{"id":4543,"date":"2013-07-13T01:56:44","date_gmt":"2013-07-13T01:56:44","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/localhost\/?p=4543"},"modified":"2013-07-13T01:56:44","modified_gmt":"2013-07-13T01:56:44","slug":"09-29-february-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\/09-29-february-1956-vol-08-questions-and-answers-volume-08","title":{"rendered":"-09_29 February 1956.htm"},"content":{"rendered":"\n\n
\n
\n


\n29 February 1956<\/font><\/span><\/b> <\/font><\/span><\/b><\/p>\n

\n <\/font><\/span><\/p>\n

\n
\nOn this
\nevening, during the meditation which followed this conversation,<\/font><\/span><\/p>\n

\n
\n there took
\nplace what Mother has called \u201cthe first Manifestation<\/font><\/span><\/p>\n

\n
\n of the Supramental
\nLight-Force in the earth-atmosphere\u201d. <\/font> <\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/span><\/b><\/p>\n

\u201cThe law of sacrifice is the
\ncommon divine action that was thrown out into the world in its beginning as a
\nsymbol of the solidarity of the universe. It is by the attraction of this law
\nthat a divinising<\/span>, a saving power descends to limit
\nand correct and gradually to eliminate the errors of an egoistic and
\nself-divided creation. This descent, this sacrifice of the Purusha<\/span>,
\nthe Divine Soul submitting itself to Force and Matter so that it may inform and
\nilluminate them, is the seed of redemption of this world of Inconscience and
\nIgnorance. For \u2018with sacrifice as their companion,\u2019 says the Gita, \u2018the
\nAll-Father created these peoples.\u2019 The acceptance of the law of sacrifice is a
\npractical recognition by the ego that it is neither alone in the world nor
\nchief in the world. It is its admission that, even in this much fragmented
\nexistence, there is beyond itself and behind that which is not its own egoistic
\nperson, something greater and completer, a diviner All which demands from it
\nsubordination and service.\u201d<\/span><\/i><\/b><\/p>\n

The Synthesis of Yoga, p. 98<\/font><\/span> <\/span><\/font><\/i><\/p>\n

 <\/span>Sweet Mother, what does the
\n\u201csacrifice to the Divine\u201d mean? <\/span><\/i><\/b><\/p>\n

 <\/span><\/b><\/p>\n

It is self-giving. It is the word the Gita uses for self-giving.
\n<\/span><\/p>\n

 Only, the sacrifice is
\nmutual, this is what Sri Aurobindo says at the beginning: the Divine has sacrificed
\nHimself in Matter to <\/span><\/p>\n

\n

\nPage – 74<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\nawaken consciousness in
\nMatter, which had become inconscient. And it is this sacrifice, this giving of
\nthe Divine in Matter, that is to say, His dispersion in Matter, which justifies
\nthe sacrifice of Matter to the Divine and makes it obligatory; for it is one
\nand the same reciprocal movement. It is because the Divine has given Himself in
\nMatter and scattered Himself everywhere in Matter to awaken it to the divine
\nconsciousness, that Matter is automatically under the obligation to give itself
\nto the Divine. It is a mutual and reciprocal sacrifice.<\/span><\/p>\n

 And this is the great
\nsecret of the Gita: the affirmation of the divine Presence in the very heart of
\nMatter. And that is why, Matter must sacrifice itself to the Divine, automatically,
\neven unconsciously <\/span>\u2013<\/span> whether one wants it or not, this is what happens. <\/span><\/p>\n

 Only, when it is done
\nunconsciously, one doesn\u2019t have the joy of sacrifice; while if it is done
\nconsciously, one has the joy of sacrifice which is the supreme joy. <\/span><\/p>\n

 The word \u201csacrifice\u201d in
\nFrench has slightly too narrow a sense, which it doesn\u2019t have in the original
\nSanskrit; for in French sacrifice implies a sort of suffering, almost a regret.
\nWhile in Sanskrit this sense is not there at all; it corresponds to \u201cself-giving\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/span><\/p>\n

Sweet Mother, here it is
\nwritten: \u201cAll are linked together by a secret Oneness.\u201d <\/span><\/i><\/b><\/p>\n

The Synthesis of Yoga, p. 98<\/font><\/span><\/i><\/b> <\/span><\/font><\/b><\/font><\/p>\n

