The Inner Cyclones – Depression, Anger, Revolt (HH 254)

A huge cyclone has passed over the eastern coast of India and Bangladesh. Perhaps we can do little to stop these cyclones even though they can be predicted. But today’s talk focusses on inner cyclones that we may be able to manage and reduce and even completely master. These cyclones are depressions, anger and revolt.

Words of the Mother

(Mother first reads a note relating to the events of February 11:)

Behind all the destructions – the big destructions of Nature – earthquakes, volcanic eruptions, cyclones, floods, etc., or the human destructions – wars, revolutions, riots – there is always Kali’s power and upon earth Kali works for the hastening of the terrestrial progress.

Whatever is Divine not only in its essence but also in its realisation is above these destructions and cannot be touched by them.

In all cases the extent of the damage gives the measure of the imperfection and must be taken as a lesson for indispensable progress.

March 10, 1965

* * *

I spent a night – a night of battle – when, for some reason or other, a multitude of vital formations of all kinds entered into the room: beings, things, embryos of beings, residues of beings – all kinds of things … And it was a frightful assault, absolutely disgusting.

In this swarming mass, I noticed the presence of some slightly more conscious wills – wills of the vital plane – and I saw how they try to awaken a reaction in the consciousness of human beings to make them think or want, or if possible, do certain things.

For example, I saw one of them trying to incite anger in someone so that this person would deliver a blow – a spiritual blow. And this formation had a dagger in his hand (a vital dagger, you see, it was a vital being: gray and slimy, horrible), he was holding a very sharp dagger which he was flaunting, saying, ‘When a person has done something like that (pretending that someone had done an unforgivable thing), this is what he deserves …’ and the scenario was complete: the being rushed forward, vitally, with his dagger.

I, who know the consequences of these things, stopped him just in time – I gave him a blow. Then I had enough of all this and it was over, I cleaned the place out. It was almost a physical cleaning, for I had my hands clasped together (I was in a semitrance) and I threw them apart in an abrupt movement, left and right, powerfully, as if to sweep something away, and frrt! … immediately everything was gone.

But had that not happened … I was watching, not exactly with curiosity, but in order to learn – to learn what kind of atmosphere people live in! And it is ALWAYS like that! They are always pestered by HORDES of little formations that are absolutely swarming and disgusting, each one making its … nasty little suggestion.

Take these movements of anger, for example, when someone is carried away by his passion and does things which, in his normal state, he would never do: he is not doing it, it is done by these little formations which are there, swarming in the atmosphere, just waiting for an occasion … to rush in.

When you see them, oh! it’s … suffocating. When you’re in contact with that … Really, you wonder how anyone can breathe in such an atmosphere. And yet people CONSTANTLY live in that atmosphere! They live in it. Only when they rise above are they NOT in it. Or else there are those who are entirely below; but those are the toys of these things, and their reactions are sometimes not only unexpected but absolutely dreadful – because they are puppets in the hands of these things.

Those who rise above, who enter into a slightly intellectual region, can see all this from above; they can look down at it all, keep their heads above and breathe; but those who live in this realm …

And I express this in my own way when I say’ that thoughts ‘come and go, flow in and out.’ But thoughts concerning material things are formations originating in that world, they are kinds of wills coming from the vital plane which try to express themselves, and most often they are truly deadly. If you are annoyed, for example, if someone says something unpleasant to you and you react … It always happens in the same way; these little entities are there waiting, and when they feel it’s the right moment, they introduce their influence and their suggestions. This is what is vitally symbolized by the being with his dagger rushing forward to stab you – and in the back, at that! Not even face to face! This then expresses itself in the human consciousness by a movement of anger or rage or indignation: ‘How intolerable! How … !’ And the other fellow says, ‘Yes! We shall put an end to it!’

March 10, 1959

* * *

Ultimately, disgust, rebellion and anger, all movements of violence, are necessarily movements of ignorance and of limitation with all the weakness that limitation implies. Rebellion is a weakness, for it’s the feeling of an impotent will. When you feel, when you see that things are not as they should be, then you rebel against whatever is out of keeping with your vision. But if you were all-powerful, if your will and your vision were all-powerful, there would be no opportunity to rebel! You would always see that all things are as they should be! That is omnipotence.8 Then all these movements of violence become not only useless but profoundly ridiculous. [25]

Consequently, there is only one solution: by aspiration, concentration, interiorization and identification, to unite with the supreme Will. And that is both omnipotence and perfect freedom. It’s the only omnipotence, the only freedom – all the rest are approximations. You may be en route, but it’s not That, not the total thing.

