Making the Body a Perfect Instrument
"The perfection of the body, as great a perfection as we can bring about by the means at our disposal must be the ultimate aim of physical culture, " wrote Sri Aurobindo.
"A total perfection is the ultimate aim which we set before us, for our ideal is the Divine Life. "
"That cannot be unless the body too undergoes a transformation. "
The following pages document the Mother's action in the domain of physical education — her participation in sports, her organising of the various activities and her Constant encouragement.
Page-235
It is the Mother who is doing all... the work for the organisation of the sports and that she must do, obviously, till it is sufficiently organised to go on of itself with only a general supervision from above and her actual presence once in the day. I put out my force to support her as in all the other work of the Ashram....
Sri Aurobindo
Page-236
The sports and physical exercises are primarily for the children of the school.... Some, of course, might ask why any sports at all in an Ashram which ought to be concerned only with meditation and inner experiences and the escape from life into Brahman. But that applies only to the ordinary kind of Ashram to which we have got accustomed and this is not that orthodox kind of Ashram. It includes life in Yoga, and once we admit life we can include anything that we find useful for life's ultimate and immediate purpose and not inconsistent with the works of the Spirit.
.. .there is no a priori ground why sports should be excluded from life of an Ashram like ours where we are trying to equate life with the Spirit.
Sri Aurobindo
*
If our seeking is for a total perfection of the being, the physical part of it cannot be left aside; for the body is the material basis, the body is the instrument which we have to use.
Sri Aurobindo
*
The perfection of the body, as great a perfection as we can bring about by the means at our disposal, must be the ultimate aim of physical culture. Perfection is the true aim of all culture, the spiritual and psychic, the mental, the vital and it must be the aim of our physical culture also.
Sri Aurobindo
Physical education has for its aim to develop all the possibilities of a human body, possibilities of harmony, strength, plasticity, cleverness, agility, endurance, and to increase the control over the functioning of the limbs and the organs, to make of the body a perfect instrument at the disposal of a conscious will.
Page-237
Page-238
Page-239
Page-241
Page-242
Page-243
Page-244
Higher, ever higher! Let us never be satisfied with what is achieved, let us not stop at any realisation, let us march always onwards, ceaselessly, energetically, towards an ever completer manifestation, an ever higher and more total consciousness....
Yesterday's victory must be only a stepping-stone to the victory of tomorrow....
Page-245
Sweet Mother,
You have often told us that our activities must be an offering to the Divine. What does it mean exactly, and how to do it? For instance, when one plays tennis or basketball, how does one do that as an offering?
It means that what you do should not be done with a personal, egoistic aim, for success, for glory, for gain, for material profit or out of vanity, but as a service and an offering, in order to become more conscious of the divine will and to give oneself more entirely to it, until one has made enough progress to know and feel that it is the Divine who acts in you, His force that animates you and His will that supports you — not only a mental knowledge, but the sincerity of a state of consciousness and the power of a living experience.
For that to be possible, all egoistic motives and all egoistic reactions must disappear.
What you are not able to do today, you will achieve tommorrow. Persevere and you shall conquer.
Page-246
Page-247
Should one play in order to win?
When you have a three or four-year old consciousness, this is an altogether necessary stimulant. But you may have a four-year old consciousness even at the age of fifty, may you not? No, when you have a ripe consciousness you must not play in order to win. You must play for the sake of playing and to learn how to play and to progress in games and in order that your play may become the expression of your inner consciousness at its highest — it is this which is important. For example, people who like to play well do not go and choose bad players to play with, simply for the pleasure of winning — they choose those who are the best players and play with them.
When you are playing and suddenly become aware that something is going wrong — you are making mistakes, are inattentive... if you develop the habit, automatically at this moment, of calling as by a mantra, of repeating a word, that has an extraordinary effect. You choose your mantra; or rather, one day it comes to you spontaneously in a moment of difficulty... it may be one word, two or three words, a sentence... it must be a sound which awakens in you a certain condition. Then, when you have that, I assure you that you can pass through everything without difficulty. Even in the face of a real, veritable danger, an attack, for instance, by someone who wants to kill you, if, without getting excited, without being perturbed, you quietly repeat your mantra, one can do nothing to you.
