Contents :

Table des Matières:

The Synthesis of Yoga

The Conditions of

Attainment to the Gnosis

— Sri Aurobindo

 La Synthèse des Yogas

Les Conditions pour Atteindre à la Gnose

— Sri Aurobindo

Questions And Answers

A Propos

Notes on the Way

(Translation)

—The Mother

 Entretiens

A Propos

Notes sur le Chemin

(Original) 

 — La Mère

 Sri Aurobindo —His Life and Work

 Sri Aurobindo —Sa vie et son Œuvre

Report on the Quarter

 Rapport Trimestriel

Illustrations

The Synthesis of Toga

"All Life is Yoga"

Part II

THE YOGA OF INTEGRAL KNOWLEDGE

CHAPTER XXIII

THE CONDITIONS OF ATTAINMENT TO THE GNOSIS

KNOWLEDGE is the first principle of the Vijnana, but knowledge is not its only power. The Truth-consciousness like every other plane, founds itself upon that particular principle which is naturally the key of all its motions, but it is not limited by it, it contains all the other powers of existence. Only the character and working of these other powers is modified and moulded into conformity with its own original and dominant law; intelligence, life, body, will, consciousness, bliss are all luminous, awake, instinct with divine knowledge. This is indeed the process of Purusha-Prakriti everywhere; it is the key-movement of all the hierarchy and graded harmonies of manifested existence.

In the mental being mind-sense or intelligence is the original and dominant principle. The mental being in the mind-world where he is native is in his central and determining nature intelligence; he is a centre of intelligence, a massed movement of intelligence, a receptive and radiating action of intelligence. He has the intelligent sense of his own existence, the intelligent sense of other existence than his own, the intelligent sense of his own nature and activities and the activities of others, the intelligent sense of the nature of things and persons and their relations with himself and each other. That makes up his experience of existence. He has no other knowledge of existence, no knowledge of life and matter except as they make themselves sensible to him and capable of being seized by his mental intelligence; what he does not sense and conceive, is

La Synthèse des Yogas

"Toute Vie est Yoga"

Livre II

LE YOGA DE LA CONNAISSANCE INTÉGRALE

CHAPITRE XXIII

LES CONDITIONS POUR ATTEINDRE A LA GNOSE

LA connaissance est le premier principe du Vijnâna, mais non son seul pouvoir. La Conscience de Vérité, comme tout autre plan, se fonde sur ce principe particulier, qui est naturellement la clef de tous ses mouvements; mais elle n'est pas limitée par lui, elle contient tous les autres pouvoirs de l'existence. Seulement, le caractère et le fonctionnement des autres pouvoirs sont modifiés et modelés conformément à sa loi directrice originale — l'intelligence, la vie, le corps, la volonté, la conscience, la béatitude sont tous lumineux, éveillés, tous animés par la connaissance divine. En fait, c'est le processus de Pourousha-Prakriti à tous les niveaux et partout; c'est le mouvement clef de toute la hiérarchie et de toutes les harmonies graduées de l'existence manifestée.  

Dans l'être mental, l'intelligence ou sens mental est le principe directeur original. L'être mental, dans le monde mental où il est chez lui, est intelligence en sa nature centrale déterminante; il est un centre d'intelligence, un mouvement concentré d'intelligence, une action réceptrice et émettrice d'intelligence. Il a le sens intelligent de sa propre existence, le sens intelligent des existences autres que la sienne, le sens intelligent de sa propre nature et de ses activités ou des activités des autres, le sens intelligent de la nature des choses et des personnes, et de leurs relations avec lui ou entre elles. C'est ce qui constitue son expérience de d'existence. Il n'a pas d'autre connaissance de l'existence, pas de connaissance de la vie et de la matière à moins que celles-ci ne se rendent perceptibles et saisissables

to him practically non-existent, or at least alien to his world and his nature.

Man is in his principle a mental being, but not one living in a mind world, but in a dominantly physical existence, his is a mind encased in Matter and conditioned by Matter. Therefore he has to start with the action of the physical senses which are all channels of material contact; he does not start with the mind-sense. But even so he does not and cannot make free use of anything conveyed by these physical organs until and unless they are taken hold of by the mind-sense and turned into stuff and value of his intelligent being. What is in the lower subhuman submental world a pranic, a nervous, a dynamic action and reaction, that proceeds very well without any need of translation into mind-terms or government by mind, has in him to be raised and offered to some kind of intelligence. In order to be characteristically human it has to become first a sense of force, sense of desire, sense of will, sense of intelligent will-action or mentally conscious sense of force-action. His lower delight of being translates itself into a sense of mental or mentalised vital or physical pleasure and its perversion pain, or into a mental or mentalised feeling-sensation of liking and disliking or into an intelligence of delight and failure of delight,—all phenomena of the intelligent mind-sense. So too that which is above him and that which is around him and in which he lives,—God, the universal being, the cosmic Forces,—are non-existent and unreal to him until his mind awakes to them and gets, not yet their true truth, but some idea, observation, inference, imagination of things supersensuous, some mental sense of the Infinite, some intelligent interpreting consciousness of the forces of the super-self above and around him.

All changes when we pass from mind to gnosis, for there a direct inherent knowledge is the central principle. The gnostic (vijñānamaya) being is in its character a truth-consciousness, a centre and circumference of the truth-vision of things, a massed movement or subtle body of gnosis. Its action is a self-fulfilling and radiating action of the truth-power of things according to the inner law of their deepest truest self and nature. This truth of things at which we must arrive before we can enter into the gnosis, —for in that all exists and from that all originates on the gnostic plane,— is, first of all, a truth of unity, of oneness, but of unity originating diversity, unity in multiplicity and still unity always, an indefeasible oneness. State of gnosis, the condition of vijñānamaya being, is impossible without ample

Tout change quand nous passons du mental à la gnose; car le principe central de ce plan est une connaissance inhérente et directe. L'être gnostique (vijñānamaya) est caractéristiquement une conscience-de-vérité, un centre et une circonférence de la vraie vision des choses, un mouvement concentré ou un corps subtil de la gnose. Son action est le rayonnement

and close self-identification of ourselves with all existence and with all existences, a universal pervasiveness, a universal comprehension or containing, a certain all-in-allness. The gnostic Purusha has normally the consciousness of itself as infinite, normally too the consciousness of containing the world in itself and exceeding it; it is not like the divided mental being normally bound to a consciousness that feels itself contained in the world and a part of it. It follows that a deliverance from the limiting and imprisoning ego is the first elementary step towards the being of the gnosis, for so long as we live in the ego, it is idle to hope for this higher reality, this vast self-consciousness, this true self-knowledge. The least reversion to ego-thought, ego-action, ego-will brings back the consciousness tumbling out of such gnostic Truth as it has attained into the falsehoods of the divided, mind-nature. A secure universality of being is the very basis of this luminous higher consciousness. Abandoning all rigid separateness (but getting instead a certain transcendent overlook or independence) we have to feel ourselves one with all things and beings, to identify ourselves with them, to become aware of them as ourselves, to feel their being as our own, to admit their consciousness as part of ours, to contact their energy as intimate to our energy, to learn how to be one self with all. That oneness is not indeed all that is needed, but it is a first condition and without it there is no gnosis.

This universality is impossible to achieve in its completeness so long as we continue to feel ourselves, as we now feel, a consciousness lodged in an individual mind, life and body. There has to be a certain elevation of the Purusha out of the physical and even out of the mental into the vijñānamaya body. No longer can the brain nor its corresponding mental "lotus" remain the centre of our thinking, no longer the heart nor its corresponding "lotus" the originating centre of our emotional and sensational being. The conscious centre of our being, our thought, our will and action, even the original force of our sensations and emotions rise out of the body and mind and take a free station above them. No longer have we the sensation of living in the body, but are above it as its lord, possessor or Ishwara and at the same time encompass it with a wider consciousness than that of the imprisoned physical sense. Now we come to realise with a very living force of reality, normal and continuous, what the sages meant when they spoke of the soul carrying the body or when they