If you make the experiment, you will come to see that this supreme freedom and this supreme power are accompanied by a total peace and an unfaltering serenity; if you notice any contradiction – revolt, disgust or something inadmissible – this indicates that some part in You is not touched by the transformation, is still en route: something still holding on to the old consciousness, that’s all.

* * *

If anger interferes, it indicates an entire contradiction between the feeling one wants to have and this reaction towards others. Because anger is a deformation of vital power originating from an obscure and thoroughly unregenerate vital, a vital still subject to all the ordinary actions and reactions. When an ignorant, egoistic individual will exploits this vital power and encounters opposition from other individual wills around it, then under the pressure of opposition this power changes into anger and tries to obtain through violence what could not be achieved by the pressure of the Force alone.

Anger, moreover, like all forms of violence, is always a sign of weakness, impotence and incapacity. Here the deception comes from the approval one gives it or the flattering adjective one covers it with; for rage can be no more than blind, ignorant and asuric – opposed to the light.

But this is still the best of cases.

There is another case where people – without knowing it or because they WANT to ignore it – always pursue their personal interests, their preferences, their attachments, their concepts; people who are not entirely consecrated to the Divine and make use of moral and yogic ideas to conceal their personal motives. These people doubly deceive themselves: not only do they deceive themselves through their outer activities, their relations with others, but they also deceive themselves about their personal motives; instead of serving the Divine they are serving their own egoism. And this happens constantly, constantly! One serves his own personality, his egoism, while pretending to serve the Divine. This is no longer even self-deception: it’s sheer hypocrisy.

This mental habit of always cloaking everything with a favorable appearance, of giving all movements a favorable explanation, is at times so flagrant that it can fool nobody but oneself (although it may occasionally be subtle enough to create an illusion). It is a sort of habitual self-exoneration, the habit of giving a favorable mental excuse, a favorable mental explanation for all one does, all one says, all one feels. For example, someone with no self-control who strikes another in great indignation and is ready to call it divine wrath!…

This power of self-deception, the mind’s craft in devising splendid justifications for any ignorance or folly whatsoever, is tremendous.

And it’s not a random experience coming now and then, it’s something you can witness minute by minute. You generally see it far more readily in others! But if you watch yourself carefully, you will catch yourself a thousand times a day – looking at things in a favorable way: ‘Oh, it’s NOT the same thing!’ And besides, it’s NEVER the same for you as it is for your neighbor!

* * *

They are only too eager to believe that God can get angry with them! I try to dispel this notion as much as I can, because it’s not true – it isn’t true.

* * *

I had an interesting experience the day before yesterday.

In a very concrete way, there was the consciousness that everything is the Lord and that everything is His will, His action, His consciousness and so forth; at the same time, the perception of the world as it is (“as it is,” anyway … as we feel it).

And as there was no longer any notion of good and evil and all that, there was a sort of almost candid surprise, a very spontaneous surprise, not thought out, at reprobation, anger, disapproval, scorn for all the people who are called “bad,” who do evil and have bad will. It seemed so strange that one could lose one’s temper because of that! Then there arose a profound Pity – but a Pity that has nothing of the sense of superiority or inferiority, nothing like that – like a sort of sorrow that there can be people who are so small and so weak in that Immensity that they are COMPELLED to be nasty and malicious, to hate, to reject, to wish evil.

The words diminish the experience very, very much. It was so … a super-compassion, you know, full of a deep Love and Understanding: “How can one reproach them for being the way the Lord wants them to be?”

Then, when it all settled down, several hours afterwards, I wrote something – I wrote it in French (even with the will that it should not be translated into English).

And as a matter of fact it’s untranslatable. Here is what I wrote:

Ce monde est plein de misères pitoyables, mais les êtres que je plains le plus sont ceux qui ne sont pas assez grands et assez forts pour être bons.116

But then the word bon [good] no longer had that sense of opposition to “evil”: it contained all the divine splendor. It was the radiance of divine Love.

