{"id":4468,"date":"2013-07-13T01:56:13","date_gmt":"2013-07-13T01:56:13","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/localhost\/?p=4468"},"modified":"2013-07-13T01:56:13","modified_gmt":"2013-07-13T01:56:13","slug":"22-5-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\/22-5-august-1953-vol-05-questions-and-answers-volume-05","title":{"rendered":"-22_5 August 1953.htm"},"content":{"rendered":"\n\n
\n
\n

 <\/span><\/b>5 August 1953 <\/font><\/b> <\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/span><\/p>\n

Does the psychic being always progress? <\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

 <\/span><\/p>\n

There are
\nin the psychic being two very different kinds of progress: one consisting in
\nits formation, building and organisation. For the psychic starts by being only
\na kind of tiny divine spark within the being and out of this spark will emerge
\nprogressively an independent conscious being having its own action and will.
\nThe psychic being at its origin is only a spark of the divine consciousness and
\nit is through successive lives that it builds up a conscious individuality. It
\nis a progress similar to that of a growing child. It is a thing in the making.
\nFor a long time, in most human beings the psychic is a being in the making. It
\nis not a fully individualised, fully conscious being and master of itself and
\nit needs all its rebirths, one after another, in order to build itself and
\nbecome fully conscious. <\/span><\/p>\n

But
\nthis sort of progress has an end. There comes a time when the being is fully
\ndeveloped, fully individualised, fully master of itself and its destiny. When
\nthis being or one of these psychic beings has reached that stage and takes
\nbirth in a human being, that makes a very great difference: the human being, so
\nto say, is born free. He is not tied to circumstances, to surroundings, to his
\norigin and atavism, like ordinary people. He comes into the world with the
\npurpose of doing something, with a work to carry out, a mission to fulfil. From
\nthis point of view his progress in growth has come to an end, that is, it is
\nnot indispensable for him to take birth again in a body. Till then rebirth is a
\nnecessity, for it is through rebirth that he grows; it is in the physical life
\nand in a physical body that he gradually develops and becomes a fully conscious
\nbeing. But once he is fully formed, he is free, in this sense that he can take
\nbirth or not, at will. So there, one kind of progress stops.<\/span><\/p>\n

But
\nif this fully formed being wants to become an instrument <\/span><\/p>\n

  <\/span>Page \u2013 205<\/font><\/span><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n
\n

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

of work for
\nthe Divine, if instead of retiring to repose in a psychic bliss, in its own
\ndomain, he chooses to be a worker upon earth to help in the fulfilment of the
\nDivine Work, then he has a fresh progress to make, a progress in the capacity
\nfor work, for organisation of his work and for expression of the Divine Will.
\nSo there is a time when the thing changes. So long as he remains in the world,
\nso long as he chooses to work for the Divine, he will progress. Only if he
\nwithdraws into the psychic world and refuses to continue doing the Divine Work
\nor renounces it, can he remain in a static condition outside all progress,
\nbecause, as I have told you, only upon earth is there progress, only in the
\nphysical world; it is not acquired everywhere. In the psychic world there is a
\nkind of blissful repose. One remains what one is, without any movement. <\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/span><\/p>\n

But for those who are not conscious of
\ntheir psychic? <\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

 <\/span><\/p>\n

They are
\ncompelled to progress whether they want it or not. <\/span><\/p>\n

The
\npsychic being itself progresses in them and they are not conscious of it. But
\nthey themselves are compelled to progress. That is to say, they follow a curve.
\nThey follow an ascent in life. It is the same progress as that of the growing
\nchild; there comes a time when it is at the summit of its growth and then,
\nunless it changes the plane of progress, unless the purely physical progress
\nturns into a mental progress, a psychic progress, a spiritual progress, it goes
\ndown the curve and then there will be a decomposition and it will not exist any
\nlonger. <\/span><\/p>\n

It
\nis just because progress is not constant and perpetual in the physical world
\nthat there is a growth, an apogee, a decline and a decomposition. For anything
\nthat does not advance, falls back; all that does not progress regresses. <\/span><\/p>\n

