{"id":4546,"date":"2013-07-13T01:56:45","date_gmt":"2013-07-13T01:56:45","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/localhost\/?p=4546"},"modified":"2013-07-13T01:56:45","modified_gmt":"2013-07-13T01:56:45","slug":"39-19-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\/39-19-september-1956-vol-08-questions-and-answers-volume-08","title":{"rendered":"-39_19 September 1956.htm"},"content":{"rendered":"\n\n
\n
\n


\n19 September 1956 <\/font><\/span><\/b>
\n
\n <\/font><\/span><\/p>\n

\n
\n <\/font><\/span><\/p>\n

Sweet Mother, I haven’t understood this well: \u201cWill, Power, Force
\nare the native substance of the Life-Energy, and herein lies the justification
\nfor the refusal of Life to acknowledge the supremacy of Knowledge and Love
\nalone,<\/span> <\/span>\u2014<\/span> <\/span>for its push towards the satisfaction of something far more
\nunreflecting, headstrong and dangerous that can yet venture too in its own bold
\nand ardent way towards the Divine and Absolute. Love and Wisdom are not the
\nonly aspects of the Divine, there is also its aspect of Power.\u201d <\/span><\/i><\/b><\/span><\/p>\n

\nThe Synthesis of Yoga. pp. 163-64
\n<\/font> <\/span><\/i>
\n<\/span><\/p>\n

What have
\nyou not understood? <\/span><\/p>\n

Sri Aurobindo says that the vital part, the vital being is the
\ngreatest obstacle because it is unregenerate, and that there would be a
\npossibility of transforming it if it surrendered entirely to Love and
\nKnowledge; but as its predominant quality is force, energy, power, it does not
\nlike to submit to other parts of the being, and this justifies its refusal to
\nsubmit itself, for those virtues in their essence are as high as the others.
\nThat is why it has neither the same power nor the same capacities, for it is
\nnot developed, it has not surrendered, and this is what causes the dilemma: it
\ndoes not submit because it has this power, and this power cannot be utilised because
\nit is not surrendered. So, how to get out of that? The vital, if it were
\nsurrendered, would be a very powerful help, extremely useful, it would make the
\nwhole process go much more rapidly. But because it feels its own power, it
\nrefuses to submit to the others; and because it does not submit, its power
\ncannot be utilised. So, what is to be done? Sri Aurobindo states the problem<\/span> <\/span>\u2014<\/span> <\/span>he is going to solve it afterwards; if we
\ncontinue reading, after a while he will tell us how to solve this problem<\/span> <\/span>\u2014<\/span> <\/span>but he states it first so that we may
\nfully understand the situation.<\/span> <\/span><\/p>\n

\nPage – 298<\/span><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n
\n

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

If the vital were a mediocre being without definite qualities,
\nthere would be no difficulty in its surrendering, but it would be altogether
\nuseless. But, on the contrary, the vital is a sort of stronghold of energy and
\npower<\/span>
\n<\/span>\u2014<\/span> <\/span>of all powers. Yet generally this power is
\ndiverted; it is no longer at the service of the Divine, it is at the service of
\nthe vital itself for its own satisfaction. So, as long as it is like that, it
\ncannot be used. <\/span><\/p>\n

It should come to understand that this energy and power which it
\nfeels within itself cannot bee useful unless it enters into perfect harmony
\nwith the divine plan of realisation on earth. If it understands that, it
\nbecomes quiet and allows itself to be enlisted, so to say, in the totality of
\nthe being, and then it takes on its full strength and full importance. But
\notherwise, it cannot be used. And usually, all its activities are activities
\nwhich always plicate things and take away their simplicity, their purity, often
\ntheir beauty, and their effectiveness, for its action is blind, ignorant and
\nvery egoistic. <\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/span><\/p>\n

Sweet Mother, is the divine plane the plane of the psychic being? <\/span><\/i><\/b><\/p>\n

 <\/span><\/i><\/b><\/p>\n

It is a
\nhigher plane than that of the psychic being. The psychic being is, so to say,
\nthe vehicle of the Divine, it contains the Divine, is the habitation of the
\nDivine, but the Divine is higher than it. For the psychic being is only an
\naspect of the divine manifestation. <\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/span><\/p>\n

