Sri Aurobindo and Mother - This was that, the work that Sri Aurobindo had given to me

6

'This was that, the work that

Sri Aurobindo had given to me'

And we come now to the decisive point which Mother has explained in her conversation with Satprem on l4th March 1970.

14.3.1970

.... And the action of this Consciousness... (how to say?) it is almost merciless in showing to what extent the whole mental construction is false—everything, even the reactions which look spontaneous, all that is the result of an extremely complex mental construction.

But it is merciless.

One is born into it and it seems so natural to feel according to it, to react according to it, to organise everything according to it, that... it leads you aside from the truth.

It is in the very organisation of the body.

And then, the Action seems to impose itself with an extraordinary power and what appears (what appears to us) without mercy (Mother hangs her fist on matter), in order that we learn the lesson.

(long silence)

I remembered the time when Sri Aurobindo was here.... Indeed, the inner part of the being entered into a consciousness which felt, saw things according to the superior consciousness: totally different; and then, exactly when Sri Aurobindo had fallen sick, and when there were all these things, firstly this accident (he broke his leg¹)..., then the body, the BODY was saying all the time: These are dreams, these are dreams, these are not for us; for us, the bodies, it is like that...' (gesture underground). It was dreadful.... And all that had gone. It had completely gone after so many

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¹24 November 1938.

years—so many years of effort—, it had gone, and the body itself felt the divine Presence, and it had the impression that... everything would necessarily have to change. And then, these days, this formation which had gone (which is a terrestrial formation, of the entire humanity, such that those who have the vision, the perception, or even only the aspiration towards this superior Truth, when they come back to the [material] Fact, are faced with this dreadfully painful thing of the constant denial of all the circumstances), that [formation], the body had totally liberated itself from it—and it came back. It came back, but... when it came, when it saw it, it saw it AS ONE SEES A FALSEHOOD. And I understood to what extent it had changed because, when it saw it, it had the impression... it looked at it with a smile and the impression, ah! that it was a formation which had no truth any more. And it has been an extraordinary experience: that the time of that is over. Its tune is over. And this Pressure of the Consciousness is a pressure in order that the things as they were—so miserable and so small and so obscure and so... inescapable at the same time, in appearance—, all that, was... (Mother makes a gesture above her shoulder) is behind like a past which is out of date. Then really, I saw—I saw, I understood—that the working of this Consciousness (which is MERCILESS, it does not care if it is difficult or not difficult, probably it does not even care much about apparent damage), it is in order that the normal state ceases to be so heavy, so obscure and so ugly—so low—and that there would be dawn... isn't it, something which rises on the horizon: a new Consciousness. Something truer and more luminous.

What Sri Aurobindo says here,—regarding illnesses,—is exactly that: the power of habit and of all the constructions and what seems 'inevitable' and 'irrevocable' in the illnesses; all that, it is as if the experiences multiply to show that... for us to learn that it is simply a question of attitude—of attitude—to transcend... to transcend this mental prison in which humanity locks itself up and to... breathe up there.

And this is the experience of THE BODY. Previously, those who had inner experiences used to say: 'Yes, up there it is like that, but here....' Now, the 'but here', soon will not be any more. We are making the conquest of that, that formidable change: that the physical life must be directed by the superior consciousness and not by the mental world. It is the change of authority.... It is difficult. It is laborious. It is painful. Naturally, there will be some

damage, but.... But really, one can see—one can see. And that's the REAL CHANGE. That's what will allow the new Consciousness to express itself. And the body learns—it learns its lesson—all the bodies, all the bodies.

(silence)

It was the old division made by the mental: 'Above, it is all very well, you can have all experiences and everything is luminous and wonderful; here, nothing doing.' And the impression that when one is born, one still is born in the 'world where there is nothing to do.' Moreover, it explains why all those who did not foresee the possibility that it could be otherwise have said: 'The best is to get out of it, and then...' All that has become so clear! But this very change, the fact that it is not unavoidable ANY LONGER, that's the great Victory: that it is not unavoidable ANY LONGER. One feels—one feels, one sees, and the body itself has had the experience—that, soon, here too, it can become truer.

There is... there is really something which has changed in the world.

(silence)

Obviously, it will take time for it to be truly established. There, it is the battle. From all sides, on every plane, there is an assault of things from the outside which come to say: 'Nothing has changed'—but it is not true, it is not true, the body knows that it is not true. And now it knows, it knows in which sense.

And what Sri Aurobindo has written, precisely in these Aphorisms, that I am looking into at the moment, it is so prophetic! It was so much the vision of the True Thing. So prophetic!

(silence)

And now I see, I see how his departure and his work so... so immense, indeed, so constant, in this subtle physical, how much, how much it has helped! How much he has (Mother makes a gesture of triturating matter), how much he has helped to prepare things, to change the structure of the physical.

All the experiences that others had had, those of entering into contact with superior worlds, they left the physical here as it is.

