{"id":6216,"date":"2013-07-13T02:06:28","date_gmt":"2013-07-13T02:06:28","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/localhost\/?p=6216"},"modified":"2013-07-13T02:06:28","modified_gmt":"2013-07-13T02:06:28","slug":"77-october-9-1968-vol-09-volume-09","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/worksofthemotherandsriaurobindo.org\/index.php\/02-works-of-the-mother\/03-agenda\/09-volume-09\/77-october-9-1968-vol-09-volume-09","title":{"rendered":"-77_October 9_1968.htm"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><P><br \/>\n<H3>October 9, 1968<\/H3><br \/>\n<P>It&#8217;s still worthless <i>(Mother coughs)<\/i>. I can&#8217;t even hear myself speak.<br \/>\n<P>And you, are you all right? Is it all over?<\/p>\n<p><i>Yes, yes, it&#8217;s over!<\/i>[[It was going to last for some more time! ]]<\/p>\n<p><P>Do you have news from there?<br \/>\n<P><i>From Rome? Yes, some time ago, P.L. wrote me another letter <\/i><br \/>\n<P><i>turned to you. Would you be interested in another vision of<\/i><P><i>&nbsp;V.&#8217;s?<\/i><br \/>\n<P>He saw something again?! &#8230; But is he aware of this affair?<\/p>\n<p><i>Not at all! It so happens that a few months ago (he didn&#8217;t<\/i><\/p>\n<p><i>&nbsp;understand why), he chanced to see the Pope twice. He didn&#8217;t<\/i><\/p>\n<p><i>&nbsp;at all know why. [[Let us note again that V. is Indian and not particularly interested in the papacy. ]] The first time, he found himself there, in<\/i><\/p>\n<p><i>&nbsp;front of a throne, in front of this man [the Pope], who at first<\/i><\/p>\n<p><i>&nbsp;fixed his gaze on him and tried to hypnotize him. As he began<\/i><\/p>\n<p><i>&nbsp;to hypnotize him, V. started repeating your name within<\/i><\/p>\n<p><i>&nbsp;himself. Then the Pope stopped that gaze, gave him a smile<\/i><\/p>\n<p><i>&nbsp;and asked him, &#8220;Where do you come from?&#8221; V. replied, &#8220;I<\/i><\/p>\n<p><i>&nbsp;come from Sri Aurobindo&#8217;s Ashram.&quot; Then the Pope answered,<\/i><\/p>\n<p><i>&nbsp;&quot;Oh, I know the Mother very well!&quot; <\/i><\/p>\n<p align=\"center\"><font size=\"2\">Page 275<\/font><\/p>\n<hr>\n<p><P align=\"right\"><i>(Mother smiles)<\/i><\/p>\n<p><i>V. didn&#8217;t understand the reason for it, what it meant. Then, a<\/i><\/p>\n<p><i>&nbsp;second<br \/>\n  time, he went there once more, saw the Pope again,<\/i><\/p>\n<p><i>&nbsp;who received him kindly and told him, &quot;Oh, I would very<\/i><\/p>\n<p><i>&nbsp;much like to return to India.&quot; V. said to him, &quot;If you come to<\/i><\/p>\n<p><i>India again, you must come and see Mother.&quot; He answered,<\/i><\/p>\n<p><i>&nbsp;&quot;Certainly, if I go back to India, I&#8217;ll go and see Mother.&quot;<\/i><\/p>\n<\/p>\n<p><P>Well, well! &#8230; And then?<\/p>\n<p><i>Then, following that, when you spoke of these attacks coming<\/i><\/p>\n<p><i>&nbsp;from there, the thought suddenly occurred to me: &#8220;Let me ask<\/i><\/p>\n<p><i>him to watch what&#8217;s happening, what&#8217;s going on there.&#8221; And<\/i><\/p>\n<p><i>&nbsp;two days later, he had that vision of that man repeating<\/i><\/p>\n<p><i>&nbsp;something, concentrated and watching P.L.&#8217;s atmosphere. <\/i><\/p>\n<p><i>Then, a few days ago, he saw something else again, but it<\/i><\/p>\n<p><i>&nbsp;wasn&#8217;t there, it was here.<\/i><\/p>\n<\/p>\n<p><P>Oh!<\/p>\n<p><i>On your terrace, a sort of bear &#8211; huge, all black, nearly ten<br \/>\n  feet<\/i><\/p>\n<p><i>&nbsp;high, with pointed ears, sitting there regally, and<br \/>\n  watching. He<\/i><\/p>\n<p><i>had taken up position there. He was settled north-west of your<\/i><\/p>\n<p><i>&nbsp;terrace, looking north-west.