Questions and Answers 1956
Last week I spoke to you about birth: how souls enter a body;
and I told you that the body is formed in a very unsatisfactory
way for almost everyone—exceptions are so rare that one can
hardly speak of them.
I told you that due to this obscure birth one arrives with a
whole physical baggage of things which generally have to be got
rid of, if one truly wants to progress, and someone has quoted
my own sentence which runs like this:
“You are brought here by force, the environment is imposed
on you by force, the laws of atavism of the milieu
by force...”
And now the person who wrote to me has asked me who does
all that.
Of course I could have been more explicit, but I thought I
had been clear enough.
The body is formed by a man and a woman who become
the father and mother, and it is they who don’t even have the
means of asking the being they are going to bring into the world
whether it would like to come or whether this is in accordance
with its destiny. And it is on this body they have formed that they
impose by force, by force of necessity, an atavism, an environment,
later an education, which will almost always be obstacles
to its future growth.
Therefore, I said here and I am repeating it—I thought I
had been clear enough—that it was about the physical parents
and the physical body I was speaking, nothing else. And that
the soul which incarnates, whether it be in course of development
or fully developed, has to struggle against the circumstances
imposed on it by this animal birth, struggle in order to find its
true path and again discover its own self fully. That’s
all.
Now, if you have something else to ask.... Nobody has
anything to say?
Sweet Mother, is it possible for the mother and father to
give birth to... to ask for the soul they want?
To ask? For that they must have an occult knowledge which
they don’t usually have. But anyway, what is possible is that
instead of doing the thing like an animal driven by instinct or
desire and most of the time, without even wanting it, they do
it at will, with an aspiration, putting themselves in a state of
aspiration and almost of prayer, so that the being they are going
to form may be one fit to embody a soul which they can call
down to incarnate in that form. I knew people—not many,
this does not often happen, but still I knew some who chose
special circumstances, prepared themselves through special concentration
and meditation and aspiration and sought to bring
down, into the body they were going to form, an exceptional
being.
In many countries of old—and even now in certain countries—
the woman who was going to have a child was placed in
special conditions of beauty, harmony, peace and well-being, in
very harmonious physical conditions, so that the child could be
formed in the best possible conditions. This is obviously what
ought to be done, for it is within the reach of human possibilities.
Human beings are developed enough for this not to be something
quite exceptional. And yet it is quite exceptional, for very few
people think of it, while there are innumerable people who have
children without even wanting to.
That was what I wanted to say.
It is possible to call a soul, but one must be at least a little
conscious oneself, and must want to do what one does in the
best conditions. This is very rare, but it is possible.
Mother, when a body is formed, is the soul which incarnates
in it compelled to incarnate in that body?
I don’t understand your question very well.
The formation of the body depends entirely on a man
and a woman, but is the soul which manifests in the
child, in the body which is being formed, compelled to
manifest in this body?
You mean whether it can choose between different bodies?
Yes.
Well, it is very exceptional, after all, in the great mass of humanity,
that a conscious soul incarnates voluntarily. It is something
very unusual. I have already told you that when a soul is conscious,
fully formed, and wants to incarnate, usually from its
psychic plane it looks for a corresponding psychic light at a certain
place upon earth. Besides, during its previous incarnation,
before going away, before leaving the earth-atmosphere, usually
as a result of the experience it had in the life that is coming to
an end, the soul chooses more or less—not in all details but
broadly—the conditions of its future life. But these are exceptional
cases. Possibly we could speak of it for ourselves here,
but for the majority, the vast majority of men, even those who
are educated, it is out of the question. And what comes then is a
psychic being in formation, more or less formed, and there are
all the stages of formation from the spark which becomes a little
light to the fully formed being, and this extends over thousands
of years. This ascent of the soul to become a conscious being
having its own will, capable of determining the choice of its own
life, takes thousands of years.
