{"id":4497,"date":"2013-07-13T01:56:25","date_gmt":"2013-07-13T01:56:25","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/localhost\/?p=4497"},"modified":"2013-07-13T01:56:25","modified_gmt":"2013-07-13T01:56:25","slug":"04-8-april-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\/04-8-april-1953-vol-05-questions-and-answers-volume-05","title":{"rendered":"-04_8 April 1953.htm"},"content":{"rendered":"\n\n
\n
\n

\n
\n8 April 1953<\/font><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cOne of the commonest forms of ambition is
\nthe idea of service to humanity. All attachment to such service or work is a
\nsign of personal ambition.\u201d <\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

 <\/span><\/p>\n

Questions and Answers 1929 (14 April)<\/font><\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

 <\/span>Why do you say that this is ambition? <\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

 <\/span><\/p>\n

Why do you
\nwant to serve humanity, what is your idea? It is ambition, it is in order to become
\na great man among men. It is difficult to understand?.. I can see that! <\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/span>            <\/span>The Divine is everywhere. So if one serves
\nhumanity, one serves the Divine, isn\u2019t that so? <\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

 <\/span><\/p>\n

That\u2019s
\nmarvellous! The clearest thing in this matter is to say: \u201cThe Divine is in me.
\nIf I serve myself, I am also serving the Divine!\u201d (Laughter<\/i>) In fact, the Divine is everywhere. The Divine will do His
\nown work very well without you. <\/span><\/p>\n

I
\nsee quite well that you do not understand. But truly, if you do understand that
\nthe Divine is there, in all things, with what are you meddling in serving
\nhumanity? To serve humanity you must know better than the Divine what must be
\ndone for it. Do you know better than the Divine how to serve it? <\/span><\/p>\n

The
\nDivine is everywhere. Yes. Things don\u2019t seem to be divine As for me, I see only
\none solution: if you want to help humanity, there is only one thing to do, it
\nis to take yourself as completely as possible and offer yourself to the Divine.
\nThat is the solution. Because in this way, at least the material reality which
\nyou represent will be able to grow a little more like the Divine.<\/span><\/p>\n

We
\nare told that the Divine is in all things. Why don\u2019t things change? Because the
\nDivine does not get a response, everything <\/span>
\n
\n <\/font><\/span><\/p>\n

\n
\nPage \u2013 12<\/font><\/span><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n
\n

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

does not
\nrespond to the Divine. One must search the depths of the consciousness to see
\nthis. What do you want to do to serve humanity? Give food to the poor? – You
\ncan feed millions of them. That will not be a solution, this problem will
\nremain the same. Give new and better living conditions to men? \u2013 The Divine is
\nin them, how is it that things don\u2019t change? The Divine must know better than
\nyou the condition of humanity. What are you? You represent only a little bit of
\nconsciousness and a little bit of matter, it is that you call \u201cmyself\u201d. If you
\nwant to help humanity, the world or the universe, the only thing to do is to
\ngive that little bit entirely to the Divine. Why is the world not divine?.. It
\nis evident that the world is not in order. So the only solution to the problem
\nis to give what belongs to you. Give it totally, entirely to the Divine; not
\nonly for yourself but for humanity, for the universe. There is no better
\nsolution. How do you want to help humanity? You don\u2019t even know what it needs.
\nPerhaps you know still less what power you are serving. How can you change
\nanything without indeed having changed yourself? <\/span><\/p>\n

In
\nany case, you are not powerful enough to do it. How do you expect to help
\nanother if you do not have a higher consciousness than he? It is such a
\nchildish idea! It is children who say: \u201cI am opening a boarding-house, I am
\ngoing to build a cr\u00e8che, give soup to the poor, preach this knowledge, spread
\nthis religion….\u201c It is only because you consider yourself better than others,
\nthink you know better than they what they should be or do. That\u2019s what it is,
\nserving humanity. You want to continue all that? It has not changed things
\nmuch. It is not to help humanity that one opens a hospital or a school. <\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/span><\/p>\n

