{"id":4473,"date":"2013-07-13T01:56:15","date_gmt":"2013-07-13T01:56:15","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/localhost\/?p=4473"},"modified":"2013-07-13T01:56:15","modified_gmt":"2013-07-13T01:56:15","slug":"25-26-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\/25-26-august-1953-vol-05-questions-and-answers-volume-05","title":{"rendered":"-25_26 August 1953.htm"},"content":{"rendered":"\n\n
\n
\n


\n26 August 1953 <\/span><\/b><\/p>\n

 <\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cLove is a supreme force which the Eternal
\nConsciousness sent down from itself into an obscure and darkened world that it
\nmight bring back that world and its beings to the Divine. The material world in
\nits darkness and ignorance had forgotten the Divine. Love came into the
\ndarkness; it awakened all that lay there asleep; it whispered, opening the ears
\nthat were sealed: \u2018There is something worth waking to, worth living for, and it
\nis love!\u2019 And with the awakening to love there entered into the world the
\npossibility of coming back to the Divine. The creation moves upward through
\nlove towards the Divine and in answer there leans downward to meet the creation
\nthe Divine Love and Grace.\u201d <\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

Questions and Answers 1929 (2 June)
\n<\/font> <\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

 Where does love come from? <\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

 <\/span><\/p>\n

Where does
\nlove come from? From the Origin of the universe. <\/span><\/p>\n

Besides,
\nI say that there. That\u2019s what I say. I say that love is a supreme force which
\nthe Eternal Consciousness has emanated in order to send it into the world. Love
\ncomes from that. (Mother takes the
\nBulletin of August 1953 and reads a passage from \u201cThe Four Austerities and the
\nFour Liberations\u201d.<\/i>) This answers the question: <\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cLove is, in its essence, the joy of
\nidentity: it finds its supreme expression in the bliss of union. Between the
\ntwo there are all the phases of its universal manifestation.\u201d <\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

 <\/span><\/p>\n

First, it
\nis the joy of identity. Something must be there already <\/span><\/p>\n

\nPage \u2013 237<\/font><\/span><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n
\n

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

which can
\nbecome conscious of the identity, and that precisely is love. Then comes the
\nmanifestation of love. And in its supreme form, that is, when it returns to its
\nsource crossing all the phases of its manifestation, it becomes the bliss of
\nunion. For the feeling of union comes as a consequence of the feeling of
\nseparation. The passage through the whole manifested universe gives the feeling
\nof separation from the Origin; and the return to the Origin is the bliss of
\nunion, that is, the two things that were separated are united once again. And
\nit is still Love; it is Love after the great circuit of the manifestation. When
\nit returns to its Origin, it becomes the bliss of union. (Mother continues reading the passage from \u201cThe Four Austerities\u201d<\/i>):<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cAt the beginning of this manifestation,
\nLove is, in the purity of its origin, composed of two movements, two
\ncomplementary poles of the impulsion towards complete fusion. On one side, it
\nis the supreme power of attraction and on the other the irresistible need of
\nabsolute self-giving. No other movement can do better in throwing a bridge over
\nthe abyss that was dug in the individual being when its consciousness separated
\nfrom its origin and became inconscience. <\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

 <\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

\u201cWhat was projected into space had to be
\nbrought back to itself without, however, destroying the universe so created.
\nTherefore Love burst forth, the irresistible power of union. <\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

 <\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

\u201cIt has been soaring over darkness and
\ninconscience; it has scattered itself, pulverised itself in the bosom of
\nunfathomed night. And from that moment began the awakening and the ascent, the
\nslow formation of matter and its endless progression.\u201d <\/span><\/i><\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/span><\/p>\n

That is the
\nanswer to your question. That is, no matter how high you may climb back, at the
\nOrigin you will find love. But not what men call love. <\/span><\/p>\n

\nPage \u2013 238<\/font><\/span><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n
\n

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

Mother, what kind of love is that which
\nsays, \u201cIf you love me, I shall love you\u201d? <\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

 <\/span><\/p>\n

If you love
\nme, I shall love you? That\u2019s exactly the way men speak: \u201cIf you love me, I love
\nyou, if you don\u2019t love me, I don\u2019t love you.\u201d This is just the most human
\nexpression of love. And it goes still farther, they apply it also to their
\nrelation with the Divine. They say to the Divine: \u201cIf you do what I want, I
\nshall say that you love me, and I shall love you. But if you don\u2019t do what I
\nwant, then I won\u2019t think at all that you love me, and I certainly will not love
\nyou.\u201d <\/span><\/p>\n

