{"id":4471,"date":"2013-07-13T01:56:14","date_gmt":"2013-07-13T01:56:14","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/localhost\/?p=4471"},"modified":"2013-07-13T01:56:14","modified_gmt":"2013-07-13T01:56:14","slug":"40-16-december-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\/40-16-december-1953-vol-05-questions-and-answers-volume-05","title":{"rendered":"-40_16 December 1953.htm"},"content":{"rendered":"\n\n
\n
\n

\n16 December 1953 <\/font> <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

 <\/span><\/p>\n

Sweet Mother, you have said: \u201c\u2026Many
\nmethods have been framed to attain this perception [of the psychic being in us]
\nand finally to achieve this identification [with the psychic being]. Some
\nmethods are psychological, some religious, some even mechanical.\u201d  <\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

\u201cThe Science of Living\u201d, On Education<\/font> <\/font><\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

Will you give some examples of this? <\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

 <\/span><\/p>\n

Mechanical,
\nthese are the Asanas, Hathayoga. It is done with this intention. Religious,
\nthese are for those who believe in a particular religion and pray and perform
\nreligious ceremonies. When one believes in a religion \u2013 no matter which \u2013 one
\nabides by the discipline of the religion and prays and asks, one undergoes the
\ndiscipline according to the teaching and observing the beliefs of the religion.
\nThe psychological method is Yoga. To seek within oneself through introspection
\nwhat is permanent, what is constant. That\u2019s all. <\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cYour aim should be high and wide,
\ngenerous and disinterested.\u201d
\n <\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

Ibid.<\/font><\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

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

 <\/span><\/p>\n

You are
\nasking what that means! High?.. For instance, there are those whose aim is to make
\na fortune, and there are those whose aim is to find a cure for a disease. That
\nof making one\u2019s fortune is obviously more self-seeking and lower than the one
\nof finding a remedy for an illness. There are those who have for their aim in
\nlife a comfortable and quiet living, with a family and children, wanting the
\nbest in the best of possible worlds.
\n <\/span><\/p>\n

\nPage \u2013 392<\/font><\/span><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n
\n

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

That is a
\npretty low aim, in any case quite an ordinary one. There are those who seek the
\nbetterment of the whole of society or those who study to make new discoveries,
\nlike Mr. and Mrs. Curie, for example, who discovered radium. That is a higher
\naim. \u201cDisinterested\u201d, that means what is not for one\u2019s own small personal
\nprofit, for one\u2019s personal pleasure, but solely for helping others. Naturally,
\nthe highest aim is to unite with the Divine and fulfil His work, but that,
\nthat\u2019s right at the top of the ladder. In this first chapter I took good care
\nnot to say anything of this kind, for I wrote it intentionally for everybody,
\neven for those who have no mystical conception. But still, it goes without
\nsaying that the discovery of the Divine in oneself and uniting with Him and
\naccomplishing His work is the highest and most disinterested aim, and the least
\nselfish. <\/span><\/p>\n

What
\nadjectives have I used? <\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/span><\/p>\n

High and wide, generous and disinterested.
\n<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

 <\/span><\/p>\n

Yes. Wide,
\nit is something that\u2019s not limited to a small purely personal consciousness and
\nits small purely selfish advantages, something embracing a whole – which may be
\na group, a nation, a continent or the entire earth. For man an action working
\non the entire earth is surely a wide action. <\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/span><\/p>\n

After that you have said: \u201cThis will make
\nyour life precious to yourself and to all.\u201d <\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

 <\/span><\/p>\n

Yes. If you
\nare useless, it is not precious, if you are useful, it becomes precious! There
\nis nothing more disgusting than to be busy with all the little details of a
\nnarrow personal existence. One feels empty, hollow, useless. One has no
\ninterest in life. There are people all shut up in their little family, and if
\nthe baby coughs, they spend hours in fretting, if the dinner is not
\nwell-cooked, they quarrel, or if the gentleman has lost his job and is looking
\nfor another, he laments: \u201cHow shall I feed my
\n <\/span><\/p>\n

\nPage \u2013 393<\/font><\/span><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n
\n

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

family?\u201d \u2013
\nThat\u2019s existing like an earth-worm in a hole. <\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/span><\/p>\n

In everybody, is the psychic always pure
\nor has it to be made pure? <\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

 <\/span><\/p>\n

It is
\nalways pure. But it is either more or less individualised and independent in
\nits action. What is psychic in the being is always pure, by its very
\ndefinition, for it is that part of the being which is in contact with the
\nDivine and expresses the truth of the being. But this may be like a spark in
\nthe darkness of the being or it may be a being of light, conscious, fully
\nformed and independent. There are all the gradations between the two. <\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/span><\/p>\n

Usually is it veiled? <\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

 <\/span><\/p>\n

It is the
\nouter consciousness that is not in contact with it, for it is turned outwards
\ninstead of being turned inwards \u2013 for it lives amidst all the external noises
\nand movements, in what it sees, what it does, what it says, instead of looking
\nwithin, into the depths of the being and listening to the inner inspirations. <\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/span><\/p>\n

Has the psychic any power? <\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