et l'accomplissement spontané du pouvoir de vérité dans les choses suivant la loi intérieure de leur moi vrai et de leur nature profonde. Cette vérité des choses qu'il nous faut atteindre avant de pouvoir entrer dans la gnose (car c'est dans la vérité que tout existe sur le plan gnostique et c'est d'elle que tout émane) est, tout d'abord, une vérité d'unité et d'unicité, mais une unité qui engendre la diversité, une unité qui demeure dans la multiplicité tout en restant toujours une — une unicité indéfectible. L'état de gnose, la condition de l'être gnostique, vijñānamaya, est impossible sans une vaste et intime identification de notre être avec toute l'existence et toutes les existences, sans une pénétration universelle, une compréhension ou une inclusion universelles, sans vraiment être tout en tout. Le Pourousha gnostique a normalement conscience qu'il est infini, normalement conscience aussi de contenir le monde en lui-même et de le dépasser; il n'est pas divisé comme l'être mental, pas normalement lié à une conscience qui se sent contenue dans le monde et un fragment de lui. Il s'ensuit que le premier pas élémentaire pour arriver à l'être de gnose est de se délivrer de l'ego limitateur et emprisonnant; car tant que nous vivons dans l'ego, il est inutile d'espérer atteindre à cette réalité plus haute, à cette vaste conscience de soi, cette connaissance de soi véritable. Le moindre retour à la pensée de l'ego, à l'action de l'ego, à la volonté de l'ego, fait basculer la conscience, qui sort de la Vérité gnostique atteinte et retombe dans les faussetés de la nature mentale divisée. Une solide universalité d'être est la base même de cette conscience supérieure lumineuse. Abandonnant toute séparation rigide (mais en ayant soin d'y substituer une certaine indépendance transcendante ou un certain regard surplombant) nous devons nous sentir un avec toutes les choses et tous les êtres, nous identifier à eux, devenir conscient d'eux comme de nous-même, sentir leur être comme le nôtre, accepter leur conscience comme une partie de la nôtre, saisir leur énergie aussi intimement que la nôtre, apprendre à être un seul moi avec tous. Certes, cette unité n'est pas la seule chose nécessaire, mais c'est une première condition; sans elle, il n'est pas de gnose.  

Cette universalité est impossible à atteindre pleinement tant que nous continuons comme maintenant à sentir que nous sommes une conscience logée dans un mental, dans une vie et dans un corps individuels. Il faut vraiment que le Pourousha sorte du corps physique et même du corps mental,

said that the soul is not in the body, but the body in the soul. It is from above the body and not from the brain that we shall ideate and will; the brain-action will become only a response and movement of the physical machinery to the shock of the thought-force and will-force from above. All will be originated from above, from above, all that corresponds in gnosis to our present mental activity takes place. Many, if not all, of these conditions of the gnostic change can and indeed have to be attained long before we reach the gnosis,—but imperfectly at first as if by a reflection,—in higher mind itself and more completely in what we may call an overmind consciousness between mentality and gnosis.

But this centre and this action are free, not bound, not dependent on the physical machine, not clamped to a narrow ego-sense. It is not involved in body, it is not shut up in a separated individuality feeling out for clumsy contacts with the world or groping inward for its own deeper spirit. For in this great transformation we begin to have a consciousness not shut up in a generating box but diffused freely and extending self-existently everywhere, there is or may be a centre, but it is a convenience for individual action, not rigid, not constitutive or separative. The very nature of our conscious activities is henceforth universal, one with those of the universal being, it proceeds from universality to a supple and variable individualisation. It has become the awareness of an infinite being who acts always universally though with emphasis on an individual formation of its energies. But this emphasis is differential rather than separative, and this formation is no longer what we now understand by individuality; there is no longer a petty limited constructed person shut up in the formula of his own mechanism. This state of consciousness is so abnormal to our present mode of being that to the rational man who does not possess it, it may seem impossible or even a state of alienation; but once possessed it vindicates itself even to the mental intelligence by its greater calm, freedom, light, power, effectivity of will, verifiable truth of ideation and feeling. For this condition begins already on the higher levels of liberated mind and can therefore be partly sensed and understood by mind-intelligence, but it rises to perfect self-possession only when it leaves behind the mental levels, only in the supramental gnosis.

In this state of consciousness the infinite becomes to us the primal, the actual reality, the one thing immediately and sensibly true. It becomes

En outre, ce centre au-dessus et cette action sont libres; ils ne sont pas liés à la machine physique et ne dépendent pas d'elle, ils ne sont pas cramponnés à un sens égoïste étroit. Ils ne sont pas embarrassés dans un corps, pas enfermés dans une individualité séparée qui cherche maladroitement à deviner le monde au-dehors ou qui tâtonne au-dedans en quête de son esprit profond. Avec cette grande transformation, notre conscience commence à n'être plus enclose comme dans une boîte génératrice; elle se diffuse librement et s'étend partout dans sa propre existence; il y a, ou peut y avoir un centre, mais seulement pour la commodité de l'action individuelle; il n'est pas rigide, ni constitutif ni séparatif. Désormais, la nature même de nos activités conscientes est universelle; nos activités sont une avec les activités de l'être universel et vont de l'universalité à une individualisation

impossible for us to think of or realise the finite apart from our fundamental sense of the infinite, in which alone the finite can live, can form itself, can have any reality or duration. So long as this finite mind and body are to our consciousness the first fact of our existence and the foundation of all our thinking, feeling and willing and so long as things finite are the normal reality from which we can rise occasionally, or even frequently, to an idea and sense of the infinite, we are still very far away from the gnosis. In the plane of the gnosis the infinite is at once our normal consciousness of being, its first fact, our sensible substance. It is very concretely to us there the foundation from which everything finite forms itself and its boundless incalculable forces are the origination of all our thought, will and delight. But this infinite is not only an infinite of pervasion or of extension in which everything forms and happens. Behind that immeasurable extension the gnostic consciousness is always aware of a spaceless inner infinite. It is through this double infinite that we shall arrive at the essential being of Sachchidananda, the highest self of our own being and the totality of our cosmic existence. There is opened to us an illimitable existence which we feel as if it were an infinity above us to which we attempt to rise and an infinity around us into which we strive to dissolve our separate existence. Afterwards we widen into it and rise into it; we break out of the ego into its largeness and are that for ever. If this liberation is achieved, its power can take, if so we will, increasing possession of our lower being also until even our lowest and perversest activities are refashioned into the truth of the Vijnana.

This is the basis, this sense of the infinite and possession by the infinite, and only when it is achieved, can we progress towards some normality of the supramental ideation, perception, sense, identity, awareness. For even the sense of the infinite is only a first foundation and much more has to be done before the consciousness can become dynamically gnostic. For the supramental knowledge is the play of a supreme light; there are many other lights, other levels of knowledge higher than human mind which can open in us and receive or reflect something of that effulgence even before we rise into the gnosis. But to command or wholly possess it we must first enter into and become the being of the supreme light, our consciousness must be transformed into that consciousness, its principle and power of self-awareness and all-awareness by identity must be the very stuff of our existence.

Dans cet état de conscience, l'infini devient la réalité primordiale, actuelle, la seule chose immédiatement et raisonnablement vraie. Il devient impossible de penser ou de percevoir le fini en dehors de notre sentiment fondamental de l'infini, en lequel seul le fini peut vivre, se former, avoir une réalité quelconque ou une durée. Tant que ce mental et ce corps finis sont pour notre conscience le fait premier de notre existence et le fondement de toute notre pensée, de tous nos sentiments et de toute notre volonté, et tant que les choses finies sont la réalité normale d'où nous nous élevons à l'occasion (ou même fréquemment) à l'idée et au sens de l'infini, nous sommes encore très loin de la gnose. Sur le plan de la gnose, l'infini est, à la fois, la conscience normale de notre être, son fait premier et sa substance sensible. Pour nous, c'est là, très concrètement, la fondation où se forme tout le fini, et c'est de là, par ses forces incalculables et sans limites, que sont mises en mouvement toute notre pensée, toute notre volonté et toute notre joie. Mais cet infini n'est pas seulement un infini qui pénètre tout ou qui s'étend partout et en lequel tout se forme et se produit. Derrière cette extension incommensurable, la conscience gnostique perçoit toujours un infini intérieur qui n'a pas d'espace. C'est par ce double infini que nous arriverons à l'être essentiel de Sachchidananda. Moi suprême de notre être et totalité de notre existence cosmique.

