{"id":939,"date":"2013-07-13T01:31:25","date_gmt":"2013-07-13T01:31:25","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/localhost\/?p=939"},"modified":"2013-07-13T01:31:25","modified_gmt":"2013-07-13T01:31:25","slug":"06-transformation-of-the-physical-vol-24-letters-on-yoga-volume-24","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/worksofthemotherandsriaurobindo.org\/index.php\/01-works-of-sri-aurobindo\/01-sabcl\/24-letters-on-yoga-volume-24\/06-transformation-of-the-physical-vol-24-letters-on-yoga-volume-24","title":{"rendered":"-06_Transformation of the Physical.htm"},"content":{"rendered":"\n\n
\n
\n


\nS<\/font>ECTION <\/font>
\nF<\/font>OUR<\/font><\/b> <\/font><\/p>\n

\nTransformation of the Physical<\/font><\/span> <\/font><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

N<\/font><\/b>O NEED<\/font> to despise the physical being −
\nit is part of the intended manifestation.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n⁂<\/font><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

It
\nis because your consciousness in the course of the sadhana has come into contact
\nwith the lower physical nature and sees it as it is in itself when it is not
\nkept down or controlled either by the mind, the psychic or the spiritual force.
\nThis nature is in itself full of low and obscure desires, it is the most animal
\npart of the human being. One has to come into contact with it so as to know
\nwhat is there and transform it. Most sadhaks of the old type are satisfied with
\nrising into the spiritual or psychic realms and leave this part to itself −
\nbut by that it remains unchanged, even if mostly quiescent, and no complete transformation
\nis possible. You have only to remain quiet and undisturbed and let the higher
\nForce work to change this obscure physical nature.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n⁂<\/font><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

All
\nthat may be very well in theory, but practically it is found that the physical
\nimpurity is strong enough to bar the inner progress and limit rigidly the inner
\nexperience to some passive peace.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n⁂<\/font><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

The
\nopportunity for these contrary forces is given when the sadhak descends in the
\ninevitable course of the sadhana from the mental or the higher vital plane to
\nthe physical consciousness. Always this is accompanied by a fading of the first
\ndeep experiences and a descent to the neutral obscure inertia which is the
\nbed-rock of the unredeemed physical nature. It is there that the Light, the
\nPower, the Ananda of the Divine has to descend and <\/p>\n

\n <\/p>\n

\nPage ─ 1423<\/span><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n
\n

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

transform
\neverything, driving away for ever all obscurity and all inertia and
\nestablishing the radiant Energy, the perfect Light and the unchanging Bliss.
\nThere and not in the mind or the higher vital is all the difficulty, but there
\ntoo must be the victory and the foundation of the new world. I do not wish to
\ndisguise from you the difficulty of this great and tremendous change or the
\npossibility that you may have a long and hard work before you, but are you
\nreally unwilling to face it and take your share in the great work? Will you
\nreject the greatness of this endeavour to follow a mad irrational impulse
\ntowards some more exciting work of the hour or the moment for which you have no
\ntrue call in any part of your nature? <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

There is no true reason for despondency; in nothing that has
\npassed do I find any good ground for it. The difficulties you experience are
\nnothing to those that others have felt and yet conquered them, others who were
\nnot stronger than you. All that has happened is that by this descent into the
\nphysical consciousness the ordinary external human nature has come to the front
\nwith its elemental imperfections and subconscient unsatisfied impulses and it
\nis to these that the contrary force is appealing. The mind and the higher vital
\nhave put away from them the ideas and illusions which gave them a sanction, an illusion
\nof legitimacy and even nobility in their satisfaction. But the root of them,
\ntheir inherent irrational push for satisfaction, has not yet gone − this,
\nfor instance, is the reason for the sexual movements which you have recently
\nfelt in sleep or in waking. This was inevitable. All that is needed is for your
\npsychic being to come forward and open you to the direct and real and constant
\ninner contact of myself and the Mother. Hitherto your soul has expressed itself
\nthrough the mind and its ideals and admirations or through the vital and its
\nhigher joys and aspirations; but that is not sufficient to conquer the physical
\ndifficulty and enlighten and transform Matter. It is your soul in itself, your
\npsychic being that must come in front, awaken entirely and make the fundamental
\nchange. The psychic being will not need the support of intellectual ideas or
\nouter signs and helps. It is that alone that can give you the direct feeling of
\nthe Divine, the constant nearness, the inner support and aid. You will not then
\nfeel the <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\nPage ─ 1424<\/span><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n
\n

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

Mother
\nremote or have any further doubt about the realisation; for the mind thinks and
\nthe vital craves, but the soul feels and knows the Divine. <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Cast away from you these movements of doubt, depression and
\nthe rest which are no part of your true and higher nature. Reject these
\nsuggestions of inability, unfitness and all these irrational movements of an
\nalien force. Remain faithful to the Light of your soul even when it is hidden
\nby clouds. My help and the Mother’s will be there working behind even in the
\nmoments when you cannot feel it. The one need for you and for all is to be,
\neven in the darkness of the powers of obscurity of the physical consciousness,
\nstubbornly faithful to your soul and to the remembrance of the Divine Call. Be faithful
\nand you will conquer.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n⁂<\/font><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

When
\nI spoke of being faithful to the light of the soul and the divine Call, I was
\nnot referring to anything in the past or to any lapse on your part. I was
\nsimply affirming the great need in all crises and attacks, − to refuse to
\nlisten to any suggestions, impulses, lures and to oppose to them all the call
\nof the Truth, the imperative beckoning of the Light. In all doubt and depression,
\nto say, \u201cI belong to the Divine, I cannot fail\u201d; to all suggestions of impurity
\nand unfitness, to reply, \u201cI am a child of Immortality chosen by the Divine; I
\nhave but to be true to myself and to Him − the victory is sure; even if I
\nfell, I would rise again\u201d; to all impulses to depart and serve some smaller
\nideal, to reply, \u201cThis is the greatest, this is the Truth that alone can
\nsatisfy the soul within me; I will endure through all tests and tribulations to
\nthe very end of the divine journey\u201d. This is what I mean by faithfulness to the
\nLight and the Call.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n⁂<\/font><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

These
\nare things which come almost inevitably in one degree or another at a certain
\ncritical stage through which almost everyone has to pass and which usually
\nlasts for an uncomfortably long time but which need not be at all conclusive or
\ndefinitive. <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n            Page ─ 1425<\/span><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n
\n

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

Usually,
\nif one persists, it is the period of darkest night before the dawn which comes
\nto every or almost every spiritual aspirant. It is due to a plunge one has to
\ntake into the sheer physical consciousness unsupported by any true mental light
\nor by any vital joy in life, for these usually withdraw behind the veil, though
\nthey are not, as they seem to be, permanently lost. It is a period when doubt,
\ndenial, dryness, greyness and all kindred things come up with a great force and
\noften reign completely for a time. It is after this stage has been successfully
\ncrossed that the true light begins to come, the light which is not of the mind
\nbut of the spirit. The spiritual light, no doubt, comes to some to a certain
\nextent and to a few to a considerable extent, in the earlier stages, though
\nthat is not the case with all − for some have to wait till they can clear
\nout the obstructing stuff in the mind, vital and physical consciousness, and
\nuntil then get only a touch now and then. But even at the best this earlier
\nspiritual light is never complete until the darkness of the physical
\nconsciousness has been faced and overcome. It is not by one’s own fault that
\none falls into this state, it can come when one is trying one’s best to
\nadvance. It does not really indicate any radical disability in the nature but
\ncertainly it is a hard ordeal and one has to stick very firmly to pass through
\nit. It is difficult to explain these things because the psychological necessity
\nis difficult for the ordinary human reason to understand or to accept.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n⁂<\/font><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

There
\nis nothing to be discouraged about. The fact is that after having been so long
\nin the mental and vital plane you have become aware of the physical
\nconsciousness, and the physical consciousness in everybody is like that. It is
\ninert, conservative, does not want to move, to change − it clings to its
\nhabits (what people call their character) or its habits (habitual movements)
\ncling to it and repeat themselves like a clock working in a persistent
\nmechanical way. When you have cleared your vital somewhat, things go down and
\nstick there. You see, if you have become self-conscious, you put pressure, perhaps,
\nbut the physical responds very slowly, hardly at first it seems to move at all.
\nThe
\n <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\nPage ─ 1426<\/span><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n
\n

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

remedy
\nis aspiration steady and unchanging, patient work, the psychic in the physical,
\ncalling down the light and force into these obscure parts. The light brings the
\nconsciousness of what is there; the force has to follow and work on them till
\nthey change or disappear.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n⁂<\/font><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

It
\nis always the effect of the physical consciousness being uppermost (so long as
\nit is not entirely changed) that one feels like this − like an ordinary
\nman or worse, altogether in the outer consciousness, the inner consciousness
\nveiled, the action of yoga power apparently suspended. This happens in the
\nearlier stages also, but it is not quite complete usually then because something
\nof the mind and vital is active in the physical still, or even if the
\ninterruption of sadhana is complete, it does not last long and so one does not
\nso much notice it. But when from the mental and vital stage of the yoga one
\ncomes down into the physical, this condition which is native to the physical
\nconsciousness fully manifests and is persistent for long periods. It happens
\nbecause one has to come down and deal with this part directly by entering into
\nit, − for if that is not done, there can be no complete change of the
\nnature. What has to be done is to understand that it is a stage and to persist
\nin the faith that it will be overcome. If this is done, then it will be easier
\nfor the Force, working behind the veil at first, then in front to bring out the
\nyoga consciousness into this outer physical shell and make it luminous and
\nresponsive. If one keeps steadily the faith and quietude, then this can be more
\nquickly done − if the faith gets eclipsed or the quietude disturbed by
\nthe long difficulty, then it takes longer but even then it will be done; for,
\nthough not felt, the Force is there at work. It can only be prevented if one breaks
\naway or throws up the sadhana, because one becomes too impatient of the difficulty
\nto go through with it. That is the one thing that should never be done.  <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n⁂<\/font><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\nPage ─ 1427<\/span><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n
\n

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

It
\nmeans that there is only one sadhana for all parts, not a separate mental
\nsadhana, vital sadhana or physical sadhana − but the action of the
\nsadhana is applied sometimes separately to each part, sometimes on the contrary
\nthe action is the mental and vital together, or vital and physical together, or
\nall three together. But it is the same sadhana always.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n⁂<\/font><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

When
\nI explained about the physical inertia, I meant that it was this which had been
\npreventing the elimination of the old movements all along and enabled them to
\nreturn when they had been pushed out − for it is in the material
\nhalf-conscious or subconscient that there is the bed-rock of the resistance.
\nWhen this comes up and shows itself in its separate existence, not sustained by
\nthe mind and vital, acting by the power of its own inertia and not covered by
\nthe sanction of the mind or the vital, only repeating the old movements by
\nforce of old habit − it is then possible to meet the resistance at its
\nroot instead of cutting off the flowers and fruits and branches when they
\nappear. <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

It is precisely this loathness to do anything that must be
\ngot rid of − for it is simply an acquiescence in the force of the inertia.
\nIf you can do nothing else, the old methods of violence to yourself etc. will
\nobviously be unfruitful − you should call on the Divine Peace and force
\nto descend and deal with it and open yourself to the action. If this
\nobstructing physical is made to admit and respond to that, then the key of the
\nsolution will be there.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n⁂<\/font><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

I
\nhave said that your consciousness has come down into direct contact with the
\nexternal physical nature which is always full of the lower movements and when
\nthat happens you see them as they are, when they are not under the control of
\nthe mind and psychic. Everybody has to come into this direct contact − otherwise
\nthere can be no transformation of this part of the being. <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n⁂<\/font><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\nPage ─ 1428<\/span><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n
\n

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

Yes,
\ncertainly, that is what I am insisting on − the bringing of realisation
\ninto this inert physical part which has made itself prominent. When any part of
\nthe being becomes prominent like this showing all its defects and limitations
\n− here inertia or incapacity (apravrtti<\/i>),
\nobscurity or forgetfulness (aprakāśa<\/i>),
\nit is in order to get set right, − it has come up for a first or preliminary
\ntransformation. Peace and light in the mind, love and sympathy in the heart,
\ncalm and power in the vital, a settled receptivity and response (prakāśa<\/i>, pravrtti<\/i>) in the physical are the necessary change.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n⁂<\/font><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

You
\nfeel as you do only because you are largely identified with the part that has
\nnot undergone change and so you feel the difficulty, even the impossibility of
\nchanging. But although the difficulty is there, the impossibility does not
\nexist. Even this identification may be helpful, for so the change can be
\nradical by a direct action in the part itself or an indirect influence upon it
\nthrough the mind or higher vital. Rest and restore your physical forces, open
\nso that the Mother’s Force may freely work on you, all trouble pass away and a
\nnew and stronger movement commence.<\/u><\/i><\/b><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n⁂<\/font><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

What
\nyou describe is the material consciousness; it is mostly subconscient, but the
\npart of it that is conscious is mechanical, inertly moved by habits or by the
\nforces of the lower nature. Always repeating the same unintelligent and
\nunenlightened movements, it is attached to the routine and established rule of
\nwhat already exists, unwilling to change, unwilling to receive the Light or
\nobey the higher Force. Or, if it is willing, then it is unable. Or, if it is
\nable, then it turns the action given to it by the Light or the Force into a new
\nmechanical routine and so takes out of it all soul and life. It is obscure,
\nstupid, indolent, full of ignorance and inertia, darkness and slowness of tamas<\/i>. <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

It is this material consciousness into which we are seeking
\nto bring first the higher (divine or spiritual) Light and Power and <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\nPage ─ 1429<\/span><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n
\n

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

Ananda,
\nand then the supramental Truth which is the object of our yoga.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n⁂<\/font><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

I do
\nnot see why you doubt the fulfilment in your material consciousness. If there
\nis faith, quietude, openness in the rest of the being, the material is bound to
\nopen also. Tamas, inertia, ignorance, stupidity, littleness, obstruction to the
\ntrue movement are universal characteristics of the material consciousness, so
\nlong as it is not enlightened, regenerated and transformed from above, − they
\nare not peculiar to yours. Therefore, there is here no sufficient reason or
\njustification for the doubt you describe. <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

When the supramental comes down fully into the material
\nconsciousness, it will create the right conditions there. The oneness will be
\ncreated, the constant presence and sense of contact will be felt in the
\nmaterial and there will be all the actual physical contact that is needed. The
\nsadness you speak of is not psychic − for \u201cpainful longing\u201d belongs to
\nthe vital, not to the psychic. The psychic never feels a sadness from
\ndisappointed desire, because that is not in its nature; the sorrow it sometimes
\nfeels is when it sees the Divine rejected or the mental, vital, physical in man
\nor in nature turning away from the Truth to follow perversion, darkness or
\nignorance. However, with the reign of the supramental even the vital external
\nnature is bound to change and therefore there will be no chance of any feelings
\nof this character.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n⁂<\/font><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

It
\nis the most physical consciousness of which you have become aware; it is like
\nthat in almost everyone: when one gets fully or exclusively into it, one feels
\nit to be like that of an animal, either obscure and restless or inert and
\nstupid and in either condition not open to the Divine. It is only by bringing
\nthe Force and higher consciousness into it that it can fundamentally alter.
\nWhen these things show themselves do not be upset by their emergence, but
\nunderstand that they are there to be changed. <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Here as elsewhere, quiet is the first thing needed, to keep
\nthe consciousness quiet, not allow it to get agitated and in turmoil. <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n⁂<\/font><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\nPage ─ 1430<\/span><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n
\n

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

Then
\nin the quiet to call for the Force to clear up all this obscurity and change
\nit.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n⁂<\/font><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

I
\nunderstand that you have arrived at a prolonged lull or period of emptiness in
\nyour sadhana. This often happens especially when one is thrown out into the
\nphysical and external consciousness. The nervous and physical parts then become
\nprominent and seem to become the standard of the being with that disappearance
\nof the yoga consciousness and the sensitiveness to small and outward things
\nwhich you describe. A stage like this however may very well be an interval
\nbefore a fresh progress. What you have to do is to insist on making time for meditation
\n−<\/b> at any time of the day when
\nyou are least likely to be disturbed − and through the meditation getting
\nback the touch. There may be some difficulty because the physical consciousness
\nis uppermost, but a persistent aspiration will bring it back. When once you
\nagain feel the connection re-established between the inner being and the outer,
\ncall down the peace and light and power into the latter so as to build up a
\nbasis for a constant consciousness in the most external mind and being which
\nwill accompany you in work and action as much as in meditation and solitude.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n⁂<\/font><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u201cAt
\nthe mercy of the external sounds and external bodily sensations\u201d, \u201cno control
\nto drop the ordinary consciousness at will\u201d, \u201cthe whole tendency of the being
\naway from yoga\u201d − all that is unmistakably applicable to the physical
\nmind and the physical consciousness when they isolate themselves, as it were,
\nand take up the whole front, pushing the rest into the background. When a part
\nof the being is brought forward to be worked upon for change, this kind of
\nall-occupying emergence, the dominant activity of that part as if it alone
\nexisted very usually happens, and unfortunately it is always what has to be
\nchanged, the undesirable conditions, the difficulties of that part which rise
\nfirst and obstinately hold the field and recur. In the physical it is inertia,
\nobscurity, inability that come up and the obstinacy of these
\n <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\nPage ─ 1431<\/span><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n
\n

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

things.
\nThe only thing to do in this unpleasant phase is to be more obstinate than the
\nphysical inertia and to persist in a fixed endeavour − steady persistency
\nwithout any restless struggle − to get a wide and permanent opening made
\neven in this solid rock of obstruction.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n⁂<\/font><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

It
\nmeans that you are in full grips with the subconscient physical. However heavy
\nand tedious the resistance you have to persevere till you have got the Peace,
\nKnowledge, Force down there in place of the inertia.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n⁂<\/font><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

The
\nphysical sadhana is to bring down the higher light and power and peace and
\nAnanda into the body consciousness, to get rid of the inertia of the physical,
\nthe doubts, limitations, external tendency of the physical mind, the defective
\nenergies of the vital physical (nerves) and bring in instead the true
\nconsciousness there so that the physical may be a perfect instrument for the
\nDivine Will. The food and care for the body is only to get it into good
\ncondition, afterwards it would not be necessary to attend to such things. <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

You need not worry about that. When there is a strong inward
\ntendency, the body not being yet conscious enough to share the experience in a
\nwaking state tries to assimilate the descending forces through sleep. This is a
\ncommon experience. When it has assimilated enough, it will be more ready.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n⁂<\/font><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

The
\ndifference lies in the fact that those who are doing sadhana live on the
\nphysical plane in order to transform it − under the pressure of a Force
\ncreated by the sadhana which urges towards that and must continue till it is
\nachieved. Those who do not do sadhana live on the physical plane not to
\ntransform it but to continue it as it is − there is no such Force or
\npressure or necessity or urge. Those who are not sadhaks but have their minds
\nturned to the higher consciousness are preparing for sadhana and will <\/p>\n

\n <\/p>\n

\nPage ─ 1432<\/span><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n
\n

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

one
\nday do it − whatever that sadhana may be. <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

The prevalence of the physical difficulties when one comes
\ndown into the physical is the same phenomenon as the prevalence of the vital
\ndifficulties when one is on the vital plane. Transformation implies facing the
\ndifficulties and changing or overcoming what arises in each part of the being
\nso that that part may respond to what is higher, but the full change of the
\nwhole can only come by the ascent to the Above and the descent from Above. The
\nfirst step of that (usually though not always) is the realisation of the self
\nabove and the descent of the higher peace into all the being down to the most
\nphysical.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n⁂<\/font><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

So
\nfar as it [living in the physical consciousness] can be said to be
\ndistinguishable by outward signs, it is a state of fundamental passivity in
\nwhich one is and does what the forces of the physical plane make one be and do.
\nWhen one lives in the mind, there is an active mental intelligence and mental
\nwill that tries to control and shape action and experience and life and
\neverything else. When one is in the vital one is full of energy and enthusiasm
\nand passion and force which may be right or wrong but is very much alive. These
\nthings in the physical inertia either disappear or become weak or are forces
\nthat act<\/p>\n

upon
\nthe system occasionally but are not possessed by it. This condition may not be
\nabsolute, for one has a mind and a vital, but it is what predominates. There
\nare two ways of getting out of this − one is to rise above in the self
\nand see the physical from there as an instrument, not oneself, the other is to
\nbring down the divine Force from above and make the physical the instrument of
\nthat Force.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n⁂<\/font><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

You
\ncannot so long as you have a body live without the physical consciousness but
\nyou can live more centrally in the psychic and other parts and by them
\ntransform the physical. <\/p>\n

\n <\/p>\n

\n⁂<\/font><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\nPage ─ 1433<\/span><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n
\n

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

[Defects
\nof the physical consciousness:] There are many − but mainly obscurity,
\ninertia, tamas, a passive acceptance of the play of wrong forces, inability to
\nchange, attachment to habits, lack of plasticity, forgetfulness, loss of
\nexperiences or realisations gained, unwillingness to accept the Light or to
\nfollow it, incapacity (through tamas or through attachment or through passive
\nreaction to accustomed forces) to do what it admits to be the Right and the
\nBest.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n⁂<\/font><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

This
\nnegation is the very nature of the physical resistance and the physical
\nresistance is the whole base of the denial of the Divine in the world. All in
\nthe physical is persistent, obstinate, with a massive force of negation and
\ninertia − if it were not so, sadhana would be extremely cursory. You have
\nto face this character of the physical resistance and conquer it however often
\nit may rise. It is the price of the transformation of the earth-consciousness.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n⁂<\/font><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Apart
\nfrom the individual difficulty there is a general difficulty in the physical
\nearth-nature. Physical nature is slow and inert and unwilling to change; its
\ntendency is to be still and take long periods of time for a little progress. It
\nis very difficult for even the strongest mental or vital or even psychic will
\nto overcome this inertia. It is only by bringing down constantly the consciousness
\nand force and light from above that it can be done. Therefore there must be a
\nconstant will and aspiration for that and for the change and it must be a
\nsteady and patient will not tired out even by the utmost resistance of the
\nphysical nature.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n⁂<\/font><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

It
\nis the nature of the physical mind to be obstinate. Physical nature exists by
\nconstant repetition of the same thing − only a constant presentation of
\ndifferent forms of itself. This obstinate recurrence is therefore part of its
\nnature when it is in activity; <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\nPage ─ 1434<\/span><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n
\n

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

otherwise
\nit remains in a dull inertia. When therefore we want to get rid of the old
\nmovements of physical nature, they resist by this kind of obstinate recurrence.
\nOne has to be very persistent in rejection to get rid of it.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

There are two aspects of physical Nature as of all Nature
\n− the individual and the universal. All things come into one from the
\nuniversal Nature − but the individual physical keeps some of them and
\nrejects others, and to those it keeps it gives a personal form. So these things
\ncan be said to be both inside it and coming outside from within or created by
\nit because it gives a special form and also outside and coming in from outside.
\nBut when one wants to get rid of them, one first throws out all that is within
\ninto the surrounding Nature − from there the universal Nature tries to
\nbring them back or bring in new and similar things of its own to replace them.
\nOne has then constantly to reject this invasion. By constant rejection, the
\nforce of recurrence finally dwindles and the individual becomes free and able
\nto bring the higher consciousness and its movements into the physical being.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n⁂<\/font><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

The
\nearth-consciousness does not want to change, so it rejects what comes down to
\nit from above − it has always done so. It is only if those who have taken
\nthis yoga open themselves and are willing to change their lower nature that
\nthis unwillingness can disappear.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

What stands in the way, of course, is always the vital ego
\nwith its ignorance and the pride of its ignorance, and the physical
\nconsciousness with its inertia which resents and resists any call to change and
\nits indolence which does not like to<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

take
\nthe trouble − it finds it more comfortable to go on its own way repeating
\nalways the same old movements and, at best, expecting everything to be done for
\nit in some way at some time.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

The first thing is to have the right inner attitude − you
\nhave that; the rest is the will to transform oneself and the vigilance to
\nperceive and reject all that belongs to the ego and the tamasic persistence of
\nthe lower nature. Finally, to keep oneself always open to the Mother in every
\npart of the being <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\nPage ─ 1435<\/span><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n
\n

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

so
\nthat the process of transformation may find no hindrance.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n⁂<\/font><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Dullness
\nand dispersion are the two sides of the physical’s resistance to the peace and
\nconcentrated power. They correspond to the inertia and the chaotic activity of
\nphysical Nature, that aspect of it which makes some scientists now say that all
\nis brought about by chance and there is no certitude of things but only
\nprobability.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n⁂<\/font><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

The
\ninertia of the physical consciousness is always a difficult thing to eliminate −
\nit is that, more even than any vital resistance, which keeps all the movements
\nof the ignorance recurring even when the knowledge is there and the will to change.
\nBut this difficulty has to be faced and overcome by an equal perseverance in
\nthe will of the sadhak. It is a steady flame that must burn, as steady as the
\nobstruction is obstinate. Do not therefore be discouraged by the persistence of
\nthe obstruction of the ignorance. The persistence of your own will to conquer
\nwith the Mother’s force supporting it will come to the end of the resistance.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n⁂<\/font><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

The
\nphysical’s tendency to inertia is very great; even after the habit of living in
\nthe higher consciousness is there, some part may feel the pressure of the
\ninertia − generally the outermost or most material parts. The inertia
\nusually rises up from the subconscient. It does not abolish the higher
\nconsciousness in the physical, but dulls its action or else brings it down from
\na higher to a lower level, e.g. from the intuition to the higher mind or from
\nthe higher to the lower ranges of overmind. For some time it resists the completeness<\/i> of the siddhi. It is only
\nwhen the most material and the subconscient and the environmental
\nconsciousness are quite liberated that this retarding or lowering effect of the
\nprimal Inertia is entirely overcome. <\/p>\n

\n <\/p>\n

\n⁂<\/font><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\nPage ─ 1436<\/span><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n
\n

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

Everything
\ncan be responded to − Inertia also can spread waves of itself like other
\nthings.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n⁂<\/font><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

In
\ndealing with the physical and subconscient the working is always slower than
\nwhen it acts on the mind and vital because the resistance of physical stuff is
\nalways heavier and less intelligent and adaptable; but as a compensation the
\nwork done in the being by this slower movement is in the end more complete,
\nsolid and durable.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n⁂<\/font><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

The
\nphysical obstruction is less boisterous [than the vital obstruction], but I
\nhave not found it less obstinate or less troublesome.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n⁂<\/font><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

The
\ndifficulty of the physical nature comes inevitably in the course of the
\ndevelopment of the sadhana. Its obstruction, its inertia, its absence of
\naspiration or movement have to show themselves before they can be got rid of
\n− otherwise it will always remain undetected, hampering even the best
\nsadhana and preventing its completeness. This coming up of the physical nature
\nlasts longer or less according to the circumstances, but there is none who does
\nnot go through it. What is necessary is not to get troubled or anxious or
\nimpatient, for that only makes it last more, but to put entire confidence in
\nthe Mother and quietly persist in faith, patience and steady will for the
\ncomplete change. It is so that the Mother’s force can best work in the being.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n⁂<\/font><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

The
\nfirst means is not to get upset when it [inertia] comes or when it stays. The
\nsecond is to detach yourself, not only yourself above but yourself below and
\nnot identify. The third is to reject everything that is raised by the inertia
\nand not regard it as your own or accept it at all. <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\nPage ─ 1437<\/span><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n
\n

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

       If you can do these things then there will be something in
\nyou that remains perfectly quiet even in the greatest inertia. Through that
\nquiet part you can bring down peace, force, even light and knowledge into the
\ninertia itself.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n⁂<\/font><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Inertia
\nor anything else must be felt as separate, not part of one’s real self which is
\none with the Divine.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n⁂<\/font><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\nThe
\nadverse forces feel that there is something in you that is discountenanced and
\nrestive because of the continuance of the inertia and they hope that by
\npressing more and more they will create a revolt. What is important for you in
\nthese circumstances is to make your faith, surrender and Samata absolute. That
\nis as great and essential a progress as to have high experiences, etc.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n⁂<\/font><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

It
\n[the use of violence for the change of the physical] was done by some people,
\nbut I don’t believe in its usefulness. No doubt the physical is an obstinate
\nobstacle, but it must be enlightened, persuaded, pressed even to change, but
\nnot oppressed or violently driven. People use violence with the mind, vital,
\nbody because they are in a hurry, but my own observation has always been that
\nit leads to more reactions and hindrances and not to a genuinely sound advance.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n⁂<\/font><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

It
\n[the result of the obstruction of the physical consciousness] depends on the
\nweak points of the individual and the stage of his progress. In a general way
\nthe obstruction creates an inertia which impedes the working of the higher
\nPowers. In the early stage it can obstruct progress altogether. Afterwards it
\nworks to slow it down or else impede it by intervals of stationary <\/p>\n

\n <\/p>\n

\nPage ─ 1438<\/span><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n
\n

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

inertia.
\nThe main difficulty of the physical consciousness is that it is unable, before
\nit is transformed, of maintaining any tension of tapasya − it wants
\nperiods of assimilation, sinking back into the ordinary consciousness to rest,
\n− also there is a constant forgetfulness of what has been done etc.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n⁂<\/font><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

It
\n[the weakness of the will] is a first result of coming down into the physical
\nconsciousness or of the physical consciousness coming up prominently − formerly
\nyou were much in the mind and vital. The physical consciousness is full of
\ninertia − it wants not to move but to be moved by whatever forces and
\nthat is its habit. This inertia has to be cured by putting it into contact with
\nthe right forces from above. That is why I asked you to aspire for the higher
\nwideness, purity and peace, so that that may occupy the physical and the true
\nForce work instead of these invading ideas and impulses.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n⁂<\/font><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

The
\nperiod of no-effort is usually when the physical consciousness is uppermost
\n− for the nature of that is inertia, to be moved by the higher forces or
\nto be moved by the lower forces or by any forces, but not to move itself. One
\nmust still use one’s efforts if one can, but the great thing is to be able to
\ncall down the Force from above into the physical − otherwise to remain
\nperfectly quiet and, undisturbed, expect its coming.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n⁂<\/font><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

t
\nis only by a more constant dynamic force descending into an unalterable
\nequality and peace that the physical nature’s normal tendency can be
\neradicated.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

The normal tendency of the physical nature is to be inert
\nand in its inertia to respond only to the ordinary vital forces, not to the
\nhigher forces. If one has a perfect equality and peace then one can be
\nunaffected by the spreading of the inertia <\/p>\n

\n <\/p>\n

\nPage ─ 1439<\/span><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n
\n

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

and
\nbring down into it gradually or quickly the same peace with a force of the
\nhigher consciousness which can alter it. When that is there there can be no
\nlonger the difficulty and fluctuations with a preponderance of inertia such as
\nnow you are having.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n⁂<\/font><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

The
\ngreater difficulty is because the sadhana is now taking place directly on the
\nphysical plane, where the force of a habit or habitual movement once formed is
\nvery great. When the sadhana is taking place on the mental or vital plane, it
\nis more easy to control or change, because the mind and vital are more plastic
\nthan the physical. But on the other hand if something is definitely gained on
\nthe physical plane, there is a more lasting and complete fulfilment than when
\nit is on the mental or vital alone.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n⁂<\/font><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Probably
\nin ’33 you were doing more tapasya and putting a strong control on yourself? At
\nany rate that was the state at one time. Afterwards when you came down from the
\nmental-vital level, you let yourself go for a time, removing much of the control,
\nhence now you find a difficulty in re-establishing it, − due to the habit
\nof automatic repetition which is a characteristic of the physical nature. You
\nhave now to get the control in a different way by the establishment of the
\npeace and building the higher consciousness upon it, the spiritual control
\nreplacing that of mental tapasya.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n⁂<\/font><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

No,
\nit is not necessary to lose the mental control; it is best to replace it
\ngradually by the psychic or spiritual. But it happens to many that they lose it
\nbefore the other is ready or while it is still imperfect and then the
\nNature-forces act in the physical consciousness which is sometimes held by the
\ndescending Peace or Power from above, sometimes by the ordinary Nature-forces.
\nThis alternation happens at one stage at least to almost everybody until the
\nhigher state prevails. <\/p>\n

\n <\/p>\n

\nPage ─ 1440<\/span><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n
\n

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

         This over-sensitive brooding on past blows to the vital is
\nan unhealthy sensitiveness. What is past ought not to have a hold like that but
\nbe allowed to fade out.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n⁂<\/font><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

In
\nthe physical being the power of past impressions is very great, because it is
\nby the process of repeated impressions that consciousness was made to manifest
\nin matter − and also by the habitual reactions of consciousness to these
\nimpressions, what the psychologists, I suppose, would call behaviour. According
\nto one school consciousness consists only of these things − but that is
\nthe usual habit of stretching one detail of Nature to explain the whole of her.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n⁂<\/font><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

What
\nyou describe is what the Gita means by the realisation that all action is done
\nby the Prakriti. You feel it mechanical because you are in the physical
\nconsciousness where all is mechanism. On the mental and vital plane one can
\nhave the same experience, but of the actions as a play of forces. What is
\nlacking at present in you is the other side of the experience viz. that of the
\nsilent Atman or else of the witness Purusha calm, tranquil, free, pure and
\nundisturbed by the play of the Prakriti. It tries to come and you are on the
\npoint of going into it, but the tendency of externalisation is still too
\nstrong. This tendency took you when you came down into the physical − for
\nit is the nature of the ordinary physical consciousness to precipitate itself
\ninto the action of the external personality. You have to get back the power of
\nthe internal consciousness − above as Atman, below as Purusha first
\nwitness and then master of the nature.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n⁂<\/font><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

It
\nis due to the influence of the physical consciousness. The physical
\nconsciousness or at least the more external parts of it are, as I have told
\nyou, in their nature inert − obeying whatever <\/p>\n

\n <\/p>\n

\nPage ─ 1441<\/span><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n
\n

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

force
\nthey are habituated to obey, but not acting on their own initiative. When there
\nis a strong influence of the physical inertia or when one is down in this part
\nof the consciousness the mind feels like the material Nature that action of
\nwill is impossible. Mind and vital nature are on the contrary all for will and
\ninitiative and so when one is in mind or vital or acting under their influence
\nwill feels itself always ready to be active.<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\n⁂<\/font><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

It
\nis the neutrality of the physical consciousness which says, \u201cI move only when I
\nam moved. Move me who can.\u201d<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n⁂<\/font><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

The
\nphysical is the slave of certain forces which create a habit and drive it
\nthrough the mechanical power of the habit. So long as the mind gives consent,
\nyou do not notice the slavery; but if the mind withdraws its consent, then you
\nfeel the servitude, you feel a force pushing you in spite of the mind’s will.
\nIt is very obstinate and repeats itself till the habit, the inner habit
\nrevealing itself in the outward act, is broken. It is like a machine which once
\nset in motion repeats the same movement. You need not be alarmed or distressed;
\na quiet persistent aspiration will bring you to the point where the habit
\nbreaks and you are free.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n⁂<\/font><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

The
\nhabit in the physical is obstinate and seems unchangeable because it always
\nrecurs − even when one thinks it is gone. But it is not really
\nunchangeable; if the physical mind detaches itself, stands separate, refuses to
\naccept it, then the habit in the physical begins to lose its force of
\nrepetition. Sometimes it goes slowly, sometimes (but this is less frequent) it
\nstops suddenly and recurs no more.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n⁂<\/font><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

The
\ncondition is that you must bring the sadhana into your <\/p>\n

\n <\/p>\n

\nPage ─ 1442<\/span><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n
\n

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

physical
\nconsciousness and live for the sadhana and the Divine only. You must give up
\npositively the bad habits that still persist and never resume those that have
\nceased or been interrupted. Inner experiences are helpful to the mind and
\nhigher vital for change, but for the lower vital and the outer being a sadhana
\nof self-discipline is indispensable. The external actions\u00a0 <\/span>and the spirit in them must change − your
\nexternal thoughts and actions must be for the Divine only. There must be self-restraint,
\nentire truthfulness, a constant thought of the Divine in all you do. This is
\nthe way for the change of the lower vital. By your constant self-dedication and
\nself-discipline the force will be brought down into the external and the change
\nmade. <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 
\nII<\/b><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

The
\npower to be separate is there in your psychic being and you have yourself
\nexperienced that condition. Naturally, it is still only at times, because the
\nouter consciousness is being prepared to share in it, and it is only when that
\nis ready that the inner can show itself always and come out into the outer
\nbeing. <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

