WRITINGS BY THE MOTHER
© Sri Aurobindo Ashram Trust

Inner Knowledge

Sweet Mother,

All the pain I have felt till tonight comes from my reservations with regard to Sweet Mother. Is my diagnosis correct? If so, how can I do away with these reservations without seeming to contradict or embarrass Sweet Mother?

I am going to begin by telling you a very little story. Then I shall answer you.

You must have seen the new clock which is supposed to run for six months. When it was first set going, it ran very fast. Z tried to figure out how to adjust it and found a sort of screw which is used to lengthen or shorten the pendulum. I looked at the clock with my inner sight and told Z, "To make it go slower, you have to shorten the pendulum." He looked at me in bewilderment and explained that in mechanics the longer the pendulum is, the slower the movement. (I knew that very well--but this is not an ordinary pendulum since it works by rotary movement.) I answered, as I always do, "Do as you think best." He lengthened the pendulum and the clock started going even faster. After observing it for a day, he agreed to shorten the pendulum and now the clock is working perfectly all right.

I believe in the superiority of the inner vision over the outer vision and this belief is based not merely on theoretical knowledge but on the thousands of examples I have come across in the course of a life which is already long. Unfortunately I am surrounded by people who, though they are here to practise yoga, are still convinced that "a cat is a cat", as we commonly say in French, and that one can rely only on one's physical eyes [new p. 41]for seeing and observing, on one's physical-mental knowledge for judging and deciding, and that the laws of Nature are laws--in other words, any exception to them is a miracle. This is false.

This is what is at the root of all the misunderstandings and reservations. You already know, and I mention it only to remind you, that an experiment made in a spirit of reserve and doubt is not an experiment, and that outer circumstances will always conspire to justify these doubts, and this for a reason which is very easy to understand: doubt veils the consciousness and the subconscious sincerity, and into the action some small factors creep in which may seem unimportant, but which are just sufficient to alter all the factors of the problem and to bring about the result that one had anticipated by doubting.

I have nothing else to add except this. When the question of distempering X's rooms arose, I looked very carefully several times with the inner eye and I saw this: brush the walls with a metal brush so that whatever is loose falls off and cover the rest with a thick layer of distemper which by its very thickness will be enough to conceal any irregularities. The process was supposed to be simple, rapid and fully satisfactory. I put forth all the necessary force for it to become an effective formation charged with the power of realisation, and I said that the work could proceed, adding in a few words how it was to be done. (This was long ago--the first time it was decided to distemper the walls of X's apartment, perhaps more than a year ago.) My formation was so living, so real, so active, that I made the mistake of not reminding you about it before the work began. I have an unfortunate tendency to believe that the consciousness of those around me is, at least partially and in its limited working, similar to mine. I shall explain. I know that each of you has a very small and limited consciousness compared with mine, but within its limits, I have the illusion that its nature is similar to mine, and that is why there are many things I do not say, because to me they are so obvious that it would be utterly pointless to mention them. It is here that on your side a freedom of movement and speech [new p. 42]arising from an affectionate confidence must come [old p. 42]in: if there is something you are unsure of, you must ask me about it; if you do not very clearly see my intention, you must enquire about it; if you do not grasp my formation in a very precise way, you must ask me to explain it to you. When I do not do so, it is because I think you are receptive enough for the formation to act and fulfil itself without my needing to speak about it, and in fact this often happens--it is only when the mind and vital get in the way, for one reason or another, that the working becomes defective.

Read this carefully, study it, and when you come today I will ask you to read it from the place I have marked with a red cross, for I think it may be useful to everyone there. I shall probably ask you to translate it into English, to make sure that you have fully understood.

May Peace be with you--I bless you.

7 June 1934