For our means and ways of knowledge and action must necessarily be according to the nature of our consciousness and it is the consciousness that must radically change if we are to command and not only be occasionally visited by that higher power of knowledge. But it is not confined to a higher thought or the action of a sort of divine reason. It takes up all our present means of knowledge immensely extended, active and effective where they are now debarred, blind, infructuous, and turns them into a high and intense perceptive activity of the Vijnana. Thus it takes up our sense action and illumines it even in its ordinary field so that we get a true sense of things. But also it enables the mind-sense to have a direct perception of the inner as well as the outer phenomenon to feel and receive or perceive, for instance, the thoughts, feelings, sensations, the nervous reactions of the object on which it is turned.¹ It uses the subtle senses as well as the physical and saves them from their errors. It gives us the knowledge, the experience of planes of existence other than the material to which our ordinary mentality is ignorantly attached and it enlarges the world for us. It transforms similarly the sensations and gives them their full intensity as well as their full holding-power; for in our normal mentality the full intensity is impossible because the power to hold and sustain vibrations beyond a certain point is denied to it, mind and body would both break under the shock or the prolonged strain. It takes up too the element of knowledge in our feelings and emotions,—for our feelings too contain a power of knowledge and a power of effectuation which we do not recognise and do not properly develop,—and delivers them at the same time from their limitations and from their errors and perversions. For in all things the gnosis is the Truth, the Right, the highest Law, devānām adabdhāni vratāni.

Knowledge and Force or Will—for all conscious force is will—are the twin sides of the action of consciousness. In our mentality they are divided. The idea comes first, the will comes stumbling after it or rebels against it or is used as its imperfect tool with imperfect results; or else the will starts up first with a blind or half-seeing idea in it and works out something in confusion of which we get the right understanding afterwards. There is

1 This power, says Patanjali, comes by 'samyama' on an object. That is for the mentality, in the gnosis there is no need of samyama. For this kind of perception is the natural action of the Vijnana,

Sentir l'infini et être possédé par l'infini, telle est la base, et c'est seulement quand on y est parvenu que l'on peut s'approcher d'un état où fonctionnent assez normalement l'idéation, la perception, la sensation, l'identité, la conscience supramentales. Car ce sentiment de l'infini n'est lui-même qu'un premier fondement et il en faut beaucoup plus avant que la conscience puisse devenir dynamiquement gnostique. La connaissance supramentale, en effet, est l'activité d'une lumière suprême, et beaucoup d'autres lumières, beaucoup d'autres niveaux de connaissance plus hauts que le mental humain peuvent s'ouvrir en nous et recevoir ou refléter quelque rayon de cette splendeur avant même que nous nous élevions à la gnose. Mais pour posséder pleinement la connaissance supramentale et en disposer il faut d'abord entrer dans l'être de la lumière suprême et devenir cette lumière, notre conscience doit se transformer en cette conscience; son principe et son pouvoir de perception par identité (perception de soi et perception du tout par identité) doivent être la substance même de notre existence. Car nos moyens et nos manières de connaître et d'agir doivent nécessairement se modeler sur la nature de notre conscience; et c'est la conscience qui doit radicalement changer si nous voulons disposer de ce pouvoir de connaissance supérieur au lieu d'être seulement visité par lui de temps en temps. Mais il ne se borne pas à une pensée supérieure ou à l'activité d'une sorte de raison divine. Il s'empare de tous nos moyens de connaissance actuels, mais immensément étendus, actifs, efficaces, là où ils sont maintenant interdits, aveugles et infructueux, et les change en une haute et intense activité perceptive du Vijnâna. Ainsi, il s'empare des activités de nos sens et illumine même leur champ ordinaire, de sorte que nous avons la perception vraie des choses. Mais au sens mental aussi, il donne une perception directe des phénomènes intérieurs

no oneness, no full understanding between these powers in us; or else there is no perfect correspondence of initiation with effectuation. Nor is the individual will in harmony with the universal; it tries to reach beyond it or falls short of it or deviates from and strives against it. It knows not the times and seasons of the Truth, nor its degrees and measures. The Vijnana takes up the will and puts it first into harmony and then into oneness with the truth of the supramental knowledge. In this knowledge the idea in the individual is one with the idea in the universal, because both are brought back to the truth of the supreme Knowledge and the transcendent Will. The gnosis takes up not only our intelligent will, but our wishes, desires, even what we call the lower desires, the instincts, the impulses, the teachings out of sense and sensation and it transforms them. They cease to be wishes and desires, because they cease first to be personal and then cease to be that struggling after the ungrasped which we mean by craving and desire. No longer blind or half-blind reachings out of the instinctive or intelligent mentality, they are transformed into a various action of the Truth-will; and that will acts with an inherent knowledge of the right measures of its decreed action and therefore with an effectivity unknown to our mental willing. Therefore too in the action of the vijñānamaya will there is no place for sin; for all sin is an error of the will, a desire and act of the Ignorance.

When desire ceases entirely, grief and all inner suffering also cease. The Vijnana takes up not only our parts of knowledge and will, but our parts of affection and delight and changes them into action of the divine Ananda. For if knowledge and force are the twin sides or powers of the action of consciousness, delight, Ananda—which is something higher than what we call pleasure—is the very stuff of consciousness and the natural result of the interaction of knowledge and will, force and self-awareness. Both pleasure and pain, both joy and grief are deformations caused by the disturbance of harmony between our consciousness and the force it applies, between our knowledge and will, a breaking up of their oneness by a descent to a lower plane in which they are limited, divided in themselves, restrained from their full and proper action, at odds with other-force, other-consciousness, other-knowledge, other-will. The Vijnana sets this to rights by the power of its truth and a wholesale restoration to oneness and harmony, to the Right and the highest Law, It takes up

autant que des phénomènes extérieurs; par exemple, le pouvoir de sentir, de recevoir ou de percevoir les pensées, les sentiments, les sensations, les réactions nerveuses de l'objet sur lequel il se porte.¹ Le pouvoir de connaissance supramental se sert aussi bien des sens subtils que des sens physiques et évite à ceux-ci leurs erreurs. Il nous donne la connaissance et l'expérience d'autres zones d'existence que la zone matérielle à laquelle notre mentalité ordinaire est attachée avec ignorance et il élargit le monde pour nous. De même, il transforme les sensations et leur donne leur pleine intensité en même temps que leur pleine capacité de tenir la charge, en effet, la pleine intensité est impossible dans notre substance mentale normale, parce que le pouvoir de tenir et de supporter les vibrations au-delà d'un certain point lui est refusé; le mental et le corps se briseraient l'un et l'autre sous le choc ou la tension prolongée. Il s'empare aussi de l'élément de connaissance dans nos sentiments et dans nos émotions (car nos sentiments aussi contiennent un pouvoir de connaissance et un pouvoir de réalisation, que nous ne reconnaissons pas et ne développons pas convenablement) et les délivre en même temps de leurs limitations, de leurs erreurs et de leurs perversions. Car en toutes choses, la gnose est la Vérité, le Droit², la Loi suprême, devānām adabdhāni vratāni.  

La Connaissance et la Force, ou Volonté — car toute force consciente est volonté — sont les côtés jumeaux de l'action de la conscience. Dans notre mentalité, ils sont divisés. L'idée vient d'abord, puis la volonté arrive en trébuchant derrière, ou se révolte contre elle ou sert d'outil imparfait de l'idée avec des résultats imparfaits; ou bien la volonté se met en mouvement d'abord, avec une idée aveugle ou myope, et élabore quelque produit dans la confusion, puis nous en avons plus tard l'exact compréhension. En nous, il n'y a pas d'unité entre ces pouvoirs, pas d'entente complète; ou encore, il n'y a pas de correspondance parfaite entre l'initiative et l'exécution. La volonté individuelle, non plus, n'est pas en harmonie avec la volonté universelle; elle essaye d'aller plus loin ou ne va pas assez loin, ou dévie et se débat contre elle. Elle ne connaît pas l'époque et les saisons de la Vérité, ni ses degrés, ni ses mesures. Le Vijnâna s'empare

1 Patanjali dit que ce pouvoir s'obtient par 'samyama' sur un objet. Il en est ainsi pour le mental; dans la gnose, il n'est pas besoin de samyama, car ce genre de perception directe est l'action naturelle du Vijnâna.

2 Par opposition à la sinuosité de la conscience ordinaire (Note de l'éditeur).

all our emotions and turns them into various forms of love and delight, even our hatreds, repulsions, causes of suffering. It finds out or reveals the meaning they missed and by missing it became the perversions they are, it restores our whole nature to the eternal Good. It deals similarly with our perceptions and sensations and reveals all the delight that they seek, but in its truth, not in any perversion and wrong seeking and wrong reception; it teaches even our lower impulses to lay hold on the Divine and Infinite in the appearances after which they run. All this is done not in the values of the lower being, but by a lifting up of the mental, vital, material into the inalienable purity, the natural intensity, the continual ecstasy, one yet manifold, of the divine Ananda.