Is not the Supermind also the psychic being? <\/span><\/i><\/b><\/p>\n

 <\/span><\/p>\n

The
\nSupermind is far higher than the psychic being also. <\/span><\/p>\n

What Sri Aurobindo calls the Supermind is the element or the
\ndivine Principle which is now going to come into play in the universe. He calls
\nit the Supermind because it comes after the mind, that is to say, it is a new
\nmanifestation of the supreme divine Principle. And it is related to the psychic
\nas the Divine
\n <\/span><\/p>\n

\nPage – 299<\/span><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n
\n

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

was related
\nto the psychic, that is to say, the psychic is the home, the temple, the
\nvehicle, everything that must outwardly manifest the Divine. But it is divine
\nonly in its essence not in its integrality. It is a mode of outer manifestation
\nof the Divine, outer pared with the Divine, that is, terrestrial.<\/span><\/p>\n

Is that all? Nothing else? <\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/span><\/p>\n

How should we come out of the physical consciousness which keeps
\nus preoccupied all the time and exclusively with physical circumstances? <\/span><\/i><\/b><\/p>\n

 <\/span><\/i><\/b><\/p>\n

There is a
\nconsiderable number of ways. <\/span><\/p>\n

There are intellectual ways, ways which may be called sentimental,
\nartistic ways and spiritual ways. And generally, it is preferable for each one
\nto take the way that is easiest for him, for if one wants to begin straight
\naway with the most difficult, one comes to nothing at all. And here we always
\ncome back to the same thing, to what Sri Aurobindo describes in The
\nSynthesis of Yoga:<\/i><\/b> it is the way of knowledge or the way of devotion or
\nthe way of works. But the way of works is precisely the one which keeps you in
\nphysical life and makes you find your liberation in it; and perhaps this is the
\nmost effective way of all but also the most difficult. <\/span><\/p>\n

For most aspirants the way of meditation, concentration,
\nwithdrawal from physical life, rejection of physical activities is certainly
\neasier than the way of action. But they leave the physical consciousness just
\nas it is, without ever changing it, and unless one becomes like a sadhu or an
\nascetic who leaves behind all active life and remains in constant concentration
\nor meditation, one achieves nothing at all. That is to say, an entire part of
\nthe being is never transformed. And for them the solution is not at all to
\ntransform it, it is simply to reject it, to get out of their body as quickly as
\npossible. That is how yoga was conceived of formerly, for, obviously, it is
\nmuch easier. But this is not what we want. <\/span><\/p>\n

\nPage – 300<\/span><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n
\n

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

What we want
\nis the transformation of the physical consciousness, not its rejection. <\/span><\/p>\n

And so, in this case, what Sri Aurobindo has recommended as the
\nmost direct and most total way is surrender to the Divine \u2014 a surrender made
\nmore and more integral, progressively, comprising the physical consciousness
\nand physical activities. And if one succeeds in this, then the physical,
\ninstead of being an obstacle, becomes a help. <\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/span><\/p>\n

What does this sentence mean: \u201cLook life in the face from the
\nsoul’s inner strength and bee master of circumstances\u201d? <\/span><\/i><\/b><\/p>\n

 <\/span><\/p>\n

That is
\nprecisely the opposite of the method which consists in rejecting the whole of
\nthe physical consciousness and all physical events. \u201cLook life in the face\u201d,
\nthis means: don’t turn your back on it! It means: face life as it is instead of
\nrunning away from it and call to your aid the inner psychic force<\/span> \u2014 <\/span>this is what Sri Aurobindo says: \u201cthe soul’s inner strength\u201d, the
\ninner psychic force<\/span> \u2014 <\/span>and with the help of this psychic
\nconsciousness rise above circumstances and master them. That is to say, instead
\nof submitting to all that comes and suffering all its consequences, one rises
\nabove circumstances and lets them pass like things that do not touch you and do
\nnot impair your consciousness. That is what it means. <\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/span><\/p>\n

