{"id":4467,"date":"2013-07-13T01:56:12","date_gmt":"2013-07-13T01:56:12","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/localhost\/?p=4467"},"modified":"2013-07-13T01:56:12","modified_gmt":"2013-07-13T01:56:12","slug":"15-17-june-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\/15-17-june-1953-vol-05-questions-and-answers-volume-05","title":{"rendered":"-15_17 June 1953.htm"},"content":{"rendered":"\n\n
\n
\n

\n17 June 1953 <\/font> <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

 <\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cThere is a true movement of the intellect
\nand there is a wrong movement: one helps, the other hinders.\u201d <\/i><\/span><\/p>\n

Questions and Answers 1929 (5 May) <\/font> <\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

             <\/span>
\n
\nWhat is the true movement of the
\nintellect? <\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

 <\/span><\/p>\n

What
\nexactly do you understand by intellect? Is it a function of the mind or is it a
\npart of the human being? How do you understand it? <\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/span><\/p>\n

A function of the mind. <\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

 <\/span><\/p>\n

A function
\nof the mind? Then it is that part of the mind which deals with ideas; is that
\nwhat you mean? <\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/span><\/p>\n

Not ideas, Mother. <\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

 <\/span><\/p>\n

Not ideas?
\nWhat else, then? <\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/span><\/p>\n

Ideas, but.. <\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

 <\/span><\/p>\n

There is a
\npart of the mind which receives ideas, ideas that are formed in a higher mind.
\nStill, I don\u2019t know, it is a question of definition and one must know what
\nexactly you mean to say. <\/span><\/p>\n

It
\nis intellect that puts ideas in the form of thoughts, gathering and organising
\nthe thoughts at the same time. There are great ideas which lie beyond the
\nordinary human mentality, which can put on all possible forms. These great
\nideas tend to descend, they want to manifest themselves in precise forms. These
\nprecise forms are the thoughts; and generally it is this, I believe, that is
\nmeant by intellect: it is this that gives thought-form to the ideas.
\n <\/span><\/p>\n

\nPage \u2013 108<\/font><\/span><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n
\n

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

And
\nthen, there is also the organisation of the thoughts among themselves. All that
\nhas to be put in a certain order, otherwise one becomes incoherent. And after
\nthat, there is the putting of these thoughts to use for action; that is still
\nanother movement. <\/span><\/p>\n

To
\nbe able to say what the true movement is, one must know first of all which movement
\nis being spoken about. You have a body, well, you don\u2019t expect your body to
\nwalk on its head or its hands nor to crawl flat on its belly nor indeed that
\nthe head should be down and the legs up in the air. You give to each limb a
\nparticular occupation which is its own. This appears to you quite natural
\nbecause that is the habit; otherwise, the very little ones do not know what to
\ndo, neither with their legs nor with their hands nor with their heads; it is
\nonly little by little that they learn that. Well, it is the same thing with the
\nmind\u2019s functions. You must know which part of the mind you are speaking about,
\nwhat its own function is, and then only can you say what its true movement is
\nand what is not its true movement. For example, for the part which has to
\nreceive the master ideas and change them into thought, its true movement is to
\nbe open to the master ideas, receive them and change them into as exact, as
\nprecise, as expressive a thought as possible. For the part of the mind which
\nhas the charge of organising all these thoughts among themselves so that they
\nmight form a coherent and classified whole, not a chaos, the true movement is
\njust to make the classification according to a higher logic and in a thoroughly
\nclear, precise and expressive order which may be serviceable each time a
\nthought is referred to, so that one may know where to look for it and not put
\nquite contradictory things together. There are people whose mind does not work
\nlike that; all the ideas that come into it, without their being even aware of
\nwhat the idea is, are translated into confused thoughts which remain in a kind
\nof inner chaos. I have known people who, from the philosophical point of view \u2013
\nalthough there is nothing philosophical in it \u2013 could put side by side the most
\ncontradictory
\n <\/span><\/p>\n

\n
\nPage \u2013 109<\/font><\/span><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n
\n

