{"id":4560,"date":"2013-07-13T01:56:51","date_gmt":"2013-07-13T01:56:51","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/localhost\/?p=4560"},"modified":"2013-07-13T01:56:51","modified_gmt":"2013-07-13T01:56:51","slug":"23-06-june-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\/23-06-june-1956-vol-08-questions-and-answers-volume-08","title":{"rendered":"-23_06 June 1956.htm"},"content":{"rendered":"\n\n
\n
\n


\n6 June 1956<\/font>\u00a0<\/font><\/span><\/span><\/b><\/p>\n

 <\/span><\/p>\n

Once or twice, as a game, you
\ntook one of your books or Sri Aurobindo\u2019s and opened a page at random, and read
\nout a sentence. Can these sentences give one a sign or an indication? What
\nshould we do to get a true answer? <\/span><\/i><\/b><\/p>\n

 <\/span><\/p>\n

Everybody can do it. It is done in this way: you concentrate.
\nNow, it depends on what you want. If you have an inner problem and want the
\nsolution, you concentrate on this problem; if you want to know the condition
\nyou are in, which you are not aware of <\/span>― <\/span>if you want to get some light
\non the state you are in, you just come forward with simplicity and ask for the
\nlight. Or else, quite simply, if you are curious to know what the invisible
\nknowledge has to tell you, you remain silent and still for a moment and then
\nopen the book. I always used to recommend taking a paper-knife, because it is
\nthinner; while you are concentrated you insert it in the book and with the tip
\nindicate something. Then, if you know how to concentrate, that is to say, if
\nyou really do it with an aspiration to have an answer, it always comes. <\/span><\/p>\n

 For, in books of this
\nkind (Mother shows) The Synthesis of Yoga, books of revelation, there is always
\nan accumulation of forces <\/span>―<\/span> at least of higher mental forces, and most often of spiritual
\nforces of the highest knowledge. Every book, on account of the words it
\ncontains, is like a small accumulator of these forces. People don\u2019t know this,
\nfor they don\u2019t know how to make use of it, but it is so. In the same way, in
\nevery picture, photograph, there is an accumulation, a small accumulation
\nrepresentative of the force of the person whose picture it is, of his nature
\nand, if he has powers, of his powers. Now, you, when you are sincere and have
\nan aspiration, you emanate a certain vibration, the vibration of your
\naspiration which goes<\/span> <\/span><\/p>\n

\nPage – 163<\/span><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n
\n

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

and meets the corresponding force in the book, and it is a
\nhigher consciousness which gives you the answer. <\/span><\/p>\n

 Everything is contained
\npotentially. Each element of a whole potentially contains what is in the whole.
\nIt is a little difficult to explain, but you will understand with an example:
\nwhen people want to practise magic, if they have a bit of nail or hair, it is
\nenough for them, because within this, potentially, there is all that is in the
\nbeing itself. And in a book there is potentially <\/span>―<\/span> not expressed, not manifest <\/span>―<\/span> the knowledge which is in the
\nperson who wrote the book. Thus, Sri Aurobindo represented a totality of
\ncomprehension and knowledge and power; and every one of his books is at once a
\nsymbol and a representation. Every one of his books contains symbolically,
\npotentially, what is in him. Therefore, if you concentrate on the book, you
\ncan, through the book, go back to the source. And even, by sing through the
\nbook, you will be able to receive much more than what is just in the book. <\/span><\/p>\n

 There is always a way of
\nreading and understanding what one reads, which gives an answer to what you
\nwant. It is not just a chance or an amusement, nor is it a kind of diversion.
\nYou may do it just \u201clike that\u201d, and then nothing at all happens to you, you
\nhave no reply and it is not interesting. But if you do it seriously, if
\nseriously your aspiration tries to concentrate on this instrument <\/span>―<\/span> it is like a battery, isn\u2019t
\nit, which contains energies <\/span>―<\/span> if it tries to come into contact with the energy which is there
\nand insists on having the answer to what it wants to know, well, naturally, the
\nenergy which is there <\/span>―<\/span> the union of the two forces, the force given out by you and
\nthat accumulated in the book <\/span>― <\/span>will guide your hand and your paper-knife or whatever you have;
\nit will guide you exactly to the thing that expresses what you ought to know\u2026.
\nObviously, if one does it without sincerity or conviction, nothing at all
\nhappens. If it is done sincerely, one gets an answer.<\/span><\/p>\n

