{"id":4534,"date":"2013-07-13T01:56:40","date_gmt":"2013-07-13T01:56:40","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/localhost\/?p=4534"},"modified":"2013-07-13T01:56:40","modified_gmt":"2013-07-13T01:56:40","slug":"10-07-march-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\/10-07-march-1956-vol-08-questions-and-answers-volume-08","title":{"rendered":"-10_07 March 1956.htm"},"content":{"rendered":"\n\n
\n
\n


\n7 March 1956<\/font> <\/font><\/span><\/b><\/p>\n

\n <\/font><\/span><\/p>\n

Sweet Mother, what is this form
\nof sacrifice in which animals are slaughtered upon altars? <\/span><\/i><\/b><\/p>\n

 <\/span><\/p>\n

It is certainly one of the obscurest and most unconscious. And the
\nsacrifice spoken about here and in the Gita, is the sacrifice one makes of
\noneself, not of others. <\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/span><\/p>\n

Because here it is written:
\n\u201cWhoever the recipient, whatever the gift, it is the Supreme, the Eternal in
\nthings, who receives and accepts it.\u201d <\/span><\/i><\/b><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n
\nThe Synthesis
\nof Yoga, p. 101-102<\/font><\/span><\/i><\/span> <\/font><\/span><\/p>\n

Happily for the poor creature which is sacrificed! Perhaps it
\ngoes straight to the Divine. <\/span><\/p>\n

 It would be very
\ninteresting to see\u2026. Imagine a man who wants to win the Divine\u2019s favour, or
\nthat of some god or other, some deity, in order to obtain something very
\nselfishly personal, something he desires and finds it hard to get; and so he
\nsnatches a chicken from his yard and goes and cuts its throat before the deity,
\nwith his prayer, perhaps for a good harvest or the good sale of his harvest, or
\nfor a child if he doesn\u2019t have one, or that his wife may be cured if she is ill
\n<\/span>\u2013<\/span>
\nanything at all. And then imagine that this evolving psychic particle, already
\nlike a tiny spark in semi-consciousness \u2013 not even semi-consciousness \u2013 the
\nrudiment of consciousness which is in the chicken, goes straight to the Divine
\nwho magnifies it; while the man who has offered the chicken to obtain some
\nbenefit or other is not even heard. <\/span><\/p>\n

 Most probably, this is
\nwhat happens. So the one who has truly gained in this business is the chicken,
\nnot the man!<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/span><\/p>\n

Sweet Mother, some people make
\nsacrifices and offer<\/span><\/i><\/b>– <\/span><\/i><\/b><\/p>\n

\n

\nPage – 80<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n
\nings\u00a0 <\/span>to hostile forces. Are these also received by
\nthe Divine? <\/span><\/i><\/b><\/p>\n

 <\/span><\/p>\n

You mean sacrifices like those I have just spoken about, from
\npeople offering something for altogether selfish ends?<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/span><\/p>\n

No, people who offer sacrifices
\nto hostile forces. <\/span><\/i><\/b><\/p>\n

 <\/span><\/i><\/b><\/p>\n

To hostile forces? But they don\u2019t know they are hostile! Or as
\nthey do here, when they take the deity of cholera round in a procession, for example,
\nor the deity of smallpox: it is taken round with songs and beating of drums,
\nand then all sorts of offerings are made to it. This is to satisfy it so that
\nit doesn\u2019t kill too many people. <\/span><\/p>\n

 One should first make
\nsure that this deity exists, that it is not just a doll sitting there on its
\naltar. <\/span><\/p>\n

 Anyway, in instances of
\nthis kind, I think it is people\u2019s faith, above all, which saves them. When they
\nhave performed their little ceremony properly, they feel confident, \u201cOh! now it
\nwill be over, for she is satisfied.\u201d And because they feel confident, it helps
\nthem to react and the illness disappears. I have seen this very often in the
\nstreet. There might be a small hostile entity there, but these are very
\ninsignificant things. <\/span><\/p>\n

 In other cases, in some temples,
\nthere are vital beings who are more or less powerful and have made their home
\nthere. <\/span><\/p>\n

