Thread by @Auro_Mere

240.1)"(Mother starts reading from #SriAurobindo's "The Synthesis of Yoga", Pt.1 Ch.2, "Self-Consecration")

(—In whatever way the call comes, there must be a decision of the mind and the will and, as its result, a complete and effective self-consecration—)"

240.2)"(Q—One can make an offering of oneself only when one reaches quite a high level, but when one is leading a more or less unconscious life, the self-giving becomes more or less mental.. & it isn't effective.
What should one do?
Can one begin from beginning by self-giving?)"

240.3)"..It depends on people, my child.
There are people in whom the psychic movement, the emotional impulse is stronger than intellectual understanding.
They feel an irresistible attraction for the Divine without knowing.."

240.4)"..Without having the slightest idea of what it is, of what it can be, what it represents—nothing, no intellectual notion—but a kind of impulse, attraction, a need, an inevitable need.."

240.5)"..And these people who have that, if, I may say as a result of the Grace, they have a mind which does not trouble them, does not question, does not discuss, go very fast.."

240.6)"..& then, what's miraculous acc. to ordinary ideas is that as soon as they reach that degree of consecration which identifies them via their psychic being with Divine Presence, suddenly they become endowed with capacities of expression absolutely unknown to their nature.."

240.7)"..I had a case like this in France, a long time ago, of a very young girl who had never had any education so to say, any instruction;
she was an Opera dancer, a very good one, & had been put to study there at the age of eight, as they are always put, that is, as a child.."

240.8)"..And she had learnt to dance instead of learning history, geography, math & the rest.
She almost did not know how to express herself, & her intelligence, though evident, was untrained.
Well, she was attracted like that & felt an imperious need to seek the Divine.."

240.9)"..A need to consecrate herself to Him.
& she began to dance in His honour at first, like the juggler of Notre Dame; & she truly danced most remarkably.
& then, suddenly, she wanted to express what she was feeling: she began writing letters which were wonderfully poetic.."

240.10)"..She said surprising things and in a still more surprising way; page followed page, and she wrote all with an extraordinary facility.
It happened that, due to certain circumstances, she had some difficulties.."

240.11)"..There was something in her nature which pulled her back towards the old nature she had given up—which made her practical and materialistic, made her see things externally.
And immediately she became incapable of putting two words together.."

240.12)"..She could not write a line w/o making numberless spelling mistakes.
When she was in the state of inspiration she wrote w/o a mistake, like a great writer; & as soon as she came out of that state & fell back into her down-to-earth consc.. everything disappeared.."

240.13)"..She could not even write a single line without making mistakes and it was totally unrefined stuff.
So you see, this proves that if one attains the true consciousness, there is no longer any problem to solve.."

240.14)"..What you have to be, you become.
What you have to know, you know.
And what you have to do, you have the power to do.
And it naturally follows that all those so-called difficulties immediately vanish.."

240.15)"..In the case I'm speaking about, what pulled her down was not something in herself, it was in another person.
& unfortunately that's what happens most often: one takes on in life the burden of certain responsibilities & they prevent him from advancing.
That's my story.."

240.16)"..There are others who understand 1st, who are very intellectual.. can play with words & ideas, who will give you brilliant lectures on all philosophies, religions, human conceptions & who, perhaps, will take years to advance one step.
B/c all that goes on in the head.."

240.17)"..Many things go on in the head.
I have told you this already several times, the head is like a public square.
Anything at all can enter there, come, cross over, go out, and create a lot of disorder.."

240.18)"..And people who are in the habit of playing with ideas are the ones most hampered from going farther.
It is a game that's pretty, attractive; it gives you the impression that you are not altogether ordinary, at the level of ordinary life, but it cuts the wings.."

240.19)"..It's not the head which has wings: it's the heart.
It's this... yes, this inevitable need. Nothing else counts. That's everything.
Only that.
And so, after all, one doesn't care a rap for obstacles and difficulties.
What can that do to you?... It doesn't count.."