 Certain books are like
\nthis, more powerfully charged than others; there are others where the result is
\nless clear. But gene <\/span><\/p>\n

\nPage – 164<\/span><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n
\n

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

rally, books containing aphorisms and short sentences not very
\nlong philosophical explanations, but rather things in a condensed and precise
\nform <\/span>―<\/span> it is with these that one succeeds best. <\/span><\/p>\n

 Naturally, the value of
\nthe answer depends on the value of the spiritual force contained in the book.
\nIf you take a novel, it will tell you nothing at all but stupidities. But if
\nyou take a book containing a condensation of forces <\/span>―<\/span> of knowledge or spiritual
\nforce or teaching power <\/span>―<\/span> you will receive your answer. <\/span><\/p>\n

 So now, what do you want
\nto know? I have explained the mechanism to you; you want me to do it? Is that
\nwhat you wanted, or did you only want to know how it is done? <\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/span><\/p>\n

No, Mother, before the class,
\nas we had no questions I opened many books and tried to find something in this
\nway, but I couldn\u2019t find anything. <\/span><\/i><\/b><\/p>\n

 <\/span><\/p>\n

You didn\u2019t find anything, because probably at that time there
\nwas no curiosity in your mind! <\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/span><\/p>\n

There are many explanations in
\nthis book [The Synthesis of Yoga<\/i><\/span>], so if you tumble into the midst of an
\nexplanation It should be rather a book like
\nThoughts and Glimpses<\/i><\/span>, or
\nPrayers
\nand Meditations,<\/i><\/span> or Words of the Mother<\/i><\/span>; also Questions
\nand Answers.<\/i><\/b> <\/span><\/p>\n

\n <\/span><\/p>\n

We tried the Letters of Sri
\nAurobindo, Mother, the third series. <\/span><\/i><\/b><\/p>\n

 <\/span><\/p>\n

The Letters}?… Give me the book. Isn\u2019t this the one about
\nliterature? <\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/span><\/p>\n

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

 <\/span><\/p>\n

Then it\u2019s the worst of them all! (Laughter)<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/span><\/p>\n

No, it is the second series.<\/span><\/i><\/b> <\/span><\/i><\/b><\/p>\n

\nPage – 165<\/span><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n
\n

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

Then I am going to draw first for the collectivity. That is,
\nwhat will answer and express the collective state of all those who are gathered
\nhere. We are going to see what it will do.
\n(Mother concentrates and inserts a small
\ncard in the book.) <\/i><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

 My child, this is in
\nEnglish! I must translate it off-hand. <\/span><\/p>\n

 My card was on this,
\nwhich indeed seems to me quite a general problem for everybody here: the true
\nattitude in work. (Laughter<\/i><\/span>) Sri Aurobindo says this, which the true attitude in
\nwork comes \u201cwhen the work is always associated with the thought of the Mother,
\ndone as an offering to her, with the call to do it through you.\u201d This is the
\nsentence I have found, I think that\u2019s not bad for a beginning! <\/span><\/p>\n

 Now, does anyone want me
\nto draw for him?
\n <\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 <\/span>I. <\/span><\/i><\/b>
\n
\n <\/span><\/p>\n

You! And what do you want? Do you want to know the state you are
\nin, or what? <\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/span><\/p>\n

The state I ought to be in. <\/span><\/i><\/b><\/p>\n

 <\/span><\/p>\n

\n(Mother concentrates for a moment, opens the book and reads
\nsilently.)<\/span><\/i><\/span> This
\nis the problem you are interested in: the purpose of the Avatar: <\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/span>\u201cI have said that the Avatar is one who comes
\nto open the Way for humanity to a higher consciousness\u2026.\u201d <\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/span><\/p>\n

