{"id":4486,"date":"2013-07-13T01:56:20","date_gmt":"2013-07-13T01:56:20","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/localhost\/?p=4486"},"modified":"2013-07-13T01:56:20","modified_gmt":"2013-07-13T01:56:20","slug":"24-19-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\/24-19-august-1953-vol-05-questions-and-answers-volume-05","title":{"rendered":"-24_19 August 1953.htm"},"content":{"rendered":"\n\n
\n
\n


\n
\n19 August 1953 <\/font> <\/span><\/b><\/p>\n

 <\/span><\/b><\/p>\n

\u201cThe movement of love is not limited to
\nhuman beings and it is perhaps less distorted in other worlds than in the
\nhuman. Look at the flowers and trees. When the sun sets and all becomes silent,
\nsit down for a moment and put yourself into communion with nature, you will
\nfeel rising from the earth, from below the roots of the trees, and mounting
\nupward and coursing through their fibres, up to the highest outstretching
\nbranches, the aspiration of an intense love and longing, \u2013 a longing for
\nsomething that brings light and gives happiness, for the light that is gone and
\nthey wish to have back again. There is a yearning so pure and intense that if
\nyou can feel the movement in the trees, your own being too will go up in an
\nardent prayer for the peace and light and love that are unmanifested here.\u201d <\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

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

The trees aspire for the light. What is
\nthis light? <\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

 <\/span><\/p>\n

The sun, my
\nchild. Have you never seen leaves closing up when night comes, as soon as the
\nsun dips below the horizon? <\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/span><\/p>\n

Can trees have an aspiration for something
\nelse? <\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

 <\/span><\/p>\n

Something else
\nmeans what? What are the possible openings for a tree? <\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/span><\/p>\n

To become a man? <\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

 <\/span><\/p>\n

A man? But
\nthey know nothing about man! As man aspires to be a god?.. I knew animals which
\naspired to become human
\n <\/span><\/p>\n

\nPage \u2013 229<\/font><\/span><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n
\n

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

beings, but
\nthey were living with human beings. Cats and dogs, for example, which lived in
\na close intimacy with human beings, truly had an aspiration. I had a cat which
\nwas very, very unhappy for being a cat, it wanted to be a man. It had an
\nuntimely death. It used to meditate, it certainly did a kind of sadhana of its
\nown, and when it left, even a portion of its vital being reincarnated in a
\nhuman being. The little psychic element that was at the centre of the being
\nwent directly into a man, but even what was conscious in the vital of the cat
\nwent into a human being. But these are rather exceptional cases. <\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/span><\/p>\n

You say that perhaps stones also feel
\nlove?\u201d<\/span><\/i>\u00b9<\/span>
\n<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/span><\/p>\n

It is
\npossible. <\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/span><\/p>\n

Can it be known? <\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

 <\/span><\/p>\n

One can
\nfeel it. There is a certain state of consciousness in which one perceives this
\ndivine Love wherever it is found, and one does not feel so great a difference
\nbetween creatures as it appears physically. There is much more aspiration than
\none would think in things we call inanimate. Much more. In stones also there is
\na kind of spontaneous sense of what is higher, more noble, more pure, and
\nthough they cannot express it in any way, they feel it, and this affects them
\ndifferently. <\/span><\/p>\n

Even
\nin things, even in objects, even in stones, there is a strange receptivity
\nwhich comes from this Presence. There are stones – if you know how to do it –
\nthat can accumulate forces. They can accumulate forces, keep them and transmit
\nthem. One can take stones (what are called precious stones) and concentrate <\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/span><\/p>\n

\n\u00b9<\/font><\/span> Love is universal and eternal; it is always
\nmanifesting itself and always identical in its essence. And it is a Divine
\nForce; for the distortions we see in its apparent workings belong to its
\ninstruments. Love does not manifest in human beings alone; it is everywhere.
\nIts movement is there in plants, perhaps in the very stones; in the animals it
\nis easy to detect its presence.\u201d <\/font> <\/span><\/p>\n


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

\nPage \u2013 230<\/font><\/span><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n
\n

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

forces into
\nthem and they keep them. And these forces irradiate slowly, very gradually. But
\nif one knows how to do it one can accumulate such a quantity as would last, so
\nto speak, indefinitely. <\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/span><\/p>\n

Are these forces of any use when they come
\nout from the stones? <\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

