{"id":4523,"date":"2013-07-13T01:56:36","date_gmt":"2013-07-13T01:56:36","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/localhost\/?p=4523"},"modified":"2013-07-13T01:56:36","modified_gmt":"2013-07-13T01:56:36","slug":"37-05-september-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\/37-05-september-1956-vol-08-questions-and-answers-volume-08","title":{"rendered":"-37_05 September 1956.htm"},"content":{"rendered":"\n\n
\n
\n


\n5 September 1956 <\/font>
\n <\/font><\/span><\/i><\/b><\/p>\n

 <\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

\u201cA principle of dark and dull inertia is at its [life’s] base; all
\nare tied down by the body and its needs and desires to a trivial mind, petty
\ndesires and emotions, an insignificant repetition of small worthless functionings,
\nneeds, cares, occupations, pains, pleasures that lead to nothing beyond
\nthemselves and bear the stamp of an ignorance that knows not its own why and
\nwhither. This physical mind of inertia believes in no divinity other than its
\nsmall earth-gods; it aspires perhaps to a greater fort, order, pleasure, but
\nasks for no uplifting and no spiritual deliverance. At the centre we meet a
\nstronger Will of life with a greater gusto, but it is a blinded Daemon, a
\nperverted spirit and exults in the very elements that make of life a striving
\nturmoil and an unhappy imbroglio. It is a soul of human or Titanic desire
\nclinging to the garish colour, disordered poetry, violent tragedy or stirring
\nmelodrama of the mixed flux of good and evil, joy and sorrow, light and
\ndarkness, heady rapture and bitter torture. It loves these things and would
\nhave more and more of them or, even when it suffers and cries out against them,
\ncan accept or joy in nothing else; it hates and revolts against higher things
\nand in its fury would trample, tear or crucify any diviner Power that has the
\npresumption to offer to make life pure, luminous and happy and snatch from its
\nlips the fiery brew of that exciting mixture. Another Will-in-Life there is
\nthat is ready to follow the ameliorating ideal Mind and is allured by its offer
\nto extract some harmony, beauty, light, nobler order out of life, but this is a
\nsmaller part of the vital nature and can be easily overpowered by its more
\nviolent or darker duller yoke-comrades; nor<\/span><\/i><\/b> <\/span><\/i><\/b><\/p>\n

\nPage – 289<\/span><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n
\n

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

does it readily lend itself
\nto a call higher than that of the Mind unless that call defeats itself, as
\nReligion usually does, by lowering its demand to conditions more intelligible
\nto our obscure vital nature. All these forces the spiritual seeker grows aware
\nof in himself and finds all around him and has to struggle and bat incessantly
\nto be rid of their grip and dislodge the long-entrenched mastery they have
\nexercised over his own being as over the environing human existence. The
\ndifficulty is great; for their hold is so strong, so apparently invincible that
\nit justifies the disdainful dictum which pares human nature to a dog’s tail,
\nfor, straighten it never so much by force of ethics, religion, reason or any
\nother redemptive effort, it returns in the end always to the crooked curl of
\nNature. And so great is the vim, the clutch of that more agitated Life-Will, so
\nimmense the peril of its passions and errors, so subtly insistent or
\npersistently invasive, so obstinate up to the very gates of Heaven the fury of
\nits attack or the tedious obstruction of its obstacles that even the saint and
\nthe Yogin cannot be sure of their liberated purity or their trained
\nself-mastery against its intrigue or its violence.\u201d <\/span><\/i><\/b><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\nThe Synthesis of Yoga, pp. 160-61
\n<\/font> <\/span><\/i>
\n<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/span><\/b><\/span><\/p>\n

\n(After a
\nlong silence)<\/span><\/i><\/span> It seems to me that when you begin to see
\nthings in this way, when they appear to you as they are described here, you are
\nalready close, very close to the solution. <\/span><\/p>\n

The worst of it is that generally the whole material reality seems
\nto be the only reality, and everything which is not that seems altogether
\nsecondary. And the \u201cright\u201d of that material consciousness to rule, guide,
\norganise life, to dominate all the rest, is justified to such an extent that if
\nsomeone tries to challenge this sacrosanct authority, he is considered half-mad
\nor extremely dangerous\u2026 It seems to me one must still go a very <\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/span>Page – 290<\/span><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n
\n

