To the Students, Young and Old
There
are, in the history of the earth, moments of transition when things that have
existed for thousands of years must give way to those that are about to
manifest. A special concentration of the world consciousness, one might almost
say, an intensification of its effort, occurs at such times, varying according
to the kind of progress to be made, the quality of the transformation to be
realised. We are at precisely such a turning-point in the world's history. Just
as Nature has already created upon earth a mental being, man, so too there is
now a concentrated activity in this mentality to bring forth a supramental
consciousness and individuality.
Certain beings who, I might say, are in the secret of the gods,
are aware of the importance of this moment in the life of the world, and they
have taken birth on earth to play their part in whatever way they can. A great
luminous consciousness broods over the earth, creating a kind of stir in its
atmosphere. All who are open receive a ripple from this eddy, a ray of this
light and seek to give form to it, each according to his capacity.
We have here the unique privilege of being at the very centre of
this radiating light, at the fount of this force of transformation.
Sri Aurobindo, incarnating the supramental consciousness in a
human body, has not only revealed to us the nature of the path to follow and
the way to follow it in order to reach the goal, but has also by his own
personal realisation given us the example; he has provided us, so to say, with
the proof that the thing can be done and that the time has come to do it.
Consequently, we are not here to repeat what others have done, but
to prepare ourselves for the blossoming of a new consciousness and a new life.
That is why I address myself to you, the students, that is, to all who wish to
learn, to learn always more and always better, so that one day you may be
capable of opening yourselves to the new force and of giving it the possibility
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of manifesting on the physical plane. For
that is our programme and we must not forget it. To understand the true reason
why you are here, you must remember that we want to become instruments that are
as perfect as possible, instruments that express the divine will in the world.
And if the instruments are to be perfect, they must be cultivated, educated,
trained. They must not be left like fallow land or a formless piece of stone. A
diamond reveals all its beauty only when it is artistically cut. It is the same
for you. If you want your physical being to be a perfect instrument for the
manifestation of the supramental consciousness, you must cultivate it, sharpen
it, refine it, give it what it lacks, perfect what it already possesses. That
is why you go to school, my children, whether you are big or small, for one can
learn at any age and so you must go to your classes.
Sometimes, if you are not in a very good mood, you say, “`How
boring it is going to be!” Yes, perhaps the teacher who is taking your class
does not know how to amuse you. He may be a very good teacher, but at the same
time he may not know how to entertain you, for it is not always easy. There are
days when one does not feel like being entertaining. There are days, for him as
for you, when one would like to be elsewhere than in school. But still, you go
to your class. You go because you must, for if you obey all your fancies you
will never have any control over yourselves; your fancies will control you. So
you go to your class, but instead of going there and thinking, “How bored I am
going to be; I am sure it is not going to be interesting”, you should tell
yourselves, “There is not a single minute in life, not one circumstance that is
not an opportunity for progress. So what progress am I going to make today? The
class I am going to now is on a subject that does not interest me. But perhaps
that is because something is lacking in me; perhaps, in my brain, a certain
number of cells are deficient and that is why I cannot find any interest in the
subject. If so, I shall try, I shall listen carefully, concentrate hard and
above all drive out
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of my mind this
aimlessness, this superficial shallowness which makes me feel bored when there
is something I cannot grasp. I am bored because I do not make an effort to
understand, because I do not have this will for progress.” When one does not
progress, one feels bored, everyone, young or old; for we are here on earth to
progress. How tedious life would be without progress! Life is monotonous. Most
often it is not fun. It is far from being beautiful. But if you take it as a
field for progress, then everything changes, everything becomes interesting and
there is no longer any room for boredom. Next time your teacher seems boring to
you, instead of wasting your time doing nothing, try to understand why he bores
you. Then if you have a capacity of observation and if you make an effort to
understand, you will soon see that a kind of miracle has occurred and that you
are no longer feeling bored at all.
This remedy is good in almost every case.
Sometimes, in certain circumstances, everything seems dull, boring, stupid;
this means that you are as boring as the circumstances and it clearly shows
that you are not in a state of progress. It is simply a passing wave of boredom,
and nothing is more contrary to the purpose of existence. At such a moment you
might make an effort and ask yourself, “This boredom shows that I have
something to learn, some progress to make in myself, some inertia to conquer,
some weakness to overcome.” Boredom is a dullness of the consciousness; and if
you seek the cure within yourself, you will see that it immediately dissolves.
Most people, when they feel bored, instead of making an effort to rise one step
higher in their consciousness, come down one step lower; they come down even
lower than they were before and do stupid things, they make themselves vulgar
in the hope of amusing themselves. That is why men intoxicate themselves, spoil
their health, deaden their brains. If they had risen instead of falling, they
would have made use of this opportunity to progress.
In fact, the same thing holds true in all circumstances, when life
gives you a severe blow, one of those blows which men call a
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misfortune. The first thing
they try to do is to forget, as if they did not forget too soon! And in order
to forget, they do all kinds of things. When something is very painful, they
try to distract themselves what they call distracting themselves, that is,
doing stupid things, lowering their consciousness instead of raising it. If
something extremely painful happens to you, never try to deaden yourself; you
must not forget, you must not sink into unconsciousness. Go right to the heart
of the pain and there you will find the light, the truth, the strength and the
joy which are hidden behind this pain. But for that you must be firm and refuse
to let yourself slide.
In this way every event in life, great or small, can be an
opportunity for progress. Even the most insignificant details can lead to
revelations if you know how to profit from them. Whenever you are engaged in
something which does not demand the whole of your attention, use it as an
opportunity to develop your faculty of observation and you will see that you
will make interesting discoveries. To help you to understand what I mean, I
shall give you two examples. They are two brief moments in life which are
insignificant in themselves, but still leave a deep and lasting impression.
The first example takes place in Paris. You have to go out into this immense city; here all is noise,
apparent confusion, bewildering activity. Suddenly you see a woman walking in
front of you; she is like most other women, her dress has nothing striking
about it, but her gait is remarkable, supple, rhythmic, elegant, harmonious. It
catches your attention and you are full of wonder. Then, this body moving along
so gracefully reminds you of all the splendours of ancient Greece and the
unparalleled lesson in beauty which its culture gave to the whole world, and
you live an unforgettable moment all that just because of a woman who knows how
to walk!
The second example is from the other end of the world, from Japan. You have just arrived in this beautiful country for a long stay
and very soon you find out that unless you have at
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least a minimum knowledge of the language, it will be very difficult for
you to get along. So you begin to study Japanese and in order to become
familiar with the language you do not miss a single opportunity to hear people
talking, you listen to them carefully, you try to understand what they are
saying; and then, beside you, in a tram where you have just taken your seat,
there is a small child of four or five years with his mother. The child begins
to talk in a clear and pure voice and listening to him you have the remarkable
experience that he knows spontaneously what you have to learn with so much
effort, and that as far as Japanese is concerned he could be your teacher in
spite of his youth.
In this way life becomes full of wonder and gives you a lesson at
each step. Looked at from this angle, it is truly worth living.
Bulletin, November 1953
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