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

things,
\nlike ideas of hierarchic order and at the same time ideas of the absolute
\nindependence of the individual and of anarchism, and both were accepted with
\nequal sympathy, knocked against each other in the head in the midst of a wild
\ndisorder, and these people were not even aware of it!.. You know the saying: \u201cA
\nquestion well put is three-fourths solved.\u201d So now, put your question. What do
\nyou want to speak about? I am stretching out a helping hand, you have only to
\ncatch it. What is it you are speaking about, what is it that you call
\nintellect? Do you know the difference between an idea and a thought? <\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/span><\/p>\n

Not quite.<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

 <\/span><\/p>\n

Ah! That is
\nthe first hurdle. Can anybody here tell me? (To a child) You, do you know the
\ndifference between an idea and a thought? <\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/span><\/p>\n

A thought is something vague, more vague
\nthan an idea. <\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

 <\/span><\/p>\n

No, it is
\nnot a question of a vague thought in a vague mind or a clear thought when the
\nmind is clear. It is not like that. <\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/span><\/p>\n

You said just now that ideas came from
\nabove and were translated into thoughts. <\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

 <\/span><\/p>\n

Yes, but
\nhow do they come from above? <\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/span><\/p>\n

From the higher parts of the mind. <\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

 <\/span><\/p>\n

Yes, but
\ncould you give me an idea and the thoughts in which it can be expressed? That is
\nwhat I am asking. Can anyone give me an example? (Looking at a disciple) He is
\nlonging to speak. Tell us something, we shall see. <\/span><\/p>\n

\n

\nPage \u2013 110<\/font><\/span>\u00a0<\/font><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

The manifestation of the Divine upon earth
\nis an idea and the transformation is a thought. <\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 <\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

Ah, you are
\na monist? If I am not mistaken, this is the principle of monism. <\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/span><\/p>\n

It
\nis a thought of God that has made the universe, but now instead of a thought,
\nwe say an idea. <\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/span><\/p>\n

Has
\nanyone something interesting to say? <\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/span><\/p>\n

(A teacher) In logic, it is said:
\n\u201cMortality\u201d is an idea, and \u201cman is mortal\u201d, is a thought. <\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

 <\/span><\/p>\n

Now, have
\nyou understood the difference between idea and thought? It is clear. The idea
\nis translated into all kinds of thoughts. They may be the most contradictory
\nthoughts and the whole thing is to organise them in a coherent way. I think I
\nhave told you many times that contradictory thoughts may be found in union if
\none rises high enough, climbs towards the idea One could perhaps play at this
\nlittle game, it would be very interesting. We have a thesis, we are going to
\nfind an antithesis, and then we shall find the synthesis. <\/span><\/p>\n

Who
\nwill propose the thesis?.. Ah! I am going to propose this immediately: \u201cMan is
\nmortal.\u201d The antithesis is: \u201cMan is immortal.\u201d Now find the place where the two
\nagree: the synthesis. <\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/span><\/p>\n

It is ignorance that prevents man from
\nuniting with immortality. <\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

 <\/span><\/p>\n

It is a
\nrather vague way of putting the thing. One could say it more intellectually.
\nOne could say: in his reality, man is immortal; and because of ignorance or of
\nunconsciousness, he has become mortal. That\u2019s better? And then one can go a
\nlittle further: Why is he immortal? Why is he mortal? And how being mortal can
\nhe become immortal? <\/span><\/p>\n

\nPage \u2013 111<\/font><\/span><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n
\n

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

Whatever
\nthe part of the being, whether it be the intellect or any other part, whether
\nit is in the mind or the vital or anywhere else, the true movement is a double
\nmovement: first, it must not intercept the divine Truth in its manifestation,
\nand secondly, it must help in its manifestation. A negative side, consisting in
\nnot being a screen, not intercepting anything, not blocking the passage of the
\ndivine force seeking to express itself; on the other side, to be sufficiently
\nclear and pure to be able to help this manifestation. <\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/span><\/p>\n

One can apply this everywhere, it is very
\nconvenient. Voila. <\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

 <\/span><\/p>\n

Now,
\nany other question? <\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/span><\/p>\n

If men did not die, with age their body
\nwould become useless? <\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