<\/i><\/p>\n<\/p>\n<p><P align=\"right\"><i>(Mother keeps her eyes closed,<\/i><P align=\"right\"><i>&nbsp;smiling)<\/i><br \/>\n<P>Whatever can that be! <i>(Mother coughs)<\/i><\/p>\n<p><i>But that&#8217;s surely what makes you cough!<\/i><\/p>\n<p><P align=\"right\"><i>(Mother laughs)<\/i><\/p>\n<p><i>A bear? What does a bear mean? A black bear?<\/i><\/p>\n<p><P>A bear &#8230;<\/p>\n<p><i>All black, with very long ears!<\/i><\/p>\n<p><P align=\"right\"><i>(Mother laughs)<\/i><\/p>\n<p><i>And V. said he was still seeing those waves&#8230;. You remember<\/i><\/p>\n<p><i>&nbsp;he<br \/>\n  had seen those red waves coming over you; now it&#8217;s not<\/i><\/p>\n<p align=\"center\"><font size=\"2\">Page 276<\/font><\/p>\n<hr>\n<p><i>&nbsp;that: it&#8217;s over your house, waves of gray color, and they seem<\/i><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;more &#8220;scattered,&#8221; he told me.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n<p><P align=\"right\"><i>(Mother remains in a<\/i><P align=\"right\"><i>&nbsp;long<br \/>\nconcentration)<\/i><br \/>\n<P>A big beard, like this <i>(floating gesture). <\/i>It&#8217;s not Sri Aurobindo&#8217;s beard, it&#8217;s bushy and well trimmed.<br \/>\n<P>A huge head. But it&#8217;s not a bear! &#8230; Only, I don&#8217;t see the upper part of the head, just the beard: like this, a big beard <i>(same gesture). <\/i>A yellowish white &#8211; dirty white.<br \/>\n<P align=\"right\"><i>(Mother goes back<\/i><P align=\"right\"><i>&nbsp;into<br \/>\nconcentration)<\/i><br \/>\n<P>I am surrounded by [invisible] people and things, the room is full of them!<br \/>\n<P>I constantly see. At night (especially at night), I see moving forms that look like &#8230; You know how J. is dressed, [[Like Punjabis, with a long jacket and tight-fitting pants. ]] or Dr. Agarwal [[Who wears a &#8220;Gandhi cap&#8221; and sports a long beard. ]] &#8230; Oh, speaking of Dr. Agarwal, when Pralhad [his son] died, his mother was very anxious to know if he had come to me. I told her, &#8220;Nothing, I haven&#8217;t seen anything.&#8221; So I don&#8217;t know if it&#8217;s as a result of that or if I thought about it, but two days ago (the day before yesterday), I went for a stroll in a forest of the vital! &#8230; Mon petit, it was beautiful! Oh, a magnificent forest, and so well maintained, so clean, oh, it was lovely! A really magnificent place, really magnificent. Then, I suddenly see a youngish Pralhad there, a mere lad, coming towards me and telling me <i>(in a despairing tone), &#8220;I don&#8217;t know, can&#8217;t find the religion.&#8221; I <\/i>told him, &#8220;You don&#8217;t need a religion!&#8221; He said, &#8220;Oh, there&#8217;s another man here who can&#8217;t find a religion.&#8221; And that was Benjamin! [[A disciple who died six years earlier, in December 1962. See the story of his death in <i>Agenda 4, <\/i>January 12, 1963. ]] I said, &#8220;He&#8217;s an idiot! <i>He doesn&#8217;t need to find a religion!&#8221; <\/i>There you are: Benjamin lost in a mar-vel-ous forest (it&#8217;s beautiful, you know!) because <i>he <\/i>can&#8217;t find a religion! And Pralhad looking for a religion! &#8230; So I wanted to send a line to his mother to tell her, &#8220;Be consoled, Pralhad is in a very beautiful place! &#8230;&#8221;<br \/>\n<P>He looked very well. He was very well dressed&#8230;.<br \/>\n<P>Oh, how ridiculous!<br \/>\n<P align=\"right\"><i>(silence)<\/i><br \/>\n<P align=\"center\"><font size=\"2\">Page 277<\/font><\/p>\n<hr>\n<p><P>But at night, the room is full &#8211; with open eyes!