WRITINGS BY THE MOTHER
© Sri Aurobindo Ashram Trust

A story

3 March 1954

There was a French scientist who had written a book in which he narrated an experience he had had in the Jardin des Plantes. [old p. 44]He wanted to know to what extent reason can have an effect over reflexes. I don't remember now--for years I knew his name; I have forgotten it, but still the story remains. He was a well-known scientist and he has written about his experiment in a book. It is often quoted as an example. He was very much interested in knowing to what extent reason, intelligence with clear knowledge, could have an effect upon reflexes, that is, upon movements which come up spontaneously from the subconscious, automatic movements, and he made this experiment: he went to the Jardin des Plantes in Paris where not only plants but animals also are kept. And among these animals there were huge snakes. There was a snake there (I knew it, that snake), which had the reputation of having a very bad nature. That is, it could be made angry very easily. It was a very large snake and was very beautiful; it was black. And the scientist had been told by the keeper that this snake was very aggressive. These snakes are enclosed in huge glass cases, the glass being sufficiently thick to prevent any accident, as you may well imagine. So, he went to the cage of this serpent just when it was hungry (it had not eaten; when they have eaten they sleep). It had not eaten, so it was active. And he stood there in front of the cage, quite close to the glass and began exciting the snake--I don't remember now what he did--until it started getting angry. Then it coiled up and shot out like a released spring against the glass, against the face of that gentleman who was on the other side, and the man--who knew very well that the glass was there and nothing could happen to him--jumped back! And he repeated the experiment several times, and not once could he control his movement of recoil. He recoiled--every time the snake jumped he recoiled! (Laughter)

So he has spoken of his experiment. But he lacked one element of knowledge, for he did not know that the physical movement was accompanied by a considerable vital projection of the nervous force of the snake, and that it was this that affected him. It was because of this. He tried in vain to remain [new p. 45]stiff, to tell [old p. 45]himself, "But after all there is no danger, nothing can happen to me, there is the glass; why do I recoil?" (Laughter) It was that which came and gave him a shock and he jumped back.