{"id":4465,"date":"2013-07-13T01:56:12","date_gmt":"2013-07-13T01:56:12","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/localhost\/?p=4465"},"modified":"2013-07-13T01:56:12","modified_gmt":"2013-07-13T01:56:12","slug":"23-12-august-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\/23-12-august-1953-vol-05-questions-and-answers-volume-05","title":{"rendered":"-23_12 August 1953.htm"},"content":{"rendered":"\n\n
\n
\n

 <\/span><\/b>12 August 1953 <\/font><\/b> <\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/span><\/p>\n

How do you know the character of a man by
\nlooking at his eyes? <\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

 <\/span><\/p>\n

Not only by
\nlooking at his eyes. I know the character of a man through self-identification.
\nAnd then outwardly, if you want, the eyes are like doors or windows: there are some
\nwhich are open, so one enters within, goes very deep inside, and one may see
\neverything that happens there. There are others which are partly open, partly
\nclosed; others still have a veil, a kind of curtain; and then there are others
\nwhich are fastened, locked up, doors closed so well that they cannot be opened.
\nIndeed, this is already an indication, it gives an indication of the strength
\nof the inner life, the sincerity and transparency of the being. And so, through
\nthese doors that are open I enter and identify myself with the person within.
\nAnd I see what he sees, understand what he understands, think what he thinks,
\nand I could do what he does (but usually I refrain from that!) and in this way
\nI get to know what people are like. And it doesn\u2019t need much time; it goes very
\nfast. It can even be done through a photograph, but not so well. A photograph
\ncaptures only a moment, a minute of somebody; if there were many photographs..
\nBut still, even with a photograph, by going a little deeper one can have a fairly
\nclear idea. But all knowledge is knowledge by identification. That is, one must
\nbecome that which one wants to know. One may surmise, imagine, deduce, one may
\nreason, but one does not know. <\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/span><\/p>\n

So it is something difficult for human
\nbeings? <\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

 <\/span><\/p>\n

No, why? <\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/span><\/p>\n

One
\ncan learn how to identify oneself. One must learn. It is indispensable if one
\nwants to get out of one\u2019s ego. For so long as one is shut up in one\u2019s ego, one
\ncan\u2019t make any progress.<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/span>Page \u2013 219<\/font><\/span><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n
\n

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

 <\/span>How can it be done? <\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

 <\/span><\/p>\n

There are
\nmany ways. I\u2019ll tell you one. <\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/span><\/p>\n

When
\nI was in Paris, I used to go to many places where there were gatherings of all
\nkinds, people making all sorts of researches, spiritual (so-called spiritual,
\noccult researches, etc. And once I was invited to meet a young lady (I believe
\nshe was Swedish) who had found a method of knowledge, exactly a method for
\nlearning. And so she explained it to us. We were three or four (her French was
\nnot very good but she was quite sure about what she was saying!); she said:
\n\u201cIt\u2019s like this, you take an object or make a sign on a blackboard or take a
\ndrawing \u2013 that is not important \u2013 take whatever is most convenient for you.
\nSuppose, for instance, that I draw for you.. (she had a blackboard) I draw a
\ndesign.\u201d She drew a kind of half-geometric design. \u201cNow, you sit in front of
\nthe design and concentrate all your attention upon it upon that design which is
\nthere. You concentrate, concentrate without letting anything else enter your
\nconsciousness \u2013 except that. Your eyes are fixed on the drawing and don\u2019t move
\nat all. You are as it were hypnotised by the drawing. You look (and so she sat
\nthere, looking), you look, look, look I don\u2019t know, it takes more or less time,
\nbut still for one who is used to it, it goes pretty fast. You look, look, look,
\nyou become that drawing you are looking at. Nothing else exists in the world
\nany longer except the drawing, and then, suddenly, you pass to the other side;
\nand when you pass to the other side you enter a new consciousness, and you
\nknow.\u201d <\/span><\/p>\n