Thus the being of Vijnana is in all its activities a play of perfected knowledge-power, will-power, delight-power, raised to a higher than the mental, vital and bodily level. All-pervasive, universalised, freed from egoistic personality and individuality, it is the play of a higher Self, a higher consciousness and therefore a higher force and higher delight of being. All that acts in the Vijnana in the purity, in the right, in the truth of the superior or divine Prakriti. Its powers may often seem to be what are called in ordinary Yogic parlance siddhis, by the Europeans occult powers, shunned and dreaded by devotees and by many Yogins as snares, stumbling-blocks, diversions from the true seeking after the Divine. But they have that character and are dangerous here because they are sought in the lower being, abnormally, by the ego for an egoistic satisfaction. In the Vijnana they are neither occult nor siddhis, but the open, unforced and normal play of its nature. The Vijnana is the Truth-power and Truth-action of the divine Being in its divine identities, and, when this acts through the individual lifted to the gnostic plane, it fulfils itself unperverted, without fault or egoistic reaction, without diversion from the possession of the Divine. There the individual is no longer the ego, but the free Jiva domiciled in the higher divine nature of which he is a portion,  parā prakrtir jīva-bhūtā, the nature of the supreme and universal Self seen indeed in the play of multiple individuality but without the veil of ignorance, with self-knowledge, in its multiple oneness, in the truth of its divine Shakti.

In the Vijnana the right relation and action of Purusha and Prakriti are found, because there they become unified and the Divine is no longer veiled in Maya. All is his action. The Jiva no longer says "I think, I act, I

de la volonté et commence par la mettre en harmonie avec la vérité de la connaissance supramentale, puis la rend une avec elle. Dans cette connaissance, l'idée qui joue dans l'individu est une avec l'idée qui joue dans l'univers, parce que toutes deux se réfèrent à la vérité de la Connaissance suprême et de la Volonté transcendante. Non seulement la gnose s'empare de notre volonté intelligente pour la transformer, mais elle s'empare de nos souhaits, de nos désirs, même de ce que nous appelons les désirs inférieurs — instincts, impulsions, tensions des sens et des sensations — et les transforme. Ils cessent d'être des souhaits et des désirs, d'abord parce qu'ils cessent d'être personnels, puis parce qu'ils cessent d'être cette lutte pour saisir ce que l'on ne possède pas, que nous appelons envie ou désir. Et comme ils cessent d'être des tensions aveugles ou semi-aveugles de la mentalité instinctive ou intellectuelle, ils sont transformés en des activités variées de la Volonté de Vérité, et cette volonté agit avec la connaissance inhérente des mesures exactes de l'action décrétée, et par suite avec une efficacité inconnue de nos velléités mentales. Par suite aussi, l'action de la volonté du vijñānamaya ne laisse aucune place pour le péché; car tout "péché" est une erreur de la volonté ou un désir et un acte de l'Ignorance.  

Quand le désir cesse complètement, la douleur et toutes les souffrances intérieures cessent aussi. Le Vijnâna s'empare non seulement de nos facultés de connaissance et de volonté, mais aussi de nos capacités d'affection et de jouissance, et les transforme en mouvements de l'Ânanda divin. Car si la connaissance et la force sont les deux côtés ou les pouvoirs jumeaux de l'action de la conscience, la félicité ou Ânanda (qui est supérieur à ce que nous appelons plaisir) est la substance même de la conscience et le résultat naturel d'une concorde de la connaissance et de la volonté, de la force et de la conscience. Le plaisir et la douleur, la joie et la peine sont les déformations causées par une perturbation d'harmonie entre notre conscience et la force qu'elle applique, entre notre connaissance et notre volonté, leur unité est rompue par une descente à un plan inférieur où elles sont limitées, divisées, privées de la plénitude de leur action naturelle, en conflit avec d'autres forces, d'autres consciences, d'autres connaissances, d'autres volontés. Le Vijnâna met tout cela en ordre par le pouvoir de sa vérité et par un retour complet à l'unité et à l'harmonie, au Droit, à la Loi suprême. Il s'empare de toutes nos émotions et les change en des formes

desire, I feel"; he does not even say like the sadhaka striving after unity but before he has reached it, "As appointed by Thee seated in my heart, I act". For the heart, the centre of the mental consciousness is no longer the centre of origination but only a blissful channel. He is rather aware of the Divine seated above, lord of all,   adhisthita, as well as acting within him. And seated himself in that higher being,  parārdhe paramasyām parāvati, he can say truly and boldly, "God himself by his Prakriti knows, acts, loves, takes delight through my individuality and its figures and fulfils there in its higher and divine measures the multiple  līlā which the Infinite for ever plays in the universality which is himself for ever."

Look at the simplicity of the Truth with a straight and simple gaze.

Sri Aurobindo

variées de l'amour et de la félicité, y compris nos haines, nos répulsions et toutes les causes de nos souffrances. Il découvre ou révèle le sens qu'elles n'avaient pas trouvé et dont l'absence avait fait d'elles les perversions qu'elles sont, il ramène notre nature entière au Bien éternel. Il agit de même avec nos perceptions et nos sensations, et révèle toute la félicité qu'elles cherchent, mais une félicité dans la vérité, non dans la perversion ou dans les fausses recherches et les fausses inspirations, il enseigne même à nos impulsions inférieures à se saisir du Divin et de l'Infini dans les apparences après lesquelles elles courent. Toutes ces transmutations ne se font pas dans le cadre et les limites de l'être inférieur, mais en élevant le mental, le vital et le matériel à la pureté inaliénable, à l'intensité naturelle, l'extase continuelle, une et pourtant infiniment variée, de l'Ânanda divin.  

Ainsi, dans toutes ses activités, l'être du Vijnâna est l'expression d'un pouvoir de connaissance parfait, d'un pouvoir de volonté parfait et d'un pouvoir de félicité parfait qui ont été haussés à un plan supérieur au plan mental, vital et corporel. Pénétrant tout, universalisé, libre de toute personnalité et de toute individualité égoïstes, il est l'expression d'un Moi supérieur, d'une conscience supérieure et, par conséquent, d'une force supérieure et d'une joie d'être supérieure. Dans le Vijnâna, tout agit dans la pureté, dans le juste, dans la vérité de la Prakriti supérieure ou divine. Ses pouvoirs peuvent souvent ressembler à ce que l'on appelle des "siddhis" dans le langage yoguique habituel et à ce que les Européens appellent des pouvoirs occultes — pouvoirs répudiés et redoutés par les dévots et par beaucoup de yoguîs comme des pièges, des pierres d'achoppement, des diversions de la vraie recherche du Divin. Mais ils ont cette réputation et sont dangereux à ce niveau parce que c'est l'ego qui les recherche dans l'être inférieur et d'une façon anormale, pour une satisfaction égoïste. Dans le Vijnâna, ils ne sont ni occultes, ni siddhis; ils sont l'expression normale de la nature gnostique, sans rien forcer et sans rien cacher. Le Vijnâna est le Pouvoir-de-Vérité et l'Action-de-Vérité de l'Être divin dans ses identités divines, et quand ce Pouvoir agit à travers l'individu qui s'est haussé au plan gnostique, il s'exécute sans perversion, sans faute et sans réaction égoïste, sans diversion de la possession du Divin. Car sur ce plan, l'individu n'est plus l'ego, mais le jîva libre et domicilié dans la nature divine supérieure dont il est une part, parā prakrtir jīva-bhūtā,

"Je pense, j'agis, je désire, je sens", il ne dit même pas comme le sâdhak s'efforçant à l'unité, mais avant de l'avoir atteinte : "Ainsi qu'il est décrété par Toi qui demeures dans mon cœur, j'agis". Car le cœur, le centre de la conscience mentale n'est plus le centre qui met en mouvement, mais seulement un instrument de transmission béatifique. Il perçoit plutôt le Divin établi au-dessus, seigneur de tout, adhisthita, autant qu'agissant en lui. Et établi lui-même en cet être supérieur, parārdhe paramasyām parāvati, il peut dire vraiment et hardiment : "Dieu lui-même, par sa Prakriti, connaît, agit, aime, se réjouit à travers mon individualité et ses symboles, et y accomplit à sa haute mesure divine la līlā innombrable que l'Infini joue à jamais en cet univers, qui est Lui-même à jamais".

SRI AUROBINDO

Regarde d'un œil simple et direct la simplicité de la Vérité.  

Sri Aurobindo

Top

No real peace can be till the heart of man deserves peace; the law of Vishnu cannot prevail till the debt to Rudra is paid. To turn aside then and preach to a still unevolved mankind the law of love and oneness? Teachers of the law of love and oneness there must be, for by that way must come the ultimate salvation. But not till the Time-Spirit in man is ready, can the inner and ultimate prevail over the outer and immediate reality. Christ and Buddha have come and gone, but it is Rudra who still holds the world in the hollow of his hand. And meanwhile the fierce forward labour of mankind tormented and oppressed by the Powers that are profiteers of egoistic force and their servants cries for the sword of the Hero of the struggle and the word of its prophet.  