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

 <\/span>long way to
\nconsider material life in the way Sri Aurobindo has described it here. And I am
\nquite convinced that if one feels it like that, sees it like that, as he has
\ndescribed it, one is very, very close to the remedy. <\/span><\/p>\n

It is only <\/span>\u00e9<\/span>lite <\/span><\/i><\/b>natures, those who have already had a contact with a higher
\nreality, with something of the divine Consciousness, who feel earthly existence
\nin that way. And when one can become so fully conscious of all these weaknesses
\nand stupidities of the outer consciousness, all these falsehoods of so-called
\nmaterial knowledge and so-called physical laws, the so-called necessities of
\nthe body, the \u201creality\u201d of one’s needs; if one begins to see how very false,
\nstupid, illusory, obscure, foolish all this is, one is truly very close to the
\nsolution. <\/span><\/p>\n

That is the impression I had while reading this. In comparison
\nwith the ordinary atmosphere of people around me, I had the feeling that to see
\nthings in this way, one must have already climbed to a very high peak, and that
\none is at the gates of liberation. It is because I felt it so strongly that I
\nwanted to tell you this. <\/span><\/p>\n

If you can read this sage again and be convinced of its reality
\nand its absolute truth, well, that is already a great step. <\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

(Silence)<\/span><\/i><\/b><\/p>\n

 <\/span><\/p>\n

Hasn’t anyone any questions to ask?…I have some here (Mother
\nshows a packet of questions),<\/i><\/b> but they seem to belong almost to another
\nworld. <\/span><\/p>\n

Somebody asked me some time ago this question: <\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cWhat will be the effect of the Supermind on the earth?\u201d <\/span><\/i><\/b><\/p>\n

 <\/span><\/p>\n

Probably one
\nof the first effects will be exactly to reveal things on earth in this way, as
\nin what I have just read to you. <\/span><\/p>\n

And then another question, which I thought I had already <\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/span>Page – 291<\/span><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n
\n

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

\n <\/span>answered,
\nfor I told you immediately that before the effects of the supramental
\nmanifestation become visible and tangible, perceptible to everybody, perhaps
\nthousands of years may go by; but still I suppose these ideas are disturbing
\nfor the human consciousness with its sense of its short duration and the kind
\nof impatience this brings. So I have been asked: <\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cWill it take long for the Supermind which is involved in material
\nNature to emerge into the outer consciousness and bring visible results?\u201d <\/span><\/i><\/b><\/p>\n

 <\/span><\/p>\n

That depends
\non the state of consciousness from which one answers, for\u2026For the human
\nconsciousness, obviously, I think it will take quite a long time. For another
\nconsciousness it will be relatively very fast, and for yet another
\nconsciousness, it is already accomplished. It is an accomplished fact. But in
\norder to bee aware of this, one must be able to enter into another state of
\nconsciousness than the ordinary physical consciousness.<\/span><\/p>\n

Sri Aurobindo has spoken<\/span> \u2014 <\/span>I believe I
\nhave read it to you, I think it’s in The Synthesis of Yoga<\/span> <\/b> <\/i><\/span>\u2014 <\/span>of the true mind, the true vital and the true physical or subtle
\nphysical, and he has said that they co-exist with the ordinary mind, vital and
\nphysical, and that in certain conditions one may enter into contact with them,
\nand then one becomes aware of the difference between what really is and the
\nappearances of things. <\/span><\/p>\n

Well, for a developed consciousness, the Supermind is already
\nrealised somewhere in a domain of the subtle physical, it already exists there
\nvisible, concrete, and expresses itself in forms and activities. And when one
\nis in tune with this domain, when one lives there, one has a very strong
\nfeeling that this world would only have to be condensed, so to say, for it to
\nbee visible to all. What would then be interesting would be to develop this
\ninner perception which would put you into contact with the supramental truth
\nwhich is already manifested, and is veiled for you only for want of appropriate
\norgans to enter into relation with it.<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/span>Page – 292<\/span><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n
\n

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

 It is possible that those who are conscious of their dreams may
\nhave dreams of a new kind which put them into contact\u00a0 <\/span>with that world, for it is accessible to the
\nsubtle physical of all those who have the corresponding organs in themselves.
\nAnd there is necessarily a subtle influence of this physical on outer matter,
\nif one is ready to receive impressions from it and admit them into one’s
\nconsciousness. That’s all. <\/span><\/p>\n

Now, if nobody has any questions to ask, well, we shall remain
\nsilent. <\/span><\/p>\n