 <\/span><\/p>\n

Ah! No. You
\nare looking from the wrong side. They could escape dying only if their body did
\nnot decay. It is just because their body decays that they die. It is because
\ntheir body becomes useless that they die. If they are not to die, their body
\nshould not become useless. This is just the contrary. It is precisely because
\nthe body decays, declines and ends in a complete degradation that death becomes
\nnecessary. But if the body followed the progressive movement of the inner
\nbeing, if it had the same sense of progress and perfection as the psychic
\nbeing, there would be no necessity for it to die. One year added to another
\nneed not bring a deterioration. It is only a habit of Nature. It is only a
\nhabit of what is happening at this moment. And that is exactly the cause of
\ndeath. One can foresee quite well, on the contrary, that the movement for
\nperfection which is at the beginning of life might continue under another form.
\nI have already told you that one does not foresee an uninterrupted growth, for
\nthat would need changing the height of the houses after some time! But this
\ngrowth in height may be changed into a growth in perfection: the perfection of
\nthe form. All the imperfections
\n <\/span><\/p>\n

\nPage \u2013 112<\/font><\/span><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n
\n

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

of the form
\nmay be gradually corrected, all the weaknesses replaced by strength, 112all the
\nincapacities by skill. Why should it not be like this? You do not think in that
\nway because you have the habit of seeing things otherwise. But there is no
\nreason why this should not happen. <\/span><\/p>\n

Have
\nyou ever seen a tree growing, a palm tree? There is one in the Ashram
\ncourtyard, in the Samadhi courtyard, quite close to the door by which you come
\nup every day, have you never seen how it grows? This tree, you know, is some
\nforty, forty-five or fifty years old perhaps. You see how small it is. These
\ntrees can become even much taller than the building. They can live several
\nhundred years, easily, in their natural state, if there is no accident. Have
\nyou never seen what it does? I see it from above. It is quite pretty. It
\nhappens once a year. At first, you see a kind of small brown ball. Then this
\nsmall brown ball begins to grow and becomes slightly lighter in colour, less
\ndeep. Little by little, you see that it is made of a mass of somewhat complex
\nsmall lines, with their tips bent inward, as though turned back upon
\nthemselves; and that begins to grow, it comes out, becomes more and more
\nlimpid, until it begins to turn green, a little pale yellowish green and it
\ntakes the form of the bishop\u2019s cross. Then you see it multiplying and
\nseparating; it is yet a little brown, a little queer (almost like you),
\nsomething like a caterpillar. And suddenly, it is as though it sprang out, it
\nleaps forth. It is pale green; it is frail. It has a delightful colour. It
\nlengthens out. This lasts for a day or two; and then on the following day there
\nare leaves. These leaves I have never counted, I do not know how many they are.
\nEvery time there is a new range of leaves. They remain very pale; they are
\nexquisite. They are like a little child, with that something tender, pretty and
\ngraceful a child has. And you have still the feeling that it is fragile; and
\nindeed, if it receives a blow, it is spoilt for life. It is very frail, but it
\nis delightfully tender. It has its charm and you say: \u201cBut why does not Nature
\nremain like that?\u201d The following morning.. pluff<\/span> <\/span>
\n! they are separated, they <\/span>
\n
\n <\/font><\/span><\/p>\n

\nPage \u2013 113<\/font><\/span><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n
\n

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

are bright
\ngreen, they look wonderful with all the strength and force of youth, a
\nmagnificent brilliant green. It should stop there – not at all. It continues.
\nThen comes the dust, the deterioration from people who pass by. So it begins to
\nfall, to become yellowish, another kind of yellow, the yellow of dryness until
\nit is completely withered and falls away. It is replaced by the trunk. Every
\nyear the trunk increases a little. And it will take several hundred years to
\nreach the end. But every year, it repeats the same thing, passes through all
\nthe stages of beauty, charm, attractiveness and you say: \u201cBut why does it not
\nstop there?\u201d And the next minute, it is something else. You cannot say it is
\nbetter, but it is different. And so it passes from one thing to another through
\nall the stages of flowering. Then the accidents begin; with the accidents comes
\ndeterioration, and with deterioration there is death. <\/span><\/p>\n