You ask whether the mind and vital do not come in the way as
\nwell as the physical. Yes, but when I speak of the physical consciousness, I
\nmean the physical mind and the physical vital as well as the body consciousness
\nproper. This physical mind and physical vital are concerned with the small
\nordinary movements of life and are governed by a very external
\nview of things and by habitual small reactions and do not respond at once to
\nthe inner consciousness not because they are in active opposition to it, as the
\nvital mind and vital proper can be, but because they find it difficult to
\nchange their habitual movements. It is this now that you feel and that makes
\nyou think you have a poor responsiveness to the inner experience. But that is
\nnot a fact; in your mind and in a great part of your vital there is a
\nconsiderable capacity of response. As for the physical its difficulty is
\nuniversal in everybody and not peculiar to you. It has come up because it
\nalways comes up in the sadhana when the physical consciousness has to be worked
\nupon for the necessary change. As soon as  <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\nPage ─ 1443<\/span><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n
\n

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

that
\nis done, the difficulty you feel will first diminish and then go. <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

            It is this
\nwork that is going on and when you felt the white light in meditation and the
\nresult which lasted even after opening the eyes, the head and eyes cool and all
\nvast and wide, it was this working taking place in your physical mind to change
\nit. The rest of the physical consciousness was still undergoing another kind of
\nworking and so felt heat and not this release and wideness. But afterwards the
\nworking can go down first to the heart and then still lower and to all the body
\nand the same release and wideness come there. Naturally, at present these results
\nare not permanent but only for a time, they come as experiences, not lasting
\nrealisations. But it cannot be otherwise at the present stage. These
\nexperiences, however passing,
\nare meant to prepare and do prepare the different parts of the nature.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

I have told you that X has two different elements in her. It
\nis the outer mind in her that wants to do the embroidery with the idea that
\nothers are doing it and that it will bring a special favour from the Mother
\n(which is not true) and says that she is doing all the work etc. If we allow
\nher to indulge it, it will be spiritually bad for her, especially just now when
\nher inner being needs to be strengthened by submission, surrender and the
\nsacrifice of her ego. That is why we have not looked with favour on making this
\nchange. When it was once done, she herself repented of it and felt that she had
\nmade a mistake. But the physical mind goes back constantly to its habitual
\nmovements and it takes time for it to learn by experience.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

You should keep the holder and use it. It is Mother’s gift
\nto you. Write your experiences with it and take it as a sign of the Mother’s
\nlove and grace that are working in you.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n⁂<\/font><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Formerly
\nthe mental will and the higher vital and the psychic were active, so their
\nconsent was sufficient for the lower vital to be kept down or to be
\nineffective. But now it is the physical mind that is active in you and the
\nphysical mind gives a value and therefore a power to the lower vital which it
\ndid not have before. <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n⁂<\/font><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\nPage ─ 1444<\/span><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n
\n

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

The
\nopening of the physical and the subconscient always takes a long time as it is
\na thing of habits and constant repetition of the old movements, obscure and
\nstiff and not plastic, yielding only little by little. The physical mind can be
\nmore easily opened and converted than the rest, but the vital-physical and the
\nmaterial-physical are obstinate. The old things are always recurring there
\nwithout reason and by force of habit. Much of the vital-physical and most of
\nthe material are in the subconscience or depend on it. It needs a strong and
\nsustained action to progress there.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n⁂<\/font><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Until
\nthey [the material and the subconscient] aspire or at least assent fully to the
\naspiration and will of the higher being, there can be no lasting change in
\nthem.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n⁂<\/font><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

No,
\nthere is a limit to the resistance [of the physical mind and the vital
\nphysical]. At any rate a time comes when the fundamental resistance is broken
\nfor good and there is only left a dealing with details which is not
\ntroublesome. <\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\n⁂<\/font><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

A
\ngreat part of the body-consciousness is subconscient and the body-consciousness
\nand the subconscient are closely bound together. The body and the physical do not coincide − the body
\nconsciousness is only part of the whole physical consciousness.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n⁂<\/font><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

They
\n[the physical mind and the vital physical] are very near to it [the
\ninconscient] − except that part of the physical mind which is trained to
\ndeal with physical objects and affairs. But that is agile and active and
\ncompetent only in its own limits. When it has to deal with supraphysical things
\nit becomes  <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\nPage ─ 1445<\/span><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n
\n

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

incompetent,
\noften imbecile and yet positive and arrogant and dogmatic in its ignorance. The
\nrest of the physical consciousness is near to the inconscient. Here again in
\nits own field it can have accurate perceptions and instincts if it is able to
\nact spontaneously; but usually in the human being it is not allowed to do so,
\nfor the mind and vital intervene. The vital physical is entirely irrational in
\nits action − even when it is right, it cannot explain why; for it is made
\nmore of automatic or habitual instincts, impulses, sensations and feelings than
\nanything else. It is the mind that gives reasons and justifications to its
\nmovements and if the mind stands back and judges and questions, the vital
\nphysical can only answer \u201cI want\u201d, \u201cI like\u201d, \u201cI dislike\u201d, \u201cI feel like that\u201d.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n⁂<\/font><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Persevere
\nquietly and let nothing discourage you. If the quietness and cheerfulness are
\nnot constant yet, that is to be expected; it is always like that at first when
\nthere is the working on the physical consciousness and its obstructions. If you
\npersevere, they will become more and more frequent and last for a longer time,
\nuntil you have a basis of peace and happiness and whatever disturbances come on
\nthe surface will no longer be able to penetrate or shake this basis or even cover
\nit over except perhaps for a moment.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

The constant changing of the mood is also common enough
\nbecause the physical vital is being worked upon at the same time and this
\nchangeability is a character of the physical vital nature. Let not that
\ndiscourage you, − as soon as the basis is more fixed, this will diminish
\nand the vital become more settled and even.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n⁂<\/font><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

The
\nunsteadiness you speak of is the nature of the human physical mind\u2014almost
\neverybody has it, for the physical mind goes after all sorts of outward things.
\nTo fix the consciousness within, to keep it concentrated on the Divine alone is
\na great difficulty for all, it is what makes sadhana a thing for which long
\ntime and a slow development of the consciousness is usually necessary, at<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

  Page ─ 1446<\/span><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n
\n

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

first
\nat any rate. So that need not discourage you. In your inner vital there is
\nplenty of strong will and deep down in your psychic there is the true
\naspiration and love which come up when the psychic is active and will
\neventually possess the whole nature.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n⁂<\/font><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

It
\nis quite natural that the unsteadiness of the physical mind should interfere
\nwith the settling of full and constant quietude and faith − it always
\ndoes with everybody, but that does not mean that this quietude and faith will
\nnot or cannot settle in the nature. All that I meant was that you should try to
\nget a constant will for that quietude, so that when the restlessness or unsteadiness
\ncome across, your will to quiet might meet it or soon reappear and dispel the
\ndisturbance. That would make the elimination of the restlessness or impatience
\neasier; but in any case the Mother’s force is there working behind the
\nvariations of the surface consciousness and it will bring you through them. <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

The experiences you had were renewed glimpses of the psychic
\nworking that is going on all the time even when there is no sign of it on the
\nsurface. The golden sword was the sword of Truth which will destroy the
\ndifficulties.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n⁂<\/font><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

These
\nsmall things of the physical mind are such as everybody has and they will fall
\noff when the truer wider consciousness comes out. You have the understanding in
\nyour mind, but these things persist because they really belong to the smaller
\nvital part and when that part widens, then they will no longer be able to
\nrecur. One can discourage them by keeping certain ideas in mind, such as that
\nthe things which vex you belong to the nature and can go only with the change
\nof the nature, that one has to do the work well oneself but not be troubled by
\nthe defects of others in their work, that a quiet inner will for their doing
\nright is more effective than getting vexed and disturbed by their lapses. But
\nfundamentally it is by the widened consciousness in your mind and vital and
\nphysical that you will be  <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\nPage ─ 1447<\/span><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n
\n

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

quite
\nfreed from these small reactions. You have only to continue with the Mother’s
\nForce working in you and these things will smooth themselves out hereafter.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n⁂<\/font><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

These
\nsmall movements [useless talking etc.] are the most difficult of all to change
\nowing to their very smallness and the habit of frequent indulgence as natural
\nand trifling everyday movements of life. The best thing to do is to mass the
\nforce and light and peace in the mind and higher vital until they can occupy
\nthe physical mind even\u2014then through the physical mind, which usually supports
\nmore or less these movements, they can be worked on with more success.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\nIII<\/b><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

The
\nsense of helplessness, of impossibility of removal of the obstacle, is like the
\nobscurity itself a characteristic of the physical consciousness which is inert
\nand mechanical and accustomed to be moved inertly by whatever forces take hold
\nof it. But this sense of helplessness or impossibility is unreal and not to
\nyield to it, not to accept it, to remove it, is quite possible and very
\nnecessary for overcoming the physical obstacle which would otherwise greatly
\ndelay the progress.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n⁂<\/font><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Yes;
\nthat also is the fault of the physical consciousness. It is obsessed by the
\nidea that, \u201cwhat is\u201d must be, − that the habit of things cannot be
\naltered. This inevitability it extends not only to what is but to what it
\nmerely thinks of as a fact − it lays itself open inertly to every
\nsuggestion or possibility that seems to be justified by the habit of things. It
\nis the main obstacle to the material change. <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n          <\/span><\/p>\n

\n⁂<\/font><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\nPage ─ 1448<\/span><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n
\n

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

Your
\nsuggestion that I am telling you things that are untrue in order to encourage
\nyou is the usual stupidity of the physical Mind − if it were so, it is
\nnot you who would be unfit for the yoga, but myself who would be unfit to be,
\nin the search for Divine Truth, anybody’s guide. For one can lead through
\nlesser to greater Truth, but not through falsehood to Truth. As for your
\nfitness or unfitness for the yoga, it is not a question on which your physical
\nmind can be a judge − it judges by the immediate appearance of things and
\nhas no knowledge of the laws that govern consciousness or the powers that act
\nin yoga. In fact, the question is not of fitness or unfitness but of the
\nacceptance of Grace. There is no human being whose physical outer consciousness
\n− the part of yourself in which you are now living − is fit for the
\nyoga. It is by Grace and a light from above that it can become capable and for
\nthat the necessity is to be persevering and open it to the Light. Everybody when
\nhe enters the physical consciousness has the same difficulty and feels as if he
\nwere unfit, and nothing done, nothing changed in him since he began the yoga;
\nhe is apt to forget then all that has happened before or to feel as if he lost
\nit or as if it had all been unreal or untrue.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

I suppose that is why you object to my phrase about your
\nhaving gone so far. I meant that you had had openings in your thinking mind and
\nheart and higher vital and experiences also and had seen very lucidly the
\ncondition of your own being and nature and had gone so far that these parts
\nwere ready for the spiritual change\u2014what remains is the physical and outer consciousness
\nwhich has to be compelled to accept the necessity of change. That is no doubt
\nthe most difficult part of the work to be done, but it is also the part which,
\nif once done, makes possible the total change of the being and nature. I therefore
\nsaid that having gone so far, it would be absurd to turn back now and give up,
\nbecause this resists. It always resists in everybody and very obstinately too.
\nThat is no reason for giving up the endeavour. <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

It is this consciousness that has expressed itself in your
\nletter − or the obscure part of it which clings to its old attitude. It
\ndoes not want to fulfil the sadhana unless it can get by it the things it
\nwanted. It wants the satisfaction of the ego, \u201cself-fulfilment\u201d,<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n           Page ─ 1449<\/span><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n
\n

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

appreciation, the granting of its desires. It measures the Divine Love by the
\noutward favours showered upon it and looks jealously to see who gets more of
\nthese favours than itself, then says that the Divine has no love for it and
\nassigns reasons which are either derogatory to the Divine, or, as in your
\nletters, self-depreciation and a cause for despair. It is not in you alone that
\nthis part feels and acts like that, it is in almost everybody. If that were the
\nonly thing in you or the others, then, indeed, there would be no possibility of
\nyoga. But though it is strong, it is not the whole − there is a psychic
\nbeing and a mind and heart influenced and enlightened by it which has other
\nfeelings and another vision of things and aim in sadhana. These are now covered
\nin you by the upsurgence of this part which has to change. It is tamasic and does
\nnot want to change, does not want to believe unless it can be done by
\nreassuring the vital ego. But there is nothing new in all that − it is part
\nof human nature and has always been there, hampering and limiting the sadhana.
\nIts existence is no reason for despair − everyone has it and the sadhana
\nhas to be done in spite of it, in spite of the mixture it brings till the time
\ncomes when it has to be definitely rejected. It is difficult to do it, but
\nperfectly possible. These things I know and realise and it is therefore that I
\ninsist on your persevering and encourage you to go on; it is not my statement
\nof the position that is untrue, it is the view of it taken by this obscure part
\nof your being that is unsound and an error.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n⁂<\/font><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

It
\nis not because you cannot recover the true attitude, but because you admit in
\npart of your mind the false suggestion of your inability that this mixed
\ncondition lasts longer than it should. It is a part of your physical
\nconsciousness that keeps the memory of the old movements and has the habit of
\nadmitting them and thinking them inevitable. You must insist with the clearer
\npart of your consciousness on the true Truth, rejecting always these
\nsuggestions and feelings, till this obscure part also is open and admits the
\nLight.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n⁂<\/font><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\nPage ─ 1450<\/span><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n
\n

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

It
\nis a suggestion of the tamasic forces that insist on the difficulty and create
\nit and the physical consciousness accepts it. Aspiration is never really
\ndifficult. Rejection may not be immediately effective, but to maintain the will
\nof rejection and refusal is always possible.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n⁂<\/font><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

What
\ndo you mean by active means? The power to refuse and to reject is always there
\nin the being and to go on rejecting till the rejecting is effective. Nothing
\ncan obstruct a quiet aspiration except one’s own acquiescence in the inertia.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n⁂<\/font><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\nThe
\nthoughts and feelings expressed in your letter are born of the depression and
\nhave no truth in themselves apart from it. Your being here does not in the
\nleast take up space that could be occupied by better sadhaks. For a good sadhak
\nthere will always be a place in one way or another. The incapacity which you
\ndiscover in yourself is simply the resistance of the habitual external and
\nphysical nature, which everyone has and which none, however good a sadhak, has
\nyet been able to transform radically, because it is the last thing to change
\nand its resistance is acute just now because it is against this that the power
\nof the sadhana is now pressing so that the change may come. When this part
\npresents itself, it always tries to appear as something unalterable, incapable
\nof change, impervious to the sadhana. But it is not really so and one must not
\nbe deceived by this appearance. As for the fear of madness, it is only a
\nnervous impression which you should throw away. It is not vital weakness that
\nleads to such upsettings − <\/b>it
\nis an obscurity and weakness in the physical mind accompanied by movements of
\nan exaggerated vital nature (e.g., exaggerated spiritual ambition) which are
\ntoo strong for the mind to bear. That is not your case. You have had long
\nexperience of inner peace, wideness, Ananda, an inner life turned towards the Divine
\nand one who has had that ought not to speak of general incapacity, whatever the
\ndifficulties of the  <\/p>\n

\n <\/p>\n

\nPage ─ 1451<\/span><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n
\n

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

external
\nnature, − difficulties common in one form or another to all. <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n⁂<\/font><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

I
\nhave not the slightest doubt that you can do the sadhana if you cleave to it
\n− not certainly by your own unaided strength, for nobody can do that, but
\nby the will of the psychic being in you aided by the Divine Grace. There is a
\npart in the physical and vital consciousness of every human being that has not
\nthe will for it, does not feel the capacity for it, distrusts any hope or
\npromise of a spiritual future and is inert and indifferent to any such thing.
\nAt one period in the course of the sadhana this rises up and one feels
\nidentified with it. That has happened to you now, but along with an attack of
\nill-health and nervous indisposition which has turned this passage through the
\nobscure physical into a dark and intense trouble. With enough sleep and a quieting
\nof the nerves and return of physical energy that ought to disappear and it
\nwould be possible to bring the Light and Consciousness down into this obscure
\npart. An intense concentration bringing struggle is not what is needed but a
\nvery quiet attitude of self-opening. Not any effort of sadhana just now, but
\nthe recovery of tranquillity and ease is what is wanted at present to restore
\nthe opening of the nature.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n⁂<\/font><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

It
\nwas certainly not because the Mother was different to you from other days or pushed
\nyou to a distance, but because you came rather shut up in that part of your
\nphysical being which is still shrinking from the Light. It is this part which
\nwas always fundamentally responsible for all your bad passages and painful
\nmovements even when the direct difficulty was higher up. Its nature is to cling
\nto the old habitual movements, shrink from yogic consciousness and shut up
\ndoors and windows against the help that is offered and lament in the darkness
\nwhen it feels itself hurt. This is a thing that everybody must get rid of who
\nwants to progress. Do not go on identifying yourself with this part and  <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\nPage ─ 1452<\/span><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n
\n

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

calling
\nit yourself. Get back into your inner being and look at this only as a small
\nthough obstinate part of the nature that has to change. For apart from its
\ninsistence there is no reason why your way should enter into a desert. It
\nshould enter into a wideness of liberation − open to the calm and peace
\nand power and light, a consciousness that is wider than the personal and into
\nwhich the ego can happily disappear.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n⁂<\/font><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

As
\nto what has happened in your sadhana, it is that you have allowed yourself to
\nfall into a groove of the physical mind and of the external vital nature and
\ngot fixed in a persistent or constantly recurrent repetition of the ideas and
\nfeelings which they present to you − feelings of settled disappointment
\nand discouragement and pessimism about yourself and your spiritual future, and
\nideas − or, if you will allow me to call them so, notions − which
\ncome to the support of these feelings and sustain them. The result of this is
\nto shut you up against the contact and spiritual influence and help you were
\nonce feeling or beginning to feel from us. It also shuts you up against your
\nown deeper self and sterilises your personal effort. An accident of this kind
\nis common enough in the path of spiritual effort, and the first thing to be
\ndone to get rid of its effects is to throw away resolutely the persistent ideas
\nand feelings which keep you in the groove. I do not know whether you can return
\nto the former condition, for it is seldom that one can go back to a point in
\nthe past; but it is always possible for you to go forward, recovering the force
\nfor propulsion of what you then gained and have certainly still within you
\nassimilated in your inner being. If you want to carry on some part of the yoga
\nby your active efforts and aspiration, there is no reason why you should not
\nfind back that capacity; but the first effort to be made is to reject
\npersistently, fully and tenaciously − not for two or three days, but
\nalways, so long as they insist or return − these disabling thoughts and
\nfeelings which hamstring all hope and faith in you, not to accept them, not to
\njustify them, not to give them by your acquiescence the right to go on harping
\non the same note always of <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 Page ─ 1453<\/span><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n
\n

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

discouragement,
\nincapacity and failure. The ideas by which you justify them are, I repeat,
\nnotions only of the physical mind, not true things, e.g., the notion that you
\ncannot understand a given idea (intellectually accepting or not accepting is
\nanother matter); for it is perfectly certain that your thinking intelligence is
\nquite trained enough to understand anything that is put before it. It is only
\nthe physical mind that is limited even in the most intelligent and opens up
\nfits of stupidity or at least larger or smaller spaces of blank
\nnon-understanding in the face of unaccustomed ideas or a new line of possible
\nexperience or anything else either alien to the mind’s habits or unwelcome to
\nsomething in the vital parts. I suppose we have all had experience of this
\nincapable element in our nature, and if one fixes oneself in it, it can make
\neven things that would ordinarily be easy for us seem difficult things and
\nthings difficult seem impossible. But why should a mind trained to think allow
\nthis poorer part of itself to dominate it? So with the other notions. There is
\nnothing anyone else can do in the way of yoga that you cannot do if you have
\nthe fixed will to do it; some things may take a longer time because of past
\ntraining, habits, mental associations but there is nothing impossible, too
\ndifficult, no inherently insuperable obstacle.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n⁂<\/font><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

It
\nis the instinctive (not mental) will in the outer being that is blind − the
\ninner mind knows and understands and when it comes out it enlightens the rest
\nso that all is clear. But the outer being readmits the darkness and confusion
\nthrough a wrong movement of the vital or through an inert acceptance of the
\nobscurity of the ignorant physical consciousness and the knowledge gets
\ndarkened over. But it is there and has only to come out again. The physical
\nconsciousness is constitutionally ignorant −it may be made to understand,
\nbut it goes on forgetting and feeling as if it had never known\u00a0 <\/span>− till the Force and Light finally get
\nhold of it and then it forgets no more. <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n                 Page ─ 1454<\/span><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n
\n

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

 IV<\/b><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

What
\nyou have been doing is to penetrate more into the physical consciousness where
\nthe peace and light of the higher consciousness has to be brought down. This
\noften brings at first some relaxation of the intensity of experience,
\ndispersion or recurrence of old movements which had been pushed out from the
\nother levels, but one must not be discouraged by that. The remedy is to be more
\ninsistent on bringing down the higher forces (peace etc.) into this field.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n⁂<\/font><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

The
\npush to externalisation must be rejected always − it is a way the
\nphysical consciousness has of slipping out of the condition of concentrated
\nsadhana. To keep in the inner consciousness and work from it on the external
\nbeing till that also is ready is very necessary when the work of change is
\nbeing specially directed towards the physical consciousness.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n⁂<\/font><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

The
\nmoonlit maidān<\/i> is the spiritual
\nconsciousness at the doors of which you are standing as it were and feeling its
\npeace and ease. <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

The obstacle or wall of bondage which you feel is simply
\nthat of the habits of the ordinary physical consciousness. It is so with all,
\n−the ordinary vital nature with its ego, desire, passions, disturbances,
\nand the ordinary physical nature with its strong habits and outwardness are the
\nchief obstacles that have to be overcome in the nature. When they fall quiet,
\nthen it is easier to enter into the true consciousness and unite with the
\nMother. But they are not accustomed to quietness and as soon as it is felt they
\nwant to come out of it and resume their ordinary movements. But this will go
\nwhen the inner has sufficiently gained on the outer to dominate it. The inner
\nthings will grow and come out more and more as you feel the inner path growing
\nuntil they are strong enough to rule the outer conduct.  <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\nPage ─ 1455<\/span><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n
\n

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

The
\nobstacles you feel, the surging up of old things and repetition of restlessness
\netc. are due to this strength of habit of the physical nature − it lives
\nby repeating always the same things and the same movements to which it has been
\naccustomed in the past. The inner influence as it comes out will more and more
\ncreate for it new habits of thought and feeling and action and it will then
\ndwell firmly in these and not in the things of the old nature.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n⁂<\/font><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

The
\nnarrowness etc. of which you complain are normal to the physical nature. It is
\nthe same thing acting in a different way which makes X rebellious to advice and
\nfull of irritation and bad temper when her mistakes are shown to her. The
\nphysical nature of almost everybody is like that, intolerant, easily irritated,
\nlacking in patience when dealing with others. But this physical nature can be
\nreplaced and changed by the psychic nature and you have had the experience of
\nwhat this psychic nature is and how it acts. You know therefore what change has
\nto come in you and you know also that this new nature is already there in you
\npreparing to come out. Have the faith therefore that it is sure to come −
\nand when the physical comes and covers with the old movements try to remember
\nthat and remind the physical mind that it is only by this change in yourself
\nand all that things can change. What is needed now is all should make this
\npsychic change their main object, each for himself. If some develop it, then it
\nwill spread more rapidly among the rest. It is so only that the present state
\nof the physical consciousness full of ego and strife can become what it should
\nbe.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n⁂<\/font><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

What
\nhas happened is that the psychic in you which had formerly been constantly in
\naction in the mind and vital was for a time clouded or covered over by the
\nignorance of the physical consciousness. It is the psychic that connects you
\nwith the Mother and turns all the movements of your being towards her or drew
\nthem from her or made them united with and dependent  <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\nPage ─ 1456<\/span><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n
\n

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

on
\nher. It had so done with all your mental and vital being and its movements and
\nit had guarded you against all wrong mental and vital suggestions and attacks,
\nshowing you what was true and what was false. Now it is this psychic being
\nwhich has manifested again in your physical consciousness also. You have only
\nto live in that and your whole being will be turned towards the Mother, remain
\nin union with her and be protected from doubt and error and false suggestion −
\nand you can once more progress as you did before towards the full realisation
\nof the sadhana.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n⁂<\/font><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

All
\nthat is very good − it is the psychic condition that is increasing. The
\npeace and spontaneous knowledge are in the psychic being and from there they
\nspread to mind and vital and physical. It is in the outer physical
\nconsciousness that the difficulty still tries to persist and brings the
\nrestlessness sometimes into the physical mind, sometimes into the nerves,
\nsometimes in the shape of bodily trouble into the body. But all these things
\ncan and must go. Even the illnesses can go entirely with the growth of peace
\nand power in the nerves and physical cells − stomach pains, weakness of
\nthe eyes and everything else.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n⁂<\/font><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

The
\nhabit of return of these feelings belongs to the physical consciousness and in
\nhis physical consciousness the human being is always weak and unable to get rid
\nof or resist its habitual movements. There are three things that help him to do
\nso (apart from his mental will which is not always strong enough to do it).
\nThere is first the psychic being; for a few days your psychic was extremely
\nactive and pushing these movements away whenever they tried to come or throwing
\nthem out soon when they got in. This activity of the psychic will return and
\neventually come down into the physical consciousness itself; then there will be
\nvery little difficulty. The second is the inner consciousness always awake. At
\npresent that is difficult, because to keep the inner consciousness awake at all
\ntimes can  <\/p>\n

\n <\/p>\n

\nPage ─ 1457<\/span><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n
\n

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

only
\ncome by a deepening of yourself so that the veil between the outer and inner
\nwhich lifts only in concentration may cease to exist even when one is in the
\nordinary unconcentrated condition. It is for this deepening that the strong
\ntendency to go inside comes upon you. Lastly, the Mother’s force always there
\nand receiving also a response at once from the physical consciousness. These
\nthree things together can do anything. It takes time to make them all three
\nconstantly active together, but that is sure to come and with them these inner
\ndifficulties will disappear.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n⁂<\/font><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

It
\nis inevitable that in the course of the sadhana all sorts of conditions should
\ncome through which one is led towards the fullness of the true consciousness.
\nYou are now, as are most, in the physical consciousness and its principal
\ndifficulty is externalisation and this covering up of the active experience so
\nthat one does not know what is going on inside or feels as if nothing were
\ngoing on. When that happens, it means that something has come up, some part or
\nlayer of the physical, which needs to be worked on and, when that has been
\ndone, − it may take longer or shorter, − the conscious active inner
\nexperience recommences. The muteness in the mind is not a bad thing in itself,
\nit is a favourable condition for the working. Also what you describe as taking
\nplace in the head, must be the working of the Force there, −it sometimes
\ngives the impression of a headache. There must be a working in the physical
\nmind to get rid of some difficulty or else to prepare it better for the
\nadmission of what comes from above. It is necessary to have a great patience
\n− so as to go through these conditions and not get apprehensive or Restless
\n− and a confidence that all difficulties will be overcome.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n⁂<\/font><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

It
\nis not that something is always \u201cwrong\u201d within you but that there is still in
\nthe subconscient physical being a part that was accustomed to respond very
\nstrongly to the vibrations of these  <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\nPage ─ 1458<\/span><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n
\n

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

thoughts
\nand feelings and can still respond. Usually you would not allow them to come up
\nat all in thought or feeling form − it would only manifest as a depression
\nof the body or fatigue − or, if it came, you would get over it at once
\nand the vibrations would sink down and disappear. But in the atmosphere heavily
\nsurcharged with this invasion of the ordinary consciousness there is a lessened
\nelasticity in the physical consciousness and they were able to rise. This is an
\nexceedingly common experience. One has to detach oneself from these still weak
\nparts and regard them as if a detail in the machinery that has to be set right.
\nIn your case also your nervous (vital physical) being is exceedingly conscious
\nand sensitive and anything wrong in the atmosphere affects it more than it
\nwould most of the others.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n⁂<\/font><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

What
\nyou felt in your chest was the attempt of the old Ignorance to bring back the
\nvital restlessness, depression, confusion, through the physical attack − for
\nit is on the obscuration of the physical that they now depend for stopping the
\nLight and Force from coming and for obscuring their working and creating
\ndisturbance and destroying the quietude. Reject it as you did this time −
\nwhenever it tries to come.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n⁂<\/font><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

It
\nis very good that all should have gone like that and the true consciousness
\naffirmed its control in the physical. These things are indeed attacks intended
\nto prevent the control being established in the physical being as it was in the
\ninner parts. Wherever the physical consciousness opens, the Force can sweep out
\nall that could trouble. Sometimes it takes a little time to overcome the
\nresistance, but finally all disappears before it.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n⁂<\/font><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

It
\nis indeed the body consciousness that is still offering difficulties − but
\nwhen the restlessness and confusion come, you <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 Page ─ 1459<\/span><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n
\n

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

must
\nimmediately offer it up and call for the opening of the part that resists. In
\nthis way it is possible to establish a condition in which as soon as the
\ndifficulty is there, the counteracting Force also comes. Then no long continued
\ndifficulty will be possible.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n⁂<\/font><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

For
\nyour sadhana it is necessary first to establish the entire openness of the
\nphysical being and stabilise in it the descent of calm, strength, purity and
\njoy with the feeling of the presence and the working of the Mother’s Force in
\nyou. It is only on that assured basis that one can become an entirely effective
\ninstrument for the work. Once that is done, there is still the dynamic
\ntransformation of the instrumental being to achieve and that depends on a
\ndescent of a higher and higher power of consciousness into the mind, vital and
\nbody − by \u201chigher\u201d being meant nearer and nearer to the supramental Light
\nand Force. But that can only be done on the basis of which I have spoken and
\nwith the psychic being constantly in front and acting as an intermediary
\nbetween the instrumental mind, vital and body and these higher planes of being.
\nSo this basic stabilisation must first be completed.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n⁂<\/font><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Yes,
\nthis is the time when you have to persist till you are quite settled in the
\ninner consciousness and the persistence of the silence and peace is a sign that
\nit is now possible. When one feels this kind of silence, peace and wideness,
\none may be sure that it is that of the true being, the real self, penetrating
\ninto the mind and vital and perhaps also the physical consciousness (if it is
\ncomplete). The restlessness of the physical is probably due to the peace and
\nsilence having touched the physical but not yet penetrated the material or body
\nconsciousness. The old restlessness is there in the body struggling to remain, although
\nit cannot invade either mind or vital or even in a general way the physical
\nconsciousness as a whole. If the peace descends there, the restlessness will
\ndisappear. <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

The sex-sensation comes from the waking subconscient.  <\/p>\n

\n <\/p>\n

\nPage ─ 1460<\/span><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n
\n

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

When
\nit is unable to manifest in the waking consciousness, it comes up from the
\nsubconscient in sleep. The mind must not allow itself to be disturbed − it
\nwill go out with the rest.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n⁂<\/font><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

This
\nis a form that the resistance in the physical easily and often takes − a
\nrestlessness of discomfort in the nervous system. When it is in the legs, it
\nmeans that it is the most material part of the consciousness that is the seat
\nof the trouble. Since it has come up, it ought to be thrown out for good.
\nProbably this part has become sufficiently conscious to feel the greater pressure
\nwhen Mother comes down, but not enough to be able to receive and assimilate it,
\nhence the uneasiness and resistance. If so, it should go of itself with a
\nlittle more opening there.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n⁂<\/font><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

What
\nyou describe − dullness, uneasiness, weakness, feeling old and worn out
\nor ill, are the reactions that come when the inertia of the physical Nature is
\nresisting the Light\u2014the others about sense of feeling dignity, self-respect (of
\nthe ego) are the reactions of the vital. Both must be refused acceptance. There
\nis only one aim to be followed, the increase of the Peace, Light, Power and the
\ngrowth of a new consciousness in the being. With that new consciousness the
\ntrue knowledge, understanding, strength, feeling will come, creating harmony
\ninstead of revolt and struggle and union with the Divine consciousness and
\nwill.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n⁂<\/font><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

A
\ncertain inertia, tendency to sleep, indolence, unwillingness or inability to be
\nstrong to work or spiritual effort for long at a time, is in the nature of the
\nhuman physical consciousness. When one goes down into the physical for its
\nchange (that has been the general condition here for a long time), this tends
\nto increase. Even sometimes when the pressure of the sadhana in the physical
\nincreases or when one has to go much inside,  <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\nPage ─ 1461<\/span><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n
\n

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

this
\ntemporarily increases − the body either needing more rest or turning the
\ninward movement into a tendency to sleep or be at rest. You need not, however,
\nbe anxious about that. After a time this rights itself; the physical
\nconsciousness gets the true peace and calm in the cells and feels at rest even
\nin full work or in the most concentrated condition and this tendency of inertia
\ngoes out of the nature.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n⁂<\/font><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

There
\nis always more chance of inertia at night because of the large part taken by the
\nsubconscient in sleep − but, apart from that there should be a reaction
\n(internal) against the rising of inertia. A quietness in the cells of the body,
\neven a sense of immobility (so that the body seems to be moved rather than to
\nmove) is a different thing and easily distinguishable from the inertia. The
\ndownflow of peace usually brings much of the static Brahman into the
\nconsciousness down to the physical, so that one feels the Upanishadic \u201cunmoving
\nit moves\u201d.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n⁂<\/font><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

I
\ndon’t know of any effective outward means of getting rid of it [inertia]. Some
\nin hours when they cannot do sadhana, spend the time in other occupations −
\nreading, writing or working − and do not try at all to concentrate. But I
\nsuspect what you need is more strength in the body.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n⁂<\/font><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

It
\nis quite true that the physical exercise is very necessary to keep off tamas. I
\nam glad you have begun it and I trust you will keep it up. <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Physical tamas in its roots can be removed only by the
\ndescent and the transformation, but physical exercise and regular activity of
\nthe body can always prevent a tamasic condition from prevailing in the body. <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n⁂<\/font><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\nPage ─ 1462<\/span><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n
\n

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

A
\nstrong mind and body and life-force are needed in the sadhana. Especially steps
\nshould be taken to throw out tamas and bring strength and force into the frame
\nof the nature. <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

The way of yoga must be a living thing, not a mental
\nprinciple or a set method to be stuck to against all necessary variations.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n⁂<\/font><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

The
\nweakness of the body has to be cured, not disregarded. It can only be cured by
\nbringing in strength from above, not by merely forcing the body.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n⁂<\/font><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Overstraining
\nonly increases the inertia −the mental and vital will may force the body,
\nbut the body feels more and more strained and finally asserts itself. It is
\nonly if the body itself feels a will and force to work that one can do that.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n⁂<\/font><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

The
\nfirst rule is − there must be sufficient sleep and rest, not in excess
\nbut not too little. <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

The body must be trained to work, but not strained beyond
\nits utmost capacity. <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

The outer means without the inner is not effective. Up to a
\ncertain point by a progressive<\/i>
\ntraining the body may be made more capable of work. But the important thing is
\nto bring down the force for work and the Rasa of work in the body. The body
\nwill then do what is asked of it without grudging or feeling fatigue. <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Even so, even when the force and Rasa are there, one must
\nkeep one’s sense of measure. <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Work is a means of self-dedication to the Divine, but it
\nmust be done with the necessary inner consciousness in which the outer vital
\nand physical also share. <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

A lazy body is certainly not a proper instrument for  <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\nPage ─ 1463<\/span><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n
\n

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

yoga
\n− it must stop being lazy. But a fatigued and unwilling body also cannot
\nreceive properly or be a good instrument. The proper thing is to avoid either
\nextreme.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n⁂<\/font><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

If
\nyour body is aching after the work, it may be that you are doing too much for
\nyour physical strength and straining the body. When you work, the Force comes
\ndown in you, takes the form of vital energy and supports your body so that it
\ndoes not at the time<\/i> feel the strain;
\nbut when you stop, the body goes back to its normal condition and feels the
\neffects − it has not yet been sufficiently open to keep the Force. You
\nmust see whether this effect (of pain) continues; if it passes away, it is all
\nright; otherwise you must take care and not overstrain yourself by doing too
\nmuch.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n⁂<\/font><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

It
\nis owing to the good psychic condition in which you are that this lightness and
\npower of work comes into you; for then you are open to the Mother’s Force and
\nit is that that works in you, so that there is no fatigue. You felt the fatigue
\nformerly after<\/i> the work was over because
\nyour vital was open and the vital energy was the instrument of the work, but
\nthe body consciousness was not quite open and had some strain. This time the
\nphysical seems to have opened also.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n⁂<\/font><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