So, you are thinking of a soul which would say, “No, I
refuse this body, I am going to look for another”?... I don’t say it is
impossible—everything is possible. It does happen, in
fact, that children are still-born, which means that there was
no soul to incarnate in them. But it may be for other reasons
also; it may be for reasons of malformation only; one can’t say.
I don’t say it is impossible, but generally, when a conscious and
free soul chooses to take a body on earth again, even before its
birth it works on this body. So it has no reason not to accept
even the inconveniences which may result from the ignorance
of the parents; for it has chosen the place for a reason which
was not one of ignorance: it saw a light there—it might have
been simply the light of a possibility, but there was a light and
that is why it has come there. So, it is all very well to say, “Ah!
no, I don’t like it”, but where would it go to choose another
it likes?... That may happen, I don’t say it is impossible, but it
cannot happen very often. For, when from the psychic plane the
soul looks at the earth and chooses the place for its next birth,
it chooses it with sufficient discernment not to be altogether
grossly mistaken.
It has also happened that souls have incarnated and then
left. There are many reasons why they go away. Children who
die very young, after a few days or a few weeks—this may be
for a similar reason. Most often it is said that the soul needed
just a little experience to complete its formation, that it had it
during these few weeks and then left. Everything is possible.
And as many stories would be needed to tell the story of souls
as are needed to tell the story of men. That is to say, they are
innumerable and the instances are as different as possible from
one another.
So, to decide arbitrarily: “It is like that, not like this; this is
what happens and not that”, this is childishness. Everything can
happen. There are instances which occur more frequently than
others, one can generalise, but one can never say, “This is not
possible and it is always like this or always like that.” That is
not how things happen.
But anyway—anyway—even in the best cases, even when the
soul has come consciously, even when it has consciously
participated in the formation of the physical body, still so long
as the body is formed in the usual animal way, it will have
to struggle and correct all those things which come from this
human animality.
Inevitably, parents have a particular formation, they are
particularly healthy or unhealthy; even taking things at their
best, they have a heap of atavisms, habits, formations in the
subconscious and even in the unconscious, which come from
their own birth, the environment they have lived in, their own
life; and even if they are remarkable people, they have a large
number of things which are quite opposed to the true psychic life
—even the best of them, even the most conscious. And besides,
there is all that is going to happen. Even if one takes a great deal
of trouble over the education of one’s children, they will come in
contact with all sorts of people who will have an influence over
them, especially when they are very young, and these influences
enter the subconscious, one has to struggle against them later
on. I say: even in the best cases, because of the way in which
the body is formed at present, you have to face innumerable
difficulties which come more or less from the subconscious, but
rise to the surface and against which you have to struggle before
you can become completely free and develop normally.
Is that all?
(Silence)
Now, since the end of February, I have received a considerable
number of questions on:
How is the Supermind going to act? What should be
done to receive it? In what form will it manifest?...
I have answered as best I could. But it so happens that in Sri
Aurobindo’s book On the Veda there is a note on a certain page,
and in this note he answers these questions. I always tell
people: if you were to take a little trouble to read what Sri
Aurobindo has written, many of your questions would become
useless, for Sri Aurobindo has already answered them. However,
people probably have neither the time nor the patience nor the
will, nor all that is needed, and they don’t read. The books are
published, they are even, I believe, generously distributed, but
few read them. Anyway, here is Sri Aurobindo’s answer. Try to
think, and if you have a special question to ask I shall answer it.
Listen:
“The supramental world has to be formed or created
in us by the Divine Will as the result of a constant
expansion and self-perfecting.”1
That is to say, to hope to receive, use and form in oneself a
supramental being, and consequently a supramentalworld, there
must first of all be an expansion of consciousness and a constant
personal progress: not to have sudden flights, a little aspiration,
a little effort, and then fall back into somnolence. This must be
the constant idea of the being, the constant will of the being, the
constant effort of the being, the constant preoccupation of the
being.
