March 1967 |
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02. March 1967 – Mother’s body |
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(Then it is question of Mother's last birthday, on February 21, and the difficulty in containing the increasingly chaotic stream of outer activities.) I live amidst a growing confusion. It has one advantage, I see that very clearly: there can no longer be any automatism. When you live a well-organized life, things become automatic — that's not possible anymore, at each minute the consciousness must be like a guiding light that is projected in order to know what must be done. I clearly see it's meant to be like that. It's deliberate. Some of the things I said in the Talk you've just read to me today, were true at the time, are still true for the majority of people, but are no longer true for me.... (Mother is referring to the Playground Talk (Questions and Answers) of May 14, 1951, on "chance," in which she said in particular: "Unless the event is the result of the divine Will expressed without admixture, it is the work of what we call 'chance.' In the ordinary world, everything is the rule of chance, except, now and then, an occurrence whose cause is indiscernible to the multitude of men, but discernible to one who is in contact with the divine Will. Only this escapes the rule of chance.") To the present vision, there is nothing that isn't willed and doesn't come purposely (not exactly deliberately, but with a precise aim in view), and it is AT THE SAME TIME a complete, multifaceted and integral whole (which is why it's very difficult to grasp). But now the thing is very clearly felt. And that is since two or three days, following a very minute observation — precise and minute... The centre of consciousness is fairly high up (gesture far above the head); in the past it was always there (gesture near the top of the head) and it would see things around and inside, but it seems to have ascended and the field of the consciousness is much vaster. Also, the body has become transparent, so to speak, and almost nonexistent; I don't know how to put it ... it doesn't obstruct the vibrations: all vibrations can go through. For example (I'll give an example to make myself understood, omitting details deliberately), I was asked for a certain amount of money, an increase. (On the material level a certain number of things are controlled — by Mother — from here, and which I have to pay for regularly.) So then, an increase was asked for. Not that the request was unreasonable, that's not it (it was an increase for something special, a daily increase), but I don't know why (because here — gesture to the forehead — nothing happens, I am absolutely, not only blank, but transparent, and everything is allowed to go through unobstructed), when I had to take the decision, there was immediately a vision (but a vision, as I said, from above, which sees over a much larger field), of conflict, battle, and to the observation there was something (in Mother) very much displeased, like a protest. I wondered why. If it had been translated into words, there would have been indignation at that request (without there being in the consciousness the least reason for this indignation: it all becomes very, very impersonal — very impersonal). I went on looking with the vision of the consciousness, and then, as if automatically, through this mouth I asked how much this increase would amount to per week (because even the mental state that enables you to calculate isn't there at all: it's only a question of consciousness). I asked someone who was there, and he told me. Then, there immediately came the decision: "I will give so much once a week." And everything calmed down. Why and how and who? I haven't the faintest idea. So I am forced to conclude that it's a highly superior consciousness which sees things with reasons that completely elude us, sees how things must be done and sets them in motion (global gesture to indicate the play of forces) until they are done as they must be done. And where there was a person, it no longer exists — there are no more "persons": there are forces in movement that bring about certain material actions, but no more persons. Since then, there has been an observation: I have noticed that everything concerning this body has become like that. So the body itself has barely the sense of its limits (gesture as if the delimiting form had melted). It's fairly new. I can see it has come about rather progressively, but it's fairly new, so it's hard to express. But it's this same body that no longer feels those limits (same gesture): it feels spread out in everything it does, in everything around it, in all things, people, movements, sensations, in all that.... It's spread out like that. It has become very amusing, very interesting. It's really new. And it has become more precise after February 21. There were one or two very difficult days around the birthday, then a kind of adjustment took place inside, and afterwards came the experience. It was the outcome. There really is a change. One has to be a little attentive and careful not to bump into things or drop them: the gestures are somewhat wobbly. It's very interesting. It must be a transitional phase, which will last until THE true consciousness is established; then it will have a wholly different functioning from the one it had previously, but with a precision that one can foresee will be incalculable. And of a very different order. With many things, for instance, the vision is