So
\nthis is just what happens physically. The physical world has not learnt how to
\nprogress indefinitely; it arrives at a certain point, then it is either tired
\nof progressing or is not capable of progressing in the present constitution,
\nbut in any case it stops <\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/span>Page \u2013 206<\/font><\/span><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n
\n

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

progressing
\nand after a time decomposes. Those who lead a purely physical life reach a kind
\nof summit, then they slide down very quickly. But now, with the general
\ncollective human progress, there is behind the physical progress a vital
\nprogress and a mental progress, so that the mental progress can go on for a
\nvery long time, even after the physical progress has come to a stop, and
\nthrough this mental progress one keeps up a kind of ascent long after the
\nphysical has ceased to progress. <\/span><\/p>\n

And
\nthen there are those who do yoga, who become conscious of their psychic being,
\nare united with it, participate in its life; these, indeed, progress till the
\nlast breath of their life. And they do not stop even after death, when they
\nhave left their body under the plea that the body cannot last any longer: they
\ncontinue to progress. <\/span><\/p>\n

It
\nis the incapacity of the body to transform itself, to continue progressing that
\ncauses it to regress and in the end become more and more open to the inner
\ndisequilibrium until one day that becomes strong enough to bring about a total
\nimbalance and it can no longer regain its balance and health. We shall see that
\nnext week. It is only in the pure spiritual life \u2013 that which is outside all
\nphysical and terrestrial existence, including the mental \u2013 that there is no
\nprogress. You reach a static state and are outside all movements of progress.
\nBut at the same time you are outside the manifestation also. When you reach
\nthat state, you no longer belong to the manifestation, you go out of the
\nmanifested world. One must go out of the manifested world in order to go out of
\nall progress, because the two are identical: manifestation means progress and
\nprogress means manifestation. <\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/span><\/p>\n

Many men think and write through
\ninspiration. From where does it come? <\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

 <\/span><\/p>\n

Many! That
\nis indeed a wonderful thing. I did not think there have been so many So?<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/span>Page \u2013 207<\/font><\/span><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n
\n

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

 <\/span>Poets, when they write poems.. <\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

 <\/span><\/p>\n

Ah!
\nInspirations come from very many different places. There are inspirations that
\nmay be very material, there are inspirations that may be vital, there are
\ninspirations that come from all kinds of mental planes, and there are very,
\nvery rare inspirations that come from the higher mind or from a still higher
\nregion. All inspirations do not come from the same place. Hence, to be inspired
\ndoes not necessarily mean that one is a higher being One may be inspired also
\nto do and say many stupid things! <\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/span><\/p>\n

What does \u201cinspired\u201d mean? <\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

 <\/span><\/p>\n

It means receiving
\nsomething which is beyond you, which was not within you; to open yourself to an
\ninfluence which is outside your individual conscious being. <\/span><\/p>\n

Indeed,
\none can have also an inspiration to commit a murder! In countries where they
\ndecapitate murderers, cut off their heads, this causes a very brutal death
\nwhich throws out the vital being, not allowing it the time to decompose for
\ncoming out of the body; the vital being is violently thrown out of the body,
\nwith all its impulses; and generally it goes and lodges itself in one of those
\npresent there, men half horrified, half with a kind of unhealthy curiosity.
\nThat makes the opening and it enters within. Statistics have proved that most
\nyoung murderers admit that the impulse came to them when they were present at
\nthe death of another murderer. It was an \u201cinspiration\u201d, but of a detestable
\nkind. <\/span><\/p>\n

Fundamentally
\nit is a moment of openness to something which was not within your personal
\nconsciousness, which comes from outside and rushes into you and makes you do something.
\nThis is the widest formula that can be given. <\/span><\/p>\n

Now,
\ngenerally, when people say: \u201cOh! he is an inspired poet\u201d, it means he has
\nreceived something from high above and expressed it in a remarkable manner. But
\none should rather say <\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/span>Page \u2013 208<\/font><\/span><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n
\n