 But what Sri Aurobindo
\nmeans here is that there is nothing, not even the most anti-divine force, which
\nin its origin is not the Supreme Divine. So, necessarily, everything goes back
\nto Him, consciously or unconsciously. In the consciousness of the one who makes
\nthe offering it does not go to the Divine: it goes to the greater or smaller
\ndemon to whom he turns. But through everything, through the wood of the idol or
\neven the ill-will of the vital adversary, ultimately, all returns to the
\nDivine, since all comes from Him. Only, the one who has made the offering or
\nthe sacrifice receives but in proportion to his own conscious <\/span><\/p>\n

\n

\nPage – 81<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

ness and to
\nwhat he has asked. So one could say that theoretically it returns to the
\nDivine, but that the response comes from that to which he has addressed
\nhimself, not from the supreme Origin, for one is not in contact with it; one is
\nin contact only with the next step, the next intermediary ― no higher. <\/span><\/p>\n

It is quite certain that if the movement is absolutely
\nunconscious, the result will also be absolutely unconscious; and if the
\nmovement is entirely egoistic, the result is also entirely egoistic. It is as
\nin that story by Sri Aurobindo\u00b9 I read to you one Friday, the first story in
\nwhich he explained Karma, saying that evil results in evil, and good results in
\ngood. Evil begets evil, and good begets good: that is Karma; it is not a
\npunishment or a reward, it is something automatic. Well, if your sacrifice is
\negoistic and obscure, it will necessarily have an obscure and egoistic result. <\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/span><\/p>\n

Sweet Mother, here it is
\nwritten: \u201cThe vulgar conception of sacrifice is an act of painful
\nself-immolation, austere self-mortification, difficult self-effacement\u2026.But the
\nGita discourages any excess of violence done to oneself; for the self within is
\nreally the Godhead evolving, it is Krishna, it is the Divine; it is not to be
\ntroubled and tortured as the Titans of the world trouble and torture it, but to
\nbe increasingly fostered, cherished, luminously opened to a divine Light.\u201d <\/span><\/i><\/b><\/p>\n

The Synthesis of Yoga, p. 100<\/font><\/span><\/i><\/b><\/font> <\/font><\/span><\/b><\/font><\/p>\n

How can one be luminously open?
\n<\/span><\/i><\/b><\/p>\n

 <\/span><\/p>\n

If you like you may replace the word \u201cluminously\u201d by the word
\n\u201csincerely\u201d, or \u201ctransparently\u201d, like something which is not opaque or does not
\ndistort; something clear, transparent, sincere, which does not obstruct. <\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/span><\/p>\n

\n\u00b9The
\nreference is to the tale \u201cA Dream\u201d, written originally in Bengali and published
\nin The Chariot of Jagannatha<\/i>.<\/font><\/span> <\/span><\/b><\/p>\n

\n

\nPage – 82<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

 You may take the image of
\na window open to the light. If your panes are of blackened or opaque glass,
\nwhat comes through naturally becomes dark and opaque, and little passes
\nthrough. And if the glass is quite transparent, then it is a luminous light
\nwhich passes. Or if your glass is coloured, the light will be coloured in one
\nway or another when it reaches you. While if the glass is absolutely pure and
\ntransparent, the light will come through pure and transparent. <\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/span><\/p>\n

Mother, the Gita speaks of the
\ntrue essence of sacrifice, and Sri Aurobindo says, \u201cIts method is not
\nself-mortification, but a greater life; not self-mutilation, but a
\ntransformation of our natural human parts into divine members\u201d <\/span><\/i><\/b><\/p>\n

The Synthesis of Yoga, p. 101<\/font><\/span><\/i><\/b><\/font> <\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

Isn\u2019t it physical transformation
\nwe aspire for? <\/span><\/i><\/b><\/p>\n

 <\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

When Sri Aurobindo says \u201cintegral transformation\u201d, naturally he
\nis speaking of physical transformation. But the Gita does not speak of integral
\ntransformation, I don\u2019t think so. Because for the Gita, the idea of physical
\ntransformation does not exist. As I was explaining to you the other day, the
\nworld is as it is and you have but to take it as it is, and not be affected by
\nwhat it is. For you enter a higher consciousness, you are liberated from outer
\nforms, but they remain as they are. Indeed, some slight mention is made of
\nchanging one\u2019s character, but there is no question of changing the material
\nworld. <\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/span><\/p>\n

