{"id":4475,"date":"2013-07-13T01:56:16","date_gmt":"2013-07-13T01:56:16","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/localhost\/?p=4475"},"modified":"2013-07-13T01:56:16","modified_gmt":"2013-07-13T01:56:16","slug":"42-30-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\/42-30-december-1953-vol-05-questions-and-answers-volume-05","title":{"rendered":"-42_30 December 1953.htm"},"content":{"rendered":"\n\n
\n
\n

 <\/span><\/b>30 December 1953 <\/font><\/b> <\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/span><\/p>\n

What do you mean by the instinct of
\ndestruction in children? <\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

 <\/span><\/p>\n

It is not
\nthere in all children. I have known many who, on the contrary, were very
\ncareful. <\/span><\/p>\n

Children
\nare not as \u201cconcretised\u201d, materialised in their physical consciousness as older
\npeople – as one grows up, it is as though one is coagulated and becomes more
\nand more gross in one\u2019s consciousness unless through a willed action one
\ndevelops otherwise. For instance, the majority of children find it very
\ndifficult to distinguish their imagination, their dreams, what they see within
\nthemselves from outer things. The world is not as limited as when one is older
\nand more precise. And they are extremely sensitive within; they are much closer
\nto their psychic being than when they are grown up, and much more sensitive to
\nthe forces which, later, will become invisible to them – but at this moment are
\nnot. It is not unusual for children to have some sort of fits of fear or even
\nof joy in their sleep, from dreams. Children are afraid of all sorts of things
\nwhich for older people don\u2019t exist any more. Their vision is not solely
\nmaterial. They have a kind of perception, more or less exact and precise, of
\nthe play of the forces behind. So, being in that state they are influenced by
\nforces which otherwise have no hold over people who are shut up in themselves
\nand more gross. And these forces \u2013 the forces of destruction, for example, or
\nforces of cruelty, forces of wickedness, of ill-will \u2013 all, all these things
\nare in the atmosphere. When one is more conscious and well-formed within, one
\ncan see that they are outside oneself and deny them any expression. But when
\none is very young and lives in a half-dream, these things can exercise much
\ninfluence and make children do things which in their normal state they 410would
\nnot do. I believe it is due to that above all. <\/span><\/p>\n

\nPage \u2013 410<\/font><\/span><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n
\n

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

There
\nis also the phenomenon of unconsciousness. Very often a child does harm without
\neven being aware that it is doing harm; they are unconscious, they are shut up
\nin their movement, and they are not aware of the effect of what they do. That
\nhappens very often. <\/span><\/p>\n

That
\nmeans that if a child is rightly educated, and if one appeals to his best
\nfeelings and explains to him that to do things in such and such a way is
\nharmful to others (and one can make this very tangible for them with a little
\ndemonstration), they stop doing harm, very often. <\/span><\/p>\n

It
\nis above all a question of education. These half-conscious movements of cruelty
\n\u2013 it is very rare for parents not to have them; well, that is enough to set its
\nimpression upon a child\u2019s consciousness. There are some \u2013 but that is a very
\nsmall number \u2013 who have an adverse formation inside them. These are
\nirretrievably wicked children. But they are very rare. There are none here,
\nhappily. <\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cFor it is certain that the nature of the
\nchild about to be born will depend very much upon the mother who forms it, upon
\nher aspiration and will as much as upon the material surroundings in which she
\nlives. The part of education which the mother has to go through is to see that
\nher thoughts are always beautiful and pure, her feelings always noble and fine,
\nher material surroundings as harmonious as possible and full of a great
\nsimplicity. And if in addition she has a conscious and definite will to form
\nthe child according to the highest ideal she can conceive, then the very best
\nconditions are provided for the child to come into the world with the maximum
\nof possibilities.\u201d <\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/font><\/span>\u201cEducation\u201d, On Education
\n<\/font> <\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

 When great souls want to be born upon
\nearth, do they choose their parents? <\/span><\/i>
\n
\n <\/span><\/p>\n

\nPage \u2013 411<\/font><\/span><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n
\n