clearer with eyes closed than with eyes open, but the same clarity is beginning (it began long ago), beginning to come with open eyes; they see differently (gesture showing the inside of things). There are amusing details on the whole, but I will tell you about them later because they involve certain people, so I'd rather not talk (the details are interesting only with the names), I'd rather not talk about them right now.... It is regarding the "power of the Mother" and how it will manifest — amusing things, ambitions perhaps (it took on the appearance of ambitions), but I am watching (the "I" above — the true "I" is watching to see if it corresponds to a concrete reality).... From a quite external and ordinary point of view (and it's not like that, it's not SEEN like that), but expressed in the human consciousness, those are ambitions caused by the fact that the material age is increasing (Mother has just turned 89) and so one may foresee ... (laughing) my disappearance. It's very amusing. But I'll tell you about it later. It remains to see when I'll disappear!... Sri Aurobindo said to me, "Your body on earth..." He said, "What I see is that your body is the only one that has sufficient endurance to go through the ordeal." But, you understand, this body knew nothing about it, it has no ambitions (!), still less pretensions. But basing myself on that, when he told me, "You will do the work," I said yes. So there we are. But now, I see — I have seen: to hold on is hard. It's hard. It takes both an unflinching energy — a constant energy, like this (inflexible gesture) — and at the same time, a perfect humility ready to abandon EVERYTHING, because all that is, is nothing in comparison with what must be. A perfect humility. I don't think there are many bodies like that. It really (laughing) has goodwill! Oh, these last few days there have been moments ... a few minutes (it could hardly last more) when it was really hard. And then, what makes it possible for the body to go through is that at such moments, it's completely like this (gesture of surrender): "Lord, what You will." Nothing, no thought, no speculation — nothing: "What You will." And "You alone exist." That's all. Moments of anguish, you know ... in an ordinary consciousness it would find expression in physical pains that are hard to bear, but the Grace is there — the UNREALITY OF THE SUFFERING is there, fortunately. Oh, a marvellous Grace. So then, the result (these few days were difficult), the result is this: that the body itself has truly changed consciousness. Its consciousness is up above: there's nothing left here inside, it's all like that, like something everything goes through. (silence) It may have one ambition (it's expressed as an aspiration, at any rate): the possibility of making this unreality of suffering felt everywhere. When the possibility is glimpsed of transmitting everywhere the unreality of suffering, there is a joy — there is a light, a joy in the body. That makes it happy. So the Consciousness above says, "That's how it is, that's how it will be." There. |
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04. March 1967 – On Aphorism 126; Problems of transformation |
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126 — The most binding Law of Nature is only a fixed process which the Lord of Nature has framed and uses constantly; the Spirit made it and the Spirit can exceed it, but we must first open the doors of our prison-house and learn to live less in Nature than in the Spirit. That was precisely the subject of... (can we call it meditation?) of this morning's work. It came so clearly. But the experiences aren't literary, they can't be expressed. (Mother goes into contemplation) Someone has just brought, from two sides at the same time (gesture to the right and to the left), a plate of grapes and yet another plate of grapes, like that. One was for you and one for me. Since two or three days, there are some vital beings eager to manifest their goodwill, and this was like the expression of their goodwill. In the vital, food is very often grapes, very frequently. Grapes of incomparable beauty, besides. And grapes are the fruit of life. So I suppose that's why. There were two bunches: one was bigger, the other not so big; I don't know for whom was the biggest and for whom was the other: they came from both sides, they were presented like this (gesture to the right and to the left of Mother). One was on a plate, the other on a square of white paper. I presumed the one on the square of white paper was for me! Lovely, beautiful! Grapes turning golden, you know — transparent and golden when they're ripe. Each grape was this big (gesture: about five centimetres). (silence) I tried to express what happened this morning, and what kept coming to me was: "But the experiences aren't literary, they can't be expressed." (silence) Some vital beings said to me, "There was a time when you used us and we were very happy. Why aren't you using us anymore now?" So I replied to them, "If you want to do work, I'm certainly not going to stop you!" That was yesterday evening. I was asked questions on levitation (questions a modern little child might ask), I was asked, "How is it that one who escapes from this law doesn't just go up into the atmosphere?" I replied from my experience that that's not the way levitation works, it's not because one escapes from the law of gravity: it's because physical bodies are supported by materialized vital forces (slightly materialized). So then, it put me back