This is where I put my paper-knife. He adds this: <\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/span>\u201cIf nobody can follow the Way, then either
\nour conception of the thing, which is also that of Christ and Krishna and
\nBuddha also, is all wrong or the whole life and action of the Avatar is quite
\nfutile.\u201d <\/i><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

\n
\nLetters
\non Yoga, p. 408<\/font><\/span><\/i><\/span> <\/font><\/span><\/i><\/b><\/p>\n

\nPage – 166<\/span><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n
\n

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

I don\u2019t know if this is a problem which you have been thinking
\nabout, but anyway this is what has come in reply\u2026. It was obviously for someone
\nwho had asked him: \u201cThe Avatar comes and opens the Way, but if there is nobody
\nto follow him, what happens?\u201d Sri Aurobindo says: either his conception is
\nwrong or his life is quite futile. That is to say, if a divine Power comes on
\nearth to open the Way to a higher realisation and it so happens that there is
\nnobody on earth to follow the path, it is quite obvious that it was useless for
\nhim to come. But as a matter of fact, I don\u2019t think it has ever happened. <\/span><\/p>\n

 Let me see the end of the
\nsentence\u2026. Yes, it is in reply to someone who said: <\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cThere is no way and no
\npossibility of following it\u201d, and \u201cthat all the struggles and sufferings of the
\nAvatar are unreal and all humbug\u201d<\/span><\/i><\/b><\/p>\n

 <\/span><\/i><\/b><\/p>\n

That well-known English word! This person declared that there
\nwas <\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 <\/span>\u201cno possibility of struggle or effort for
\none who represents the Divine.\u201d <\/i><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/span><\/p>\n

That is to say, the denial of the life of all those mentioned
\nhere. And Sri Aurobindo adds that <\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/span>\u201cSuch a conception makes nonsense of the
\nwhole idea of Avatarhood;\u201d and \u201cthere is then no reason in it, no necessity in
\nit, no meaning in it.\u201d <\/i><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

\n <\/span><\/i><\/span><\/p>\n

He adds (Mother laughs):<\/i><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/span><\/i><\/b><\/p>\n

\u201cThe Divine being all-powerful
\ncan lift people up without bothering to come down on earth.\u201d<\/span><\/i><\/span> <\/span><\/i><\/b><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

<\/span>
\nPage – 167<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n
\n

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

He can do it just like this
\n(gesture<\/i><\/span>), he is all-powerful, he
\nhas only to pull them up and then they will be lifted up. Why should he come
\nand take all this trouble here? <\/span><\/p>\n

 And Sri Aurobindo says in
\nconclusion: <\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cIt is only if it is a part of
\nthe world-arrangement that he should take upon himself the burden of humanity
\nand open the Way that the Avatar has any meaning.\u201d <\/span><\/i><\/b><\/p>\n

\n
\nLetters
\non Yoga, p. 408-09 <\/font> <\/span><\/i><\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/span><\/p>\n

There he touches on a problem you were concerned about, no? You
\nhave never asked yourself this question: what was the purpose of a divine
\nincarnation in a human body, whether it was necessary or not, and how it
\nhappened and why it happened? This question has never interested you? No?  <\/span><\/p>\n

Not in this way. <\/span><\/i><\/b>
\n <\/span><\/p>\n

Not in this way. Then it was in reply to something you were not
\nconscious of. I know what it was an answer to, but you were not conscious. <\/span><\/p>\n

 Ah! does anyone else want
\nanything? Nobody? Oh! how shy you all are. <\/span>
\n <\/span><\/p>\n

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

Ah! what are we going to find for you?
\n(Mother opens the Letters\u2026<\/i><\/span>)
\nThese are answers to people who want scholarly knowledge. You want to know in
\nIndian terminology what the transcendental Mother is?… People always ask
\nscholarly questions <\/span>―<\/span> there is no life in them, it goes on only in the head. <\/span><\/p>\n

 Wait, I am going to try
\nwith this (Mother takes The Synthesis of Yoga<\/i><\/span>), we\u2019ll see if by any
\nchance we can find something. (Mother concentrates and opens the book.)<\/i><\/span>
\nAh! this answers very well: <\/span><\/p>\n