What is this secret Oneness? <\/span><\/i><\/b><\/p>\n

 <\/span><\/b><\/p>\n

It is precisely the divine Presence. <\/span><\/p>\n

 Because the Divine is
\nessentially one, and yet He has subdivided Himself apparently in all beings,
\nand in this way recreated the primordial Oneness. And it is because of this
\ndivine Oneness <\/span>\u2013 <\/span>which, however, appears fragmented in beings <\/span>\u2013<\/span> that
\nthe Unity is re-established in its essence. And when one becomes conscious of
\nthis, one has the joy of the consciousness <\/span>
\n
\n <\/span><\/p>\n

\n

\nPage – 75<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

of this Oneness. But those who are not conscious <\/span>\u2013<\/span> what
\nthey miss is the joy of consciousness. But the fact remains the same. <\/span><\/p>\n

 Sri Aurobindo says: the
\nOneness exists; whether you are aware of it or not, it exists, in reality it
\nmakes no difference; but it makes a difference to you: if you are conscious,
\nyou have the joy; if you are not conscious, you miss this joy. <\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/span><\/p>\n

But how can a sacrifice be made
\nwhen one is unconscious? <\/span><\/i><\/b><\/p>\n

 <\/span><\/b><\/p>\n

It is made automatically. <\/span><\/p>\n

 Whether you know it or
\nnot, whether you want it or not, you are all united by the divine Presence
\nwhich, though it appears fragmented, is yet One. The Divine is One, He only
\nappears fragmented in things and beings. And because this Unity is a fact,
\nwhether you are aware of it or not doesn\u2019t alter the fact at all. And whether
\nyou want it or not, you are in spite of everything subject to this Unity. <\/span><\/p>\n

This is what I have explained
\nto you I don\u2019t know how many times: you think you are separate from one
\nanother, but it is the same single Substance which is in you all, despite
\ndifferences in appearance; and a vibration in one centre automatically awakens
\na vibration in another. <\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/span><\/p>\n

So, no effort is to be made to improve
\nthe sacrifice, there is no need to make an effort? <\/span><\/i><\/b><\/p>\n

 <\/span><\/i><\/b><\/p>\n

I don\u2019t understand this conclusion at all. <\/span><\/p>\n

 If you are happy to be
\nunhappy, that\u2019s all right, it is your own affair; if you are content to be
\nunhappy and to suffer and remain in the ignorance and inconscience you are in,
\nstay there. But if this does not satisfy you, if you want to be conscious and
\nyou want suffering to cease, then you must make constant efforts to become
\nconscious of the sacrifice and to make your sacrifice consciously instead of
\nunconsciously. <\/span><\/p>\n

\n

\nPage – 76<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\u00a0<\/span>Everything turns around the consciousness, the
\nfact of being or not being conscious. And it is only in the supreme
\nConsciousness that you can attain the perfect expression of yourself. <\/span><\/p>\n

 But that the Oneness
\nexists, even if you feel just the opposite, is a fact you can do nothing about,
\nfor it is a divine action and a divine fact \u2014 it is a divine action and a
\ndivine fact If you are conscious of the Divine, you become conscious of this
\nfact. If you are not conscious of the Divine, the fact exists but you simply
\nare not conscious of it\u00a0 <\/span>\u2014 that\u2019s all. <\/span><\/p>\n

 So, everything turns
\naround a phenomenon of consciousness. And the world is in a state of obscurity,
\nsuffering, misery, of\u2026 everything, all it is, simply because it is not
\nconscious of the Divine, because it has cut off the connection in its
\nconsciousness, because its consciousness is separated from the Divine. That is
\nto say, it has become unconscious. <\/span><\/p>\n

 For the true
\nconsciousness is the divine Consciousness. If you cut yourself off from the
\ndivine Consciousness, you become absolutely unconscious; that is exactly what
\nhas happened. And so, everything there is, the world as it is, your
\nconsciousness as it is, things in the state they are in, are the result of this
\nseparation of the consciousness and its immediate obscuration. <\/span><\/p>\n

 The minute the individual
\nconsciousness is separated from the divine Consciousness, it enters what we
\ncall the inconscience, and it is this inconscience that is the cause of all its
\nmiseries. <\/span><\/p>\n