in contact with those forces and beings, and last night they said that to me; they told me, "Why aren't you using us any longer? We were quite happy!" I said, "Come along and do some work!" And there you are (the grapes). When you sleep (that is, when the body is in a state of trance), you can eat. You sense the taste when you have gone outside the body. And it's very nourishing, it gives strength. I have eaten I don't know how many times like that, mostly grapes — and what grapes!... Soon afterwards Yes, this problem of the transformation, I see more and more clearly that there are three approaches, three ways to go about it, and that in order to be more complete, one should combine the three. One — the most important, naturally — is the way we could call "spiritual," which is that of the contact with the Consciousness — Love-Consciousness-Power, that is; these three aspects: supreme Love-Consciousness-Power. And the contact, the identification: to make all the material cells capable of receiving Him and expressing Him — of BEING That. Of all the ways, that is the most powerful and the most indispensable. There is the occult way, which brings all the intermediary worlds into play. There is a very detailed knowledge of all the powers and personalities, all the intermediary regions, and it makes use of all that. That's where one makes use of the Overmind godheads: it's in this second way. Shiva, Krishna, all the aspects of the Mother are part of this second way. Then there is the higher intellectual approach, which is the projection of a surpassing scientific mind and takes up the problem from below. It has its importance too. From the standpoint of the detail of the operation, it reduces approximation, it gives a more direct and precise action. If one can combine all three, then obviously the thing will go faster. Without the first, nothing is possible (and the other two are even unrealistic without the first: they lead nowhere, you go round in circles endlessly). But if you clothe the first in the other two, then I think the action is more precise, more direct, more rapid. It's the result of these last few days' "studies." |
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07. March 1967 – About death |
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I've received a certain number of questions from the older students (not the young children, the older students) on "death," the conditions of death, why are there are so many accidents at present, and so on. I have already answered two persons. Of course, the answer is on a mental level, but with an attempt to go beyond. It is that sort of mental logic which wants... yes, which wants things to be deduced one from the other according to that logic, and so they have arrived at... impossible questions. (the text of the questions:) Are the time and manner of death always chosen by the soul? In huge human destructions through bombings, floods, earthquakes, have all the souls chosen to die together at that time? The vast majority of human beings have a collective destiny. For them, the question does not arise. One who has an individualized psychic being can survive even in the midst of collective catastrophes, if such is the choice of his soul. How is the soul conscious of being and existing after death, once it is separated from its physical, vital and mental beings? The soul is a spark of the Supreme Divine, I do not see how the Lord needs a body in order to be conscious of being. It's nothing very new, but it's a broadening of the consciousness. And all these questions have in fact been coming into the atmosphere lately, giving at first the impression that man knows nothing about death — he doesn't know what it is, doesn't know what happens, he has built all kinds of hypotheses but has no certainties. And by pressing on — by insisting and pressing on — I have reached the conclusion ... that there is really no such thing as death. There is only an appearance, and an appearance based on a limited view. But there is no radical change in the vibration of the consciousness. This came as an answer to a sort of anguish — there was in the cells a sort of anguish at not knowing what death really is; a sort of anguish, like that. And the response was very clear and very persistent: it was that the consciousness alone can know, because ... because the importance attached to the difference of state is a merely superficial difference based on an ignorance of the phenomenon in itself. One who could retain a means of communication would be able to say that as far as he himself is concerned, it doesn't make much difference. But this is something which is being worked out. There still remain grey areas and some details of the experience are missing. So it would be better to wait, it seems to me, until the knowledge is more complete, because rather than give an approximation with assumptions, it would be better to give the complete fact with the total experience. So we'll put it off till later. Only, instead of having a perception... You leave a sort of illusory state and a perception which is a perception of appearances, but you do have a perception. That is to say, at certain times I had the perception, I was able to see the difference, but of course, the experience wasn't total (it wasn't total in the sense that it was interrupted by people), so it's better to wait awhile before we talk about it. But the perception is there. Not absolutely identical, but with an effectiveness which is sometimes greater in itself. But it's