{"id":4501,"date":"2013-07-13T01:56:27","date_gmt":"2013-07-13T01:56:27","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/localhost\/?p=4501"},"modified":"2013-07-13T01:56:27","modified_gmt":"2013-07-13T01:56:27","slug":"31-7-october-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\/31-7-october-1953-vol-05-questions-and-answers-volume-05","title":{"rendered":"-31_7 October 1953.htm"},"content":{"rendered":"\n\n
\n
\n

 <\/span><\/b>7 October 1953 <\/font><\/b><\/span>
\n
\n <\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

\u201cThe method by which you will be most
\nsuccessful depends on the consciousness you have developed and the character of
\nthe forces you are able to bring into play. You can live in the consciousness
\nof the completed cure or change and by the force of your inner formation slowly
\nbring about the outward change. Or if you know and have the vision of the force
\nthat is able to effect these things and if you have the skill to handle it, you
\ncan call it down and apply it in the parts where its action is needed, and it
\nwill work out the change. Or, again, you can present your difficulty to the
\nDivine and ask of It the cure, putting confidently your trust in the Divine
\nPower.\u201d <\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

Questions and Answers 1929 (23 June)
\n<\/font> <\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

 What is this \u201cconsciousness of the
\ncompleted cure\u201d? <\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

 <\/span><\/p>\n

This does
\nnot mean that there is a specific consciousness of the completed cure. It
\nmeans: \u201cTo live in a state of consciousness that\u2019s conformable to a complete
\ncure.\u201d How shall I explain it?… You have in your mind a picture or an image
\nor formation which realises in itself all the necessary relations and elements for
\nthe cure to exist and be total. This is called \u201chaving the consciousness of a
\ncomplete cure\u201d. It does not mean that there is a state of consciousness which
\nis in itself a complete cure, and that if you get this consciousness, well, you
\nget the cure. It is not like that. Have you understood the difference? <\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cIn some the aspiration moves on the
\nmental levels or in the vital field; some have a spiritual aspiration. On the
\nquality of the aspiration depends the force that answers and the work that it comes
\nto do. To make <\/span><\/i>
\n
\n <\/span><\/p>\n

\nPage \u2013 292<\/font><\/span><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n
\n

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

yourself blank in meditation creates an
\ninner silence; it does not mean that you have become nothing or have become a
\ndead and inert mass. Making yourself an empty vessel, you invite that which
\nshall fill it. It means that you release the stress of your inner consciousness
\ntowards realisation. The nature of the consciousness and the degree of its
\nstress determine the forces that you bring into play and whether they shall
\nhelp and fulfil or fail or even harm and hinder.\u201d <\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

Questions and Answers 1929 (23 June)
\n<\/font> <\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

 What is the difference between mental
\naspiration, vital aspiration and spiritual aspiration? <\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

 <\/span><\/p>\n

In what way
\ndo you aspire in the mind and in the vital or aspire spiritually? <\/span><\/p>\n

A
\nmental aspiration means that the thought-power aspires to have knowledge, for
\ninstance, or else to have the power to express itself well or have clear ideas,
\na logical reasoning. One may aspire for many things; that all the faculties and
\ncapacities of the mind may be developed and placed at the service of the
\nDivine. This is a mental aspiration. <\/span><\/p>\n

Or
\nyou may have an aspiration in the vital; if you have desires or troubles,
\nstorms, inner difficulties, you may aspire for peace, to be quite impartial,
\nwithout desire or preference, to be a good docile instrument without any
\npersonal whims, always at the Divine\u2019s disposal. This is a vital aspiration. <\/span><\/p>\n

You
\nmay have a physical aspiration also; that the body may feel the need to acquire
\na kind of equipoise in which all the parts of the being will be well balanced,
\nand that you may have the power to hold off illness at a distance or overcome
\nit fast when it enters trickily, and that the body may always function
\nnormally, harmoniously, in perfect health. That is a physical aspiration. <\/span><\/p>\n

A
\nspiritual aspiration means having an intense need to unite
\n <\/span><\/p>\n

\nPage \u2013 293<\/font><\/span><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n
\n

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

with the
\nDivine, to give oneself totally to the Divine, not to live outside the divine
\nConsciousness so that the Divine may be everything for you in your integral
\nbeing, and you feel the need of a constant communion with Him, of the sense of
\nhis presence, of his guidance in all that you do, and of his harmonising all
\nthe movements of the being. That is a spiritual aspiration. <\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/span><\/p>\n