Page-248
Little by little... you should infuse consciousness into the cells of the body and infuse also at the same time the truth of the divine Presence. It is a work that takes time, but if done methodically and constantly, has an effect.
Page-249
We aspire to be the valiant warriors of the Lord so that his glory may manifest upon the earth.
Page-250
Page-251
...invaluable result of these activities [sports and physical exercises] is the growth of what has been called the sporting spirit. That includes good humour and tolerance and consideration for all, a right attitude and friendliness to competitors and rivals, self-control and scrupulous observance of the laws of the game, fair play and avoidance of the use of foul means, an equal acceptance of victory or defeat without bad humour, resentment or ill-will towards successful competitors, loyal acceptance of the decisions of the appointed judge, umpire or referee. These qualities have their value for life in general and not only for sport, but the help that sport can give to their development is direct and invaluable.
Sri Aurobindo
*
.. .if you draw from it [your body] all the possibilities it holds, if you educate it by the normal, well-known, scientific methods, if you make this instrument into something as perfect as possible, then, when the supramental truth manifests in that body, it will become immediately—without centuries of preparation — a marvellous instrument for the expression of the Spirit.
What we want is the transformation of the physical consciousness, not its rejection.
Page-252
We want an integral transformation, the transformation of the body and all its activities. But there is a first step, absolutely indispensable, which has to be completed before anything else can be undertaken; it is the transformation of the consciousness. The starting-point, it goes without saying, is the aspiration towards this transformation and the will to realise it; without that nothing can be done.
Since the beginning of this year [1969] a new consciousness is at work upon earth to prepare the men for a new creation, the superman. For this creation to be possible the substance that constitutes man's body must undergo a big change, it must become more receptive to the consciousness and more plastic under its working.
The world is preparing for a new creation, let us help through physical education, by making our bodies stronger, more receptive and more plastic, on the way to physical transformation.
We do not want to reject the body but to transform it. For this physical education is one of the means most directly effective.
*
Sports help the body to prepare for the Transformation.
*
With the Divine's help nothing is impossible.
*
The help is always there.
It is you who must keep your receptivity living. The Divine help is much vaster than what any human being is able to receive.
Page-253
Page-254
Mother, what is the difference between sports and physical education?
Sports are all the games, competitions, tournaments, etc., all the things based on contests and ending in placings and prizes.
Physical education means chiefly the combination of all exercises for the sake of the growth and upkeep of the body.
Naturally, here we have the two together. But it is particularly so because human beings, especially in their young age, still require some excitement in order to make an effort.
Page-255
We are here to lay the foundations of a new world.
All the virtues and skills required to succeed in athletics are exactly those the physical man must have to be fit for receiving and manifesting the new force.
I expect that with this knowledge and in this spirit you will enter this athletic competition and go through it successfully.
My blessings are with you.
Page-256
Page-257
Page-258
Page-259
Mother, are sports competitions essential to our progress?
From the point of view of moral education they are rather essential, for if one can take part in them in the right spirit, it is a very good opportunity for mastering one's ego. .. .if one has the will to play in the right spirit, without any movement of a lower kind, without jealousy or ambition, keeping an attitude which could be called "fair play", that is, doing one's best and not caring about the result; if one can put in the utmost effort without being upset because one has not met with success or things have not turned out in one's favour, then it is very useful.
One can come out of all these competitions with a greater self-control and a detachment from results which are a great help to the formation of an exceptional character. .. .if when playing or taking part in tournaments and competitions, you keep the right spirit, it is a very good education.... It is certainly an opportunity to make conscious many of your movements which otherwise would always remain unconscious....
Everything always depends on the way in which things are done, not so much on what one does but on the spirit in which one does it.
If you were all yogis and did everything you do with your utmost effort and to your utmost possibilities, as well as you can do it and always with the idea of doing it better still, then, obviously, there would be no need of competitions, prizes, rewards....
Page-260
Page-261
Page-262
Page-263
Page-264
Sweet Mother,
How can one remember at every moment that whatever one does is for You?...
To achieve that, one must have an obstinate will and a great patience. But once one has taken the resolution to do it, the divine help will be there to support and to help. This help is felt inwardly in the heart.
*
In concentration and silence we must gather strength for the right action.
