On Collective Harmony (04)

A conversation between Alok Pandey and Narad, recorded in Pondicherry in 2014.

SRI AUROBINDO ON HARMONY

THE MOTHER ON HARMONY AND GOODWILL

Harmony

Harmony: let us strive that the day may come when this will be the means and the end.
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Harmony is my aim and all that leads to harmony makes me happy.
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Integral harmony: harmony between things, harmony between people, harmony of circumstances and above all harmony of all aspiration directed towards the Supreme Truth.
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A harmonious collective aspiration can change the course of circumstances.
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Collective harmony is the work undertaken by the Divine Consciousness; It alone has the power to realise it.
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There is a deep and true consciousness in which all can meet in love and harmony.
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It is only in union with the Divine and in the Divine that harmony and peace can be established.
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Surely we must always want peace and harmony and work for it as much as we can–but for that the best field of action is always within ourselves.
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Look for the inner causes of disharmony much more than the outer ones. It is the inside which governs the outside.
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Do not worry or be impatient–all the disharmonies will disappear, but it must be on the true basis of a settled luminous consciousness leaving no room for the play of the ego.
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For all to agree, each one must rise to the summit of his consciousness: it is on the heights that harmony is created.

You must rise so high in your consciousness that it dominates the opposition. This is the solution.

Collaboration

Collaboration: ever ready to help and knowing how to do it.
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Collaboration does not mean that everybody should do the will of the man who asks for it. True collaboration is a non-egoistic union of all personal efforts to express and realise the Divine’s Will.
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We must replace competition and strife by collaboration and fraternity.
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Substitute the spirit of rivalry and competition by the goodwill of collaboration and mutual understanding.
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It is when things are going wrong that it is the best opportunity to show one’s goodwill and spirit of true collaboration.

Goodwill

Indeed, the good will hidden in all things reveals itself everywhere to the one who carries good will in his consciousness. This is a constructive way of feeling which leads straight to the Future.
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One should keep goodwill and love constantly in his heart and let them pour out upon all with tranquillity and with equanimity.
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Good will for all and good will from all is the basis of peace and harmony.
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Goodwill: of modest appearance, it makes no noise but is ever ready to be useful.
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Mental goodwill likes to show off a little, but is very useful.

Benevolence

Benevolence makes life fragrant without attracting attention.
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A tireless benevolence, clear-seeing and comprehensive, free from all personal reaction, is the best way to love God and serve Him upon earth. I mean a benevolence sincere and spontaneous in thought and speech and not a supposed benevolence in acts which is accompanied most often by a dreadful sense of condescending superiority serving chiefly as a platform for human vanity.

Tolerance

Tolerance is full of a sense of superiority; it should be replaced by a total understanding.
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Tolerance is only the first step towards wisdom.
The need to tolerate indicates the presence of preferences.
He who lives in the Divine Consciousness regards all things with a perfect equanimity.

[This Mother’s selection originally was published here: http://saccs.org.in/texts/mcw-index/mcw-indexed-texts/14-196.php]