Mother, does aspiration come from the
\npsychic? <\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

 <\/span><\/p>\n

Not necessarily.
\nEach part of the being can have its own aspiration. <\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/span><\/p>\n

How can the physical manage to aspire,
\nsince it is the mind that thinks? <\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

 <\/span><\/p>\n

As long as
\nit is the mind that thinks, your physical is something that\u2019s three-fourths
\ninert and without its own consciousness. There is a physical consciousness
\nproper, a consciousness of the body; the body is conscious of itself, and it
\nhas its own aspiration. So long as one thinks of one\u2019s body, one is not in
\none\u2019s physical consciousness. The body has a consciousness that\u2019s quite
\npersonal to it and altogether independent of the mind. The body is completely
\naware of its own functioning or its own equilibrium or disequilibrium, and it
\nbecomes absolutely conscious, in quite a precise way, if there is a disorder
\nsomewhere or other, and (how shall I put it?) it is in contact with that and
\nfeels it very clearly, even if there are no external symptoms. The body is
\naware if the whole working is harmonious, well balanced, quite regular,
\nfunctioning as it should; it has that kind of plenitude, a sense of plenitude,
\nof joy and strength \u2013 something like the joy of living, acting, moving in an
\nequilibrium full of life and energy. Or else the body can be aware that it is
\nill-treated by the vital and the mind and that this harms its own equilibrium,
\nand it suffers from this. That may produce a complete disequilibrium in it. And
\nso on. <\/span><\/p>\n

\nPage \u2013 294<\/font><\/span><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n
\n

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


\nOne can develop one\u2019s physical consciousness so well that even if one is fully
\nexteriorised, even if the vital goes completely out of the body, the body has a
\npersonal, independent consciousness which enables it to move, to do all
\nkinds of very simple things without the vital\u2019s being there, quite
\nindependently. The body can learn how to speak: the mind and the vital may be
\noutside it, very far away, busy elsewhere, but due to the link joining them
\nwith matter, they can still find expression through a body wherein there is no
\nmind or vital, and which yet can learn to speak and repeat what the others say.
\nThe body can move; I don\u2019t mean that it can exert much, but it can move. It can
\ndo small, very simple things. It can write, for instance, learn how to write as
\nit can learn to speak. It does speak: a little (how to put it?) slowly, with a
\nlittle difficulty, but still it can speak clearly (sufficiently clearly) for
\none to understand. And yet the mind and vital may have gone out altogether, may
\nbe completely outside. There is a body-consciousness. <\/span><\/p>\n

And
\nso, when one has developed this body-consciousness, one can have a very clear
\nperception of the opposition between the different kinds of consciousness. When
\nthe body needs something and is aware that this is what it needs, and the vital
\nwants something else and the mind yet another, well, there may very well be a
\ndiscussion among them, and contradictions and conflicts. And one can discern
\nvery clearly what the poise of the body is, the need of the body in itself, and
\nin what way the vital interferes and destroys this equilibrium most often and
\nharms the development so much, because it is ignorant. And when the mind comes
\nin, it creates yet another disorder which is added to the one between the vital
\nand the physical, by introducing its ideas and norms, its principles and rules,
\nits laws and all that, and as it doesn\u2019t take into account exactly the needs of
\nthe other, it wants to do what everybody does. Human beings have a much more
\ndelicate and precarious health than animals because their mind intervenes and
\ndisturbs the equilibrium. The body, left to itself, has a very sure instinct.
\nFor instance, never
\n <\/span><\/p>\n

\nPage \u2013 29<\/font><\/span>5<\/font><\/span><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n
\n

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

will the
\nbody if left to itself eat when it doesn\u2019t need to or take something which will
\nbe harmful to it. And it will sleep when it needs to sleep, it will act when it
\nneeds to act. The instinct of the body is very sure. It is the vital and the
\nmind which disturb it: one by its desires and caprices, the other by its
\nprinciples, dogmas, laws and ideas. And unfortunately, in civilisation as it is
\nunderstood, with the kind of education given to children, this sure instinct of
\nthe body is completely destroyed: it is the rest that dominate. And naturally
\nthings happen as they do: one eats things that are harmful, one doesn\u2019t take
\nrest when one needs to or sleeps too much when it is not necessary or does
\nthings one shouldn\u2019t do and spoils one\u2019s health completely.<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/span><\/p>\n