 <\/span><\/p>\n

Power? It
\nis usually the psychic which guides the being. One knows nothing about it
\nbecause one is not conscious of it but usually it is that which guides the
\nbeing. If one is very attentive, one becomes aware of it. But the majority of
\nmen haven\u2019t the least idea of it. For instance, when they have decided, in
\ntheir outer ignorance, to do something, and instead of their being able to do
\nit, all the circumstances are so organised that they do something else, they
\nstart shouting, storming, flying into a rage against fate, saying (that depends
\non what they believe, their beliefs) that Nature is wicked or their destiny
\nbaleful or God unjust, or.. no matter what (it depends on what they believe).
\nWhilst most of the time it is just the very circumstance
\n <\/span><\/p>\n

\nPage \u2013 394<\/font><\/span><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n
\n

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

which was
\nmost favourable for their inner development. And naturally, if you ask the psychic
\nto help you to fashion a pleasant life for yourself, to earn money, have
\nchildren who will be the pride of the family, etc., well, the psychic will not
\nhelp you. But it will create for you all the circumstances necessary to awaken
\nsomething in you so that the need of union with the Divine may be born in your
\nconsciousness. At times you have made fine plans, and if they had succeeded,
\nyou would have been more and more encrusted in your outer ignorance, your
\nstupid little ambition and your aimless activity. Whilst if you receive a good
\nshock, and the post you coveted is denied to you, the plan you made is
\nshattered, and you find yourself completely thwarted, then, sometimes this
\nopposition opens to you a door on something truer and deeper. And when you are
\na little awake and look back, if you are in the least sincere, you say: \u201cAh! it
\nwasn\u2019t I who was right \u2013 it was Nature or the divine Grace or my psychic being
\nwho did it.\u201d It is the psychic being which organised that. <\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/span><\/p>\n

Is it the psychic will which wants the
\nbeing to be identified with the Divine? <\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

 <\/span><\/p>\n

Yes,
\nsurely. It is the will of the psychic. It is also the very reason of its
\nexistence. It is for that it is there. For example, in the mind certain
\nactivities (and even at times in the physical and vital certain activities
\nawaken to the influence of the psychic without even knowing it. That is why
\nthose parts adhere to it and begin to aspire also for the divine knowledge, the
\ndivine union, the relation with the Divine. <\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/span><\/p>\n

How does the psychic manifest the truth? <\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

 <\/span><\/p>\n

I have said
\nthat it manifests the truth?<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cWe give the name \u2018psychic\u2019 to the
\npsychological <\/span><\/i>
\n
\n <\/span><\/p>\n

\nPage \u2013 395<\/font><\/span><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n
\n

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

centre of our being, the seat within of
\nthe highest truth of our existence, that which can know and manifest this
\ntruth.\u201d <\/span><\/i> <\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cThe Science of Living\u201d, On Education <\/font> <\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

 <\/span><\/p>\n

Oh! the
\ntruth of our existence \u2013 not just the Truth. The truth of the being, that is,
\nthe central raison d<\/span>‘<\/span>etre of an existence. It is that, indeed, which organises
\ncircumstances so that the truth of the being may be expressed or the
\nsuperficial outer being be led to turn round within not find any support
\noutside, for instance, and turn within – to have a support; it finds the
\npsychic support. <\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cThe body has a wonderful capacity of
\nadaptation and endurance. It is fit to do so many more things than one can
\nusually imagine. If instead of the ignorant and despotic masters that govern
\nit, it is ruled by the central truth of the being, one will be surprised at
\nwhat it is capable of doing. Calm and quiet, strong and poised, it will at
\nevery minute put forth the effort that is demanded of it, for it will have
\nlearnt to find rest in action, to recuperate through contact with the universal
\nforces the energies it spends consciously and usefully.\u201d
\n <\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

Ibid. <\/font> <\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

 How can one have \u201crest in action\u201d? <\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

 <\/span><\/p>\n

That comes
\nfrom a kind of certitude of inner choice. When one aspires for something, if at
\nthe same time one knows that the aspiration will be heard and answered in the
\nbest way possible, that establishes a quietude in the being, a quietude in its
\nvibrations; whilst if there is a doubt, an uncertainty, if one does not know
\nwhat will lead one to the goal or if ever one will reach it or whether there is
\na way of doing so, and so on, then one gets
\n <\/span><\/p>\n

\nPage \u2013 396<\/font><\/span><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n
\n

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

disturbed
\nand that usually creates a sort of little whirlwind around the being, which
\nprevents it from receiving the real thing. Instead, if one has a quiet faith,
\nif whilst aspiring one knows that there is no aspiration (naturally, sincere
\naspiration) which remains unanswered, then one is quiet. One aspires with as
\nmuch fervour as possible, but does not stand in nervous agitation asking
\noneself why one does not get immediately what one has asked for. One knows how
\nto wait. I have said somewhere: \u201cTo know how to wait is to put time on one\u2019s
\nside.\u201d That is quite true. For if one gets excited, one loses all one\u2019s time \u2013
\none loses one\u2019s time, loses one\u2019s energy, loses one\u2019s movements. To be very
\nquiet, calm, peaceful, with the faith that what is true will take place, and
\nthat if one lets it happen, it will happen so much the quicker. Then, in that
\npeace everything goes much better. <\/span><\/p>\n

\nPage \u2013 397<\/font><\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/table>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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