Thread by @Auro_Mere

228.1)"(Mother continues reading from #SriAurobindo's Lights on Yoga, Ch.4, "Work")

(—Work can be of two kinds:
the work that is a field of experience used for the Sadhana, for a progressive harmonisation & transformation...
& work that is a realised expression of the Divine—)"

228.2)"(—But the time for the latter can be only when the Realisation has been fully brought down into the earth-consc.; till then all work must be a field of endeavour & a school of experience—)

(X—"All work" is "a school of exp."?)
Yes..You don't understand?

(X—No, Mother).."

228.3)"..If you don't do anything, you cannot have any experience.
The whole life is a field of experience.
Each movement you make, each thought you have, each work you do, can be an experience, and must be an experience.."

228.4)"..And naturally work in particular is a field of experience where one must apply all the progress which one endeavours to make inwardly.
If you remain in meditation or contemplation without working, well, you don't know if you have progressed or not.."

228.5)"..You may live in an illusion of your progress;
while if you begin to work,
all its circumstances,
contact with others,
material occupation,
all this is a field of exp. so that you may become aware not only of the progress made but of all progress that remains to be made"

228.6)"..If you live closed up in yourself, w/o acting, you may live in a completely subjective illusion;
the moment you externalise your action & enter into contact with..circumstances..of life, you become aware absolutely objectively of whether you have made progress or not.."

228.7)"..You become aware..whether you are more calm, more conscious, stronger, more unselfish, whether you no longer have any desire, any preference, any weakness, any unfaithfulness—you can become aware of all this by working.."

228.8)"..But if you remain enclosed in a meditation that's altogether personal, you may enter into a total illusion and never come out of it,
and believe that you have realised extraordinary things, while really you have only the impression, the illusion that you have done so.."

228.9)"..That's what #SriAurobindo means.

(Q—Then, Mother why do all the spiritual schools in India have as their doctrine escape from action?)
Yes, because all this is founded upon the teaching that life is an illusion.."

228.10)"..It began with the teaching of the Buddha who said that existence was the fruit of desire, and that there was only one way of coming out of misery and suffering and desire; it was to come out of existence.
And then this continued with Shankara.."

228.11)"..Shankara added that not only is it the fruit of desire but it is a total illusion, and as long as you live in this illusion you cannot realise the Divine.
For him there was not even the Divine, I think; for the Buddha, at least, there wasn't any.."

228.12)"(Q—Then did they truly have experiences?)
That depends on what you call "experience". They certainly had an inner contact with something.
The Buddha certainly had an inner contact with something which, in comparison with the external life, was a non-existence.."

228.13)"..And in this non-existence, naturally, all the results of existence disappear.
There is a state like this; it is even said that if one can keep this state for twenty days, one is sure to lose one's body; if it is exclusive, I quite agree with it.."

228.14)"..But it may be an experience which remains at the back, you see, and is conscious even while not being exclusive, and which causes the contact with the world and the outer consciousness to be supported by something that is free and independent.."

228.15)"..This indeed is a state in which one can truly make very great progress externally, because one can be detached from everything and act without attachment, without preference, with that inner freedom which is expressed outwardly.."

228.16)"..Yet this is the real necessity: once this inner freedom has been attained and the conscious contact with what is eternal & infinite, then, without losing this consciousness one must return to action and let that influence the whole consciousness turned towards action.."

228.17)"..This is what #SriAurobindo calls bringing down the Force from above.
In this way there is a chance of being able to change the world, because one has brought in a new Force, a new region, a new consciousness and put it into contact with the outer world.."

228.18)"..So its presence & action will produce inevitable changes &, let's hope, a total transformation in what this outer world is.
So we could say Buddha quite certainly had the 1st part of the exp., but that he never dreamt of the 2nd, b/c it was contrary to his own theory.."

228.19)"..His theory was that one had to run away; but it is obvious that there is only one way of escape, to die, and yet, as he himself has said so well, you may be dead and be completely attached to life and still be in the cycle of births and not have liberation.."

228.20)"..And in fact he has admitted the idea that it is by successive passing lives on the earth that one can manage to develop oneself to reach this liberation.
But for him the ideal was that the world would not exist any longer.."

228.21)"..It was as if he accused the Divine of (making) a mistake & that there was only one thing to do, to rectify the mistake by annulling it.
But naturally, to be..logical, he didn't admit the Divine.
It was a mistake made by whom, how, in what way?—this he never explained.."

228.22)"..Buddha simply said that it was made & that the world had begun with desire & had to end with desire.
He was just on the point of saying that this world was purely subjective, that is, a collective illusion, & that if the illusion ceased the world would cease to be.."

228.23)"..But he did not come so far.
It is Shankara who took over and made the thing altogether complete in his teaching.
If we go back to the teaching of the Rishis, for example, there was no idea of flight out of the world; for them the realisation had to be terrestrial.."

228.24)"..They conceived a Golden Age very well, in which the realisation would be terrestrial.
But starting from a certain decline of vitality in the spiritual life of the country, perhaps, from a different orientation which came in, you see.."