\nPage – 168<\/span><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n
\n

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

\u00a0<\/span>\u201cThe most disconcerting discovery is to find
\nthat every part of us <\/i> <\/span>―<\/span> intellect, will, sense-mind, nervous or desire self, the heart,
\nthe body <\/span>―<\/span><\/i> has each, as it were, its own complex individuality and natural
\nformation independent of the rest;\u2026.\u201d <\/i> <\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/span><\/p>\n

This is the very thing for you !
\n(Laughter)<\/i><\/span> <\/span><\/p>\n

It continues, he explains: <\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cit neither agrees with itself
\nnor with the others nor with the representative ego which is the shadow cast by
\nsome central and centralising self on our superficial ignorance.\u201d <\/span><\/i><\/b><\/p>\n

 <\/span><\/p>\n

Why! this is really very fine. (Mother reads again:)<\/i><\/span> \u201cThe
\nrepresentative ego which is the shadow cast by some central and centralising
\nself on our superficial ignorance.\u201d And then: <\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cWe find that we are posed not
\nof one but many personalities and each has its own demands and differing
\nnature. Our being is a roughly constituted chaos into which we have to
\nintroduce the principle of a divine order.\u201d<\/span><\/i><\/b><\/p>\n

\n
\nThe
\nSynthesis of Yoga, p. 69 <\/font> <\/span><\/i><\/span><\/p>\n

This is indeed very fine.<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/span><\/p>\n

 (Another disciple)<\/span> <\/b> <\/i>I had prepared a
\nquestion. (He takes the Synthesis and reads:)<\/i><\/span> \u201cThe central Consciousness
\nin its turn will take up more and more the outer mental activities of knowledge
\nand turn them into a parcel of itself or an annexed province; it will infuse
\ninto them its more authentic movement and make a more and more spiritualised
\nand illumined mind its instrument in these surface fields, its new
\n <\/span><\/p>\n

\nPage – 169<\/span><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n
\n

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

conquests\u2026. There will be less and less individual choice,
\nopinion, preference, less and less of intellectualisation, mental weaving,
\ncerebral galley-slave labour; a Light within will see all that has to be seen,
\nknow all that has to be known, develop, create, organise\u2026.<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u201cBut this cannot be the whole
\nscope of the transformation\u2026. For, if it were so, knowledge would still remain
\na working of the mind, liberated, universalised, spiritualised\u2026\u201d <\/span><\/i><\/b><\/p>\n

\n
\nThe
\nSynthesis of Yoga, p. 137-38 <\/font> <\/span><\/i><\/span><\/p>\n

So, what do you want to know?<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/span><\/p>\n

That means that the
\nspiritualised mind is of no value at all! <\/span><\/i><\/b><\/p>\n

 <\/span><\/p>\n

Sri Aurobindo says, <\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cIf it were so, knowledge would
\nstill remain a working of the mind,\u201d the mind \u201cliberated, universalised,
\nspiritualised, but still, as all mind must be, comparatively restricted,
\nrelative, imperfect in the very essence of its dynamism.\u201d <\/span><\/i><\/b><\/p>\n

 <\/span><\/i><\/b><\/p>\n

I don\u2019t understand. <\/span><\/i><\/b><\/p>\n

 <\/span><\/p>\n

Yes, it\u2019s clear to me that you haven\u2019t understood! He says it is
\nnot like that. That is not what happens, for if it were like that, it would be
\nabsurd. <\/span><\/p>\n

 He says later: <\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cThe spiritualised mind will
\nexceed itself and transmute into a supramental power of knowledge.\u201d <\/span><\/i><\/b><\/p>\n

\nIbid.,
\np. 138<\/span><\/i><\/span> <\/span><\/i><\/b><\/p>\n

\nPage – 170<\/span><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n
\n

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

If the spiritualised mind continues to function like the
\nordinary mind, there would be no difference. But in fact that is just the
\nopposite of what happens. <\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/span><\/p>\n