(How to say?...) From the beginning of existence until Sri Aurobindo's departure, I was in the consciousness that one can climb up, one can know, one can have all the experiences (in fact, one had them), but when one came back in the body..., it was these old for-mi-da-ble mental laws which governed everything. And then, all these years have been years to prepare—to prepare—to free oneself and to prepare—, and these last days, it was... ah! the PHYSICAL confirmation, made by the body, that it had changed.

It must be 'worked out' as one says, it has to be realised in all details, but the change IS DONE—the change is done.

This is to say that the material conditions which had been elaborated by the mental, FIXED by it (Mother closes her fist tightly), and which appeared so inevitable, to the extent that those who had a living experience of the higher worlds thought that one had to escape from this world, to abandon this material world if one truly wanted to live in the Truth (that is the cause of all those theories and all those beliefs), but now, it is no more like that. Now, it is no more like that. The physical is CAPABLE of receiving the Superior Light, the Truth, the true Consciousness and to ma-ni-fest it.

It is not easy, it requires endurance and will, but the day will come when it will be totally natural. The door has just—just been opened—that's all, now we must go ahead.

(silence)

Naturally, what was established is clinging and desperately defending itself. That's why all this trouble (gesture of swarming in the terrestrial atmosphere)—it has lost the game. It is over. It is over. .

(silence)

It took... a little more than one year for this Consciousness to win this Victory. And yet, naturally, it is visible only to those who have the inner vision, but... but it is done.

(long silence)

This was that, the work that Sri Aurobindo had given to me Now, I understand.

But it is as if from all sides—all sides—, these mental forces, these mental powers, are rising in protest—in violent protest—to impose their old laws: 'But it has always been like that!...' But it is over. It will not always be like that, that's it.

(long silence)

Something of this battle took place in this body these last days.... It is very interesting... There was from outside, coming from outside, an effort to give to this body some experiences in order that it would be forced to see: 'No, what has always been, will always be; you can try, but it is an illusion,' and then, something came, quite a disorganisation in the body, and then the body answered by its attitude: a peace like that (immutable gesture) and its attitude (gesture of open hands): 'as You will, my Lord, as You will...'—like lightning, everything disappears! And it has happened several times (at least ten times in one day). Then—then the body begins to feel: 'That's it!...' It has this joy, this joy of... of the Marvel which has been lived.

It is not like it was, it is NO LONGER like it was—it is not any longer like it was.

Still one must struggle, one must have patience, courage, will, confidence,—but it is no longer 'like that.' It is the old thing which tries to cling—hideous! Hideous. But... it is no longer like that. It is no longer like that.

That's it.

And that too: how far, how far will the body be able to go? That too, it is... PERFECTLY peaceful and happy: as You will.

(long silence)

All the rest seems so old, so old, like something... which belongs to a dead past—trying to resuscitate, but it no longer can.

And everything—everything, all circumstances are as catastrophic as they can be: problems, complications, difficulties, everything—everything is dead set against it like that, like ferocious beasts, but... it is over. The body KNOWS that it is over. It may take centuries, but it is over. To disappear, it might take centuries, but it is over.

This very concrete and absolute realisation that one could only have when one went out of Matter (Mother points one finger

downward), it is sure, it is sure and certain that one will have it HERE ITSELF.

(Mother looks a long time at the disciple, then takes his bands.)

This is the fourteenth month since the Consciousness came The fourteenth month, twice seven.

(silence)

Are we the l4th?

Yes, fourteenth.

Then that's interesting.

How much he has worked since he has left! Oh!... all the time, all the time....

(silence)

It seems... it seems like a miracle in the body. The disappearance of this formation, it seems truly miraculous.

And everything becomes clear.

We shall see.

(long silence)

It has been relatively fast.

(silence)

Well....

Do you mean to say that all the human beings—those with some consciousness—who have a little faith, from now on have the possibility to get out of this mental hypnotism?

Yes,—yes, that's it. That's it.

That's it.¹

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¹ Mother’s Agenda, Vol. 11, 14.3.1970.

Mother reiterated during her conversation with Satprem on 29.4.1970 that the object to be accomplished was the change in the physical consciousness, that the change in the physical appearance was a secondary consequence, and that that would be the last thing to change. She said emphatically that the thing that had to be accomplished was accomplished. In her own words:

... We believe that this, this appearance (Mother refers to her body), this is... this appears to be, for the ordinary consciousness, the most important—it is evidently the last thing that will change. And it appears, for the ordinary consciousness, that it will be the last thing to change, because it is the most important: it will be the surest sign. But it is not that at all!... It is not that at all.

It is this change IN THE CONSCIOUSNESS—which has been produced—, which is the most important thing. All the rest, they are consequences. And here, in this world, this material world, this appears to us to be the most important because it is... it is all upside down. I do not know how to explain.

For us, when this (the body) will be visibly something different from what it is, one will say: 'Ah! now the thing is done'— This is not true: the thing IS DONE. This (the body), is a secondary consequence....¹

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¹Ibid, 29.4.1970.