Sometimes, Mother, when children are
\ninterested in something, they don\u2019t want to go to bed, then what should be
\ndone? Just a few minutes earlier they said they were sleepy, and then they
\nstart playing and say they don\u2019t want to go to bed. <\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

 <\/span><\/p>\n

They
\nshouldn\u2019t be allowed to play when they are sleepy. This is exactly the
\nintrusion of vital movements. A child who doesn\u2019t live much with older people
\n(it is bad for children to live much among older people), a child left to
\nitself will sleep spontaneously whatever it may be doing, the moment it needs
\nto sleep. Only, when children are used to living with older people, well, they
\ncatch all the habits of the grown-ups. Specially when they are told: \u201cOh! you
\ncan\u2019t do this because you are too young! When you are older, you can do it. You
\ncan\u2019t eat this because you are small, when you are bigger you will be able to
\neat it. At this particular time you must go to bed because you are
\nyoung….\u00a0 <\/span>\u201c So, naturally, they have
\nthat idea that they must grow up at any cost or at least look grown-up! <\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cThe very intensity of your faith may mean
\nthat the Divine has already chosen that the thing it points to <\/span><\/i>
\n
\n <\/span><\/p>\n

\nPage \u2013 296<\/font><\/span><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n
\n

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

shall be done. An unshakable faith is a sign
\nof the presence of the Divine Will, an evidence of what shall be.\u201d <\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

Questions and Answer<\/font><\/span><\/i>s
\n1929 (23 June) <\/font> <\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/span>A dynamic faith and a great trust, aren\u2019t
\nthey the same thing? <\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

 <\/span><\/p>\n

Not necessarily.
\nOne should know of what stuff the faith and the trust are made. Because, for
\ninstance, if you live normally, under quite normal conditions \u2013 without having
\nextravagant ideas and a depressing education \u2013 well, through all your youth and
\nusually till you are about thirty, you have an absolute trust in life. If, for
\nexample, you are not surrounded by people who, as soon as you have a cold in
\nthe head, get into a flurry and rush to the doctor and give you medicines, if
\nyou are in normal surroundings and happen to have something \u2013 an accident or a
\nslight illness – there is this certainty in the body, this absolute trust that
\nit will be all right: \u201cIt is nothing, it will pass off. It is sure to go. I
\nshall be quite well tomorrow or in a few days. It will surely be cured\u201d \u2013
\nwhatever you may have caught. That is indeed the normal condition of the body.
\nAn absolute trust that all life lies before it and that all will be well. And
\nthis helps enormously. One gets cured nine times out of ten, one gets cured very
\nquickly with this confidence: \u201cIt is nothing; what is it after all? Just an
\naccident, it will pass off, it is nothing.\u201d And there are people who keep it
\nfor a very long time, a very long time, a kind of confidence \u2013 nothing can
\nhappen to them. Their life is all before them, fully, and nothing can happen to
\nthem. And what will happen to them is of no importance at all: all will be
\nwell, necessarily; they have the whole of life before them. Naturally, if you
\nlive in surroundings where there are morbid ideas and people pass their time
\nrecounting disastrous and catastrophic things, then you may think wrongly. And
\nif you think wrongly, this reacts on your body. Otherwise, the body as it is
\ncan keep this confidence till the age of forty or fifty \u2013 it
\n <\/span><\/p>\n

\nPage \u2013 297<\/font><\/span><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n
\n

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

depends
\nupon people \u2013 some know how to live a normal, balanced life. But the body is
\nquite confident about its life. It is only if thought comes in and brings all
\nkinds of morbid and unhealthy imaginations, as I said, that it changes
\neverything. I have seen instances like that: children who had these little
\naccidents one has when running and playing about: they did not even think about
\nit. And it disappeared immediately. I have seen others whose family has drummed
\ninto them since the time they could understand, that everything is dangerous,
\nthat there are microbes everywhere, that one must be very careful, that the
\nleast wound may prove disastrous, that one must be altogether on one\u2019s guard
\nand take great care that nothing serious happens So, they must have their
\nwounds dressed, must be washed with disinfectants, and there they sit
\nwondering: \u201cWhat is going to happen to me? Oh! I may perhaps get tetanus, a
\nseptic fever….\u00a0 <\/span>\u201c Naturally, in such
\ncases one loses confidence in life and the body feels the effects keenly.
\nThree-fourths of its resistance disappears. But normally, naturally, it is the
\nbody which knows that it must remain healthy, and it knows it has the power to
\nreact. And if something happens, it tells this something: \u201cIt is nothing, it will
\ngo away, don\u2019t think about it, it is over\u201d; and it does go. <\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/span><\/p>\n