We
\nhad a good laugh, for it was amusing. But it is quite true, it is an excellent
\nmethod to practise. Naturally, instead of taking a drawing or any object, you
\nmay take, for instance, an idea, a few words. You have a problem preoccupying
\nyou, you don\u2019t know the solution of the problem; well, you objectify your
\nproblem in your mind, put it in the most precise, exact, succinct terms
\npossible, and then concentrate, make an effort; you concentrate only on the
\nwords, and if possible on the idea they <\/span><\/p>\n

  <\/span>Page \u2013 220<\/font><\/span><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n
\n

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

\n <\/font><\/span>represent, that
\nis, upon your problem \u2013 you concentrate, concentrate, concentrate until nothing
\nelse exists but that. And it is true that, all of a sudden, you have the
\nfeeling of something opening, and one is on the other side. The other side of
\nwhat?.. It means that you have opened a door of your consciousness, and
\ninstantaneously you have the solution of your problem. <\/span><\/p>\n

It
\nis an excellent method of learning \u201chow\u201d to identify oneself. <\/span><\/p>\n

For
\ninstance, you are with someone. This person tells you something, you tell him the
\ncontrary (as it usually happens, simply through a spirit of contradiction) and
\nyou begin arguing. Naturally, you will never come to any point, except a
\nquarrel if you are ill-natured. But instead of doing that, instead of remaining
\nshut up in your own ideas or your own words, if you tell yourself: \u201cWait a
\nlittle, I am going to try and see why he said that to me. Yes, why did he tell
\nme that?\u201d And you concentrate: \u201cWhy, why, why?\u201d You stand there, just like
\nthat, trying. The other person continues speaking, doesn\u2019t he? \u2013 and is very
\nhappy too, for you don\u2019t contradict him any longer! He talks profusely and is
\nsure he has convinced you. Then you concentrate more and more on what he is
\nsaying, and with the feeling that gradually, through his words, you are entering
\nhis mind. When you enter his head, suddenly you enter into his way of thinking,
\nand next, just imagine, you understand why he is speaking to you thus! And
\nthen, if you have a fairly swift intelligence and put what you have just come
\nto understand alongside what you had known before, you have the two ways
\ntogether, and so can find the truth reconciling both. And here you have truly
\nmade progress. And this is the best way of widening one\u2019s thought. <\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/span><\/p>\n

If you are
\nbeginning an argument, keep quiet immediately, instantaneously. You must be
\nsilent, say nothing at all, and then try to see the thing as the other person
\nsees it \u2013 that won\u2019t make you forget your own way of seeing it, not at all! but
\nyou will be able to put both of them together. And you will truly have made
\nprogress, a real progress. <\/span><\/p>\n

\nPage \u2013 221<\/font><\/span><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n
\n

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

It
\nis the same for everything. In all that you do together with others, if you do
\nnot agree, take it as a divine Grace, a marvellous opportunity given you to
\nmake a progress. And it is simple: instead of being on this side, you are on
\nthe other; instead of looking at yourself, you enter the other person and look.
\nYou must have just a little bit of imagination, a little more control over your
\nthoughts, over your movements. But that is not very difficult. When you have
\ntried it out a little, after a while you find it very easy. <\/span><\/p>\n

You
\nmust not just look and then make a mental effort, telling yourself: \u201cWhy is it
\nlike this and like that? Why does he do that? Why does he say that?\u201d You will
\nnever arrive at anything. You won\u2019t understand, you will imagine all kinds of
\nexplanations which will be worthless and teach you nothing at all except to
\ntell yourself: \u201cThat person is stupid or else wicked\u201d \u2013 things that lead
\nnowhere. On the other hand, if you only make that little movement, and instead
\nof looking at him as an object quite alien to you, you try to enter within, you
\nenter within, into that little head that\u2019s before you, and then, suddenly, you
\nfind yourself on the other side, you look at yourself and understand quite well
\nwhat he is saying \u2013 everything is clear, the why, the how, the reason, the
\nfeeling which is behind the whole thing It is an experiment you have the
\nopportunity of making a hundred times a day.<\/span><\/p>\n

