This World Union, oh, how outmoded they are!… There are hundreds and hundreds of such groups that chatter, do nothing and change absolutely nothing whatsoever.
Yes, it has always seemed to me childishness and chatter.
Oh!… Moreover, as soon as the group was set up, they threw out the man who had started it! They did it under the pretext he was dishonest, but still he was the founder after all. He had gone to Russia, and it was in Russia that the idea of World Union came to him. So four or five of them came together to form this World Union, and fifteen days later they started quarrelling—a year later they threw out the one who had founded it! Then it was the turn of S., who, at least, has some ideas…. Anyway, he too was thrown out. Then they came to me to tell me their miseries! I told them, “Listen, you are profoundly ridiculous: you want to preach world unity, and the first thing you do is quarrel! It shows that you aren’t ready.” And I left it at that. Then A.B., who was very well known in Africa, recruited all kinds of people and made me see a few of them to ask me if they were able to do something—absolutely nothing, you know, nothing at all: old pillars of a house in ruins, nothing else….
***
(Mother listens to a reading from the notebook of a disciple who regularly asks questions.)
“Sweet Mother, it is said that the good and the true always triumph, but in life, one often sees the opposite happen. The wicked win and seem to have some protection against suffering.”
(Mother laughs, then remains silent)
We always confuse two notions.
It is from the universal and spiritual point of view that, not exactly “good” as people understand it, but the True, the Truth, will have the final word, that is well known. In other words, the Divine will eventually be victorious. That is what has been said, what all those who have lived a spiritual life have said—and it is an absolute fact. When people transpose it, they say, “I am a good boy, I live according to what I think to be true, consequently life should be a bed of roses for me!” (Mother laughs) To begin with, self-appreciation is always dubious, and then, in the world as it now is, everything is mixed and what openly manifests to the half-blind human consciousnesses is not the Law of pure Truth—they wouldn’t even understand it. To put it more precisely, what is constantly realized is the supreme vision, but its realization in this mixed material world isn’t seen by the ignorant human vision as the triumph of good (of what men call “good” and “true”). But—to put it humorously—it’s not the Lord’s fault, it’s mens’ fault! That is, the Lord knows what he is doing, but men don’t understand it.
In a true world, everything would perhaps be the same as now, but it would be seen differently.
Both. There would be a difference. The ignorance and obscurity present in the world are what gives divine Action a distorted appearance; and naturally, that must tend to disappear. But it is also true that there is a way of looking at things which … you could say, which gives their appearance another meaning—the two are there, like this (intertwined gesture).
(silence)
It always comes down to this: men’s judgment is false—false because their vision of things is false, incomplete—and their judgment necessarily has false results too.
The world is in perpetual change—perpetual, it doesn’t remain the same for one second—and the general harmony expresses itself more and more perfectly; consequently nothing can remain as it is, and in spite of all contrary appearances, the WHOLE is always in constant progression: the harmony becomes increasingly harmonious, the truth becomes increasingly true in the Manifestation. But in order to see that, one must see the whole, and man only sees … not even just the human field, but his own tiny, so tiny, microscopic field—he can’t understand.
It is a double thing that complements one another (same intertwined gesture), and with a reciprocal action: as the Manifestation becomes more conscious of itself, its expression becomes more perfect, and also truer. The two movements go together.
(silence)
That’s one of the things that was seen very clearly the other day, when there was that Knowledge-Consciousness: when the Manifestation has sufficiently emerged from the Inconscient so that the whole necessity of struggle created by the presence of the Inconscient becomes progressively and increasingly pointless, it will disappear quite naturally, and progress, instead of taking place in effort and struggle will begin to take place harmoniously. That’s what the human consciousness envisions as a divine creation on earth—it will still be only a stage. But to the present stage, it’s a sort of harmonious culmination that will change universal progress (which is constant) from a progress in struggle and suffering into a progress in joy and harmony…. But what was seen was that this sense of inadequacy, of something incomplete and imperfect, can be expected to exist for a very long time (if the notion of time remains the same—I don’t know about that?). But any change implies time, doesn’t it? We can’t express it in terms of time as we know it, but it implies a succession.
All those so-called problems (I constantly receive questions and more questions and problems of the mind—all the problems of Ignorance) are problems of earth-worms. As soon as you emerge above, that type of problem no longer exists. There are no contradictions either. Contradictions always arise from the inadequacy of vision and the incapacity to see something from all standpoints at once.
In any case, to come back to the down-to-earth question in his notebook, I don’t think any sage in any age said, “Be good and all will outwardly go well for you”—because that’s nonsense. In a world of disorder and a world of falsehood, to hope for that isn’t reasonable. But if you are sincere enough and total enough in your way of being, you can have the inner joy and the full satisfaction, whatever the circumstances—and nobody, nothing has the power to touch that. But that’s something else. But to ask for your business to do well, for your wife to be faithful and your children not to fall sick and all those things, that of course is nonsense!