It
\nis like that. But accidents are not indispensable. And even what looks like
\ndeath helps in the growth of the tree. One sheds off something, but it\u2019s in
\norder to grow again and have something more. One must be able to keep the
\nharmony and the beauty till the end. There is no reason why one should have a
\nbody which has no longer any purpose in being, in existing; because it would no
\nlonger be good for anything. To be no longer good for anything, that is exactly
\nwhat makes it disappear. One could have a body that grows from perfection to
\nperfection. There are many things in the body that make you say: \u201cAh, if it
\nwere like that! Ah, I would like it to be thus!\u201d (I am not speaking of your
\ncharacter, for there are so many things that need changing; I am speaking only
\nof your physical appearance). You see some disharmony somewhere and you say:
\n\u201cIf this disharmony disappeared, how much better would it be!\u201d.. But why don\u2019t
\nyou think that it could be done? If you look at yourself in quite an objective
\nway – not with that sort of attachment one has for one\u2019s little person, but
\nquite objectively, you look at yourself as you would look at another person and
\ntell yourself: \u201cBut this thing is not altogether in harmony with that\u201d, <\/span>
\n
\n <\/font><\/span><\/p>\n

\nPage \u2013 114<\/font><\/span><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n
\n

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

and if you
\nlook yet more closely, it becomes very interesting: you discover that this disharmony
\nis the expression of a defect in your character. It is because in your
\ncharacter there is something a bit twisted, not quite harmonious, and in your
\nbody this is reproduced somewhere. You try to arrange it in your body and you
\nfind out that to get back to the source of this physical disharmony, you have
\nto find out the defect in your inner being. And then you begin to work and the
\nresult is obtained.<\/span><\/p>\n

You
\ndon\u2019t know to what an extent the body is plastic! From another standpoint, I
\nwould say it is terribly rigid and that is why the body deteriorates. But that
\nis because we do not know how to make use of it. We do not know, when we are
\nstill fresh like little leaves, how to will for a luxuriant, magnificent,
\nfaultless flowering. And instead of telling oneself with a somewhat miserable
\nlook: \u201cIt is a pity my arms are too thin or my legs are too long or my back is
\nnot straight or my head is not quite harmonious\u201d, if one said: \u201cIt must be
\notherwise, my arms must be proportionate, my body harmonious, every form in me
\nmust express a higher beauty\u201d, then one will succeed. And you will succeed if
\nyou know how to do it with the true will that is persistent, tranquil, that is
\nnot impatient, does not care for appearances of defeat, continues its work
\nquietly, very quietly, continues to will that it be so, to look for the inner
\nreason, to discover it, to work with energy. Immediately, as soon as you see a
\nlittle black worm somewhere, which does not look pretty and makes a small
\nrather unpleasant, disgusting stain, you pick it up, pull it out and throw it
\naway and put a lovely light in its place. And after a time you discover: \u201cWhy!
\nthat disharmony I had in my face is disappearing; that sign of brutality,
\nunconsciousness which was in my expression, it is going away.\u201d And then ten
\nyears later you don\u2019t recognise yourself any longer.<\/span><\/p>\n

You
\nare all, here, youthful matter; you must know how to profit by it \u2013 and not for
\npetty, selfish and stupid reasons but for the love of beauty, for the need of
\nharmony. <\/span><\/p>\n

If
\nthe body is to last, it must not deteriorate. There must
\n <\/span><\/p>\n

\nPage \u2013 115<\/font><\/span><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n
\n

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

not be any
\ndecay. It must win on one side: it must be a transformation, it must not be a
\ndecay. With decay there is no possibility of immortality. <\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/span><\/p>\n

Where does one go after death? <\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

 <\/span><\/p>\n

Ah, my
\nchild, you need a book! It is not one question! Well, it will be for next time.
\nBesides, I believe there is a chapter which speaks about it, if I remember
\nwell. We shall have occasion to speak about it I shall tell you one thing
\nimmediately: when you are born upon earth, do you know where you are going? And
\nall the people on earth, do they all go to the same place? Tell me that! <\/span><\/p>\n

Everyone
\nfollows his way. Everyone has a different destiny. Why should it be the same
\nfor all when they are dead? For each one it is a different thing.  <\/span><\/p>\n

Good
\nnight. <\/span><\/p>\n

\nPage \u2013 116<\/font><\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/table>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

17 June 1953   \u201cThere is a true movement of the intellect and there is a wrong movement: one helps, the other hinders.\u201d Questions and…<\/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-4467","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\/4467","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=4467"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/worksofthemotherandsriaurobindo.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4467\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/worksofthemotherandsriaurobindo.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4467"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/worksofthemotherandsriaurobindo.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4467"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/worksofthemotherandsriaurobindo.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4467"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}