Page-265
Mother, if for instance in the long jump one makes an effort to jump a greater and greater distance, how does one do the divine work?
Eh? Excuse me, it is not for the pleasure of doing the long jump, it is to make your body more perfect in its functioning, and, therefore, a more suitable instrument for receiving the divine forces and manifesting them.
Why, everything, everything one does in this place must be done in this spirit, otherwise you do not even profit by the opportunity given to you, the circumstances given to you. I explained to you the other day, didn't I? that the Consciousness is here, penetrating all things and trying to manifest in all movements. But if you, on your side, tell yourself that the effort you are making, the progress you are making, you make in order to become more capable of receiving this Consciousness and of manifesting it, the work will naturally be much better and much quicker. And this seems to me even quite elementary, to tell you the truth; I am surprised that it could be otherwise! Because your presence in an Ashram organised as it is organised would have no meaning if it were not that! Of what use would it be? There are any number of universities, schools in the world which are very well organised!
But if you are here, it is for a special reason] It is because here there is a possibility of absorbing consciousness and progress which is not found elsewhere. And if you don't prepare yourselves to receive this, well, you will lose the chance that's given to you!
Page-266
Page-267
To all those who want to make their body fit for a Divine Life, I say, do not miss this excellent opportunity of the athletic competition and never forget that whatever we do we must aspire for perfection. For it is this yearning for perfection which will, in spite of all difficulties, lead us to our Goal.
Replace the ambition to be first by the will to do the best possible. Replace the desire for success by the yearning for progress. Replace the eagerness for fame by the aspiration for perfection.
Page-268
Page-269
If, for example, you find yourself facing someone who has trained himself slowly, seriously, with patience and endurance, and who all of a sudden has a strong aspiration, well, this one will beat you in spite of your aspiration unless your aspiration is very much superior to that of your adversary. If you have opposite you someone who knows only the technique of the game but has no conscious aspiration, while you are in a fully conscious state, evidently it is you who will defeat him because the quality of consciousness is superior to the quality of technique. But one cannot replace the other. The one which is superior is more important, granted, but you must also have nerves which respond quickly, spontaneous movements; you must know all the secrets of the game to be able to play perfectly. You must have both the things. What is higher is the consciousness which enables you to make the right movement at the right moment but it is not exclusive. When you seek perfection, you must not neglect the one under the pretext that you have the other.
Page-270
... you will learn that one can remain in contact with the Divine even while playing or doing gymnastics or walking or doing anything; at every moment, you should remember the Divine and try to remain in the Divine consciousness.
It is in the Divine that we shall always find all what we need.
Page-271
If one can smile eternally, one is eternally young.
Learn to smile always and in all circumstances...
*
... Someone who knows how to smile in all circumstances is very close to true equality of soul.
Page-272
Page-273
Physical culture is the best way of developing the consciousness of the body, and the more the body is conscious, the more it is capable of receiving the divine forces that are at work to transform it and give birth to the new race.
*
Physical Education is meant to bring into the body,
consciousness and control,
discipline and mastery,
all things necessary for a higher and better life.
Keep all that in mind,
Practise sincerely and you will become a good athlete;
this is the first step on the way to be a true man.
Page-274
Page-275
Page-276
Page-277
Page-278
Page-279
Page-280
Sweet Mother,
Why should one take part in the sports' competitions and demonstrations? Because it is a chance to put in greater effort and thus make faster progress.
The best way of not becoming old is to make progress the goal of our life.
*
'Progress'
The reason why we are on earth.
Page-281
Messages for the Annual Demonstration of Physical Culture
November 1960
Bravo! To all those who participated in yesterday's performance! It was excellent. My congratulations to everybody. Every thing was well planned and well executed.
With love and blessings to all.
*
December 3, 1963
Yesterday I was with you all the time, with all the force and all the consciousness to help you and uphold you, I knew that the rain was a test which had to be overcome.
You have done it victoriously and I am very happy about it. Let everyone know of my entire satisfaction.
Page-282
December 2, 1964
My blessings for all those who will take part in the demonstration so that they may be at the summit of their capacities.
*
December 2, 1966
Be courageous, enduring, vigilant; above all, be sincere, with perfect honesty. Then you will be able to face all difficulties. And victory will be yours.