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

that his
\ninspiration is of a high quality. <\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/span><\/p>\n

Does it not come, Mother, whenever one
\nwants it? <\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

 <\/span><\/p>\n

Whenever
\none wants it? Generally not, for one does not know the mechanism of one\u2019s being
\nand cannot open the doors at will. <\/span><\/p>\n

It
\nis a thing that can be done. It is one of the earliest things that you are
\ntaught to do in Yoga: to open the door whenever one wants. It is the result of
\nmeditation or concentration or aspiration: all these processes are followed to
\nopen the door somewhere. <\/span><\/p>\n

And
\ngenerally you try to open it precisely towards the highest thing, not towards
\nanything whatever. For the other kind of receptivity people unfortunately
\nalways have It is impossible to be altogether shut up in an ivory tower \u2013
\nbesides, I believe it would not be very favourable, it would be impossible to
\nprogress if one were completely shut up \u2013 in oneself. One would be able only to
\nrearrange whatever was in oneself. Just imagine you were like a closed globe,
\naltogether closed, that there was no communication with outside you put out
\nnothing, you receive nothing, you are shut up you have a few elements of
\nconsciousness, movements, vibrations (call them what you like), all that is
\ncontained as within a ball, along with your consciousness also. You have no
\nrelation with things outside, you are conscious only of yourself. What can you
\ndo?.. Change the organisation within; that you can do, you can do many things
\nby changing this organisation. But it is confined to that. It is a kind of
\ninner progress, but there is no true progress in relation to the forces outside
\noneself. You would find yourself extremely limited after a time, you would be
\ntired of yourself: turning and turning again, turning and turning again the
\nelements inside \u2013 not very pleasant. <\/span><\/p>\n

But
\nall the while you externalise yourself and all the while you bring back
\nsomething from this externalisation; it is like something porous: a force goes
\nout and then a force comes in. <\/span><\/p>\n

  <\/span>Page \u2013 209<\/font><\/span><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n
\n

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

There are
\npulsations like that. And this is why it is so important to choose the
\nenvironment in which one lives, because there is constantly a kind of
\ninterchange between what you give and what you receive. People who throw
\nthemselves out a great deal in activity, receive more. But they receive on the
\nsame level, the level of their activity. Children, for example, who are
\nyounger, who always move about, always shout and romp and jump (very rarely do
\nthey keep quiet, except while asleep, and perhaps not even so), well, they
\nspend much and they receive much, and generally it is the physical and vital
\nenergy that is spent and it is physical and vital energies that are received.
\nThey recuperate a good part of what they spend. So there, it is very important
\nfor them to be in surroundings where they can, after they have spent or while
\nthey are spending, recover something that is at least equal in quality to
\ntheirs, that is not of an inferior quality. <\/span><\/p>\n

When
\nyou no longer have this generosity in your movements, you receive much less and
\nthis is one of the reasons – one of the chief reasons \u2013 why physical progress
\nstops. It is because you become thrifty, you try not to waste; the mind
\nintervenes: \u201cTake care, don\u2019t tire yourself, don\u2019t do too much, etc.\u201d The mind
\nintervenes and physical receptivity diminishes a great deal. Finally, you do
\nnot grow any more \u2013 by growing reasonable, you stop growing altogether! <\/span><\/p>\n

But
\nreceptivity opens to other levels. Those who live in a world of desires and
\npassions, increase their vital receptivity so much at times that it reaches
\nproportions very unpleasant to themselves and to their surroundings. And then
\nthere are those who live in the mental consciousness; their mental receptivity
\ngrows very much. All who create mentally, study and live in mental activity, if
\nthe mental activity is constant, can progress indefinitely. Mind in the human
\nbeing does not stop functioning even when the physical instrument has
\ndeteriorated. It may no longer manifest its intelligence materially, if there
\nis a lesion in the brain, for example, but nothing can prevent the mind itself,
\nindependently of the instrument, from progressing, from continuing <\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/span>Page \u2013 210<\/font><\/span><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n
\n

