Q: My mind refuses to believe unless it understands well.
A: That is the trouble — that it does not understand.
11.10.1935
*
Q: Some part of my being refuses to believe blindly; it wants to understand. That is why I ask so many questions.
A: Very often, on the contrary, your questions are entirely unreasonable and if you were to reflect a little, you would not need to ask them.
12.10.1935
*
Q: To will and to aspire, how to do both at the same time?
A: If you cannot do both things at a time, do only one.
14.10.1935
*
You can write to me always whatever you think, but you must know that I answer when it is useful; you should not feel annoyed if at times I do not answer.
16.10.1935
*
Q: I do not understand what is called intellectual faith. Faith has no reason and intellect is always reasoning.
A: It is not intellectual but mental. The mental being has a faith, and the vital being also can have its faith as well as the physical being. As for the psychic being, its faith is natural and spontaneous; faith is the very essence of the psychic being.
18.10.1935
*
There is only one faith, but it manifests in the different parts of the being. I suppose what the person you speak of means by the name blind faith is the faith in the heart, the one that does not need reasons for its existence. But there is also a faith in the mind which can be based on reasoning. In order to be certain of an unshakable faith one must have it in all the parts of the being.
19.10.1935
*
Faith is an expression of a spiritual quality.
21.10.1935
*
Q: Is self-confidence a low thing?
A: All depends upon the person who has the self-confidence.
21.10.1935
*
Q: I shall make an effort to raise myself; you are there and hence I could succeed.
A: Yes, with a calm and regular effort, you are sure to succeed.
22.10.1935
*
Q: Sri Aurobindo has written in a letter: “Consciousness is a reality inherent in existence.” What does existence mean? Sat? Or material existence?
SRI AUROBINDO: Existence is existence — there is no need to put in adjectives.
22.10.1935
*
Q: What obscurity! Everything goes wrong. But what is the use of shrinking? There must be an inner change; failing that, a calm, an aspiration.
A: Yes, exactly. You must constantly aspire for the inner change; you must will that the obscure physical mind gets enlightened; you must await with calm the result of this aspiration and will.
11.10.1935
*
I once wrote to Sri Aurobindo that I wished to get replies from him just as I was getting from the Mother. He wrote:
SRI AUROBINDO: Mother’s writing is equivalent to mine. There is no difference.
16.10.1935
*
Q: It looks my vital and physical will never resolve to turn towards thee.
A: That, however, is what ought to be.
Q: I have tried for long but nothing succeeds.
A: You must try again till it succeeds.
26.10.1935
A few letters answered by Sri Aurobindo
Q: How were the Sastras written? By whom? Did yogis write them from their imagination? How did they calculate the several lakhs of years of the Kaliyuga, the Satyayuga to follow and so on.
A: I don’t know that it was any yogi who made that calculation.
Q: After how many years do you expect the reign of Satyayuga on earth?
A: I don’t bother my head about it.
Q: Do you think there was ever a Satyayuga upon earth?
A: Perhaps — or upon some earth.
Q: Is it desirable, Mother, that I write all these?
A: It is not very necessary.
28.10.1935
*
Q: When can faith manifest in the vital and the physical?
A: When they are converted, that is when they turn towards the Divine.
25.10.1935
*
Q: Is your action always in the subconscient?
A: Not necessarily; that depends upon the receptivity of each.
25.10.1935
*
Q: My consciousness is always in the vital and the physical, rarely on the mental domain, never in the psychic.
A: The picture is a little sombre, but there is some truth in what you say.
25.10.1935
*
Q: When can the mind, vital and physical turn towards thee?
A: Tomorrow, even today, if they take the resolution.
26.10.1935
*
Q: You said that the picture is a little sombre; does it mean I have not expressed well, that what I said is not clear?
A: No, I mean to say that you are a little pessimistic.
26.10.1935
*
Q: How to come out of this gross inertia?
A: There is only one way, to concentrate on the psychic.
31.10.1935
*
What you call “affection” is only a movement of vital attraction having no deeper basis in the psychic. And when the vital sees that it is not going to get what it desires, it is no more interested in the undertaking.
1.11.1935
*
To open to me, you must have great sincerity in the aspiration for it to be effective.
16.12.1935
*
At present your aspiration is only in a part of your mind and that is why it is not effective enough. To be effective it must come from the quiet depths of the heart.
17.12.1935
*
The heart of which I speak is not the surface heart; it is the seat of deep sentiments. It is true there was a time when you were in contact with it and at that time you felt the love and the aspiration that are always present in it. It is not the love that has dried up; it is your consciousness that has moved to the surface.
Go within yourself and light up there the sacred flame.
18.12.1935
*
My help is always with you; you must learn to receive it and utilise it.
19.12.1935
*
Q: My nature looks like becoming more and more complex, less sincere. Why is it so?
A: As the mind develops, the simple and pure sincerity of the child disappears. One must replace it by a sincerity more conscious, more spiritual — the psychic sincerity.
21.12.1935
*
Patience is one of the most necessary conditions for spiritual life. One must learn to wait in order to receive.
23.12.1935
*
One can always rise again with a will to do it.
28.12.1935
*
Yes, for some months, with some short and rare exceptions, your consciousness is established in a most material and half-conscient domain. It is that which prevents you from becoming aware of my love and help which are always with you.
30.12.1935
*
Q: Would you tell me how my consciousness got shifted to the most material and subconscient domain?