All the same it has helped, hasn\u2019t it? If
\nall the schools were abolished.. <\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

 <\/span><\/p>\n

I don\u2019t
\nthink that humanity is happier than it was before nor that there has been a
\ngreat improvement. All this mostly gives <\/span>
\n
\n <\/font><\/span><\/p>\n

\nPage \u2013 13<\/font><\/span><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n
\n

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

you the
\nfeeling \u201cI am something.\u201d That\u2019s what I call ambition. <\/span><\/p>\n

If
\nthese very people who are ready to give money for schools were told that there
\nwas a divine Work to be done, that the Divine has decided to do it in this
\nparticular way, even if they are convinced that it is indeed the Divine\u2019s Work,
\nthey refuse to give anything, for this is not a recognised form of beneficence
\n– one doesn\u2019t have the satisfaction of having done something good! This is what
\nI call ambition. I had instances of people who could give lakhs of rupees to
\nopen a hospital, for that gives them the satisfaction of doing something great,
\nnoble, generous. They glorify themselves, that\u2019s what I call ambition. <\/span><\/p>\n

I
\nknew a humorist who used to say: \u201cIt won\u2019t be so soon that the kingdom of God
\nwill come, for those poor philanthropists \u2013 what would remain for them? If
\nhumanity suffered no longer, the philanthropists would be without work.\u201d It is
\ndifficult to come out of that. However, it is a fact that never will the world
\ncome out of the state in which it is unless it gives itself up to the Divine.
\nAll the virtues \u2013 you may glorify them – increase your self-satisfaction, that
\nis, your ego; they do not help you truly to become aware of the Divine. It is
\nthe generous and wise people of this world who are the most difficult to
\nconvert. They are very satisfied with their life. A poor fellow who has done
\nall sorts of stupid things all his life feels immediately sorry and says: \u201cI am
\nnothing, can do nothing. Make of me what You want.\u201d Such a one is more right
\nand much closer to the Divine than one who is wise and full of his wisdom and
\nvanity. He sees himself as he is. <\/span><\/p>\n

The
\ngenerous and wise man who has done much for humanity is too self-satisfied to
\nhave the least idea of changing. It is usually these people who say: \u201cIf indeed
\nI had created the world, I wouldn\u2019t have made it like this, I would have
\ncreated it much better than that\u201d, and they try to set right what the Divine
\nhas done badly! According to their picture, all this is stupid and useless It
\nis not with that attitude that you can belong to the Divine. There will always
\nbe between you and Him the conscious <\/span>
\n
\n <\/font><\/span><\/p>\n

\nPage \u2013 14<\/font><\/span><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n
\n

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

ego of
\none\u2019s own intellectual superiority which judges the Divine and is sure of never
\nbeing mistaken. For they are convinced that if they had made the world, they
\nwould not have committed all the stupidities that God has perpetrated. And all
\nthis comes from pride, vanity, self-conceit; and there is exactly the seed of
\nthat in people who want to serve humanity. <\/span><\/p>\n

What
\nare they going to give to humanity? Nothing at all! Even if they gave every drop
\nof their blood, all the ideas in their head, all the money in their pocket,
\nthat could not change one individual, who is but a second of time in eternity.
\nThey believe they can serve eternity? There are even beings higher than man who
\nhave come, have brought the light, given their life, and that has not changed
\nthings much. So how can a little man, a microscopic being, truly help? It is
\npride. The argument given is: \u201cIf everyone did his best, all would go well.\u201d I
\ndon\u2019t think so and, even, it is impossible. In a certain way, each thing in the
\nuniverse does its best. But that best doesn\u2019t come to anything at all. Unless
\neverything changes, nothing will change. It is this best that must change. In
\nthe place of ignorance must be born knowledge and power and consciousness,
\notherwise we shall always turn in a circle around the same stupidity. <\/span><\/p>\n