That\u2019s
\nhow it is. That means that it becomes commercial. <\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/span><\/p>\n

But \u201cIf you don\u2019t love me, I shall love
\nyou\u201d? <\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

 <\/span><\/p>\n

That begins
\nto be better! <\/span><\/p>\n

And
\nwhat is better still is not to ask oneself whether one is loved or not, one
\nshould be absolutely indifferent to that. And that begins to be true love: one
\nloves because one loves, not at all because one receives a response to one\u2019s
\nlove or because the other person loves you. All those conditions – that is not
\nlove. One loves because one cannot do otherwise but love. One loves because one
\nloves. One doesn\u2019t care at all about what will happen; one is perfectly
\nsatisfied with the feeling of one\u2019s love. One loves because one loves. <\/span><\/p>\n

All
\nthe rest is bargaining, it is not love. <\/span><\/p>\n

And,
\nmoreover, one thing is certain: the moment one experiences true love, one
\ndoesn\u2019t even put the question any longer. It seems altogether childish and
\nridiculous and insignificant to ask this question. One has the complete
\nplenitude of joy and realisation the moment one experiences true love and one
\ndoesn\u2019t at all need any kind of response. One is love, that\u2019s all. And one has
\nthe plenitude of the satisfaction of love. There is no need at all of any
\nreciprocity. <\/span><\/p>\n

I
\ntell you, so long as there is this calculation in the mind or
\n <\/span><\/p>\n

\nPage \u2013 239<\/font><\/span><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n
\n

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

the
\nfeelings and sensations, so long as there is some calculation, more or less
\nacknowledged, it is bargaining, it is not love. <\/span><\/p>\n

You
\ncan\u2019t manage to understand?.. I hope it will come one day! <\/span><\/p>\n

All
\nthe rest is exactly what men have made of love. And besides it is not very
\npretty and leads to all kinds of things which are still less pretty, like
\njealousy, for instance, or envy, and in violent natures it goes as far as
\nhatred. The small beginning is this: the need, when one loves, that what one
\nloves or the person one loves should know that he is loved. But in the relation
\nwith the Divine: one loves the Divine but insists that the Divine should know
\nthat one loves Him! That\u2019s the beginning of the fall. One does not even think
\nabout the real thing. It doesn\u2019t even slightly touch the mind. <\/span><\/p>\n

One
\ndoesn\u2019t think: one loves, that\u2019s all. One loves and is in the plenitude of love
\nand the intense joy of love, and then, that\u2019s all.<\/span><\/p>\n

It
\nis a long, long, long way to go from what men call \u201clove\u201d to true love \u2013 a\u00a0 <\/span>long way. <\/span><\/p>\n

I
\nam not even speaking here about all the repulsive forms it takes in the
\nordinary human consciousness; I am telling you about the best conditions, about
\nlove in its best form, even the most disinterested. I don\u2019t know, if you
\nquestion human beings, I would like to know very much the percentage of those
\nwho don\u2019t even care for reciprocity. Simply that. Not those who say: \u201cIf you
\nlove me, I love you\u201d, that indeed is at the very bottom of the ladder, right at
\nthe bottom, almost in the pit There is a still lower rung: \u201cLove me and then I
\nshall see if I love you.\u201d There you have to deal with altogether disgusting
\npeople. I am speaking only of the need of reciprocity: that is the first step
\nof the descending scale. <\/span><\/p>\n

However,
\nyou will understand this one day. You are still very young. <\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/span><\/p>\n

What kind of love do animals have for men?<\/span><\/i> <\/span><\/p>\n

\nPage \u2013 240<\/font><\/span><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n
\n

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

\n <\/font><\/span>It is
\nalmost the same as that of rather unintellectual men for the Divine. It is made
\nof admiration, trust and a sense of security. Admiration: it seems to you
\nsomething really very beautiful. And it is not reasoned out: an admiration from
\nthe heart, so to speak, spontaneous. For instance, dogs have this in a very
\nhigh degree. And then, trust \u2013 naturally this is sometimes mixed with other
\nthings: with the feeling of some need and dependence, for it is that person who
\nwill give me to eat when I am hungry, give me shelter when it is rough weather,
\nwho will look after me. This is not the most beautiful side. And then,
\nunfortunately, it gets mixed up (and I believe – I consider it entirely man\u2019s
\nfault) with a kind of fear; a feeling of dependence and a kind of fear of
\nsomething which is much stronger, much more conscious, much more.. which can
\nharm you, and you have no strength to defend yourself. It is a pity, but I
\nbelieve it is altogether man\u2019s fault. <\/span><\/p>\n