The
\npain, burning, restlessness, weeping and inability to work which you feel, come
\nwhen there is some difficulty or resistance in some part of the nature. When it
\ncomes call on the Mother and reject these things; turn to her for the peace and
\nquietude to return to your mind and settle in the heart, so that there shall be
\nno place for these other things.  <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\nPage ─ 1464<\/span><\/p>\n

\n

 V<\/b> <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

It
\nis the attachment to food, the greed and eagerness for it, making it an unduly
\nimportant thing in the life, that is contrary to the spirit of yoga. To be
\naware that something is pleasant to the palate is not wrong; only one must have
\nno desire nor hankering for it, no exultation in getting it, no displeasure or
\nregret at not getting it. One must be calm and equal, not getting upset or
\ndissatisfied when the food is not tasty or not in abundance − eating the
\nfixed amount that is necessary, not less or more. There should be neither
\neagerness nor repugnance. <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

To be always thinking about food and troubling the mind is
\nquite the wrong way of getting rid of the food-desire. Put the food element in
\nthe right place in the life, in a small corner, and don’t concentrate on it but
\non other things.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n⁂<\/font><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

It
\nis certainly not very yogic to be so harassed by the importunity of the palate.
\nI notice that these petty desires, which plenty of people who are not yogis at
\nall nor aspirants for yoga know how to put in their proper place, seem to take
\nan inordinate importance in the consciousness of the sadhaks here − not
\nall, certainly, but many. In this as in many other matters they do not seem to
\nrealise that, if you want to do yoga, you must take more and more in all
\nmatters, small or great, the yogic attitude. In our path that attitude is not
\none of forceful suppression, but of detachment and equality with regard to the
\nobjects of desire. Forceful suppression\u00b9
\n<\/span>stands on the same level as free indulgence; in both cases, the desire
\nremains; in the one it is fed by indulgence, in the other it lies latent and
\nexasperated by suppression. It is only when one stands back, separates oneself
\nfrom the lower vital, refusing to regard its desires and clamours as one’s own,
\nand cultivates an entire equality and equanimity in the consciousness with
\nrespect to them that the lower vital itself becomes gradually purified and
\nitself also calm and equal. Each wave of<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u00b9<\/span>Fasting
\ncomes under the head; it is of no use for this purpose. Abandon that idea
\naltogether.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\nPage
\n─ 1465\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 <\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n
\n

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

desire
\nas it comes must be observed, as quietly and with as much unmoved detachment as
\nyou would observe something going on outside you, and allowed to pass, rejected
\nfrom the consciousness, and the true movement, the true consciousness steadily
\nput in its place.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

What if people were to remember that they were here for
\nyoga, make that the salt and savour of their existence and acquire samatā<\/i> of the palate! My experience
\nis that if they did that, all the trouble would disappear and even the kitchen difficulties
\nand the defects of the cooking would vanish.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n⁂<\/font><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Do
\nnot trouble your mind about food. Take it in the right quantity (neither too
\nmuch nor too little), without greed or repulsion, as the means given you by the
\nMother for the maintenance of the body, in the right spirit, offering it to the
\nDivine in you; then it need not create tamas<\/i>.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n⁂<\/font><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

What
\nis necessary is to take enough food and think no more about it, taking it as a
\nmeans for the maintenance of the physical instrument only. But just as one
\nshould not overeat, so one should not diminish unduly − it produces a
\nreaction which defeats the object − for the object is not to allow either
\nthe greed for food or the heavy tamas of the physical which is the result of
\nexcessive eating to interfere with the concentration on the spiritual
\nexperience and progress. If the body is left insufficiently nourished, it will
\nthink of food more than otherwise.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n⁂<\/font><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

These
\nthings still rise in you because they have been for so long prominent
\ndifficulties and, as far as the first is concerned, because you gave it much
\njustification from the mind at one time. But if the inner consciousness is
\ngrowing like that they are sure to go. Only if they rise, don’t give them
\nharbourage. Perhaps with regard to the greed for food, your attitude has not been <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\nPage ─ 1466<\/span><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n
\n

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

quite
\ncorrect. Greed for food has to be overcome, but it has not to be given too much
\nthought. The proper attitude to food is a certain equality. Food is for the
\nmaintenance of the body and one should take enough for that − what the
\nbody needs; if one gives less the body feels the need and hankers; if you give
\nmore, then that is indulging the vital. As for particular foods the palate
\nlikes, the attitude of the mind and vital should be, \u201cIf I get, I take; if I
\ndon’t get, I shall not mind.\u201d One should not think too much of food either to
\nindulge or unduly to repress − that is the best.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n⁂<\/font><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Too
\nmuch eating makes the body material and heavy, eating too little makes it weak
\nand nervous − one has to find the true harmony and balance between the
\nbody’s need and the food taken.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n⁂<\/font><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

It
\ndepends on what you can digest. If you can digest, there is no harm in taking
\nmore since you feel hungry. All these things depend upon what is the true need
\nof the body and that may differ in different cases according to the
\nconstitution of the body, the amount of work done or exercise taken. It is
\npossible that you have reduced your food too much, so you can try taking more.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n⁂<\/font><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

But
\nit is quite natural. Exercise is always supposed to increase the appetite as
\nthe body needs more food to restore the extra expense of energy put out.
\nNormally the more physical work the body has to do the more food it needs. On
\nthe other hand mental work requires no increase of food − that has been
\nascertained scientifically by experiment. Hunger may increase by other causes,
\nbut when it coincides with the taking up of play or physical exercise of a
\nstrenuous character that is sufficient to explain it. <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n⁂<\/font><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\nPage ─ 1467<\/span><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n
\n

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

It
\nis true that as one reaches an advanced age a diminished diet may become
\ndesirable.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n⁂<\/font><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Neither
\nneglect this turn of the nature (food-desire) nor make too much of it; it has
\nto be dealt with, purified and mastered but without giving it too much
\nimportance. There are two ways of conquering it − one of detachment,
\nlearning to regard food as only a physical necessity and the vital satisfaction
\nof the stomach and the palate as a thing of no importance; the other is to be
\nable to take without insistence or seeking any food given and to find in it (whether
\npronounced good or bad by others) the equal rasa<\/i>,
\nnot of the food for its own sake, but of the universal Ananda.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n⁂<\/font><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

These
\ngeneralisations on either side are not of much value. One does not need to get
\na hatred for food in order to get rid of the greed for food. On the other hand,
\nto develop a dislike for certain things may help to reject them − but
\nthat too is not always the cure, for they may remain in spite of the dislike.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n⁂<\/font><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

It
\nis a mistake to neglect the body and let it waste away; the body is the means
\nof the sadhana and should be maintained in good order. There should be no
\nattachment to it, but no contempt or neglect either of the material part of our
\nnature. <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

In this yoga the aim is not only the union with the higher
\nconsciousness but the transformation (by its power) of the lower including the
\nphysical nature. <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

It is not necessary to have desire or greed of food in order
\nto eat. The yogi eats not out of desire, but to maintain the body.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n⁂<\/font><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

The
\nattachment to good food must be given up as also the <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\nPage ─ 1468<\/span><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n
\n

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

personal
\nattachment to position and service; but it is not indispensably necessary for
\nthat purpose to take to an ascetic diet or to give up all means of action such
\nas money and service. The yogin has to become nihsva<\/i> in this sense that he feels that nothing belongs to him but
\nall to the Divine and he must be ready at any time to give up all to the
\nDivine. But there is no meaning in throwing away everything in order to be
\nexternally nihsva<\/i> without any
\nimperative cause.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n⁂<\/font><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

I
\nsuppose you have become aware of the principle of hunger in the vital-physical.
\nIt is not really either by satisfying it or forcibly denying it that it will go
\n− it is by putting a will on it to change and bringing down a higher
\nconsciousness that it can change.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n⁂<\/font><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

To
\nsuppress hunger like that is not good, it very often creates disorders. I doubt
\nwhether fatness or thinness of a healthy kind depends on the amount of food
\ntaken − there are people who eat well and remain thin and others who take
\nonly one meal a day and remain fat. By underfeeding (taking less than the body
\nreally needs) one may get emaciated, but that is not a healthy state. The
\ndoctors say it depends mostly on the working of certain glands. Anyhow the
\nimportant thing is now to get the nervous strength back. <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

As for the liver also eating little does not help, very
\noften it makes the liver sluggish so that it works less well. What is recommended
\nfor liver trouble is to avoid greasy food and much eating of sweets and that is
\nalso one way of avoiding fat. But to eat too little is not good − it may
\nbe necessary in some stomach or intestinal illness, but not for the ordinary
\nliver trouble.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n⁂<\/font><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

As
\nfor Sannyasis and food, Sannyasis put a compulsion on these desires in this and
\nother matters − they take ascetic food as a principle; but this does not
\nnecessarily kill the greed for food, <\/p>\n

\n <\/p>\n

\nPage ─ 1469<\/span><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n
\n

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

it
\nremains compressed and, if the compulsion or principle is removed, it can come
\nup again stronger than before − for compression without removal often
\nincreases the force of these things instead of destroying them.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n⁂<\/font><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

When
\nthere is this suppression [of the desire to eat] I have always noticed that
\nthere comes for a time a strong eagerness or necessity for eating largely as if
\nthe body were taking its compensation for the past want.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n⁂<\/font><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

The
\nfirst thing I tell people when they want not to eat or sleep is that no yoga
\ncan be done without sufficient food and sleep (see the Gita on this point).
\nFasting or sleeplessness make the nerves morbid and excited and weaken the
\nbrain and lead to delusions and fantasies. The Gita says, yoga is not for one
\nwho eats too much or sleeps too much, neither is it for one who does not eat or
\ndoes not sleep, but if one eats and sleeps suitably − yuktāhārī<\/i> yuktanidrah<\/i>\u2014then one can do it best. It
\nis the same with everything else. How often have I said that excessive
\nretirement was suspect to me and that to do nothing but meditate was a
\nlop-sided and therefore unsound sadhana?<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n⁂<\/font><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

The
\nidea of giving up food is a wrong inspiration. You can go on with a small quantity
\nof food, but not without food altogether, except for a comparatively short
\ntime. Remember what the Gita says, \u201cYoga is not for one who eats in excess nor
\nfor one who abstains from eating altogether.\u201d Vital energy is one thing −
\nof that one can draw a great amount without food and often it increases with
\nfasting; but physical substance, without which life loses its support, is of a
\ndifferent order. <\/p>\n

\n <\/p>\n

\n⁂<\/font><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\nPage ─ 1470<\/span><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n
\n

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

One
\ncan bring down the strength, but it is also necessary to see that the body has
\nsufficient food, sleep and rest − absence of these things strain the
\nnerves and if the nerves are strained the body feels fatigue − becomes
\nweakened.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n⁂<\/font><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Not
\nto eat as the method of getting rid of the greed of food is the ascetic way.
\nOurs is equanimity and non-attachment.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n⁂<\/font><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

It
\nis a fact that by fasting, if the mind and the nerves are solid or the
\nwill-force dynamic, one can get for a time into a state of inner energy and
\nreceptivity which is alluring to the mind and the usual reactions of hunger,
\nweakness, intestinal disturbance, etc., can be wholly avoided. But the body
\nsuffers by diminution and there can easily develop in the vital a morbid
\noverstrained condition due to the inrush of more vital energy than the nervous
\nsystem can assimilate or co-ordinate. Nervous people should avoid the
\ntemptation to fast, it is often accompanied or followed by delusions and a loss
\nof balance.<\/p>\n

Especially
\nif there is a motive of hunger-strike or that element comes in, fasting becomes
\nperilous, for it is then an indulgence of a vital movement which may easily
\nbecome a habit injurious and pernicious to the sadhana. Even if all these reactions
\nare avoided, still there is no sufficient utility in fasting, since the higher
\nenergy and receptivity ought to come not by artificial or physical means but by
\nintensity of the consciousness and strong will for the sadhana.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n⁂<\/font><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

I
\nnever heard of it; but it [prolonged fasting] is just the way to get the wrong
\nrealisation. The nerves get into an excited tense condition (when they do not
\ncollapse) and invent realisations or open to a wrong Force. At least that often
\nhappens. <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n⁂<\/font><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\nPage ─ 1471<\/span><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n
\n

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

I
\nthink it is not safe to admit any suggestion of not eating − sometimes it
\nopens the door for the non-eating force to take hold of the mind and there is
\ntrouble. That comes easily because the inner being of course does not need any
\nfood and this non-need is attempted to be thrown by some forces on the body
\nalso which is not under the same happy law. It is better to allow the condition
\n[of concentration and peace] to grow in intensity until it can last even
\nthrough the meal and after. I suppose it is not really the meal that disturbs
\nbut the coming out into the outer consciousness which is a little difficult to
\navoid when one goes to eat; but that can be overcome in time.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n⁂<\/font><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

You
\nmust not let that movement [reduction of food] go too far. It is one of the
\ndangers of the sadhana, because of the ascetic turn of yoga in the past that as
\nexperiences come the suggestion comes that food or sleep etc. are not necessary
\nand also there may come an inclination in the body not to eat or not to sleep.
\nBut if that is accepted the results are often disastrous. It is no more to be
\naccepted than the inertia itself.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n⁂<\/font><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

If
\nthe pains are strong, you can abstain from work for a day or two until they
\nhave subsided. Of course if you feel that you suffer from anything else but
\nliquid food, that settles the question. You can take liquid food only and if
\nyou take the liquid food only then you will not be strong enough to work. But
\nusually the thought takes a big part in determining these things. The mind has
\nthe impression that any solid food will hurt and the body follows − so
\nnaturally as a result any solid food does begin to hurt.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n⁂<\/font><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

The
\nmental or vital vigour does not or need not depend on the food − it is
\nthe physical that after a time begins to get strained <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\nPage ─ 1472<\/span><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n
\n

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

if
\nthere is not sufficient nourishment.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n⁂<\/font><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

The
\ntransformation to which we aspire is too vast and complex to come at one
\nstroke; it must be allowed to come by stages. The physical change is the last
\nof these stages and is itself a progressive process. <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

The inner transformation cannot be brought about by physical
\nmeans either of a positive or a negative nature. On the contrary, the physical
\nchange itself can only be brought about by a descent of the greater supramental
\nconsciousness into the cells of the body. Till then at least the body and its
\nsupporting energies have to be maintained in part by the ordinary means, food,
\nsleep, etc. Food has to be taken in the right spirit, with the right
\nconsciousness; sleep has to be gradually transformed into the yogic repose. A
\npremature and excessive physical austerity, Tapasya, may endanger the process
\nof the sadhana by establishing a disturbance and abnormality of the forces in
\nthe different parts of the system. A great energy may pour into the mental and
\nvital parts but the nerves and the body may be overstrained and lose the
\nstrength to support the play of these higher energies. This is the reason why
\nan extreme physical austerity is not included here as a substantive part of the
\nsadhana.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

There is no harm in fasting from time to time for a day or
\ntwo or in reducing the food taken to a small but sufficient modicum; but entire
\nabstinence for a long period is not advisable.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n⁂<\/font><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

I
\nthink the importance of sattwic food from the spiritual point of view has been
\nexaggerated. Food is rather a question of hygiene, and many of the sanctions
\nand prohibitions laid down in ancient religions had more a hygienic than a
\nspiritual motive. The Gita’s definitions seem to point in the same direction
\n− tamasic food, it seems to say, is what is stale or rotten with the virtue
\ngone out of it, rajasic food is that which is too acrid, pungent, etc., heats
\nthe blood and spoils the health, sattwic food is <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\nPage ─ 1473<\/span><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n
\n

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

what
\nis pleasing, healthy, etc. It may well be that different kinds of food nourish
\nthe action of the different gunas and so indirectly are helpful or harmful
\napart from their physical action. But that is as far as one can go confidently.
\nWhat particular eatables are or are not sattwic is another question and more
\ndifficult to determine. Spiritually, I should say that the effect of food
\ndepends more on the occult atmosphere and influences that come with it than on
\nanything in the food itself. Vegetarianism is another question altogether; it
\nstands, as you say, on a will not to do harm to the more conscious forms of life
\nfor the satisfaction of the belly. <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

As for the question of practising to take all kinds of food
\nwith equal rasa, it is not necessary to practise nor does it really come by
\npractice. One has to acquire equality within in the consciousness and as this
\nequality grows, one can extend it or apply it to the various fields of the
\nactivity of the consciousness.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n⁂<\/font><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

I
\nthink onions can be described as rajaso-tamasic in their character. They are
\nheavy and material and at the same time excitant of certain strong
\nmaterial-vital forces. It is obvious that if one wants to conquer the physical
\npassions and is still very much subject to the body nature and the things that
\naffect it, free indulgence in onions is not advisable. It is only for those who
\nhave risen above the body consciousness and mastered it and are not affected by
\nthese things that it does not at all matter; for them the use of this or that
\nfood or its desire makes no difference. At the same time I must say that the abstinence
\nfrom rajasic or tamasic foods does not of itself assure freedom from the things
\nthey help to stimulate. Vegetarians, for instance, can be as sensual and
\nexcitable as meat eaters; a man may abstain from onions and yet be in these
\nrespects no better than before. It is a change of consciousness that is
\neffective and this kind of abstention helps that only in so far as it tends to
\ncreate a less heavy and more refined and plastic physical consciousness for the
\nhigher will to act upon. That is something, but it is not all; the change of
\nconsciousness can come even in spite of non-abstinence. <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\nPage ─ 1474<\/span><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n
\n

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

      Onions are allowed here because the palate of the sadhaks
\ndemands something to give a taste to the food. We do not insist on these
\ndetails, or make an absolutely strict rule, as the stress here is more on the
\ninward change, the outward coming as its result. Only so much is insisted on as
\nis essential for organisation and inner and outer discipline and to point the
\nway to an indispensable self-control. It is pressed on all that the greed of
\nthe palate has to be conquered, but it has to be done in the last resort from
\nwithin, as also the other passions and desires of the lower nature.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n⁂<\/font><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

It
\nis no part of this yoga to suppress taste, rasa, altogether. What is to be got
\nrid of is vital desire and attachment, the greed of food, being overjoyed at
\ngetting the food you like, sorry and discontented when you do not have it,
\ngiving an undue importance to it. Equality is here the test as in so many other
\nmatters.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n⁂<\/font><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

No
\n− it [taste] is not a bondage, if there is no attachment. Taste is
\nnatural and quite permissible so long as one is not the slave of the palate.
\nCertainly, the enjoyment of taste can be offered up. I don’t know that there is
\nany fruit of eating in the sense of the phrase in the Gita.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n⁂<\/font><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Taste
\nis no more a guilty thing than sight or hearing. It is the desire that it
\nawakens that has to be thrown away. <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

It is possible to get rid of taste like Chaitanya, for it is
\nsomething that depends on the consciousness and so inhibition is possible. In
\nhypnotic experiments it is found that suggestion can make sugar taste bitter or
\nbitter things sweet. Berkeley and physiology
\nare both right. There is a certain usually fixed relation between the
\nconsciousness in the palate and the guņa<\/i>
\nof the food, but the consciousness can alter the relation if it wants or
\ninhibit it altogether. There are yogis who make themselves insensitive to pain
\nalso and that too can be done by hypnosis. <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\nPage ─ 1475<\/span><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n
\n

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

       Another method is to find all things good to the taste
\nwithout attachment to any.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n⁂<\/font><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

It
\nis better to be careful in these matters of food etc., as in the stage through
\nwhich your sadhana is passing there is a considerable sensitiveness in the
\nvital-physical part of the being and it may be easily disturbed by a wrong
\nimpact or a wrong movement like overfeeding.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n⁂<\/font><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

When
\nthe physical consciousness has been sensitivised, too much or heavy food
\nbecomes offensive to it.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n⁂<\/font><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

It
\nis the habit in the subconscient material that feels an artificial need created
\nby the past and does not care whether it is harmful or disturbing to the nerves
\nor not. That is the nature of all intoxicants (wine, tobacco, cocaine etc.),
\npeople go on even after the deleterious effects have shown themselves and even
\nafter all real pleasure in it has ceased because of this artificial need (it is
\nnot real). The will has to get hold of this subconscient persistence and
\ndissolve it.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n⁂<\/font><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

These
\nintoxicants [Bhang, etc.] put one in relation with a vital world in which such
\nthings [music, song etc.] exist.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\nVI<\/b><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

This
\nis not a yoga in which physical austerities have to be done for their own sake.
\nSleep is necessary for the body just as food is. Sufficient sleep must be
\ntaken, but no excessive sleep. What sufficient sleep is depends on the need of
\nthe body.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n⁂<\/font><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\nPage ─ 1476<\/span><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n
\n

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

If
\nyou do not sleep enough the body and the nervous envelope will be weakened and
\nthe body and the nervous envelope are the basis of the sadhana.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n⁂<\/font><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

It
\nmust be the want of sleep that keeps your nervous system exposed to weakness
\n− it is a great mistake not to take sufficient sleep. Seven hours is the
\nminimum needed. When one has a very strong nervous system one can reduce it to
\nsix, sometimes even five − but it is rare and ought not to be attempted
\nwithout necessity.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n⁂<\/font><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

The
\nnormal allowance of sleep is said to be 7 to 8 hours except in advanced age
\nwhen it is said to be less. If one takes less (5 to 6 for instance) the body
\naccommodates itself somehow, but if the control is taken off it immediately
\nwants to make up for its lost arrears of the normal 8 hours. So often when one
\nhas tried to live on too little food, if one relaxes, the body becomes
\nenormously rapacious for food until it has set right the credit and loss
\naccount. At least it often happens like that.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n⁂<\/font><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

It
\nis not possible to do at once what you like with the body. If the body is told
\nto sleep only 2 or 3 hours, it may follow if the will is strong enough − but
\nafterwards it may get exceedingly strained and even break down for want of
\nneeded rest. The yogis who minimise their sleep succeed only after a long
\ntapasya in which they learn how to control the forces of Nature governing the
\nbody.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n⁂<\/font><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Both
\nfor fevers and for mental trouble sleep is a great help and its absence very
\nundesirable\u2014it is the loss of a curative agency. <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n⁂<\/font><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\nPage ─ 1477<\/span><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n
\n

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

It
\nis certain forces that work and certain parts of the personality that use them.
\nIn the ordinary consciousness, these part-personalities are veiled and the
\nforces limited by the external mind, but when one gets behind the veil that
\nlimitation disappears, the action of the forces enlarges and works out
\nautomatically what has to be done. <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

But then these forces are each intent on its own work and do
\nnot care for anything else − e.g., here they disregard the need of the
\nbody for rest and sleep, which is bad. The central consciousness must interfere
\nand say, \u201cno, this is the time for sleep, not for these activities, keep them
\nfor their proper place and time\u201d.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n⁂<\/font><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

It
\nis a want of sleep itself that brings the symptoms of uneasiness. The action of
\nsadhana cannot of itself bring this kind of reaction, it is only if the body
\ngets strained by want of sleep, insufficient food, overwork or nervous
\nexcitement that there are these things. It is probably because the nerves are
\nstrained in the day time and you do not relax into ease that it is difficult to
\nsleep.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n⁂<\/font><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

It
\nis restlessness in you which prevents you from keeping sleep inwardly or
\noutwardly. To sleep well the vital and physical and mind also must learn how to
\nrelax themselves and be quiet.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n⁂<\/font><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Take
\ncare to rest enough. You must guard against fatigue as it may bring relaxation
\nand tamas. To rest well is not tamas, as some people suppose; it can be done in
\nthe right consciousness to maintain the bodily energy − like the śavāsana<\/i> of the strenuous
\nHathayogin.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n⁂<\/font><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Obviously
\n− it [reading a novel before going to bed] threw you into a tamasic
\nconsciousness and consequently the sleep was <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\nPage ─ 1478<\/span><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n
\n

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

heavy
\nin a gross subconsciousness and the fatigue was the result.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n⁂<\/font><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Sleep,
\nbecause of its subconscient basis, usually brings a falling down to a lower
\nlevel, unless it is a conscious sleep; to make it more and more conscious is
\nthe one permanent remedy: but also until that is done, one should always react against
\nthis sinking tendency when one wakes and not allow the effect of dull nights to
\naccumulate. But these things need always a settled endeavour and discipline and
\nmust take time, sometimes a long time. It will not do to refrain from the
\neffort because immediate results do not appear.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n⁂<\/font><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

It
\nis not a right method to try to keep awake at night; the suppression of the
\nneeded sleep makes the body tamasic and unfit for the necessary concentration
\nduring the waking hours. The right way is to transform the sleep and not
\nsuppress it, and especially to learn how to become more and more conscious in
\nsleep itself. If that is done, sleep changes into an inner mode of
\nconsciousness in which the sadhana can continue as much as in the waking state,
\nand at the same time one is able to enter
\ninto other planes of consciousness than the physical and command an immense
\nrange of informative and utilisable experience.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n⁂<\/font><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

What
\nhe is having now are the true spiritual and psychic experiences − not
\nthose of the vital plane which most have at the beginning. The experiences of
\nthe vital plane (in which there is much imagination and fantasy) are useful for
\nopening up the consciousness; but it is when they are replaced by the spiritual
\nand psychic consciousness that there is the beginning of the true progress.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

The difficulty of keeping the consciousness at night happens
\nto most − it is because the night is the time of sleep and <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\nPage ─ 1479<\/span><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n
\n

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

relaxation
\nand the subconscient comes up. The true consciousness comes at first in the
\nwaking state or in meditation, it takes possession of the mental, the vital,
\nthe conscious physical, but the subconscious vital and physical remain obscure
\nand this obscurity comes up when there is sleep or an inert relaxation. When
\nthe subconscient is enlightened and penetrated by the true consciousness this
\ndisparity disappears.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

The Pishachic woman that tried to enter is the false vital
\nimpure Shakti\u2014and the voice that spoke was that of his psychic being. If he
\nkeeps his psychic being awake and in front, it will always protect him against
\nthese dark forces as it did this time.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n⁂<\/font><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

You
\nmust not try to avoid sleep at night − if you persist in doing that, the
\nbad results may not appear immediately, but the body will get strained and
\nthere will be a breakdown which may destroy what you have gained in your
\nsadhana. <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

If you want to remain conscious at night, train yourself to make your
\nsleep conscious − not to eliminate sleep altogether, but to transform it.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n⁂<\/font><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Sleep
\ncannot be replaced, but it can be changed; for you can become conscious in
\nsleep. If you are thus conscious, then the night can be utilised for a higher
\nworking − provided the body gets its due rest; for the object of sleep is
\nthe body’s rest and the renewal of the vital-physical force. It is a mistake to
\ndeny to the body food and sleep, as some from an ascetic idea or impulse want
\nto do − that only wears out the physical support and although either the
\nyogic or the vital energy can long keep at work an overstrained or declining
\nphysical system, a time comes when this drawing is no longer so easy nor
\nperhaps possible. The body should be given what it needs for its own efficient
\nworking. Moderate but sufficient food (without greed or desire), sufficient
\nsleep, but not of the heavy tamasic kind, this should be the rule.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n⁂<\/font><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\nPage ─ 1480<\/span><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n
\n

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

There
\nis no reason at all why intensity of sadhana should bring insufficient sleep.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n⁂<\/font><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Sadhana
\ncan go on in the dream or sleep state as well as in the waking.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n⁂<\/font><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

All
\ndream or sleep consciousness cannot be converted at once into conscious
\nsadhana. That has to be done progressively. But your power of conscious samadhi
\nmust increase before this can be done.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n⁂<\/font><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

The
\nsleep consciousness can be effectively dealt with only when the waking mind has
\nmade a certain amount of progress.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n⁂<\/font><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

It
\nis usually only if there is much activity of sadhana in the day that it extends
\nalso into the sleep-state.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n⁂<\/font><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Once
\none is in full sadhana, sleep becomes as much a part of it as waking.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n⁂<\/font><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

That
\nis all right. It shows that the sadhana is becoming continuous and that you are
\nbeing conscious and using a conscious will in sleep as well as in waking. This
\nis a very important stage forward in the sadhana.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n⁂<\/font><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

At
\nnight when one sinks into the subconscient after being in a good state of consciousness
\nwe find that state gone and we have to labour to get it back again. On the
\nother hand, if the sleep is <\/p>\n

\n <\/p>\n

\nPage ─ 1481<\/span><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n
\n

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

of
\nthe better kind one may wake up in a good condition. Of course, it is better to
\nbe conscious in sleep, if one can.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n⁂<\/font><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

The
\ngap made by the night and waking with the ordinary consciousness is the case
\nwith everybody almost (of course, the \u201cordinary\u201d consciousness differs
\naccording to the progress); but it is no use wanting to be conscious in sleep;
\nyou have to get the habit of getting back the thread of the progress as soon as
\nmay be and for that there must be some concentration after rising.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

You need not meditate at once [after waking in the morning] −
\nbut for a few moments take a concentrated attitude calling the Mother’s
\npresence for the day.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

At night, you have to pass into sleep in the concentration
\n− you must be able to concentrate with the eyes closed, lying down and
\nthe concentration must deepen into sleep − that is to say, sleep must
\nbecome a concentrated going inside away from the outer waking state. If you
\nfind it necessary to sit for a time you may do so, but afterwards lie down
\nkeeping the concentration till this happens.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n⁂<\/font><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

[To
\nbe conscious in sleep:] You have to start by concentrating before you sleep
\nalways with a specific will or aspiration. The will or aspiration may take time
\nto reach the subconscient, but if it is sincere, strong and steady, it does
\nreach after a time − so that an automatic consciousness and will are
\nestablished in the sleep itself which will do what is necessary.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n⁂<\/font><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

It
\nwas not half sleep or quarter sleep or even one-sixteenth sleep that you had;
\nit was a going inside of the consciousness, which in that state remains
\nconscious but shut to outer things and open only to inner experience. You must
\ndistinguish clearly between these two quite different conditions, one is nidrā<\/i>, the other, the <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\nPage ─ 1482<\/span><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n
\n

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

beginning
\nat least of samādhi<\/i> (not nirvikalpa<\/i>, of course!). This drawing
\ninside is necessary because the active mind of the human being is at first too
\nmuch turned to outward things; it has to go inside altogether in order to live
\nin the inner being (inner mind, inner vital, inner physical, psychic). But with
\ntraining one can arrive at a point when one remains outwardly conscious and yet
\nlives in the inner being and has at will the indrawn or the outpoured
\ncondition; you can then have the same dense immobility and the same inpouring
\nof a greater and purer consciousness in the waking state as in that which you erroneously
\ncall sleep.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n⁂<\/font><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

You
\nare more conscious in your sleep than in your waking condition. This is because
\nof the physical consciousness which is not yet sufficiently open; it is only
\njust beginning to open. In your sleep the inner being is active and the psychic
\nthere can influence more actively the mind and vital. When the physical
\nconsciousness is spiritually awake, you will no longer feel the trouble and
\nobstruction you now have and will be as open in the waking consciousness as in
\nsleep.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

This is the right attitude to have faith and not mind the
\ndifficulties. Difficulties − and serious ones − there cannot fail
\nto be in the path of yoga, because it is not easy to change all at once the
\nignorant human consciousness and make it a spiritual consciousness open to the
\nDivine. But with faith one need not mind the difficulties; the Divine Force is
\nthere and will overcome them.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n⁂<\/font><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

The
\nsleep you describe in which there is a luminous silence or else the sleep in
\nwhich there is Ananda in the cells, these are obviously the best states. The
\nother hours, those of which you are unconscious, may be spells of a deep
\nslumber in which you have got out of the physical into the mental, vital or
\nother planes. You say you were unconscious, but it may simply be that you do
\nnot remember what happened; for in coming back there is a sort of turning over
\nof the consciousness, a transition or reversal, <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\nPage ─ 1483<\/span><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n
\n

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

in
\nwhich everything experienced in sleep except perhaps the last happening of all
\nor else one that was very impressive, recedes from the physical consciousness
\nand all becomes as if a blank. There is another blank state, a state of
\ninertia, not only blank, but heavy and unremembering; but that is when one goes
\ndeeply and crassly into the subconscient; this subterranean plunge is very
\nundesirable, obscuring, lowering, often fatiguing rather than restful, the
\nreverse of the luminous silence.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n⁂<\/font><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

In
\nsleep one very commonly passes from consciousness to deeper consciousness in a
\nlong succession until one reaches the psychic and rests there or else from
\nhigher to higher consciousness until one reaches rest in some silence and
\npeace. The few minutes one passes in this rest are the real sleep which
\nrestores, − if one does not get it, there is only a half rest. It is when
\nyou come near to either of these domains of rest that you begin to see these
\nhigher kinds of dreams.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n⁂<\/font><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

According
\nto a recent medical theory one passes in sleep through many phases until one
\narrives at a state in which there is absolute rest and silence − it lasts
\nonly for ten minutes, the rest of the time is taken up by travelling to that
\nand traveling back again to the waking state. I suppose the ten minutes sleep
\ncan be called suśupti<\/i> in the
\nBrahman or Brahmaloka, the rest is svapna<\/i>
\nor passage through other worlds (planes or states of conscious existence). It
\nis these ten minutes that restore the energies of the being, and without it
\nsleep is not refreshing.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

According to the Mother’s experience and knowledge one
\npasses from waking through a succession of states of sleep consciousness which
\nare in fact an entry and passage into so many worlds and arrives at a pure
\nSachchidananda state of complete rest, light and silence, − afterwards
\none retraces one’s way till one reaches the waking physical state. It is this\u00a0 <\/span>Sachchidananda period that gives sleep all
\nits restorative value. These two <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\nPage ─ 1484<\/span><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n
\n

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

accounts,
\nthe scientific and the occult-spiritual, are practically identical with each
\nother. But the former is only a recent discovery of what the occult-spiritual
\nknowledge knew long ago.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

People’s ideas of sound sleep are absolutely erroneous. What
\nthey call sound sleep is merely a plunge of the outer consciousness into a complete
\nsubconscience. They call that a dreamless sleep; but it is only a state in
\nwhich the surface sleep consciousness which is a subtle prolongation of the
\nouter still left active in sleep itself is unable to record the dreams and
\ntransmit them to the physical mind. As a matter of fact the whole sleep is full
\nof dreams. It is only during the brief time in which one is in the Brahmaloka
\nthat the dreams cease.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n⁂<\/font><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

A
\nlong unbroken sleep is necessary because there are just ten minutes of the
\nwhole into which one enters into a true rest − a sort of Sachchidananda
\nimmobility of consciousness\u2014and that it is which really restores the system.
\nThe rest of the time is spent first in travelling through various states of
\nconsciousness towards that and then coming out of it back towards the waking
\nstate. This fact of the ten minutes true rest has been noted by medical men,
\nbut of course they know nothing about Sachchidananda! <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

VII<\/b> <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

All
\nsleep is full of dreams. Why should night or day make any difference?<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n⁂<\/font><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

The
\nconsciousness in the night almost always descends below the level of what one
\nhas gained by sadhana in the waking consciousness, unless there are special
\nexperiences of an uplifting character in the time of sleep or unless the yogic consciousness
\nacquired is so strong in the physical itself as to counteract the pull of the
\nsubconscient inertia. In ordinary sleep the consciousness in the body <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\nPage ─ 1485<\/span><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n
\n

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

is
\nthat of the subconscient physical, which is a diminished consciousness, not
\nawake and alive like the rest of the being. The rest of the being stands back
\nand part of its consciousness goes out into other planes and regions and has
\nexperiences which are recorded in dreams such as that you have related. You say
\nyou go to very bad places and have experiences like the one you narrate; but
\nthat is not a sign, necessarily, of anything wrong in you. It merely means that
\nyou go into the vital world, as everybody does, and the vital world is full of
\nsuch places and such experiences. What you have to do is not so much to avoid
\nat all going there, for it cannot be avoided altogether, but to go with full
\nprotection until you get mastery in these regions of supraphysical Nature. That
\nis one reason why you should remember the Mother and open to the Force before sleeping;
\nfor the more you get that habit and do it successfully, the more the protection
\nwill be with you.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n⁂<\/font><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

It
\nis the waking mind which thinks and wills and controls more or less the life in
\nthe waking state. In the sleep that mind is not there and there is no control.
\nIt is not the thinking mind that sees dreams etc. and is conscious in a rather
\nincoherent way in sleep. It is usually what is called the subconscient that
\ncomes up then. If the waking mind were active in the body, one would not be
\nable to sleep.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n⁂<\/font><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

You
\nare mixing up different things altogether − that is why you cannot
\nunderstand. I was simply explaining the difference between the ordinary waking
\nconsciousness and the ordinary sleep consciousness, as they work in men whether
\nsadhaks or not sadhaks − and it has nothing to do with the true self or psychic
\nbeing. Sleep and waking are determined not by the true self or psychic being,
\nbut by the mind’s waking condition or activity or its cessation − when it
\nceases for a time, then it is the subconscious that is there on the surface and
\nthere is sleep.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

