Changes

<div style="color: #000000;">All those who have been able to create something beautiful or useful have always been persons who have known how to discipline themselves.(The Mother, 23 June 1934)<ref>http://incarnateword.in/cwm/16/23-june-1934#p3</ref> </div>

<span div style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000;">The man of genius may use anything at all and make something beautiful because he has genius; but give this genius a perfect instrument and he will make something wonderful. Take a great musician; well, even with a wretched piano and missing notes, he will produce something beautiful; but give him a good piano, well-tuned, and he will do something still more beautiful. The consciousness is the same in either case but for expression it needs a good instrument—a body with mental, vital, psychic and physical capacities. (The Mother, 23 June 193415 January 1951)</span><ref>http://incarnateword.in/cwm/1604/2315-junejanuary-19341951#p3p11</ref> </div>

<div style="color: #000000;">The man of genius may use anything at all and make something beautiful because he has genius; but give If you said to yourself, my children, "We want to be as perfect instruments as possible to express the divine Will in the world", then for this genius a instrument to be perfect instrument and he will make something wonderful, it must be cultivated, educated, trained. Take It must not be left like a great musician; well, even shapeless piece of stone. When you want to build with a wretched piano and missing notes, he will produce something beautifulstone you chisel it; but give him when you want to make a formless block into a good pianobeautiful diamond, well-tunedyou chisel it. Well, and he will do something still more beautiful. The consciousness it is the same in either case but thing. When with your brain and body you want to make a beautiful instrument for expression the Divine, you must cultivate it needs a good instrument—a body with mental, vitalsharpen it, refine it, complete what is missing, perfect what is there. (The Mother, psychic and physical capacities13 May 1953) <ref>http://incarnateword.in/cwm/05/13-may-1953#p18</ref> </div>

<span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000;">(The MotherThere must be order and harmony in work. Even what is apparently the most insignificant thing must be done with perfect perfection, with a sense of cleanliness, beauty, 15 January 1951)</span>harmony and order. <ref>http://incarnateword.in/cwm/0414/15progress-and-perfection-januaryin-1951work#p11p26</ref> </span>

<div span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000;">If you said to yourself, my children, "We want to be as perfect instruments as possible to express For the divine Will in work simply aspire for the world", then for this instrument Force to be perfectuse you, it must be cultivated, educated, trained. It must not be left like a shapeless piece of stone. When you want to build put yourself inwardly in relation with a stone you chisel the Mother when doing it; when you want to and make a formless block into a beautiful diamond, you chisel it. Well, it is the same thing. When with your brain and body you want aim to make a beautiful be the instrument for the Divine, you must cultivate it, sharpen it, refine it, complete what is missing, perfect what is thereexpression of beauty without regard to personal fame or the praise and blame of others. <ref>http://incarnateword.in/cwsa/31/mental-development-and-sadhana#p18</ref> </divspan>

<span div style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000;">(The MotherBeautiful conduct—not politeness which is an outer thing, however valuable,—but beauty founded upon a spiritual realisation of unity and harmony projected into life, 13 May 1953)</span>is certainly part of the perfect perfection. <ref>http://incarnateword.in/cwmcwsa/0531/13imperfections-and-mayperiods-1953of-arrest#p18p12</ref> </div>

<span div style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000;">There must be order and To think constantly of the harmony in work. Even what is apparently of the most insignificant thing must be done with perfect perfectionbody, with a sense of cleanliness, the beautyof the movements, harmony of not doing anything that is ungraceful and orderawkward.</span>You can obtain a rhythm of movement and gesture which is very exceptional. (The Mother, 17 July 1957) <ref>http://incarnateword.in/cwm/1409/progress-and-perfection17-injuly-work1957#p26p11</ref> </div>