not really perceived by the other side. I don't know how to explain. I've had the example (not an example: it was lived with the full perception) of a being who lived with me for years, who remained in perfectly conscious contact after he had left his body (and left it quite materially), and who didn't merge, but closely associated himself with another living being and in this association went on living the life of his OWN CONSCIOUSNESS. I can give neither the names nor the facts about all this, but it's as concrete as can be. And it's going on. All this has been seen — I've been seeing it for a long time, but just this morning it came back as an illustration of the new knowledge. Extraordinarily concrete (the "association") in its effects, changing the capacities and movements of the other's consciousness. And consciously — an absolutely conscious life. And it's the same consciousness that was conscious during the phase when there was no body left at all and the presence was visible only in the nocturnal vision. There are other cases. This one is very close and intimate, which is why I have been able to follow it in all its details. But it's clear, precise and EVIDENT only with this new vision, because (how can I explain?...) I knew this — I knew it before, I knew it — but I saw it again with the new consciousness, the new way of seeing, and then the understanding was total, the perception was total, absolutely concrete, with elements that were completely missing — convincing elements that were completely missing in the first perception, which was a vital-mental knowledge. While this is a knowledge of the consciousness of the cells. But all this would only be interesting with all the facts (which can't be given). So I'd like to have a more complete and "impersonal" experience, you might say, I mean not illustrated by facts but an overall vision of the process. Then I will be able to talk about it. It will come. |
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15. March 1967 – Perfectly peaceful, calm and translucent |
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The roses have opened now (Mother holds out a rose to the disciple), and isn't this one a magnificent colour! Beautiful, isn't it? This morning I had an amusing experience with roses. There was a closed bud — big, hard — big and hard, red. I took it, looked at it, then my fingers ran over the flower like that, and... (gesture showing the flower opening up), one petal after another and another and yet another — before my eyes. And it was completely hard and closed. I took it and said, "It's a pity." I was about to put it back in water so it would open up, and I looked... It was so pretty, you know, opening up, happy, as if saying to me, "Oh, how happy I am!" Flowers and I are on very friendly terms, I must say. Once in the past, I took flowers that had wilted — wilted flowers (that was the time when I was practicing occultism with Théon — it happened several times). One flower was quite drooping: I took it in my hand, looked at it, and little by little, little by little, it straightened up again and became quite smiling! They are very, very receptive. Soon afterwards It's quite amusing, all the experiences that one has in the vital, in the mind and above, are occurring in the material, in the cellular consciousness, and they are a reproduction, as it were, but with a slight alteration caused by Matter. When you stir water, for instance, when you agitate it, it's no longer transparent; there are movements, and those movements prevent the water from being transparent. You can no longer see through it. It's the same thing materially: when you are restless, when you don't have that sort of calm (which isn't stillness but the opposite of restlessness, I don't know how to describe it — it's something imperturbable). Very few people have that, and when they come near, there are immediately... (gesture of trepidation and seething in the atmosphere) vibrations, disorder and confusion settle in. You can see it occur on a small scale with people coming here; you can see it on a larger scale with the movements of the Ashram; and you can see it on an even larger scale with the movements of the earth. It's the same thing with that sort of mental restlessness people have (excitement and restlessness): as soon as there is excitement and restlessness, it's impossible to see clearly; it's the same as with water, it goes like this (same gesture of trepidation and seething), lots of movements of confusion, and you can't see anything. It's the same thing materially. And then, as soon as a problem has to be solved (especially a material problem), people are in the habit of getting restless, and as soon as they get restless, it's absolutely impossible to find any solution. And it makes the confusion worse. This is something I experience constantly, every minute. If I am in my normal atmosphere, however intense the action may be (or also the intensity of the problem to be solved), one sees clearly, and the solution imposes itself as something absolute, irrevocable: this is how it must be done. The minute the restless atmosphere of someone else comes in (and as soon as a problem arises, there is not one in a thousand who doesn't become restless, at least inwardly a little), it starts going like this (same gesture of trepidation), and not only do you stop seeing, but things are no longer in their place! And so the solution... you have to mend the disorder before you can think of the solution. It's an experience