That is a different matter − it is in the yogic
\nconsciousness <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\nPage ─ 1486<\/span><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n
\n

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

that
\none feels the seat of the subconscient below the feet, but the influence of the
\nsubconscious is not confined there − it is spread in the body. In the
\nwaking state it is overpowered by the conscious thinking mind and vital and
\nconscious physical mind, but in the sleep state it comes on the surface.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n⁂<\/font><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

It
\nis the subconscient that is active in the ordinary dreams. But in the dreams in
\nwhich one goes out into other planes of consciousness, mental, vital, subtle
\nphysical, it is part of the inner being, inner mental or vital or physical that
\nis usually active.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n⁂<\/font><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

These
\ndreams are not all mere dreams, all have not a casual, incoherent or
\nsubconscious building. Many are records or transcripts of experiences on the
\nvital plane into which one enters in sleep, some are scenes or events of the
\nsubtle physical plane. There one often undergoes happenings or carries on
\nactions that resemble those of the physical life with the same surroundings and
\nthe same people, though usually there is in arrangement and feature some or a
\nconsiderable difference. But it may also be a contact with other surroundings
\nand with other people, not known in the physical life or not belonging at all
\nto the physical world. <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

In the waking state you are conscious only of a certain
\nlimited field and action of your nature. In sleep you can become vividly aware
\nof things beyond this field − a larger mental or vital nature behind the
\nwaking state or else a subtle physical or a subconscient nature which contains
\nmuch that is there in you but not distinguishably active in the waking state.
\nAll these obscure tracts have to be cleared or else there can be no change of
\nPrakriti. You should not allow yourself to be disturbed by the press of vital
\nor subconscient dreams − for these two make up the larger part of
\ndream-experience − but aspire to get rid of these things and of the
\nactivities they indicate, to be conscious and reject all but the divine Truth;
\nthe more you get that Truth <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\nPage ─ 1487<\/span><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n
\n

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

and
\ncling to it in the waking state, rejecting all else, the more all this inferior
\ndream-stuff will get clear.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n⁂<\/font><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

It
\nis the condition of your consciousness I spoke of − the more conscious
\nyou become, the more you will be able to have dreams worth having.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n⁂<\/font><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Unless
\nthey are really significant dreams it [to study them] is a waste of time.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n⁂<\/font><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

You
\nseem to be attaching too much importance to dreams. Keep your waking mind and
\nvital free − you can deal afterwards with the dreams which will then be
\nonly memories from the subconscient.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n⁂<\/font><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

All
\ndreams of this kind are very obviously formations such as one often meets on
\nthe vital, more rarely on the mental plane. Sometimes they are the formations
\nof your own mind or vital; sometimes they are the formations of other minds
\nwith an exact or modified transcription in yours; sometimes formations come
\nthat are made by the non-human forces or beings of these other planes. These
\nthings are not true and need not become true in the physical world, but they
\nmay still have effects on the physical if they are framed with that purpose or
\nthat tendency and, if they are allowed, they may realise their events or their
\nmeaning − for they are most often symbolical or schematic − in the
\ninner or the outer life. The proper course with them is simply to observe and
\nunderstand and, if they are from a hostile source, reject or destroy them.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

There are other dreams that have not the same character but
\nare a representation or transcription of things that actually happen on other
\nplanes, in other worlds under other conditions than ours. There are, again,
\nsome dreams that are purely symbolic <\/p>\n

\n <\/p>\n

\nPage ─ 1488<\/span><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n
\n

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

and
\nsome that indicate existing movements and propensities in us, whether familiar
\nor undetected by the waking mind, or exploit old memories or else raise up
\nthings either passively stored or still active in the subconscient, a mass of
\nvarious stuff which has to be changed or got rid of as one rises into a higher
\nconsciousness. If one learns how to interpret, one can get from dreams much
\nknowledge of the secrets of our nature and of other-nature.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n⁂<\/font><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

These
\nfigures and intimations in dream may be due to three different causes −<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

1. Beings whom you meet in the supraphysical world and who
\ninterest themselves in you.<\/p>\n

2. Forces of Nature, mind nature or vital nature, that take
\nthese human appearances and in a symbolic dream convey to you some formation of
\nthe universal Mind or Life. These messages can take the form of intimations or
\nwarnings of what is going to happen. The woman must have been such a Force of
\nNature, for her child and box are evidently symbolic − the child of some
\ncreation or formation of hers which she wanted you to accept and keep in your
\nconsciousness, the box of some habitual movements which this force also wanted
\nyou to harbour. The offer to take care of you was only a way of saying that it
\nwanted to control you. To dismiss all that was the right thing to do. <\/p>\n

3. Constructions of your own mind in the form of dreams so
\nas to convey to you intimations it had received or perceptions of some force of
\nnature which, as in the last dream, it wanted the inner being to reject.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n⁂<\/font><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

This
\nis an instance of a dream of exact physical prevision. The power to have such
\ndreams is comparatively rare, for ordinarily such previsions come in inner
\nvision but not in sleep. In dreams vital or mental formations often take shape
\nwhich sometimes fulfil themselves in essence, but not with this accuracy of
\ndetail. <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

It is only a particular class of dreams that do that
\n[indicate the exact past and the future]. Most coherent dreams are either <\/p>\n

\nPage ─ 1489<\/span><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n
\n

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

symbolic
\nor indicate things that take place in the mental or vital planes rather than on
\nthe physical. <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

This indicates a power of conscious thought-formation.
\nThoughts have an effective power − usually by creating an atmosphere or
\ntendencies − thus when one is ill, those around should not have thoughts
\nof gloomy foreboding, grief or fear, for that works against cure. But the
\ncapacity of conscious thought-formation is a special power and uncommon. It can
\nbe acquired or come of itself by sadhana.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n⁂<\/font><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Dreams
\nof this kind arise from the subconscient. It is one of the most embarrassing
\nelements of yogic experience to find how obstinately the subconscient retains
\nwhat has been settled and done with in the upper layers of the consciousness.
\nBut just for that reason these dreams are often a useful indication as they
\nenable us to pursue things to their obscure roots in this underworld and excise
\nthem. No, it does not indicate that you are taking in any part of your
\nconsciousness your present pursuit of yoga as a stopgap, but merely that old
\nvital tendencies and activities are still there in that mysterious and obscure subconscient
\nlimbo and that their ghosts can rise twittering to the surface when the
\nconscious will is in abeyance. If the dream was trivial, it would seem to show
\nthat this ghost was not a strong demon like the militant Norwegian saga
\nrevenants but a phantom from an unsubstantial Hades.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n⁂<\/font><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

It
\noften happens that when something is thrown out of the waking consciousness it
\nstill occurs in dream. This recurrence is of two kinds. One is when the thing
\nis gone, but the memory and impression of it remains in the subconscient and
\ncomes up in dream form in sleep. These subconscient dream-recurrences are of no
\nimportance; they are shadows rather than realities. The other is when dreams
\ncome in the vital to test or to show how far in some part of the inner being
\nthe old movement remains or is conquered. For in sleep the control of the
\nwaking consciousness <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\nPage ─ 1490<\/span><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n
\n

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

and
\nwill is not there. If then even in spite of that one is conscious in sleep and
\neither does not feel the old movement when the circumstances that formerly
\ncaused it are repeated in dream or else soon conquers and throws it out, then
\nit must be understood that there too the victory is won. Your dream which seems
\nto have corresponded with realities was a true experience of this kind; the old
\nmovement did come from habit, but at once you became conscious and rejected it.
\nThis is an encouraging sign and promises complete removal in a very short time.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n⁂<\/font><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Those
\ndreams which are formed from subconscient impressions arranged at haphazard
\n(subconscient mind, vital or physical) either have no significance or some
\nmeaning which is difficult to find and not very much worth knowing even if it is
\nfound. Other dreams are either simply happenings of the mental, vital or subtle
\nphysical worlds or else belong to the wider mental, vital or subtle physical
\nplanes and have a meaning which the figures of the dream are trying to
\ncommunicate.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n⁂<\/font><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

When
\none is in the physical consciousness, then the sleep is apt to be of the
\nsubconscious kind, often heavy and unrefreshing, the dreams also of the
\nsubconscient kind, incoherent and meaningless or if there is a meaning the
\ndream symbols are so confused and obscure that it is not possible to follow it.
\nIt is by bringing the Mother’s Light into the subconscient that this can be
\ndispelled and the sleep becomes restful or luminous and conscious.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n⁂<\/font><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

These
\nexperiences are normal when the inner consciousness is growing and becoming
\nmore and more the natural seat of the being − it is the spontaneous
\nintuitive knowledge of this inner consciousness which is becoming prominent in
\nplace of the ordinary reliance of the external mind on sense data and external <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\nPage ─ 1491<\/span><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n
\n

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

happenings.
\nIt is indeed the being as a whole that becomes conscious − the substance
\nof consciousness that becomes aware of things, not an outer instrumental part. <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

In the sleep part of the consciousness goes out to other
\nplanes of being and sees and experiences things there. It is quite possible for
\nthe witness consciousness to follow these happenings which usually transmit
\nthemselves in a coherent transcription to the sleeping part of the
\nconsciousness − the latter receives them and they appear as clear
\nsignificant dreams as opposed to the incoherent dreams of the subconscient. Or
\nelse the witness consciousness may feel itself there watching the happenings as
\nwell as here. This will probably develop after a while.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n⁂<\/font><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

The
\nphysical mind (or else the subconscient) almost always interferes in the dream
\nand gives its own version. It is only when there is a clear experience on the
\nmental or vital plane that it does not try to interfere.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n⁂<\/font><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

They
\nare dreams of the mental and higher vital planes in which things happen with
\nanother rhythm than here and freer forces, but some of them are formative of
\nthings and events here − not that they are fulfilled exactly like
\nprophecies but they create forces for fulfilment.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n⁂<\/font><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

There
\nis no solid connection [between the waking and the dream states], but there can
\nbe a subtle one. Events of the waking state often influence the dream world,
\nprovided they have a sufficient repercussion on the mind or the vital. Formations
\nand activities of the dream planes can project something of themselves or of
\ntheir influence into the waking physical state, though they seldom reproduce
\nthemselves with any exactness there. It is only if the dream consciousness is very
\nhighly developed that one can usually see things there that are afterwards <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\nPage ─ 1492<\/span><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n
\n

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

confirmed
\nby thoughts, speech or actions of people or events in the physical world.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n⁂<\/font><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

These
\nare dreams of the vital plane in which the vital plane takes up the spiritual
\nexperience and tries to turn it into forms of ego with a suggestion afterwards
\nof loss of power and of consciousness and a fall. You should attach no
\nimportance to these dreams except as an indication of nature in the sleeping
\nstate.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n⁂<\/font><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

They
\nsimply mean that when they come back, they are not conscious of having dreamed.
\nIn the sleep the consciousness goes into other planes and has experiences there
\nand when these are translated perfectly or imperfectly by the physical mind,
\nthey are called dreams. All the time of sleep such dreams take place, but
\nsometimes one remembers and at other times does not at all remember. Sometimes
\nalso one goes low down into the subconscient and the dreams are there, but so deep
\ndown that when one comes out there is not even the consciousness that one had
\ndreamed.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n⁂<\/font><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

The
\nalternation of quiet and much speaking is natural when the physical being is
\nbeing worked upon from within. When the sleep is more awake, so to say, then
\none has dreams of all kinds; when there is no such awareness of dreams, it is
\nbecause the sleep of the body is more deep, − the dreams are there but
\nthe body consciousness does not note them or remember that it had them.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n⁂<\/font><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

It
\ndepends on the connection between the two states of consciousness at the time
\nof waking. Usually there is a turn over of the consciousness in which the
\ndream-state disappears more or less abruptly, effacing the fugitive impression
\nmade by the dream events (or rather their transcription) on the physical <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\nPage ─ 1493<\/span><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n
\n

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

sheath.
\nIf the waking is more composed (less abrupt) or, if the impression is very
\nstrong, then the memory remains at least of the last dream. In the last case
\none may remember the dream for a long time, but usually after getting up the
\ndream memories fade away. Those who want to remember their dreams sometimes
\nmake a practice of lying quiet and tracing backwards, recovering the dreams one
\nby one. When the dream-state is very light, one can remember more dreams than when
\nit is heavy.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n⁂<\/font><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

The
\nsubconscient [during sleep] remains in the body. The being really goes out into
\ndifferent planes of consciousness, but its experiences are not kept in the
\nmemory, because the recording consciousness is too submerged to carry the
\nrecord to the waking mind.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n⁂<\/font><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Yes,
\ncertainly, dream experiences can have a great value in them and convey truths
\nthat are not so easy to get in the waking state.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

It often happens like that. There is a change or reversal of
\nthe consciousness that takes place and the dream consciousness in disappearing
\ntakes away its scenes and experiences with it. This can sometimes be avoided by
\nnot coming out abruptly into the waking state or getting up quickly, but
\nremaining quiet for a time to see if the memory remains or comes back.
\nOtherwise the physical memory has to be taught to remember.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n⁂<\/font><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Most
\npeople move most in the vital in sleep because it is the nearest to the
\nphysical and easiest to remain. One does enter the higher planes but either the
\ntransit there is brief or one does not remember. For in returning to the waking
\nconsciousness it is again through the lower vital and subtle physical that one
\npasses and as these are the last dreams they are more easily remembered. The
\nother dreams are remembered only if (1) they are strongly impressed on the
\nrecording consciousness, (2) one <\/p>\n

\n <\/p>\n

\nPage <\/span>
\n─<\/span> 1494<\/span><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n
\n

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

wakes
\nimmediately after one of them, (3) one has learned to be conscious in sleep,
\ni.e. follows consciously the passage from plane to plane. Some train themselves
\nto remember by remaining without moving when they wake and following back the thread
\nof the dreams.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n⁂<\/font><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

The
\nexpression was of the psychic plane − and the music was of that domain.
\nVery often coming out of a conscious sleep like that the inner consciousness
\n(which heard the music) lasts for a few seconds even after waking, before it goes
\nback and is entirely covered by the waking mind. In that case what was heard or
\nseen in sleep would continue for those few seconds after waking. <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n⁂<\/font><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

In
\ndreams on the vital plane there is always a deviation from the norm of the
\nphysical fact − sometimes this is because of the free play in the vital,
\nbut at others it is only a fantasy of formation either in the vital itself or
\nin the subconscient mind which transcribes the incidents of the dream and
\nsometimes alters them by contributions of its own.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n⁂<\/font><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

The
\npeople of dream are very often different from the people of actuality.
\nSometimes it is the real man who comes on another plane − sometimes it is
\na thought, force etc. that put on his appearance by some trick of association
\nor other reason.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n⁂<\/font><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

That
\nis unlike many others a symbol dream on the vital plane. But it is difficult to
\ninterpret these vital symbolic dreams unless they offer their own clue − they
\nare a sort of hieroglyph in their forms. Once one gets the clue some of them
\ncan be very significant − others of course are rather trivial. <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n⁂<\/font><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\nPage ─ 1495<\/span><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n
\n

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

It
\nis a very small number of dreams that can be so explained [that they arise by
\nexternal stimuli] and in many cases the explanation is quite arbitrary or
\ncannot be proved. A much larger number of dreams arise from subconscient
\nimpressions of the past without any stimulus from outside. These are the dreams
\nfrom the subconscient which are the bulk of those remembered by people who live
\nin the external mind mostly. There are also the dreams that are renderings of
\nvital movements and tendencies habitual to the nature, personal formations of
\nthe vital plane. But when one begins to live within then the dreams are often
\ntranscriptions of one’s experiences on the vital plane and beyond that there is
\na large field of symbolic and other dreams which have nothing to do with
\nmemory. Of course it has been proved that a very long and circumstantial dream
\ncan happen in a second or two, so that objection to Bergson’s statement does
\nnot stand. But there are also prophetic dreams and many others. Memory holds
\ntogether the experiences but it is absurd to identify consciousness (even in the
\nrestricted European idea of consciousness) with memory. This theory of memory
\nis part of Bergson’s fundamental idea that Time is everything. As for spirituelle<\/i> in Europe
\nmostly no distinction is made between the spiritual and the mental or vital.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n⁂<\/font><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

A
\ngreat many people have these dreams. It is the vital being that goes out in
\nsleep and moves about in the vital worlds and has this sense of floating in the
\nair in its own (vital) body. The waves of a sea having the colour of lightning
\nmust have been the atmosphere of some vital province. I have known of some
\nsadhaks, when they go at first out of the body in a more conscious way,
\nthinking they have actually levitated, the vividness of the movement is so
\nintense, but it is simply the vital body going out.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n⁂<\/font><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

The
\ndreams are experiences on the vital plane, actual contacts with myself and the
\nMother in your inner being, not symbolic <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\nPage ─ 1496<\/span><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n
\n

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

though
\nthey may have symbolic elements, but expressing relations, influences or mutual
\nworkings of our consciousness with yours. The second dream has symbolic
\nelements. The ladder is of course a symbol of an ascent from one stage to
\nanother. The snake indicates an energy, sometimes a good one, more often a bad
\none (vital or hostile). It may be that the energy was quiescent and therefore
\nnot alarming, but by touching it to see how it was you awoke it and you found
\nit was something not safe to handle. There is no clear indication what this
\nenergy was. These dream-experiences do not depend on the waking thoughts as do
\nordinary subconscient dreams which are dreams only and not experiences. They
\nhave a life, a structure, an arrangement and forms and meanings of their own;
\nbut they are often connected with the inner condition and experiences or movements
\nof the sadhana. It is not clear whether the flower-incident was symbolic or
\nonly something that happened on the inner plane. It might have been possible to
\nsay if it had been indicated what flower it actually was that you had given.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

These bad conditions are a lapse (often due to a very slight
\ncause) from the inner poise to the outer consciousness. When they happen do not
\nget affected, but remain quiet, call the Mother and get back inward.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n⁂<\/font><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

The
\ndreams you describe are very clearly symbolic dreams on the vital plane. These
\ndreams may symbolise anything, forces at play, the underlying structure and
\ntissue of things done or experienced, actual or potential happenings, real or
\nsuggested movements or changes in the inner or outer nature.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

The timidity of which the apprehension in the dream was an
\nindication, was probably not anything in the conscious mind or higher vital,
\nbut something subconscient in the lower vital nature. This part always feels
\nitself small and insignificant and has very easily a fear of being submerged by
\nthe greater consciousness − a fear which in some may amount at the first contact
\nto something like a panic, alarm or terror. <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n⁂<\/font><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\nPage ─ 1497<\/span><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n
\n

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

These
\nare experiences of the vital plane; they have a meaning if one knows how to
\ninterpret them. This one indicates the possibility of strong attacks on the
\nvital plane, but at the same time promises protection. These are formations of
\nthe vital plane, sometimes things that try to happen but not necessarily
\neffective. One can observe and understand, but not allow them to influence the
\nmind; for often adverse forces try to influence the mind by suggestion through
\nthese dream experiences.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n⁂<\/font><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

I
\nsaid this dream was an actual happening on the vital plane, not a formation. If
\nsomebody attacks you in the street, that is not a formation. But if somebody
\nhypnotises you and suggests that you are ill − that suggestion is a
\nformation put in by the hypnotiser.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n⁂<\/font><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

These
\nare dreams of the vital plane − they have probably some reference to
\nsomething going on in your vital, but these dreams cannot be precisely
\ninterpreted unless there is either a clue that is clear on the surface or else
\nyou yourself can relate it to something in your experience of which you are
\naware. The images of the ascent and the coming down of water (consciousness or
\nsome other gift from above) are frequent and the general meaning is always the
\nsame − but the precise significance here is not clear.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n⁂<\/font><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

It
\nis a dream of the vital plane. In these dreams the figures of the physical life
\ntake another form and meaning and the consciousness that lives and acts among
\nthem is not the outer physical consciousness but some inner vital part of the
\nbeing. The insurrection of the French soldiers is a figure of some disturbance
\non the vital plane which wants to happen and affect the inner life. The import
\nof the dream is the readiness of the vital inner consciousness to put its
\nreliance on the Mother and <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\nPage ─ 1498<\/span><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n
\n

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

take
\nrefuge in her against all possible disturbances or perils of the inner life.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n⁂<\/font><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Yes,
\nyour feeling about the protection is perfectly true. <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

The dream about X and going to the Mother was an experience
\nof something that took place on the vital plane. Things happen there that have
\nsome connection with the nature and life here, but they happen differently
\nbecause there it is not the physical beings that meet, but the vital beings of
\npeople. One can gather what is the nature of one’s own inner vital being −
\nwhich is often very different from the physical personality that acts in front
\nin the body. By the acting of the consciousness in these dreams the inner parts
\nof the being begin to be more active and have more influence on the outer nature.
\nYour inner vital being seems from the dream experiences that you have related
\nto be very strong, faithful, clear-minded, resolute, able to deal with the
\nhostile forces and their activities in the right way and do the right thing. <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

The sensation of going somewhere means that part of the
\nconsciousness is going into some other plane than the physical. The men you saw
\nand also the vision that came afterwards belonged to these supraphysical
\nworlds. The vision seems to be symbolic of something from above, but of what is
\nnot quite clear from the details. Gold is the colour of the Truth that comes
\nfrom above.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n⁂<\/font><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

The
\nphysical is not the only world; there are others that we become aware of
\nthrough dream records, through the subtle senses, through influences and
\ncontacts, through imagination, intuition and vision. There are worlds of a
\nlarger subtler life than ours, vital worlds; worlds in which Mind builds its
\nown forms and figures, mental worlds; psychic worlds which are the soul’s home;
\nothers above with which we have little contact. In each of us there is a mental
\nplane of consciousness, a psychic, a vital, a subtle physical as well as the
\ngross physical and material plane. The same planes are repeated in the consciousness
\nof <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\nPage ─ 1499<\/span><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n
\n

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

general
\nNature. It is when we enter or contact these other planes that we come into
\nconnection with the worlds above the physical. In sleep we leave the physical
\nbody, only a subconscient residue remaining, and enter all planes and all sorts
\nof worlds. In each we see scenes, meet beings, share in happenings, come across
\nformations, influences, suggestions which belong to these planes. Even when we
\nare awake, part of us moves in these planes, but their activity goes on behind
\nthe veil; our waking minds are not aware of it. Dreams are often only
\nincoherent constructions of our subconscient, but others are records (often
\nmuch mixed and distorted) or transcripts of experiences in these supraphysical
\nplanes. When we do sadhana, this kind of dream becomes very common; then
\nsubconscious dreams cease to predominate. <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

The forces and beings of the vital world have a great
\ninfluence on human beings. The vital world is on one side a world of beauty, −
\nthe poet, artist, musician are in close contact with it; it is also a world of
\npowers and passions, lusts and desires, − our own lusts and desires, and
\npassions and ambitions can put us into connection with the vital worlds and
\ntheir forces and beings. It is again a world of things dark, dangerous and
\nhorrible. Nightmares like X’s are contacts with this side of the vital plane.
\nIts influences are also the source of much in men that is demoniac, dirty,
\ncruel and base. <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

This experience of X is a contact with something on the
\nwrong side of the vital plane. Her visions of gods, goddesses, etc., are vital
\nworld experiences on the other side. This one is an attempt of some vital force
\nto get some kind of control on her acting on her through her fear. If she were
\nnot afraid, it could not invade her. If she suffers in her waking hours from desires
\nor despondencies and depressions, that also would help to make her enter these
\nworlds in sleep or have a connection with them. Her experiences as you reported
\nthem showed a very great power of entry into the vital plane on the good side −
\nthese dream experiences are the other side. As they are dreams, they are not so
\ndangerous as a similar experience in meditation would be, but all the same they
\nare very undesirable. <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

If such an invasion is attempted, the one thing to do is to
\nfight it out as she did and at the same time to call the Mother. <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\nPage ─ 1500<\/span><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n
\n

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

The
\nrule should be to call the Mother before sleeping, to concentrate on her and
\ntry to feel the Mother’s protection around her and go with that into sleep. In
\nthe dream itself a habit of calling the Mother when in difficulty or peril
\nshould be formed; many sadhaks do it. Not to allow the invasion, any invasion
\nof any power or being, whether in dream, meditation or otherwise − no
\nforce except the Divine Force, means to reject it, never to give assent,
\nwhether through attention or through weakness. To cut connection can be done by
\nwill within, a will of rejection, a concentration on higher things than the
\nthings of the vital plane; also by rejection of vital desires or despondencies
\nand depressions, if she has them. Let her aspire most for the higher spiritual
\nexperiences, the psychic opening, calm, peace, purity, the opening to the
\nhigher light, strength, bliss, knowledge.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

One thing, she should not lead too sequestered a life; some
\nopening on the physical world is needed, also some normal mental activities of
\na healthy character.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n⁂<\/font><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

These
\nare dreams sent from the vital world. There are three things she must develop
\nwith regard to them:<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

(1) to get the habit of calling the Mother at once in the
\ndream itself;<\/p>\n

(2) not to fear − if one does not fear, these other
\nworld forces become helpless;<\/p>\n

(3) to put no belief in the reality of such formations and
\nregard them only as suggestions put into form, just as one gets a frightful
\nimagination of this or that happening but the reason knows it to be a mere work
\nof imagination and is not moved by it.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n⁂<\/font><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Your
\nexperience of the peace in the body was a very good one. As for the bad dream,
\nit was a hostile formation from the vital world − a suggestion in a dream
\nform intended to upset you. These things should be dismissed − you should
\nsay in yourself \u201cIt is false − no such thing can happen\u201d and throw it
\naway as
\n <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\nPage ─ 1501<\/span><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n
\n

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

you
\nwould a wrong suggestion in the waking state.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n⁂<\/font><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

These
\nthings that come to frighten you are merely impressions thrown on you by small
\nvital forces which want to prevent you (by making you nervous) pushing on the
\nsadhana. They can really do nothing to you, only you must reject all fear. Keep
\nalways this thought when these things come \u201cThe Mother’s protection is with me,
\nnothing bad can happen\u201d, − for when there is the psychic opening and one
\nputs one’s faith in the Mother, that is sufficient to ward these things off.
\nMany sadhaks learn, when they have alarming dreams, to call the Mother’s name
\nin the dream itself and then the things that menace them become helpless or
\ncease. You must therefore refuse to be intimidated and reject these impressions
\nwith contempt. If there is anything frightening, call down the Mother’s
\nprotection. <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

The heat you felt was probably due to some difficulty in the
\nforce coming down below the centre between the eyes where it has been working
\nup till now. When such sensations or the unease you once felt or similar things
\ncome, you must not be alarmed, but remain quiet and let the difficulty pass.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

What you had before that, the moonlight in the forehead was
\nthis working on the centre there between the eyebrows, the centre of the inner
\nmind, will and vision. The moonlight you saw is the light of spirituality and
\nit was this that was entering into your mind through the centre, with the
\neffect of the widening in the heart like a sky filled with moonlight. Afterwards
\ncame some endeavour to prepare the lower part of the mind whose centre is in
\nthe throat and join it with the inner mind and make it open; but there was some
\ndifficulty, as is very usually the case, which caused the heat. It was probably
\nthe fire of tapas, Agni, trying to open the way to this centre.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

The experience of being taken up into the sky is a very
\ncommon one and it means an ascent of the consciousness into a higher world of
\nlight and peace.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

The idea that you must go more and more within and turn
\nwholly to the Mother is quite right. It is when there is no <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\nPage ─ 1502<\/span><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n
\n

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

attachment
\nto outward things for their own sake and all is only for the Mother and the
\nlife through the inner psychic being is centred in her that the best condition
\nis created for the spiritual realisation.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n⁂<\/font><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

The
\ndream was of a kind one often has in the vital plane − in which one gets
\ninto inextricable difficulties till suddenly one finds the way out. Gujerat in
\nthe dream was not Gujerat, but only a symbol of one part of the vital world
\nwhich is opposed to the spiritual life and full of vital powers that come in
\nthe way either by fraud or by force. These dreams are indications of certain
\nparts of vital nature (not one’s own, but the general vital Nature) which stand
\nin the way of spiritual fulfilment. When one goes there and masters them, then
\none is free from any intervention of these parts of Nature in the sadhana.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n⁂<\/font><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

These
\ndreams are quite symbolical of the vital forces that come and attack you. If
\nyou face them with courage they are reduced to helplessness. I don’t think that
\nit is at all your father and brother that you meet − although something
\nof their hostile feelings may be taken advantage of by those forces to take
\ntheir figures − also they may do it in order to create sympathy in you
\nand prevent you from acting against them. But apart from that the figures of
\nthe physical mother and father and relatives are very often symbolical of the
\nphysical or the hereditary nature or generally of the ordinary nature in which we
\nare born.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n⁂<\/font><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

In
\nthese dreams the parents or relatives mean the ordinary forces of the physical
\nconsciousness (the old nature).<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n⁂<\/font><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

These
\ndreams are of the vital plane. Those about going home <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\nPage ─ 1503<\/span><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n
\n

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

come
\nfrom a part of the vital which still keeps the memory of the past relations and
\ngoes there during the sleep. The dreams\u00a0 <\/span>about
\nthe Mother record meetings with her on the vital plane. For the first you
\nshould throw them away when you awake and not let your vital keep their
\nimpress. The experiences you had there (of the Mother coming in the heart and
\ntelling you) were psychic in character, not of the vital dream kind. <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

The difficulty you have in sadhana may come from the vital
\nor physical mind becoming active. That often happens after the first
\nexperiences of calm and silence. One has to detach oneself from these
\nactivities in meditation as a witness and call down the original calm into
\nthese parts also. But this may take time. If one can in meditation sufficiently
\nisolate oneself from the surroundings and go inside, the quietude comes more
\nquickly.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n⁂<\/font><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

When
\nyou practise yoga, the consciousness opens and you become aware − especially
\nin sleep − of things, scenes, beings, happenings of other (not physical)
\nworlds and yourself in sleep go there and act there. Very often these things
\nhave an importance for the sadhana. So you need not regret seeing all this when
\nyou sleep or meditate.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

But in no case should you fear. The fact that you were able
\nto destroy the beings that fought with you (these were beings of a hostile
\nvital world) is very good, for it shows that in your vital nature somewhere
\nthere is strength and courage. Moreover, using the Mother’s name and having her
\nprotection, you should fear nothing.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n⁂<\/font><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

The
\nrunning away [in dream] is a symbol of the inertia in part of the being which
\nallows the forces to invade, drawing back from them and losing ground instead
\nof facing and destroying them.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n⁂<\/font><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

It
\nis evident that X’s experience was only what is called a <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\nPage ─ 1504<\/span><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n
\n

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

nightmare
\n− an attack in sleep from some force of the vital world, to which he
\nprobably opened himself in some way, it may be by answering to the man from the
\nstreet who carried the worst vital atmosphere around him. The figure of the
\nwoman was only a form given by his subconscient mind to this force. These
\nforces are around everywhere, not only in one particular room or house, and if
\none opens the door to them, they come in wherever you are. It would have no
\nimportance but for the nervous reaction of irrational terror indulged in by X.
\nOne who wants to do sadhana has no business to indulge in such panics; it is a
\nweakness incompatible with the demands of the yoga and, if one cannot throw it
\naside, it is safer not to try the yoga.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n⁂<\/font><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

The
\ndepression coming on you in sleep must have been due to one of two causes. It
\nmight have been the trace left by an unpleasant experience in some disagreeable
\nquarter of the vital worlds, and there are places in plenty of that kind there.
\nIt can hardly have been an attack, for that would surely have left a more
\ndistinct impression of something having happened, even if there was no actual
\nmemory of it; but merely to enter into certain places or meet their inhabitants
\nor enter into contact with their atmosphere can have, unless one is a born
\nfighter and takes an aggressive pleasure in facing and conquering these
\nordeals, a depressing and exhausting effect. If that is the cause, then it is a
\nquestion of either avoiding these places, which can be done by an effort of
\nwill, once one knows that it is this which happens, or putting around you a special
\nprotection against the touch of that atmosphere. The other possible cause is a
\nplunge into a too obscure and subconscient sleep − that has sometimes the
\neffect you describe. In any case, do not allow yourself to be discouraged when these
\nthings happen; they are common phenomena one cannot fail to meet with as soon
\nas one begins to penetrate behind the veil and touch the occult causes of the
\npsychological happenings within us. One has to learn the causes, note and face the
\ndifficulty and always react − never accept the depression thrown on one,
\nbut react as you did the first time. <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\nPage ─ 1505<\/span><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n
\n

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

If
\nthere are always forces around which are concerned to depress and discourage,
\nthere are always forces above and around us which we can draw upon, − draw
\ninto ourselves to restore, to fill up again with strength and faith and joy and
\nthe power that perseveres and conquers. It is really a habit that one has to
\nget of opening to these helpful forces and either passively receiving them or
\nactively drawing upon them − for one can do either. It is easier if you
\nhave the conception of them above and around you and the faith and the will to
\nreceive them − for that brings the experience and concrete sense of them
\nand the capacity to receive at need or at will. It is a question of habituating
\nyour consciousness to get into touch and keep in touch with these helpful
\nforces − and for that you must accustom yourself to reject the
\nimpressions forced on you by the others, depression, self-distrust, repining
\nand all similar disturbances.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

As for the actual mastery of a situation by occult powers,
\nit can only come by use and experiment − as one develops strength by
\nexercises or develops a process in the laboratory by finding out through the
\nactual use of a power how it can and ought to be applied to the field in which
\nit operates. It is of no use waiting for the strength before one tries; the
\nstrength will come with repeated trials. Neither must you fear failure or be
\ndiscouraged by failure − for these things do not always succeed at once.
\nThese are things one has to learn by personal experiences, how to get into
\ntouch with the cosmic forces, how to relate or equate our individual action
\nwith theirs, how to become an instrument of the Master Consciousness which we
\ncall the Divine.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

There is something a little too personal in your attitude
\n− I mean the insistence on personal strength or weakness as the determining
\nfactor. After all, for the greatest as for the smallest of us our strength is
\nnot our own but given to us for the game that has to be played, the work that
\nwe have to do. The strength may be formed in us, but its present formation is
\nnot final, − neither formation of power nor formation of weakness. At any
\nmoment the formation may change − at any moment one sees, especially
\nunder the pressure of yoga, weakness changing into power, the incapable
\nbecoming capable, suddenly or slowly the instrumental consciousness rising to a
\nnew stature or developing <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\nPage ─ 1506<\/span><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n
\n

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

its
\nlatent powers. Above us, within us, around us is the All-Strength and it is
\nthat that we have to rely on for our work, our development, our transforming
\nchange. If we proceed with the faith in the work, in our instrumentality for
\nthe work, in the Power that missions us, then in the very act of trial, of
\nfacing and surmounting difficulties and failures, the strength will come and we
\nshall find our capacity to contain as much as we need of the All-Strength of
\nwhich we grow more and more perfect vessels. <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

VIII<\/b> <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

The
\nwhole principle of this yoga is to give oneself entirely to the Divine alone
\nand to nobody and nothing else, and to bring down into ourselves by union with
\nthe Divine Mother-Power all the transcendent light, force, wideness, peace,
\npurity, truth-consciousness and Ananda of the supramental Divine. In this yoga,
\ntherefore, there can be no place for vital relations or interchanges with
\nothers; any such relation or interchange immediately ties down the soul to the
\nlower consciousness and its lower nature, prevents the true and full union with
\nthe Divine and hampers both the ascent to the supramental Truth-consciousness
\nand the descent of the supramental Ishwari Shakti. Still worse would it be if
\nthis interchange took the form of a sexual relation or a sexual enjoyment, even
\nif kept free from any outward act; therefore these things are absolutely
\nforbidden in the sadhana. It goes without saying that any physical act of the
\nkind is not allowed; but also any subtler form is ruled out. It is only after
\nbecoming one with the supramental Divine that we can find our true spiritual relations
\nwith others in the Divine; in that higher unity this kind of gross lower vital
\nmovement can have no place.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

To master the sex-impulse, − to become so much master
\nof the sex-centre that the sexual energy would be drawn upwards, not thrown
\noutwards and wasted − it is so indeed that the force in the seed can be
\nturned into a primal physical energy supporting all the others, retas<\/i> into ojas<\/i>. But no error can be<\/p>\n

