{"id":4508,"date":"2013-07-13T01:56:30","date_gmt":"2013-07-13T01:56:30","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/localhost\/?p=4508"},"modified":"2013-07-13T01:56:30","modified_gmt":"2013-07-13T01:56:30","slug":"14-04-april-1956-vol-08-questions-and-answers-volume-08","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/worksofthemotherandsriaurobindo.org\/index.php\/02-works-of-the-mother\/01-cwmce\/08-questions-and-answers-volume-08\/14-04-april-1956-vol-08-questions-and-answers-volume-08","title":{"rendered":"-14_04 April 1956.htm"},"content":{"rendered":"\n\n
\n
\n


\n4 April 1956<\/font> <\/font><\/span><\/b><\/p>\n

 <\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/span>\u201cOn one side, he [the seeker] bees aware of a
\nwitness recipient observing experiencing Consciousness which does not appear to
\nact but for which all these activities inside and outside us seem to be
\nundertaken and continue. On the other side he is aware at the same time of an
\nexecutive Force or an energy of Process which is seen to constitute, drive and
\nguide all conceivable activities and to create a myriad forms visible to us and
\ninvisible and use them as stable supports for its incessant flux of action and
\ncreation. Entering exclusively into the witness consciousness he bees silent,
\nuntouched, immobile; he sees that he has till now passively reflected and
\nappropriated to himself the movements of Nature and it is by this reflection
\nthat they acquired from the witness soul within him what seemed a spiritual
\nvalue and significance. But now he has withdrawn that ascription or mirroring
\nidentification; he is conscious only of his silent self and aloof from all that
\nis in motion around it; all activities are outside him and at once they cease
\nto be intimately real; they appear now mechanical, detachable, endable.\u201d <\/span><\/i><\/b><\/p>\n

The Synthesis of Yoga, p. 113<\/font><\/span><\/i><\/b> <\/span><\/font><\/p>\n

 What is the witness soul? <\/i>
\n<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/span><\/i><\/b><\/p>\n

It is the soul entering into a state in which it observes
\nwithout acting. A witness is one who looks at what is done, but does not act
\nhimself. So when the soul is in a state in which it does not participate in the
\naction, does not act through Nature, simply draws back and observes, it becomes
\nthe witness soul. <\/span><\/p>\n

 If one wants to stop the
\nouter activities, this is the best
\n <\/span><\/p>\n

\nPage – 103<\/span><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n
\n

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

method. One withdraws into one\u2019s soul, to the extreme limit of
\none\u2019s existence, in a kind of immobility<\/span>―<\/span>an immobility which observes
\nbut does not participate, does not even give orders. That\u2019s all. <\/span><\/p>\n

 You don\u2019t understand? <\/span><\/p>\n

 When one wants to detach
\noneself from something, from a certain movement or activity or state of
\nconsciousness, this is the most effective method; one steps back a little,
\nwatches the thing like that, as one would watch a scene in a play, and one
\ndoesn\u2019t intervene. And a moment later, the thing doesn\u2019t concern you any
\nlonger, it is something which takes place outside you. Then you become very
\ncalm. <\/span><\/p>\n

 Only, when you do this,
\nyou never remedy anything in the outer movement, it remains what it is, but it
\nno longer affects you. We have said this already I don\u2019t know how many times:
\nit is only a first step, it helps you not to feel much troubled by things. But
\nthings remain as they are indefinitely. It is a negative state. <\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/span><\/p>\n

Is this what Sri Aurobindo speaks about when he says: \u201cthe
\nseparative aspect is liberative\u201d?<\/span><\/b>\u00a0<\/span><\/span><\/b><\/p>\n


\nThe
\nSynthesis of Yoga, p. 115<\/font><\/span><\/b><\/font><\/p>\n

 <\/span><\/p>\n

 Yes. It liberates, precisely. It\u2019s just that. One
\npractises it for that, don\u2019t you see, for liberation, in order to be free from
\nattachments, free from reactions, free from consequences. Those who understand
\nthe Gita in this way, tell you that<\/span>―<\/span>they don\u2019t understand much further than that<\/span>―<\/span>they tell you, \u201cWhy do you want
\nto try and change the world? The world will always be what it is and remain
\nwhat it is, you have only to step back, to detach yourself, to watch it as a
\nwitness watches something which doesn\u2019t concern him<\/span>―<\/span>and leave it alone.\u201d That was
\nmy first contact with the Gita in Paris. I met an Indian who was a great Gita
\nenthusiast and a very great lover of silence. He used to say, \u201cWhen I go to my
\ndisciples, if they are in the right state<\/span> <\/span><\/p>\n

\nPage – 104<\/span><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n
\n

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

\u00a0<\/span>I don\u2019t need to speak. So
\nwe observe silence together, and in the silence something is realised. But when
\nthey are not in a good enough state for this, I speak a little, just a little,
\nto try to put them in the right state. And when they are in a worse state
\nstill, they ask questions!\u201d (Laughter) <\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/span><\/p>\n

But he was the one who didn\u2019t
\nwant to change the world, wasn\u2019t he? the one who said we were revolutionaries? <\/span><\/i><\/b><\/p>\n

 <\/span><\/p>\n

Oh, that\u2019s to excuse your questions! (Laughter) <\/span><\/p>\n

 No, that was one way of
\nunderstanding the Gita; these people always quote<\/span>―<\/span>I believe in a truncated form
\nthe sentence about there being no fire without smoke.<\/span>\u00b9<\/span>
\nPerhaps this was true a thousand years ago or even five hundred years ago, but
\nnow it is a stupidity. So you can\u2019t use this sentence to explain things: \u201cWhy
\ndo you worry about the state the world is in?<\/span>―<\/span>There is no fire without
\nsmoke.\u201d <\/span><\/p>\n