228.25)"..It is certainly starting from the teaching of the Buddha that this idea of flight came, which has undermined the vitality of the country, because one had to make an effort to cut oneself off from life.."

228.26)"..The outer reality became an illusory falsehood, & one had no longer to have anything to do with it.
So naturally one was cut off from the universal energy, & the vitality went on diminishing,
and with this vitality all the possibilities of realisation also diminished.."

228.27)"..But it is very remarkable...
I have met many people who were trying this method of detachment and separation from life, and living exclusively in the inner reality.
These people, almost all of them, had in the outer life absolutely gross defects.."

228.28)"..When they returned to ordinary consc., they were very much lower than one of the 'elite, for instance, a man of great culture & great intellectual & moral development.
These people in their ordinary conduct, when they came out of their meditation..lived very grossly.."

228.29)"..They had very ordinary defects, you see.
I knew many of this kind.
Or perhaps they had come to a stage where their outer life was a sort of dream in which they were, so to say, not existing.
But one had altogether the impression of beings who were..totally incomplete.."

228.30)"..
(Q—But if in the outer consciousness one is very low, how can one meditate? It becomes very difficult, doesn't it?)
Yes, very difficult!

(Q—Then how do these people succeed?)
But they came out of it completely, they left it as one takes off a cloak.."

228.31)"..Then they put it aside & entered another part of their being.
& this is what happened exactly, it was as if they took away this consciousness, laid it aside & entered another part of their being.
& in their meditation, as long as they remained there, it was very good.."

228.32)"..But these people, most of them, when in that state, were in a kind of samadhi, and they could not even speak; and so when they came back and returned to the ordinary consciousness, it was just where it was before, completely unchanged; there was no contact.."

228.33)"..You see, what makes the thing difficult for you to understand is that you don't know concretely, practically, that there are... different planes of your being, as of all beings, which may not have any contact among themselves.."

228.34)"..And that one may very well pass from one plane to another, and live in a certain consciousness, leaving the other absolutely asleep.
And moreover, even in activity, at different times different states of being enter into activity.."

228.35)"..And unless one takes the greatest care to unify them, put them all in harmony, one of them may pull from one side, another from the other, and a third pull from the third, and all of them be absolutely in contradiction with one another.."

228.36)"..There are people who in a certain state of being are constructive, for example, and capable of organising their life and doing very useful work,
and in another part of their being they are absolutely destructive and constantly demolish what the other has constructed.."

228.37)"..I knew quite a number of people of this kind who, apparently had a rather incoherent life, but it was because the two parts of the being, instead of completing each other and harmonising in a synthesis, were separated and in opposition.."

228.38)"..And one undid what the other did, and all the time they passed like this from one to the other.
They had a disorganised life.
And there are more people of this kind than one would think!.."

228.39)"..There are very outstanding examples, striking ones, so clear and distinct they are; but less totally opposed conditions, though all the same in opposition to one another, occur very, very often.."

228.40)"..Besides, one has oneself the experience, when one has tried to make progress; there's one part of the being which participates in the effort & makes progress, & suddenly..w/o reason..all the effort one has made..capsizes in something which is quite different, opposed.."

228.41)"..Some people can make an effort the whole day through, succeed in building something within themselves; they go to sleep at night and the next morning all that they had done on the previous day is lost, they have lost it in a state of unconsciousness.."

228.42)"..This happens very often, these are not exceptional cases, far from it.
And this is what explains, you see, why some people—when they withdraw into their higher mind for instance—can enter into very deep meditation and be liberated from the things of this world.."

228.43)"..And then when they return to their ordinary physical consciousness, are absolutely ordinary if not even vulgar, because they haven't taken care to establish any contact, and to see that what is above acts and transforms what is below.
That's all.."

228.44)"(Q—You said that the Avatar comes to the earth to show that the Divine can live upon the earth. Then why did Buddha preach just the contrary?
Is he an Avatar or not?)
That!... Some people say he was an Avatar, others say no, but this, to tell you the truth, it is.."

228.45)"..I think that this first thing, that the Avatar comes to the earth to prove that the Divine can... it is not so much to prove by words as to prove by a certain realisation.."

228.46)"..& I think that it'd be rather this aspect of the Divine which is constructive & preservative, rather than a transformative & destructive aspect.
You see, to use Indian names.. I think they are Avatars of Vishnu who come rather to prove that Divine can come upon earth.."

228.47)"..Whereas each time Shiva has manifested he has always manifested like this, in beings who have tried to fight against an illusion and demolish what is there.
I have reasons to think that the Buddha was one.."

228.48)"..To speak more accurately, he manifested something of the power of Shiva: it was the same compassion, the same understanding of all the misery, and the same power which destroys—obviously with the intention of transforming, but destroys rather than constructs.."

228.49)"..His work does not seem to have been very constructive.
It was very necessary to teach men practically not to be egoistic; from that point of view it was very necessary.
But in its deeper principle it has not helped very much in the transformation of the earth.."