You
\nmay open millions of hospitals, that will not prevent people getting ill. On
\nthe contrary, they will have every facility and encouragement to fall ill. We
\nare steeped in ideas of this kind. This puts your conscience at rest: \u201cI have
\ncome to the world, I must help others.\u201d One tells oneself: \u201cHow disinterested I
\nam! I am going to help humanity.\u201d All this is nothing but egoism. <\/span><\/p>\n

In
\nfact, the first human being that concerns you is yourself. You want to diminish
\nsuffering, but unless you can change the capacity of suffering into a certitude
\nof being happy, the world will not change. It will always be the same, we turn
\nin a circle \u2013 one civilisation follows another, one catastrophe another; but
\nthe thing does not change, for there is something missing, something not there,
\nthat is the consciousness. That\u2019s all.
\n <\/span><\/p>\n

\nPage \u2013 15<\/font><\/span><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n
\n

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

At
\nleast, that\u2019s my opinion. I am giving it to you for what it is worth. If you
\nwant to build hospitals, schools, you may do so; if that makes you happy, so
\nmuch the better for you. It has not much importance. When I saw the film
\nMonsieur Vincent, I was very interested. He found out that when he fed ten poor
\nmen, a thousand came along. That was what Colbert told him: \u201cIt seems you
\ncreate them, your poor ones, by feeding them!\u201d And it is not altogether false.
\nHowever! If it is your destiny to found schools and give instruction, to care
\nfor the sick, to open hospitals, it is good, do it. But you must not take that
\nvery seriously. It is something grandiose you are doing for your own pleasure.
\nSay: \u201cI am doing it because it gives me pleasure.\u201d But do not speak of yoga. It
\nis not yoga you are doing. You believe you are doing something great, that\u2019s
\nall, and it is for your personal satisfaction. <\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/span><\/p>\n

It is said that the Rishi Vishvamitra also
\ncreated a new world. <\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

 <\/span><\/p>\n

What did he
\ndo? Tell me. He was not happy with this world and created another, did he?
\nWhere is this world? <\/span><\/p>\n

Naturally,
\nthe first idea is to be greater than the one who has created the world. For one
\nthinks that it is badly done. It is possible, you may say it is done badly. If
\nyou believe that you can do better than the Divine, I am not saying that you
\nwill be wrong. I am saying that you cannot say that you are not ambitious. I do
\nnot say they were wrong; I say they are ambitious. It is nothing else but that.
\nThe proof is that these are people who do good, these are the generous, good,
\ndisinterested ones who are the most difficult to convert; their ego is formidable.
\nTheir idea of justice, generosity, etc. is so big that there is no place for
\nanything else, for the Divine. <\/span><\/p>\n

Before
\nbeing capable of doing good, one must go deep within oneself and make a very
\nimportant discovery. It is that one does not exist. There is one<\/i> thing which exists, that is the <\/span>
\n
\n <\/font><\/span><\/p>\n

\nPage \u2013 16<\/font><\/span><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n
\n

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

Divine, and
\nso long as you have not made that discovery, you cannot advance on the path.
\nBut it is so hard a carapace!.. If you have the philosophic mind, you will ask yourself:
\n\u201cWhat do I call \u2018myself\u2019? Is it my body? \u2013 it changes all the time, it is never
\nthe same thing. Is it my feelings? \u2013 they change so often. Is it my thoughts? \u2013
\nthey are built and destroyed continuously. That is not myself. Where is the
\nself? What is it that gives me this sense of continuity?\u201d If you continue
\nsincerely, you go back a few years. The problem becomes more and more
\nperplexing. You continue to observe, you tell yourself: \u201cIt is my memory.\u201d But
\neven if one loses one\u2019s memory, one would be oneself. If one sincerely
\ncontinues this profound search, there comes a moment when everything disappears
\nand one single thing exists, that is the Divine, the divine Presence.
\nEverything disappears, dissolves, everything melts away like butter in the sunlight
\nWhen one has made this discovery, one becomes aware that one was nothing but a
\nbundle of habits. It is always that which does not know the Divine and is not
\nconscious of the Divine which speaks. In everyone there are these hundreds and
\nhundreds of \u201cselves\u201d who speak and in hundreds of completely different ways \u2013
\n\u201cselves\u201d unconscious, changing, fluid. The self which speaks today is not the
\nsame as yesterday\u2019s; and if you look further, the self has disappeared. There
\nis only one who remains. That is the Divine. It is the only one that may be
\nseen always the same. And unless you have gone so far.. <\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/span><\/p>\n