But
\nif men really deserved the love of animals, it would be made of a feeling of
\nwonder and of the sense of security. It is something very fine, this sense of
\nsecurity; something that\u2019s able to protect you, to give you all that you need,
\nand near which you can always find shelter. <\/span><\/p>\n

Animals
\nhave an altogether rudimentary mind. They are not tormented by incessant
\nthoughts like human beings. For example, they feel a spontaneous gratitude for
\nan act of kindness towards them, whilst men, ninety-eight times out of a
\nhundred, begin to reason and ask themselves what interest one could have in
\nbeing good. This is one of the great miseries of mental activity. Animals are
\nfree from this and when you are kind to them they are grateful to you, spontaneously.
\nAnd they have trust. So their love is made of that, and it turns into a very
\nstrong attachment, an irresistible need to be near you. <\/span><\/p>\n

There
\nis something else. If the master is really a good one and the animal faithful,
\nthere is an exchange of psychic and vital forces, an exchange which becomes for
\nthe animal something wonderful, giving it an intense joy. When they like to be
\nquite
\n <\/span><\/p>\n

\nPage \u2013 241<\/font><\/span><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n
\n

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

close to
\nyou in that way, when you hold them, it is that they vibrate internally. The
\nforce one gives them \u2013 the strength of affection, of tenderness, protection,
\nall that \u2013 they feel it, and it creates a deep attachment in them. Even fairly
\neasily, in some of the higher animals like dogs, elephants, and even horses, it
\ncreates quite a remarkable need for devotion (which indeed is not thwarted by
\nall the reasonings and arguments of the mind), which is spontaneous and very
\npure in its essence, something that\u2019s very beautiful. <\/span><\/p>\n

The
\nworking of the mind in man in its rudimentary form, its first manifestation has
\nspoilt many things which were much finer before. <\/span><\/p>\n

Naturally,
\nif man rises to a higher level and makes good use of his intelligence, then
\nthings can take on a much greater value. But between the two, there is a
\npassage where man makes the most vulgar and low use of his intelligence; he
\nmakes it an instrument for calculation, domination, deception, and there it
\nbecomes very ugly. I have known in my life animals I considered much higher
\nthan many people, for that sordid calculation, that wish to cheat and profit
\nwas precisely not there in them. There are others that catch it – through
\ncontact with man they catch it – but there are those who don\u2019t have it. <\/span><\/p>\n

The
\nunselfish movement, uncalculating, is one of the most beautiful forms of
\npsychic consciousness in the world. But the higher one rises in the scale of
\nmental activity, the rarer it becomes. For with intelligence come all the skill
\nand cleverness, and corruption, calculation. For instance, when a rose blossoms
\nit does so spontaneously, for the joy of being beautiful, smelling sweet,
\nexpressing all its joy of living, and it does not calculate, it has nothing to
\ngain out of it: it does so spontaneously, in the joy of being and living. Take
\na human being, well, apart from a very few exceptions, the moment his mind is
\nactive he tries to get some advantage out of his beauty and cleverness; he
\nwants it to bring him something, either men\u2019s admiration or even much more
\nsordid gains yet. Consequently, from the <\/span><\/p>\n

\nPage \u2013 242<\/font><\/span><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n
\n

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

psychic point
\nof view, the rose is better than human beings.<\/span><\/p>\n

Only,
\nif you climb a rung higher and consciously do what the rose does unconsciously,
\nthen it is much more beautiful. But it must be the same thing: a spontaneous
\nflowering of beauty, uncalculating, simply for the joy of being. Little
\nchildren have this at times (at times, not always). Unfortunately, under the
\ninfluence of their parents and the environment, they learn to be calculating
\nwhen yet very young. <\/span><\/p>\n

But
\nthis kind of wish to gain by what one has or does is truly one of the ugliest
\nthings in the world. And it is one of the most widespread and it has become so
\nwidespread, that it is almost spontaneous in man. Nothing can turn its back on
\nthe divine love more totally than that, that wish to calculate and profit. <\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/span><\/p>\n

Do flowers love? <\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

 <\/span><\/p>\n

This is
\ntheir form of love, this blossoming. Certainly, when one sees a rose opening to
\nthe sun, it is like a need to give its beauty. Only, for us, it is almost
\nunintelligible, for they do not think about what they do. A human being always
\nassociates with everything he does this ability to see himself doing it, that
\nis, to think about himself, think of himself doing it. Man knows that he is
\ndoing something. Animals don\u2019t think. It is not at all the same form of love.
\nAnd flowers, so to speak, are not conscious: it is a spontaneous movement, not
\na consciousness that is conscious of itself, not at all. But it is a great
\nForce which acts through all that, the great universal Consciousness and the
\ngreat Force of universal love which makes all things blossom in beauty.<\/span><\/p>\n