Page-283
My little ones, you are the hope, you are the future. Keep always this youth which is the faculty to progress; for you the phrase "it is impossible" will have no meaning.
Page-284
Page-285
Page-286
Page-287
Page-288
I salute you, my brave little soldiers, I give you my call to the rendezvous with Victory.
*
...I myself tell you, "My children, if you are doing something difficult, call me, call me."
No, not in order to come first or gain a victory, but so that nothing unpleasant happens to you. Call me so that things may go as well as possible, not for showing off but for the joy of doing well. And you may also call in order to do the thing as an offering, and then it becomes very good.
*
Yes, 1 am always with you, but you must never forget to call me, for it is by calling me that the presence becomes effective.
*
Be sure that I hear you each time you call and my help and force go straight to you.
Page-289
I am putting myself into your heart so that you may always find me there.
Page-290
In each heart, the Divine's Presence is the promise of future and possible perfections.
Page-291
Lord, we are upon earth to accomplish Thy work of transformation. It is our sole will, our sole preoccupation. Grant that it may be also our sole occupation and that all our actions may help us towards this single goal.
*
Give us faith in a glorious future and the capacity to realise it.
Lord, Supreme Truth,
We aspire to know You and to serve You.
Help us to become Your worthy children.
And for this, make us conscious of Your constant blessings,
so that gratitude may fill our hearts and govern our lives.
Page-292
Page-293
A physical culture which aims at building a body capable of serving as a fit instrument for a higher consciousness demands very austere habits: a great regularity in sleep, food, exercise and every activity.
*
Do not forget that to succeed in our yoga one must have a strong and healthy body. For this, the body must do exercise, have an active and regular life, work physically, eat well, and sleep well.
*
It is in good health that the way towards transformation is found.
...by means of a rational and discerning physical education, we must make our body strong and supple enough to become a fit instrument in the material world for the truth-force which wants to manifest through us.
Page-294
Page-295
It is good to do exercises and to lead a simple and hygienic life, but for the body to be truly perfect, it must open to the divine forces, it must be subject only to the divine influence, it must aspire constantly to realise the Divine.
*
The things we cannot realise today we shall be able to realise tomorrow. The only necessity is to endure.
Page-296
Page-297
It might be better to remind you that we are here for a special work, a work which is done nowhere else.
We want to come in contact with the supreme consciousness, the universal consciousness, we want to bring it down in ourselves and to manifest it. But for that we must have a very solid base; our base is our physical being, our body. Therefore we have to build up a body solid, healthy, enduring, skilful, agile and strong, ready for everything. There is no better way to prepare the body than physical exercise: sports, athletics, gymnastics, and all games are the best means to develop and strengthen the body.
Page-298
Page-299
...the March Past, it is... it is more a physical action — preparing oneself for the physical action. It is more a way of opening oneself to the energy, the universal energy, to prepare for the action.
It is a contact with the energy, the universal energy which is there, it is to help the body to participate in the work. At that moment it is something very physical. This is truly the basis of physical culture: to prepare the body for the action and the receptivity of energies to accomplish the work. And also the Marching, even when I am not there.
But the March Past is for stimulating the receptivity of the body to the energies for realisation. It is based upon something which is expressed in all kinds of ways; but it is a kind of admiration... how to put it?... a spontaneous and also charming admiration for heroism, which is in the most material physical consciousness.
And this is a tremendous power for overcoming tamas and physical inertia.
Page-300
Page-301
Page-302
...given similar conditions, the same education and the same possibilities, there is no reason why a categorical, final and imperative distinction should be made between what one calls men and women. For us, human beings are the expression of a single soul.
Page-303
I try, first, to make the atmosphere as calm, quiet, unified as possible, as though I were spreading the consciousness out wide, like this (gesture); and then from far above I bring down the Force as much as I can and put it upon you as strongly as I can. So this depends exclusively on whether one is quite tranquil and well concentrated; here one must be concentrated, one must not be dispersed, one must be concentrated, but very... how to put it?... plain, very horizontal. Like this (gesture). Then the Force puts a pressure. And it's above all for unifying, penetrating the whole and endeavouring to make of it something cohesive which can express collectively the Force from above.
*
...the concentration practised on the playground was not meditation and was used for the efficacy in the movements....