If everything comes from Him, why are
\nthere so many errors? <\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

 <\/span><\/p>\n

You must
\nnot believe that everything that happens to you in life comes to you naturally
\nfrom the Divine, that is, that it is the Truth-Consciousness which is directing
\nyour life. For if everything came from Him, it would be impossible for you to
\nmake a mistake. <\/span><\/p>\n

How
\ndoes it happen that there\u2019s error everywhere? Why do
\n <\/span><\/p>\n

\nPage \u2013 17<\/font><\/span><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n
\n

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

things go
\nin opposition to the Divine and to what they ought to be?.. Because there are
\nnumerous elements which cross each other and intervene. Wills cross each other,
\nthe strongest gets the best of it. It is this complexity of norms that has
\ncreated a determinism. The divine Will is completely veiled by this host of
\nthings. So I have said here (Mother takes
\nher book<\/i>): \u201cYou must accept all things \u2013 and only those things \u2013 that come
\nfrom the Divine. Because things can come from concealed desires. The desires
\nwork in the subconscious and attract things to you of which possibly you may
\nnot recognise the origin, but which do not come from the Divine but from
\ndisguised desires.\u201d <\/span><\/p>\n

If
\nyou have a strong desire for something you cannot get, you project your desire
\noutside yourself. It goes off like a tiny personality separated from you and
\nroams about in the world. It will take a little round, more or less large, and
\nreturn to you, perhaps when you have forgotten it. People who have a kind of
\npassion, who want something, \u2013 that goes out from them like a little being,
\nlike a little flame into the surroundings. This little being has its destiny.
\nIt roams about in the world, tossed around by other things perhaps. You have
\nforgotten it, but it will never forget that it must bring about that particular
\nresult For days you tell yourself: \u201cHow much I would like to go to that place,
\nto Japan, for instance, and see so many things\u201d, and your desire goes out from
\nyou; but because desires are very fugitive things, you have forgotten
\ncompletely this desire you had thrown out with such a force. There are many
\nreasons for your thinking about something else. And after ten years or more, or
\nless, it comes back to you like a dish served up piping hot. Yes, like a
\npiping-hot dish, well arranged. You say: \u201cThis does not interest me any
\nlonger.\u201d It does not interest you ten or twenty years later<\/i>. It was a small formation and it has gone and done its work
\nas it could\u2026 It is impossible to have desires without their being realised,
\neven if it be quite a tiny desire. The formation has done what it could; it
\ntook a lot of trouble, it has worked hard, and after years it returns. It is
\nlike a servant you have
\n <\/span><\/p>\n

\nPage \u2013 18<\/font><\/span><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n
\n

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

sent out
\nand who has done his best. When he returns you tell him: \u201cWhat have you done?\u201d
\n\u2013 \u201cWhy? But, sir, it was because you wanted it!\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

You
\ncannot put forth a strong thought without its going out from you like a little
\nballoon, as it were. We have certain stories which are not unbelievable, like
\nthe one about that miser who thought of nothing but his money; he had hidden
\nhis hoard somewhere and always used to go to see it. After his death he
\ncontinued to come as a ghost (that is to say, his vital being), to watch over
\nhis money. Nobody could go near the place without meeting with a catastrophe. It
\nis like that, if you have worked to bring out something, it is always realised.
\nIt may be realised even after your death! Yes, for when your body ceases to
\nexist, none of the vibrations stops existing. They are realised somewhere. That
\nwas what the Buddha said: the vibrations continue to exist, to be perpetuated.
\nThey are contagious. They continue in others, pass into others, and everyone
\nadds a little to them. <\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/span><\/p>\n