of almost every moment. I see numerous people; with some, as soon as they enter the atmosphere, their confusion enters with them, and you can't see anything anymore — you have to wait a little, try and calm things down, and then you can see. With some it never calms down — it's hopeless, you can only send them back. With others, it calms down after a certain length of time, then you can begin to see and know what needs to be done. But materially it results in something very interesting. When I am alone and everything is tranquil in my atmosphere, at any moment I can take anything, any object: it's exactly in its place. And everything goes without a hitch. As soon as someone (anyone) is there, as soon as someone is there, there is a little vibration (same gesture of trepidation). With some people the vibration gets much worse — and I lose my things! I lose them almost irretrievably... until the atmosphere has calmed down again. Then the thing comes back quite naturally, almost as if it had gone away and come back — it didn't go away and come back: it was only the confusion veiling everything. And I find the place again, the thing in its exact place. This goes on from morning to night (I can't say from night to morning because I go off into another region!). But it's constant. And so I feel I am living in constant confusion. At times it is rather difficult. For instance, here in the mornings, when there are three or four sources of confusion at the same time, it becomes acute. I have only one solution, that is to be alone somewhere or other and stay like this (gesture of withdrawal into absolute stillness), until everything is back to normal again. Then everything is back to normal, the Lord's Presence is there again... it's always there, but it can express and manifest itself — while it can't get through that (confusion)! So I stay still and all goes well. And there, I can face any fresh disorders that come (provided they don't rush in too close on each other's heels!), but anyway, I pull through. To tell the truth, I always pull through, but there are disorders that shouldn't be, that are useless. I always feel like telling people, "Oh, I beg you, be quiet!..." But not the "quiet" of an apathetic quietude, not slumped in a corner and you don't move anymore (while anyway it keeps going like this inside (gesture of seething), no: quiet, quiet, like this (vast gesture) in the consciousness, then everything becomes limpid. And in that limpidity you see very clearly, decide very clearly, everything works out, things organize themselves, you don't even need to intervene. All difficulties... I see that, I've seen it lately with regard to political organizations, relations between nations and all that, all the problems to be solved — it's all the same thing: people are like this (same gesture of trepidation), all the time, all the time, all the time... one wave of restlessness, then another and yet another wave of restlessness coming on top of it — and you don't see anything anymore! You can't see anything anymore! While if one can stay quiet for a while.... It's the same with all the questions I am asked (I receive innumerable questions), it's all like this (same gesture), everything is like this and one can't see anything. If one remains quiet... the Light goes through, everything becomes limpid, transparent, and... it becomes so natural, so simple! So simple, so obvious: there is ONE thing that can be done and it's the true thing. All the rest... (same gesture of seething). Some people live in a constant whirl, and they're quite surprised that everything goes wrong! They meet with complications, with... And it's always that (same gesture). Of course, I am not talking about those who are tamasic and completely inert: they are like an inert mass, so the Light can't go through — it is the restlessness of others that goes through and stirs them up! No, I am talking about a Light... (vast gesture) above things, untouched by them, which sees. And this Light is in a... (how can I explain?) Everything, the entire universe moves forward rapidly at a fantastic pace and in perfect immobility. Words seem idiotic, but you can feel this — you can feel it, see it, live it. A luminous immobility moving forward at a fantastic pace. In that immobility there is perfect transparency... and the problem does not exist: the solution precedes the problem. That is to say, things organize themselves (gesture showing the movement of universal forces) in such a way that they can change positions or take a different place in order to express the new thing that must be expressed: something new constantly enters the manifestation (as if emerging from the Unmanifest), it enters the manifestation and transforms. And it takes place automatically. A vast, immense Movement... (Mother smiles with her eyes closed) in which one can participate only if one is perfectly peaceful and calm and translucent. |
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22. March 1967 – Cling to Truth |
