he had remained a negro, you understand. And he was asked<br \/>\n(he used to tell us all kinds of stories about his life as a student), someone<br \/>\nasked him in front of me: \u201cWell, when you marry, whom will you marry?\u201d \u2013 \u201cAh! a<br \/>\ngirl from my country, naturally, they alone are beautiful&#8230;.<span>\u00a0 <\/span>\u201c(<i>Laughter<\/i>)<br \/>\nNow, for those who are not negroes, negro beauty is a little difficult to see!<br \/>\nAnd yet, this was quite spontaneous. He was fully convinced it was impossible<br \/>\nfor anyone to think otherwise\u2026 \u201cOnly the women of my country are beautiful!\u201d <\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"MsoNormal\" style='margin:0;text-align:justify;text-indent:.25in;line-height:150%'><span lang=\"EN-GB\">It<br \/>\nis the same thing everywhere. Only those who have developed a little artistic<br \/>\ntaste, have travelled much and seen many things have widened their<br \/>\nconsciousness and they are no longer so sectarian. But it is very difficult to<br \/>\npull a person out of the specialised tastes of his race \u2013 I am not even<br \/>\nspeaking now of the country, I am speaking of the race. It is very difficult.<br \/>\nIt is there, you know, hidden right at the bottom, in the subconscious, and it<br \/>\ncomes back without your even noticing it, quite spontaneously, quite naturally.<br \/>\nEven on this very point: the woman of your race is always much more beautiful<br \/>\nthan the woman of other races \u2013 spontaneously, it is the spontaneous taste.<br \/>\nThat\u2019s what I mean. So, you must rise above that. I am not even speaking of<br \/>\nthose who find everything that\u2019s outside their own family<br \/>\n&nbsp;<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"MsoNormal\" align=\"center\" style='margin:0;text-align:center;line-height:150%'>\n<span lang=\"EN-GB\"><font size=\"3\">Page \u2013 330<\/font><\/span><\/p>\n<div class=\"MsoNormal\" align=\"center\" style='text-align:center'><span lang=\"EN-GB\" style='font-size:10.0pt;color:blue'><\/p>\n<hr size=\"2\" width=\"100%\" align=\"center\">\n<p><\/span><\/div>\n<p class=\"MsoNormal\" style='margin:0;text-align:justify;line-height:150%'><span lang=\"EN-GB\">or caste<br \/>\nvery ugly and bad. I am not speaking at all of these people. I am not even<br \/>\nspeaking of those for whom one country is much more beautiful than another. And<br \/>\nyet, these people have already risen above the altogether ordinary way of<br \/>\nthinking. I am not even speaking of a question of race It is very difficult,<br \/>\none must go right down, right down within oneself into the subconscious &#8211; and<br \/>\neven farther &#8211; to discover the root of these things. Therefore, if you want to<br \/>\nhave the sense of beauty in itself which is quite independent of all these<br \/>\ntastes, the taste of the race &#8211; you must have a universal consciousness.<br \/>\nOtherwise how can you have it? You will always have preferences. Even if these<br \/>\nare not active and conscious preferences, they are subconscious preferences,<br \/>\ninstincts. So, to know true beauty independent of all form, one must rise above<br \/>\nall form. And once you have known it beyond every form, you can recognise it in<br \/>\nany form whatsoever, indifferently. And that becomes very interesting. <\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"MsoNormal\" style='margin:0;text-align:justify;text-indent:.25in;line-height:150%'><span lang=\"EN-GB\">So<br \/>\nthat\u2019s all. <i>Au revoir<\/i>, my children.<br \/>\n&nbsp;<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"MsoNormal\" align=\"center\" style='margin:0;text-align:center;line-height:150%'>\n<span lang=\"EN-GB\"><font size=\"3\">Page \u2013 331<\/font><\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/table>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>&nbsp;21 October 1953 &nbsp; When a true artist concentrates and sees the Divine in himself, can he use art to express the Divine? &nbsp; And&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[126],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-4464","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-05-questions-and-answers-volume-05","wpcat-126-id"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/worksofthemotherandsriaurobindo.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4464","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=4464"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/worksofthemotherandsriaurobindo.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4464\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/worksofthemotherandsriaurobindo.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4464"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/worksofthemotherandsriaurobindo.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4464"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/worksofthemotherandsriaurobindo.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4464"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}