<br \/>\n<P>I see people &#8230; people as big as giants, moving about like that, and clumsily. But they don&#8217;t blunder about. On the contrary, they try to make themselves useful, they don&#8217;t blunder about&#8230;. <i>(Laughing) <\/i>They do useless things with great seriousness!<br \/>\n<P align=\"right\"><i>(silence)<\/i><br \/>\n<P>Oh, what a beautiful forest, mon petit! They must be the forests of &#8230; It&#8217;s between the subtle physical and the vital, as if joining the two &#8211; the subtle physical to the vital. Trees as I have only seen in Japan; trees rising straight like columns, planted in rows &#8211; magnificent! With light-colored grass, very light, pale green. Grass on the ground, air &#8211; lots of air &#8211; and at the same time nothing but trees: a forest. But not thick, not crowded. Well then, in that magnificent place, instead of rejoicing, the fool <i>(Mother takes a wailing tone): &#8220;I don&#8217;t know what happened to me, I have no religion&#8221;! (Mother laughs) <\/i>So I told him, &#8220;But you should rejoice! No religion &#8211; you are in a place much more beautiful than all religions!&#8221; <i>(In a whining tone) &#8211; <\/i>&#8220;I don&#8217;t understand&#8230;.&#8221;<br \/>\n<P align=\"right\"><i>(silence)<\/i><br \/>\n<P>There&#8217;s no work&#8230;. Are you all right?<\/p>\n<p><i>Yes, quite all right&#8230;. But you can hear me just the same!<\/i><\/p>\n<p><P>Yes, behind a veil. Especially because just now you shouted!<\/p>\n<p><i>But I didn&#8217;t!<\/i><\/p>\n<p><P>(After a silence) All these vital worlds are worlds of suggestion. You are in one wave of suggestion: everything is frightening; you are in another wave of suggestion: everything is charming; you are in another wave: everything is magnificent. Like that. It&#8217;s odd. Like worlds that exist through suggestion. And it&#8217;s between the subtle physical and the material vital, like this <i>(Mother presses her right hand against her left one), <\/i>as close as can be.<br \/>\n<P>I have an idea that there also exists a world of medicines which is like that! Because the same medicine, given at different times for the same troubles, produces different results &#8211; the same medicine. So if, from within, you make a resolve, if you say, &#8220;You will agree with the medicine&#8221; (to find out its precise action), then a sort of<P align=\"center\"><br \/>\n<font size=\"2\">Page 278<\/font><\/p>\n<hr>\n<p><P>&nbsp;mischievous little spirit comes and says <i>(in a mocking tone), <\/i>&#8220;What&#8217;s wrong with you?!&#8221; But the medicine knows nothing about it, because depending on the case &#8230; Ah, let me tell you, it&#8217;s a comedy!<br \/>\n<P>And almost everything is like that, almost everything. And in the end &#8230; But I must say that two or three times I wondered if I wasn&#8217;t on the verge of madness; two or three times I wondered if EVERYTHING wasn&#8217;t like that, except the Supreme.<br \/>\n<P>So then, would He be putting on an act for Himself, to amuse Himself? &#8230; But it&#8217;s no fun! I told him, &#8220;Maybe it&#8217;s fun for You, but WE don&#8217;t find it fun!&#8221;<br \/>\n<P>But speaking of beauty, these last few months I&#8217;ve seen things &#8230; oh, the most beautiful things I&#8217;ve ever seen in my life.<br \/>\n<P>There.<br \/>\n<P>So let&#8217;s have pity for this <i>(Mother points to her throat) <\/i>and pity for you too, it mustn&#8217;t be fun!<\/p>\n<p><i>Oh, Mother, listen&#8230;<\/i><\/p>\n<p><P>(Mother takes Satprem&#8217;s hands) You&#8217;re still warm.<\/p>\n<p><i>No, no, I&#8217;m quite fine!