At
\nfirst you won\u2019t succeed very well, but if you persist, you will end up by
\nsucceeding admirably. This adds a lot of interest to life. And besides it is a
\nwork which really makes you progress, for it makes you come out of that little
\narmour of yours in which you are nicely shut up, in which you knock against
\neverything. You have seen moths knocking against the light, haven\u2019t you?..
\nEveryone\u2019s consciousness is like that, it goes along knocking here, knocking
\nthere, for these are things foreign to it. But instead of knocking about, one
\nenters within, then it becomes a part of oneself. One widens oneself, breathes
\nfreely, has enough space to move in, one doesn\u2019t knock against
\n <\/span><\/p>\n

\nPage \u2013 222<\/font><\/span><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n
\n

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

anything,
\none enters, penetrates, understands. And one lives in many places at the same
\ntime. It is very interesting, one does it automatically. <\/span><\/p>\n

For
\ninstance, when you are reading a book that interests you very much, a wonderful
\nnovel full of exciting adventures, when you are completely absorbed in the
\nstory, at times you forget your class-hour or even dinner-time or your
\nbed-time. You are completely absorbed in what you are reading. Well, this is a
\nphenomenon of self-identification. And if you do it with a certain perfection,
\nyou succeed in understanding ahead what is going to happen. There is a moment
\nwhen, being fully absorbed in the story, you come to know (without trying to
\nlook for it) towards what end the author is leading you, how he is going to
\nunfold his story and come to his conclusion. For you have identified yourself
\nwith the creative thought of the author. You do it more or less perfectly,
\nwithout knowing that you are doing it, but these are phenomena of
\nself-identification. <\/span><\/p>\n

There
\nare, in Paris, theatres of the third or fourth rank where sensational dramas
\nare performed. These are suburban theatres. They are not for intellectuals but
\nfor the masses, and all the elements are always extremely dramatic, moving.
\nWell, those who go there are mostly very simple people and forget completely
\nthat they are in a theatre. They identify themselves with the drama. And so,
\nthings like this happen: on the stage there is the traitor hiding behind the
\ndoor, and the hero comes along, not aware naturally that the traitor is hiding
\nthere and he is going to be killed. Now, there are people sitting up there (in
\nwhat is called the gallery), right up in the theatre, who shout: \u201cLook out, he
\nis there!\u201d (Laughter<\/i>) It has not
\nhappened just once, it happens hundreds of times, spontaneously. I had seen a
\nplay of this kind called Le Bossu<\/i>, I
\nbelieve; anyway it was quite a sensational drama and it was being played at the
\nTh\u00e9\u00e2tre de la Porte Saint-Martin<\/i>. In
\nthis play there was a room. On the stage a large room could be seen and at its
\nside a small room and.. I don\u2019t remember the story now, but in the small room
\n <\/span><\/p>\n

\nPage \u2013 223<\/font><\/span><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n
\n

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

there was a
\nbutton which could be pressed, and by pressing the button the ceiling of the
\nbigger room could be brought down on those who were there so as to crush them
\ninexorably!.. And a warning had been given, people had already spoken about it,
\npassed on the word. And now there was a traitor who had hidden himself in the
\nlittle room and he knew the trick of the button, and then there was the hero
\nwho came in with other people, and they started arguing; and everyone knew that
\nthe ceiling was going to come down I didn\u2019t say anything, I remembered I was in
\nthe theatre, I was waiting to see how the author was going to get out of this
\nsituation to save his hero (for it was evident he couldn\u2019t kill him off like
\nthat before everybody!). But the others were not at all in the same state.
\nWell, there were spectators who shouted, really shouted: \u201cLook out, mind the
\nceiling!\u201d That\u2019s how it was.<\/span><\/p>\n