That
\nis what I have written there also (Mother
\nresumes reading \u201cThe Four Austerities<\/i>\u201d): <\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cIs it not love, under an erring and
\nobscure form, that is associated with all the impulsions of the physical and
\nvital nature as the push towards every movement
\n <\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

\nPage -243<\/font><\/span><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n
\n

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

and every grouping and which has become
\nquite visible in the plant world?\u201d<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

 <\/span><\/p>\n

You know,
\ncrystals which are formed in matter already obey a movement of love; but this
\nbecomes quite perceptible in the vegetable kingdom, in the tree and plant. It
\nis the need to grow to get more light. All these trees which are always growing
\nhigher – always growing, the smaller ones trying to catch up with the taller,
\nthe taller ones trying to climb yet higher; you put two plants side by side,
\nthey both try to find an orientation that gives them the maximum light possible
\n– that is the need to grow to get more air, more light, more space (Mother continues reading<\/i>): <\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cIn the flower it is the gift of beauty and
\nfragrance in a loving efflorescence. And in the animal is it not there behind
\nhunger and thirst, the need for appropriation, expansion, procreation, in
\nbrief, behind all desire, whether conscious or not? and, among the higher
\norders, in the self-sacrificing devotion of the female for her young ones?\u201d <\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

 <\/span><\/p>\n

\u2026 which in
\nhuman beings becomes maternal love. The only difference is that it is conscious
\nof itself. And in animals it is often even purer than in human beings. There
\nare instances of the devotion, care, self-forgetfulness of animals for their
\nyoung, which are absolutely wonderful. Only, it is spontaneous, not thought
\nout, not reflected upon; the animal does not think about what it is doing. Man
\nthinks. At times this spoils the movement (at times \u2013 most often), sometimes it
\ncan give it a higher worth but that is rare. There is less spontaneity in man\u2019s
\nmovements than in an animal\u2019s. <\/span><\/p>\n

I
\nhad a puss, the first time it had its kittens it did not want to move from
\nthere. It did not eat, did not satisfy any call of nature. It remained there,
\nstuck to her kittens, shielding them,
\n <\/span><\/p>\n

\nPage \u2013 244<\/font><\/span><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n
\n

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

feeding
\nthem; it was so afraid that something would happen to them. And that was quite
\nunthought out, spontaneous. It refused to move, so frightened it was that some
\nharm might come to them \u2013 just through instinct. And then, when they were
\nbigger, the trouble it took to educate \u2013 them it was marvellous. And what
\npatience! And how it taught them to jump from wall to wall, to catch their
\nfood; how, with what care, it repeated once, ten times, a hundred times if
\nnecessary. It was never tired until the little one had done what it wanted. An
\nextraordinary education. It taught them how to skirt houses following the edge
\nof walls, how to walk so as not to fall, what had to be done when there was
\nmuch space between one wall and another, in order to cross over. The little
\nones were quite afraid when they saw the gap and refused to jump because they
\nwere frightened (it was not too far for them, but there was the gap and they
\ndid not dare) and then the mother jumped, it went over to the other side, it
\ncalled them: come, come along. They did not move, they were trembling. It
\njumped back and then gave them a speech, it gave them little blows with its paw
\nand licked them, and yet they did not move. It jumped. I saw it do this for
\nover half an hour. But after half an hour it found that they had learnt enough,
\nso it went behind the one it evidently considered the most ready, the most
\ncapable, and gave it a hard knock with its head. Then the little one,
\ninstinctively, jumped. Once it had jumped, it jumped again and again and again <\/span><\/p>\n

There
\nare few mothers who have this patience.<\/span><\/p>\n

Voila<\/span><\/i>, my
\nchildren. That\u2019s all? Nothing more?.. Good night.
\n <\/span><\/p>\n

\nPage \u2013 245<\/font><\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/table>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

26 August 1953   \u201cLove is a supreme force which the Eternal Consciousness sent down from itself into an obscure and darkened world that it…<\/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-4473","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\/4473","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=4473"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/worksofthemotherandsriaurobindo.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4473\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/worksofthemotherandsriaurobindo.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4473"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/worksofthemotherandsriaurobindo.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4473"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/worksofthemotherandsriaurobindo.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4473"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}