Sri Aurobindo

Il ne peut y avoir de paix réelle tant que le cœur de l'homme ne mérite pas la paix, la loi de Vishnou ne peut prévaloir tant que la dette de Roudra n'est pas payée. Alors, se détourner et prêcher la loi de l'amour et de l'unité à une humanité encore non développée? Il faut qu'il y ait des prêcheurs de la loi de l'amour et de l'unité, car ainsi viendra le salut ultime. Mais tant que le moment n'est pas venu dans l'homme, la réalité intérieure et ultime ne peut pas l'emporter sur la réalité extérieure et immédiate. Le Christ et le Bouddha sont venus et partis, mais c'est toujours Roudra qui tient le monde dans le creux de sa main. Et, en attendant, le féroce travail d'avancée d'une humanité oppressée et tourmentée par les pouvoirs profiteurs et serviteurs de la force égoïste, réclame l'épée du héros qui lutte et la parole du prophète de la lutte.

SRI AUROBINDO

Entretiens  

Le 22 mars 1951

Vous dites que "le temps est relatif", qu'est-ce que cela veut dire?

 LE  sens de la longueur du temps dépend de la conscience où vous vous trouvez. Si vous êtes dans une conscience humaine ordinaire, le temps se mesure par rapport au nombre d'années que vous comptez vivre. Alors, ce qui demande, disons cinquante ans à se réaliser, paraît terriblement long, car vous penserez: "Cinquante ans... où serai-je dans cinquante ans?" Même sans vous le dire clairement, c'est là dans la conscience. Mais si vous vous placez du point de vue d'une conscience mentale simplement, de quelque chose qui a la durée d'un écrit, par exemple, une œuvre qui a des qualités véritables peut durer des centaines et même des milliers d'années, donc, si l'on vous dit: "Pour que vos idées se répandent, il faut cent ans", cela ne vous paraît pas tellement long. Et si vous réussissez à unir votre conscience à la conscience psychique, une vie n'est qu'un moment parmi tant de moments semblables qui ont existé auparavant; eh bien, une vie de plus ou de moins n'a pas beaucoup d'importance. Et si, encore plus, vous vous unissez à la conscience de l'éternité, le temps n'a plus aucune réalité.

Tout est relatif.

Quand on est conscient des différentes parties de son être, quelle est la  

Questions and Answers

22nd March 1951

You say, "Time is relative", what does that mean?

THE sense of the length of time depends upon the consciousness in which you find yourself. If you are in an ordinary human consciousness, time is measured in relation to the number of years you expect to live. If then, something demands fifty years to realise, let us say, that seems terribly long; for you think, "Fifty years...where will I be in fifty years ?" Even without stating it clearly to yourself, it is there in the consciousness. But if you view simply from the standpoint of a mental consciousness, regarding something, for example, that has the duration of a piece of writing, a work that has true worth may last hundreds, even thousands of years, so, if you are told, "It will take one hundred years for your ideas to spread," that does not seem so long to you. And if you succeed in uniting your consciousness with the psychic consciousness, a life is but a moment among similar moments that have existed before, then one life more or less has not much importance. And, even more, if you are united with the consciousness of eternity, time no longer has any reality.

All is relative.

When one is conscious of the different parts of one's being, what part is conscious?

Probably it is not always the same. Normally the work of becoming conscious should be done by the psychic, but very rarely is it the psychic. Most often it is a part, more or less enlightened, of the mind that has acquired the capacity to withdraw a bit and look at the rest. But you are very familiar with the situation, if you are conscious in your mind, one part of it says one thing, another part replies and an interminable discussion

conscient dans votre mental, une partie du mental dit une chose et l'autre répond, et il y a une discussion interminable entre les deux parties. Beaucoup de gens ont de ces dialogues dans leur mental.  

Quelquefois, il n'y a pas de relation entre ces différents témoins—il devrait y en avoir, mais elle n'est pas toujours là. Mais s'il existe dans l'être une volonté de se perfectionner, assez rapidement la relation s'établit, l'un peut s'en rapporter à l'autre et, finalement, si la sincérité est suffisante, si la concentration est suffisante, on arrive au Témoin intérieur suprême qui peut juger toutes choses. Mais d'une façon générale, on peut dire que c'est toujours une partie du mental, plus ou moins illuminée, un peu plus en relation avec l'être intérieur, qui observe et qui juge.  

is set up between the two parts. Many people have this kind of dialogue going on in their minds.

It is difficult to say in a general way what is conscious; but naturally, if something is observing, it is always the "witness" element in that particular part—in each part of the being there is something which "witnesses", which attends. There is even a "physical witness" which can get very much in the way; for example, if it watches your playing, it may largely paralyse your play. There is also a "vital witness" who watches you, who looks at your desires and is much amused by what is happening; it is also a restraint. There is the mental witness who judges ideas, who says, "This idea is in contradiction with that one", who arranges everything. Then there is the great psychic Witness who is the inner divinity.

Sometimes there is no relationship among these different witnesses —there should be one, but it is not always there. However, if there is a will for self-perfection in the being, the relations are quite rapidly established; each part relates itself to the other and, finally, if the sincerity is strong enough, the concentration strong enough, one reaches the supreme inner Witness who is able to judge all things. But, in a general way, one can say that it is always a part of the mind that is more or less enlightened, in a little closer contact with the inner being, which observes and judges.

What is consciousness ?

(After a silence) I am choosing among several explanations : one is —jokingly—that consciousness is the contrary of unconsciousness; another...that it is the creative essence of the universe—without consciousness, no universe; for consciousness means objectification. I might also say that consciousness is what "is", because without consciousness, nothing "is"—that is the best reason—without consciousness, no life, no light, no objectification, no creation, no universe.

Perhaps there is a consciousness in the unmanifest Supreme, (but when you talk about these questions, you begin to say impossible things); it is said that at first the Supreme became conscious of Himself (which would mean that He was not conscious of Himself before ! that He was in a state which we cannot call "conscious"), that His first movement was

était dans un état que nous ne pouvons pas appeler "conscient"), que son premier mouvement a été de prendre conscience de lui-même et qu'une fois devenu conscient de lui-même, il a projeté cette conscience au-dehors, ce qui a formé la création. Du moins, c'est ce que dit la vieille tradition. Admettons qu'il n'y ait jamais eu de commencement, car c'est une façon humaine de parler: le "commencement" est le Suprême — le Suprême non-manifeste prenant conscience de lui-même. Probablement a-t-il trouvé que cette conscience n'était pas tout à fait satisfaisante (!) et il l'a projetée, non pas en dehors de lui-même car rien n'est en dehors de lui, mais il l'a changée en une conscience agissante afin que cela devienne une objectivation de lui-même. Par conséquent, on peut dire avec certitude que la Conscience est l'origine de toute création, là, vous êtes dans l'exactitude autant qu'on peut l'être avec les mots. La Conscience est l'origine de toute création—sans conscience, pas de création. Et ce que nous appelons "conscience", est simplement un contact lointain, sans précision et sans exactitude, avec la Conscience suprême. Ou si vous voulez, c'est la réflexion dans un miroir pas très correct, pas très pur, de la Conscience originelle. Ce que nous appelons notre conscience, est cette Conscience originelle reflétée dans un miroir un peu brouillé (quelquefois très brouillé, quelquefois très déformé), une réflexion dans le miroir individuel. Alors, par cette réflexion, si nous remontons lentement à l'origine de ce qui est reflété, nous pouvons entrer en contact avec la Conscience — la Conscience Vraie. Et une fois que nous entrons en contact avec la Conscience Vraie, nous nous apercevons que c'est la même partout, que c'est seulement la déformation qui la divise, sans déformation tout est contenu dans une seule et même Conscience. C'est-à-dire que c'est seulement la déformation, la réflexion dans le miroir déformant, qui cause la différence et la division de la Conscience, autrement c'est une seule Conscience. Mais c'est seulement par expérience que l'on peut comprendre ces choses.

to seize consciousness of Himself and once having become conscious of Himself, He projected this consciousness outside and that formed the Creation. At least this is what ancient tradition says. Admitting that there was never a beginning, for that is only a human way of putting it, the "beginning" is the Supreme—the unmanifest Supreme becoming conscious of Himself. Probably He found that this consciousness was not completely satisfactory (!) and He projected it, not outside Himself, for nothing is outside of Him, but He changed it into an active consciousness so that it might become an objectification of Himself. Therefore one can say for certain that Consciousness is the origin of all creation, there, you are as exact as one can be with words. Consciousness is the origin of all creation—without consciousness, no creation.... And what we call "consciousness" is simply a far-off contact, without precision or exactness, with the supreme Consciousness. Or if you like, it is the reflection in a mirror, not very correct nor very pure, of the original Consciousness. What we call our consciousness is this original Consciousness reflected in a somewhat cloudy mirror (sometimes very cloudy, sometimes very deformed), a reflection in the individual mirror. Then, through this reflection, if we slowly go back to the origin of what is reflected, we can enter into contact with the Consciousness—the True Consciousness. And once we are in contact with the True Consciousness, we perceive that it is the same everywhere. It is only the deformation that divides it; without the deformation all is contained in one and the same Consciousness. That is to say, it is only the deformation, the reflection in the deforming mirror that causes the difference and the division in the Consciousness, otherwise it is one single Consciousness. But it is only through experience that one can understand these things.