It is said that to bee conscious of divine Love all other love has
\nto be abandoned. What is the best way of rejecting the other love which clings
\nso obstinately (Laughter)<\/i><\/span> and does not easily leave us? <\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/span><\/p>\n

To go
\nthrough it. Ah! <\/span><\/p>\n

To go through, to see what is behind it, not to stop at the
\nappearance, not to be satisfied with the outer form, to look for the principle
\nwhich is behind this love, and not be content until <\/span><\/p>\n

\nPage – 301<\/span><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n
\n

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

one has
\nfound the\u00a0 <\/span>
\norigin<\/i><\/span> of the feeling in oneself.
\nThen the outer form will crumble of itself and you will be in contact with the
\ndivine Love which is behind all things. <\/span><\/p>\n

That is the best way. <\/span><\/p>\n

To want to get rid of the one in order to find the other is very
\ndifficult. It is almost impossible. For human nature is so limited, so full of
\ncontradictions and so exclusive in its movements that if one wants to reject
\nlove in its lower form, that is to say, human love as human beings experience
\nit, if one makes an inner effort to reject it, one usually rejects the entire
\ncapacity of feeling love and becomes like a stone. And then sometimes one has
\nto wait for years or centuries before there is a reawakening in oneself of the
\ncapacity to receive and manifest love. <\/span><\/p>\n

Therefore, the best way when love comes, in whatever form it may
\nbe, is to try and pierce through its outer appearance and find the divine
\nprinciple which is behind and which gives it existence. Naturally, it is full
\nof snares and difficulties, but it is more effective. That is to say, instead of
\nceasing to love because one loves wrongly, one must cease to love wrongly and
\nwant to love well. <\/span><\/p>\n

For instance, love between human beings, in all its forms, the
\nlove of parents for children, of children for parents, of brothers and sisters,
\nof friends and lovers, is all tainted with ignorance, selfishness and all the
\nother defects which are man’s ordinary drawbacks; so instead of completely
\nceasing to love<\/span> \u2014 <\/span>which, besides, is very difficult as Sri
\nAurobindo says, which would simply dry up the heart and serve no end<\/span> \u2014 <\/span>one must learn how to love better: to love with devotion, with
\nself-giving, self-abnegation, and to struggle, not against love itself, but
\nagainst its distorted forms: against all forms of monopolising, of attachment,
\npossessiveness, jealousy, and all the feelings which ac<\/span>com<\/span>pany these main movements. Not to want to possess, to dominate;
\nand not to want to impose one’s will, one’s whims, one’s desires; not to want
\nto take, to receive, but to give; not to insist on the <\/span><\/p>\n

\nPage – 302<\/span><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n
\n

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

other’s
\nresponse, but be content with one’s own love; not to seek one’s personal
\ninterest and joy and the fulfilment of one’s personal desire, but to be
\nsatisfied with the giving of one’s love and affection; and not to ask for any
\nresponse. Simply to be happy to love, nothing more. <\/span><\/p>\n

If you do that, you have taken a great stride forward and can,
\nthrough this attitude, gradually advance farther in the feeling itself, and
\nrealise one day that love is not something personal, that love is a universal
\ndivine feeling which manifests through you more or less finely, but which in
\nits essence is something divine. <\/span><\/p>\n

The first step is to stop being selfish. For everyone it is the
\nsame thing, not only for those who want to do yoga but also in ordinary life:
\nif one wants to know how to love, one must not love oneself first and above all
\nselfishly; one must give oneself to the object of love without exacting
\nanything in return. This discipline is elementary in order to surmount oneself
\nand lead a life which is not altogether gross. <\/span><\/p>\n

As for yoga we may add something else: it is as I said in the
\nbeginning, the will to pierce through this limited and human form of love and
\ndiscover the principle of divine Love which is behind it. Then one is sure to
\nget a result. This is better than drying up one’s heart. It is perhaps a little
\nmore difficult but it is better in every way, for like this, instead of
\negoistically making others suffer, well, one may leave them quiet in their own
\nmovement and only make an effort to transform oneself without imposing one’s
\nwill on others, which even in ordinary life is a step towards something higher
\nand a little more harmonious. <\/span><\/p>\n

\nPage – 303<\/span><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

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

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