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

to grow. It
\nis a being that lasts infinitely longer than the physical. It is still young
\nwhen physically one is already old. Only when you do not take enough care to
\nkeep your brain in a good state, only if accidents occur and there are lesions
\nthen you can no longer express yourself. But the mind in itself continues to
\ngrow. And those who have a sufficient physical balance, for example, those who
\nhave not gone to excesses of any kind, who have never mistreated their body,
\nwho have never poisoned themselves like most people \u2013 who have never smoked,
\ndrunk alcohol and so on \u2013 keep their brain in a relatively good condition and
\nthey can progress, even in their expression, till the end of their life. It is
\nonly if in the last years of their life they make a kind of withdrawal within
\nthemselves, that they lose their power of expression. But the mind goes on
\nprogressing. <\/span><\/p>\n

The
\nvital is by nature immortal. But it is not organised, and in its normal state,
\nit is over-excited, full of contradictory passions and impulses. So with all
\nthat it destroys itself. But otherwise the elements continue to exist. A
\ndesire, a passion is a very living thing and continues to live for a very long
\ntime, even independently of the being who.. is subjected to them, I might say,
\nrather than creates them, because they are things that one is subjected to,
\nthat rush upon you from outside like a storm that seizes you and carries you
\naway, unless you keep very calm like that, very still, very quiet, as though
\none were clinging to something solid and immobile in oneself, allowing the
\nstorm to pass over when it begins to blow \u2013 it blows, but one must not stir,
\none must not let oneself tremble or shiver or shake; one must remain altogether
\nimmobile and know that these are passing storms. And when the storm has blown
\nover, it passes and goes away; then one can heave a deep breath and resume
\none\u2019s normal balance; and there has been only a minimum destruction. In such
\ncases, generally, things turn out well in the end. <\/span><\/p>\n

But
\nthose who are like a piece of cork on the water and rush about in all
\ndirections and do not succeed in recovering their poise and watching
\nthemselves, are liable to any occurrence. <\/span><\/p>\n

\nPage \u2013 211<\/font><\/span><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n
\n

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

\u00a0<\/span>They may be drawn into a whirlpool all of a
\nsudden and lo! engulfed. And there remains nothing. <\/span><\/p>\n

That\u2019s
\nall? <\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/span><\/p>\n

There are people who do foolish things.. <\/span><\/i> <\/span><\/p>\n

Yes.  <\/span><\/p>\n


\n            <\/span>And they know they are doing so, but their
\nmind does not justify them, it gives no support, no excuse, no reasoning or
\nexplanation. What is this state? <\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

 <\/span><\/p>\n

What is
\nthis state? People who know that they are doing foolish things, who are
\nconscious, but who are not able to refrain from them, because their mind does
\nnot have enough strength to check them?.. <\/span><\/p>\n

But
\nthe mind never has sufficient strength to check them! For the mind is an
\ninstrument made to see all things from all sides. Then how can you expect to
\nhave a will strong enough to resist an impulse when the mind looks at it first
\nfrom this side and then from that side? And then it says: \u201cAfter all, it is
\nlike that and why should it not be like that?\u201d And so, where is your will?.. <\/span><\/p>\n

As
\nI said there,<\/span>\u00b9<\/span>
\nit always finds a way to explain everything, justify everything and give
\nadmirable reasons for all things.<\/span><\/p>\n

It
\nis only the psychic being that has the strength to intervene. If your mind is
\nin contact with your psychic being, if it receives the influence of the psychic
\nbeing, then it is strong enough to organise the resistance. It knows what the
\ntrue thing is and what the false; and knowing what the true thing is, if it has
\nthe goodwill, it will organise the resistance, give battle and <\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/span><\/p>\n

\n\u00b9<\/font><\/span>This physical mind is usually in a kind of
\nalliance with the lower vital consciousness and its movements; when the lower
\nvital manifests certain desires and impulses, the more material mind comes to
\nits aid and justifies and supports them with specious explanations and
\nreasonings and excuses.\u201d<\/font><\/span><\/p>\n