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

Ah! that
\ndepends on their state of consciousness, it depends on the state of their
\npsychic formation. If the psychic being is completely formed, if it has reached
\nthe perfection of its being and is free to reincarnate or not, it has also the
\ncapacity of choosing. But I believe I have explained that to you already. They
\ndon\u2019t have a physical sight like ours so long as they are not in a body. So,
\nevidently, they look for a body which is adapted and fit to express them, but
\nthey must give its share to the material inconscience, if it may be put thus,
\nand to the necessity to adapt themselves to the most material laws of the body.
\nSo, from the point of view of the psychic, the choice of the place where one is
\nborn is important, it is more than an insignificant detail. But there are so
\nmany things that can\u2019t be foreseen. For instance, one chooses an environment, a
\ncountry, a certain type of family, one tries to see the nature of the likely
\nparents, one asks for certain already well-developed qualities in them and a
\nsufficient self-mastery. But all this is not enough if one does not carry in
\noneself a sufficient dynamism to overcome the obstacles. So, all things
\nconsidered, this is not enormously important. Anyhow, even at the best, even if
\nthe parents have collaborated consciously, there is an enormous mass of the
\nsubconscient and the yet lower inconscient which from time to time rises again
\nto the surface, gets stirred up, damages the work, makes calmness and silence
\nindispensable. Always, always a preparation is needed, even if one has chosen \u2013
\na long preparation. Not to speak of the phenomenon of being half-stunned at the
\nmoment of birth, the descent into the body, which often lasts for a very long
\ntime before one can escape from it completely. <\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/span><\/p>\n

Some children are wicked. Is it because
\ntheir parents did not aspire for them? <\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

 <\/span><\/p>\n

It is
\nperhaps a subconscious wickedness in the parents. It is said that people throw
\nout their wickedness from themselves by giving it birth in their children. One
\nhas always a shadow in oneself.
\n <\/span><\/p>\n

\nPage \u2013 412<\/font><\/span><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n
\n

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

There are
\npeople who project this outside \u2013 that does not always free them from it, but
\nstill perhaps it comforts them! But it is the child who \u201cprofits\u201d by it, you
\nsee? It is quite evident that the state of consciousness in which the parents
\nare at that moment is of capital importance. If they have very low and vulgar
\nideas, the children will reflect them quite certainly. And all these children
\nwho are ill-formed, ill-bred, incomplete (specially from the point of view of
\nintelligence: with holes, things missing), children who are only half-conscious
\nand half-formed – this is always due to the state of consciousness in which the
\nparents were when they conceived the child. Even as the state of consciousness
\nof the last moments of life is of capital importance for the future of the one
\nwho is departing, so too the state of consciousness in which the parents are at
\nthe moment of conception gives a sort of stamp to the child, which it will
\nreflect throughout its life. So, these are apparently such little things \u2013 the
\nmood of the moment, the moment\u2019s aspiration or degradation, anything
\nwhatsoever, everything that takes place at a particular moment \u2013 it seems to be
\nso small a thing, and it has so great a consequence: it brings into the world a
\nchild who is incomplete or wicked or finally a failure. And people are not
\naware of that. <\/span><\/p>\n

Later,
\nwhen the child behaves nastily, they scold it. But they should begin by
\nscolding themselves, telling themselves: \u201cIn what a horrible state of
\nconsciousness I must have been when I brought that child into the world.\u201d For
\nit is truly that. <\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/span><\/p>\n

Sometimes it so happens that a mother
\neducates her child well, but the people around spoil it. Then what can the
\nmother do? <\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

 <\/span><\/p>\n

Yes, that\u2019s
\nperfectly true. The worst of all (which men usually do) is to leave their
\nchildren with servants. It is a crime. For these people have an altogether
\nvulgar consciousness, altogether low, altogether obscure; and quite
\nspontaneously, without
\n <\/span><\/p>\n

\nPage \u2013 413<\/font><\/span><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n
\n

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

wanting to
\ndo so, they let it enter the children. Naturally, there is also the age when
\nchildren are put to school and there they begin to come in contact with a host
\nof children whose company is not always quite desirable. It is very difficult
\nto avoid these relations. But all the same, if one has started life with a
\nlittle consciousness and much goodwill, when one meets people who are not
\ndesirable company, one feels it. And if one is good-willed, immediately one
\ntries not to see them or not to be with them. <\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/span><\/p>\n

But if the power of ill-will is greater
\nthan the other person\u2019s goodwill? <\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

 <\/span><\/p>\n

Yes, that\u2019s
\ntrue, that may happen. Fundamentally, this is why we always come back to the
\nsame thing: one must do all one can, as well as possible, and do it as an
\noffering to the Divine, and then, once all this is settled and organised, well,
\nif there is really an aspiration in the being, and a being that is a being of
\nlight, it can counteract all bad influences. But once one puts one\u2019s foot into
\nthis world, one can\u2019t hope very much to be quite pure and free from bad
\ninfluences. Every time one eats, one absorbs them; every time one breathes, one
\nabsorbs them. Then, essentially, what is necessary is to do the work of
\ncleansing, progressively, as much as possible. <\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/span><\/p>\n