That of course is absolute trust. <\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

 <\/span><\/p>\n

Now, you
\nare speaking of \u201cdynamic faith\u201d. Dynamic faith is something different. If one
\nhas within him faith in the divine grace, that the divine grace is watching
\nover him, and that no matter what happens the divine grace is there, watching
\nover him, one may keep this faith all one\u2019s life and always; and with this one
\ncan pass through all dangers, face all difficulties, and nothing stirs, for you
\nhave the faith and the divine grace is with you. It is an infinitely stronger,
\nmore conscious, more lasting force which does not depend upon the conditions of
\nyour physical build, does not depend upon anything except the divine grace
\nalone, and hence it leans on the Truth and nothing can shake it. It is very
\ndifferent. <\/span><\/p>\n

\nPage \u2013 298<\/font><\/span><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n
\n

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

Sometimes children ask us why we are here.
\nWhat should we tell them? <\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

 <\/span><\/p>\n

That
\ndepends upon their age, my child, and upon what they are. It depends upon their
\nsincerity. You can\u2019t give the same answer to everyone. <\/span><\/p>\n

But
\ndo the tiny tots sometimes ask?… Do the youngest ask why they are here? <\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/span><\/p>\n

Not the youngest \u2013 Purnima, Tarulata. <\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

 <\/span><\/p>\n

At that
\nage, already it\u2019s the age when one questions and doubts. <\/span><\/p>\n

The
\nvery tiny ones, if they ask this, it is wonderful. There is only one very
\nsimple answer to give them: \u201cMy children, it is because this is the divine
\nwill. It is due to the divine grace that you are here. Be happy, be calm, be at
\npeace, do not question, all will be well.\u201d And when they grow older they
\nalready begin to reason, then it is no longer so well, no longer so easy. But
\nthat depends, as I said, that depends upon how intelligent they are, how great
\nis their opening. There are those who are predestined, who are here because
\nthey should be here. With these it is easy. You have only to tell them: \u201cMy
\nchildren, it is because you belong to a future which is being built up, and it
\nis here that it is being built.\u201d For them it is very simple, it is true. There
\nare those who are here because their parents are here, for no other reason. So
\nit is difficult to tell them that, unless you tell them quite simply: \u201cBecause
\nyour father and mother are here.\u201d <\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/span><\/p>\n

But how can we understand? <\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

 <\/span><\/p>\n

Ah! that
\nindeed depends upon you. <\/span><\/p>\n

The
\nfirst thing is to learn how to know by identity. That is indispensable when one
\nhas the responsibility for others. To learn how to guide other people, the
\nfirst indispensable step is
\n <\/span><\/p>\n

\nPage \u2013 299<\/font><\/span><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n
\n

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

\nto know
\nhow to enter into their minds so as to know them \u2013 not to project one\u2019s
\nthought, imagine what they are, but go out of oneself and enter into them, to
\nknow what is happening there. Then, in this way, one knows them because one is
\nthem. When one knows only oneself in others, that means one knows nothing. One
\nmay be completely mistaken. One imagines it is like this or that \u2013 one judges
\nby appearances or else through mental preferences, preconceived ideas; that is
\nto say, one knows nothing. But there is one condition in which one doesn\u2019t even
\nneed to know, to try to know what somebody is like: one can\u2019t do otherwise but
\nfeel what he is, for he is a projection of oneself. And unless one knows how to
\ndo that, one can never do what is necessary for people – unless one feels as
\nthey feel, thinks as they think, unless one is able to enter into them as
\nthough one were they themselves. That is the only way. If you try to know with
\na small active mind, you will never know anything – nor by looking at people
\nand telling yourself: \u201cWhy, he does this in this way and that way, so he must
\nbe like that.\u201d That is impossible.<\/span><\/p>\n