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

\nPage \u2013 212<\/font><\/span><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n
\n

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

gain the victory.
\nBut that is the only condition: it must be in contact with the psychic being. <\/span><\/p>\n

For
\neven the most beautiful theories, even if one knows mentally many things and
\nholds admirable principles, that is not sufficiently strong to create a will
\ncapable of resisting an impulse. At one time you are quite determined, you have
\ndecided that it would be thus \u2013 for example, that you would not do such a
\nthing: it is settled, you will not do it \u2013 but how is it that suddenly (you do
\nnot know how or why nor what has happened), you have not decided anything at
\nall! And then you immediately find in yourself an excellent reason for doing
\nthe thing Among others, there is a certain kind of excuse which is always
\ngiven: \u201cWell, if I do it this time, at least I shall be convinced that it is
\nvery bad and I shall do it no longer and this will be the last time.\u201d It is the
\nprettiest excuse one always gives to oneself: \u201cThis is the last time I am doing
\nit. This time, I am doing it to understand perfectly that it is bad and that it
\nmust not be done and I shall not do it any more. This is the last time.\u201d Every
\ntime, it is the last time! and you begin again. <\/span><\/p>\n

Of
\ncourse there are some who have less clear ideas and who say to themselves:
\n\u201cAfter all, why don\u2019t I want to do it? These are theories, they are principles
\nthat might not be true. If I have this impulse, what is it that tells me that
\nthis impulse is not better than a theory?…\u00a0
\n<\/span>\u201c It is not for them the last time. It is something they accept as quite
\nnatural. <\/span><\/p>\n

Between
\nthese two extremes there are all the possibilities. But the most dangerous of
\nall is to say: \u201cWell, I am doing it once more this time, that will purify me of
\nthis. Afterwards I shall no longer do it.\u201d Now the purification is never
\nenough! <\/span><\/p>\n

It
\nhappens only when you have decided: \u201cWell, this time, I am going to try not to
\ndo it, and I shall not do it, I shall apply all my strength and I shall not do
\nit.\u201d Even if you have just a little success, it is much. Not a big success, but
\njust a small success, a very partial success: you do not carry out what you
\nyearn to do; but the yearning, the desire, the passion is still
\n <\/span><\/p>\n

\nPage \u2013 213<\/font><\/span><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n
\n

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

there and
\nthat produces whirls within, but outside you resist, \u201cI shall not do it, I
\nshall not move; even if I have to bind myself hand and foot, I shall not do
\nit.\u201d It is a partial success \u2013 but it is a great victory because, due to this,
\nnext time you will be able to do a little more. That is to say, instead of
\nholding all the violent passions within yourself, you can begin calming them a
\nlittle; and you will calm them slowly at first, with difficulty. They will
\nremain long, they will come back, they will trouble you, vex you, produce in
\nyou a great disgust, all that, but if you resist well and say: \u201cNo, I shall
\ncarry out nothing; whatever the cost, I shall not carry out anything; I will
\nstay like a rock\u201d, then little by little, little by little, that thins out,
\nthins out and you begin to learn the second attitude: \u201cNow I want my
\nconsciousness to be above those things. There will still be many battles but if
\nmy consciousness stands above that, little by little there will come a time
\nwhen this will return no longer.\u201d And then there is a time when you feel that
\nyou are absolutely free: you do not even perceive it, and then that is all. It
\nmay take a long time, it may come soon: that depends on the strength of
\ncharacter, on the sincerity of the aspiration. But even for people who have
\njust a little sincerity, if they subject themselves to this process, they
\nsucceed. It takes time. They succeed in the first item: in not expressing. All
\nforces upon earth tend towards self-expression. These forces come with the
\nobject of manifesting themselves and if you place a barrier and refuse to
\nexpress them, they may try to beat against the barrier for a time, but in the
\nend, they will tire themselves out and not being manifested, they will withdraw
\nand leave you quiet. <\/span><\/p>\n