But when it is spiritualised,
\nhow can it function as before? <\/span><\/i><\/b><\/p>\n

 <\/span><\/i><\/b><\/p>\n

You must not read just one sentence and not read what goes ahead
\nand what follows, because in this way one can prove anything at all. <\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/span><\/p>\n

But here, with you, one doesn\u2019t
\nneed to go through all these experiences, isn\u2019t that so, Mother?<\/span><\/i><\/b><\/p>\n

 <\/span><\/p>\n

Need to go through\u2026. But he has said all along that everyone
\nfollows his own path, in his own way, and that no two paths are alike, and each
\none has his own road. So, what \u201cneed\u201d, need for whom? For you? I don\u2019t know. Go
\nthrough what? Putting one\u2019s ideas in some order? That is quite necessary for
\neverybody perhaps. <\/span><\/p>\n

 I don\u2019t know what you
\nwant to know! <\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/span><\/p>\n

To reach the Supermind, Sri
\nAurobindo says there are stages: first, the mind, then the purified mind, the
\nillumined mind and all that. Is it necessary for everyone to go through all
\nthese stages? <\/span><\/i><\/b><\/p>\n

 <\/span><\/p>\n

\n(After a silence<\/span><\/i><\/span>) It is likely that a sequence of this kind always occurs. But
\nthe duration of the stages and their importance vary considerably according to
\nindividuals\u2026 For some the sage may be rapid enough to be hardly perceptible,
\nwhile for others it may take a very long time; and according to the nature of
\nthe resistance in each one, the stress on one or another of these stages varies
\nenormously.<\/span><\/p>\n

 For some, it may be so
\nrapid that it seems almost instanta- <\/span><\/p>\n

\nPage – 171<\/span><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n
\n

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

neous, as though it didn\u2019t exist. For others it may take years. <\/span><\/p>\n

 There is one phenomenon
\nwhich obviously seems indispensable if one wants the realisation to become stable\u2026.
\nExperiences come, touch the consciousness, sometimes bring great illuminations,
\nthen get blurred, retreat into the background and, outwardly, in your ordinary
\nconsciousness, you don\u2019t feel that there is a great change, a great difference.
\nAnd this phenomenon may occur very often, may repeat itself for many years.
\nSuddenly you get a sort of revelation, like an illumination, you are in the
\ntrue consciousness and have the feeling of having got hold of the real thing.
\nAnd then, slowly or suddenly, it seems to recede behind you, and you seek but
\ndo not find that there is any great change in you. These things seem to come as
\nheralds or as promises: \u201cSee, it will happen\u201d, or to tell you, \u201cWell, have
\nfaith, it will be like that.\u201d <\/span><\/p>\n

 And this may recur very often.
\nThere is progress, obviously, but it is very slow and hardly apparent. <\/span><\/p>\n

 But then, suddenly <\/span>―<\/span> perhaps because one is
\nsufficiently prepared, perhaps simply because the time has come, and it has
\nbeen so decreed <\/span>― <\/span>suddenly, when such an experience occurs, its result in the part
\nof the being where it takes place is a complete reversal of consciousness. It
\nis a very clear, very concrete phenomenon. The best way of describing it is
\nthis: a complete reversal. And then the relation of the consciousness with the
\nother parts of the being and with the outer world is as if completely changed.
\nAbsolutely like an overturning. And that reversal no longer comes back to the
\nsame old place, the consciousness no longer returns to its former position <\/span>― <\/span>Sri Aurobindo would say
\n\u201cstatus\u201d. Once this has happened in any part of the being, this part of the
\nbeing is stabilised. <\/span><\/p>\n

 And until that happens,
\nit comes and goes, comes and goes, one advances and then has the impression of
\nmarking time, and one advances again and then marks time again, and sometimes
\none feels as though one were going backwards, and it is interminable <\/span>―<\/span> and indeed it is interminable.
\nIt may last for years<\/span> <\/span><\/p>\n