\n <\/p>\n

\nPage ─ 1507<\/span><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n
\n

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

more
\nperilous than to accept the immixture of the sexual desire and some kind of
\nsubtle satisfaction of it and look on this as a part of the sadhana. It would
\nbe the most effective way to head straight towards spiritual downfall and throw
\ninto the atmosphere forces that would block the supramental descent, bringing
\ninstead the descent of adverse vital powers to disseminate disturbance and
\ndisaster. This deviation must be absolutely thrown away, should it try to occur
\nand expunged from the consciousness, if the Truth is to be brought down and the
\nwork is to be done.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

          It is an error too to imagine that, although the physical
\nsexual action is to be abandoned, yet some inward reproduction of it is part of
\nthe transformation of the sex-centre. The action of the animal sex-energy in
\nNature is a device for a particular purpose in the economy of the material
\ncreation in the Ignorance. But the vital excitement that accompanies it makes
\nthe most favourable opportunity and vibration in the atmosphere for the inrush
\nof those very vital forces and beings whose whole business is to prevent the
\ndescent of the supramental Light. The pleasure attached to it is a degradation
\nand not a true form of the divine Ananda. The true divine Ananda in the
\nphysical has a different quality and movement and substance; self-existent in
\nits essence, its manifestation is dependent only on an inner union with the
\nDivine. You have spoken of Divine Love; but Divine Love, when it touches the
\nphysical, does not awaken the gross lower vital propensities; indulgence of
\nthem would only repel it and make it withdraw again to the heights from which
\nit is already difficult enough to draw it down into the coarseness of the
\nmaterial creation which it alone can transform. Seek the Divine Love through
\nthe only gate through which it will consent to enter, the gate of the psychic
\nbeing, and cast away the lower vital error. <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

The transformation of the sex-centre and its energy is
\nneeded for the physical siddhi; for this is the support in the body of all the
\nmental, vital and physical forces of the nature. It has to be changed into a
\nmass and a movement of intimate Light, creative Power, pure divine Ananda. It
\nis only the bringing down of the supramental Light, Power and Bliss into the
\ncentre that can <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Page ─ 1508<\/span><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n
\n

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

change
\nit. As to the working afterwards, it is the supramental Truth and the creative
\nvision and will of the Divine Mother that will determine it. But it will be a
\nworking of the conscious Truth, not of the Darkness and Ignorance to which
\nsexual desire and enjoyment belong; it will be a power of preservation and free
\ndesireless radiation of the life-forces and not of their throwing out and
\nwaste. Avoid he imagination that the supramental life will be only a heightened
\nsatisfaction of the desires of the vital and the body; nothing can be a greater
\nobstacle to the Truth in its descent than this hope of glorification of the
\nanimal in the human nature. Mind wants the supramental state to be a
\nconfirmation of its own cherished ideas and preconceptions; the vital wants it
\nto be a glorification of its own desires; the physical wants it to be a rich
\nprolongation of its own comforts and pleasures and habits. If it were to be
\nthat, it would be only an exaggerated and highly magnified consummation of the
\nanimal and the human nature, not a transition from the human into the Divine.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

It is dangerous to think of giving up \u201call barrier of
\ndiscrimination and defence against what is trying to descend\u201d upon you. Have
\nyou thought what this would mean if what is descending is something not in
\nconsonance with the divine Truth, perhaps even adverse? An adverse Power would
\nask no better condition for getting control over the seeker. It is only the Mother’s
\nforce and the divine Truth that one should admit without barriers. And even
\nthere one must <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

keep the power of discernment in order to detect anything
\nfalse that comes masquerading as the Mother’s force and the divine Truth, and
\nkeep too the power of rejection that will throw away all mixture. Keep faith in
\nyour spiritual destiny, draw back from error and open more the psychic being to
\nthe direct guidance of the Mother’s light and power. If the central will is
\nsincere, each recognition of a mistake can become a stepping-stone to a truer movement
\nand a higher progress.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n⁂<\/font><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

It
\nis true that the sex-centre and its reactions can be transformed <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\nPage ─ 1509<\/span><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n
\n

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

and
\nthat an Ananda from above can come down to replace the animal sex-reaction. The
\nsex-impulse is a degradation of this Ananda. But to receive this Ananda before
\nthe physical (including the physical vital) consciousness is transformed, can
\nbe dangerous; for other and lower things can take advantage and mix in it and
\nthat would disturb the whole being and might lead into a wrong road by the
\nimpression that these lower things are part of the sadhana and sanctioned from
\nabove or simply by the lower elements overpowering the true experience. In the
\nlast case the Ananda would cease and the sex-centre be possessed by the lower
\nreactions.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n⁂<\/font><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

I
\nhave stated very briefly in my previous letter my position with regard to the
\nsex-impulse and yoga. I may add here that my conclusion is not founded on any
\nmental opinion or preconceived moral idea, but on probative facts and on
\nobservation and experience. I do not deny that so long as one allows a sort of
\nseparation between inner experience and outer consciousness, the latter being
\nleft as an inferior activity controlled but not transformed, it is quite
\npossible to have spiritual experiences and make progress without any entire
\ncessation of the sex-activity. The mind separates itself from the outer vital
\n(life-parts) and the physical consciousness and lives its own inner life. But
\nonly a few can really do this with any completeness and the moment one’s
\nexperiences extend to the life-plane and the physical, sex can no longer be
\ntreated in this way. It can become at any moment a disturbing, upsetting and
\ndeforming force. I have observed that to an equal extent with ego (pride,
\nvanity, ambition) and rajasic greeds and desires it is one of the main causes
\nof the spiritual casualties that have taken place in sadhana. The attempt to
\ntreat it by detachment without complete excision breaks down; the attempt to
\nsublimate it, favoured by many modern mystics in Europe,
\nis a most rash and perilous experiment. For it is when one mixes up sex and
\nspirituality that there is the greatest havoc. Even the attempt to sublimate it
\nby turning it towards the Divine as in the Vaishnava madhura<\/i> bhāva<\/i>
\ncarries in it a serious danger, as the results of a wrong turn or use in this
\nmethod so often show. <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\nPage ─ 1510<\/span><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n
\n

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

At
\nany rate in this yoga which seeks not only the essential experience of the
\nDivine but a transformation of the whole being and nature, I have found it an
\nabsolute necessity of the sadhana to aim at a complete mastery over the
\nsex-force; otherwise the vital consciousness remains a turbid mixture, the
\nturbidity affecting the purity of the spiritualised mind and seriously hindering
\nthe upward turn of the forces of the body. This yoga demands a full ascension
\nof the whole lower or ordinary consciousness to join the spiritual above it and
\na full descent of the spiritual (eventually of the supramental) into the mind,
\nlife and body to transform it. The total ascent is impossible so long as
\nsex-desire blocks the way; the descent is dangerous so long as sex-desire is
\npowerful in the vital. For at any moment an unexcised or latent sex-desire may
\nbe the cause of a mixture which throws back the true descent and uses the
\nenergy acquired for other purposes or turns all the action of the consciousness
\ntowards wrong experience, turbid and delusive. One must, therefore, clear this
\nobstacle out of the way; otherwise there is either no safety or no free movement
\ntowards finality in the sadhana.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

The contrary opinion of which you speak may be due to the
\nidea that sex is a natural part of the human vital-physical whole, a necessity
\nlike food and sleep, and that its total inhibition may lead to unbalancing and
\nto serious disorders. It is a fact that sex suppressed in outward action but
\nindulged in other ways may lead to disorders of the system and brain troubles.
\nThat is the root of the medical theory which discourages sexual abstinence. But
\nI have observed that these things happen only when there is either secret
\nindulgence of a perverse kind replacing the normal sexual activity or else an indulgence
\nof it in a kind of subtle vital way by imagination or by an invisible vital
\ninterchange of an occult kind, − I do not think harm ever occurs when
\nthere is a true spiritual effort at mastery and abstinence. It is now held by
\nmany medical men in Europe that sexual abstinence, if it is genuine<\/i>, is beneficial; for the element in the retas<\/i> which serves the sexual act is then
\nchanged into its other element which feeds the energies of the system, mental,
\nvital and physical − and that justifies the Indian idea of Brahmacharya,
\nthe transformation of retas<\/i> into ojas<\/i> and the raising of its energies <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\nPage ─ 1511<\/span><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n
\n

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

upward
\nso that they change into a spiritual force.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

As for the method of mastery, it cannot be done by physical
\nabstinence alone\u2014it proceeds by a process of combined detachment and rejection.
\nThe consciousness stands back from the sex-impulse, feels it as not its own, as
\nsomething alien thrown on it by Nature-force to which it refuses assent or
\nidentification − each time a certain movement of rejection throws it more
\nand more outward. The mind remains unaffected; after a time the vital being
\nwhich is the chief support withdraws from it in the same way, finally the
\nphysical consciousness no longer supports it. This process continues until even
\nthe subconscient can no longer rouse it up in dream and no further movement
\ncomes from the outer Nature-force to rekindle this lower fire. This is the
\ncourse when the sex-propensity sticks obstinately; but there are some who can
\neliminate it decisively by a swift radical dropping away from the nature. That,
\nhowever, is more rare.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

It has to be said that the total elimination of the
\nsex-impulse is one of the most difficult things in sadhana and one must be
\nprepared for it to take time. But its total disappearance has been achieved and
\na practical liberation crossed only by occasional dream-movements from the
\nsubconscient is fairly common.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n⁂<\/font><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Sex
\n(occult) stands on a fair level of equality with ambition etc. from the point
\nof view of danger, only its action is usually less ostensible − i.e. the
\nHostiles don’t put it forward so openly as a thing to be followed after in the
\nspiritual life.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n⁂<\/font><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

I
\nhave not said that the sex-impulse has not been mastered in other yogas. I have
\nsaid that it is difficult to be free from it entirely and that the attempt at
\nsublimation as in the Vaishnava sadhana has its dangers. That is evidenced by
\nall one knows of what has frequently and even largely happened among the
\nVaishnavas. Transcendence and transformation are different matters. There are
\nthree kinds or stages of transformation <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\nPage ─ 1512<\/span><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n
\n

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

contemplated
\nin this sadhana, the psychic transformation, the spiritual and the supramental.
\nThe first two have been done in their own way in other yogas; the last is a new
\nendeavour. A transformation sufficient for spiritual realisation is attainable by
\nthe two former; a transformation sufficient for the divinisation of human life
\nis, in my view, not possible except by a supramental change.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n⁂<\/font><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

What
\nhas this yoga got to do with sex and sex-contact? I have told you repeatedly
\nthat sex has to be got rid of and overcome before there can be siddhi in this
\nyoga.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n⁂<\/font><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Conversion
\nis one thing and acceptance of the present forms in ordinary human nature is
\nanother. The reason given for indulging the sex-action is not at all
\nimperative. It is only a minority that is called to the strict yogic life and
\nthere will be always plenty of people who will continue the race. Certainly,
\nthe yogi has no contempt or aversion for human nature; he understands it and
\nthe place given to each of its activities with a clear and calm regard. Also,
\nif an action can be done with self-control without desire under the direction
\nof a higher consciousness, that is the better way and it can sometimes be followed
\nfor the fulfilment of the divine will in things that would not otherwise be
\nundertaken by the yogi, such as war and the destruction which accompanies war.
\nBut a too light resort to such a rule might easily be converted into a pretext
\nfor indulging the ordinary human nature.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n⁂<\/font><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

The
\nMother has already told you the truth about this idea. The idea that by fully
\nindulging the sex-hunger it will be finished and disappear for ever is a
\ndeceptive pretence held out by the vital to the mind in order to get a sanction
\nfor its desire; it has no other raison<\/i>
\nd’\u00eatre<\/i> or truth or justification. If
\nan occasional <\/p>\n

\n <\/p>\n

\nPage ─ 1513<\/span><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n
\n

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

indulgence
\nkeeps the sex-desire simmering, a full indulgence would only sink you in its
\nmire. This hunger like other hungers does not cease by temporary satiation; it
\nrevives itself after a temporary abeyance and wants again indulgence. Neither sops
\nnor gorgings are the right treatment for it. It can only go by a radical
\npsychic rejection or a full spiritual opening with the increasing descent of a
\nconsciousness that does not want it and has the truer Ananda.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n⁂<\/font><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

It
\nis not a question of fear − it is a question of choosing between the
\nDivine Peace and Ananda and the degraded pleasure of sex, between the Divine
\nand the attraction of women. Food has to be taken to support the body but
\nsex-satisfaction is not a necessity. Even for the rasa<\/i> of food it can only be harmonised with the spiritual condition
\nif all greed of food and desire of the palate disappears. Intellectual or
\naesthetic delight can also be an obstacle to the spiritual perfection if there
\nis attachment to it, although it is much nearer to the spiritual than a gross
\nuntransformed bodily appetite; in fact in order to become part of the spiritual
\nconsciousness the intellectual and aesthetic delight has also to change and
\nbecome something higher. But all things that have a rasa cannot be kept. There
\nis a rasa<\/i> in hurting and killing
\nothers, the sadistic delight, there is a rasa<\/i>
\nin torturing oneself, the masochistic delight − modern psychology is full
\nof these two. Merely having a rasa<\/i> is
\nnot a sufficient reason for keeping things as part of the spiritual life.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n⁂<\/font><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

There
\nis no \u201cdelight\u201d in the sex-affair, it is necessarily and can only be a passing
\nexcitement and pleasure which finally wears itself out with the wearing out of
\nthe body.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n⁂<\/font><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Yes,
\nit [the sex-atmosphere] has become rampant everywhere [in the modern world],
\nespecially as men no longer believe in <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\nPage ─ 1514<\/span><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n
\n

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

the
\nold moral restraints and nothing else has been substituted.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n⁂<\/font><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\nThe
\nidea of the new European mystics like Lawrence and Middleton Murry etc. is that
\nthe indulgence of sex is the appointed way to find the Overself or the Under
\nSelf, for that is what it really seems to be! X of course knows better. But if the
\npersonal Overself is all that is wanted and not the Divine, then sex and many
\nother things are permissible. One has only to realise that one is not the body,
\nnot the life, not the mind, but the Overself and then do whatever the Overself
\ntells you to do. <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n⁂<\/font><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

I
\nspoke of the personal<\/i> Overself −
\nmeaning the realisation of something in us (the Purusha) that is not the
\nPrakriti, not the movements of mind, vital or physical, but something that is
\nthe Thinker, etc. This Purusha can give assent to any movement of nature or
\nwithhold it or it can direct the Prakriti what to do or not to do. It can allow
\nit to indulge sex or withhold indulgence. It is usually the mental Purusha
\n(Manomaya Purusha) that one thus realises, but there is also the Pranamaya or vital
\nPurusha. By the word Overself they probably mean this Purusha − they take
\nit as a sort of personal Atman.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n⁂<\/font><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Oneness
\nwith all would then mean satisfying the sex instinct with all − that
\nwould be a rather startling siddhānta<\/i>,
\nthough there is something like it in the practice of Tantra of the left hand.
\nBut the left hand Tantriks are more logical than you − for why should
\noneness, if it is to justify sex-expression, support only the lighter and not
\nthe cruder forms of love-expression? But is sex really based on love or
\nsex-love based on sex-instinct? and is sex-instinct an expression of the
\nspiritual feeling of the One in all? Is it not really based on duality, except
\nwhen it simply seeks satisfaction and pleasure where there is no question of
\nlove at all? <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\nPage ─ 1515<\/span><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n
\n

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

Is
\none attracted to a woman by the sense that she is oneself or by the fact that
\nshe is somebody else attracting one by some charm or beauty which one wants to
\nenjoy or possess or simply by the fact of the difference from oneself, the fact
\nof her being a female and not a male so that the sex-instinct can find a full
\nfield there?<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n⁂<\/font><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

The
\nsex-impulse is certainly the greatest force in the vital plane; if it can be
\nsublimated and turned upwards, ojas is created which is a great help to the
\nattainment of higher consciousness. But mere restraint is not sufficient.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n⁂<\/font><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

The
\nsex-energy utilised by Nature for the purpose of reproduction is in its real
\nnature a fundamental energy of Life. It can be used not for the heightening but
\nfor a certain intensification of the vital-emotional life; it can be controlled
\nand diverted from the sex-purpose and used for aesthetic and artistic or other
\ncreation and productiveness or preserved for heightening of the intellectual or
\nother energies. Entirely controlled it can be turned into a force of spiritual
\nenergy also. This was well known in ancient India
\nand was described as the conversion of retas into ojas by Brahmacharya.
\nSex-energy misused turns to disorder and disintegration of the life-energy and
\nits powers.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n⁂<\/font><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Of
\ncourse, it [the sex-impulse] is perfectly natural and all men have it. Nature
\nhas put it as part of her functioning for the purpose of procreation, so that
\nthe race may continue. In the animals it is used for that purpose, but men have
\ndeparted from Nature and use it for pleasure mainly − so it has taken
\nhold of them and harasses them at all times. <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

           Naturally, you have to conquer the sex-impulse, but it
\ncannot be done entirely all at once; it needs a patient persistence and a firm
\nresolve not to indulge it either physically or mentally. <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\nPage ─ 1516<\/span><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n
\n

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

Even
\nwhen this has been done and there is no thought or desire, the mechanical
\nemission can continue in sleep, but if the mind is kept free that will
\neventually disappear.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n⁂<\/font><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

The
\nsexual sensations do not \u201cbecome\u201d a principle of the physical
\nconsciousness\u2014they are there in the physical nature already − wherever
\nthere is conscious life, the sex-force is there. It is physical Nature’s means
\nof reproduction and it is there for that purpose.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n⁂<\/font><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

The
\nterrestrial sex-movement is a utilisation by Nature of the fundamental physical
\nenergy for purposes of procreation. The thrill of which the poets speak, which
\nis accompanied by a very gross excitement, is the lure by which she makes the
\nvital consent to this otherwise unpleasing process; there are numbers who
\nexperience a recoil of disgust after the act and repulsion from the partner in
\nit because of the disgust, though they return to it when the disgust has worn
\noff for the sake of this lure. <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

The sex-energy itself is a great power with two components
\nin its physical basis, one meant for procreation and the process necessary for
\nit, the other for feeding the general energies of the body, mind and vital,
\n− also of the spiritual energies of the body. The old yogis call these
\ntwo components retas and ojas. The European scientists generally pooh-poohed
\nthe idea, but now they are beginning to discover the same fact for themselves.
\nAs for the thrill, − the poets make so much of − it is simply a
\nvery gross distortion and degradation of the physical Ananda which by the yoga
\ncan establish itself in the body, but this it cannot do so long as there is the
\nsex-deviation.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n⁂<\/font><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

That
\nis correct − if the sex-fluid is prevented from being spent away, it
\nturns into tejas<\/i> and ojas<\/i>. The whole theory of brahmacarya<\/i> is based upon that by the
\nyogis. If it were not so, there <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\nPage ─ 1517<\/span><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n
\n

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

would
\nbe no need of brahmacarya<\/i> for
\nproducing tejas and ojas.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

It is not a question of vigour and energy per se, but of the
\nphysical support − in the physical support the ojas<\/i> produced by brahmacarya<\/i>
\ncounts greatly. The transformation of the retas into ojas is a transformation
\nof physical substance into physical (necessarily producing also a
\nvital-physical) energy. The spiritual energy itself can only drive the body,
\nlike the vital and mental, but in driving it it would exhaust it if it has not
\na physical support. (I speak of course of the ordinary spiritual energy, not of
\nthe supramental to be, which has not only to transmute retas<\/i> into ojas<\/i> but ojas<\/i> into something more sublimated.)<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n⁂<\/font><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

As
\nfor scientists, the product of sex-glands is considered by them (at least so I
\nhave read) as a great support and feeder of general energies. It has even been
\nconsidered that sex-force has a great part to play in the production of poetry,
\nart, etc. and in the action of genius generally. Finally, it is a doctor who
\nhas discovered that sex-fluid consists of two parts, one meant for
\nsex-purposes, the other as a basis of general energy, and if the sex-action is
\nnot indulged, the first element tends to be turned into the second (retas<\/i> into ojas<\/i>, as the yogis had already discovered). Theories? So are the
\nstatements or inferences of the opposite side − one theory is as good as
\nanother. Anyhow, I don’t think that the atrophy of sex-glands by abstinence can
\nbe supported by general experience. X’s contention is however logical if we
\ntake not individual results but the course of evolution and suppose that this
\nevolution will follow the line of the old one, for these useless organs are supposed
\nto disappear or deteriorate. But will the supramental evolution follow the same
\ncourse as the old one or develop new adaptations of its own making? − that
\nis the uncertain element.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n⁂<\/font><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

You
\nhave not understood. I was answering the statement that scientists don’t attach
\nany value to sex-gland product and think it is only of use for an external
\npurpose. Many scientists on the <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\nPage ─ 1518<\/span><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n
\n

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

contrary
\nconsider it a base of productive energy; among other things it plays a part in
\nartistic and poetic production. Not that artists and poets are anchorites and
\nBrahmacharis but that they have a powerful sex-gland activity, part of which
\ngoes to creative and part to (effectual or ineffectual) procreative action. On
\nthe latest theory and yoga theory, the procreative part would be retas, the
\ncreative part the basis of ojas. Now supposing the poet or artist to conserve
\nhis retas<\/i> and turn it into ojas<\/i>, the result would be an increased
\npower of creative productivity.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n⁂<\/font><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

The
\nidea about impotence is rather irrational − impotence comes from
\nover-indulgence or wrong indulgence (certain perverse habits); it does not come
\nfrom self-control. Self-control means only a diversion to other powers, because
\nthe controlled sex-power becomes a force for the life-energies, the powers of
\nthe mind and the more and more potent workings of the spiritual consciousness.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n⁂<\/font><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

In
\nmost men the sexual is the strongest of all the impulses of Nature.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n⁂<\/font><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

The
\nsexual impulse is its own reason to itself − it acts for its own
\nsatisfaction and does not ask for any reason, for it is instinctive and
\nirrational.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n⁂<\/font><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

[Why
\nthe illusion of sex does not disappear:] Too many roots in the human vital. Sex
\nhas a terrible tenacity. Besides, universal physical nature has such need of it
\nthat even when man pushes it away, she throws it upon him as long as possible.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n⁂<\/font><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

All
\nmovements are in the mass movements of Nature’s cosmic <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\nPage ─ 1519<\/span><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n
\n

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

forces,
\nthey are movements of universal Nature. The individual receives something of
\nthem, a wave or pressure of some cosmic force, and is driven by it; he thinks
\nit is his own, generated in himself separately, but it is not so, it is part of
\na general movement which works just in the same way in others. Sex, for
\ninstance, is a movement of general Nature seeking for its play and it uses this
\nor that one − a man vitally or physically \u201cin love\u201d as it is called with
\na woman is simply repeating and satisfying the world-movement of sex; if it had
\nnot been that woman, it would have been another; he is simply an instrument in
\nNature’s machinery, it is not an independent movement. So it is with anger and
\nother Nature-motives.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n⁂<\/font><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Naturally,
\nthe sex-movement is a force in itself, impersonal and not dependent on any
\nparticular object. It fastens on one or another only to give itself body and a
\nfield of enjoyment. When it is checked in the vital interchange, it tends to
\nlose its vital character and attacks through its most physical and elemental
\nmovement. It is only when it is thrown out from the vital physical and most
\nphysical that it is conquered.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n⁂<\/font><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

The
\nsex exists for its own satisfaction and this or that person is only an excuse
\nor occasion for its action or a channel for awakening its activity. It is from
\nwithin, by the peace and purity from above coming into that part and holding it
\nthat it must disappear.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n⁂<\/font><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

It
\n[the desire to attract others by physical charms] is the usual vanity of the
\nlower vital − it is very common. Any man can have an attraction for any
\nwoman, and vice versa, when the sex-forces are active, but that attraction is
\nnot his, it is the pull of the sex-force.\n<\/p>\n

\n <\/p>\n

\n⁂<\/font><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\nPage ─ 1520<\/span><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n
\n

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

The
\nsex-pull is that of a general force which uses the individual for its purpose
\nand it takes advantage of any proximity of the other one…. The security lies
\nin oneself, in immediate detachment (standing apart, not accepting as one’s
\nown) and rejecting it.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n⁂<\/font><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

It
\nis of course the universal sex-force that acts, but certain people are more
\nfull of it than others, have the sex-appeal as they now say in Europe.
\nThis sex-appeal is exercised especially by women even without any conscious
\nintention of putting it on a particular person. Consciously they may turn it on
\na particular person, but it may exercise itself on many others whom they do not
\nwish particularly to capture. All women have not the sex-appeal, but some force
\nof sex-pull there is in most. There is of course a similar pull in men for
\nwomen.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n⁂<\/font><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

A
\nsmile or any movement, appearance or action of the woman can be the
\nstarting-point for these vibrations. I don’t suppose it is anything inherent in
\nthe smile itself, but all these things have been the habitual means by which
\nsex has been excited in men (hāvabhāva<\/i>)
\nand the woman uses them, often unconsciously and by mere habit when coming into
\ncontact with man\u2014whether she has or has not any intention of pleasing or moving
\nthe man, it still comes up as an instinctive movement. X is of the type of woman
\nwho has this instinctive movement to please the male. But even when the woman
\nsmiles quite casually and without even the habitual instinctive movement, still
\nthere may be the vibration on the man’s side owing to the habit of response in
\nhim to feminine attraction. These things are almost mechanical in their
\nstarting. As I wrote before it is the automatic answer of the physical or vital
\nmind (imagination etc.) that prolongs it and makes it effective. Otherwise the vibrations
\nwould die away after a time.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n⁂<\/font><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

She
\nmay not have the sex-feeling towards you, but there is a <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\nPage ─ 1521<\/span><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n
\n

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

certain
\nkind of vital push, throwing out of tentacles − I don’t know exactly how
\nto express it − the secret object of which in Nature is to attract the
\nman, to draw his attention and fix it on the woman, hook and draw him in a less
\nor greater degree. The intention may not be at all conscious in the woman’s
\nmind, that is to say, it may not be clear or even present to her mind, − it
\nmay be merely instinctive or subconscious. There need be no physical sexual
\nintention, only the vital in spontaneous movement. All women of a strongly
\nvital temperament (and X is that) have it − some more, some less. There may
\nbe no specific sex-impulse in it, but it will still raise the sex-idea in the
\nman. X naturally has no psychological knowledge and these things are too subtle
\nfor her to perceive or realise. She may easily think she is acting in a
\nperfectly innocent and natural way and not at all know this activity of the
\nNature push in her.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n⁂<\/font><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Dress
\nhas always been used by woman as an aid to her \u201csex-appeal\u201d as it is now called
\nand man has always been susceptible to it; women also often find dress in man a
\ncause of attraction (e.g. soldier’s uniform). There are also particular tastes
\nin dress − that a sari of a particular colour should attract is quite
\nnormal. The attraction works on the sense and the vital, while it is the mind
\nthat dislikes the psychological defects and gets cooled down by their exposure;
\nbut this repulsion of the mind cannot last as against the stronger vital
\nattraction.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n⁂<\/font><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

The
\nassociation [of touch] with sex is vital physical − otherwise there need
\nbe no connection between the expression of affection by touch and the
\nsex-feeling. Except in unusual cases, when the mother and son or brother and
\nsister embrace, they do not have the sex-feeling. It is a sort of habitual
\nconversion operated in the passage from the emotional to the physical and,
\nbeing a habit only, though a strong one, can be changed. <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n⁂<\/font><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\nPage ─ 1522<\/span><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n
\n

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

It
\n[touch] is vital-physical. All sex movement has a vital element in it, but the
\nmere vital movement is not directly interested in touching or the sex-act. It
\nis interested more in the play of the emotions, domination and subjection,
\nquarrels, reconciliations, the interchange of vital forces etc. It is a
\nvital-physical consciousness that gives so much importance to the touch,
\nembrace, sex-act etc.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n⁂<\/font><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Avoidance
\nof touch is best so long as there is the sex-response to touch on either side.
\nAt a higher stage, it is indifferent to touch or not to touch. What it will be
\nin the supramental culmination, let the supramental decide. <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

          Touch may be neutral or it may imply interchange of forces.
\nWhen the interchange is that of spiritual or spiritualised forces, then it has
\nits meaning and it is that that will justify it in the supramental realisation.
\nBut till then, it is better to be circumspect.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n⁂<\/font><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

In
\nordinary society people touch each other more or less freely according to the
\nmanners of the society. That is quite a different matter because there the
\nsex-impulse is allowed within certain more or less wide or narrow limits and
\neven the secret indulgence is common, although people try to avoid discovery.
\nIn Bengal when there is purdah touching between men and
\nwomen is confined to the family, in Europe there is not
\nsuch restriction so long as there is no excessive familiarity or indecency; but
\nin Europe sex is now practically free. Here all
\nsex-indulgence inner or outer is considered undesirable as an obstacle to the
\nsadhana − as it very evidently is. For that reason any excessive
\nfamiliarity of touch between men and women has to be avoided, anything also in
\nthe nature of caressing, as it creates or tends to create sex-tendency or even
\nthe strong sex-impulse. Casual touching has to be avoided also if it actually
\ncreates the sex-impulse. These are commonsense rules if the premiss is granted
\nthat sex has not to have any indulgence. <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n⁂<\/font><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\nPage ─ 1523<\/span><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n
\n

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

Nature
\nin the material world started with the physical sex-pull for her purpose of
\nprocreation and brought in the love on the basis of sex-pull, so the one has a
\ntendency to wake the other. It is only by a strong discipline or a strong will
\nor a change of consciousness that one can eliminate the pull.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n⁂<\/font><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

It
\nis not that it is not possible to keep the love pure [of sex-desire], but the
\ntwo things are so near each other and have been so much twined together in the
\nanimal beginnings of the race that it is not easy to keep them altogether
\nseparate. In the pure psychic love there is no trace of the sex-desire, but
\nusually the vital affection gets very strongly associated with the psychic\u00a0 <\/span>which is then mixed though still not sexual;
\nbut the vital affection and the vital physical sex-emotion are extremely close
\nto each other, so that at any moment or in any given case one may awake the
\nother. This becomes very strong when the sex-force is strong in an individual
\nas it is in most vitally energetic people. To increase always the force of the
\npsychic, to control the sex-impulse and turn it into ojas<\/i>, to turn the love towards the Divine are the true remedies for
\nthis difficulty. Seminal force not sexually spent can always be turned into ojas<\/i>.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n⁂<\/font><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

When
\nthe psychic puts its influence on the vital, the first thing you must be
\ncareful to avoid is any least mixture of a wrong vital movement with the
\npsychic movement. Lust is the perversion or degradation which prevents love
\nfrom establishing its reign; so when there is the movement of psychic love in
\nthe heart, lust or vital desire is the one thing that must not be allowed to
\ncome in − juas when strength comes down from above, personal ambition and
\npride have to be kept far away from it; for any mixture of the perversion will
\ncorrupt the psychic or spiritual action and prevent a true fulfilment. <\/p>\n

\n <\/p>\n

\n⁂<\/font><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\nPage ─ 1524<\/span><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n
\n

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

What
\nis this idea that this desire of the heart hungering to love women is not
\nsex-desire? That and the physical lust are both forms of sex-desire. <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

         Why hanker when it is a vital desire? It is a form of sex
\nand usually calls up a more physical desire.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n⁂<\/font><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

The
\nsex-push is not merely the impulse to the act, as X perhaps thinks, as the push
\nto envelop and occupy the man and to possess and be possessed. That is so
\nespecially with women, the sex-act being very often less attractive to them
\nthan to men; but of course always, if the vital physical reaches a certain
\npoint, the physical sex-movement tends to follow.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n⁂<\/font><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Sex-sensation
\nmay begin anywhere. As vital love it begins in the vital centre, heart or navel
\n− many romantic boys have this and it starts a love affair (often at the
\nage of 10 or even 8) before they know anything about sex-connection. With
\nothers it begins with the nerves or with that and the sex-organ itself. There
\nare others who do not have it. Many girls would not have it at all throughout
\nlife if they were not taught and excited by men. Some even then hate it and
\ntolerate only under a sort of social compulsion or for the sake of having
\nchildren.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n⁂<\/font><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

There
\nare a number of women who can love with the mind, the psychic, the vital
\n(heart), but they shrink from a touch on the body and even when that goes, the
\nphysical act remains abhorrent to them. They may yield under pressure, but it
\ndoes not reconcile them to the act which always seems to them animal and
\ndegrading. Women know this, but men seem to find it hard
\nto believe; but it is perfectly true. <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

           Abnormal is a word which you can stick on anything that is
\nnot quite cheap and ordinary. In that way genius is abnormal, <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\nPage ─ 1525<\/span><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n
\n

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

so
\nis spirituality, so is the attempt to live by high ideals. The tendency to
\nphysical chastity in women is not abnormal, it is fairly common and includes a
\nvery high feminine type. <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

            The mind is the seat of thought and perception, the heart is
\nthe seat of love, the vital of desire − but how does that prevent the
\nexistence of mental love? As the mind can be invaded by the feelings of the
\nemotional or the vital, so the heart too can be dominated by the mind and moved
\nby mental forces.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

          
\n\u00a0<\/span>There is a vital
\nlove, a physical love. It is possible for the vital to desire a woman for
\nvarious vital reasons without love − in order to satisfy the instinct of
\ndomination or possession, in order to draw in the vital forces of a woman so as
\nto feed one’s own vital, for the exchange of vital forces, to satisfy vanity,
\nthe hunter’s instinct of the chase, etc., etc. (This is from man’s viewpoint
\n− but the woman also has her vital motives.) This is often called love,
\nbut it is only vital desire, a kind of lust. If, however, the emotions of the
\nheart are awakened, then it becomes vital love − a mixed affair with any
\nor all of these vital motives, strong, but still vital love. <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

There may too be a physical love, the attraction of beauty,
\nthe physical sex-appeal or anything else of the kind awakening the emotions of
\nthe heart. If that does not happen, then the physical need is all and that is
\nsheer lust, nothing more; but physical love is possible. <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

          In the same way there can be a mental love. It arises from
\nthe attempt to find one’s ideal in another or from some strong mental passion
\nof admiration and wonder or from the mind’s seeking for a comrade, a complement
\nand fulfiller of one’s nature, a sahadharmī<\/i>,
\na guide and helper, a leader and master or from a hundred other mental motives.
\nBy itself that does not amount to love, though often it is so ardent as to be
\nhardly distinguishable from it and may even push to sacrifice of life, entire
\nself-giving, etc., etc. But when it awakes the emotions of the heart, then it
\nmay lead to a very powerful love which is yet mental in its root and dominant
\ncharacter. Ordinarily, however, it is the mind and vital together which
\ncombine; but this combination can exist along with a disinclination or positive <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\nPage ─ 1526<\/span><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n
\n

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

dislike
\nfor the physical act and its accompaniments. No doubt, if the man presses, the
\nwoman is likely to yield, but it is contre<\/i>
\ncoeur<\/i>, as they say, against her
\nfeelings and their deepest instincts.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

         It is an ignorant psychology that reduces everything to the
\nsex-motive and the sex-impulse.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n⁂<\/font><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Doctors
\nadvise marriage because they think satisfaction of the sexual instinct is
\nnecessary for the health and repression causes disturbances in the system. This
\nis true only when there is no true giving up of the sexual indulgence, but only
\na change in the way of indulging it. Nowadays a new theory has come up which
\nconfirms the Indian theory of Brahmacharya, viz. that by continence retas can
\nbe changed into ojas and the vigour and the power of the being enormously
\nincrease.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

            As for what you say about the stimulus of the vital
\ninterchange, it is true of the vital life. Men are constantly spending the
\nvital energy and need to renew it; one way to do it is by pulling from others
\nin a vital interchange. This however is not necessary if one knows how to draw
\nfrom the universal Nature or from the Divine, i.e. from above. Moreover when
\nthe psychic is active − there is always more lost than gained by the
\nvital interchange.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n⁂<\/font><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Celibacy
\nmeans first \u201cnot marrying\u201d − it can be extended to not having sexual
\n(physical) relations with any women, though that is not its proper meaning. It
\nis not equivalent to Brahmacharya. Brahmacharya is not binding in Bhaktimarga
\nor Karmayoga, but it is necessary for ascetic Jnanayoga as well as for Raja and
\nHatha yogas. It is also not demanded from grhasthayogis<\/i>.
\nIn this yoga the position is that one must overcome sex, otherwise there can be
\nno transformation of the lower vital and physical nature. All physical sexual
\nconnection should cease, otherwise one exposes oneself to serious dangers. The
\nsex-push must also be overcome but it is not a fact that there can be no
\nsadhana or no experience before it is entirely <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\nPage ─ 1527<\/span><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n
\n