So
\nyou must never say: \u201cI shall first purify my thought, purify my body, purify my
\nvital and then later I shall purify my action.\u201d That is the normal order, but
\nit never succeeds. The effective order is to begin from the outside: \u201cThe very
\nfirst thing is that I do not do it, and afterwards, I desire it no longer and
\nnext I close my doors completely to all impulses: they no longer exist for me,
\nI am now outside all that.\u201d This is the true order,
\n <\/span><\/p>\n

\nPage \u2013 214<\/font><\/span><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n
\n

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

the order
\nthat is effective. First, not to do it. And then you will no longer have desire
\nfor anything and after that it will go out of your consciousness completely. <\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/span><\/p>\n

When the psychic is about to enter into
\nthe world, does it choose in advance the form it is going to take? <\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

 <\/span><\/p>\n

It is an
\ninteresting question. That depends. As I have just told you, there are psychic
\nbeings who are in the making, progressing; these generally, right at the
\noutset, cannot choose much, but when they have arrived at a certain degree of
\ngrowth and of consciousness (generally while they are still in a physical body
\nand have had a certain amount of experience), they decide at that time what
\ntheir next field of experience will be like. <\/span><\/p>\n

I
\ncan give you some rather external examples. For instance, a psychic being
\nneeded to have the experience of mastery, of power in order to know the
\nreactions and how it is possible to turn all these movements towards the
\nDivine: to learn what a life of power may teach you. It took birth in a king or
\na queen. These enjoyed some power and during that time they had their
\nexperiences; they reached the end of the field of experience. Now, they know
\nwhat they wanted to know, they are about to go, they are going to leave their
\nbody that\u2019s now become useless, and they are going to prepare for the next
\nexperience. Well, at that time, when the psychic being is still in the body and
\nhas noted what it has learnt, it decides for the next occasion. And sometimes
\nit is a movement of action and reaction: because it has studied one entire
\nfield, it needs to study the opposite field. And very often it chooses a very
\ndifferent life from the one it had. So before leaving, it says: \u201cNext time, it
\nis in this domain that I shall take birth….\u00a0
\n<\/span>\u201c Suppose, for example, the psychic has reached a stage of growth when
\nit would like to have the chance of working on the physical body to make it
\ncapable of coming consciously into contact with the Divine and of transforming
\nit.
\n <\/span><\/p>\n

\nPage \u2013 215<\/font><\/span><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n
\n

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

Now, it is
\nabout to leave the body in which it had authority, power, activity, the body it
\nhas used for its growth; it says: \u201cNext time I shall take birth in a neutral environment,
\nneither low nor high, where it will not be necessary (how to put it?) to have a
\nhighly external life, where one will have neither great power nor great misery
\n\u2013 altogether neutral, as you know, the life in between.\u201d It chooses that. It
\nreturns to its own psychic world for the necessary rest, for assimilation of
\nthe experience gained, for preparation of the future experience. It naturally
\nremembers its choice and, before coming down once more, when it has finished
\nits assimilation, when it is time to return, to come down upon earth, it
\ncannot, from that domain, see material things as we see them, you know: they
\nappear to it in another form. But still the differences can be foreseen: the
\ndifferences of environment, differences of activity in the environment are
\nclearly seen, quite perceptible. It can have a vision that is total or global.
\nIt can choose. At times it chooses the country; when it wants a certain kind of
\neducation, civilisation, influence, it can choose its country beforehand.
\nSometimes it can\u2019t, sometimes it chooses only its environment and the kind of
\nlife it will lead. And then from up there, before it comes down, it looks for
\nthe kind of vibrations it wants; it sees them very clearly. It is as though it
\nwas aiming at the place where it is going to drop. But it is an approximation
\nbecause of the fact that another condition is necessary: not only its choice
\nbut also a receptivity from below and an aspiration. There must be someone in
\nthe environment it has chosen, generally the mother (sometimes both the
\nparents, but the most indispensable is the mother), she must have an aspiration
\nor a receptivity, something sufficiently passive and open or a conscious
\naspiration towards something higher. And that kindles for the psychic being a
\nlittle light. In the mass representing for it the environment in which it wants
\nto be born, if under the influence of its own projected will a small light is
\nkindled, then it knows that it is there it must go. <\/span><\/p>\n