So,
\nthe first task of those who have a responsibility \u2013 for instance, those who are
\nin charge of educating other children, taking care of others, from rulers to
\nteachers and monitors \u2013 their first task is to learn how to identify themselves
\nwith the others, to feel as they do. Then one knows what one should do. One
\nkeeps one\u2019s inner light, keeps one\u2019s consciousness where it ought to be, very
\nhigh above, in the light, and at the same time gets identified, and so one
\nfeels what they are, what their reactions are, what their thoughts, and one
\nholds that before the light one has: one succeeds in thinking out perfectly
\nwell what should be done for them. You will tell each one what he needs to
\nhear, you will act with each one as is necessary to make him understand. And
\nthat is why it is a wonderful grace to have the responsibility for a certain
\nnumber of people, for that obliges you to make the most essential progress. And
\nI hasten to tell you that ninety-nine times out of a hundred, people don\u2019t make
\nit.
\n <\/span><\/p>\n

\nPage \u2013 300<\/font><\/span><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n
\n

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

But that is
\nexactly why things are in such a bad way. Particularly those who have the
\nresponsibility of governing a country – this is the last thing they think about!
\nThey are very eager rather to keep their way of seeing and their way of
\nfeeling, and fiercely refrain from realising the needs of those over whom they
\nrule. But indeed one can see that the result is not up to much; so far it is
\nevident that one can\u2019t say that governments have been remarkable institutions.
\nIt is the same thing on all levels: there are small governments, there are big
\ngovernments. But the laws are the same, for all. And unless, when giving a
\nlesson, you are able, there and then, to take in the entire atmosphere, to
\ngather the vibrations around people, put them all together, keep all that
\nbefore you, and become aware of what you can do with this stuff (with the
\nvibrations you can spread, the forces you can give out, those which will be received,
\nthose which will be assimilated), unless you do that, mostly you too are
\nwasting your time. In order to do the least work, one must make a lot of
\nprogress.<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cThe supramental does not take interest in
\nmental things in the same way as the mind. It takes its own interest in all the
\nmovements of the universe, but it is from a different point of view and with a
\ndifferent vision. The world presents to it an entirely different appearance;
\nthere is a reversal of outlook and everything is seen from there as other than
\nwhat it seems to the mind and often even the opposite. Things have another
\nmeaning; their aspect, their motion and process, everything about them, are
\nwatched with other eyes. Everything here is followed by the supermind; the mind
\nmovements and not less the vital, the material movements, all the play of the
\nuniverse has for it a very deep interest, but of another kind.\u201d <\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Questions and Answers 1929 (23 June)<\/font><\/span><\/i> <\/font><\/span><\/p>\n

\nPage \u2013 301<\/font><\/span><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n
\n

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

In what does the supermind take interest? <\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

 <\/span><\/p>\n

It takes
\ninterest in the transformation of the world \u2013 In the descent of forces in the
\nmaterial world and its transformation, in its preparation so that it may be
\nable to receive the supramental forces. And it is conscious of the difference
\nbetween the world as it is and the world as it ought to be. Every moment it
\nsees the gulf between what is and what should be, between the truth and the
\nfalsehood that is expressed. And constantly it keeps this vision of the Truth
\nwhich broods over the world, so that as soon as there is a little opening, it
\nmay descend and manifest itself. And what to the ordinary awareness seems quite
\nnatural is for it usually a play of obscure, ignorant, altogether unconscious
\nforces. And it does not find that at all natural. It finds that a detestable
\naccident and tries with all its strength to remedy it. It seeks, looks, and if
\nthere is any receptivity anywhere, it intensifies its action. It does not see
\nmen in their outward appearance but as vibrations more or less receptive and
\nmore or less dark or luminous, and wherever it sees a light it projects its
\nforce so that it may have its full effect. And instead of treating each being
\nlike a pawn on a chess-board, a small, well-defined person, it sees how forces
\nenter, go out, stir, move and make all things move, how vibrations act. And it
\nsees those vibrations which ascend and lead to progress and it sees those
\nvibrations which cast you further and further into the darkness, which make you
\ngo down. And at times someone comes to you with ready-made words which he has learnt
\ngenerally from books, but nevertheless, full of aspiration and goodwill, and he
\nis answered by a strong rebuff and told that he should try to be sincere – he
\ndoes not understand. This is because the Force sees that there is no sincerity
\n\u2013 the Force does not see the words, does not hear the words, doesn\u2019t even see
\nthe ideas in the head but only the state of consciousness, whether the state of
\nconsciousness is sincere or not. There are other instances of people who seem
\nto be quite frivolous and stupid and busy with
\n <\/span><\/p>\n

\nPage \u2013 302<\/font><\/span><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n
\n