 <\/span><\/p>\n

Certainly,
\nyes! The stone can preserve the force almost indefinitely. There are those
\nstones which can serve as a link, there are stones which can serve as a
\nbattery. There are stones which can hold a force for protection. That indeed is
\nremarkable, my child. One can accumulate in a stone (particularly in amethysts)
\na force for protection, and the force truly protects the one who wears the
\nstone. It is very interesting, I have experienced it. I knew someone who had a
\nstone of this kind, charged with the power of protection, and it was wonderful
\nwhen he wore it There are stones which can be used to foretell events. Some
\npeople know how to read in these stones events which are going to happen.
\nStones can carry messages. Naturally, this requires an ability on both sides:
\non one side, a sufficiently strong power of concentration; on the other, a
\npower to see and read directly, without using very precise words either.
\nConsequently, because they can serve as batteries, it means that they carry
\nwithin them the source of the force itself, otherwise they wouldn\u2019t be
\nreceptive. It is a force of this kind that is at the origin of
\ncrystallisations, as in rock-crystals, for instance, which form such
\nmagnificent patterns, with such a complete harmony, and that comes from one
\nthing alone, this Presence at the centre. Now, one doesn\u2019t see because one has
\nno inner sensibility, but once one has the direct perception of the forces of
\nlove behind things, one sees that they are the same everywhere. Even in
\nconstructed things: one can come to understand what they say. <\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/span><\/p>\n

Anything else?<\/span><\/i> <\/span><\/p>\n

\nPage \u2013 231<\/font><\/span><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n
\n

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

Mother, when flowers are brought to you,
\nhow do you give them a significance? <\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

 <\/span><\/p>\n

To the
\nflowers? But it\u2019s in the same way, by entering into contact with the nature of
\nthe flower, its inner truth. Then one knows what it represents. <\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/span><\/p>\n

Mother, one day you said you would tell us
\nthe difference between what you call \u201cthe Divine\u201d and we call \u201cGod\u201d. <\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

 <\/span><\/p>\n

Oh! but I
\ntold you that it would be later, several years later. I said that you had to be
\nsufficiently old. I even said what age. I don\u2019t now remember which, but the brain
\nmust be a little more ready to be able to follow. <\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cAll the deformations of this great and
\ndivine Power come from the obscurity and ignorance and selfishness of the
\nlimited instrument. Love, the eternal force, has no clinging, no desire, no
\nhunger for possession, no self-regarding attachment; it is, in its pure
\nmovement, the seeking for union of the self with the Divine, a seeking absolute
\nand regardless of all other things. Love divine gives itself and asks for
\nnothing. What human beings have made of it, we do not need to say; they have
\nturned it into an ugly and repulsive thing. And yet even in human beings the
\nfirst contact of love does bring down something of its purer substance; they
\nbecome capable for a moment of forgetting themselves, for a moment its divine
\ntouch awakens and magnifies all that is fine and beautiful. But afterwards
\nthere comes to the surface the human nature, full of its impure demands, asking
\nfor something in exchange, bartering what it gives, clamouring for its own <\/span><\/i>
\n
\n <\/span><\/p>\n

\nPage \u2013 232<\/font><\/span><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n
\n

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

inferior satisfactions, distorting and
\nsoiling what was divine.\u201d
\n <\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

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

 Why do human beings always want to have
\nsomething in exchange for what they give? <\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

 <\/span><\/p>\n

Because
\nthey are shut up in themselves. <\/span><\/p>\n

They
\nsense their limitation and think that in order to grow, increase and even
\nsurvive, they need to take things from outside, for they live in the
\nconsciousness of their personal limitation. So, for them, what they give makes
\na hole and this hole must be filled up by receiving something!.. Naturally,
\nthis is a mistake. And the truth is that if instead of being shut up in the
\nnarrow limits of their little person, they could so widen their consciousness
\nas to be able not only to identify themselves with others in their narrow limits,
\nbut to come out of these limits, pass beyond, spread out everywhere, unite with
\nthe one Consciousness and become all things, then, at that moment the narrow
\nlimits will vanish, but not before. And as long as one senses the narrow
\nlimits, one wants to take, for one fears to lose. One spends and wants to
\nreplenish. It is due to that, my child. For if one were spread out in all
\nthings, if all the vibrations which come and go expressed the need to merge
\ninto everything, to widen oneself, grow, not by remaining within one\u2019s limits
\nbut coming out of them, and finally to be identified with everything, one would
\nno longer have anything to lose for one would have everything. Only, one
\ndoesn\u2019t know this. And so, as one doesn\u2019t know, one can\u2019t do it. One tries to take,
\naccumulate, accumulate, accumulate, but that is impossible, one can\u2019t
\naccumulate. One must identify oneself. And then, the little bit one gives, one
\nwants to get back: one has a kind thought, one expects some recognition; one
\ngives a little affection, one expects it from others.. for one doesn\u2019t have the
\nability to become the kind thought in everything, one doesn\u2019t have the ability
\nto be the affection,
\n <\/span><\/p>\n

\nPage \u2013 233<\/font><\/span><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n
\n

