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Speaking of which, I looked at T's most recent questions on the Aphorisms again.
All these children haven't the least sense of humor, so Sri Aurobindo's
paradoxes throw them into a kind of despair! ... The last aphorism went
something like this: 'When I could read a wearisome book from one end
to the other with pleasure, then I knew I had conquered my mind.'# So T
asked me 'How can you read a wearisome book with pleasure?'!! I had to
explain it to her. And on top of that, I have to take on a rather
serious tone, for were I to reply in the same ironic fashion, they would
be totally drowned! It throws them into a terrible confusion!
It's a lack of plasticity in the mind, and they are bound by the
expression of things; for them, words are rigid. Sri Aurobindo explained
it so well in The Secret of the Veda,
he shows how language evolves and how, before, it was very supple and evocative.
For example, one could at once think of a river and of inspiration. Sri Aurobindo also gives the example of a sailboat and the
forward march of life. And he says that for those of the Vedic age it
was quite natural, the two could go together, superimposed; it was
merely a way of looking at the same thing from two sides, whereas now,
when a word is said, we think only of this word all by itself, and to
get a clear picture we need a whole literary or poetic imagery (with
explanations to boot!). That's exactly the case with these children;
they're at a stage where everything is rigid. Such is the product of
modern education. It even extracts the subtlest nuance between two words
and FIXES it: 'And above all, don't make any mistake, don't use this
word for that word, for otherwise your writing's no good.' But it's just
the opposite. 2. The actual aphorism reads: 'When I read a wearisome book through and with pleasure, yet perceived all the perfection of its wearisomeness, then I knew that my mind was conquered. page 473 , Mother's Agenda , volume 1 , 12th Nov. - 1960 |
But I am well aware that this surrender has an effect on the action only to the extent that the Supreme Lord has decided upon the action, and those movements stretch over long periods of time [[Later, on the 27th, Mother remarked: 'I was reading about this very thing yesterday in The Secret of the Veda, in the first hymn translated by Sri Aurobindo (the reference is to the colloquy between Indra and Agastya, Rig Veda 1.170 - cf. The Secret of the Veda, Cent. Ed., X.241 ft.), and it helped me put my finger on the problem. In this hymn there is a dispute between Indra and the Rishi because the Rishi wants to progress too quickly without first passing through Indra [the god of the Mind], and Indra stops him; finally they reach an agreement. Sri Aurobindo's commentary is quite interesting: when one has the INDIVIDUAL power to go directly, but neglects the steps which are still necessary for the whole, for the universal movement, then one is stopped short. That is absolutely my experience.' ]] : all sorts of things may happen before the final Victory is won. Because, for us, the scale is very small; even if it were of terrestrial proportions, it would be a very small scale; but on a universal scale.... These forces have their place and their action, their universe, and as long as their place and their action are maintained, they will be here. So before their action can be exhausted or become useless, many things can happen.... page 37 - Mother's Agenda , volume 2 , jan 22, 1961 |
I must say that after this, when I read The Secret of the Veda as I do each evening.... In fact, I am in very close contact with the entire Vedic world since I've been reading that book: I see beings, hear phrases.... It comes up in a sort of subliminal consciousness, a lot of things are from the ancient Vedic tradition. (By the way, I have even come to see that the pink marble bathtub I told you about last time, which Nature had offered me, belongs to the Vedic world, to a civilization of that epoch. [[A few days later, Mother rectified: 'I have looked at the experience again and realized that it's not Vedic but pre-Vedic. The experience put me into contact with a civilization prior to the Vedas - the Rishis and the Vedas are a kind of transition between that vanished civilization and the Indian civilization which grew out of the Vedic Age. It was yesterday [January 26] that I perceived this, and it was quite interesting.' ]] ) [39] There were - there are always - Sanskrit words coming up, sentences, bits of dialogue.... This is of interest, because I realized that what I had seen the other day (I told you about it) and then what I saw yesterday - that whole domain - was connected to what the Vedas call the dasyus - the panis and the dasyus [[In the Vedas, the panis and dasyus represent beings or forces hidden in subterranean caves who have stolen the 'Riches' or the 'Lights', symbolized by herds of cows. With the help of the gods, the Aryan warrior must recover these lost riches, the 'sun in the darkness,' by igniting the flame of sacrifice. It is the path of subterranean descent. ]] - the enemies of the Light. And this Force that came was very clearly a power like Indra's [[ Indra represents the king of the gods, the master of mental power freed from the limitations and obscurities of the physical consciousness. ]] (though something far, far greater), and at war with darkness everywhere, like this (Mother sketches in space a whirling force touching points here and there throughout the world), this Force attacked all darkness: ideas, people, movements, events, whatever made stains, patches of shadow. And it kept on going, a formidable power, so great that my hands were like this (Mother clenches her fists). Later when I read (I happened to be reading just the chapter concerning the fight against the dasyus), this proximity to my own experience became interesting, for it was not at all intellectual or mental - there was no idea, no thought involved. page 39 - Mother's Agenda , volume 2 , jan 22, 1961 |
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Now I have begun reading those hymns [[The Vedic hymns translated by Sri Aurobindo (cf. On the Veda, Cent.
Ed., X.241, ff.). ]] .... Oh, now I understand! All those obstacles
were a preparation straight from Sri Aurobindo. Now I understand! (What I
mean by 'understand' is that it's a help for making progress.) I
understand the nature of certain obstructions and certain difficulties,
and what allows certain forces to oppose each other - I understand it
quite clearly.
I have read only two hymns so far. By the time I reach the end ... I will probably have found something. page 55 , Mother's Agenda , volume 2 , 30th Jan. - 1961 |