But it is done - Chapter-4

Chapter 4

Perhaps the most decisive point which the Mother has ex-1 plained in her conversation with Satprem on 14th March 1970 is concerned with the accomplishment by the Mother of the task that Sri Aurobindo had given to her. Let us study these important portions of the conversation that we find in Vol. 11 of the Mother's Agenda:

... And the action of this Consciousness ... (how shall I put it?), it almost pitilessly shows the extent to which the entire mental construction is false — everything, even apparently spontaneous reactions, all of it is the result of an extremely complex mental construction.

But this Consciousness is pitiless.

We are born in that, and we find it so natural to feel ac­cording to that, react according to that, organize every­thing according to that, and the result is ... that the Truth passes you by.

It's in the very organization of the body.

So then, the Action seems to impose itself with an ex­traordinary power, and in a manner that appears (appears to us) pitiless (Mother strikes her fist into Matter), so we may learn our lesson.

(long silence)

I remembered the time when Sri Aurobindo was here.... You see, the inner part of the being used to enter into a consciousness that felt and saw things according to the higher consciousness — they were quite different; then, when Sri Aurobindo fell ill, in fact, when there were all those things, first that accident (he broke his leg)¹ ... then the body, the BODY used to say constantly, "Those are dreams, those are dreams, it's not for us; for us bodies, this is how it is...." (gesture underground) It was fright­ful.... Then all that left. It left completely after so many years—all those years of effort—it left: the body itself would feel the divine Presence, and its impression was that ... everything necessarily had to change. So then, these last few days, that formation which had left (a terrestrial formation, of all mankind, which means that those who have the vision or perception of, or even just the aspiration to, that higher Truth, when they come back into the [material] Fact, they are in front of this dread­fully painful thing, this perpetual negation by all circum­stances), that formation, from which the body had com­pletely freed itself, came back. It came back, but ... when it came back, when the body saw it, it saw it AS ONE SEES A FALSEHOOD. And I understood how much it had changed, because when it saw the formation, its impres-

1. On November 24, 1938.

sion ... it looked at it with a smile and the impression: ah, an old formation now devoid of truth. It was an ex­traordinary experience: that thing, its time is over. Its time is over. And this Pressure of the Consciousness is a pressure for things as they were—so miserable and so petty and so obscure and so ... apparently inescapable at the same time—all of it was ... (Mother gestures above her shoulder) behind, like an antiquated past. So then, I really saw—saw, understood—that the work of this Consciousness (which is PITILESS, it's not concerned whether it's difficult or not, probably not even much con­cerned about apparent damage) is for the normal state to cease to be this thing which is so heavy, so obscure, so ugly—so low—and for the dawn to come ... you know, something dawning on the horizon: a new Consciousness. That something truer and more luminous.

What Sri Aurobindo says here about diseases is just the point: the power of habit, of all constructions, of what appears "inescapable" and "irrevocable" in diseases. With all that, experiences seem to multiply in order to show ... in order for one to learn that it's simply a ques­tion of attitude—the attitude of going beyond ... beyond this mental prison humanity has locked itself in, and of ... breathing up above.

It's the BODY'S experience. Before, those who had inner experiences would say, "Yes, up above, that's the way it is, but here ..." Now the "but here" will soon cease to be. This tremendous change is what's being conquered, so physical life may be ruled by the higher consciousness and not by the mental world. It's the change of author­ity.... It's difficult. It's hard. It's painful. There is some damage done, naturally, but... But truly, one can see—one can see. And that's the REAL CHANGE, that's what will

enable the new Consciousness to express itself. And the body is learning, it's learning its lesson—all bodies, all bodies.

(silence)

That was the old division made by the mind: "Above, things are very fine, you may have all experiences and everything is luminous and marvelous; here, nothing do­ing." And the impression that when one is born, one is born again into the "hopeless world." That explains, by the way, why all those who did not foresee the possibil­ity of things being otherwise had said, "Better get out of here, and then ..." All that has become so clear! But this change, the fact that it's NO LONGER inescapable, that is the great Victory: it's NO LONGER inescapable. You feel—feel and see, and the body itself has experi­enced—the possibility that soon, here too, things will be truer.

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

(silence)

Naturally, for things to be truly established, it's going to take time. That's the battle going on. From every side, on every plane, there's an onslaught of things coming to say outwardly, "Nothing has changed"—but it's not true. It's not true, the body knows it's not true. And now it knows, it knows in what sense.

What Sri Aurobindo wrote, in fact in those Aphorisms I see right now, is so prophetic! It was so much the vision of the True Thing! So prophetic!

(silence)

Now I see, I see how his departure and his work so ... so immense, you know, and constant in this subtle physical, how much, how much it has helped! How much he has (Mother gestures as if kneading Matter) ... how much he has helped prepare things, change the structure of the physical.

All the experiences others had had of making contact with the higher worlds, used to leave the physical here as it is. (How should I put it?...) From the very begin­ning of existence up to Sri Aurobindo's departure, I lived in the awareness that one may rise, one may know, one may have all experiences (and one did have them), but when one came back into this body ... it was those for­mid-able old laws of the mind that ruled everything. So then, all these years have been years spent preparing and preparing—freeing oneself and preparing—and these last few days, it was ... ah! the body PHYSICALLY noting that things had changed.