What are the twelve senses?¹

We are given five, are we not ? In any case, there is another which has a relationship to consciousness. I don't know if anyone has ever told you, but a blind man, for example, who does not see, can become aware

1 In the preceding talk. Mother had spoken of twelve senses.

of an object at some distance by a kind of perception which is not touch, for he has had no touch contact, which is not vision for he does not see, but which is a contact—something that enables him to make contact without hearing, without seeing and without touching. It is one of the most developed senses apart from those that are habitually used by us.

There is another sense, a sort of sense by proximity—when you come near a thing, you feel it as if you were in contact with it. Another sense, which is also physical, puts you in contact with happenings at a great distance. It is a physical sense since it belongs to the physical world, it is not purely mental—you have a sensation. Some persons have a kind of sensation of contact with what is happening at a very great distance. You must not forget that there are several levels in the physical consciousness; there is a vital physical and a mental physical that are not solely corporeal. Foreseeing on the material plane is also one of the physical senses....We have then something that perceives at a short distance, something that perceives at a long distance and something that perceives in advance : that already makes three. These are, as it were, ameliorations of the senses we have, such as the sense of hearing at a very great distance. For example, there are people who can hear noises from very great distances, who can smell odours at a great distance. It is like a perfectioning of these senses.

With what sense does one find water underground?

The perception is different according to individuals. For some, it is as though they see the water, for others it is as though they smell the odour of water, and for still others, it is a kind of mental intuition, but in that case, it is not a physical perception, it is direct knowledge. There was a man here who said that he smelled the odour of the water; he had an instrument, but it was only a pretext... it is as though the stick is bending. You may try to be as passive as possible, you will always make a slight movement when you have the impression that something is there. I did this experiment several times : you give the stick to someone, you make him walk; you are silent, the man is silent, wholly concentrated; then all of a sudden you think intensely, "Here, there is water" and lo, the rod makes a

domaine mental; mais alors ce n'est pas une perception physique, c'est une sorte de connaissance directe. Il y avait un homme ici, qui disait sentir l'odeur de l'eau; il avait un instrument, mais c'était seulement un prétexte... C'est comme la baguette qui se tord, n'est-ce pas; vous avez beau être aussi passif que possible, vous ferez toujours un petit mouvement quand vous aurez l'impression qu'il y a quelque chose. J'ai fait cette expérience plusieurs fois : vous donnez la baguette à quelqu'un, vous le faites marcher; vous êtes silencieux, la personne est silencieuse, tout à fait concentrée; puis, tout d'un coup, vous pensez fortement : "Ici, il y a de l'eau" et hop ! la baguette fait un petit mouvement — il est 'tout à fait évident que c'est votre suggestion. Je l'avais pensé sans avoir la moindre idée qu'il y avait de l'eau, simplement pour faire une expérience; et dans la main du sourcier, la baguette est descendue, il a reçu la suggestion dans son subconscient.

slight movement. It is quite evident that it was your suggestion. I have made the thought-suggestion without the least idea that there was water there simply for the sake of making the experiment, and in the hand of the diviner, the rod came down. He had received the suggestion in his subconscient.

If you are silent enough can the nerves receive the vibration of the water ?

But there was no water ! It is I who had produced the thought that there was water. (There might have been water, I don't know, I did not dig there to see.) But the experiment proves that it was simply my thought which had acted on the fingers holding the rod and the rod moved...it might also be said that I had thought of water because there was water there !

There are animals who have highly developed senses.

Oh yes, there are animals who are much more advanced than we.

I knew an elephant who took us straight toward water when we were tiger-hunting.

Animals have senses much more perfect than those of men. I challenge you to track a man as a dog does, for example. This means that in the curve, or rather the spiral, of evolution animals (and more particularly those whom we call "higher" animals because they resemble us more) are governed by the spirit of the species, which is a highly conscious consciousness. Bees, ants, obey this spirit of the species, which is of an altogether superior quality. And what is called "instinct" in animals is simply obedience to the spirit of the species that knows what is to be done and what is not to be done. There are so many examples. You put a cow in a field, she moves about, she sniffs, and. suddenly thrusts

forth her tongue to snatch some grass. Then she continues to roam, smells, and seizes another tuft of grass and so she goes on. Have you ever seen a cow under such conditions eating poisonous grass ? But, shut this poor animal up in a stable, gather some grass and put it in front of her and the poor animal having lost the instinct as she now obeys man (excuse me), eats poisonous grass along with the non-poisonous. We have already had three such cases here, three cows that passed away, having eaten poisonous grass. And these unfortunate animals, like all animals, have a kind of respect (that I might call illegitimate) for man's superiority—if you place some poisonous grass before a cow and tell her to eat it, she will eat it ! But left to herself, that is to say, without anything intervening between her and the spirit of the species, she would never do it. All animals that come near man lose their instinct because they have a kind of admiration full of devotion for this being who can give food and shelter without their going through the least difficulty— also a little fear, for they know that if they do not do what the man wants, they will be beaten.

It is very curious, they lose their quality of being. Dogs, for example, the sheep dog that lives far away from men with the flock has a very independent nature (it comes back to the house from time to time and knows its master very well, but it does not see him often); if it is bitten by a snake, it stays away in a corner, licks itself and does whatever is needed until it is cured. The same dog, if it is at your house, and if it is bitten by a serpent will die, quietly, like man.

I had a gentle little cat, absolutely civilised, a wonderful cat. It was born in the house and had the habits that all cats have, that is to say, if something moved it played with it. At that time there was a big scorpion in the house. As was the cat's habit, it began to play with the scorpion and the scorpion bit it. But it was a superior cat, it came to me, almost dying, and showed me its paw with the bite. The spot was already inflamed and in a frightful state. I took my little cat—it was so gentle—I set it on a table and I called Sri Aurobindo. I told him, "Kiki is bitten by a scorpion. He must be cured." The cat stretched out its neck and looked at Sri Aurobindo with eyes already somewhat glassy. Sri Aurobindo sat down in front of the cat and looked back at it. Then we saw the little cat little by little beginning to recover, to recover, and

eu trois cas absolument flagrants — ils sont sortis avec un être psychique suffisamment conscient pour entrer dans un corps d'homme. Mais ce n'est pas ce que les gens font d'ordinaire; ce qu'ils font d'ordinaire, c'est d'abîmer la conscience, ou plutôt l'instinct des animaux.

Le 24 mars 1951

Vous dites que "l'amour est partout. Son mouvement est là dans les plantes, peut-être dans les pierres elles-mêmes''

24th March 1951

You say, "Love is everywhere. Its movement is there in the plant, perhaps even in the stone."

( Conversations with the Mother )

If love is there in the stone, how is it to be seen?

Perhaps the different elements constituting the stone are themselves coordinated by the spark of love. I am convinced that when the divine Love came down into Matter, Matter was altogether unconscious, there was absolutely no form; one can even say that forms in general are the result of Love's effort to bring consciousness into Matter. If anyone of you (I doubt it, however) descended into the Inconscient, what is called the pure Inconscient, you would realise what it is. A stone in comparison would appear a wonderfully conscious object. You speak of a stone with disdain because you have a little bit more consciousness than the stone, but the difference between the consciousness of a stone and the total Inconscient is perhaps greater than that between you and the stone. And the release from the Inconscient is due exclusively to the sacrifice of the Divine, to this descent of Divine Love into the Inconscient. Therefore, when I said "perhaps in the stone" I could have taken away the "perhaps". I can affirm that even in the stone it is there. There would be nothing, no stone, no metal, no organisation of atoms without this presence of divine Love.