\nPage – 172<\/span><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n
\n

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

\u00a0<\/span>and years and years. But
\nwhen this reversal of consciousness takes place, whether in the mind or a part
\nof the mind, whether in the vital or a part of the vital, or even in the
\nphysical consciousness itself and in the body-consciousness, once this is
\nestablished, it is over; you no longer go back, you do not ever return to what
\nyou were before. And this is the true indication that you have taken a step
\nforward definitively. And before this, there are only preparations. <\/span><\/p>\n

 Those who have
\nexperienced this reversal know what I am speaking about; but if one hasn\u2019t, one
\ncan\u2019t understand. One may have a kind of idea by analogy, people who have tried
\nto describe yoga pare it with the reversal of a prism: when you put it at a
\ncertain angle, the light is white; when you turn it over, it is broken up.
\nWell, this is exactly what happens, that is to say, you restore the white. In
\nthe ordinary consciousness there is deposition and you restore the white.
\nHowever, this is only an image. It is not really that, this is an analogy. But
\nthe phenomenon is extremely concrete. It is almost as though you were to put what
\nis inside out, and what is outside in. And it isn\u2019t that either! But if you
\ncould turn a ball inside-out, or a balloon <\/span>― <\/span>you can\u2019t, can you? <\/span>―<\/span> if you could put the inside
\nout and the outside in, it would be something like what I mean. <\/span><\/p>\n

 And one can\u2019t say that
\none \u201cexperiences\u201d this reversal <\/span>―<\/span> there is no \u201cfeeling\u201d, it is almost a mechanical fact <\/span>―<\/span> it is extraordinarily
\nmechanical. (Mother takes an object from the table beside her and turns it upside
\ndown\u2026.)<\/i><\/span> There would be some very interesting things to say about the
\ndifference between the moment of realisation, of
\nsiddhi <\/i><\/span><\/span>―<\/span> like this reversal of
\nconsciousness for example <\/span>―<\/span> and all the work of development, the
\ntapasya<\/i><\/span>; to say how it
\ncomes about\u2026. For the sadhana, tapasya\u00a0
\n<\/span>is one thing and the siddhi<\/i><\/span> another, quite a different
\nthing. You may do tapasya for centuries, and you will always go as at a tangent
\n<\/span>―<\/span> closer and closer to the realisation, nearer and nearer, but it
\nis only when the\u00a0 <\/span>
\nsiddhi<\/span> <\/b> <\/i>is given to you\u2026
\nthen, everything is changed, everything is reversed. And this is inexpressible,
\nfor<\/span> <\/span><\/p>\n

\nPage – 173<\/span><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n
\n

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

\u00a0<\/span>as soon as it is put in
\nwords it escapes. But there is a difference <\/span>―<\/span> a real difference, essential,
\ntotal <\/span>―<\/span> between aspiration, the mental tension, even the tension of the
\nhighest, most luminous mind and realisation: something which has been decided
\nabove from all time, and is absolutely independent of all personal effort, of
\nall gradation. Don\u2019t you see, it is not bit by bit that one reaches it, it is
\nnot by a small, constant, regular effort, it is not that: it is something that
\ncomes suddenly; it is established without one\u2019s knowing how or why, but all is
\nchanged.<\/span><\/p>\n

 And it will be like that
\nfor everybody, for the whole universe: it goes on and on, it moves forward very
\nslowly, and then one moment, all of a sudden,\u00a0
\n<\/span>it will be done , <\/i><\/b>finished <\/span>―<\/span> not finished: it\u2019s the
\nbeginning!  <\/span><\/p>\n

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

 <\/span><\/p>\n

It is usually the first contact with the psychic being which
\nbrings this experience, but it is only partial, only that part of the
\nconsciousness <\/span>― <\/span>or of the activity in any part of the being <\/span>― <\/span>that part of the consciousness
\nwhich is united with the psychic has the experience. And so, at the moment of
\nthat experience, the position of that part of the consciousness, in relation to
\nthe other parts and to the world, is completely reversed, it is different. And
\nthat is never undone. And if you have the will or take care or are able to put
\ninto contact with this part all the problems of your life and all the
\nactivities of your being, all the elements of your consciousness, then they
\nbegin to be organised in such a way that your being becomes one unity <\/span>―<\/span> a single multiplicity, a
\nmultiple unity <\/span>―<\/span> complex, but organised and centralised around a fixed point, so
\nwell that the central will or central consciousness or central truth has the
\npower to govern\u00a0 <\/span>all the parts, for they
\nare all in order, organised around this central Presence. <\/span><\/p>\n