It
\nis necessary, it is this that makes the difference in months <\/span><\/p>\n

\nPage \u2013 216<\/font><\/span><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n
\n

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

or days,
\nperhaps, not so much perhaps in years; however, this creates an uncertainty,
\nand that is why it cannot foretell the exact date: \u201cOn that date, that day, at
\nthat hour I shall take birth.\u201d It needs to find someone receptive. When it sees
\nthat, it rushes down. But what happens is something like an image: it is not
\nexactly that, but something very similar. It throws itself down into an
\nunconsciousness, because the physical world, even human consciousness whatever
\nit may be, is very unconscious in comparison with the psychic consciousness. So
\nit rushes into an unconsciousness. It is as though it fell on its head. That
\nstuns it. And so generally, apart from some very very rare exceptions, for a
\nlong time it does not know. It does not know any longer where it is nor what it
\nis doing nor why it is there, nothing at all. It finds a great difficulty in
\nexpressing itself, especially through a baby that has no brain, naturally; it
\nis only the embryo of a brain which is hardly formed and it does not have the
\nelements for manifesting itself. So it is very rare for a child to manifest
\nimmediately the exceptional being it contains That happens. We have heard about
\nsuch things. It happens, but generally some time is needed. Only slowly it
\nawakens from its stupor and becomes aware that it is there for some reason and
\nby choice. And usually this coincides with the intensive mental education which
\nshuts you completely from the psychic consciousness. So a mass of
\ncircumstances, happenings of all kinds, emotions, all sorts of things are
\nnecessary to open the inner doors so that one might begin to remember that
\nafter all one has come from another world and one has come for a particular
\nreason. <\/span><\/p>\n

Otherwise,
\nif all went normally, it could very quickly have a connection, very quickly. If
\nit had the luck to find someone possessing a little knowledge, and instead of
\nfalling into a world of ignorance, it fell upon a little bit of knowledge,
\neverything would be done quite quickly. <\/span><\/p>\n

But
\nthe psychic will and psychic growth escape completely all common notions of
\njustice, of reward and punishment as men <\/span><\/p>\n

\nPage \u2013 217<\/font><\/span><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n
\n

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

understand
\nthem. There are religions, there are philosophies that tell you all kinds of
\nstories, which are simply the application of notions of human justice to the
\ninvisible world, and so these are stupidities. For it is not at all like that
\ntruly; the notion of reward and punishment as man understands it is an
\nabsurdity. That does not apply at all, not at all to the inner realities. So
\nonce you enter the true spiritual world, all that becomes really stupidities.
\nFor things are not at all like that. <\/span><\/p>\n

A
\nlarge number of people come and tell me: \u201cWhat then have I done in my previous
\nlife to be now in such difficult conditions, with such misfortunes happening to
\nme?\u201d And most often I am obliged to tell them: \u201cBut don\u2019t you see that it is a
\nblessing upon you, a grace! And perhaps in your previous life you have asked
\nfor it so that you could make a greater progress….\u00a0 <\/span>\u201cThese ideas are quite current: \u201cOh! I am
\nill. Oh! my body is in a bad condition, what have I done? What crimes have I
\ncommitted in the other life so that in this one…\u00a0 <\/span>\u201cThis is all childishness. <\/span><\/p>\n

So
\nthere you are. Aurevoir<\/i>, my children. <\/span><\/p>\n

\nPage \u2013 218<\/font><\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/table>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

 5 August 1953   Does the psychic being always progress?   There are in the psychic being two very different kinds of progress: one consisting…<\/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-4468","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\/4468","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=4468"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/worksofthemotherandsriaurobindo.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4468\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/worksofthemotherandsriaurobindo.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4468"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/worksofthemotherandsriaurobindo.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4468"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/worksofthemotherandsriaurobindo.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4468"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}