Most people say that there is "consciousness" when they begin to think—when you do not think, you are not conscious. But plants are perfectly conscious, and yet they do not think. They have very precise sensations that are the expression of a consciousness, but they do not think. Animals begin to think and their reactions are much more complex. But plants and animals are conscious. One can be conscious of a sensation without having the least thought.

Did material substance exist before the descent of divine Love?

I do not think that one can say that there was a material substance. It is the Inconscient. I do not know how to explain it to you. If there is a negation of something, it is truly the Inconscient, it is the negation

Mais les plantes sont parfaitement conscientes, et pourtant elles ne pensent pas. Elles ont des sensations très précises qui sont l'expression d'une conscience, mais elles ne pensent pas. Les animaux commencent à penser et leurs réactions sont beaucoup plus complexes. Mais les plantes et les animaux sont conscients. On peut être conscient d'une sensation sans avoir la moindre pensée.

La substance matérielle existait-elle avant la descente de l'Amour divin ?

of everything. It has not even the capacity of emptiness. You must descend into it in order to know what it is and to explain it. Words cannot tell it. It is the negation of all because everything begins with consciousness. Without consciousness there is nothing.

Were there beings before this descent of Love ? Had they a consciousness ?

There were no earthly beings. The earthly world, the earth came into existence after the descent into the Inconscient, not before.

The formation gradually of different states of beings, from the Supreme down to the most material region is subsequent to the Inconscient. When the Consciousness began its creation (do not take what I say literally as if it were a kind of history of another country, for it is not that; I try to make you understand, that is all), the first manifestation of the creative Consciousness was precisely an emanation of consciousness —of conscious light—and when this emanation separated itself from its origin, the Inconscient was born, by opposition, how to put it ?...yes, truly by opposition. Therefore the birth of the Inconscient is anterior to the formation of the worlds, and it is only when the perception came that all the universe was going to be created uselessly that there was a call and the divine Love precipitated itself into the Inconscient to change it into consciousness. Therefore it can be said that the formation of the material worlds as we know them is the result of the descent of the supreme Consciousness into the Inconscient. One cannot say that there was something anterior to things such as we know them in the material world. (Excuse me for the ambiguity in my words but you understand that one cannot express oneself with our usual words.)

The formation of the earth as we know it, this infinitesimal point in the immense universe has been made just for the sake of concentrating the effort of transformation upon one point; it is like a symbolic point created in the universe in order to be able, while working upon this point, to radiate over the whole universe.

If we wish to make the problem a little more understandable, it is enough to limit ourselves to the creation and the history of the earth because it is a good symbol of universal history.

être inutilement créé, qu'il y a eu un appel et que l'Amour Divin s'est précipité dans l'Inconscient pour le changer en conscience. Par conséquent, on peut dire que la formation des mondes matériels tels que nous les connaissons est le résultat de la descente de la Conscience suprême dans l'Inconscient. On ne peut pas dire qu'il y ait quelque chose d'antérieur à cela, des choses telles que nous les connaissons dans le monde matériel (je m'excuse de l'ambiguïté de mes mots, mais vous comprenez que l'on ne peut pas s'exprimer avec nos mots habituels).  

La formation de la terre telle que nous la connaissons, ce point infinitésimal dans l'immense univers, a été faite justement pour concentrer l'effort de transformation sur un point, c'est comme un point symbolique créé dans l'univers pour pouvoir, en travaillant sur ce point, rayonner sur l'univers tout entier.

Si nous voulons rendre le problème un peu plus compréhensible, il suffit de nous limiter à la création et à l'histoire de la terre, parce que c'est un bon symbole de l'histoire universelle.  

Au point de vue astronomique, la terre n'est rien, c'est un tout petit accident. Au point de vue spirituel, c'est une formation volontaire symbolique. Et comme je l'ai déjà dit, c'est seulement sur la terre que l'on trouve cette Présence, ce contact direct avec l'Origine suprême, cette présence de la Conscience divine cachée en toutes choses.  

Les autres mondes ont été organisés plus ou moins hiérarchiquement, si l'on peut dire, mais la terre a une formation spéciale par suite de l'intervention directe, sans intermédiaire, de la Conscience suprême dans l'Inconscient.

Les fragments solaires sont-ils de la même matière que la terre ?  

J'ai pris soin de vous dire que le rayonnement était une création symbolique, et que toute action sur ce point spécial avait son rayonnement dans l'univers entier; n'oubliez pas cela, au lieu de commencer à dire que la formation de la terre vient d'un élément projeté du soleil, ou qu'une nébuleuse se serait dispersée donnant naissance au soleil et à tous ses satellites, etc.

From the astronomical point of view, the earth is nothing, it is a very small accident. From the spiritual point of view it is a willed symbolic formation. And as I have said, it is only upon earth that this Presence is found, this direct contact with the supreme Origin, this presence of the divine Consciousness hidden in all things.

The other worlds have been organised more or less hierarchically if one might say so, but the earth has a special formation because of direct intervention, without intermediary, of the supreme Consciousness in the Inconscient.

Have the solar fragments the same matter as the earth ?

I took care to tell you that the radiation was a symbolic creation, and that every action on this special point had its radiation throughout the whole universe; do not forget that, instead of starting to say that the formation of the earth comes from an element projected from the sun or that a nebula scattered itself giving birth to the sun and all its satellites, etc.

But is it true that there is no difference between solar matter and the matter of the earth ? Were the sun and the other worlds of our solar system formed at the same time as the earth?

Perforce all were formed at the same time, the creation was simultaneous with a special concentration of Consciousness upon the earth.

Do the beings of other worlds and other planets have a psychic being ?

No, this is a purely terrestrial phenomenon. Only, nothing prevents one from imagining that the psychic beings can go into the other worlds if it pleases them. There is no reason to think that one cannot, if one went to another planet, meet psychic beings. It is not impossible, but it would be psychic beings that were formed upon earth and became free in their movement, going here and there at will for whatever reason. All knowledge in all traditions, on whatever side of the earth, says that the psychic formation is a terrestrial formation and that the growth of

Comment devenir conscient de V Amour divin et comment devenir un instrument de son expression ?

D'abord, pour devenir conscient de quoi que ce soit, il faut le vouloir. Et quand je dis "vouloir", je ne veux pas dire : "Oh, je voudrais bien", un jour, puis deux jours après c'est complètement oublié.  

Le vouloir est une aspiration constante, soutenue, concentrée, une occupation presque exclusive de la conscience. C'est le premier pas. Il y en a beaucoup d'autres — une observation très attentive, une analyse très soutenue, un discernement très aigu entre ce qui est pur dans un mouvement et ce qui ne l'est pas. Si vous avez une faculté Imaginative, vous pouvez essayer d'imaginer et voir si votre imagination concorde avec la réalité. Il y a des gens qui s'imaginent qu'il suffit de se réveiller un jour d'une certaine humeur et de dire : "Ah, comme je voudrais être conscient de l'Amour divin, comme je voudrais manifester l'Amour divin"... Notez, je ne sais pas combien de millions de fois on sent en soi un petit soubresaut de l'instinct humain et l'on s'imagine que si l'on avait à sa disposition l'Amour divin, de grandes choses pourraient être faites, et l'on se dit : "Je vais essayer de trouver l'Amour divin et on verra le résultat". C'est la plus mauvaise manière. Parce que, avant même d'avoir touché le premier commencement de la réalisation, vous avez pourri le résultat. Il faut aborder votre recherche avec une pureté d'aspiration et de soumission, qui sont déjà difficiles à obtenir en elles-mêmes. Il faut avoir beaucoup travaillé sur soi pour être seulement prêt à aspirer à l'Amour. Si vous vous regardez très sincèrement, d'une façon très droite, vous verrez que dès que vous commencez à penser à l'Amour, c'est toujours votre petit tourbillon intérieur qui commence à marcher. Tout ce qui aspire en vous, désire certaines vibrations. Il est à peu près impossible, à moins d'être très avancé sur le chemin yoguique, de séparer l'essence vitale, la vibration vitale, de votre conception de l'Amour. Ce que je dis est fondé sur une expérience assidue des êtres humains. Eh bien, pour vous, dans l'état où vous vous trouvez, tel que vous êtes, si vous aviez un contact avec l'Amour divin pur, il vous paraîtrait plus froid que la glace, ou si lointain, si escarpé, que vous ne pourriez pas respirer; ce serait comme le sommet d'une montagne où vous vous sentiriez gelé et ayant de la peine à respirer, tellement ce serait loin de ce que vous sentez normalement, L'Amour divin,

difficult to obtain. One must have worked a great deal on oneself merely to become ready to aspire for that Love. If you look at yourself very sincerely, very straight, you will see that as soon as you begin to think of Love, it is always your little whirlpool inside that starts up. All that aspires in you desires certain vibrations. It is almost impossible, without being far advanced on the way of yoga, to separate the vital essence, the vital vibration, from your conception of Love. What I say is based on assiduous experience with human beings. Well, for you in the state in which you find yourself, as you are, if you had a contact with pure divine Love, it would appear colder than ice to you, or so distant, so steep that you would not be able to breathe, it would be like the summit of a mountain where you would feel frozen and hardly capable of breathing so far would it be from what you feel normally. The divine Love, if it is not robed with the psychic or vital vibration is difficult for a human being to perceive. You can have an impression of a grace, a grace that is something so far, so high, so pure, so impersonal that... yes, you can have an impression of a grace, but it is with difficulty that you have an impression of Love.