228.50)"..As I said, you see, instead of helping the descent of the higher Consciousness into the terrestrial life, it has strongly encouraged the separation of the deeper consciousness, which he said was the only true one, from all outer expression.."

228.51)"..Now, you see, this question of the Divine upon earth: well, quite naturally those who believed in him have made a god of him.
One has only to see all the temples & all the Buddhist godheads to know that human nature has always the tendency to deify what it admires.."

228.52)"(Y—There is something else we would like to ask. There're many discussions on this subject:
Should we take any interest in those songs which have no meaning, usually cinema songs?)
Take interest? How do you mean?

(Y—There are many who listen to these & sing them also).."

228.53)"..Yes, but I don't understand "taking interest".
One may like these things because one has no taste, but I don't see what is meant by "taking interest".
One takes interest in a study, one takes interest in a work, one takes interest in the progress to be made, but..."

228.54)"..One may indulge in an activity of idleness, but that doesn't mean that one can take any interest in it.

(Q—If one has to sing these songs?)
Has to? Why? To earn your living? (Laughter)

(Q—Isn't it an obstacle to our progress?).."

228.55)"..But everything that brings down the consciousness is an obstacle in one's progress.
If you have a desire it creates an obstacle in your progress; if you have a bad thought or bad will, it creates an obstacle in your progress.."

228.56)"..If you welcome some kind of falsehood.. or if you cultivate vulgarity in yourself, it creates an obstacle in your progress;
everything which is not in keeping with the Truth creates an obstacle to progress;
& there are 100s of these things every day..."

228.57)"..E.g., every movement of impatience, of anger, of violence, every tendency to dissimulation, every deformation of truth, whether big or small, every bad will, every partial judgment, every preference, every encouragement to bad taste..all this is constantly in the way.."

228.58)"..It is not one thing only, there are hundreds of them, thousands.
It is enough to have a preference in oneself, it is enough to be impatient, enough to have a little desire to conceal something, enough to feel a disgust, a distaste for effort, it is enough.."

228.59)"..Anything at all is enough, which has something to do with desires, repulsions, all that..
And then, from the POV of the intellectual being, the artistic being, the side of inner & outer culture, every lack of taste, whatever it may be, is a terrible obstacle..."

228.60)"..This world, I must say, is a world of extremes from the point of view of taste, artistic and literary culture; on one side, it makes a great effort to discover something that's very high, very pure, very noble.."

228.61)"..& at the other end, it sinks into a vulgarity which is certainly infinitely greater than the vulgarity of past 2 or 3 centuries.
What's curious is that, going back 2 or 3 centuries, people who were uncultured were gross, but their grossness resembled that of animals.."

228.62)"..& there wasn't much perversion in it; there was a little, b/c as soon as the mind is there, perversion comes in, but there was not a great deal..
But now, what doesn't rise to the mountain-peak, what remains on ground-level, it's absolutely perverted in its grossness.."

228.63)"..That is, it is not only ignorant and stupid, it is ugly, dirty and repugnant, it is deformed, it is wicked, it is very low.
And it is indeed the wrong use of the mind which has produced this.."

228.64)"..Well, it has become what is ugly from every point of view..
There are things, considered very pretty nowadays... I have seen..reproductions which are considered very fine but they are frightfully vulgar in their perversion, & yet people go into ecstasies over them!.."

228.65)"..It's because there is something deformed, not only without culture, not only undeveloped, but deformed, something that's much worse, because it is much more difficult to restore something perverted and deformed than to enlighten something ignorant and uneducated.."

228.66)"..Well, I think some things have been great instruments of perversion, and among these one may put the cinema.
It could have been, and I hope it will become, an instrument of education and development; but for the moment it has been an instrument of perversion.."

228.67)"..And of a truly hideous perversion: perversion of taste, perversion of consciousness, and everything with a terrible moral and physical ugliness.
Yet it is something which can be used for education, progress, culture and artistic development.."

228.68)"..And from this point of view it could be a means of spreading beauty and culture much more widely and making them much more accessible to all, than the former methods could do.
But it is always like this—for what can be better, if it is not better, it becomes worse.."

228.69)"..And as I said at the beginning, we are in a period of excesses—excess in every way—a thing tries excessively to perfect itself and falls into excesses of perversion which, relatively, are as great if not greater.."

228.70)"..And if one looks attentively at oneself, one becomes aware that naturally, as one lives in the world as it is at present, one shares in its vulgarity.."

228.71)"..And that unless one observes oneself closely and constantly puts the light of one's highest consciousness upon oneself, one risks making mistakes in taste, from the spiritual point of view, rather frequently.
There we are!.."

228.72)"..Now I am going to give you a meditation this evening, and I am going to see whether you are capable of taking a cerebral bath. Cleansing!

(Q—Mother, when we meditate here, on which centre should we concentrate?)
Truly speaking, each time it ought to be different.."

228.73)"..The first time I told you to meditate upon what we had read, didn't I?
Well, if you like, today we could try to let a purifying consc. enter into us, which will give us, as I just said jokingly, a brain bath, i.e., a good little cleansing—a light which purifies."

(End)