Sri Aurobindo
Page-304
Page-305
Page-306
I want to speak of moral generosity. To feel happy, for example, when a comrade is successful. An act of courage, of unselfishness, a fine sacrifice have a beauty in them which gives you joy. It may be said that moral generosity consists in being able to recognise the true worth and superiority of others.
*
Sweet Mother,
We have a minute of concentration before and after group every day. What should we try to do during this concentration?
Before, make an offering to the Divine of what you are going to do, so that it may be done in a spirit of consecration.
Afterwards, ask the Divine to increase the will for progress in us, so that we may become instruments that are more and more capable of serving Him.
You may also, before starting, offer yourselves to the Divine in silence.
And at the end, give thanks to the Divine in silence.
I mean a movement of the heart without any words in the head.
Page-307
Page-308
Page-309
Page-310
In the physical world, of all things it is beauty that expresses best the Divine. The physical world is the world of form and the perfection of form is beauty. Beauty interprets, expresses, manifests the Eternal.
*
A young child should aspire for beauty, not for the sake of pleasing others or winning their admiration, but for the love of beauty itself; for beauty is the ideal which all physical life must realise.
*
Build in yourself the total harmony, so that when the time comes Perfect Beauty can express itself through your body.
Page-311
Page-312
We are at one of these "Hours of God", when the old bases get shaken, and there is a great confusion; but it is a wonderful opportunity for those who want to leap forward, the possibility of progress is exceptional.
Will you not be of those who take advantage of it?
Let your body be prepared through physical education for this great change!
Page-313
Sweet Mother,
We aspire to work all together towards the goal that Thou hast proposed to us.
Grant us the rectitude, the courage, the perseverance and the goodwill necessary to accomplish this sublime task.
Kindle in us the flame which will burn out all resistance and make us fit to be Thy faithful servants.
My children,
We are united towards the same goal and for the same accomplishment — for a work unique and new, that the divine Grace has given us to accomplish. I hope that more and more you will understand the exceptional importance of this work and that you will sense in yourselves the sublime joy that the accomplishment will give you.
The divine force is with you - feel its presence more and more and be careful never to betray it.
Feel, wish, act, that you may be new beings for the realisation of a new world and for this my blessings shall always be with you.
Page-314
Page-315
Page-316
Page-317
If it is laziness that keeps you back from, say, doing the vaulting, you must immediately do something much more tiring and say: "Well, you don't want to do that? All right, you are going to do 1500 metres running!" Or else: "I don't want to do the weight-lifting today, I don't feel like doing it: good, I shall do skipping 4000 times at a stretch."
*
If you are to find interest in exercises of training, which has not the excitement of games, your being must be governed by Reason....
Let us take, for example, exercises for the development of bodily perfection — dumb-bells etc.—that have nothing particularly exciting in them, that demands the discipline of a strict life, regular and rational habits giving no room for passion or desire or impulse; well then, to be able to do them perfectly, you must have a life ruled by Reason.
Page-318
You are doing something, suppose, for example, you are doing exercises, weight-lifting. Now suddenly without your knowing how it happened, suddenly you have the feeling that there is a force infinitely greater than you, greater, more powerful, a force that does the lifting for you. Your body becomes something almost non-existent and there is this Something that lifts. And then you will see.... That does happen.
Page-319
The yogi or aspiring yogi who does asanas to obtain a spiritual result or even simply a control over his body, obtains these results because it is with this aim that he does them....
*
When you do gymnastics, is it not to make your body less rigid? And you go on progressing: what you cannot do the first year, you are able to do after a few years. There are people who obtain an almost total suppleness, those, for example, who do Asanas. Yes, one can obtain almost complete suppleness.
Page-320
Page-321
Page-322
There are jobs, for instance, where people have to carry extremely heavy loads, like bags of cement or sacks of corn or coal... but that doesn't give them harmony of the body, because they don't do it with the idea of developing their muscles...
And someone... who makes these very movements with the will to develop this muscle or that, to create a general harmony in his body — he succeeds...
Walking to go somewhere and walking as an exercise is not the same thing. It is the conscious will in all these things which is important, it is that which brings about the progress and obtains the result.