Sweet Mother, I have not
\nunderstood this: \u201cThe spirit\u2019s inner enemies have to be sacrificed in the
\nharsher sense of the word, whatever pain in going they may throw by reflection
\non the consciousness of the seeker.\u201d <\/span><\/i><\/b><\/p>\n

Ibid., p p.100-101<\/font><\/span><\/i><\/b><\/font> <\/font><\/span><\/i><\/b><\/font><\/p>\n

\n

\nPage – 83<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

Not understood? This has never happened to you? No? When, for
\ninstance, you have a movement you don\u2019t like \u2014 a movement of anger or spite, all
\nkinds of things like that, or an insincerity or something you don\u2019t like\u00a0 <\/span>\u2014 when you reject it from yourself, when you
\nwant to make an effort not to have it any more, it hurts you, doesn\u2019t it? It
\nhurts, it is as though something was being pulled out. Well, this is the pain
\nhe is speaking about; he says that it is the bad thing you throw away from you
\nwhich, when leaving, gives you a nice little knock as a parting gift. That\u2019s
\nwhat he says. <\/span><\/p>\n

 For you are always under
\nthe illusion that pain belongs to you. This is not true. Pain is something
\nthrust upon you. The same event could occur, exactly the same in all its
\ndetails, without its inflicting the shadow of a pain on you; on the contrary,
\nsometimes it can fill you with ecstatic joy. And it is exactly the same thing.
\nBut in one case, you are open to the adverse forces you want to reject from
\nyourself, and in the other you are not, you are already too far away from them
\nto be affected by them any longer; and so, instead of feeling the negative side
\nthey represent, you feel only the positive side the Divine represents in the
\nexperience. It is the divine Grace which makes you progress, and with the
\ndivine Grace you feel the divine Joy. But instead of identifying yourself with
\nthe Grace which makes you progress, you identify yourself with the ugly thing
\nyou want to get rid of; and so, naturally, you feel like it and suffer. <\/span><\/p>\n

 That is an experiment you
\ncan make if you are just a little conscious. There is something in you which
\nyou don\u2019t want, something bad \u2014 for one reason or another you don\u2019t want it,
\nyou want to pull it out \u2014 well, if you identify yourself ever so little with
\nthat thing, you feel the pain of the extraction; if, on the contrary, you
\nidentify yourself with the divine Force which comes to liberate you, you feel
\nthe joy of the divine Grace \u2014 and you experience the deep delight of the
\nprogress you have made. <\/span><\/p>\n

 And this is a sure sign
\nfor you, a sure indication of what <\/span><\/p>\n

\n

\nPage – 84<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

you identify yourself with. If you are identified with the forces
\nfrom below, you suffer; if you are identified with the forces from above, you
\nare happy. And I am not speaking about feeling pleasure; you must not think
\nthat when one jumps about, dances, shouts and plays, one is identified with the
\ndivine forces\u00a0 <\/span>\u2014 one may or may not be.
\nThat is not what I am speaking of. I am speaking of the divine Joy, the inner
\nJoy which is unalloyed. <\/span><\/p>\n

 Each time a shadow
\npasses, with what may be just an uneasiness or what may bee a severe pain or an
\nunbearable suffering, through the whole range, from the smallest to the
\ngreatest <\/span>―<\/span> as soon as it appears in your being, you may tell yourself,
\n\u201cAh, the enemy is there!\u201d \u2014 in one form or another. <\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/span><\/p>\n

Sweet Mother, what is the
\nexperience of the being who has given himself completely to the Divine? <\/span><\/i><\/b><\/p>\n

 <\/span><\/b><\/p>\n

But\u2026 do it, my child, then you will know! It is not the same for
\neverybody. <\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/span><\/p>\n

Mother, \u201cthe intention\u2026 and the
\nspirit that is behind the intention,\u201d<\/span><\/i><\/b>\u00b9<\/span><\/i><\/b> what does that mean, isn\u2019t it
\nthe same thing? <\/span><\/i><\/b><\/p>\n

 <\/span><\/i><\/b><\/p>\n

What? <\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/span><\/p>\n

The intention\u2026<\/span><\/i><\/b><\/p>\n

 <\/span><\/p>\n

Yes, I know. <\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/span><\/p>\n