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It's very interesting.... Because of this "message" for the New Year (("Men, countries, continents! The choice is imperative: Truth or the abyss.") everybody is talking about this message everywhere, it has given a good jolt; even in government circles, everywhere), because of this message, everyone is claiming to be a "defender of the Truth." They ask me questions, and everyone is surprised that the truth as he conceives it isn't established in the world. So I am beginning to be forced to wage war for the Truth against all the conceptions of the truth! And that's rather interesting. For instance, there is here that old idea of vegetarian food. Some people write to me indignantly that these "holy rules" are being increasingly broken in the Ashram! They wrote to me a first time, asking me to answer; I neglected to answer. So they wrote a second time to tell me, "... What can we do if you don't answer?" I answered (they are probably kicking themselves), I replied something like this: "Truth is not a dogma that one can learn once and for all and impose as a rule. Truth is as infinite as the supreme Lord and It manifests every instant for those who are sincere and attentive." I could have added other things but I didn't, so as not to wage battle too openly! The same day, that is, just today, I received another letter.... The whole letter ranted and raved about all that's goes on in the Ashram, saying, "What! This place is worse than the world!" and so forth. (All this in the name of "truth", naturally.) So (laughing) I answered: "Were Truth to manifest in such a way as to be seen and understood by all, they would be terrified by the enormity of their ignorance and false interpretation." I hit hard this time. And it's going on. Day after day it's like that, growing acute. Everyone is the "defender of the Truth." One about food, another about money, another about business, another about relationships... — everyone has his hobby-horse. The wonderful thing is that till now not one has told me, "Maybe my opinions aren't true?" — not one! "Maybe my way of seeing or feeling isn't true?" — not one. All are right in the Truth! It's very interesting. The defenders of the truth are often worse than the enemies of the truth. (Mother nods approvingly) But I can't say anything because I am the one responsible, I told them, "Cling to Truth." No, they all make the same mistake: they confuse truth with the old idea of virtue. They all make the same mistake as the moral error. And above all, they want a truth expressed in a few very clear and well-defined words, so they can say, "This is true." The old calamity of religions: "This is true" — consequently the rest is falsehood. How many times... how many times have we said, Sri Aurobindo (and I too) said, "When a thing is true, you can be sure that its opposite is also true. When you have understood this, then you will begin to understand." This morning I was also bombarded with a quotation from Sri Aurobindo (they came and bombarded me in the name of Sri Aurobindo!), to tell me that in The Mother it was written that, "The divine Grace can act only in the Truth" — and I shouldn't forget that! (Mother laughs) There is a quotation from Sri Aurobindo in which he says, "The divine Grace will answer, but do not think it will answer in Falsehood...." An admirable sentence. Only, they don't know: they are the possessors of the Truth — the Falsehood is the others!... And even intelligent people (that's the strange thing, because it's so idiotic!), even people... anyway, those with a brain, who understand, fall into the trap. (silence) One could say thanks to all this (not even "because of" — THANKS TO all this), I have had these last days, these last three days, the vision — the concrete vision, showing how at every second, the supreme Consciousness (which I personally find convenient to call the "supreme Lord"), how at EVERY SECOND, it makes you do or say or see or know exactly what is needed for everything to move like this (round gesture expressing the innumerably ramified movement of universal forces), to move forward. It's not yet the direct, all-powerful, crushing Movement of direct Forces (gesture from above downward, like a sword of light): it's a movement like this (same round gesture), but marvellous — marvellously subtle, ingenious, respectful of everything, but everything; you know, a movement that makes use of everything to lead towards the Goal, even "errors" — which are not errors because when the Consciousness is there, the error isn't an error committed by ignorance: a thing is said or done because that's what needs to be said or needs to be done — it may in appearance be even a blunder, yet it's exactly what is needed for everything to move forward (same innumerable round gesture), move forward luminously towards the desired goal. It's absolutely marvellous! And seen in tiny little details and in the whole. It's this marvel of a Consciousness that makes each one do what must be done, puts each thing in its place, arranges everything, and it's our idiocy, an absolutely ignorant and stupid vision, that would have us believe in faults, in errors, in... Each one is a problem to be resolved, so all those problems interpenetrate, and it is the WHOLE that must be led, precisely towards this famous Truth (the true one). But I've spent, you know, hours in admiration — a blissful admiration — before this marvel of order, with all the little things around you, all the little people around you, all the little circumstances.... It's wonderful! Wonderful! And then, this presumptuous mind which understands nothing and asserts itself in its all-powerful knowledge, oh... it's so comical! (silence) It is the maximum use of all possibilities and all impossibilities, all capacities and all incapacities; a maximum use in a maximum power and a maximum Compassion, and then... a smile! A smile, a sense of humour, oh!... Such a benevolent irony, so full of compassion, so wonderful.... And this presumptuous mind, which is an incredible phenomenon indeed: it spends its time judging what it doesn't know and deciding on what it doesn't see! (silence) Then there was the vision of others and the remembrance of the time when those things had great importance and were taken very seriously, with a solemnity... a wholly moral solemnity. That's amusing too. |