But can it be said then that the psychic vibration is a vibration of divine Love?

Each one of you should be able to put yourself in relation with your psychic being, it is not an inaccessible thing. It is precisely in order to put you in relation with the divine forces that you have a psychic being. And if you are in contact with your psychic being, you begin to feel, to have a kind of perception of what divine Love may be. As I have just told you, it will not do to get up one fine morning and say, "Oh, I would like to be in relation with divine Love." It is not like that. If through a sustained effort, a heavy concentration, a great self-forgetfulness, you succeed in entering into relation with your psychic being, it will not occur to you to think, "Oh, I would like to be in contact with the divine Love"—you are in a state where all seems to you to be this divine Love and nothing else. And still, it is only a robe, a robe of fine quality, however.

s'il n'est pas revêtu d'une vibration psychique ou vitale, est difficile à percevoir pour un être humain. On peut avoir l'impression d'une grâce, d'une grâce qui est quelque chose de si loin, de si haut, de si pur, de si impersonnel que ... oui, on peut avoir l'impression d'une grâce, mais on a difficilement l'impression de l'Amour.  

Chacun d'entre vous devrait être capable de se mettre en rapport avec son être psychique, ce n'est pas une chose inaccessible. Vous avez justement un être psychique pour vous mettre en rapport avec les forces divines. Et si vous êtes en contact avec votre être psychique, vous commencez à sentir, à avoir une sorte de perception de ce que peut être l'Amour Divin. Comme je viens de le dire, il ne suffit pas qu'un matin vous vous réveilliez en disant: "Oh, je voudrais être en rapport avec l'Amour divin", ce n'est pas comme cela. Si, par un effort soutenu, une grande concentration, un grand oubli de soi, vous arrivez à entrer en rapport avec votre être psychique, il ne vous viendra pas à l'idée de penser : "Oh, je voudrais être en contact avec l'Amour divin" — vous êtes dans un état où tout vous paraît être cet Amour divin, et pas autre chose. Et encore, ce n'est qu'un revêtement, mais un revêtement d'une belle qualité.  

So, one must not seek to know divine Love apart from the psychic being?

No, find your psychic being and you will understand what divine Love is.... Do not try to enter into direct relation with divine Love because it will still be a vital desire that pushes you. Perhaps you would not be conscious of it, but it would be a vital desire.

You must make an effort to come in contact with your psychic being in order to be conscious and free in the consciousness of your psychic being, and then quite naturally, spontaneously you will know what divine Love is.

The fact that we are born with a psychic being and upon earth which is a spiritual symbol, proves that we have each one of us a great responsibility, doesn't it?

Surely. You have a great responsibility, it is for the sake of fulfilling a special mission that you are born upon earth. Only, of course the psychic being must have reached a certain degree of development; otherwise, one might say that it is the whole earth that has the responsibility. The more one becomes conscious and individualised, the more one should have the sense of responsibility. And that is what happens at a given moment; you begin to think that you are not here without reason, without aim. You are aware, all of a sudden, that you are here because there is something to be done here and this something is not an egoistic thing. That seems to me to be the most logical way of entering upon the path—all of a sudden to be aware : "Since I am here, it must be that I have a mission to fulfil. Since I am endowed with a consciousness, it must be that I have something to make of this consciousness —what is it ?"

Normally, it seems to me that this is the first question that one should put to oneself—why am I here ?

I have seen it in children, even children of five or six years : "Why am I here, why do I live ?" And then to find out with whatever consciousness

Le fait d'être né avec un être psychique et sur la terre, qui est un symbole spirituel, prouve que nous avons chacun une grande responsabilité, n'est-ce pas ?

Parfaitement. On a une grosse responsabilité, c'est pour remplir une mission spéciale que l'on est né sur la terre. Seulement, naturellement, il faut que l'être psychique soit arrivé à un certain degré de développement, autrement, on pourrait dire que c'est la terre tout entière qui a la responsabilité. Plus on devient conscient et individualisé, plus on devrait avoir le sens de la responsabilité. Mais c'est ce qui arrive à un moment donné; on commence à penser que l'on n'est pas ici sans raison, sans but. On se rend compte, tout d'un coup, que l'on est ici parce que l'on y a quelque chose à faire et que ce quelque chose n'est pas une chose égoïste. Cela me paraît la façon la plus logique d'entrer sur le chemin — tout d'un coup, se rendre compte : "Puisque je suis ici, c'est que j'ai une mission à remplir. Puisque j'ai été doué d'une conscience, c'est que j'ai quelque chose à faire de cette conscience—qu'est-ce que c'est ?

Cela me paraît le début normal.

*  

one may have, with every bit of consciousness : Why am I here, for what reason ?

That seems to me to be the normal beginning.

*

**

26th March 1951

"At each instant one must know how to lose all in order to gain all." What does this mean?

We have already spoken about it. Why does one see when one enters the path of Yoga, those we hold dear leaving us ? All worldly goods are lost, all attachments; at times even one's position is lost and to gain what ?—the most important thing, the one thing which has value : the divine consciousness. In order to win that, you must know how to lose all the wealth of the world, let go of all your possessions, all desires, all your attachments, all satisfactions, you must know how to lose all that if you want to win the divine consciousness. It is somewhat paradoxical for the mind.

You have said that after completing their growth, the psychic beings could go to other worlds; yet the psychic being belongs only to the earth.

But the psychic being is not material, it is psychic ! It is not tied to the material world. As soon as it ceases to live in a body, it goes into the psychic world which is very far from being a material world.

How does one transform the vital?

The first step : the will. Secondly, sincerity and aspiration. But will and aspiration are almost the same thing, one follows upon the

other. Then, perseverance. Yes, but perseverance requires a procedure and what is this procedure ?... First of all, there must be the capacity to observe and discern; the capacity to uncover the vital in itself, otherwise you will be hard put to it to distinguish that "This comes from the vital, that comes from the mental, that from the body". All would appear mixed and indistinct to you.

After a long-sustained observation, you will be able to make distinctions among the different parts and recognise the origin of a movement. Much time is needed for that, but it may go rather quickly also, it depends upon the person. But once you have found out the different parts, ask yourself, "What is there of the vital in that ? What does the vital bring into your consciousness ? In what way does it change your movements ? What does it add, what does it take away ? What phenomenon is produced in your consciousness by the intervention of the vital ?" Once you know that, what do you do ?...Then you must watch, observe this intervention, know in what sense it is acting. For example, you have the will to transform your vital, you even have a great sincerity in your aspiration and the resolution to go on to the end, you have all that. You begin to observe and you see that two things can happen—many things may happen —but chiefly two.

First, a kind of enthusiasm takes hold of you. You set to work with ardour. In this enthusiasm you think, "I am going to do this and that, I shall reach the goal right away. Everything is going to be wonderful ! This vital will see how I am going to deal with it if it does not obey !" And if you look closely, you will see that the vital says to itself: "Ah, here is an opportunity at last !" It accepts, it starts off full of fervour, with all its enthusiasm and...all its impatience.

The second thing may be just the opposite. A kind of uneasiness : "I am not keeping well, how tiresome life is, how wearisome everything is ! How am I ever going to do all that ? Shall I ever arrive at the goal ? Is it worth beginning at all ? Is it really at all possible ? Isn't it impossible ?" This is the vital which is not very pleased with what is being done to it, which does not want that others should meddle in its affairs, which does not like all that very much. So it suggests depression, discouragement, lack of faith, doubt—is it worth the trouble ?

These are the two extremes and each has its difficulties, its obstacles.