Why do some children take interest in
\nthings only when there is some excitement? <\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

 <\/span><\/p>\n

They are
\ntamasic. It is due to the large proportion of tamas in their nature. The more
\ntamasic one is, the more does one need something violent and exciting
\ncircumstances. When the physical is tamasic, unless one eats spices and highly
\nflavoured food, one does not feel nourished. And yet these are poisons. They
\nact exactly like poison on the nerves. They do not nourish. But it is because
\npeople are tamasic, because they do not have sufficient consciousness
\n <\/span><\/p>\n

\nPage \u2013 414<\/font><\/span><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n
\n

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

in their
\nbody. Well, mentally it is the same thing, vitally the same thing. If they are
\ntamasic, they always need new excitements, dramas, murders, suicides, etc. to
\nfeel anything at all, otherwise And there is nothing, nothing that makes one
\nmore wicked and cruel than tamas. For it is this need of excitement which
\nshakes you up a little, makes you come out of yourself. And one must also
\nlearn, there, to distinguish between those who are exclusively tamasic and
\nthose who are mixed, and those who are struggling within themselves with their
\ndifferent parts. One can, one must know in what proportion their nature is
\nconstituted, so as to be able to insist at need on one thing or another. Some
\npeople constantly need a whipping from life in order to move, otherwise they
\nwould spend their time sleeping. Others, on the contrary, need soothing things,
\nsilence, a retreat in the country-side \u2013 all things that do a lot of good but
\nwhich must disappear as soon as one needs to make an effort for progress or to
\nrealise something or struggle against a defect, conquer an obstacle It is
\ncomplicated, don\u2019t you think so? <\/span><\/p>\n

The
\nproportion is very important, this proportion of the three \u201cgunas\u201d (you know
\nthe three gunas?<\/span>\u00b9<\/span>)
\nthe proportion of the three gunas in the nature. And one must know the exact
\nproportion in oneself and how to use one guna to fight the other, and so on.
\nBut there is a moment when one should attain a certain equilibrium, and then be
\ncapable of establishing it in oneself a little steadily and facing life without
\nhaving to fall into holes or struggle against terrible things. From that moment
\non everything goes well. <\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/span><\/p>\n

It had been proposed that education in our
\nschool and our university centre would be given in accordance with the ideals
\nof Sri Aurobindo. But so far the <\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

 <\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

\u00b9<\/font><\/span>The three principles of Indian psychology: tamas, rajas and sattwa.
\nTamas is the principle of inertia and obscurity; rajas the principle of
\npassion, desire and dynamism; sattwa the principle of light and equilibrium.<\/span><\/font><\/p>\n

\nPage \u2013 415<\/font><\/span><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n
\n

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

education given here is the same as in other schools; one follows the
\nsame programme.<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

 <\/span><\/p>\n

Yes, my
\nchild. And for years I have been fighting for it to be otherwise. When you –
\nyou children, here when you are old enough and ready to become teachers, then
\nyou will be entrusted with teaching the newcomers the right thing, in the right
\nway. Actually, for the time being, it is much more a school of teachers than a
\nschool of students! What is wanted is that you prepare yourselves by learning
\nwhat everybody knows \u2013 for there is an indispensable basis: it is not anything
\nvery much, it is not a very detailed or very deeply established basis, but
\nstill there is a basis of general human knowledge that\u2019s necessary \u2013 but once
\nyou have that basis and have at the same time benefited by the influence that
\nis here, and when you have read and understood sufficiently well to be able to
\nsee from that angle \u2013 the angle of the true life \u2013 well, when you know all
\nthat, you will be the ones asked to teach the children from outside what you
\nhave learnt. That is part of the work. <\/span><\/p>\n

It
\nis true that apart from a few rare exceptions, the teaching is given on the
\nmost ordinary principles. I know it. But, for instance, in order that it be
\notherwise, the books which are used should be prepared here, with the extracts
\nchosen here, even with the method of teaching worked out here. I have asked
\nseveral persons to do it. But this is one of those interminable tasks which
\nmake you always put off for the next year the possibility of taking a class
\nwhich does not follow the grooves of the past. That preparation of the material,
\nfor instance, for the true understanding of things, that takes time. One has to
\nface very concrete problems. It is difficult to teach children without their
\nhaving books to be able to study. But these books, finally, are perforce
\nordered from the stock available. There is not much choice. One tries to find
\nthe best that is available, but the best that is there is yet not very good.
\nThere also, I need people to prepare them, these books. But precisely, I
\nbelieve that someone who has grown
\n <\/span><\/p>\n