If for five minutes in the day you happen to remember that
there is something in the universe like the supramental Force,
and that, after all, “it would be nice if it manifested in me”, and
then all the rest of the time you are thinking of something else
and are busy with other things, there is not much chance that it
would come and do any serious work in you. Sri Aurobindo says
this quite clearly and precisely. He does not tell you that you will
do it, he says it is the DivineWill. So don’t come and say, “Ah! I
can’t.” No one is asking you to do it. But there must be enough
aspiration and adhesion in the being to make the expansion of
the being, the expansion of consciousness possible. For, to tell
the truth, everybody is small, small, small, so small that there is
not enough room to put any supramental in! It is so small that
it is already quite filled up with all the ordinary little human
movements. There must be a great widening to make room for
the movements of the Supermind.
And then there must also be an aspiration for progress: not
to be satisfied with what one is, how one is, what one does,
what one knows or thinks one knows; but to have a constant
aspiration for something more, something better, for a greater
light, a vaster consciousness, a truer truth and a more universal
goodness. And over and above all this, a goodwill which never
fails.
That can’t be done in a few days.
Moreover, I believe that I had taken my precautions in this
matter and that, when I announced that it had been granted to
the earth to receive the supramental Force in order to manifest
it, this did not mean that the manifestation would be instantaneously
apparent, and that everybody would suddenly find
himself transported to a peak of light and of possibilities and
realisation, without any effort. I said immediately that it would
not be like that. I even said that it would take quite a long time.
But still, people have complained that its advent has not made
things easier, and that even, in some cases, they have become
more difficult. I am very sorry, but I can do nothing about it.
For it is not the fault of the supramental Force, the fault lies
in the way in which it was received. I know instances in which
truly the aspiration was sincere and the collaboration complete,
and in which many things that had seemed very difficult in the
past at once became infinitely easier.
However, there is a very great difference, always, between a
kind of mental curiosity which plays with words and ideas, and
a true aspiration of the being which means that truly, really, it
is that which counts, essentially, and nothing else—that aspiration,
that inner will because of which nothing has any value
except that, that realisation; nothing counts except that; there is
no other reason for existence, for living, than that.
And yet it is this that’s needed if one wants the Supramental
to become visible to the naked eye.
And mark that I am not speaking of a physical transformation,
for this everyone knows: you don’t expect to become
luminous and plastic overnight, to lose your weight, be able to
displace yourself freely, appear in a dozen places at the same
time and what not.... No, I believe you are reasonable enough
not to expect this to happen right away. It will take some time.
But still, simply, the working of the consciousness, simply a
certain self-mastery, a control over one’s body, a direct knowledge
of things, a capacity of identification and a clear vision—
instead of that hazy and vague sight which sees only the mere
appearances that are so deceptive, so unreal, so fossilised—a
more direct perception, an inner perception, this ought to be
able to come and come quickly if one has prepared oneself.
Simply to have that feeling that the air one breathes is more
living, the strength one has more lasting. And instead of always
groping like a blind man to know what should be done, to have
a clear, precise, inner intimation: it is this—not that: this.
These are things one can acquire immediately if one is ready.
(Silence)
Today I received some other questions which have nothing to
do with the subject before us at present, questions as old as the
earth, which I have already answered hundreds of times; but still, it
seems that it couldn’t have gone in, for again I am asked:
Why do bad thoughts come?
Haven’t I told you why bad thoughts come?... For as many
reasons as there are bad thoughts! Each one comes for its own
special reason: it may be through affinity, it may be just to tease
you, it may be because you call them, it may be because you
expose yourself to attacks, it may be all this at once and many
more things besides.
Bad thoughts come because there is something corresponding
somewhere within you; otherwise you might see something
passing like that, but they would not come inside you. I suppose
the question means: why do you suddenly think something bad?
Because the stages are very different. I have already explained
to you that the mental atmosphere is worse than any
public place when a crowd is there: innumerable ideas, thoughts
of all kinds and all forms criss-cross in such a complicated tangle
that it is impossible to make out anything precise. Your head is
in the midst of it, and your mind even more so: it bathes in it as
one bathes in the sea. And all this comes and goes, passes, turns,
collides, enters, goes out.... If you were conscious of the mental
atmosphere in which you live, obviously it would be a little
maddening! I think personal cerebral limits are quite necessary
as a filter, for a very long time in life.