It has to be worked out, as they say, realized in every detail, but the change IS DONE—the change is done. Which means that the material conditions, which were elaborated by the mind, FIXED by it (Mother clenches her fist tight), and which appeared so inescapable, to such a point that those who had a living experience of the higher worlds thought one had to flee this world, abandon this material world if one really wanted to live in the Truth (that's the cause of all those theories and be­liefs), now things are no longer like that. Now things are no longer like that. The physical is CAPABLE of receiv­ing the higher Light, the Truth, the true Consciousness, and of man-i-fest-ing it.

It's not easy, it calls for endurance and will, but a day will come when it will be quite natural. It's only just the open door—that's all, now we have to go on.

(silence)

Naturally, what was established hangs on tight and de­fends itself desperately. That's the cause of this whole trouble (swarming gesture in the earth atmosphere)—but it has lost the battle. It's over. It's over.

(silence)

It has taken this Consciousness¹ ... a little more than a year to win this Victory. Naturally, as yet it's visible only to those who have the inner vision, but ... it's done.

(long silence)

That was the work Sri Aurobindo had given me, that was it. Now I understand.

But it's as if from every side—every side—those mental forces, mental powers were rising in protest, violent in their protest, so as to impose their old laws: "But things have always been this way!..." But it's over. They won't always be this way, that's all.

(long silence)

Something of this battle was going on in this body these last few days.... It's really very interesting.... From outside, coming from outside, there was an effort to give

1. The "superman consciousness" which came on January 1, 1969.

the body experiences so as to force it to note for itself, "No, what has always been always will be; you may try, but it's an illusion." Then something would come, a nice little disorganization in the body, and it would respond with its attitude: a peace like (immutable gesture): "As You will, Lord, as You will...."—Everything disappeared as in a flash! And it happened several times (at least a dozen times in a day). Then—then the body begins to feel, "There you are!..." It has that joy, that joy of ... the lived Marvel.

Things are not as they were, NO LONGER as they were—things are no longer as they were.

We have to struggle on, we need patience, courage, will, trust—but things are no longer "just the way they are." It's the old thing trying to hang on tight—hideous! Hideous. But ... it's not like that anymore. It's not like that anymore.

There.

(silence)

This too: how far, how far will the body be able to go? There too, it's... PERFECTLY peaceful and happy: it will be as You will.

(long silence)

All the rest looks so old, so old, like something ... that belongs to a dead past—which is trying to come back to life, but it can't anymore.

And all, all circumstances are as catastrophic as they can be: troubles, complications, difficulties, everything, just everything goes at it relentlessly like that, like wild

beasts, but ... it's over. The body KNOWS that it's over. It may take centuries, but it's over. To disappear, it may take centuries, but it's over now.

This wholly concrete and absolute realization that one could have only when going out of Matter (Mother brings a finger down), it's sure, sure and certain that we will have it RIGHT HERE.

(Mother looks at Satprem for a long time, then takes his hands)

It's the fourteenth month since the Consciousness came—fourteenth month: twice seven.

(silence)

Is today the 14th?

Yes, the 14th.

So it's interesting.

How he has worked since he left, oh!... All the time, all the time....

(silence)

It looks ... it looks like a miracle in the body. The disap­pearance of this formation really looks miraculous. And everything becomes clear. We'll see.

(long silence)

Things have moved relatively fast.

(silence)

Good ...

Does it mean that all the human consciousnesses that have a little faith now have the possibility of emerging from this mental hypnosis?

Yes, yes, exactly. Exactly. Exactly.'

The 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 think that this, this appearance (Mother points to her body) is ... to the ordinary consciousness it seems to be the most important thing — it's obviously the last thing that will change. And to the ordinary conscious­ness, it seems to be the last thing that will change be­cause its the most important: that will be the surest sign. But it's not that at all!... It's not that at all.

The important thing is this change in the CONSCIOUS­NESS—which has taken place. All the rest is a conse­quence. And here, in this material world, it appears the most important to us because it's ... everything is upside down. I don't know how to explain.

For us, when this [the body] is able to visibly be some-

1. Ibid .,Vol. 11, pp. 99-105.

thing different from what it is, we'll say, "Ah, now the thing is done."—That's not true: the thing IS DONE. This [the body] is a secondary consequence. ¹"

***

A momentous stage was reached. An irreversible stage was reached. The whole work, the real work of Sri Aurobindo and the Mother, was to open up the consciousness of the cells by fixing the supramental consciousness in the body-consciousness. This work was done; the rest was a secondary consequence. As the Mother said: '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... The physical is CAPABLE of receiving the Superior Light, the Truth, the true consciousness and to ma-ni-fest it.' Again, as the Mother said: '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.... and everything—everything, all circumstances are as catastrophic as they can be: problems, complications, dif­ficulties, everything—everything is dead set against it like that, ferocious beasts, but ...it is over. To disappear, it might take cen­turies, but it is over.^'

The Mother said it might take centuries to 'work out' in all its details; Sri Aurobindo had said that it would take at least three hundred years. But the supramental consciousness imparts to the evolutionary movement an unimaginable acceleration to the process of transformation. It does not stop anywhere, it moves on

1. Ibid., p.174.

as rapidly as possible towards the point where the transformation would be instantaneous.

The onward journey of the Mother was towards the total transformation of the body, so that even the residue of the old would undergo the change. In this process, the Mother will make many new discoveries, she will pass through a hell of resistances of the old world,—even after building up in her body, a new body of the awakened cells where there is no 'life' and 'death' but ' overlife' . A perilous journey it was"—and the reader may, in order to follow this journey, peruse Volumes 11, 12 and 13 of the Mother's Agenda.