***
(A little later, about Mrs. Z, the Christian sympathizer of the Ashram who has paid Satprem several visits and was to become somewhat… cumbersome.)
…I don’t know what to do. I feel she has a need in her, a sincere need, and she wants to find a way out, without being able to.
She doesn’t entirely want to.
Yes!
You know, I had an experience of this sort quite a long time ago (a very long time), when I was still in France, in Paris. There was a student friend in the studio (because I studied in a painting studio for a long time), she was a very good painter, we were close friends, and I started telling her about the Cosmic Review and Théon’s teaching. She belonged to a Catholic family of archbishops, even cardinals, anyway it was… And she was extremely interested and wholly convinced: she felt a liberation of the spirit and aspiration. Then, after I had Sri Aurobindo’s teaching, I passed it on to her, and there she was really quite taken. But she often told me, “As long as I am awake, everything is fine, but in my sleep I’ll suddenly wake up in a dreadful panic: and if the Catholic teaching is true, then I’ll go to hell!” And so, a torture. And she would tell me, “When I am wide awake, I see how ridiculous it is …”
But all those who were baptized and went for a time to confession are part of an inner, a whole psychological entity, and it’s VERY DIFFICULT to break free of it; they are bound to a whole—there is … there is an invisible Church, and all those people are in its grip. To break free of it, one must be a vital hero. A true hero, you understand. Because it’s very strong. I saw that all religions have in that way kinds of congregations in the invisible; but the Christian one is the strongest of them all from a terrestrial standpoint. It’s much stronger than that of the Buddhists, much stronger than that of the Chinese, much stronger than the ancient Hindu religions—it’s the strongest. And naturally stronger than the more recent religions, too—the strongest. And when you are baptized, you are bound. If you don’t go to mass and have never been to confession, with a little vital energy you can get out of it, but those who have gone to confession—especially confession—and when you take communion, when you are given Christ to eat (another frightful thing)….
Now that girl was a true artist and a great intelligence, so I had the example. When she was awake, she understood wonderfully; and she herself was furious, but she didn’t have … she didn’t have the power to get free of the influence on her subconscient.
She was far more intelligent than Mrs. Z, there’s no comparison. She was a great artist.
What should I do? Should I attempt something? I am like an intermediary, you understand. Or should I put it to her bluntly, but with consciousness and force, that she is a prisoner and I really cannot do anything for her?
I wouldn’t like her to encroach on your life, that’s clear. Because she isn’t aware of it, but that may be an adverse formation (she is a completely unconscious instrument). If you were quite sturdy, you understand, with much vital force, I would say, “Never mind, we’ll break their necks.” But you need to be careful.
You yourself say it tires you.
Oh, yes, I am exhausted.
So you see.
Once in a while doesn’t matter, but not too often.
I’ll have to tell her.
Yes, you could tell her very politely … (laughing) saying that a breath of fresh air would do her good! But she’ll propose to meet you outside!1
I’m going to try to do something … but she isn’t very … You know, they always strike me (laughing) as being surrounded by something sticky, as if they had sticky tape around them!—You can’t get in.
She asked me for an Indian name.
Oh, she has taken you as her guru!
I don’t know. She’s taken me as an intermediary, yes. It’s a role I don’t like AT ALL!
(Mother laughs) Oh, indeed, it’s bothersome.
But you understand; I am divided between concern for her and concern for myself. What should I do?
(After a long silence) Do you know how to put me or Sri Aurobindo between you and the people you see?
I don’t know if I know how to do it, but I always call, I am always like this [gesture towards the consciousness above], calling above.
But that’s not the way! You must do it HERE (Mother gestures in front of the disciple’s chest), and you hide behind … (laughing) as I did the other day at the balcony!
What was the interval between her two visits?
Five or six days.
We’ll see, we’ll try…
She even said last time that she would like to meditate with me—but I’m not a guru!
It’s not a pleasant profession! (laughter)
We’ll see, you will tell me.
(Mother goes into concentration)
Now, Sri Aurobindo is there, like that, from here up to there (gesture from the lower part of the chest up to the forehead). So if you are like that when people are near you …
Just in front of you.
Did you feel all at once a sort of fullness in the atmosphere? Did you feel it? As though it became something … “comfortable” is a very small word: a sort of fullness. Did you feel it?
Yes.
That was when he came.
He is still there.
So if you have that, you can see anyone, it doesn’t matter!
(silence)
There are also quite dark things in me.
(After a silence) One offers them up.
It may be noted that this lady holds an important diplomatic post, hence the difficulty to send her ... for a "breath of fresh air." ↩
***
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