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

overcome,
\nonly without that conquest one cannot go to the end and it must be clearly
\nrecognised as one of the more serious obstacles and indulgence of it as a cause
\nof considerable disturbance.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n⁂<\/font><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Celibacy
\nis one thing and freedom from sex-pushes is another. These have to be conquered
\nand got rid of, but if freedom from them were made a test of fitness to go on,
\nI wonder how many could be declared fit for my yoga. The will to conquer must
\nbe there, but the elimination of the sex-impulse is one of the most difficult
\nthings for human nature, and if it takes time, that is only natural.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n⁂<\/font><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

As
\nto the question of marriage in general, we do not consider it advisable for one
\nwho desires to come to the spiritual life. Marriage means usually any amount of
\ntrouble, heavy burdens, a bondage to the worldly life and great difficulties in
\nthe way of single-minded spiritual endeavour. Its only natural purpose would
\nbe, if the sexual trend was impossible to conquer, to give it a restricted and
\ncontrolled satisfaction. I do not see in what way it could help you to keep the
\nmind under control and subjugation; a restless mind can only be quieted from
\nwithin.<\/p>\n

About your concentration, if you are accustomed to do it between
\nthe eyebrows and find it helpful, you can continue that ordinarily, but try
\nfrom time to time the concentration in the heart centre (middle of the chest)
\nand see if it succeeds with you.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n⁂<\/font><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

It
\nis not right once you have turned to the Divine, to allow despondency of any
\nkind to take hold of you. Whatever the difficulties and troubles, you must keep
\nthis confidence that by relying on the Divine, the Divine will take you
\nthrough. Now I answer the questions you put to me in your letter.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

         1. If to follow the spiritual path is your resolve, marriage
\nand family life can only come across it. Marriage would be <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Page ─ 1528<\/span><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n
\n

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

the
\nright thing only if the sexual push was so strong that there was no hope of
\novercoming it except by a controlled and rational indulgence for sometime
\nduring which it could be slowly brought under subjection to the will. But you
\nsay its hold on you is diminishing, so that does not seem indispensable.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

         2. As for leaving all and coming away from there that must
\nbe only when there is a clear and settled decision within you. To do so on an
\nimpulse would be to feel all the pull of old things after you come here and
\nentail severe disturbance and struggle in the sadhana. When the other things
\nfall away or are cut away from you then it can be done. Persist in your aspiration,
\ninsist on your vital to have faith and be more quiet. It will come.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n⁂<\/font><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

You
\nare right in feeling that the protection and grace are always there and that
\nall has been for the best. In your wife’s condition, the best was that she
\nshould change her body and she has been able to do so in the state of mind
\nwhich would give her the happiest conditions both after death and for a renewal
\nhereafter of the spiritual development for which she had begun to aspire. It is
\ngood also that you have been able to keep your poise and the freedom of your
\nspirit in this occurrence.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

          Again, you are entirely right in your resolution not to
\nmarry again; to do so would be in any case to invite serious and probably
\ninsuperable difficulties in your following the path of yoga, and, as in this
\npath of yoga it is necessary to put away sexual desire, marriage would be not
\nonly meaningless but an absolute contradiction of your spiritual life. You can
\nexpect full support and protection from us in your resolve and, if you keep a
\nsincere will and resolution in this matter, you may be sure that the Divine
\nGrace will not fail you.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n⁂<\/font><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\nIf
\nshe consents to marry, that would be the best. All these vital disturbances
\nproceed from suppressed sex-instinct, suppressed but not rejected and overcome. <\/p>\n

\n <\/p>\n

\nPage ─ 1529<\/span><\/p>\n

\n

A mental acceptance or enthusiasm for the sadhana is not a
\nsufficient guarantee nor sufficient ground for calling people, especially young
\npeople, to begin it. Afterwards these vital instincts rise up and there is
\nnothing sufficient to balance or prevail against them, − only mental
\nideas which do not prevail against the instincts, but on the other hand, also
\nstand in the way of the natural social means of satisfaction. If she marries
\nnow and gets experience of the human vital life, then thereafter there may be a
\nchance of her mental aspiration for sadhana turning into the real thing.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n⁂<\/font><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

I
\nthink not. It [inhibition] would not be permanently effective in itself,
\nbecause the seed would always be there unless removed by a transformation of
\nthe sex-impulse; but the inhibition can help towards this transformation. It is
\nnow being recognised in Europe by the doctors − who used formerly to say
\nthat sex was to be inhibited at the risk of complications in the body, that on
\nthe contrary there is part of the seminal force that is used for health,
\nstrength, youth etc. (turned into ojas, as yogins say), another that serves for
\nsex-purposes, − if a man is perfectly chaste, the latter turns more and
\nmore into the former. Only of course the external inhibition does not help this
\nchange, if the mind indulges in sex-thought or the vital or body in the
\nunsatisfied sex-desire or sex-sensation. But if all these are stopped then the
\ninhibition is useful.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

As for the other point, the right attitude is neither to
\nworry always about the sex-weakness and be obsessed by its importance so as to
\nbe in constant struggle and depression over it, nor to be too careless so as to
\nallow it to grow. It is perhaps the most difficult of all to get rid of
\nentirely; one has to recognise quietly its importance and its difficulty and go
\nquietly and steadily about the control of it. If some reactions of a slight
\ncharacter remain, it is not a thing to get disturbed about − only it must
\nnot be permitted to increase so as to disturb the sadhana or get too strong for
\nthe restraining will of the mental and higher vital being.
\n <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n⁂<\/font><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\nPage ─ 1530<\/span><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n
\n

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

To
\nthink too much of sex even for suppressing it makes it worse. You have to open
\nmore to positive experience. To spend all the time struggling with the lower
\nvital is a very slow method.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n⁂<\/font><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

As
\nto sexual impulse. Regard it not as something sinful and horrible and
\nattractive at the same time, but as a mistake and wrong movement of the lower
\nnature. Reject it entirely, not by struggling with it, but by drawing back from
\nit, detaching yourself and refusing your consent; look at it as something not
\nyour own, but imposed on you by a force of Nature outside you. Refuse all
\nconsent to the imposition. If anything in your vital consents, insist on that
\npart of you withdrawing its consent. Call in the Divine Force to help you in
\nyour withdrawal and refusal. If you can do this quietly and resolutely and patiently,
\nin the end your inner will will prevail against the habit of the outer Nature.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n⁂<\/font><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

The
\nsmall tendencies, rajasic-vital, which you enumerate are of minor importance.
\nThey have to be removed in this sense that attachment to these things has to be
\ngiven up; the vital part of the being must be prepared to consent to their
\nabsence with quietude and indifference, taking them only if they are given
\nfreely by the Divine without demand or claim or clinging, but there is nothing
\nvery serious about them otherwise. <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

The one serious matter is the sex-tendency. That must be
\novercome. But it will be more easily overcome if instead of being upset by its
\npresence you detach the inner being from it, rise up above it and view it as a
\nweakness of the lower nature. If you can detach yourself from it with a
\ncomplete indifference in the inner being, it will seem more and more something
\nalien to yourself, put upon you by the outer forces of Nature. Then it will be
\neasier to remove. <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n⁂<\/font><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\nPage ─ 1531<\/span><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n
\n

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

The
\ntrouble of the sex-impulse is bound to dwindle away if you are in earnest about
\ngetting rid of it. The difficulty is that part of your nature (especially, the
\nlower vital and the subconscient which is active in sleep) keeps the memory and
\nattachment to these movements, and you do not open these parts and make them
\naccept the Mother’s Light and Force to purify them. If you did that and,
\ninstead of lamenting and getting troubled and clinging to the idea that you
\ncannot get rid of these things, insisted quietly with a calm faith and patient
\nresolution on their disappearance, separating yourself from them, refusing to
\naccept them or at all regard them as part of yourself, they would after a time
\nlose their force and dwindle.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n⁂<\/font><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Your
\ndifficulty in getting rid of the aboriginal in your nature will remain so long
\nas you try to change your vital part by the sole or main strength of your mind
\nand mental will, calling in at most an indefinite and impersonal divine power
\nto aid you. It is an old difficulty which has never been radically solved in
\nlife itself because it has never been met in the true way. In many ways
\nof yoga it does not so supremely matter because the aim is not a transformed
\nlife but withdrawal from life. When that is the object of an endeavour, it may
\nbe sufficient to keep the vital down by a mental and moral compulsion, or else
\nit may be stilled and kept lying in a kind of sleep and quiescence. There are
\nsome even who allow it to run and exhaust itself if it can while its possessor professes
\nto be untouched and unconcerned by it; for it is only old Nature running on by
\na past impetus and will drop off with the fall of the body. When none of these
\nsolutions can be attained, the sadhak sometimes simply leads a double inner
\nlife, divided between his spiritual experiences and his vital weaknesses to the
\nend, making the most of his better part, making as little as may be of the
\nouter being. But none of these methods will do for our purpose. If you want a
\ntrue mastery and transformation of the vital movements, it can be done only on
\ncondition you allow your psychic being, the soul in you, to awake fully, to
\nestablish its rule and opening all to the <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\nPage ─ 1532<\/span><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n
\n

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

permanent
\ntouch of the Divine Shakti, impose its own way of pure devotion, whole-hearted
\naspiration and complete uncompromising urge to all that is divine on the mind
\nand heart and vital nature. There is no other way and it is no use hankering after
\na more comfortable path. Nānyāh<\/i>
\npanthā<\/i> vidyate’yanāya<\/i><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n⁂<\/font><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

It
\nis the reason why the vital sex-difficulty is the hardest to get rid of −
\neven those who have sincerely given up the more physical form are liable to the
\nvital form of the impulse. But it is harmful because it allows a subtle
\ninfiltration of the forces that stand in the way of the sadhana. One must get
\nrid of them if the vital is to become entirely pure and able to contain the divine
\nlove and Ananda.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n⁂<\/font><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\nIn
\nthe vital physical the \u201cresponse\u201d lingers long after the mind and higher vital
\nhave turned from it. I have seen that in men who were mentally and emotionally
\nquite sincere. A few get rid of it easily, but these are a small minority. But
\nthere must be no justification on the \u201cwhat harm\u201d basis − that is an
\nattempt of the lower vital to get the mind and higher vital to adhere. There is
\nalways room for harm so long as the sex-response is not eliminated in both<\/i>, not in you only.<\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 <\/span><\/p>\n

\n⁂<\/font><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

The
\nsexual urge is something that tries to take complete hold and leave no room for
\ninhibition or control. It has a power of temporary possession which no other
\npassion or life-impulse has to the same degree, more even than anger which
\ncomes second to it. That is why it is so difficult to get rid of it − because
\neven when the mind or higher vital refuse, the vital physical feels this
\npossessive force and has an ingrained tendency to be passive to its urge.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n⁂<\/font><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\nPage ─ 1533<\/span><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n
\n

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

Coming
\ninside [of sex] means taking hold of you so that there is a push for
\nsatisfaction. Pressure from outside however strongly felt is not coming inside.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n⁂<\/font><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

The
\nsex-trouble is serious only so long as it can get the consent of the mind and
\nthe vital will. If it is driven from the mind, that is, if the mind refuses its
\nconsent, but the vital part responds to it, it comes as a large wave of vital
\ndesire and tries to sweep the mind away by force along with it. If it is driven
\nalso from the higher vital, from the heart and the dynamic possessive
\nlife-force, it takes refuge in the lower vital and comes in the shape of
\nsmaller suggestions and urges there. Driven from the lower vital level, it goes
\ndown into the obscure inertly repetitive physical and comes as sensations in
\nthe sex-centre and a mechanical response to suggestion. Driven from there too,
\nit goes down into the subconscient and comes up as dreams and night-emissions
\neven without dreams. But to wherever it recedes, it tries still for a time from
\nthat base or refuge to trouble and recapture the assent of the higher parts, until
\nthe victory is complete and it is driven even out of the surrounding or
\nenvironmental consciousness which is the extension of ourselves into the
\ngeneral or universal Nature.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n⁂<\/font><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Is
\nit that the body does not accept the sex-thoughts and desires? If so, you are
\nentitled to reject it as something external to you or at most existing only in
\nthe subconscient. For it is only what something in us accepts, supports, takes
\npleasure in, or still mechanically responds to, that can still be called ours.
\nIf there is nothing of that, it belongs to general Nature but not to us. Of
\ncourse, it returns and tries to take possession of its lost territory, but that
\nis a foreign invasion. The rule of these things is that they have to be
\nextruded outside the individual consciousness. Rejected by the mind and higher
\nvital, they still try to hold on to the lower vital and physical. Rejected from
\nthe lower vital, they still hold the body by a physical desire. Rejected from<\/p>\n

\n <\/p>\n

\nPage ─ 1534<\/span><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n
\n

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

the
\nbody, they retire into the environmental consciousness (sometimes into the
\nsubconscient also, rising in dreams) − I mean by the environmental a sort
\nof surrounding atmosphere which we carry about with us and by which we
\ncommunicate with the universal forces\u2014and try to invade from there. Rejected
\nfrom there, they become in the end too weak to be more than external
\nsuggestions till that too ends − and they are finished and nonexistent. <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n⁂<\/font><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

The
\nsex-impulse is the chief difficulty in your way. If it persists, it is because
\nsome part of your being still clings to it and your mind and will have remained
\ndivided and found some kind of half-justification for the continuance. The
\nfirst thing is for the mind and also the higher vital to withdraw their consent
\naltogether; if that is done, it becomes only a mechanical return from outside
\non the physical and finally only an active memory which will disappear when it
\nis able to find no welcome in any part of the nature.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n⁂<\/font><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

It
\nis only if the whole consciousness is awake and aware of its concealed
\nmovements that such sex-reactions can be avoided. It does not mean that you are
\nworse than others but that in all men the sexual element is there, active or
\ndormant, indulged or suppressed. It can only be overcome by a spiritual
\nawakening in all parts of the nature.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n⁂<\/font><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

The
\nsex-impulse is deeply rooted in the subconscient and it is difficult to get rid
\nof it. Only the full transformation of the physical consciousness can do that −
\nexcept for a few who are not strongly bound by it.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n⁂<\/font><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

It
\nis of course the physical that is at once responsive in the most <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\nPage ─ 1535<\/span><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n
\n

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

material
\nway to sex-suggestions. What you are doing is right. As you are controlling it
\nin the waking state, it comes out at night. That too has to be got rid of.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n⁂<\/font><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Persist
\nin concentrating in the heart and remaining unmoved by the obstacles. The
\nsuggestions must never be accepted − for acceptance gives them the right
\nto return or continue. If there is no sex-response in the mind or vital and the
\nsensation in the organic centre is isolated and without any support in the
\nbeing, then it can be separately overcome. Therefore, there must be no mental
\nassent or vital response − that is the first necessary step.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n⁂<\/font><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Sex
\nis strongly connected with the physical centre but also with the lower vital
\n− it is the lower vital that gives it most of its intensities and
\nexcitement. It can be disconnected from the lower vital and then it becomes a
\npurely physical movement of the mechanical kind which has no great force except
\nfor the mechanical natures. If the physical centre is also freed then the sex-impulse
\nceases.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n⁂<\/font><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Of
\ncourse, it is the vital that gives it [the play of sex] its intensity and power
\nto hold the consciousness.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n⁂<\/font><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

It
\nis the physical centre − sex is only one of its movements. Naturally, if
\nthe sex is active (instead of giving place to Beauty and Ananda) and if the
\nlower movements are active, it forms an obstacle to the establishment of the
\nhigher consciousness. But the higher can descend, if there is at all an
\nopening, even before the lower movements have definitely gone − it has
\nthen<\/p>\n

to
\ncomplete the work of displacing them.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n⁂<\/font><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\nPage ─ 1536 <\/span><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n
\n

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

Pranayama
\nand other physical practices like Asana do not necessarily root out sexual
\ndesire − sometimes by increasing enormously the vital force in the body
\nthey can even exaggerate in a rather startling way the force too of the sexual tendency,
\nwhich, being at the base of the physical life, is always difficult to conquer.
\nThe one thing to do is to separate oneself from these movements, to find one’s
\ninner self and live in it; these movements will not then any longer appear as belonging
\nto oneself but as surface impositions of the outer Prakriti upon the inner self
\nor Purusha. They can then be more easily discarded or brought to nothing.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n⁂<\/font><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Hurting
\nthe flesh is no remedy for the sex-impulse, though it may be a temporary
\ndiversion. It is the vital and mostly the vital-physical that takes the
\nsense-perception as pleasure or otherwise. <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Reduction of diet has not usually a permanent effect. It may
\ngive a greater sense of physical or vital-physical purity, lighten the system
\nand reduce certain kinds of tamas. But the sex-impulse can very well
\naccommodate itself to a reduced diet. It is not by physical means but by a
\nchange in the consciousness that these things can be surmounted.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n⁂<\/font><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

What
\nseems to be best is that the movement of rising above should be completed and
\nif you can feel there the wideness, peace, calm, silence of the Self and that
\ncan come down into the body through all the centres and there can be the
\nworking of the Force in that condition of the physical being, then the
\nvital-physical difficulty can be faced. The effort to do it by personal tapasya
\ncan carry one to a certain point, it can throw out sex etc., but for most it
\ndoes not prevent all coming back by attack − unless the force of tapasya
\nis so great and continuous that these forces get no chance. But the elimination
\nof these things can only come, I think, by the descent of the higher
\nconsciousness − bringing it the self-existent calm and wideness, the
\nhigher force and the Ananda occupying all down to the cells of <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\nPage ─ 1537<\/span><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n
\n

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

the
\nbody. It is quite certain that these three together in the body can leave no
\nroom for sex − even if sex came, it would at once get so transmuted that
\nit would be sex no longer.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n⁂<\/font><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

If
\nit [the peace and silence] is established all<\/i>
\nthrough<\/i>, then it brings purity and
\nthe purity throws off the sexual suggestions.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n⁂<\/font><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

There
\nis a force of purity, not the purity of the moralist, but an essential purity
\nof spirit, in the very substance of the being. When that comes, then sex-waves
\neither cannot approach or they pass without imparting any impulse, without
\ntouching anywhere.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n⁂<\/font><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Necessarily,
\nyou must give up the perverse habit which is one of the main causes of your
\ndespondency, vital weakness, etc. There is nothing that has more power to
\nderange and weaken the system. If not only in your mind but in your vital also
\nyou had made the resolution to give it up, it would have disappeared long ago.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n⁂<\/font><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

There
\nis one way by which it is possible for you to get rid of the perverse habit: to
\nestablish a strong mental control and so get rid of the wrong movement. It is
\nnot true that it is unconquerable; on the contrary, the fact that you were able
\nto interrupt it for some time shows that you can conquer it. It returned
\nbecause these things are a movement of certain universal life-forces that, once
\nallowed a habitual wrong response in the individual system, tend to continue in
\nthat form and, even if evicted, try always to recur. Your mind has rejected
\nthem, but something in your vital nature − the part that responds directly
\nto the universal life-forces − still takes pleasure and has preserved the
\ncapacity and desire of the wrong response. A resolute and persistent <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\nPage ─ 1538<\/span><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n
\n

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

effort
\nof will can enforce in the end the rejection of the desire and finally even of
\nany mechanical habit of the movement upon this part of the nature also. Only
\nyou must not be discouraged by relapses; your will must be more persevering
\nthan the habit and persist till there is a complete conquest.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n⁂<\/font><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\nIt
\nis the entire inner rejection of the sex-pulls and vital pulls that is
\nnecessary, a rejection by the whole lower vital itself − the outer
\nrejection can only be effective if this inner rejection comes to reinforce it.
\nUsually people attempt the outer rejection because otherwise (if these things
\nare indulged) the inner rejection is not likely to come since the vital trend
\nis always being confirmed by the outer action − but if the outer is
\nrejected, then the conflict is confined to the internal desire and fought out there.
\nNaturally an outer renunciation by itself does not liberate.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n⁂<\/font><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Of
\ncourse one must be able to come in contact with women without feeling or
\nthinking about sex; but to seek contact and test is not the way, it can too
\neasily turn the other side when the mastery is not complete. The feeling and
\nconquering must be an inner process\u2014the Tantric outer method is not indicated.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n⁂<\/font><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

All
\nthat happens because the vital is conscious of sex in the approach and
\nimmediately assumes the \u201cman to woman\u201d attitude. To get rid of that, one must
\nbe able to look on the woman and feel to her as to a human being only. That is
\ndifficult and needs a certain training; for even if the mind is able to take
\nthe position, the vital is unreliable and one has to be on guard that it does
\nnot suddenly or surreptitiously get in into the relation with its partiality
\nfor the sex-interchange. <\/p>\n

\n <\/p>\n

\n⁂<\/font><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\nPage ─ 1539<\/span><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n
\n

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

You
\nhad better get rid of the influence. It won’t do not to be able to look at a
\nwoman or a picture of a woman without getting sexual sensations − you
\nmust get rid of that.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n⁂<\/font><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

If
\none admires all beautiful things, not women only, without desire − then
\nthere would be no harm. But specially applied to women, it is a relic of the
\n\u201csex-appeal\u201d.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n⁂<\/font><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Strength
\nand purity in the lower vital and wideness in the heart are the best condition
\nfor meeting others, especially women, and if that could always be there sex
\ncould hardly have a look in.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n⁂<\/font><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

It
\nusually happens that when actual indulgence of the vital [in sex] is given up
\n(external exchange, touch or contact), imagination still goes on. But if this
\ncan be overcome, then the whole thing is overcome. External indulgence on the
\nother hand keeps the activity alive. This is the raison<\/i> d’\u00eatre<\/i> of the
\nexternal avoidance. If anything can be got rid of without the necessity of
\navoidance, so much the better.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n⁂<\/font><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Care
\nmust be taken that the sexual or erotic imagination does not take hold of the
\nconsciousness representing itself as spiritual truth.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n⁂<\/font><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

By
\ngiving up contact it [sex] can be reduced to two forms − dream and
\nimagination. Dream is not of much importance unless it affects the waking mind
\nwhich it need not at all do; it can besides be discouraged and, if not fed,
\nfades out in the end. Imaginations can only be got rid of by a tapasya of the
\nwill not <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\nPage ─ 1540<\/span><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n
\n

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

allowing
\nthem to run their course, but breaking them off as soon as they begin. They
\ncome most easily when lying in bed after waking from sleep in a tamasic
\ncondition. One has to break them off either by shaking off the tamas or by
\nemptying the mind and going to sleep again. At other times one ought to be able
\nto stop it by turning the mind elsewhere.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n⁂<\/font><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

It
\nis the most dangerous movement for sex-things when just after waking one
\nremains lying in bed; one should either go to sleep again, if there is time, or
\nelse fix the mind on wholesome things.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n⁂<\/font><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

That
\nis a right change. There is no condition more dangerous for the sex-imagination
\nto come than this lying in bed in a half-awake or else a relaxed inert
\ncondition unoccupied by any activity or any experience.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n⁂<\/font><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Inactivity
\nis an atmosphere in which sex easily rises.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n⁂<\/font><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

That
\nis the difficulty. The imagination means a consent of the physical or else the
\nvital mind. Otherwise the [sex] sensation is often only due to physical causes
\nand, if not supported by this automatic assent of a part of the mind, would before
\nlong diminish in its habit of recurrence.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n⁂<\/font><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

There
\nis no reason for you to be depressed or discouraged. The defects of the nature
\nof which you speak are habits of the lower vital and the external being; if you
\nrecognise them fully and frankly and detect them and reject whenever they act
\nor <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\nPage ─ 1541<\/span><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n
\n

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

try
\nto act upon you, they will in time disappear. The sexual desires show that the
\nsubconscient still retains the old impressions, movements and impulses; make
\nthe conscious parts of the being entirely free and aspire and will for the
\nhigher consciousness to come fully into the subconscient so that even in sleep
\nand dream something in you may be aware and on guard and reject these things
\nwhen they try to take form at that time.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n⁂<\/font><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Naturally,
\nif you read about these things [concerning sex] they enter the mind and pass
\ninto the subconscient where they leave their impression. If the consciousness
\nis not free from the sexual impulse, this impression can rise up from the subconscient
\nand work in the mind.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n⁂<\/font><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

I
\nhave already told you not to get upset over these dreams and accidents of
\nsleep. They come from outside yourself and something replies from the
\nsubconscient which keeps for a long time all that the conscious being rejects.
\nIt is only in the later stages of the yoga that this subconscient part can be
\nmade conscious and liberated. It is the waking consciousness that you must keep
\nfree from sexual acts and sexual suggestions. If you do that, the subconscient
\npart can be easily liberated afterwards.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n⁂<\/font><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Night-dreams
\nare involuntary upsurgings of the sex-impressions from the subconscient; most,
\neven when they are not indulging in the sex-act, have it from time to time
\nthough it varies in period from a week, a fortnight, a month to three or four months
\nor even less. To have it more frequently indicates either indulgence in
\nsex-imaginations which stimulate the sex-centre or else a nervous weakness in
\nthat part due to past indulgence. Some have benefited by putting a will on the body
\nbefore going to sleep at night that these dreams should not happen − though
\nit may not succeed at the beginning, it tells in most cases after a time by <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\nPage ─ 1542<\/span><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n
\n

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

fixing
\na certain inhibitory force on the subconscient from which these dreams arise.
\nAs to children indulging, that is not hereditary, but a thing taught by bad
\ncompany and these children are sometimes spoiled in this way at a very early
\nage.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n⁂<\/font><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

It
\nis a mistake to make so much of emissions − everybody has them. The
\nsubconscient has its own movement and the want of control there is a thing one can
\nget rid of only when there is the full light down there. At most one can deal
\nwith this special factor by putting a will into the subconscient (in the
\nsex-centre or the organ itself) for prohibition, so that even in the subconscient
\nduring sleep there may be something that reacts. Many have been able to
\ndiminish and almost get rid of the recurrence by this means, but others have
\nsucceeded less well. In one case there was a recurrence every fortnight and
\nthat stood in spite of the will…. As for the waking difficulty do not make
\ntoo much of it. Press on with the positive side of the sadhana towards
\nrealisation − these things will fade and disappear when the higher
\nconsciousness is down in the sex-centre. Meanwhile it has first to be
\ncontrolled and got rid of as much as possible.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n⁂<\/font><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

There
\nis no reason to be depressed to this extent or to have these imaginations about
\nfailure in the yoga. It is not at all a sign that you are unfit for the yoga.
\nIt simply means that the sexual impulse rejected by the conscious parts has
\ntaken refuge in the subconscient, somewhere probably in the lower
\nvital-physical and the most physical consciousness where there are some regions
\nnot yet open to the aspiration and the light. The persistence in sleep of
\nthings rejected in the waking consciousness is a quite common occurrence in the
\ncourse of the sadhana.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

The remedy is:<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

(1) to get the higher consciousness, its light and the
\nworkings of its power down into the obscurer parts of the nature,<\/p>\n

(2) to become progressively more conscious in sleep, with an <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\nPage ─ 1543<\/span><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n
\n

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

inner
\nconsciousness which is aware of the working of the sadhana in sleep as in
\nwaking, <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

(3) to bring to bear the waking will and aspiration on the
\nbody in sleep.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

One way to do the last is to make a strong and conscious
\nsuggestion to the body, before sleeping, that the thing should not happen; the
\nmore concrete and physical the suggestion can be made and the more directly on
\nthe sexual centre, the better. The effect may not be quite immediate at first
\nor invariable; but usually this kind of suggestion, if you know how to make it,
\nprevails in the end: even when it does not prevent the dream, it very often
\nawakes the consciousness within in time to prevent untoward consequences.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

It is a mistake to allow yourself to be depressed in the
\nsadhana even by repeated failures. One must be calm, persistent and more
\nobstinate than the resistance.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n⁂<\/font><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

When
\nthe waking consciousness has renounced the indulgence of the sexual desires and
\nimpulses, these take refuge in the subconscient as impressions, memories,
\nsuppressed desires and come up in sleep as dreams and involuntary sleep
\nemissions. If the waking consciousness is not itself clear, if, that is to say,
\nthough there is no physical indulgence, yet there are imaginations in the mind
\nor desires in the vital or the body, then these dreams and emissions can be
\nfrequent. Even if the waking consciousness is clear, the subconscient
\nemergences can still come for a time, but in time they diminish. Some are able
\nto get rid of this by putting a strong prohibiting will or force on the
\nsubconscient or on the sex-centre before going to sleep, but this does not
\nsucceed with everyone. The main thing is to get the increasing force of brahmacarya<\/i> in the waking consciousness,
\ncomplete expulsion of sex-thoughts, speech, physical craving or impulse −
\nthe subconscient remnants will either die out or be cleared out afterwards when
\none is able to bring the higher consciousness down here. <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n⁂<\/font><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\nPage ─ 1544<\/span><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n
\n

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

In
\norder that the dream emissions may diminish or cease, it is necessary first to
\nhave complete Brahmacharya, kāayamanovākyena<\/i>
\n− not only to banish sexuality from the bodily action, but also sexual
\nimpulses from the vital and body consciousness and sexual thoughts and
\nimaginations from the mind and speech and not talk about sexual things. The
\ndreams arise from the subconscient where all impressions and instincts are
\nstored up and any of these things stimulates the subconscient and increases its
\nstore which can well up in dreams. If one makes the waking consciousness
\nentirely pure, then by putting a will or force on the subconscient (especially
\nbefore going to sleep) one can after a time eliminate the sex-dreams and
\nemissions.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n⁂<\/font><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Apart
\nfrom the total rejection of sex-thoughts and imaginations and actions, which
\nends by \u00a0\u00a0<\/span>acting in the subconscient also, I don’t know
\nany remedy for sex-dreams except the putting of a force as concrete as possible
\non the sex-centre and organ prohibiting this urge and its result, put when
\nabout to sleep and renewed each time one wakes and goes to sleep again. But this
\nall cannot manage to use, for they employ a mental will instead of a concrete
\nforce (the mental will can be effective, but is not always so). This method,
\nbesides, only acts for the time, it inhibits but except in rare cases does not
\npermanently cure; it does not get rid of the sex-impressions in the
\nsubconscient, and of course it means thinking of the sex-affair though only negatively.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

I have heard it said that even very advanced yogis get the
\ndreams at least once in six months − I don’t know how far it is true or
\nwhat the yogis themselves say about it. But the sex-impressions in the heart
\ncan be got rid of long before the end of life, and even the seed state in the
\nsubconscient which comes up in dreams, though sticky enough, is not quite so irremovable
\nas all that.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Anyway, the dream-kind is not so much to trouble about,
\nunless it is frequent − it is the waking state that must be rigorously
\ncleared out. Sometimes, if that is done, there is automatic extension of the
\nhabit of rejection to the subconscient, so that <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\nPage ─ 1545<\/span><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n
\n

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

when
\nthe dream is coming there is an automatic prohibition that stops it. Under a
\nregime like that I think the sex-pressure would become, if not non-existent,
\nyet permanently quiescent in its seed state and so practically non est.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n⁂<\/font><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

The
\nfirst thing necessary in such matters is to be perfectly calm and refuse to be
\nupset by these difficulties. If they rise, one must take it that they do so in
\norder to be worked out. If there is nothing in the waking consciousness to
\nencourage the sex-difficulty, then these dreams or discharges without dreams
\ncan only be a rising up of old dormant impressions in the subconscient. Such
\nrisings often take place when the Force is working in the subconscient to clear
\nit. It is also just possible that the discharges may be due, especially where
\nthere are no dreams, to purely material causes, e.g., the pressure of undischarged
\nurine or faecal matter near the bladder. But in any case, the thing is not to
\nbe disturbed and to put a force or will on the sex-centre or sex-organ for
\nthese things to cease. This can be done just before sleeping. Usually after a
\ntime, if done regularly, it has an effect. A calm general pressure of will or
\nforce on the physical subconscient is to be put. The subconscient may be often
\nobstinate in its continual persistence, but it can and does accommodate itself
\nquickly or slowly to the will of the conscious being.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n⁂<\/font><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Your
\ndreams were mostly on the vital-physical plane. There if there is any physical
\ncontact of a sexual or other kind that acts strongly on the sexual centre or on
\na sensory contact − it may even without raising any lust produce an
\nemission by a mechanical blind and unconscious action of the purely physical
\n(not even vital-physical) kind. It is only when the sex-centre has become
\nstrong that this becomes impossible. <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n⁂<\/font><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\nPage ─ 1546<\/span><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n
\n

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

If
\nit [the sex-emission] were normal why should it depress and weaken the system
\nso much? People always complain of this enfeeblement and if it happens often
\nget seriously depressed and tamasic. It is not necessary of course that it
\nshould be so, for if one reacts one can prevent the depression or weakness, but
\nmost feel it. It is of course normal in the sense that it happens when one has
\ndiscontinued sex-activity without getting free of the sex-imagination or
\nimpulse or even afterwards when one is no longer troubled by sex it may
\ncontinue for some time due to ineradicated impressions in the subconscient. It may
\nsometimes relieve of an excess of secretion, but the result of weakness seems
\nto indicate more often a loss of necessary vigour-stuff. The proper way of
\ndealing with excess, is to turn the excess into pure energy-stuff, retas<\/i> into ojas<\/i>.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n⁂<\/font><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

It
\nis obviously an attack which falls upon your nervous system through the
\nsubconscient. It comes in sleep because in the waking consciousness you are more
\non your guard and able to react against attacks. Usually this kind of dream and
\ndischarge come when the physical consciousness is in a tamasic condition
\nthrough fatigue or strain or any other cause, in a heavy sleep or under a
\nstress of inertia. <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

The first thing to do is to reject the after consequences as
\nyou have done this time −\u00a0 <\/span>for you
\nsay you do not feel any weakness, but rather as if nothing had happened. It is
\nnot at all inevitable that one should feel weakness after a dream of this kind
\nand a discharge; it is only by a habitual association in the physical mind that
\nthese forces can bring these reactions of nervous weakness. <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

As for preventing the discharge, it can be done by becoming
\nmore conscious in sleep. You were conscious of all that happened, but you must
\nbesides develop the power of a conscious will which sees what is going to
\nhappen and interferes to prevent it, either by waking in time or by stopping
\nthe dream or prohibiting the discharge. All this is perfectly possible, it is a
\nmatter of habit and a little persistence. <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\nPage − 1547<\/span><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n
\n

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

      It is also often found very effective to put a will or force
\nupon the body consciousness before going to sleep that it shall not happen
\n− especially when you feel the predisposing condition of heaviness and
\ninertia, it should be done. This will is not always immediately successful, but
\nafter a time the subconscient gets the habit of responding to the will or force
\nthus laid upon it and the trouble dwindles and finally disappears altogether.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n⁂<\/font><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

This
\nkind of sexual attack through sleep does not depend very much on food or
\nanything else that is outward. It is a mechanical habit in the subconscient;
\nwhen the sexual impulse is rejected or barred out in the waking thoughts and
\nfeelings, it comes in this form in sleep, for then there is only the subconscient
\nat work and there is no conscious control. It is a sign of sexual desire
\nsuppressed in the waking mind and vital, but not eliminated in the stuff of the
\nphysical nature. <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

To eliminate it one must first be careful to harbour no
\nsexual imagination or feeling in the waking state, next, to put a strong will
\non the body and especially on the sexual centre that there should be nothing of
\nthe kind in sleep. This may not succeed at once, but if persevered in for a
\nlong time, it usually has a result; the subconscient begins to obey.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n⁂<\/font><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

The
\npressure from the kidneys or the intestines bringing dream of sex-tendency or
\nimagination is the last and most physical form − it often remains when
\nthe others have gone. The body dull and the mind half awake is indeed what
\ngives it its opportunity. But if it is only for a few minutes and leaves no
\nafter effect, then the tendency ought to disappear after a time.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n⁂<\/font><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\nAttacks
\n[of sex-forces] can come in the daylight or in night, so they can come in
\nelectric light also. It is only the inner light <\/p>\n

\n <\/p>\n

\nPage ─ 1548<\/span><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n
\n

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

that
\ndiscourages attacks though it may not entirely prevent them unless there is the
\nForce also.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n⁂<\/font><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Yes,
\nof course, skin diseases have much to do with sexual desires − not of
\ncourse always, but often.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n⁂<\/font><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

I
\nsuppose it [pimples on the face] is often the result of suppressed sexuality
\n− suppressed in act but still internally active. These things do not act
\nin the same way with all, with some it may act on the blood, with some it may
\nnot or else not in the same form. Moreover I do not suppose that sex is the
\nonly cause of pimples on the face − there are other things also that can
\ngive that. <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

IX<\/b> <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\nControl of speech is very necessary for the physical change.<\/p>\n