\nPage \u2013 416<\/font><\/span><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n
\n

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

up here
\nfrom childhood and felt things quite subconsciously when very young, and who
\nhas in spite of every-thing…\u00a0 <\/span>that
\nleaves a trace, it cannot go without any effect; and when one sees children
\nbrought up here beside those who come from outside, there is truly a great
\ndifference (perhaps not outwardly in the mechanical part of training, but in
\nthe understanding, the intelligence, in the inner awakening), there is a
\nconsiderable difference, and the new ones need some time to come up to the same
\nlevel. It is something beyond books, don\u2019t you see? It is like the difference
\nbetween living in a pure atmosphere, filling the lungs with pure air every time
\none breathes and living in an infected atmosphere and poisoning oneself every
\ntime one breathes. From the point of view of consciousness it is the same
\nphenomenon, and it is essentially the most important thing. And it is this
\nwhich completely escapes the superficial consciousness. You are plunged in a
\nsea of consciousness full of light, aspiration, true understanding, essential
\npurity, and whether you want it or not it enters. Even for those who are shut
\nup in their outer consciousness, well, they cannot sleep in vain. There is an
\naction here during sleep which is quite considerable, considerable. So that has
\nan effect, it is visible. I have seen people who had come altogether from
\noutside, who knew nothing (only they had spent their life taking interest in
\nchildren), well, the impression of these people \u2013 visitors, people just passing
\nby \u2013 they are all quite bewildered: \u201cBut you have children here as I have never
\nseen elsewhere!\u201d As for us, we are used to it, aren\u2019t we? They are
\nspontaneously like that, quite naturally. But there is an awakening in the
\nconsciousness, there is a kind of inner response and a feeling of blossoming,
\nof inner freedom which is not found elsewhere. Some of the children who come
\nhere are terribly well brought up \u2013 so polite, so well-bred, who answer you
\nso.. and one gets the impression of little puppets, just half alive, who have
\nbeen well polished, well brushed, well groomed outside, but within there is no
\nresponse. Here, I cannot say that we give an example of unusual politeness (!),
\none is rather a little\u2026 <\/span><\/p>\n

\nPage \u2013 417<\/font><\/span><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n
\n

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

a little
\nwhat people call \u201cill-bred\u201d. But in that too one is so alive! One feels a
\nconsciousness vibrating here. And that is the most important part of all. And
\nof this one does not speak, for these are things one does, but does not tell \u2013
\noccasion like today\u2019s has to be there for me to speak to you about it. Indeed,
\nyou have been here for so many years, and this is the first time I have had it.
\nVoila. <\/i><\/span><\/p>\n

You
\nhave exhausted all your questions? <\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/span><\/p>\n

It is outside the subject. Mother, every
\nyear you give a message on the first of January. What does it exactly indicate?
\n<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

 <\/span><\/p>\n

Yes, every
\nyear\u2026 During the war it was wonderful, it was like a prophecy of what was going
\nto come. Now there is no longer any war and no more need of prophecy! But it is
\nalways an indication of the progress which has to be made. You will receive it
\ntomorrow morning, the prayer.<\/span>\u00b9<\/span>
\nBut I advise you to reflect deeply on it. For truly it was spoken and
\nconsidered as of great importance. Now we are becoming almost a thing of public
\ninterest, in the sense that there are lots of visitors coming and lots of
\npeople concerned about what we are doing here, and then they are taken round
\nand told what we have supposedly done and what we are going to do and all that.
\nAnd there was truly a great need to say: \u201cI beg of you, don\u2019t speak so much
\nabout what we are doing: do it.\u201d That is all. <\/span><\/p>\n

It
\nis always better to do than to speak, and in the least details also. <\/span><\/p>\n

There
\nis another meaning too, much deeper. But about that I shall speak to you
\nanother time. <\/span><\/p>\n

Voila<\/span><\/i>, au revoir
\nmy children.<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/span><\/p>\n

\u00b9<\/font><\/span> New Year Prayer of 1954: <\/font> <\/span><\/p>\n

\n\u201cMy Lord, here is Thy advice to all, for
\nthis year: <\/font> <\/span><\/p>\n

\n\u2018Never boast about anything, let your acts
\nspeak for you.\u201d<\/font> <\/font><\/span><\/p>\n

\nPage \u2013 418<\/font><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/table>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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