Something to say, over<\/span> there? (Mother
\nlooks at a disciple.) Oh! he is burning to speak! <\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/span><\/p>\n

Mother, after having realised all that, one still goes back to the
\nlower mind to find the solution. <\/span><\/i><\/b><\/p>\n

 <\/span><\/i><\/b><\/p>\n

After having
\nunderstood, one falls back into the same old mistaken ways?…What a pity! <\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/span><\/p>\n

And every day. <\/span><\/i><\/b><\/p>\n

 <\/span><\/p>\n

Every day!
\nWhy, more’s the pity! And so, what remedy do you propose? <\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/span><\/p>\n

That’s what I am asking. <\/span><\/i><\/b><\/p>\n

 <\/span><\/p>\n

Oh! you are
\nasking me! Why, to me it seems that when one has seen things in this way, well,
\nif one has enough sensibility, one can no longer accept them as they are. One
\nmust truly be very insensitive if, realising to what an extent all this is
\ndegrading, one continues to accept it. <\/span><\/p>\n

Yes, this is one more thing I have noticed and one that has always
\nastonished me. It has always seemed to me quite normal, easy, almost elementary
\nto eliminate from one’s consciousness and nature things one considers to be
\nunacceptable. The moment one knows, the moment one sees them as they are and<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/span>Page – 293<\/span><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n
\n

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

 <\/span>doesn’t want
\nthem any longer, it seems to me to be quite\u2026indeed almost childishly simple.
\nBut I have noticed that in most cases<\/span> \u2014 <\/span>almost in
\nall cases<\/span>
\n\u2014 <\/span>when I tell somebody how things really are,
\nwhen I give him a true picture of the condition he is in or of the nature of a
\nmovement, of what it represents, and when I express that forcefully, so that,
\naccording to me, he would immediately have the reaction which seems normal to
\nme, and say: \u201cOh, if it is like that, I don’t want it any more!\u201d and almost
\nevery time I find myself before something which breaks down and tells me, \u201cOh,
\nyou are not very encouraging!\u201d I must confess that this leaves me quite
\nhelpless. So, to see is not enough? To know that certain things ought not to be
\nthere, that’s not sufficient? It should give you that kind of inner stimulus, a
\ndynamic force which makes you reject the error in such a way that it can’t come
\nback again! <\/span><\/p>\n

But to fall back into an error which one knows} to be an error, to
\nmake a mistake once again which one knows} to be a mistake, this seems to me
\nfantastic! It is a long time<\/span> \u2014 <\/span>well, at least relatively, by human
\nreckoning<\/span>
\n\u2014 <\/span>it is a long time I have been on earth,
\nand I have yet not been able to understand that. It seems to me<\/span> <\/span>\u2014<\/span> <\/span>it seems to me impossible. Wrong thoughts,
\nwrong impulses, inner and outer falsehood, things which are ugly, base, so long
\nas one does them or has them through ignorance<\/span> <\/span>\u2014<\/span> <\/span>ignorance is there in the world<\/span> <\/span>\u2014<\/span> <\/span>one understands, one is in the habit of doing them; it is
\nignorance, one does not know that it ought to be otherwise. But the moment the
\nknowledge is there, the light is there, the moment one has seen the thing as it
\nis, how can one do it again? That I do not understand! <\/span><\/p>\n

Then what is one made of? One is made of shreds? One is made of
\ngoodness knows what, of jelly? It can’t be explained. But is there no
\nincentive, no will, nothing? Is there no inner dynamism? <\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/span><\/p>\n

We exploit the Grace!<\/span><\/i><\/b><\/p>\n

 <\/span><\/i><\/b>Page -294<\/span><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n
\n

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

 <\/span><\/i><\/b>Ayo, like a
\njellyfish! <\/span><\/p>\n

But the Grace is there, It is always there, It only asks to be
\nallowed to help<\/span> <\/span>\u2014<\/span> <\/span>one doesn’t
\nlet It work.<\/span><\/p>\n

And nothing but this feeling: \u201cOh, I can’t!\u201d<\/span> <\/span>\u2014<\/span> <\/span>that’s enough to prevent It from working. <\/span><\/p>\n

How can you accept the idea that you can’t? You don’t know<\/span> <\/span>\u2014<\/span> <\/span>that, yes, you may not know<\/span> <\/span>\u2014<\/span> <\/span>but once you know, it’s finished! <\/span><\/p>\n

Still\u2026<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/span>Page – 295<\/span><\/p>\n

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

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