240.20)"..One laughs at time also.
What does it matter to you if it takes long? For a much longer time you will have the joy of aspiration, of consecration, of self-giving.
For this is the one true joy.."

240.21)"..And this joy fades away when there is something egoistic, & b/c there is a demand—which one calls a need—which is mixed in the consecration.
Otherwise the joy never disappears.
This is the first thing one obtains, & the last one realises.
And it's the sign of Victory.."

240.22)"..So long as you can't be in joy, a constant, calm, peaceful, luminous, invariable joy, well, it means that you have still to work to purify yourself, and sometimes work hard.
But this is the sign.."

240.23)"..It is with the sense of separation that pain, suffering, misery, ignorance, and all incapacities have come. It is with an absolute self-giving, self-forgetfulness in a total consecration that suffering disappears and is replaced by a joy which nothing can veil.."

240.24)"..And only when this joy is established here in this world can it be truly transformed & there be a new life, new creation, new realisation.
The joy must first be established in the consciousness & then later the material transformation will take place; but not before.."

240.25)"..Truly speaking, it is with the Adversary that suffering came into the world. And it's only joy which can vanquish him, nothing else—vanquish him definitively, finally.

(Long silence)

It is Delight which has created, and it is Delight which will accomplish.."

240.26)"..(Silence)

Note that I am not speaking of what men call joy, which is not even a caricature, which, I think, is a diabolic invention in order to make one lose the way: the joy which comes from pleasure, from forgetfulness, from indifference.

(Silence).."

240.27)"..I am speaking of a joy which is perfect peace, shadowless light, harmony, total beauty and an irresistible power,
that joy which is the divine Presence itself, in its essence, in its Will and its Realisation.."

240.28)"(Q—Mother, you say that for conquering, it is only joy which can conquer the Adversary.
But to attain the joy one must first conquer the Adversary!)
Why no! One must go beyond him and ignore him.."

240.29)"..There is one thing you must begin by doing, it is true, that is to free yourself from his influence.
But there is a difference between freeing oneself from the Adversary's influence and conquering the Adversary.
To conquer the Adversary is not a small thing.."

240.30)"..One must have a greater power than his to vanquish him.
But one can liberate oneself totally from his influence.
And from (that) minute..one's self-giving can be total.
And with the self-giving comes joy, long before the Adversary is truly vanquished and disappears.."

240.31)"..The Adversary will disappear only when he is no longer necessary in the world. And we know very well that he is necessary, as the touch-stone for gold: to know if it is pure.
But if you, whoever it may be, become truly sincere—what I call sincere, you see.."

240.32)"..What #SriAurobindo calls sincere, i.e., when nothing in the being contradicts the aspiration & will to consecration, nothing disguises itself to continue living its own independent life.
The disguises are countless, they're full of craftiness & malice, very deceptive.."

240.33)"..And unfortunately the human being has a very great innate tendency to deceive himself;
and the more one deceives himself, the less one recognises the self-deception.
But if one is really sincere, the Adversary can't even approach him any longer.."

240.34)"..& he doesn't try it, b/c that would be courting his own destruction.
Only, some have in them a kind of fighting instinct & they aren't content to liberate themselves & come out of the influence; indeed they think they've the capacity to go to war..with the Adversary.."

240.35)"..So sometimes, if they are not quite ready, they go & land in very bad situations..
These are saved only by their trust in the divine Grace. Because, even if they act foolishly.. there will always be something which..pulls them out of the hole at the last moment.."

240.36)"..A little like the mother cat catching its young one which is going to drown because it has made a mistake and wanted to walk upon water—she catches it, pulls it, brings it out.
A little like that.
But it is always said that one must not tempt God.."

240.37)"..One should not do something through—how to put it sweetly—premature boldness, with the idea: "Oh, it doesn't matter, the Divine will always pull me out of the difficulty."
This is not good.
Because instead of helping the work, it complicates it.."

240.38)"..There we are. Is that all?
You want to try to be silent for a few minutes? I mean inside. Yes?

(Meditation)"

(End)