Questions and Answers (1955)

19 January 1955

This talk is based upon Bases of Yoga, Chapter 3, "In Difficulty".

Sweet Mother, what is the work of the higher mind?

Work? What exactly do you want to know? What it ought to do? Or what should one...?

Its role.

The role of the higher mind? It ought to receive inspirations from above, ought to transmit them in the form of ideas to the most material mind, so that the latter may execute things, make formations. It serves as an intermediary between the higher power and the active mind. The higher mind is a mind of idea-formation and at the same time... (The noise of the wind drowns Mother's voice for a moment.)

That's its purpose. It can also try to give some understanding of things which are above the more ordinary mentality, to explain, to clarify general ideas and the principles which go beyond them.

Sweet Mother, if the hostile forces were not there, could we not progress?

If the world were not there, it wouldn't be there. "If"! The moment you put an "if", your question no longer makes sense. Things are as they are because they are as they are. They are like that because they have to be like that; otherwise they would not be like that. So one can't say, "If it were not like that, how would it be?" That's a question which makes no sense. It is like that, it is like that.

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If you change anything at all in the world, it becomes another world. If you say, "We are going to take this away from the world"—but if that thing were not there it would be another world, it would not be the world as it is. These are vain speculations, useless, you understand. Things are like that. We must start from what is and go elsewhere. But we can't say, "What exists... if it were otherwise..." What's the good? It is like that.

All that you can say is, "Since the hostile forces are there, what is the best way of using them, of making use of their presence?" That's a question with some sense. But if you tell me, "If they were not there?" Excuse me, they are there! It is beside the point, you see, they are there. We must take them as they are. Therefore, all that you can do is to say, "I would like them not to be there." This indeed is quite justified. But one must work in order to make them useless. Then they will no longer be there. When they become useless, they will disappear from the world.

We must take things as they are at present and go forward to something else which, we hope, will be better than what is. That's all that one can do.

Sweet Mother, here it is written: "The method of the Divine Manifestation is through calm and harmony, not through a catastrophic upheaval."

Yes. So? You don't know that? You ought to know it.

Some people always imagine that catastrophes are the result of the divine Will. There are others—as soon as they receive a force, they are terribly upset; and then they tell you, "Ah, when the Divine acts He upsets one completely." It is absolutely wrong. It is not the Divine who upsets you, it is your own imperfection or else it may be just an attack of one of the forces he speaks about—the adverse forces. But if you have no imperfection you cannot be upset. Still, it is certainly not the Divine who upsets you. It is as in what follows this, where it is said: it is not the Mother who is testing you, it is the outer circumstances.

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It isn't very comfortable this way? (Mother laughs) You seem to be sorry that it isn't the Divine who causes the upsettings.

The upsetting is always caused by a resistance. If there were no resistance there would be no upsetting. So it can be a resistance which is the cause of cataclysms, earthquakes and cyclones, tidal waves, engulfment of continents, volcanic eruptions, etc.

Mother, are the hostile forces conscious of the function assigned to them, that is...

No. He has said in the book that they have assigned it to themselves. He has said in the text: "The hostile forces have a certain self-chosen function," that is, it is they who have decided to do this.

But what do you want to ask? Why have they been given these functions?

No, I asked whether the hostile forces were conscious of the function assigned to them. Because that would mean that the hostile forces help in the spiritual accomplishment.

There is nothing that finally does not help. If they did it deliberately, they would no longer be hostile forces, they would be collaborators. For you must take care of one thing, you must not speak of "hostile forces" when thinking of forces which are hostile to us. These forces are not hostile to human beings, to their quietude or happiness, they are hostile to the divine Work.

And usually I have heard many people speaking of "hostile forces"—for instance, "the hostile forces of illness which attack me". This is too personal a point of view, it may not be the result of hostile forces; you call them hostile because they attack you. But in fact, when one speaks of hostile forces it means forces hostile to the divine Work or the divine Will. So, if they

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collaborated with this Work, they would no longer be hostile, you see. That's quite peremptorily logical.

Therefore, one can't say that it is any kind of work for the progress of humanity or even for the progress of the universe. But there is nothing, not even the most hostile things, which can't be used for the divine Work. It depends on how it is taken. But it must be said that in their relation with human beings they take a very wicked pleasure in testing them. For example, if you are not extremely strong and extremely sincere, and you tell yourself, "Oh, I am sure of my faith"—this for instance among many other things—immediately something happens which is going to try to shake your faith completely. This is one... I suppose that's their diversion, their amusement.

How many times, you know, when someone boasts... it may be very childishly... but when someone boasts about something: "Oh, I am sure of that, I shall never make that mistake", immediately I see a hostile formation passing there, like that, and it enters by the little hole made by the boasting. It enters within, like that, and then penetrates, and so prepares everything for you to do exactly what you didn't want to. But this is an amusement, it is certainly not to help you to progress. (Mother laughs) But if you know how to take it, it does help you to progress. You say, "Good, another time I won't boast."