(silence)

Any translation of the word bon [good] into English is very small and all the way down. I didn’t want to put it into English. But today, all at once it came to me in English and I wrote it down:

This world is full of pitiable miseries, but of all beings those I pity most are those who are so small and so weak that they are compelled to be nasty.

It’s seen from the opposite side, but there is as much in it as in the first.

September 18, 1963

* * *

Human beings and their nature are the same everywhere. But I am not looking at their faults and defects, I am looking at possibilities. I know each of them is full of ignorance. Truly, it takes time to improve and make them perfect. Justice, truth, peace, harmony, order these cannot come in a day. Nevertheless, everyone has to transform himself and that is why all these defects and falsehood of nature come out and show themselves for the Divine Consciousness to act upon them. If everyone were perfect, why should have I come upon this earth? I would have remained in my Heaven.

Do you know the story? Once some people were throwing stones at a woman, whom they called a sinner. Christ happened to go there. He asked the people what right they had to throw stones at the woman.

Further, he said, “Whoever among you is perfect, let him pick up a stone and throw it at the woman.” Nobody dared to do so.

Here the Divine Consciousness and Strength are working. Everything has been given to people and if they do not make the most of these things, I do not know what to do or say.

Here all are not Yogis. Nevertheless, the Divine’s Grace is spread everywhere and in everything; that is why everyone can remain over here, otherwise not a single person could stay.

Storms always come, but at that time people must keep quiet by taking shelter in the Divine’s Arms and let the storms pass away.

1.6.1956

* * *

Once there was a baby cat. It was in its mother’s mouth. Suddenly it jumped from the mouth and went to play with a scorpion. Its mother was against its playing with the bad creature but it did not listen. Now by, its very nature, the scorpion stung the baby cat. The kitten screamed and wept. At once it ran to its mother and told her all about the scorpion. The mother asked, “Then why did you jump out of my mouth?”

The hostile forces are like the scorpion. They are very bad indeed. If you do not look at them or listen to them, the evil forces can be destroyed. People should constantly refuse when the adverse forces put false suggestions before them. Otherwise these forces would destroy everything.

There are so many beings, and in each being there are so many other beings also. They come up at every moment and take so many different forms and harass the true being. The devil always spreads his influence in human lives.

I know how the hostile forces enter people’s brains it is from anger, dislike and innumerable desires and useless matters.

First of all, anger catches the legs and gradually it goes up to the navel and then to the heart and finally to the brain.

The people get terribly hurt. Once anger enters the brain. It is difficult to control oneself. So we should prevent if from coming in. Then it is easier and overcome it.

In the ordinary world, people remain mostly satisfied with small pleasures but, indeed, some parts of their being aspire for higher things.

Here, there is nothing except the Divine. So, naturally, the lower vital and the lower mind and other parts of the being begin to make an uproar and they revolt against the true being and upset people’s hearts. There may also be at times interference from other people. But one could not mind whether they are kind to one or not. Also, none have a right to interfere with others’ affairs it is not their business. On the contrary, they should remember their goal and the Divine. And whatever comes from Him, they should accept it and surrender themselves to the Divine according to the Divine’s Will.

This comes by constant practise. Everyone has to change himself sooner or later. I am constantly working in people; whether they are conscious or not, they feel or not, the Grace is always there.

If people submit to the hostile forces, then what is the use? When these bad forces come and start their mischief, people should ignore them and build the wall of a clear ‘NO’ in front of them. And they should repeat, “The Divine’s Victory is certain”.

Everyone must turn to the Divine Light and surrender to the Truth only. I know the end, and the Victory is certain. Already I have given everyone all my strength that they need. Now they have to use it and reject all lower things from their nature and I am always with them to help them.

You must be more clever to outplay the tricks of the hostile forces and their suggestions. You can do everything tactfully against them. Also, you must remain firm in your aspiration for the Goal. Everyone has difficulties but truly there is a joy in getting out of them. If you have this joy, you can know the real thing, not otherwise.

* * *

Kali knows no anger when She dominates the adverse force ‐ the devil.

Adverse forces are much amused when you listen to them and they take great joy in breaking up faith in the Divine. At that time do not think, do not write and do not speak anything ‐just keep quiet. You must endure and let the storm pass. Thus you will be cured of falsehood in this very birth.