 It is not true. <\/span><\/p>\n

 But still, it is one
\npoint of view. I think every point of view is necessary<\/span>―<\/span>if each one keeps to his own
\nplace and doesn\u2019t try to impede the others. If he had just added: \u201cMy
\nexperience is like that\u201d, it would have been all right; but he used this to
\ncriticise what others were doing. And there he was wrong.<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/span><\/p>\n

That means he was not truly
\nsincere? <\/span><\/i><\/b><\/p>\n

 <\/span><\/p>\n

Why? Perhaps he was sincere in his own conviction. You mean when
\none makes propaganda, one is not sincere? <\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/span><\/p>\n

He believes he is sincere.<\/span><\/i><\/b> <\/span><\/i><\/b><\/p>\n

 <\/span><\/i><\/b><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n


\n\u00b9<\/font><\/span><\/span>Perhaps Mother was referring to the
\nfollowing two verses of the Gita: \u201cAll existences follow their nature and what
\nshall coercing it avail? Even the man of knowledge acts according to his own nature….
\nAs a fire is covered over by smoke and a mirror by dust, as an embryo is
\nwrapped by the amnion, so knowledge is enveloped by desire.\u201d (3. 33, 38)<\/font><\/span><\/span><\/b><\/font> <\/span><\/p>\n

\nPage – 105<\/span><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n
\n

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

No, excuse me, he is convinced. He had neglected<\/span>―<\/span>perhaps out of politeness<\/span>―<\/span>to tell me about the fourth
\nstate, which was still worse: that in which after having asked the question,
\none begins to discuss the answer. That is really the limit! <\/span><\/p>\n

 If you arrive at the
\nconception of the world as the expression of the Divine in all His complexity,
\nthen the necessity for complexity and diversity has to be recognised, and it
\nbees impossible for you to want to make others think and feel as you do. <\/span><\/p>\n

 Each one should have his
\nown way of thinking, feeling and reaction; why do you want others to do as you
\ndo and be like you? And even granting that your truth is greater than theirs<\/span>―<\/span>though this word means nothing
\nat all, for, from a certain point of view all truths are true; they are all
\npartial, but they are true because they are truths but the minute you want your
\ntruth to be greater than your neighbour\u2019s, you begin to wander away from the
\ntruth. <\/span><\/p>\n

 This habit of wanting to
\ncompel others to think as you do, has always seemed very strange to me; this is
\nwhat I call \u201cthe propagandist spirit\u201d, and it goes very far. You can go one
\nstep further and want people to do what you do, feel as you feel, and then it
\nbees a frightful uniformity. <\/span><\/p>\n

In Japan I met Tolstoy\u2019s son
\nwho was going round the world for \u201cthe good of mankind\u2019s great unity\u201d. And his
\nsolution was very simple: everybody ought to speak the same language, lead the
\nsame life, dress in the same way, eat the same things\u2026. And I am not joking,
\nthose were his very words. I met him in Tokyo; he said: \u201cBut everybody would be
\nhappy, all would understand one another, nobody would quarrel if everyone did
\nthe same thing.\u201d There was no way of making him understand that it was not very
\nreasonable! He had set out to travel all over the world for that, and when
\npeople asked him his name he would say \u201cTolstoy\u201d\u2014 now, Tolstoy, you know\u2026 People
\nsaid, \u201cOh!\u2019\u2014 \u2018some people didn\u2019t know that Tolstoy was dead \u2014 and they thought:
\n\u201cOh! what luck, we are going to hear something re-<\/span><\/p>\n

\nPage – 106<\/span><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n
\n

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

markable\u201d \u2014 and then he came
\nout with that!<\/span><\/p>\n

 Well, this is only an
\nexaggeration of the same attitude. <\/span><\/p>\n

 Anyway, I can assure you
\nthat there comes a time when one no longer feels any necessity at all, at all,
\nof convincing others of the truth of what one thinks. <\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/span><\/p>\n

When someone criticises what I
\nam, the truth I am realising, when others criticise\u2026.<\/span><\/i><\/b><\/p>\n

 <\/span><\/p>\n

You may politely tell him, \u201cMind your own business.\u201d But you
\nmust leave it at that. You want to convince someone who criticises that he is
\nwrong to criticise? \u2014 The more you tell him, the more will he be convinced that
\nhe is right! <\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/span><\/p>\n

Not him, but others who
\nfollow\u2026?<\/span><\/i><\/b><\/p>\n

 <\/span><\/p>\n

Oh! you are afraid they will make adverse propaganda.<\/span><\/p>\n

 It doesn\u2019t matter at all.
\nWe had an instance like that, which was very amusing. Someone whom I won\u2019t
\nname, came here and wrote in one of the leading French newspapers an absolutely
\nstupid article which was\u2026 well, which showed the stupidity of the man and was
\nextremely violent against the Ashram \u2014 that\u2019s not the reason I call him a fool,
\nbut still\u2026 Well, the result\u2014one of the results \u2014 of this article was that we
\nreceived a letter from someone: \u201cI have read the article, I want to e to the
\nAshram immediately.\u201d <\/span><\/p>\n

 This can have just the
\nopposite effect.<\/span><\/p>\n

\nPage – 107<\/font><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

\n <\/b><\/p>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/table>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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