And as these forces are very conscious on the mental and vital plane, one doesn't even need to pronounce the words. If the thought... for example, if you have worked well to correct something, either a bad habit or a material weakness, anything, you have worked hard to correct this thing, and as you have worked well you have succeeded to a certain extent. Then, if simply mentally you state that you have succeeded, the next minute it begins again. It is... you see, you must not even think, it is not a question of saying, the question is simply of thinking: "Why, it was like that before, and now it is like this. Ah, it is fine!" Finished. The next minute it begins again.

And this is certain, because there are witnesses all around

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you who are notoriously malicious, and this amuses them terrifically. Sometimes I actually even hear them laughing when someone says something frankly. I hear a little laugh like that. Oh, it amuses them very much. And the next minute or the next day, crash! It is undone.

How can we get rid of these witnesses?

Ah! From the practical point of view, you must be in a state of inner silence, with a mental activity exclusively occupied with forming the thing you want to do, the progress you want to accomplish, that is to say, the mental construction you need for your work. And your capacity for observation—it is infinitely preferable, I could say absolutely indispensable, to use it to observe your field of action, the processes you employ for your action, the results obtained, the principle you can arrive at from the experience, the knowledge you can obtain, indeed, all these things... but not to turn back on yourself and look at yourself acting. It is this movement of making oneself the object of observation which is dangerous. And this always causes unpleasantness, sometimes a very serious one. Well, most people pass their time looking at themselves, at what they are doing, how they are living, and this makes them very... what is called in English self-conscious, that is, instead of sincerely being in what they are doing and exclusively in what they are doing, they look at themselves acting and appreciate or belittle themselves, according to their particular nature. Some people look at themselves acting with great complacency and an extreme satisfaction and consider themselves truly very remarkable. Others, on the contrary, have the critical mind and pass their time criticising themselves all the while. Well, neither is better than the other. They are equally bad. The best thing is not to be occupied with oneself. If one has a work to do, the best is to see to that work and naturally the best way of doing it. This of course is always good. But not to—whether one does it well or not—to look at

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oneself doing it and appreciate oneself; that is useless.

To discover how to do the work and what is the best way of doing it is very useful. But to look at oneself doing it and admire or belittle oneself, that's not only useless but disastrous.

Mother, what does "a well-developed psychic being" mean exactly?

Oh, what does it mean: a well-developed psychic being? But I have explained this to you at full length. Wasn't it last week or was it the week before? Why, yes, I said how psychic beings develop slowly from the first divine spark to the formation of a completely constituted being, absolutely conscious and independent. So when we speak of a well-developed being, a well-developed psychic, we speak of a psychic being that has nearly reached the maximum point of its formation.

Then, after having developed, how can it have any imperfections?

What imperfections?

As you said the other day, didn't you, if someone has difficulties it means a mediocre being.

But excuse me! Don't mix up the psychic being with the outer being. The psychic being may be perfect and the outer being may be idiotic. Don't confuse the two. They have nothing to do... unfortunately they have nothing to do with each other, most of the time. For the outer being is not at all conscious of the psychic being; but to the extent that it is conscious it reflects the perfection of this psychic.

If you want to speak of the circumstances, not of the character, why would a psychic being not have difficulties in the world? If the world were entirely psychic, I would understand. But it

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isn't. It is just the very opposite, and I think the more psychic one is, usually, the more difficulties he has. Only, one is armed to face the difficulties. But the more psychic one is, the more is he in contradiction with the present state of the world. So when one is in opposition with something, the result is difficulties. And I have noticed that most often those who have many difficulties are those who are in a more or less close contact with their psychic being. If you want to speak about outer circumstances—I am not speaking of the character, that's quite different, but of outer circumstances—the people who have to struggle most and would have most reason to suffer are those who have a very developed psychic being.

First, the development of the psychic being has a double result which is concomitant. That is, with the development of the psychic being, the sensitivity of the being grows. And with the growth of sensitivity there is also the growth of the capacity for suffering; but there is the counterpart, that is, to the extent to which one is in relation with the psychic being, one faces the circumstances of life in an altogether different way and with a kind of inner freedom which makes one capable of withdrawing from a circumstance and not feeling the shock in the ordinary way. You can face the difficulty or outer things with calm, peace, and a sufficient inner knowledge not to be troubled. So, on one side you are more sensitive and on the other you have more strength to deal with the sensitivity.

No urgent question?

What is an urgent question? Who can tell me?

A question whose answer is urgent.

Ah, I would have said that it is a question... if one didn't ask it today he couldn't sleep tonight. (Laughter)

That indeed is the only question that's truly urgent. There we are. So there isn't any, is there? You are all going to sleep very well! (Laughter)

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It can be a question... if one didn't ask it one couldn't make any progress today.

Yes, that's true. But are you conscious of the question which will make you progress? If you are already conscious of this, it is surely something. It is half the progress made already. Are there any questions like that? Someone ripe for progress? Good, then it will be for next time.

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