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

the tender
\nlove in all things. One feels just like that, all cut up and limited, and fears
\nto lose everything, fears to lose what one has because one would be
\nimpoverished. On the other hand, if one were able to identify oneself, one
\nwould no longer need to pull. The more one spreads out, the more one has.
\nThe more one gets identified, the more one becomes. And then, instead of
\ntaking, one gives. And the more one gives, the more one grows.<\/span><\/p>\n

But
\nfor this, one must be able to come out of the limits of one\u2019s little ego. One
\nmust be identified with the Force, identified with the Vibration instead of
\nbeing identified with one\u2019s ego. <\/span><\/p>\n

It
\nis very difficult, but one can succeed. <\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/span><\/p>\n

Why do people say that it is easier to do
\nbad things than good ones? <\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

 <\/span><\/p>\n

They say
\nso, but it is not always true, and it depends on people. I knew people (not many,
\nbut still…) for whom it was impossible to do anything bad. Everything in
\ntheir nature revolted at the idea of doing harm; the spontaneous movement was
\ncompletely against this. But this is rare. Still, it does exist. <\/span><\/p>\n

This
\nhappens because the world as it is at present is still largely under the
\ninfluence of the adverse forces, particularly the vital force which is dynamic
\nand generally makes you act. This force is largely under the influence of the
\nadverse vital, that is, forces which like to hurt, destroy, damage. That kind
\nof will to spoil things: when one sees something beautiful, instead of
\nadmiring, loving, being happy, wishing that it grows and progresses (which is
\nthe true divine movement), one feels a sort of anger, rage, one wants to destroy,
\none wants to damage. This is the movement of the adverse forces. Unfortunately,
\nthis is quite spontaneous in many people, and even in children.. the instinct
\nto destroy and spoil. Well, it is the presence of the adverse forces. And these
\nare forces which come directly from the vital world and incarnate on earth in
\nhuman consciousness, and
\n <\/span><\/p>\n

\nPage \u2013 234<\/font><\/span><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n
\n

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

at times
\nalso in animal consciousness. It is the hatred for things beautiful, for what
\nis pure, what is good, what is true. It is the hatred of the divine Presence.
\nAnd naturally, with this hatred, the will to destroy and damage, to spoil, mar,
\ndeform, disfigure. One step more and it is the will to inflict suffering. And
\nall this is the influence of the adverse forces, which acts quite spontaneously
\nin the inconscient, in the subconscient, in half-consciousness. It is only the
\npure and luminous consciousness which can oppose this and prevent it from
\nacting. But the state of the world is such that this is a constant battle. Very
\nfew people can escape from this hold. Everyone generally has a tiny little
\ncorner in him \u2013 at times quite small, at times bigger, sometimes quite
\nunconscious, sometimes a little conscious, sometimes superbly, completely
\nconscious \u2013 which likes destroying, likes spoiling. And the state of the world
\nis such that when one gives way to that, one is helped by an onrush of forces
\nwhich lie waiting for the opportunity, waiting for the moment to be able to
\nmanifest, which need human collaboration to be able to manifest and seek it. As
\nsoon as the opportunity comes, they rush forth, throwing out a formidable
\namount of energy. And so one feels stronger as soon as one begins to do evil.
\nThat is why it is easier, whilst if one wants to react, refuses to become the
\ninstrument of these forces, one must fight hard, be very strong, very straight,
\nvery pure, very sincere, and above all, not egoistic. One must not turn round
\nupon oneself, and must never be afraid. And this is not easy. That is, the
\nworld is in such a state that in order never to be moved by the adverse forces
\n\u2013 the forces of darkness, destruction, wickedness, hatred \u2013 one must be a hero,
\na true hero, who is not afraid of blows and fears nothing, who never turns
\nround upon himself and doesn\u2019t have that kind of self-pity which is so despicable
\na thing. That is why.. in order not to do evil, think evil, wish evil, never,
\nunder any circumstances, one must be a hero It is not always easy to be a hero.
\nThe days one is tired, the days one wants to rest, not to make any effort, one
\nslips, everything
\n <\/span><\/p>\n

\nPage \u2013 23<\/font><\/span>5<\/font><\/span><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n
\n

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

slips down.
\nIt is terribly slippery. It is more slippery than a children\u2019s toboggan. One
\nslides down, down like that, down in a whirlwind. And it is only when one is
\nright at the bottom that one realises that one has come down. Then one must
\nclimb back. That is not always comfortable.<\/span><\/p>\n

But
\nfor one who has faith in the Divine Grace, the return to the Light becomes
\neasy.<\/span>\u00b9<\/span> <\/font><\/span><\/p>\n

\n
\n <\/font><\/span><\/p>\n

\n\u00b9<\/font><\/span>This last sentence was added by Mother in
\nSeptember 1969 when this talk was published for the first time.<\/font> <\/font><\/span><\/p>\n

\nPage \u2013 23<\/font><\/span>6<\/font><\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/table>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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