 It seems to me impossible
\nto escape from this necessity if one wants to be and is to be a conscious
\ninstrument of the divine <\/span><\/p>\n

\nPage – 174<\/span><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n
\n

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

Force. You may be moved, pushed into action and used as unconscious<\/i><\/b>
\ninstruments by the divine Force, if you have a minimum of goodwill and
\nsincerity. But to become a conscious instrument, capable of identification and
\nconscious, willed movements, you must have this inner organisation; otherwise
\nyou will always be running into a chaos somewhere, a confusion somewhere or an
\nobscurity, an unconsciousness somewhere. And naturally your action, even though
\nguided exclusively by the Divine, will not have the perfection of expression it
\nhas when one has acquired a conscious organisation around this divine Centre. <\/span><\/p>\n

 It is an assiduous task,
\nwhich may be done at any time and under any circumstances, for you carry within
\nyourself all the elements of the problem. You don\u2019t need anything from outside,
\nno outer aid to do this work. But it requires great perseverance, a sort of
\ntenacity, for very often it happens that there are bad \u201ccreases\u201d in the being,
\nhabits <\/span>―<\/span> which come from all sorts of causes, which may come from
\natavistic malformation or also from education or from the environment you have
\nlived in or from many other causes. And these bad creases you try to smooth
\nout, but they wrinkle up again. And then you must begin the work over again,
\noften, many, many, many a time, without getting discouraged, before the final
\nresult is obtained. But nothing and nobody can prevent you from doing it, nor
\nany circumstance. For you carry within yourself the problem and the solution. <\/span>
\n <\/span><\/p>\n

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

 <\/span><\/p>\n

And to tell the truth, the most common malady humanity suffers
\nfrom is boredom. Most of the stupidities men commit e from an attempt to escape
\nboredom. Well, I say for certain that no outer means are any good, and that
\nboredom pursues you and will pursue you no matter what you try to escape from
\nit; but that this way, that is, beginning this work of organ <\/span><\/p>\n

\nPage – 175<\/span><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n
\n

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

ising your being and all its movements and all its elements
\naround the central Consciousness and Presence, this is the surest and most
\ncomplete cure, and the most forting, for all possible boredom. It gives life a
\ntremendous interest. And an extraordinary diversity. You no longer have the
\ntime to get bored. <\/span><\/p>\n

Only, one must persevere.<\/span><\/p>\n

 And what adds to the
\ninterest of the thing is that this kind of work, this harmonisation and
\norganisation of the being around the divine Centre can only be done in a
\nphysical body and on earth. That is truly the essential and original reason for
\nphysical life. For, as soon as you are no longer in a physical body, you can no
\nlonger do it at all<\/span>. <\/b><\/i><\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/span><\/i><\/b>And what is still more
\nremarkable is that only human beings can do it, for only human beings have at
\ntheir centre the divine Presence in the psychic being. For example, this work
\nof self-development and organisation and being aware of all the elements is not
\nwithin the reach of the beings of the vital and mental planes, nor even of the
\nbeings who are usually called \u201cgods\u201d; and when they want to do it, when they
\nreally want to organise themselves and bee completely conscious, they have to
\ntake a body. <\/span><\/p>\n

 And yet, human beings
\ncome into a physical body without knowing why, most of them go through life
\nwithout knowing why, they leave their body without knowing why, and they have
\nto begin the same thing all over again, indefinitely, until one day, someone
\ncomes along and tells them, \u201cBe careful! you know, there is a purpose to this.
\nYou are here for this work, don\u2019t miss your opportunity!\u201d <\/span><\/p>\n

 And how many years are
\nwasted. <\/span><\/p>\n

\nPage – 176<\/span><\/p>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/table>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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