These
\nare phenomena of self-identification. Only, they are involuntary. And this is
\nalso one of the methods used today to cure nervous diseases. When someone
\ncannot sleep, cannot be restful because he is too excited and nervous and his
\nnerves are ill and weakened by excessive agitation, he is told to sit in front
\nof an aquarium, for instance \u2013 an aquarium, that\u2019s very lovely, isn\u2019t it? \u2013 before
\nan aquarium with pretty little fish in it, goldfish; just to sit there, settle
\ndown in an easy-chair and try not to think of anything (particularly not of his
\ntroubles) and look at the fish. So he looks at the fish, moving around, coming
\nand going, swimming, gliding, turning, meeting, crossing, chasing one another
\nindefinitely, and also the water flowing slowly and the passing fish. After a
\nwhile he lives the life of fishes: he comes and goes, swims, glides, plays. And
\nat the end of the hour his nerves are in a perfect state and he is completely
\nrestful! <\/span><\/p>\n

But
\nthe condition is that one must not think of one\u2019s troubles, simply watch the
\nfish.<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/span><\/p>\n

Can the Divine be attained in this way?<\/span><\/i> <\/span><\/p>\n

\nPage \u2013 224<\/font><\/span><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n
\n

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

Do you
\nknow, the only way of knowing the Divine is by identifying oneself with Him.
\nThere is no other, there is only one, one single way. Hence, once you are
\nmaster of this method of identification, you can identify yourself. So you
\nchoose your object for identification, you want to identify yourself with the
\nDivine. But so long as you do not know how to identify yourself, a hundred and
\none things will always come across your path, pulling you here, pulling you
\nthere, scattering you, and you will not be able to identify yourself with Him.
\nBut if you have learnt how to identify yourself, then you have only to direct
\nthe identification, place it where you want it, and then hold on there until
\nyou get a result. It will come very fast if you are master of your power of
\nidentification. Yes, it will come very quickly. Ramakrishna used to say that
\nthe time could vary between three days, three hours and three minutes. Three
\ndays for very slow people, three hours for those who were a little swifter,
\nthree minutes for those who are used to it. <\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/span><\/p>\n

Three days for very slow people? <\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

 <\/span><\/p>\n

For very
\nslow people, yes. He was asked: \u201cHow long does it take one to get identified
\nwith the Divine?\u201d that was his answer. <\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/span><\/p>\n

And that means three days without doing
\nanything? <\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

 <\/span><\/p>\n

No, not
\nwithout doing anything. It is not necessary to do nothing simply in order to be
\nidentified with the Divine. Evidently you cannot remain seated motionless for
\nthree days without doing anything; it would mean you had already attained an
\nextraordinary degree of perfection if you could do that \u2013 forget all your needs
\nand remain motionless for three days. No, it is not that he means; the thought
\nmust be concentrated solely on the Divine. And he did it before that person, to
\nshow him, prove to him that what he was saying was true. That did not take him
\nmore than three minutes. <\/span><\/p>\n

\nPage \u2013 225<\/font><\/span><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n
\n

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

But
\nit is just that, what hinders the experience is the absence of the practice of
\nconcentration, and also the absence of one- pointedness, singleness of purpose,
\nof will. One \u201cwants\u201d it for a minute, two minutes, ten minutes, a quarter of an
\nhour, an hour, and afterwards, one wants many other things One \u201cthinks\u201d about
\nit for a few seconds, and after that thinks of a thousand other things. So
\nnaturally in this way you could take an eternity. For indeed, in this you
\ncannot add up; if it could be accumulated like grains of sand, if with every
\nthought you give to the Divine you place a little grain of sand somewhere,
\nafter a time this would make a mountain. But it is not like that, it does not
\nremain. It has no result. It does not accumulate, you cannot go on adding,
\ncannot progress quantitatively \u2013 you can progress in intensity, progress
\nqualitatively. Yes, you can learn within yourself how to do it; but what you
\nhave done counts only in this way. It does not get accumulated like grains of
\nsand on a dune. Else it would be enough to become quite clever and tell
\nyourself: \u201cWell, I shall give at least a dozen thoughts to the Divine every
\nday.\u201d And then, by little bits like that, after some time one has a little hill
\n<\/span><\/p>\n