*
Going up and down the stairs — you cannot imagine how useful that can be from the point of view of physical culture, if... you go up with the consciousness of all the muscles which are working and of making them work harmoniously....
Just try a little, you will see!
This means that you can use all the movements of your life for a harmonious development of your body.
You bend down to pick something up, you stretch up to find something right at the top of a cupboard, you open a door... there are a hundred and one things you do constantly and which you can make use of for your physical culture and which will demonstrate to you that it is the consciousness you put into it which produces the effect, a hundred times more than just the material fact of doing it....
To think constantly of the harmony of the body, of the beauty of the movements.... You can obtain a rhythm of movement and gesture which is very exceptional.
Page-323
Consecrate your life to the realisation of something higher and broader than yourself and you will never feel the weight of the passing years.
*
Youth does not depend on the small number of years one has lived, but on the capacity to grow and progress. To grow is to increase one's potentialities, one's capacities; to progress is to make constantly more perfect the capacities that one already possesses.
As soon as the body has learnt to follow this movement of progressive harmony, it will be possible for it to escape, through a continuous process of transformation, from the necessity of disintegration and destruction. Thus the irrevocable law of death will no longer have any reason to exist.
Let us keep flaming in our heart the fire of progress.
Page-324
Page-325
Message to the Soviet Gymnasts April, 1956
We salute you, brothers already so far on the way to the physical perfection for which we all aspire here.
Be welcome in the Ashram, amongst us. We feel sure that today one step more is taken towards unity of the great human family.
Page-326
Page-327
When the Russian gymnasts came here, we saw with what ease they did exercises which for an ordinary man are impossible, and they did them as if it was the simplest thing in the world; there was not even the least sign of effort!
Well, that mastery is already a great step towards the transformation of the body. ... it was solely by material means and an enlightened use of human will that they had achieved this result. If they had added to this a spiritual knowledge and power, they could have achieved an almost miraculous result.
Page-328
Page-329
The body carries within itself the sense of its divinity.
*
Individual existence has been created to make possible the joy of finding the Divine and uniting with Him.
The physical being itself can be the seat of perfect existence, knowledge and bliss.
*
The best way for everybody is self-giving to the Divine and confidence in His infinite Grace.
*
... the body will repeat integrally... will find itself in its body consciousness in front of the supreme Reality, turn integrally to it and say, in all sincerity, in a total self-giving of all its cells:
"To be Thyself, exclusively, perfectly Thyself, infinitely, eternally—in all simplicity."
Page-330
Page-331
Page-332
Page-333
The Divine is present in the very atoms of our body.
*
Not only the mind and the vital, but the body also in all its cells must aspire for the divine transformation.
*
Sri Aurobindo has shown that the truth does not lie in running away from earthly life but in remaining in it, to transform it, divinise it, so that the Divine can manifest here this physical world.
Page-334
In all things that strive towards a new, ever higher and completer expression, Thou art present.
*
Oh, to be the pure flawless crystal which lets Thy divine ray pass without obscuring, colouring or distorting it! — not from a desire for perfection but so that Thy work may be done as perfectly as possible.
Page-335
The prayer of the cells in the body.
Now that, by the effect of the Grace, we are slowly emerging out of inconscience and waking to a conscious life, an ardent prayer rises in us for more light, more consciousness,
"O Supreme Lord of the universe, we implore Thee, give us the strength and the beauty, the harmonious perfection needed to be Thy divine instruments upon earth."
Page-336
No joy is comparable to the feeling of the eternal Presence in one's heart.
*
When difficulties besiege you, know that the Divine Grace is with you.
*
Leave all care to the Divine's Grace, including your progress, and you will be in peace.
Page-337
Page-338
Page-339
There is a Supreme Divine Consciousness. We want to manifest this Divine Consciousness in the physical life.
*
One of the most powerful aids that yogic discipline can provide to the sportsman is to teach him how to renew his energies by drawing them from the inexhaustible source of universal energy.
*
One can also teach the body that there is almost no limit to its growth in capacities or its progress, provided that one discovers the true method and the right conditioning. This is one of the many experiments which we want to attempt in order to break these collective suggestions and show the world that human potentialities exceed all imagination.
Page-340
A divine life in a divine body is the formula of the ideal that we envisage.
Sri Aurobindo
Page-341