To be able to get out of all that and live fully in the mental
atmosphere as it is, seeing it as it is—it is the same for the vital
atmosphere, by the way; that is perhaps yet uglier!—to live in
it and see it as it is, one must be strong, one must have a very
steady sense of inner direction. But in any case, whether you see
it or not, whether you feel it or not, it is a fact, it is like that.
So one cannot ask where bad thoughts come from—they are
everywhere. Why do they come?—where would they go? You
are right in the midst of them!
What governs this filter of consciousness which makes you conscious
of certain thoughts and not conscious of others, is
your inner attitude, your inner affinities, your inner habits—
I am speaking of the mind, not of the psychic—it is your
education, your cerebral development, etc. That is a kind of
filter formed by your ego, and certain thoughts pass through
it and others don’t—automatically. That is why the nature of
the thoughts you receive may be quite an important indication
for you of the kind of character you have—it may be quite
subconscious for you, for a man is not in the habit of really
knowing himself, but it is an indication of the general tendency
of your character. To put things in a very simplified way, if
you take an optimist, for instance, well, in general, optimistic
ideas will come to him; for a pessimist they will generally be
pessimistic ideas—I am speaking very broadly—for a person
with a rebellious nature, they will be rebellious ideas; and for a
very sheepish person, they will be sheepish ideas! Granting that
sheep have ideas! That is the usual normal condition.
Now, if it so happens that you have decided to progress
and if you enter the path of yoga, then a new factor intervenes.
As soon as you want to progress, you immediately meet the
resistance of everything that does not want to progress both
in you and around you. And this resistance naturally expresses
itself in all the thoughts that correspond to it.
Suppose that you want to make a progress regarding attachment
to food, for example; well, almost constantly there
will come to you thoughts particularly interested in food, about
what should be taken, what should not be taken, how it should
be taken, how it should not be taken; and these ideas will come
to you, they will seem quite natural to you. And the more you say
within yourself, “Oh! how I would like to be free from all that,
what a hindrance to my progress are all these preoccupations”,
the more will they come, quietly, until the progress is truly made
within and you have risen to a level of consciousness where you
can see all these things from above and put them in their place—
which is not a very big place in the universe! And so on, for all things.
Therefore, your occupations and affinities are going to
put you almost contradictorily into contact not only with ideas
having an affinity and relation with your way of being, but with
the opposite. And if you don’t take care from the beginning to
keep an attitude of discernment, you will be turned into amental
battlefield.
If you know how to rise to a higher level, simply into a
region of the speculative mind which is not quite the ordinary
physical mind, you can see all this play and all this struggle, all
this conflict, all these contradictions as a curiosity which does
not touch or affect you. If you rise a step higher still and see the
goal towards which you want to go, you will gradually come
to discern between ideas favourable to your progress which you
will keep, and ideas opposed to this progress which harm and
impair it; and from above you will have the power to set them
aside, calmly, without being otherwise affected by them. But if
you remain there, at that level in the midst of that confusion and
conflict, well, you risk getting a headache!
The best thing to do is to occupy yourself with something
practicalwhich will compel you to concentrate specially: studies,
work or some physical occupation for the body which demands
attention—anything at all that forces you to concentrate on
what you are doing and no longer be a prey to these ramblings.
But if you have the misfortune to remain there and look at them,
then surely, as I said, you will get a headache. For it is a problem
which must be resolved either by a descent into practical life and
a concentration on some practical effort or else by rising above
and looking from above at all this chaos so as to be able to bring
some order into it and set it right.
But one must never remain on the same plane, it is a plane
which is no good either for physical or moral health.
Open to Sri Aurobindo's consciousness and let it transform your life.
- The Mother (26 September 1971)