\n <\/p>\n

\n⁂<\/font><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Mauna<\/i> is seldom of much use. After it is
\nover, the speech starts again as in the old times. It is in speech itself that
\nthe speech must change.<\/p>\n

\n <\/p>\n

\n⁂<\/font><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

That
\nis not the way. Absolute silence and looseness of talk are two extremes; neither
\nis good. I have seen many people practising maunavrata<\/i>, but afterwards they are just as talkative as before. It
\nis self-mastery you must get.<\/p>\n

\n <\/p>\n

\n⁂<\/font><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

On
\nthe whole you are right. Useless conversation which lowers the consciousness or
\nbrings back something of a past <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\nPage ─ 1549<\/span><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n
\n

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

\nconsciousness is better avoided. Talking about sadhana also comes under the
\ncategory when it is merely mental discussion of a superficial kind.<\/p>\n

\n <\/p>\n

\n⁂<\/font><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

It is
\nsomething very external that takes pleasure in light talk, and it is only when
\nthe quietude and with it a certain spontaneous self-control is established in
\nthe lower vital nature that this tendency can be entirely conquered in those who
\nhave it − i.e. in most people. <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

All these things will be worked out in time. What is most
\nimportant is to get down the quietude into all the being and with it the true
\nforce bringing the energy which you describe above.<\/p>\n

\n <\/p>\n

\n⁂<\/font><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

In
\ntalking one has the tendency to come down into a lower and more external
\nconsciousness because talking comes from the external mind. But it is impossible
\nto avoid it altogether. What you must do is to learn to get back at once to the
\ninner consciousness − this so long as you are not able to speak always from the
\ninner being or at least with the inner being supporting the action.<\/p>\n

\n <\/p>\n

\n⁂<\/font><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Talk
\nis more external than writing, depends more on the physical and its condition.
\nTherefore in most cases it is more difficult to get it out of the clutch of the
\nexternal mind.<\/p>\n

\n <\/p>\n

\n⁂<\/font><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Talk
\n− of the usual kind − does very easily disperse or bring down the inner
\ncondition because it usually comes out of the lower vital and the physical mind
\nonly and expresses that part of the consciousness − it has a tendency to
\nexternalise the being. That is of course why so many yogis take refuge in
\nsilence. <\/p>\n

\n <\/p>\n

\n⁂<\/font><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\nPage − 1550<\/span><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n
\n

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

There
\nare some who have the flow of speech by nature and those who are very vital
\ncannot do without it. But the latter case (not being able to do without it) is
\nobviously a disability from the spiritual point of view. There are also certain
\nstages in the sadhana when one has to go inward and silence is at that time very
\nnecessary while unnecessary speech becomes a dispersion of the energies or
\nexternalises the consciousness. It is especially this chat for chat’s sake
\ntendency that has to be overcome.<\/p>\n

\n <\/p>\n

\n⁂<\/font><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Chat
\nof that kind has indeed a very tiring effect when one is at all in the stream of
\ntrue experience, because it dissipates the energy uselessly and makes the mind
\nmovement a thing of valueless shreds and patches instead of gathered and poised
\nin itself so as to receive.<\/p>\n

\n <\/p>\n

\n⁂<\/font><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

There
\nis always a chance of something light and unbalancing coming in when there is
\nlevity indulged in for its own sake. The consciousness feels a little shaken in
\nits seat, if not pulled out. Once the consciousness is well set inside, then the
\noutward movement gets determined from within and there is no such trouble.<\/p>\n

\n <\/p>\n

\n⁂<\/font><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Yes.
\nThe speech must come from within and be controlled from within.<\/p>\n

\n <\/p>\n

\n⁂<\/font><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

The
\ndifficulty you experience exists because speech is a formation which in the past
\nhas worked much more as an expression of the vital in man than of the mental
\nwill. Speech breaks out as the expression of the vital and its habits, without
\ncaring to wait for the control of the mind; the tongue has been spoken of as the
\nunruly member. In your case the difficulty has been increased by the habit of
\ntalk about others, − gossip, to which your vital was very partial, so much that
\nit cannot even yet give up the <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\nPage ─ 1551<\/span><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n
\n

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

\npleasure in it. It is therefore this tendency that must cease in the vital
\nitself. Not to be under the control of the impulse to speech, to be able to do
\nwithout it as a necessity and to speak only when one sees that it is right to do
\nso and only what one sees to be right to say, is a very necessary part of yogic
\nself-control. <\/p>\n

\n <\/p>\n

It is only by perseverance and vigilance and a strong
\nresolution that this can be done, but if the resolution is there, it can be done
\nin a short time by the aid of the Force behind.<\/p>\n

\n <\/p>\n

\n⁂<\/font><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

It is
\nobvious that things which are a long habit cannot go at once. Especially, speech
\nis a thing which in most people is largely automatic and not under their
\ncontrol. It is the vigilance that establishes the control, so one must be on
\nguard against the danger of which you speak, the slacking of the vigilance.
\nOnly, the more it can be a quiet and unmixed, not an anxious vigilance, the
\nbetter.<\/p>\n

\n <\/p>\n

\n⁂<\/font><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

The
\nhabits of the physical or the vital-physical nature are always the most
\ndifficult to change, because their action is automatic and not governed by the
\nmental will and it is therefore difficult for the mental will to control or
\ntransform them. You have to persevere and form the habit of control. If you can
\nsucceed in controlling the speech often, − it needs a constant vigilance, − you
\nwill finally find that the control stamps itself and can in the long run always
\nintervene. This must be done so long as that movement is not fully opened to the
\nMother’s Light and Force, for if that happens the thing can be done more quickly
\nand sometimes with a great rapidity. There is also the intervention of the
\npsychic, − if the psychic being is sufficiently awake and active to intervene
\neach time you are going to speak at random and say \u201cNo\u201d, then the change becomes
\nmore easy.<\/p>\n

\n <\/p>\n

\n⁂<\/font><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

The
\nheadache and the fatigue is always a sign that the <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\nPage ─ 1552<\/span><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n
\n

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

\nconsciousness no longer wants this outward-going thought and speech and is even
\nphysically strained by it. But it is the subconscient habit that wants to
\ncontinue. Mostly human speech and thought go on mechanically in certain grooves
\nthat always repeat themselves and it is not really the mind that controls or
\ndictates them. That is why this habit can go on for some time even after the
\nconscious mind has withdrawn its support and consent and resolved to do
\notherwise. But if one perseveres, this subconscious mechanical habit runs down
\nlike all machinery that is not kept wound up to go on again. Then one can form
\nthe opposite habit in the subconscient of admitting only what the inner being
\nconsents to think or speak.<\/p>\n

\n <\/p>\n

\n⁂<\/font><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

That
\nhappens very usually. Talking of an unnecessary character tires the inner being
\nbecause the talk comes from the outer nature while the inner has to supply the
\nenergy which it feels squandered away.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Even those who have a strong inner life, take a long time
\nbefore they can connect it with the outer speech and action. Outer speech
\nbelongs to the externalising mind − that is why it is so difficult to connect it
\nwith the inner life.<\/p>\n

\n <\/p>\n

\n⁂<\/font><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Yes,
\nof course, complete truth of speech is very important for the sadhak and a great
\nhelp for bringing Truth into the consciousness. It is at the same time difficult
\nto bring the speech under control; for people are accustomed to speak what comes
\nto them and not to supervise and control what they say. There is something
\nmechanical about speech and to bring it to the level of the highest part of the
\nconsciousness is never easy. That is one reason why to be sparing in speech is
\nhelpful. It helps to a more deliberate control and prevents the tongue from
\nrunning away with one and doing whatever it likes. <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

To stand back means to become a witness of one’s own mind and
\nspeech, to see them as something separate from oneself and <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\nPage ─ 1553<\/span><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n
\n

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

not
\nidentify oneself with them. Watching them as a witness, separate from them, one
\ngets to know what they are, how they act and then put a control over them,
\nreject what one does not approve and think and speak only what one feels to be
\ntrue. This cannot, of course, be done all at once. It takes time to establish
\nthis attitude of separateness, still more time to establish the control. But it
\ncan be done by practice and persistence.<\/p>\n

\n <\/p>\n

\n⁂<\/font><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

It
\n[speech] can only be controlled if you separate yourself from the part that is
\nspeaking and are able to observe it. It is the external mind that speaks − one
\nhas to watch it from the inner witnessing mind and put a control.<\/p>\n

\n <\/p>\n

\n⁂<\/font><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

It is
\nreally an inner silence that is needed − a something silent within that looks at
\nouter talk and action but feels it as something superficial, not itself and is
\nquite indifferent and untouched by it. It can bring forces to support speech and
\naction or it can stop them by withdrawal or it can let them go on and observe
\nwithout being involved or moved.<\/p>\n

\n <\/p>\n

\n⁂<\/font><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

It is
\nof course because the consciousness is thrown out in these things [discussions
\nand laughter] and one comes out of the inner poise and has difficulty in going
\nback to it − especially as there is a sort of dispersion of the vital energy. If
\none attains to a condition in which one can do these things only with the
\nsurface of the consciousness, keeping inside and observing what is done on the
\nsurface, but not forgetting oneself in it, then the poise is not lost. But it is
\na little difficult to get at this duplication of oneself − one comes to it
\nhowever in time especially if the inner peace and calm become very intense and
\ndurable.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n⁂<\/font><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\nPage ─ 1554<\/span><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n
\n

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

If
\nthe peace is very strong within, talking does not cloud it − because this peace
\nis not mental or vital even when it pervades the mind and vital − or else it is
\na cloud that quickly passes without touching deeply. Usually however such talk
\ndisperses the consciousness and one can lose much. The only disadvantage of not
\ntalking is that it isolates too much, if it is absolute, but by not talking
\nthese things [news etc.] one loses nothing.<\/p>\n

\n <\/p>\n

\n⁂<\/font><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

That
\n(thinking over what was talked) is a physical mind habit which should in course
\nof time wear out. The mind should be free to shut off immediately as soon as the
\ntalk is done.<\/p>\n

\n <\/p>\n

\n⁂<\/font><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\nHastiness of speech and action − (in excess, because to a certain extent it
\nexists in everybody) − is a matter of temperament. I do not suppose it is more
\nin you than in many others here. Of course it has to be got rid of, but it is
\none of the lesser, not one of the major imperfections of nature with which the
\nyogic Force has to deal. It is the externalising mind that has to be disciplined
\nso that it may not leap too soon to conclusions or rush immediately from thought
\nto speech and action.<\/p>\n

\n <\/p>\n

\n⁂<\/font><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

These
\ndiscussions are perfectly useless, they only deflect the mind and open the gate
\nto falsehoods.<\/p>\n

\n <\/p>\n

\n⁂<\/font><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

The
\npsychic self-control that is desirable in these surroundings and in the midst of
\ndiscussion would mean among other things:<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

1. Not to allow the impulse of speech to assert itself too
\nmuch or say anything without reflection, but to speak always with a conscious
\ncontrol and only what is necessary and helpful.<\/p>\n

2. To avoid all debate, dispute or too animated discussion <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\nPage ─ 1555<\/span><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n
\n

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

and
\nsimply say what has to be said and leave it there. There should also be no
\ninsistence that you are right and the others wrong, but what is said should only
\nbe thrown in as a contribution to the consideration of the truth of the matter.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

3. To keep the tone of speech and the wording very quiet and
\ncalm and uninsistent.<\/p>\n

4. Not to mind at all if others are heated and dispute, but
\nremain quiet and undisturbed and yourself speak only what can help things to be
\nsmooth again.<\/p>\n

5. If there is gossip about others and harsh criticism
\n(especially about sadhaks), not to join − for these things are helpful in no way
\nand only lower the consciousness from its higher level.<\/p>\n

6. To avoid all that would hurt or wound others.<\/p>\n

\n <\/p>\n

\n⁂<\/font><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\nHarangues and exhortations touch only the surface of the mind. If the mind is in
\nagreement it is pleased and stimulated, but that is all. If it is not in
\nagreement the mind criticises or becomes impatient and turns aside. If the
\nharangue is very forcible it may touch the vital sometimes and produce a
\nmomentary effect.<\/p>\n

\n <\/p>\n

\n⁂<\/font><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

That
\n[preaching to others what one is lacking in oneself] is not hypocrisy but a
\nconflict between two parts of the nature. Hypocrisy comes in only when one
\npreaches a thing one does not believe or deliberately pretends to be or aim at
\nwhat one is not and has no intention of trying to become.<\/p>\n

\n <\/p>\n

\n⁂<\/font><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

The
\ndepression came into you subconsciously because you had the discussion with X.
\nWhen you discuss like that with people, you put something in them, but something
\nalso comes from them to you. So, as X was not in quite a good condition, though
\nnothing like what he used to be in his depressions, you easily got a touch of it
\nand as soon as the subconscious could find a habitual <\/p>\n

\n <\/p>\n

\nPage ─ 1556<\/span><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n
\n

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

\nexcuse it sent it up to the mind. You should always be on your guard against
\nthese automatic interchanges. A little care is sufficient − and no needless
\ndiscussion.<\/p>\n

\n <\/p>\n

\n⁂<\/font><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

In
\nspeaking there should be always a sort of instinctive defence − except with
\nthose who are free from the ordinary vital impulse.<\/p>\n

\n <\/p>\n

\n⁂<\/font><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

It is
\nthe nervous envelope that is weak −v it is this that you saw. The fact that you
\nfeel weak when talking with people shows that the origin of the whole trouble is
\na weakened nervous force. It is this that you have to get strong. You should
\navoid much talking with others − you can also take rest when you feel the
\nsymptoms very strong. But faith, quietude and openness to the higher force are
\nthe fundamental cure.<\/p>\n

\n <\/p>\n

\n⁂<\/font><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Yes,
\nobviously, the power to say \u201cNo\u201d is indispensable in life and still more so in
\nsadhana. It is the power of rejection put into speech.<\/p>\n

\n <\/p>\n

\n⁂<\/font><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

In
\nall things there must be a control over thought and speech also. But while
\nrajasic violence is excluded, a calmly forceful severity of thought and speech
\nwhere severity is needed is sometimes indispensable.<\/p>\n

\n <\/p>\n

\n⁂<\/font><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

The
\nhabit of criticism − mostly ignorant criticism of others − mixed with all sorts
\nof imaginations, inferences, exaggerations, false interpretations, even gross
\ninventions is one of the universal illnesses. It is a disease of the vital aided
\nby the physical mind which makes itself an instrument of the pleasure taken in
\nthis <\/p>\n

\n <\/p>\n

\nPage ─ 1557<\/span><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n
\n

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

\nbarren and harmful pursuit of the vital. Control of the speech, refusal of this
\ndisease and the itch of the vital is very necessary, if inner experience has to
\nhave any true effect of transformation in the outer life.<\/p>\n

\n <\/p>\n

\n⁂<\/font><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

It is
\nalso better to be more strict about not talking of others and criticising them
\nwith the ordinary mind. It is necessary in order to develop a deeper
\nconsciousness and outlook on things that understands in silence the movements of
\nNature in oneself and others and is not moved or disturbed or superficially
\ninterested and drawn into an external movement.<\/p>\n

\n <\/p>\n

\n⁂<\/font><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

The
\nsadhaks of this Ashram are not perfect − they have plenty of weaknesses and
\nwrong movements. It is blindness not to be able to see that; only it should not
\nlead to a criticising or condemnatory attitude towards persons − and it should
\nbe regarded as the play of forces which have to be overcome.<\/p>\n

\n <\/p>\n

\n⁂<\/font><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

It is
\nvery evident from this inward control which you feel enlightening and guiding
\nyou and the resolution of truth-speaking that it made you take, that your
\npsychic being is awake within you.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

The fault of character of which you speak is common and
\nalmost universal in human nature. The impulse to speak what is untrue or at
\nleast to exaggerate or understate or twist the truth so as to flatter one’s own
\nvanity, preferences, wishes or to get some advantage or secure something desired
\nis very general. But one must learn to speak the truth alone if one is to
\nsucceed truly in changing the nature.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

To become conscious of what is to be changed in the nature is
\nthe first step towards changing it. But one must observe these things without
\nbeing despondent or thinking \u201cit is hopeless\u201d or \u201cI cannot change\u201d. You do right
\nto be confident that the change <\/p>\n

\n <\/p>\n

\nPage ─  <\/span>1558<\/span><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n
\n

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

will
\ncome. For nothing is impossible in the nature if the psychic being is awake and
\nleading you with the Mother’s consciousness and force behind it and working in
\nyou. This is now happening. Be sure that all will be done.<\/p>\n

\n <\/p>\n

\n⁂<\/font><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\nUseless or not, untruth should be avoided.<\/p>\n

\n <\/p>\n

\n⁂<\/font><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

If
\nyou get the English original* from X, you will see that what is written is from
\nthe highest standpoint. If you want to be an instrument of the Truth, you must
\nalways speak the truth and not falsehood. But this does not mean that you must
\ntell everything to everybody. To conceal the truth by silence or refusal to
\nspeak is permissible, because the truth may be misunderstood or misused by those
\nwho are not prepared for it or who are opposed to it − it may even be made a
\nstarting-point for distortion or sheer falsehood. But to speak falsehood is
\nanother matter. Even in jest it should be avoided, because it tends to lower the
\nconsciousness. As for the last point, it is again from the highest standpoint −
\nthe truth as one knows it in the mind is not enough, for the mind’s idea may be
\nerroneous or insufficient − it is necessary to have the true knowledge in the
\ntrue consciousness.<\/p>\n

\n <\/p>\n

\n⁂<\/font><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Why
\nshould it be lying? One is not bound to tell everything to everybody − it might
\noften do more harm than good. One has only to say what is necessary. Of course
\nwhat is said must be true and not false and there must never be any intention to
\ndeceive.<\/p>\n

\n <\/p>\n

* \u201cIf we allow a falsehood,
\nhowever small, to express itself through our mouth or our pen, how can we hope
\nto become perfect messengers of Truth? A perfect servant of Truth should abstain
\neven from the slightest inexactitude, exaggeration or deformation.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

The Mother <\/span><\/p>\n

\n <\/p>\n

\nPage ─ 1559<\/span><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n
\n

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

\u201cAs
\none likes\u201d is never a formula that leads to truth, it implies enthroning the
\nvital and its desire as the standard or following the mind’s preferences v which
\neven in any mental discipline is regarded as contrary to the very principle of
\nthe search for Truth.<\/p>\n

\n <\/p>\n

\n⁂<\/font><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

In
\nthe first place, there is a great difference between uttering as truth what one
\nbelieves or knows to be false and uttering as truth what one conscientiously
\nbelieves to be true, but is not in fact true. The first is obviously going
\nagainst the spirit of truth, the second does homage to it. The first is
\ndeliberate falsehood, the second is only error at worst or ignorance. <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

This is from the practical point of view of truth-speaking.
\nFrom the point of view of higher Truth, it must not be forgotten that each plane
\nof consciousness has its own standard v what is truth to the mind, may be only
\npartial truth to a higher consciousness, but it is through the partial truth
\nthat the mind has to go in order to reach the wider more perfect truth beyond.
\nAll that is necessary for it is to be open and plastic, to be ready to recognise
\nthe higher when it comes, not to cling to the lower because it is its own, not
\nto allow the desires and passions of the vital to blind it to the Light or to
\ntwist and pervert things. When once the higher consciousness begins to act, the
\ndifficulty diminishes and there is a clear progress from truth to greater truth. <\/p>\n

\n <\/p>\n

\n⁂<\/font><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

It is
\nnot the fact that if a man is truthful (in the sense of not lying), all he says
\nhappens. For that he must know the Truth − be in touch with the truth of things,
\nnot merely speak the truth as his mind knows it.<\/p>\n

\n <\/p>\n

\n⁂<\/font><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

As
\nfor shyness, there are two kinds: one is egoistic, being ashamed of expressing
\nthe Truth or showing allegiance to it in ways which would not be understood by
\nothers, the other is a <\/p>\n

\n <\/p>\n

\nPage ─ 1560<\/span><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n
\n

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

\ncertain reserve, an unwillingness to expose one’s deeper feelings to the gaze of
\nothers, the wish to keep sacred and secret the relations of love with the Divine
\n− that is a psychic feeling. <\/p>\n

\nX<\/b><\/p>\n

\n  <\/p>\n

I do
\nnot think X’s trance has anything to do with her ill-health; I have never known
\nthe habit of trances of that kind to have any such result, only the violent
\nbreaking of a trance might have a bad result, though it would not necessarily
\nproduce a disaster. But there is the possibility that if the conscious being
\ngoes out of the body in an absolutely complete trance, the thread which connects
\nit with the body might be broken or else cut by some adverse force and it would
\nnot be able to return into the physical frame. Apart from any such fatal
\npossibility there might be a shock which might produce a temporary disorder or
\neven some kind of lesion; as a rule, however, a shock would be the only
\nconsequence. The general question is a different matter. There is a sort of
\ntraditional belief in many minds that the practice of yoga is inimical to the
\nhealth of the body and tends to have a bad effect of one kind or another and
\neven finally leads to a premature or an early dropping of the body. Ramakrishna
\nseems to have held the view, if we can judge from his remarks about the
\nconnection between Keshav Sen’s progress in spirituality and the illness which
\nundermined him, that one was the result and the desirable result of the other, a
\nliberation and release from life in this world, mukti<\/i>. That may or may not be; but I find it difficult to believe
\nthat illness and deterioration of the body is the natural and general result of
\nthe practice of yoga or that that practice is the cause of an inevitable
\nbreakdown of health or of the final illnesses which bring about departure from
\nthe body. On what ground are we to suppose or how can it be proved that while
\nnon-yogis suffer from ill-health and die because of the disorders of Nature,
\nyogis die of their yoga? Unless a direct connection between their death and
\ntheir practice of yoga can be proved − and this could be proved with certainty
\nonly in particular cases and even then not with an absolute certainty − <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\nPage ─ 1561<\/span><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n
\n

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

there
\nis no sufficient reason to believe in such a difference. It is more rational to
\nconclude that both yogis and non-yogis fall ill and die from natural causes and
\nby the same dispensation of Nature; one might even advance the view, since they
\nhave the Yoga-Shakti at their disposal if they choose to use it, that the yogi
\nfalls ill and dies not because of but in spite of his yoga. At any rate, I don’t
\nbelieve that Ramakrishna (or any other yogi) fell ill because of his trances;
\nthere is nothing to show that he ever suffered in that way after a trance. I
\nthink it is said somewhere or he himself said that the cancer in his throat of
\nwhich he died came by his swallowing the sins of his disciples and those who
\napproached him: that again may or may not be, but it will be his own
\npeculiar case. It is no doubt possible to draw the illnesses of others upon
\noneself and even to do it deliberately, the instance of the Greek king Antigonus
\nand his son Dimitrius is a famous historical case in point; yogis also do this
\nsometimes; or else adverse forces may throw illnesses upon the yogi, using those
\nround him as a door or a passage or the ill wishes of people as an instrumental
\nforce. But all these are special circumstances connected, no doubt, with his
\npractice of yoga; but they do not establish the general proposition as an
\nabsolute rule. A tendency such as X’s to desire or welcome or accept death as a
\nrelease could have a force because of her advanced spiritual consciousness which
\nit would not have in ordinary people. On the other side, there can be an
\nopposite use and result of the yogic consciousness: illness can be repelled from
\none’s own body or cured, even chronic or deep-seated illnesses and
\nlong-established constitutional defects remedied or expelled and even a
\npredestined death delayed for a long period. Narayan Jyotishi, a Calcutta
\nastrologer, who predicted, not knowing then who I was, in the days before my
\nname was politically known, my struggle with Mlechchha enemies and afterwards
\nthe three cases against me and my three acquittals, predicted also that though
\ndeath was prefixed for me in my horoscope at the age of 63, I would prolong my
\nlife by yogic power for a very long period and arrive at a full old age. In
\nfact, I have got rid by yogic pressure of a number of chronic maladies that had
\ngot settled in my body. But none of these instances either on the favourable or<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\nPage ─ 1562<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n
\n

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

\nunfavourable side can be made into a rule; there is no validity in the tendency
\nof human reason to transform the relativity of these things into an absolute.
\nFinally I may say of X’s trances that they are the usual savikalpa<\/i> kind opening to all kinds of experiences, but the large
\nabiding realisations in yoga do not usually come in trance but by a persistent
\nwaking sadhana. The same may be said of the removal of attachments; some may be
\ngot rid of sometimes by an experience in trance, but more usually it must be
\ndone by persistent endeavour in waking sadhana.<\/p>\n

\n <\/p>\n

\n⁂<\/font><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Above
\nall, do not harbour that idea of an unfit body − all suggestions of that kind
\nare a subtle attack on the will to siddhi and especially dangerous in physical
\nmatters. It has been cropping up in several people who are doing the yoga and
\nthe first business is to expel it bag and baggage. Appearances and facts may be
\nall in its favour, but the first condition of success for the yogin and indeed
\nfor anybody who wants to do anything great or unusual is to be superior to facts
\nand disbelieve in appearances. Will to be free from disease, however formidable,
\nmany-faced or constant its attacks, and repel all contrary suggestions.<\/p>\n

\n <\/p>\n

\n⁂<\/font><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

All
\nillnesses are obviously due to the imperfect nature of the body and the physical
\nnature. The  <\/span>body can be immune only
\nwhen it is open to the higher consciousness and the latter can descend into it.
\nTill then what he writes is the remedy − if he can also call in the force to
\nthrow out the illness that is the most powerful help possible.<\/p>\n

\n <\/p>\n

\n⁂<\/font><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

The
\nhuman body has always been in the habit of answering to whatever forces chose to
\nlay hands on it and illness is the price it pays for its inertia and ignorance.
\nIt has to learn to answer to the one Force alone, but that is not easy for it to
\nlearn. <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n⁂<\/font><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Page <\/span>─ <\/span>1563<\/span><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n
\n

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

\nAttacks of illness are attacks of the lower nature or of adverse forces taking
\nadvantage of some weakness, opening or response in the nature, − like all other
\nthings that come and have got to be thrown away, they come from outside. If one
\ncan feel them so coming and get the strength and the habit to throw them away
\nbefore they can enter the body, then one can remain free from illness. Even when
\nthe attack seems to rise from within, that means only that it has not been
\ndetected before it entered the subconscient; once in the subconscient, the force
\nthat brought it rouses it from there sooner or later and it invades the system.
\nWhen you feel it just after it has entered, it is because though it came direct
\nand not through the subconscient, yet you could not detect it while it was still
\noutside. Very often it arrives like that frontally or more often tangentially
\nfrom the side direct, forcing its way through the subtle vital envelope which is
\nour main armour of defence, but it can be stopped there in the envelope itself
\nbefore it penetrates the material body. Then one may feel some effect, e.g.,
\nfeverishness or a tendency to cold, but there is not the full invasion of the
\nmalady. If it can be stopped earlier or if the vital envelope of itself resists
\nand remains strong, vigorous and intact, then there is no illness; the attack
\nproduces no physical effect and leaves no traces.<\/p>\n

\n <\/p>\n

\n⁂<\/font><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

All
\nillnesses pass through the nervous or vital-physical sheath of the subtle
\nconsciousness and subtle body before they enter the physical. If one is
\nconscious of the subtle body or with the subtle consciousness, one can stop an
\nillness on its way and prevent it from entering the physical body. But it may
\nhave come without one’s noticing, or when one is asleep or through
\nthe subconscient, or in a sudden rush when one is off one’s guard; then there is
\nnothing to do but to fight it out from a hold already gained on the body. Self-defence
\nby these inner means may become so strong that the body becomes practically
\nimmune as many yogis are. Still this \u201cpractically\u201d does not mean \u201cabsolutely\u201d.
\nThe absolute immunity can only come with the supramental change. For below the
\nsupramental it is the result of an action <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\nPage ─ 1564<\/span><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n
\n

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

of a
\nForce among many forces and can be disturbed by a disruption of the equilibrium
\nestablished − in the supramental it is a law of the nature; in a supramentalised
\nbody immunity from illness would be automatic, inherent in its new nature. <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

There is a difference between yogic Force on the mental and
\ninferior planes and the supramental Nature. What is acquired and held by the
\nyoga-Force in the mind-and-body consciousness is in the supramental inherent and
\nexists not by achievement but by nature − it is self-existent and absolute.<\/p>\n

\n <\/p>\n

\n⁂<\/font><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

That
\nis how illnesses try to come from one person to another − they attack, by a
\nsuggestion like this or otherwise, the nervous being and try to come in. Even if
\nthe illness is not contagious, this often happens, but it comes more easily in
\ncontagious illnesses. The suggestion or touch has to be thrown off at once.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

There is a sort of protection round the body which we call
\nthe nervous envelope − if this remains strong and refuses entrance to the
\nillness force, then one can remain well even in the midst of plague or other
\nepidemics − if the envelope is pierced or weak, then the illness can come in. <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

What you felt attacked was not really the physical body, but
\nthis nervous envelope and the nervous body (prāņakoşa<\/i>)
\nof which it is an extension or cover.<\/p>\n

\n <\/p>\n

\n⁂<\/font><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

They
\n[the subtle forces of illness] first weaken or break through the nervous
\nenvelope, the aura. If that is strong and whole, a thousand million germs will
\nnot be able to do anything to you. The envelope pierced, they attack the
\nsubconscient mind in the body, sometimes also the vital mind or mind proper −
\nprepare the illness by fear or thought of illness. The doctors themselves say
\nthat in influenza or cholera in the Far East 90 p.c. get
\nill through fear. Nothing to take away the resistance like fear. But still the
\nsubconscient is the main thing. <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

If the contrary Force is strong in the body one can move in <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\nPage <\/span>
\n─ <\/span>1565<\/span><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n
\n

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

the
\nmidst of plague and cholera and never get contaminated.<\/p>\n

\n <\/p>\n

\n⁂<\/font><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\nPhysical sufferings are due to attacks of the forces of the Ignorance. But if
\none knows how to do it, one can make them a means of purification. There are
\nhowever better and less difficult means of purification.<\/p>\n

\n <\/p>\n

\n⁂<\/font><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Your
\ntheory of illness is rather a perilous creed − for illness is a thing to be
\neliminated, not accepted or enjoyed. There is something in the being that enjoys
\nillness, it is possible even to turn the pains of illness like any other pain
\ninto a form of pleasure; for pain and pleasure are both of them degradations of
\nan original Ananda and can be reduced into the terms of each other or else
\nsublimated into their original principle of Ananda. It is true also that one
\nmust be able to bear illness with calm, equanimity, endurance, even recognition
\nof it, since it has come, as something that had to be passed through in the
\ncourse of experience. But to accept and enjoy it means to help it to last and
\nthat will not do; for illness is a deformation of the physical nature just as
\nlust, anger, jealousy, etc., are deformations of the vital nature and error and
\nprejudice and indulgence of falsehood are deformations of the mental nature. All
\nthese things have to be eliminated and rejection is the first condition of their
\ndisappearance while acceptance has a contrary effect altogether.<\/p>\n

\n <\/p>\n

\n⁂<\/font><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

It
\nwas the mind that did not want it; this vital [the vital physical] when left to
\nitself often wants illness, it finds it dramatic, thinks it makes it interesting
\nto others, likes to indulge the tamas, etc., etc.<\/p>\n

\n <\/p>\n

\n⁂<\/font><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

That
\n[constant weakness of the body] also is tamas. If you <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\nPage ─ 1566<\/span><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n
\n

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

throw
\noff the idea of weakness, the strength would come back. But there is always
\nsomething in the vital physical which is pleased with becoming more weak and ill
\nso that it can feel and lament its tragic case.<\/p>\n

\n <\/p>\n

\n⁂<\/font><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

By
\nwill to illness I meant this that there is something in the body that accepts
\nthe illness and has certain reactions that make this acceptance effective − so
\nthere must always be a contrary will in the conscious parts of the being to get
\nrid of this most physical acceptance.<\/p>\n

\n <\/p>\n

\n⁂<\/font><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

What
\nI meant was that the body consciousness through old habit of consciousness
\nadmits the force of illness and goes through the experiences which are
\nassociated with it − e.g., congestion of phlegm in the chest and feeling of
\nsuffocation or difficulty of breathing, etc. To get rid of that one must awaken
\na will and consciousness in the body itself that refuses to allow these things
\nto impose themselves upon it. But to get that, still more to get it completely
\nis difficult. One step towards it is to get the inner consciousness separate
\nfrom the body − to feel that it is not you who are ill, but it is only something
\ntaking place in the body and affecting your consciousness. It is then possible
\nto see this separate body consciousness, what it feels, what are its reactions
\nto things, how it works. One can then act on it to change its consciousness and
\nreactions.<\/p>\n

\n <\/p>\n

\n⁂<\/font><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

As
\nthe body consciousness becomes more open to the Force (it is always the most
\ndifficult and the last to open up entirely), this frequent stress of illness
\nwill diminish and disappear.<\/p>\n

\n <\/p>\n

\n⁂<\/font><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

All
\nill-health is due to some inertia or weakness or to some resistance or wrong
\nmovement there, only it has sometimes a more <\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\nPage ─ 1567<\/span><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n
\n

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

\nphysical and sometimes a more psychological character. Medicines can counteract
\nthe physical results.<\/p>\n

\n <\/p>\n

\n⁂<\/font><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\nIllness marks some imperfection or weakness or else opening to adverse touches
\nin the physical nature and is often connected also with some obscurity or
\ndisharmony in the lower vital or the physical mind or elsewhere. <\/p>\n

\n <\/p>\n

It is very good if one can get rid of illness entirely by
\nfaith and yoga-power or the influx of the Divine Force. But very often this is
\nnot altogether possible, because the whole nature is not open or able to respond
\nto the Force. The mind may have faith and respond, but the lower vital and the
\nbody may not follow. Or, if the mind and vital are ready, the body may not
\nrespond, or may respond only partially, because it has the habit of replying to
\nthe forces which produce a particular illness, and habit is a very obstinate
\nforce in the material part of the nature. In such cases the use of the physical
\nmeans can be resorted to, − not as the main means, but as a help or material
\nsupport to the action of the Force. Not strong and violent remedies, but those
\nthat are beneficial without disturbing the body.<\/p>\n

\n <\/p>\n

\n⁂<\/font><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Yes,
\nif the faith and opening are there, medicines are not indispensable.<\/p>\n

\n <\/p>\n

\n⁂<\/font><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

The
\nMother’s advice to X was given more for his period of stay in the Ashram than as
\nan absolute rule for the future. If a sadhak can call down the force to cure him
\nwithout need of medical treatment, that is always the best, but it is not always
\npossible so long as the whole consciousness, mental, vital, physical down to the
\nmost subconscient is not open and awake. There is no harm in a doctor who is a
\nsadhak carrying on his profession and using his medical knowledge; but he should
\ndo it in reliance on the Divine Grace and the Divine Will; if he can get true <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\nPage ─ 1568<\/span><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n
\n

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

\ninspiration to aid his science, so much the better. No doctor can cure all
\ncases. You are to do your best with the best result you can.<\/p>\n

\n <\/p>\n

\n⁂<\/font><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\nCertainly, one can act from within on an illness and cure it. Only it is not
\nalways easy as there is much resistance in Matter, a resistance of inertia. An
\nuntiring persistence is necessary; at first one may fail altogether or the
\nsymptoms increase, but gradually the control of the body or of a particular
\nillness becomes stronger. Again, to cure an occasional attack of illness by
\ninner means is comparatively easy, to make the body immune from it in future is
\nmore difficult. A chronic malady is harder to deal with, more reluctant to
\ndisappear entirely than an occasional disturbance of the body. So long as the
\ncontrol of the body is imperfect, there are all these and other imperfections
\nand difficulties in the use of the inner force. <\/p>\n

\n <\/p>\n

If you can succeed by the inner action in preventing
\nincrease, even that is something; you have then by abhyāsa<\/i> to strengthen the power till it becomes able to cure. Note
\nthat so long as the power is not entirely there, some aid of physical means need
\nnot be altogether rejected.<\/p>\n

\n <\/p>\n

\n⁂<\/font><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

To
\nseparate yourself from the thing and call in the Mother’s Force to cure it − or
\nelse to use your will force with faith in the power to heal, having the support
\nof the Mother’s Force behind you. If you cannot use either of these methods then
\nyou must rely on the action of the medicines.<\/p>\n

\n <\/p>\n

\n⁂<\/font><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Where
\nthe illness becomes pronounced and chronic in the body, it is necessary often to
\ncall in the aid of physical treatment and that is then used as a support of the
\nForce. X in his treatment does not rely on medicines alone, but uses them as an
\ninstrumentation for the Mother’s force. <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n⁂<\/font><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\nPage ─ 1569<\/span><\/p>\n