Well,
\nmy children, it will soon be ten o\u2019clock. But if someone has a very interesting
\nquestion.. You? Ask. <\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/span><\/p>\n

I have a question. <\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

 <\/span><\/p>\n

Very
\ninteresting? <\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/span><\/p>\n

It is interesting for me. It is said that
\nthere are people who are very intelligent, and others who are crazy. Why?<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

 <\/span><\/p>\n

Why? But,
\nmy child, there are all kinds of things in Nature! No two things are identical.
\nAll the possibilities exist in Nature: everything you can imagine and a hundred
\nmillion times more. So you notice that there are intelligent people and again
\nothers
\n <\/span><\/p>\n

\nPage \u2013 226<\/font><\/span><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n
\n

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

who are
\nnot. And then there are others still who are unbalanced. And yet, your
\nobservations cover a very narrow field. But you can tell yourself that all this
\nexists and hundreds of thousands of millions of other things also exist, and
\nthat no two things are alike in the world. And I don\u2019t think there is anything
\none can imagine which doesn\u2019t exist somewhere. This is exactly what amuses
\nNature most –\u00a0 <\/span>she tries out everything,
\ndoes everything, makes everything, undoes everything, and she makes all
\npossible combinations and goes on changing them, re-handling them, remaking
\nthem, and it is a perpetual movement of all the possibilities following one
\nanother, clashing, intermingling, combining and falling apart. No two moments
\nof terrestrial life are alike; and for how long has the earth existed?.. Very
\nwell-informed people will perhaps tell you approximately. And for how long will
\nit yet live? They will perhaps tell you that also: figures with many zeros, so
\nmany zeros that you won\u2019t be able to read them. But it won\u2019t ever be the same
\nthing twice over nor will there be two similar moments. If you find things
\nlooking alike, that is only an appearance. There are no two things alike, and
\nno two identical moments. And all this goes so far back that you cannot keep
\ncount. And it goes so far forward that you can\u2019t keep count either. And it will
\nnever be twice the same thing. So, you can\u2019t ask me why this exists and why
\nthat exists!.. You wanted to ask me why? Nature has much more imagination than
\nyou, you know! She imagines new things all the time. It must be so for it is
\nchanging all the time and all combinations are always new. Not two seconds in
\nthe universe are identical. She has a great deal of imagination. Have you never
\nthought about that?.. Do you ever really have two similar moments? No. You know
\nvery well that you are not today what you were yesterday and you won\u2019t be
\ntomorrow what you are today.. and that if you went back only.. say, ten years,
\nyou wouldn\u2019t recognise yourself at all any longer! You don\u2019t know even what you
\nused to think about, granting that you thought about anything! <\/span><\/p>\n

\n        <\/span>So, there
\nis no problem. All that you can do is to try and
\n <\/span><\/p>\n

\nPage \u2013 227<\/font><\/span><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n
\n

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

investigate
\nthe field of experience given to you which is extremely limited, to see all the
\npossibilities. And you could begin noting them; you would see that it would
\nmake a huge volume immediately, simply in that tiny little field of experience
\nwhich is yours! <\/span><\/p>\n

And
\nwhat are you?.. One second in Eternity! <\/span><\/p>\n

Voila! <\/span><\/i>
\n
\n
\n <\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

\nPage \u2013 228<\/font><\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/table>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

 12 August 1953   How do you know the character of a man by looking at his eyes?   Not only by looking at his…<\/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-4465","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\/4465","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=4465"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/worksofthemotherandsriaurobindo.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4465\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/worksofthemotherandsriaurobindo.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4465"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/worksofthemotherandsriaurobindo.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4465"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/worksofthemotherandsriaurobindo.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4465"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}