 But all that is, is
\nessentially divine, and the divine Oneness is a fact, you can\u2019t do anything
\nabout it; all your unconsciousness and all your denials will change nothing \u2014
\nit is a fact, it\u2019s like that. <\/span><\/p>\n

 And the conclusion is
\nthis, that the true transformation is the transformation of consciousness \u2014 all
\nthe rest will follow automatically. <\/span><\/p>\n

 There we are, that\u2019s all.
\n<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/span><\/p>\n

         <\/span><\/b>
\n Sweet
\nMother, what part in us sets itself against a total renunciation?
\n<\/span><\/i>
\n
\n <\/span><\/i><\/b><\/p>\n

\nPage \u2013 77<\/span><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n
\n

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

 It is as if you asked me, \u201cWhat is unconscious in us?\u201d But
\nin fact, everything is unconscious except the Divine. And it is only when one
\ncan unite with the Divine that one re-establishes the true consciousness in
\none\u2019s being. The rest is a kind of mixture of semi-consciousness and
\nsemi-unconsciousness. <\/span><\/p>\n

 Anything else? No? <\/span><\/p>\n

 (Turning to a disciple<\/b><\/i>) Oh! he is
\nlonging to speak! <\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/span><\/p>\n

Mother, there is a magnificent
\nsentence! <\/span><\/i><\/b><\/p>\n

 <\/span><\/b><\/p>\n

Ah! only one? <\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cEach existence is continually
\ngiving out perforce from its stock\u201d and Sri Aurobindo adds, \u201cAnd always again
\nit receives something from its environment in return for its voluntary or
\ninvoluntary tribute.\u201d <\/span><\/i><\/b><\/p>\n

The Synthesis of Yoga, p. 98<\/font><\/span><\/i><\/b><\/font> <\/span><\/b><\/p>\n

Yes, that is what I was just saying. And then? <\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/span><\/p>\n

Does one receive from one\u2019s
\nenvironment or only from the Divine? <\/span><\/i><\/b><\/p>\n

 <\/span><\/i><\/b><\/p>\n

Oh! from both. <\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/span><\/p>\n

Because here it is written: \u201cit
\nreceives from its environment.\u201d <\/span><\/i><\/b><\/p>\n

 <\/span><\/i><\/b><\/p>\n

Yes! Because Sri Aurobindo says there is a oneness in Matter, a
\noneness in the manifestation, a oneness in substance, and that there is
\nnecessarily an interchange. <\/span><\/p>\n

 In fact, this is what we have
\nsaid more than fifty thousand times: that all is the Divine and that
\nconsequently all is One; that it is only your consciousness which is separated
\nand in a state of unconsciousness because it is separated; but that if you<\/span> <\/span><\/p>\n

\n

\nPage – 78<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\u00a0<\/span>remove this unconsciousness
\nand this sense of separation, you become divine.
\n <\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/span><\/p>\n

But in ordinary life, in one\u2019s
\nenvironment, what one receives is not always what one gives. <\/span><\/i><\/b><\/p>\n

 <\/span><\/b><\/p>\n

Oh! but you must not understand things so superficially. <\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/span><\/p>\n

(Another disciple) Does the
\ninconscient aspire to bee conscious? <\/span><\/i><\/b><\/p>\n

 <\/span><\/i><\/b><\/p>\n

No. It is the Divine in the inconscient who aspires for the
\nDivine in the consciousness. That is to say, without the Divine there would be
\nno aspiration; without the consciousness hidden in the inconscient, there would
\nbe no possibility of changing the inconscience to consciousness. But because at
\nthe very heart of the inconscient there is the divine Consciousness, you
\naspire, and necessarily\u00a0 <\/span>\u2014 this is what
\nhe says \u2014 automatically, mechanically, the sacrifice is made. And this is why
\nwhen one says, \u201cIt is not\u00a0 <\/span>you who
\naspire, it is the Divine, it is not\u00a0 <\/span>you
\nwho make progress, it is the Divine, it is not\u00a0
\n<\/span>you who are conscious, it is the Divine\u201d \u2014 these are not mere words, it
\nis a fact. And it is simply your ignorance and your unconsciousness which
\nprevent you from realising it. <\/span><\/p>\n

\n <\/span><\/p>\n

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

\nPage – 79<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/table>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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