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

useless
\nthings, and suddenly one helps them, encourages them, treats them like friends
\nand comrades, for one sees shining in the depth of all that a sincerity, an
\naspiration which may have a childish form outwardly but which is there and very
\npure at times. And so one does many things for them which people don\u2019t
\nunderstand, for they cannot see the reality behind the appearance. That is why
\nI say that it is in an entirely different way that the supermind is interested,
\nan entirely different way that it sees, an entirely different way that it
\nknows. <\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/span><\/p>\n

Isn\u2019t it more important to know oneself
\nthan to try to know others? <\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

 <\/span><\/p>\n

Very
\nimportant, of capital importance! Besides, that\u2019s the field of work given to each
\none. It is this one must understand, that each one – this totality of substance
\nconstituting your inner and outer body, the totality of substance with which
\nyour being is built from the outermost to the inmost – is a field of work; it
\nis as though one had gathered together carefully, accumulated a certain number
\nof vibrations and put them at your disposal for you to work upon them fully. It
\nis like a field of action constantly at your disposal: night and day, awake or
\nasleep, all the time – nobody can take it away from you, it is wonderful! You
\nmay refuse to use it (as most people do), but it is a mass to be transformed
\nthat is there in your hands, fully at your disposal, given to you so that you
\nmay learn to work upon it. So, the most important thing is to begin by doing
\nthat. You can do nothing for others unless you are able to do it for yourself.
\nYou can never give a good advice to anyone unless you are able to give it to
\nyourself first, and to follow it. And if you see a difficulty somewhere, the best
\nway of changing this difficulty is to change it in yourself first. If you see a
\ndefect in anyone, you may be sure it is in you, and you begin to change it in
\nyourself. And when you will have changed it in yourself, you will be strong
\nenough to change it in others. And this is a wonderful
\n <\/span><\/p>\n

\nPage \u2013 303<\/font><\/span><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n
\n

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

thing,
\npeople don\u2019t realise what an infinite grace it is that this universe is
\narranged in such a way that there is a collection of substance, from the most
\nmaterial to the highest spiritual, all that gathered together into what is
\ncalled a small individual, but at the disposal of a central Will. And that is
\nyours, your field of work, nobody can take it away from you, it is your own
\nproperty. And to the extent you can work upon it, you will be able to have an
\naction upon the world. But only to that extent. One must do more for oneself,
\nbesides, than one does for others. <\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/span><\/p>\n

Is it possible to know others before
\nknowing oneself? <\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

 <\/span><\/p>\n

Nothing is
\nimpossible. One can\u2019t say it is not possible. But if one is unaware of certain
\nmovements in oneself, it is certainly an anomaly to be conscious first of these
\nin others. It is an anomaly. It may exist. There may be people so decentralised
\nthat they are more sensitive about others than in themselves. But still,
\nusually they are considered a little morbid. This does not give them a very
\ngreat inner equilibrium, they become unbalanced. There are people who are all
\nat sea, they are like a cork upon the waves: it goes here and there, jumps this
\nway and that. They have no line of consciousness It is not an enviable state. I
\ndon\u2019t think, truly, sincerely I don\u2019t think that it is possible to help anyone
\nunless one has already helped oneself first. If you are unconscious, how do you
\nexpect to bring consciousness into others! This seems to me an insoluble
\nproblem. That is what people usually do, but that\u2019s no reason for approving it.
\nThis is exactly why, I believe, things go so wrong. It is like those who seeing
\nothers quarrelling rush forward and begin shouting louder than they to tell them,
\n\u201cKeep quiet!\u201d <\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/span><\/p>\n

You said that to each individual is given
\na problem to solve. So each man upon earth has to live individually, for, in
\nliving collectively one has the difficulty of the collectivity also: it is not
\nonly one\u2019s own difficulty. <\/span><\/i>
\n
\n <\/span><\/p>\n

\nPage \u2013 304<\/font><\/span><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n
\n

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

\n
\n <\/font><\/span>Yes, but
\nman happens to be a social animal, and so, instinctively, he forms groups. But
\nthat also is why those who wished to go fast and did not feel themselves
\nsufficiently strong retired into solitude. That is the reason, the
\njustification of the ascetic who goes away into solitude, for he tries to cut
\nhimself off from the world. Only.. there is an \u201conly\u201d. One can do that
\nphysically to a certain extent, up to a point, cut oneself off from physical
\nnature – not totally. It has been noticed, for instance, that ascetics who went
\naway to sit under a tree in the forest, in a very short while became
\nextraordinarily interested in all the animals living in the forest: it is the
\nneed of physical relationship with other living beings. It is possible that some
\ndo not need this, but it is a fairly general rule. <\/span><\/p>\n