A: It is not shifted, it is there in a most natural way as that of most human beings. It is when the consciousness rises above the material plane that it becomes exceptional.
2.1.1936
*
My dear child; be assured of my help and my force; they always accompany you on the path which leads to your soul. With my Blessings.
10.1.1936
*
My dear child, it is within yourself that you ought to find the peace, the silence and the solitude; and in that solitude you will become conscious of my presence. My Blessings are with you.
11.1.1936
*
Q: O my Mother, where art thou?
A: Always in the depths of your heart.
11.1.1936
*
Q: How can I recover thee, thy presence?
A: Yes, if you let burn in you the fire of aspiration.
14.1.1936
*
It is by throwing in the fire all one’s difficulties, all desires, all imperfections that one keeps it burning. Morning and evening when you come to see me you should pray in your heart, “Keep the fire burning”, and offer to me all these things like combustibles. My blessings are with you, dear child.
15.1.1936
*
Q: Sweet Mother, I offer all my imperfections, desires and difficulties; pray accept them. I surrender all to thee.
A: My dear child, I accept your offering and use it to light in you the flame of progress.
16.1.1936
*
Q: I think I need to retire into some solitude so that the flame could burn more intensely.
A: It is in activity that the fire ought to burn in order that it may rectify all movements.
Q: Keep the fire burning, Mother, I offer to thee all my movements.
A: As long as you aspire to keep the fire burning, I shall watch so that it does not get extinguished at all.
17.1.1936
*
Q: When shall I get the solitude in which I may find thee? Where is the peace and silence by which I can get detached?
A: This solitude is to be found within yourself.
21.1.1936
*
Q: Light up the fire, O Mother, light up the fire so that it may burn out all that is false.
A: My Blessings are like a flame in your heart.
22.1.1936
*
Q: It looks the flame is extinct. Thy Blessings are indeed always there but I am blind to receive them.
A: Certainly, if you constantly do things I do not want, how can you remain open and how can the flame burn?
23.1.1936
*
Be according to your heart and your aspiration; but take care to see that your vital does not react with dissatisfaction and revolt.
It is not for you to light the flame. As I have told you, I light it always; you have only open yourself to receive it and maintain it with your good will.
24.1.1936
*
Q: How to get rid of this attachment?
A: Do not attach too much importance to it, it will pass by itself if your eyes are fixed on the Divine Consciousness you want to attain.
26.1.1936
*
Q: All desires, attachments, impurities are to be thrown in the fire like fuel.
A: Yes, it is good that way. One must repeat this movement constantly. My help and blessings are with you.
27.1.1936
*
I am always there before you, open your eyes and you will see.
27.1.1936
*
A moment of true good will on the part of the vital and all will become very much easy.
29.1.1936
*
It is impossible to mix with someone without at least an exchange of influence taking place.
30.1.1936
*
To cut off brusquely a relation and to want to react too violently against attachment, with a mental will that is not fully supported by the vital consent, always brings grievous reaction. One must leave it to time to do its work.
31.1.1936
*
Yes, you can stop going there. But you must not again change your mind tomorrow for all these incertitudes weaken the will.
4.2.1936
*
In all effort that you make to progress, you can always be assured of my help and blessings.
6.2.1936
*
Keep to your resolution with calm and all the difficulties will disappear.
8.2.1936
*
Your subconscient identifies itself particularly with that of the persons you mix with and that is why they have so much influence over you. The only remedy is to increase your consciousness and turn it more and more towards the Divine.
12.2.1936
*
Q: Is it a fact that there is a period when the good parts of the being recede and only the lower ones remain on the surface making one feel fallen, obscure and forgetful of good experiences?
A: There are people in whom such a thing takes place, but it is not inevitable and certainly not desirable.
18.2.1936
*
You are right, my dear child, those who are not happy here cannot be happy anywhere.
7.3.1936
*
Q: When will I regain thy presence? I cry from my heart.
A: Do not torment yourself, it will surely come back.
7.3.1936
*
It is perhaps wise not to give such advices because people do not listen to them.
*
Q: What attitude should I have when I come to you?
A: When you come to me, you must be peaceful and open.
*
Q: How to detach myself from the melancholy that comes from inside?
A: Not to attach importance to it.
12.3.1936
*
Q: Is suffering inevitable in yoga?
A: Surely, suffering is not indispensable, not even necessary. It is in fact ignorance which makes one suffer.
*
Yes, this yoga is built upon peace and joy, not on suffering.
12.3.1936
*
Ignorance always lacks humility. The more the mind is ignorant, more it judges and more it revolts.
13.3.1936
*
Q: You did not find in me the love and calm you had hoped for?
A: I believe truly that there is still much to be done so that you become truly calm and quiet; but I do not say that you have not made progress towards this realisation.
23.3.1936
*
At the core of all revolts by people who revolt, there is a fall in obscurity and falsehood.
24.3.1936
*
Q: I saw you in dream embracing me. Was it an imagination?
A: In spirit I always hold you in my arms like a little child, to help you and protect you.
25.3.1936
*
Q: When will you hold me actually in thy arms, so that I may rest wholly outside foreign influence?
A: I do not think you expect me to hold you in my arms physically. If I were to hold all my children in my arms (to begin with the 140 in the Ashram), truly my body would have to be much larger than it is!
However, to an awakened consciousness my presence is absolutely concrete.
26.3.1936
*
to be continued…