\n

\nMedicines are a pis<\/i> aller<\/i> that have to be used when something in the consciousness does
\nnot respond or responds superficially to the Force. Very often it is some part
\nof the material consciousness that is unreceptive − at other times it is the
\nsubconscient which stands in the way even when the whole waking mind, life,
\nphysical consent to the liberating influence. If the subconscient also answers,
\nthen even a slight touch of the Force can not only cure the particular illness
\nbut make that form or kind of illness practically impossible hereafter.<\/p>\n

\n <\/p>\n

\n⁂<\/font><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Not
\nnecessarily, but if there is a strong force of resistance behind the illness or
\nif there is something hiding there it may come out under the pressure. This is
\nnot however the invariable rule. Often the result of the force is immediate and
\nwithout reactions or there is an oscillation, but no aggravation or increase.<\/p>\n

\n <\/p>\n

\n⁂<\/font><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

The
\nsuggestions that create illness or unhealthy conditions of the physical being
\ncome usually through the subconscient − for a great part of the physical being,
\nthe most material part, is subconscient, i.e. to say, it has an obscure
\nconsciousness of its own but so obscure and shut up in itself that the mind does
\nnot know its movements or what is going on there. But all the same it is a
\nconsciousness and can receive suggestions from Forces outside, just as the mind
\nand vital do. If it were not so, there would not be any possibility of opening
\nit to the Force and the Force curing it; for without this consciousness in it it
\nwould not be able to respond. In Europe and
\nAmerica there are many people now who recognise
\nthis fact and treat their illnesses by making conscious mental suggestions to
\nthe body which counteract the obscure secret suggestions of illness in the
\nsubconscient. There was a famous Doctor in France who cured thousands of people
\nby making them persistently put such counter-suggestions upon the body. That
\nproves that illness has not a purely material cause, but is due to a disturbance
\nof the secret consciousness in the body. <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\nPage ─ 1570<\/span><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n
\n

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

To
\nbear quietly and in silence does help to release from the reaction of grief, if
\none makes the vital quiet; but it should be at the same time surrendered to the
\nMother. For the Mother to know from within is not enough; there must be this
\nlaying before her and giving up to her so that the reaction may disappear.<\/p>\n

\n <\/p>\n

\n⁂<\/font><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

The
\nmorphia stuns locally or otherwise the consciousness and its reaction to the
\nsubconscient pressure and so suspends the pain or deadens it. Even that it does
\nnot always do <\/b>− X took five morphia
\ninjections in succession without even diminishing his liver inflammation pains.
\nWhat became of the power of the drug over the subconscient in that case? The
\nresistance was too strong just as the resistance of Y’s subconscient to the
\nForce. <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

In much the same way as Cou\u00e9’s suggestion system cured most
\nof his patients, only by a physical instead of a mental means. The body
\nconsciousness responds to the suggestion of the medicine and one gets cured for
\nthe time being or it doesn’t respond and there is no cure. How is it that the
\nsame medicine for the same illness succeeds with one man and not with another or
\nsucceeds at one time with a man and afterwards doesn’t succeed at all? Absolute
\ncure of an illness so that it cannot return again depends on clearing the mind,
\nthe vital and body consciousness of the psychological response to the Force
\nbringing the illness. Sometimes this is done by a sort of order from above (when
\nthe consciousness is ready, but it cannot always be done like that). The
\ncomplete immunity from all illness for which our yoga tries can only come by a
\ntotal and permanent enlightenment of the below from above resulting in the
\nremoval of the psychological roots of ill health − it can’t be done otherwise.<\/p>\n

\n <\/p>\n

\n⁂<\/font><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Why
\ndo people make such prognostications? Suggestions of the kind ought never to be
\nmade, mentally even − they might act like suggestions and do more harm than any
\ngood medicines can do. <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n⁂<\/font><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\nPage ─ 1571<\/span><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n
\n

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

Prognostications of such kind should not be lightly thought of or spoken
\nespecially in the case of the Mother − in other cases even if there is a
\npossibility or probability they should be kept confidential from the person
\naffected, unless it is necessary to inform. This is because of the large part
\nplayed by state of consciousness and suggestion in illness.<\/p>\n

\n <\/p>\n

\n⁂<\/font><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

The
\nfeeling of illness is at first only a suggestion; it becomes a reality because
\nyour physical consciousness accepts it. It is like a wrong suggestion in the
\nmind, − if the mind accepts it, it becomes clouded and confused and has to
\nstruggle back into harmony and clearness. It is so with the body consciousness
\nand illness. You must not accept but reject it with your physical mind and so
\nhelp the body consciousness to throw off the suggestion. If necessary, make a
\ncounter-suggestion \u201cNo, I shall be well; I am and shall be all right.\u201d And in
\nany case call in the Mother’s Force to throw out the suggestion and the illness
\nit is bringing.<\/p>\n

\n <\/p>\n

\n⁂<\/font><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

By
\nsuggestion I do not mean merely thoughts or words. When the hypnotist says
\n\u201csleep\u201d, it is a suggestion; but when he says nothing, but only puts his silent
\nwill to convey sleep or makes movements of his hands over the face, that also is
\na suggestion. <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

When a force is thrown on you or a vibration of illness, it
\ncarries to the body this suggestion. A wave comes in the body − with a certain
\nvibration in it, the body remembers \u201ccold\u201d or feels the vibrations of a cold and
\nbegins to cough or sneeze or to feel chill − the suggestion comes to the mind in
\nthe form \u201cI am weak, I don’t feel well, I am catching a cold\u201d. <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Hostile here means hostile to the yoga. An illness which
\ncomes in the ordinary course as the result of physical causes − even though
\nadverse universal forces are the first cause − is an ordinary illness. One
\nbrought by the forces hostile to yoga to upset the system and prevent or disturb
\nprogress − without any adequate physical reason  <\/span>− is a hostile attack. It may have the <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\nPage ─ 1572<\/span><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n
\n

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

\nappearance of a cold or any other illness, but to the eye which sees the action
\nof forces and not only the outward symptoms or results, the difference is clear.<\/p>\n

\n <\/p>\n

\n⁂<\/font><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

The
\nsuggestion of weakness comes to the subconscient part of the body consciousness
\nand therefore the mind is most often unaware of it. If the body itself were
\ntruly conscious, then the suggestions could be detected in time and thrown off
\nbefore they took effect. Also the rejection by the central consciousness would
\nbe supported by a conscious rejection in the body and act more immediately and
\npromptly.<\/p>\n

\n <\/p>\n

\n⁂<\/font><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

A
\nsuggestion is not one’s own thought or feeling, but a thought or feeling that
\ncomes from outside, from others, from the general atmosphere or from external
\nNature, − if it is received, it sticks and acts on the being and is taken to be
\none’s own thought or feeling. If it is recognised as a suggestion, then it can
\nbe more easily got rid of. This feeling of doubt and self-distrust and
\nhopelessness about oneself is a thing moving about in the atmosphere and trying
\nto enter into people and be accepted; I want you to reject it, for its presence
\nnot only produces trouble and distress but stands in the way of restoration of
\nhealth and return to the inner activity of the sadhana.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

As for medical treatment it is sometimes a necessity. If one
\ncan cure by the Force as you have often done it is the best − but if for some
\nreason the body is not able to respond to the Force (e.g. owing to doubt,
\nlassitude or discouragement or for inability to react against the disease), then
\nthe aid of medical treatment becomes necessary. It is not that the Force ceases
\nto act and leaves all to the medicines, − it will continue to act through the
\nconsciousness but take the support of the treatment so as to act directly on the
\nresistance in the body, which responds more readily to physical means in its
\nordinary consciousness. <\/p>\n

\n <\/p>\n

\n⁂<\/font><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\nPage ─ 1573<\/span><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n
\n

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

These
\nare waves of the hostile force which come trying whom they can touch. When you
\nfeel an attack of this kind, you must realise that this comes on you from
\noutside and touches some weak point in you, and you have to remain as quiet as
\nyou can, reject it and open yourself. I judge from what you have written that it
\nwas the physical and vital-physical consciousness that it made restless and
\ninclined to revolt and it did not take the whole of your consciousness. If you
\ncan keep it localised like that when it comes and remain quiet in mind and heart
\nand reject it, then it will not be so difficult to throw it out. The peace and
\nforce must be called down into this vital-physical (nervous) part and the whole
\nbody until you feel the atmosphere and force pervading you and in you always in
\nall the body and not only upon or around you. If you still find a
\ndifficulty, it is because of the past habit of reaction in the nervous being and
\na certain weakness there; but persevere, do not consent to the invasion of the
\nold forces. The habit will lessen and disappear and the true Force occupying the
\nbody will remove the weakness.<\/p>\n

\n <\/p>\n

\n⁂<\/font><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

It is
\nthe crude vital-physical that returns upon you in this way − and these returns
\nmust be the cause of all the feelings of illness, weakness, tamas that you get.
\nA purification of this part by the descent of the higher consciousness into it
\nis a very great necessity for your sadhana.<\/p>\n

\n <\/p>\n

\n⁂<\/font><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

There
\nare two places into which it (the crude vital-physical) can retire − the
\nsubconscient vital below or the environmental consciousness around. When it
\nreturns, it surges up from below, if it is the former, or approaches and invades
\nfrom outside, if it is the latter.<\/p>\n

\n <\/p>\n

\n⁂<\/font><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

There
\nis no mystery. These things were violent and obstinate in you for a long time
\nand you were indulging them − hence they acquired a great force to return even
\nafter you began rejecting <\/p>\n

\n <\/p>\n

\nPage ─ 1574<\/span><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n
\n

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

them,
\nfirst because of habit, secondly because of their belief that they have acquired
\na right over you, thirdly because of the habit of assent and passive response to
\nthem or endurance of them that has been stamped on the physical consciousness.
\nThis physical consciousness is not as yet liberated, it has not begun to be as
\nresponsive to the higher force as the vital, so it cannot resist their invasion.
\nSo these forces, when thrown out, retreat into the environmental consciousness
\nand remain there concealed and at any opportunity make an attack on the centres
\naccustomed to receive them (external mind and the external emotional) and get
\nin. This happens with most sadhaks. Two things are necessary − (1) to open fully
\nthe physical to the higher forces, (2) to reach the stage when even if the
\nforces attack they cannot come fully in, the inner being remaining calm and
\nfree. Then even if there is still a surface difficulty, there will not be these
\noverpowerings.<\/p>\n

\n <\/p>\n

\n⁂<\/font><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

All
\nthese suggestions that came to you were of course part of the attack on the
\nphysical consciousness, − the attack on the body is used to raise these ideas
\nand ideas are used to make it more difficult for the body to recover. At a
\ncertain stage attacks fall heavily on the body because the opposing forces find
\nit more difficult than before to upset the mind and vital directly, so they fall
\non the physical in the hope that that will do the trick, the physical being more
\nvulnerable. But the sensibility of the body to attacks is no proof of
\nincapacity, just as a finer sensibility of the mind or vital to attacks was no
\nproof − it can, in due time, be overcome. As for the feelings about the Mother
\nand that her love is only given for a return in work or to those who can do
\nsadhana well, that is the usual senseless idea of the vital-physical mind and
\nhas no value. <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

        There is nothing wrong in taking care of the body in regard to
\nhealth and, if the liver has gone wrong, the instinct to refuse too sweet or
\ngreasy or heavy food is a right instinct. Mother has no objection to your
\nabstaining while the illness is there nor has she insisted on your taking dal<\/i>. Her objection is only to that which
\npeople often do, getting ideas about this food and that food <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\nPage ─ 1575<\/span><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n
\n

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

and
\nabstaining even when there is no acute illness. During an acute state of bad
\nliver, abstaining is often necessary. Only one must not create by wrong ideas a
\nnervous incapacity of the stomach or a chronic nervous dyspepsia. She had no
\nother meaning. <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

I hope you will be all right soon. If the body does not right
\nitself, you must keep me informed from time to time.<\/p>\n

\n <\/p>\n

\n⁂<\/font><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

There
\nseem to be two elements in the physical difficulty that is weighing on you. The
\nfirst is the liver trouble which weakens and must weaken still more if it leads
\nyou to diminish your food below what the body needs for maintaining sufficient
\nstrength to react − also probably the nervous tendency to insomnia with its
\nconsequences. The second is an inertia of the lower vital and physical
\nconsciousness which prevents it from throwing off the lassitude, from reacting
\nagainst the attacks and from opening steadily to the Force which would remove
\nthese things. All that is due to the breakdown of the poise that you had for so
\nlong, the vital trouble that caused it and the reaction of the lower vital to
\nthe insistence on throwing out the causes of the trouble. This reaction seems to
\nhave been a restlessness at losing the things to which it was still holding −
\nsuch a reaction always brings the inertia of the physical consciousness, while
\nthe right reaction in the lower vital, on the contrary, brings a sense of peace,
\nrelease, quietude which definitely opens the lowest physical parts to the higher
\nconsciousness and force. If you can get over this and get back the old poise,
\nthen all these things can be made to disappear.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Care should be taken of the body certainly, the care that is
\nneeded for its good condition, rest, sleep, proper food, sufficient exercise;
\nwhat is not good is too much preoccupation with it, anxiety, despondency in the
\nillness, etc., for these things only favour the prolongation of ill-health or
\nweakness. For such things as the liver attacks treatment can always be taken
\nwhen necessary.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

But it is always the right inner poise, quietude inward and
\noutward, faith, the opening of the body consciousness to the <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\nPage ─ 1576<\/span><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n
\n

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

\nMother and her Force that are the true means of recovery − other things can only
\nbe minor aids and devices.<\/p>\n

\n <\/p>\n

\n⁂<\/font><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

What
\nhas caused all the trouble for X is his insistence on his ego, its ideas,
\nclaims, desires, intentions and his aggressiveness in expressing them so that he
\nquarrels with everybody. This quarrelsomeness opens him to all sorts of forces
\nof the vital plane and their attacks. It is also the cause of the damage done to
\nthe liver and organs of digestion − for quarrelsomeness and anger always lead to
\nspoil the liver and through it the stomach and intestines. As his
\nquarrelsomeness is colossal, so also is the damage done to the liver and
\ndigestion extreme. He must get rid of his egoism, quarrelsomeness and bad
\nfeelings towards others, if he wants to recover his health and his sadhana.<\/p>\n

\n <\/p>\n

\n⁂<\/font><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

It is
\na great gain if you feel no depression when the attack on the body comes.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

The pain itself is, from your description, evidently nervous
\nand, if you develop openness in the more physical layers of the being, then the
\naction of the Force can always remove it or you will yourself be able to use the
\nForce to push it away. It is a matter of getting the habit of opening in the
\nbody consciousness.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

The consciousness or unconsciousness, as you have seen in the
\nmatter of the French studies, is dependent on the condition. It is not that you
\nare unconscious, but that the physical being is prone to the tamasic condition
\n(the condition of inertia) and then it becomes either inactive or obscure,
\nstupid and unconscious; when the tamas goes away the condition becomes bright
\nand what was difficult before becomes natural and easy. The whole thing is to
\nget the physical out of its habit of falling back into tamas or inertia, and
\nthat can be done by opening and accustoming it to the action of the Force. When
\nthe action of the Force becomes constant, then there will be no more tamas. <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n⁂<\/font><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\nPage ─ 1577<\/span><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n
\n

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

It is
\nnot anything physical but a vital depression (or some part of the vital, not the
\nwhole) that prevents the body from recovering its elasticity. There was some
\npart of the vital that was resisting a radical change and even unknown to your
\nmind trying to go on as it was under cover of the change in the rest of your
\nbeing. This has now, owing to this last affair, received a blow and got
\ndepressed and, when the vital is depressed like that it affects the body. You
\nsay rightly that it is part of a change or turn that is taking place. But these
\neffects of inertia and weakness ought not to continue; as soon as the vital part
\nacquiesces gladly in the turn or change the elasticity and energy will return.<\/p>\n

\n <\/p>\n

\n⁂<\/font><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

The
\npains in the body come from the same source as the trouble in the vital nature;
\nboth are attacks from the same outside force that wants to mislead or, when it
\ncannot mislead, to trouble and disturb you. When once you can get rid of the
\nvital invasion and prevent its recurrence, it will be easier to get rid too of
\nthe physical trouble whose origin is nervous (vital-physical); although its
\nsymptoms seem to be those of a physical illness, it is usually an attack on the
\nnervous part and weakening of it for the time that gives you the pain. <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Remain always quiet and persist in opening yourself. The
\nForce that releases you from the vital trouble can also remove the disturbance
\nin the nervous part and the physical body.<\/p>\n

\n <\/p>\n

\n⁂<\/font><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

That
\nis what they [pains] do at first; when one drives them out of one place, they go
\nto another. It is better than their fixing in any place.<\/p>\n

\n <\/p>\n

\n⁂<\/font><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

It is
\nneither the vital nor the body that contains these illnesses − it is a force
\nfrom outside that creates these, and the nervous being (physical vital) and the
\nbody respond from habit or inability to throw it away. It is always better not
\nto say \u201cI will now have no <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\nPage ─ 1578<\/span><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n
\n

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

more
\nillness\u201d; it attracts the attention of these malevolent powers and they
\nimmediately want to prove that they can still disturb the body. Simply when they
\ncome, reject them.<\/p>\n

\n <\/p>\n

\n⁂<\/font><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

It is
\nby an attack on your physical consciousness that the old forces are bringing
\nback the wrong condition. As you got the power before to stand back from the
\nvital movement and localise it, while the rest of your consciousness observed
\nand was not overpowered, so you must learn to stand back from the physical pain
\nor uneasiness and localise it. If you can do that and do it completely, the pain
\nor uneasiness itself will be more easily and quietly removed and you will not be
\noverpowered like this with the sense of weakness. You can see that the Force has
\nthe power to take away the pains; but you allow yourself to be nervously
\novercome and therefore it is difficult for it to act with a continuous result.
\nWhat was done at that time in the vital, must be done in the physical
\nalso. It is the only way to get free from the attacks.<\/p>\n

\n <\/p>\n

\n⁂<\/font><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

You
\nmust arrive at a complete separation of your consciousness from these feelings
\nof the body and its acceptance of illness and from that separated consciousness
\nact upon the body. It is only so that these things can be got rid of or at least
\nneutralised.<\/p>\n

\n <\/p>\n

\n⁂<\/font><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\nIf it
\n[the consciousness] is separate it should not suffer from them [the pains]. Even
\nfor the pains, the body may suffer but the consciousness should not feel itself
\nsuffering or overpowered.<\/p>\n

\n <\/p>\n

\n⁂<\/font><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Pain
\nis caused because the physical consciousness in the Ignorance is too limited to
\nbear the touches that come upon it. Otherwise, to cosmic consciousness in its
\nstate of complete <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\nPage ─ 1579<\/span><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n
\n

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

\nknowledge and complete experience all touches come as Ananda.<\/p>\n

\n <\/p>\n

\n⁂<\/font><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

To
\nbear extreme heat and cold it is necessary to have peace in the cells first,
\nthen consolidated force. Pain and discomfort come from a physical consciousness
\nnot forceful enough to determine its own reactions to things.<\/p>\n

\n <\/p>\n

\n⁂<\/font><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\nThe
\nbody, naturally [experiences physical pain] − but the body transmits it to the
\nvital and mental. With the ordinary consciousness the vital gets disturbed and
\nafflicted and its forces diminished, the mind identifies and is upset. The mind
\nhas to remain unmoved, the vital unaffected, and the body has to learn to take
\nit with equality so that the higher Force may work.<\/p>\n

\n <\/p>\n

\n⁂<\/font><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

The
\nSelf is never affected by any kind of pain. The psychic takes it quietly and
\noffers it to the Divine for what is necessary to be done.<\/p>\n

\n <\/p>\n

\n⁂<\/font><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

It is
\na detachment of even the physical mind from the pain that makes one able to go
\non as if nothing were there but this detachment of the physical mind is not so
\neasy to acquire.<\/p>\n

\n <\/p>\n

\n⁂<\/font><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

The
\nmain difficulty seems to be that you are too subject to an excitement of the
\nnerves − <\/b>it is only by bringing
\nquietude and calm into the whole being that a steady progress in the sadhana can
\nbe assured. <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

The first thing to be done in order to recover is to stop
\nyielding to the attack of the nerves − the more you yield and identify yourself
\nwith these ideas and feelings, the more they increase. <\/p>\n

\n <\/p>\n

\nPage ─ 1580<\/span><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n
\n

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

You
\nhave to draw back and find back something in you that is not affected by pains
\nand depressions, then from there you can get rid of the pains and depressions. <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

If you listen to what others say and base your action on
\nsatisfying their ideas, how will you keep the right attitude which can alone
\nsupport you in work? It is for the Mother that you have to work, to find her in
\nyourself through work, − not to protect yourself from the criticism of others.<\/p>\n

\n <\/p>\n

\n⁂<\/font><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

I am
\nglad to know the disturbance was expelled last night − now the receptivity of
\nthe body consciousness has to be kept so that it may not at all return or, if it
\ntries, may immediately be expelled. You must always try to keep the quietude,
\nnot allow depressing or disturbing thoughts or feelings to enter you or take
\nhold of your mind or your speech − there is no true reason after one has gained
\nthe inner quietness and wideness why that should be allowed to lapse and these
\nthings enter. And if the mind keeps its quietude and receptivity to higher
\nforces only, it can then easily pass on that quietude and receptivity to the
\nbody consciousness and even to the material cells of the body.<\/p>\n

\n <\/p>\n

\n⁂<\/font><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\nWhatever it may be − the power of illness to prevent the sadhana ought not to
\nexist. The yogic consciousness and its activities must be there whether there is
\nhealth or illness.<\/p>\n

\n <\/p>\n

\n⁂<\/font><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

It is
\nno use stopping work because of rheumatism (unless it is of the kind that
\ndisables one from working) − it only makes things worse. <\/p>\n

\n <\/p>\n

\n⁂<\/font><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

You
\nhad opened your consciousness, so the pain disappeared. If it came back during
\nthe sleep, it must have been because you <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\nPage ─ 1581<\/span><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n
\n

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

lost
\ntouch and fell back into the ordinary consciousness. That often happens.<\/p>\n

\n <\/p>\n

\n⁂<\/font><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Yes.
\nIf you don’t sleep enough the physical system becomes more open to these attacks
\n[of illness]. If it is kept in good condition, then usually it repels them
\nautomatically and one does not notice even that there has been an attack.<\/p>\n

\n <\/p>\n

\n⁂<\/font><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

I
\nsaid that when the body is in good condition it automatically repels any attack
\nof illness which is in the air without the mind even having to notice that there
\nis an attack. If the attack is automatically repelled what is the need of
\ndealing with it?<\/p>\n

\n <\/p>\n

\n⁂<\/font><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

It is
\na hostile pressure that is organising a habit in the body of recurrence at a
\nfixed time or times. This habit of fixed recurrence gives a great force for any
\nillness to persist, as the body consciousness expects the recurrence and the
\nexpectation helps it to come.<\/p>\n

\n <\/p>\n

\n⁂<\/font><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

It is
\nthis expectation in the mind that helps most to maintain the rhythm of the
\nattack. If it could be got rid of, the rhythm also could be broken.<\/p>\n

\n <\/p>\n

\n⁂<\/font><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

I
\ndon’t think stammering has anything to do with insufficient lung-power nor is it
\ncaused by malformation of the vocal organs − it is commonly a nervous (physico-nervous)
\nimpediment and is perfectly curable. I can’t say that I know of any especial
\ndevice for it − people have used various kinds of devices to get over it, but
\nbehind them all will-power and a patient discipline of the utterance are
\nindispensable. <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n⁂<\/font><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\nPage ─ 1582<\/span><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n
\n

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

You
\nhave to be careful about your eyes. Reading
\nby night (too much) is undesirable. There are two suggestions of the
\nsun-treatment man which I have found to be not without foundation. First, one
\nshould blink freely in looking at things or reading and not fix the eyes or
\nstare. Secondly, palming gives a very useful rest − palming means keeping the
\nhands crossed over the closed eyes (without pressing on the eyes) so as to shut
\nout all light.<\/p>\n

\n <\/p>\n

\n⁂<\/font><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

What
\nyou describe happens very usually during a cold in the head, as ordinarily one
\ndepends upon the brain cells for the transmission of the mental thought. When
\nthe mind is not so dependent on the brain cells, then the obscuration by the
\ncold does not interfere with clear seeing and thinking and one is not thrown
\nback in the mechanical mind.<\/p>\n

\n <\/p>\n

\n⁂<\/font><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Fever
\nis of course more often than not a struggle of the body to fight out impurities
\nthat have got in, but sometimes the remedy is as bad if not worse than the
\ndisease. It is the same with the difficulties − an illness sometimes results in
\na throwing out of some impurities but it can also do more harm than good.<\/p>\n

\n <\/p>\n

\n⁂<\/font><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n[After an attack of influenza:] The first thing to do is to keep throughout a
\nperfect equanimity and not to allow thoughts of disturbed anxiety or depression
\nto enter you. It is quite natural after this severe attack of influenza that
\nthere should be weakness and some fluctuations in the progress to recovery. What
\nyou have to do is to remain calm and confident and not worry or be restless − be
\nperfectly quiet and prepared to rest as long as rest is needed. There is nothing
\nto be anxious about; rest, and the health and strength will come. <\/p>\n

\n <\/p>\n

\n⁂<\/font><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\nPage ─ 1583<\/span><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n
\n

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

\nSciatica is something more than nervous − it affects the movement of the muscles
\nthrough the nerves. It can be got rid of at once, however, if you can manage to
\ndirect the Force on it.<\/p>\n

\n <\/p>\n

\n⁂<\/font><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

There
\nis no outer means. Sciatica is a thing which yields only to inner concentrated
\nforce or else it goes away of itself and comes of itself. Outer means at best
\ncan only be palliatives.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n⁂<\/font><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

The
\ninertia is there because there was always in your outer being a great force of
\ntamas and it is this that is being used by the resistance. There was also a
\ndeficiency of steady will power in the outer mind which makes it more difficult
\nfor the Force to come down than for the Knowledge. When you are entirely open
\nthe Force can act on the sciatica and it lessens or disappears, but with the
\nconsciousness blocked by the inertia these difficulties come in the way.<\/p>\n

\n <\/p>\n

\n⁂<\/font><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

We
\nhave always found that it [sciatica] cannot resist the force quietly and
\npersistently applied. Other illnesses can resist, but sciatica being entirely
\ntamasic cannot. The application of Force does not yet, probably, come natural to
\nyou, so it brings a sense of struggle not of quiet domination, hence the
\nrestlessness etc. <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

If you cannot get rid of the sciatica by inner means, the
\nmedical remedy (not for curing it, but for keeping free as long as possible) is
\nnot to fatigue yourself. It comes for periods which may last for weeks, then
\nsuddenly goes. If you remain quiet physically and are not too active, it may not
\ncome for a long time. But that of course means an inactive life, physically
\nincapable. It is what I mean by eternising the sciatica − and the inertia also.<\/p>\n

\n <\/p>\n

\n⁂<\/font><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

T.B.
\nis the result of a strong psychic-vital depression. Sex <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\nPage ─ 1584<\/span><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n
\n

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

\ncannot directly cause T.B. though it may be a factor in bringing about a fall of
\nthe vital forces and a withdrawal of the psychic supporting forces leading to
\nT.B. The lack of vitality which easily comes as a result of modern civilisation
\nis therefore a very strong contributing cause. Moderns have not the solid
\nnervous system and the natural (as opposed to the artificial and morbid) zest of
\nlife that their ancestors had. But I don’t know about the soldiers − the hideous
\ntrench war with all its ghastly circumstances and surroundings was, I imagine,
\nfar more difficult to bear than the open air marching and fighting of the
\nNapoleonic times.<\/p>\n

\n <\/p>\n

\n⁂<\/font><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\nAccording to all statements the deaths in early age are much less in
\nEurope and men live longer on the whole. But certain diseases have
\ngreatly increased in spite of the advance in hygiene − influenza, T.B. and
\nvenereals. There are also new diseases coming in that hardly existed before.
\nThat seems obviously the work of the Hostiles.<\/p>\n

\n <\/p>\n

\n⁂<\/font><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Of
\ncourse it [cancer] can [be cured by yoga], but on condition of faith or openness
\nor both. Even a mental suggestion can cure cancer − with luck of course, as is
\nshown by the case of the woman operated on unsuccessfully for cancer, but the
\ndoctors lied and told her it had succeeded. Result, cancer symptoms all ceased
\nand she died many years afterwards of another illness altogether.<\/p>\n

\n <\/p>\n

\n⁂<\/font><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\nMedicine is not exactly science. It is theory and experimental fumbling and
\nluck.<\/p>\n

\n <\/p>\n

\n⁂<\/font><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

The
\ntheory [of allopathic medicine] is imposing, but when it comes to application,
\nthere is too much fumbling and guesswork for it to rank as an exact science.
\nThere are many scientists (and others) who grunt when they hear medicine called
\na <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\nPage ─ 1585<\/span><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n
\n

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

\nscience. Anatomy and physiology, of course, are sciences.<\/p>\n

\n <\/p>\n

\n⁂<\/font><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\nInjections are all the fashion; for everything it is \u201cinject, inject and again
\ninject\u201d. Medicine has gone through three stages in modern times − first (at the
\nbeginning in Moli\u00e8re’s days) it was \u201cbleed and douche\u201d − then \u201cdrug and diet\u201d −
\nnow it is \u201cserum and injection\u201d. Praise the Lord! not for the illnesses, but for
\nthe doctors. However, each of these formulas has a part truth behind it −with
\nits advantages and disadvantages. As all religions and philosophies point to the
\nSupreme but each in a different direction, so all medical fashions are ways to
\nhealth\u2014though they don’t always reach it.<\/p>\n

\n <\/p>\n

\n⁂<\/font><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

You
\nmay say what you like about the homeopathic theories, but I have seen X work
\nthem out detail by detail in cases where he had free and unhampered action and
\nthe confidence of the patients and their strict obedience and have seen the
\nresults correspond to his statements and his predictions based on them fulfilled
\nnot only to the very letter but according to the exact times fixed, not
\naccording to X’s reports but according to the long detailed and precise reports
\nof the allopathic doctor in attendance. After that I refuse to believe, even if
\nall the allopaths shout in unison, that homeopathic theory or X’s interpretation
\nand application of it are mere rubbish and nonsense. As to mistakes all doctors
\nmake mistakes and very bad ones and kill as well as cure…. One theory is as
\ngood as another and as bad according to the application made of it in any
\nparticular case. But it is something else behind that decides the issue.<\/p>\n

\n <\/p>\n

\n⁂<\/font><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

I
\nhave put down a few comments to throw cold water on all this blazing hot
\nallopathism. But all these furious disputes seem to me now of little use. I have
\nseen the working of both the systems <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\nPage ─ 1586<\/span><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n
\n

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

[allopathy
\nand homeopathy] and of others and I can’t believe in the sole truth of any. The
\nones damnable in the orthodox view, entirely contradicting it, have their own
\ntruth and succeed − also both the orthodox and heterodox fail. A theory is only
\na constructed idea-script which represents an imperfect human observation of a
\nline of processes that Nature follows or can follow; another theory is a
\ndifferent idea-script of other processes that also she follows or can follow.
\nAllopathy, homeopathy, naturopathy, osteopathy, Kaviraji, Hakimi have all caught
\nhold of Nature and subjected her to certain processes; each has its successes
\nand failures. Let each do its work in its own way. I do not see any need for
\nfights and recriminations. For me all are only outward means and what really
\nworks are unseen forces from behind; as they act, the outer means succeed or
\nfail − if one can make the process a right channel for the right force, then the
\nprocess gets its full vitality − that’s all.<\/p>\n

\n <\/p>\n

\n⁂<\/font><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

It is
\nnot enough for a medicine to be a specific. Certain drugs have other effects or
\npossible effects which can be ignored by the physician who only wants to cure
\nhis case, but cannot be in a whole-view of the system and its reactions. The
\nunfavourable reactions of quinine are admitted by medical opinion itself and
\ndoctors in Europe have been long searching for a
\nsubstitute for quinine.<\/p>\n

\n <\/p>\n

\n⁂<\/font><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\nTumour, syphilis etc. are specialities, but what I have found in my
\npsycho-physical experience is that most disorders of the body are connected,
\nthough they go by families, but there is also connection between the families.
\nIf one can strike at their psycho-physical root, one can cure even without
\nknowing the pathological whole of the matter and working through the symptoms as
\na possibility. Some medicines invented by demi-mystics have this power. What I
\nam now considering is whether homeopathy has any psycho-physical basis. Was the
\nfounder <\/p>\n

\n <\/p>\n

\nPage ─ 1587<\/span><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n
\n

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

a
\ndemi-mystic? I don’t understand otherwise certain peculiarities of the way in
\nwhich X’s medicines act.<\/p>\n

\n <\/p>\n

\n⁂<\/font><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

You
\nare very much behind the times. Do you not know that even many doctors now admit
\nand write it publicly that medicines are an element but only one and that the
\npsychological element counts as much and even more? I have heard that from
\ndoctors often and read it over reputable medical signatures. And among the
\npsychological elements, they say, one of the most important is the doctor’s
\noptimism and self-confidence, (his faith, what? it is only another word for the
\nsame thing) and the confidence, hope, helpful mental atmosphere he can inspire
\nin or around his patient. I have seen it stated categorically that a doctor who
\ncan do that is far more successful than one who knows Medicine better but
\ncannot…. I did not mean that it cannot be done without medicines. But if it is
\nto be done with the aid of medicines, then the right medicine is helpful, the
\nwrong one obviously brings in a danger…. How does his knowledge prevent
\nintuition? Even an allopathic doctor has often to intuit what medicine he should
\ngive or what mixture − and it is those who intuit best that succeed best. All is
\nnot done by sole rule or book or sole rule of thumb even in orthodox Science.<\/p>\n

\n <\/p>\n

\n⁂<\/font><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

What
\nan absurd statement! Self-confidence is an inborn thing; it does not rest on
\nknowledge and experience…. Who says that? I never heard that Napoleon failed
\nat Waterloo for want of
\nself-confidence. I have always read that he failed because he was, owing to his
\nrecent malady, no longer so quick and self-confident in decision and so supple
\nin mental resource as before. Please don’t write history unless you have data
\nfor your novel version.<\/p>\n

\n <\/p>\n

\n⁂<\/font><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

You
\nhave only to admit that the mind and vital can influence the <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\nPage ─ 1588<\/span><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n
\n

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

Body
\n− then no difficulty is left. In this action of mind and vital on the body faith
\nand hope have an immense importance. I do not at all mean that they are
\nomnipotent or infallibly effective − that is not so. But they assist the action
\nof any force that can be applied, even of an apparently purely material force,
\nbut the action may be purely material when it is a question of material objects.
\nBut in things that have life or mind or mind and life one cannot isolate the
\nmaterial operation like that. There is always a play of other forces mixed with
\nit in the reception at least and for the most part in the inception and
\ndirection also.<\/p>\n

\n <\/p>\n

\n⁂<\/font><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\nMiracles can be done, but there is no reason why they should be all
\ninstantaneous, whether from Gods or doctors.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n⁂<\/font><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

These
\nthings are a matter of evidence and the evidence for Cou\u00e9’s success is
\noverwhelming. There have also been many great healers (gu\u00e9risseurs<\/i>) all over the world whose successes are well-attested.
\nFaith-healing and psycho-therapy are also facts.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n⁂<\/font><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

These
\nauto-suggestions − it is really faith in a mental form − act both
\non the subliminal and the subconscient. In the subliminal they set in action
\nthe powers of the inner being, its occult power to make thought, will or simple
\nconscious force effective on the body − in the subconscient they silence
\nor block the suggestions of death and illness (expressed or unexpressed) that
\nprevent the return of health. They help also to combat the same things (adverse
\nsuggestions) in the mind, vital, body consciousness. Where all this is
\ncompletely done or with some completeness, the effects can be very remarkable.<\/p>\n

\n <\/p>\n

\nPage ─ 1589<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/table>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

SECTION FOUR  Transformation of the Physical    NO NEED to despise the physical being − it is part of the intended manifestation.   ⁂  …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[19],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-939","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-24-letters-on-yoga-volume-24","wpcat-19-id"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/worksofthemotherandsriaurobindo.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/939","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=939"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/worksofthemotherandsriaurobindo.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/939\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/worksofthemotherandsriaurobindo.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=939"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/worksofthemotherandsriaurobindo.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=939"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/worksofthemotherandsriaurobindo.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=939"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}