\u2026and the spirit that is behind.
\n<\/span><\/i><\/b><\/p>\n

 <\/span><\/p>\n

To me it is as clear as crystal, I don\u2019t understand your
\nquestion.\u00a0\u00a0 <\/span>What is the difference
\nbetween the intention and the spirit of the intention? <\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/span><\/p>\n

\n
\n\u00b9\u201c<\/font><\/span><\/i><\/span>The fruit
\nalso of the sacrifice varies according to the work, according to the intention
\nin the work and according to the spirit that is behind the intention.\u201d (The
\nSynthesis of Yoga, p. 102)<\/font><\/span><\/i><\/span> <\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

\n

\nPage – 85<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

The spirit that is behind. <\/span><\/i><\/b><\/p>\n

 <\/span><\/p>\n

Isn\u2019t there a spirit behind all things? No? <\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/span><\/p>\n

There is always a spirit
\nbehind. <\/span><\/i><\/b><\/p>\n

 <\/span><\/p>\n

Well, yes, and that is all he has said, nothing else, that you
\nmust know what kind of spirit there is behind your intention. <\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/span><\/p>\n

He says the result is
\ndifferent.<\/span><\/i><\/b> <\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/span><\/p>\n

But of course! According to the spirit in which you do things,
\nthe result is different. <\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/span><\/p>\n

But the spirit and the
\nintention are not the same thing?<\/span><\/i><\/b> <\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

 <\/span><\/p>\n

What do you want me to tell you? If you don\u2019t feel the
\ndifference between the two, I can\u2019t explain it to you. <\/span><\/p>\n

        There are forces at work
\nall the time, which set people moving, which make them move. In the individual
\nbeing this is translated into exact intentions; but behind the intention a
\nforce is acting which is not individual. <\/span><\/p>\n

        Do you understand?  <\/span><\/p>\n

Yes. <\/span><\/i><\/b><\/p>\n

 <\/span><\/p>\n

Ah! <\/span><\/p>\n

 I think one of the
\ngreatest difficulties in understanding things comes from an arbitrary
\nsimplification which puts spirit on one side and matter on the other. It is
\nthis foolishness that makes you incapable of understanding anything. There is
\nspirit and matter \u2013 this is very convenient. So if one does not belong to
\nspirit, one belongs to matter; if one does not belong to matter, one belongs to
\nspirit. But what do you call spirit and what do <\/span><\/p>\n

\n

\nPage – 86<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\nyou call matter? It is a
\ncountless crowd of things, an interminable ladder. The universe is a seemingly
\ninfinite gradation of worlds and states of consciousness, and in this
\nincreasingly subtle gradation, where does your matter come to an end? Where
\ndoes your spirit begin? You speak of \u201cspirit\u201d<\/span>―<\/span> where does this spirit begin?
\nWith what you don\u2019t see? Is that it? So you include in \u201cspirit\u201d all the beings
\nof the vital world, for instance, because you don\u2019t see them in your normal
\nstate <\/span>―<\/span> all that belongs to \u201cspirit\u201d<\/span>\u2013<\/span> and they may indeed be the
\nspirit which is behind your intention <\/span>―<\/span> and it isn\u2019t up to much!
\nThat\u2019s it. <\/span><\/p>\n

 It is like those people
\nwho say, \u201cWhen you are alive you are in matter; when you are dead, you enter
\nthe spirit. There, then! So, liberate the spirit from matter, die, and you
\nliberate your spirit from matter.\u201d It is these stupidities which prevent you
\nfrom understanding anything at all. But all this has nothing to do with the
\nworld as it really is. <\/span><\/p>\n

 For the human
\nconsciousness as it is, there are certainly infinitely more invisible things
\nthan visible things. What you know, the things which are visible to you and
\nwhich you are conscious of \u2013 it\u2019s almost like the skin of an orange compared
\nwith the orange itself <\/span>―<\/span> and even an orange with a very thin skin, not a thick one! And
\nso, if you know only the skin of the orange, you know nothing about the orange.
\n<\/span><\/p>\n

 And this is more or less
\nwhat happens. All that you know about the universe is just a superficial little
\ncrust <\/span>―<\/span> and even this you hardly know. But that is all you know about
\nit, and all the rest escapes you.<\/span> <\/span><\/p>\n

\nPage – 87<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/table>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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