But
\nsolidarity does not stop there. There is a vital solidarity and a mental
\nsolidarity which you cannot prevent. There is, after all (though men are much
\nmore individualised than animals), there is a spirit of the species. There are
\ncollective suggestions which don\u2019t need to be expressed in words. There are
\natmospheres one cannot escape. It is certain (for I know this by experience),
\nit is certain that there is a degree of individual perfection and transformation
\nwhich cannot be realised without the whole of humanity having made a particular
\nprogress. And this happens by successive steps. There are things in Matter
\nwhich cannot be transformed unless the whole of Matter has undergone
\ntransformation to a certain degree. One cannot isolate oneself completely. It
\nis not possible. One can do the work, one can choose: there are people who have
\nchosen to go into solitude and try to realise in themselves the ideal they saw
\n\u2013 usually they reached a certain point, then stopped there, they could go no
\nfurther. It has been thus historically. I was saying the other day: \u201cThere are
\nperhaps people upon earth whom I don\u2019t know who have realised extraordinary
\nthings\u201d but precisely because they have isolated themselves from the earth, the
\nearth does not know them. This is just to say that nothing is impossible. It
\nseems doubtful, is all that I can say. But it is
\n <\/span><\/p>\n

\nPage \u2013 30<\/font><\/span>5<\/font><\/span><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n
\n

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

impossible,
\neven if one isolates oneself physically, to do so vitally and mentally. There is
\nthe vast terrestrial atmosphere in which one is born, and there is a sort of
\nspirit or genius of the human race; well, this genius must have reached a
\ncertain degree of perfection for anyone to be able to go farther. It is not
\nthat one has to wait till all have done it, no; but it is as though all had to
\nreach a certain level for one to be able to take one\u2019s spring and go farther
\nSurely the individual will always be ahead of the mass, there\u2019s no doubt about
\nthat, but there will always be a proportion and a relation. <\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/span><\/p>\n

On
\nwhat plane are men most united? <\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/span><\/p>\n

You mean
\n\u201cmost interdependent\u201d? <\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/span><\/p>\n

No, I mean a common will. <\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

 <\/span><\/p>\n

A common
\nwill? You must not mix up things. If you are telling me about the goodwill
\namong human beings, this is in the psychic, there\u2019s no shadow of a doubt about
\nit. But there is a kind of vital interdependence, quite considerable, more than
\nthe physical, I believe. For instance, the First World War was the result of a
\ntremendous descent of the forces of the vital world (hostile forces of the vital
\nworld) into the material world. Even those who were conscious of this descent
\nand consequently armed to defend themselves against it, suffered from its
\nconsequences. The world, the whole earth suffered from its consequences. There
\nwas a general deterioration from the vital point of view, I could say, which
\nwas inevitable even for those who consciously knew whence the force came,
\nwhence the deterioration came, and who could therefore fight against it
\nconsciously \u2013 they could not prevent certain effects being produced in the
\nearth atmosphere. Naturally, men do not know what happened to them; all that
\nthey have said is that everything had become worse since the war. That was all
\nthat they could affirm. <\/span><\/p>\n

\nPage \u2013 306<\/font><\/span><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n
\n

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

For
\nexample, the moral level went down very much. It was simply the result of a
\nformidable descent of the vital world: forces of disorder, forces of
\ncorruption, forces of deterioration, forces of destruction, forces of violence,
\nforces of cruelty.<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/span><\/p>\n

Why this descent? \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 <\/span><\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

 <\/span><\/p>\n

Perhaps it
\nwas a reaction, for there was another Force coming down which wanted to do its
\nwork, and perhaps those forces did not want it – it disturbed their habits. It
\nis like a government which fears that it will be thrown out and so intervenes
\nviolently in order to keep in power.
\n <\/span><\/p>\n

\nPage \u2013 307<\/font><\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/table>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

 7 October 1953     \u201cThe method by which you will be most successful depends on the consciousness you have developed and the character of…<\/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-4501","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\/4501","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=4501"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/worksofthemotherandsriaurobindo.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4501\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/worksofthemotherandsriaurobindo.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4501"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/worksofthemotherandsriaurobindo.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4501"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/worksofthemotherandsriaurobindo.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4501"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}