Can one help the world with a vibration of
\ngoodwill? <\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

 <\/span><\/p>\n

With good wishes
\none can change many things, only it must be an extremely pure and unmixed
\ngoodwill. It is quite obvious that a thought, a perfectly pure and true prayer,
\nif it is sent forth into the world, does its work. But where is this perfectly
\npure and true thought when it passes into the human brain? There are
\ndegradations. If through an effort of inner consciousness and knowledge, you
\ncan truly overcome in yourself a desire, that is to say, dissolve and abolish
\nit, and if through inner goodwill, through consciousness, light, knowledge, you
\nare able to dissolve the desire, you will be, first of all in yourself
\npersonally, a hundred times happier than if you had satisfied this desire, and
\nthen it will have a marvellous effect. It will have a repercussion in the world
\nof which you have no idea. It will spread forth. For the vibrations you have
\ncreated will continue to spread. These things
\n <\/span><\/p>\n

\nPage \u2013 19<\/font><\/span><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n
\n

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

grow larger
\nlike the snowball. The victory you win in your character, however small it be,
\nis one which can be gained in the whole world. And it is this I meant just now:
\nall things which are done outwardly without changing the inner nature \u2013
\nhospitals, schools, etc. \u2013 are done through vanity, for the feeling of being
\ngreat, whilst these small unnoticed things overcome in oneself gain an
\ninfinitely greater victory, though the effects are hidden. Every movement in
\nyou which is false and opposed to the truth is a negation of the divine life.
\nYour small efforts have considerable results which you don\u2019t even have the satisfaction
\nof knowing, but which are true and have precisely an impersonal and general
\neffect. <\/span><\/p>\n

If
\nyou really want to do something good, the best thing you can do is to win your
\nsmall victories in all sincerity, one after another, and thus you will do for the
\nworld the maximum you are able to.<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/span><\/p>\n

Will our victory act for the whole world? <\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

 <\/span><\/p>\n

It will not
\nchange the whole world. For your victory is too small for the whole world.
\nMillions of such victories are needed. It is a very small victory if compared
\nwith the whole. But it gets mingled with other things It could be said that it
\nis like bringing into the world the capacity<\/i>
\nof doing a thing. But for this to act effectively, at times centuries are
\nnecessary; it is a question of proportion. You can try it out (and it is much
\nmore difficult) even with those around you. You must be absolutely sincere, not
\ndo it with the idea of getting a result, but because you want to gain a
\nvictory. If you gain it, it will necessarily have an effect on those around
\nyou. But if a bargaining element is mixed up in it, if you do this thing
\nbecause you want to get that other: \u201cI want to overcome my defects, but that
\nperson must also overcome his\u201d, then that doesn\u2019t work. It is a merchant\u2019s
\nattitude: \u201cI give this, but I shall take that.\u201d That spoils everything. There
\nis neither sincerity nor purity. It is bargaining.
\n <\/span><\/p>\n

\nPage \u2013 20<\/font><\/span><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n
\n

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

Nothing
\nmust be mixed with your sincerity, your aspiration, your motive. You do things
\nfor love of the Divine, for truth, for perfection, without any other motive,
\nany other idea. And that brings results.
\n <\/span><\/p>\n

\nPage \u2013 21<\/font><\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/table>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

8 April 1953   \u201cOne of the commonest forms of ambition is the idea of service to humanity. All attachment to such service or work…<\/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-4497","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\/4497","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=4497"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/worksofthemotherandsriaurobindo.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4497\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/worksofthemotherandsriaurobindo.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4497"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/worksofthemotherandsriaurobindo.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4497"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/worksofthemotherandsriaurobindo.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4497"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}