<\/i><\/p>\n<p><P align=\"right\"><i>(silence)<\/i><br \/>\n<P>Yes, all that I have seen lately is very beautiful, and with open eyes. It&#8217;s to compensate the fact that I can no longer &#8230; <i>(Mother looks around her). <\/i>No, it&#8217;s something in the sight that I don&#8217;t understand &#8211; and how many things I don&#8217;t understand, oh! &#8230;<br \/>\n<P>There is, at the same time, the fact of an all-powerfulness without limits, and of a powerlessness without limits. And all that here, at the same place <i>(Mother closes her two hands together, one on top of the other) &#8230; <\/i>And by temperament I am sensible enough not to talk, because if I were to say all that I see, all that goes on and all that&#8217;s there &#8230; they would say, &#8220;That&#8217;s it, she&#8217;s gone, she&#8217;s lost her balance; with her mind she&#8217;s lost her head!&#8221; <i>(Mother laughs)<\/i> So I take a very serious look and say to myself, &#8220;Let&#8217;s see, let&#8217;s take one of their so very important problems &#8211; problems of life and death to them &#8211; let&#8217;s see, let&#8217;s look at it straight in the face, let&#8217;s be a little serious&#8230;.&#8221; <i>(Mother laughs) <\/i>And it&#8217;s all right, the balance is still there!<br \/>\n<P>So then, tell V. that as for his black bear, I saw it as a brown man, with a brown overcoat and a hat &#8230; (you know, those pointed caps) which formed the ears!<br \/>\n<P align=\"center\"><font size=\"2\">Page 279<\/font><\/p>\n<hr>\n<p><i>But what is it?<\/i><\/p>\n<p><P>Someone who wanted to be useful and did useless things, I told you &#8211; I don&#8217;t know why, I don&#8217;t know what he wanted. Maybe he wanted to see me?&#8230; He didn&#8217;t seem to be looking &#8211; a rather stupid air.<br \/>\n<P>Those things &#8230; you give them a little pat on the head like that: &#8220;You&#8217;re quite nice!&#8221;<br \/>\n<P>So there.<br \/>\n<P align=\"right\"><i>(Mother looks at Satprem <\/i><br \/>\n<P align=\"right\"><i>with &#8220;those eyes&#8221;&#8230;)<\/i><br \/>\n<P>And the sense of the Presence of the Supreme.<P align=\"center\"><br \/>\n<font size=\"2\">Page 280<\/font><\/p>\n<p style=\"margin-top: 0;margin-bottom: 0\" align=\"right\">&nbsp;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>October 9, 1968 It&#8217;s still worthless (Mother coughs). I can&#8217;t even hear myself speak. And you, are you all right? Is it all over? Yes,&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[144],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-6216","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-09-volume-09","wpcat-144-id"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/worksofthemotherandsriaurobindo.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6216","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/worksofthemotherandsriaurobindo.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/worksofthemotherandsriaurobindo.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/worksofthemotherandsriaurobindo.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/worksofthemotherandsriaurobindo.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=6216"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/worksofthemotherandsriaurobindo.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6216\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/worksofthemotherandsriaurobindo.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=6216"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/worksofthemotherandsriaurobindo.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=6216"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/worksofthemotherandsriaurobindo.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=6216"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}