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25. March 1967 – The wonder of existence |
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...It's gone. As soon as it's said, it's gone and away. When things are read back to me, I don't remember what I said, it comes like something new. As soon as it's expressed, it's gone. And it's gone for good as though expressing yourself emptied you of something and made room for a new thing — always. When you speak of an experience, the effect of the experience is as though exhausted and you are ready for another. Speaking always makes a void for a new thing to come in. And the impression is always: how old, oh, how old! I find everything old. The movement must be extremely rapid. But it's a pity that material occupations are so cumbersome. There must be a reason. What organizes the world and life is much wiser than we are: we don't see, we are extremely short-sighted. But That (vast gesture), as I told you last time, is marvellous! Marvellous. So there must also be a reason for the fact that I am so overburdened. Of course, the general reason is very clear (it's easy to understand), but even from the point of view of the sadhana: that way, probably, nothing is overlooked. What's interesting is to follow this kind of change in the consciousness of the cells: there are still many of them with a sense of wonder that the Truth exists. That's the form it takes: a sense of wonder.... "Ah, so that's what it is!" A wonder. A wonder at the existence, the UNIQUE existence of the Lord — a joy! Such an intense joy and a child-like wonder, you know: "Oh, so it's really like that!" And this goes on in one part of the body after another, one group of cells after another. Truly charming. And then, when the mantra comes spontaneously, oh!... There is an adoration: "It's like that, like that! That is true, it is THAT which is true — all the disorder, all the ugliness, all the suffering, all the misery, all of that isn't true! It's not true, it is THAT which is true." And not with words (words trivialize it): with an extraordinary sensation, extraordinary! And then... it's the beginning of that sort of glorious, marvellous life. It's still at the stage of wonder; that is, something unexpected in its sublimity. At the same time, there is an overall vision which becomes more and more total, in which each thing has its own purpose, its own place, and which excludes nothing. That need to exclude the mind in order to surpass it no longer exists. Now the mind is perfectly tranquil, peaceful, and it sets itself in motion only when it receives a command, an imperative command. It receives a command, then it does something precise for a precise reason, a very precise action, and then... silence and calm. So then, that rehabilitates everything. It's only the quagmire that we have made of it that ceases to be. (silence) When it will be complete, there will come the Power... to restore order, obviously. I increasingly feel the need to intervene to restore order and harmony. It's the main reason for all this burdensome work. It's a lesson and an experience to learn gradually how to put things in order and establish harmony. It's a big work. There's still a lot to be done, quite a lot! (Mother laughs) |
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29. March 1967 – Lived knowledge |
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For instance, these last few days I have clearly seen that men do not know the reality — the concrete reality — of the invisible, because if they knew it they would go insane. They have such a fear of these things.... Even now, when they see in a vision someone they loved when he was alive, when they see him at night, they say, "Ohh, a ghost!" And they are horribly afraid! So maybe this is going to terrify them. I don't know.... It may fall into the hands of someone to whom it will do much good, but is it worth running the risk of doing harm for the sake of one or two to whom it will do good? That has to be seen. Soon afterwards I was asked a question: "What is youth?" Here is what I replied (Mother holds out a note): "To be young is to live in the future for the future. To be young is to be always ready to abandon what one is in order to become what one ought to be.... And above all, the most important: "To be young is never to admit the irreparable." Then Mother takes out another note she has just written to a disciple: "One is always deeply disgusted at one's own faults when one encounters them in others"(!) Yet another note: "Europeans attach the greatest importance to the words uttered. "Indians are much more sensitive to the feeling, which more often than not those words veil." It's about a remark by B. She said something to someone with very kind and extremely polite words, but in her heart she doesn't like the person she spoke to; and she was shocked because the other became indignant.... But I understood immediately. She was indignant, she said, "Why? I was very polite, so why?" But they feel, deep down they sense the feeling with which you say the thing. That's what they feel and what they respond to. |
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