<span div style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000;">For the work simply aspire for the Force to One can always try little experiments. I have said that one must use a torch, a strong light; then one must take a round within one's being. If one is very attentive, one can very easily find these ugly corners. Suppose youhave a beautiful experience, put yourself inwardly that suddenly in relation answer to your aspiration a great light comes; you feel all flooded with joy, force, light, beauty, and have the Mother impression that you are on the point of being transfigured... and then, it passes away—it always passes away, doesn't it? especially at the beginning—suddenly, it stops. Then you tell yourself, when doing you are not vigilant, "There, it came and it has gone! Poor me! It came and make has gone, it just gave me a taste of the thing and then let me fall." Well, that's foolish. What you should tell yourself is, "Look, I was not able to keep it, and why was I not able to keep it ?" So, you take your aim torch and go on a round within yourself trying to be find a very close relation between the change of consciousness and the movements accompanying the cessation of the instrument for experience. And if you are very, very attentive, and make your round very scrupulously, you will find that suddenly some part of the expression vital or some part of beauty without regard to personal fame the mind or of the praise body, something has not kept up, in this sense that mentally, instead of being immobile and blame attentive, something has begun to ask, "Wait a minute, what is this experience? What does it mean?", begun to try to find an explanation (what it calls an "understanding"). Or maybe in the vital something has begun to enjoy the experience: "How pleasant it is, how I would like it to grow, how good if it were constant, how...." Or something in the physical has said, "Oh! It is a bit hard to endure that, how long am I going to be able to keep it?" It is perhaps not as obvious as all this, but it is a wee bit hidden like this, somewhere. You will always find one of these three things or othersanalogous. Then, it is there the lantern is needed: where is the weak point? where is the egoism? where is the desire? where is that old dirt we do not want any longer? where is that thing which turns back upon itself instead of giving itself, opening itself, losing itself? which turns back upon itself, tries to take advantage of what has happened, wants to appropriate to itself the fruit of the experience? Or rather which is too weak, too hard, too rigid to be able to follow the movement?... It is that, you are now on the track, you begin precisely to put the light you have just acquired upon it; it is that you must do, focus the light upon it, turn it in such a way that the thing cannot resist it.(The Mother, 26 April 1951) <ref>http://incarnateword.in/cwsacwm/3104/mental26-development-andapril-sadhana1951#p18p29</ref> </div>

<div style="color: #000000;">Beautiful conduct—not politeness which One may seek within oneself, one may remember, may observe; one must notice what is going on, one must pay attention, that's all. Sometimes, when one sees a generous act, hears of something exceptional, when one witnesses heroism or generosity or greatness of soul, meets someone who shows a special talent or acts in an outer thingexceptional and beautiful way, however valuablethere is a kind of enthusiasm or admiration or gratitude which suddenly awakens in the being and opens the door to a state,—but beauty founded upon a spiritual realisation new state of unity and harmony projected into lifeconsciousness, a light, a warmth, a joy one did not know before. That too is certainly part a way of catching the perfect perfectionguiding thread. There are a thousand ways, one has only to be awake and to watch. (The Mother, 26 December 1956) <ref>http://incarnateword.in/cwm/08/26-december-1956#p23</ref> </div>

<span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000;">You must have a </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000;">strong body and strong nerves</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000;">. You must have a strong basis of equanimity in your external being. If you have this basis, you can contain a world of emotion and yet not have to scream it out. This does not mean that you cannot express your emotion, but you can express it in a beautiful harmonious way. To weep or scream or </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000;">dance about is always a proof of weakness, either of the vital or the mental or the physical nature; for on all these levels the activity is for self-satisfaction. One who dances and jumps and screams has the feeling that he is somehow very unusual in his excitement; and his vital nature takes great pleasure in that. (The Mother, 14 April 1929) <ref>http://incarnateword.in/cwsacwm/3103/imperfections14-and-periods-ofapril-arrest1929#p12p24</ref> </span>

<div span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000;">To think constantly of You carry with you, around you, in you, the harmony of atmosphere created by your actions, and if what you do is beautiful, good and harmonious, your atmosphere is beautiful, good and harmonious; on the bodyother hand, if you live in a sordid selfishness, unscrupulous self-interest, of the beauty of the movementsruthless bad will, of not doing anything that is ungraceful what you will breathe every moment of your life and awkwardthat means misery, constant uneasiness; it means ugliness that despairs of its own ugliness. You can obtain a rhythm of movement and gesture which is very exceptional<ref>http://incarnateword.in/cwm/03/conjugate-verses#p106</ref> </divspan>

<span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000;">When the surroundings, circumstances, atmosphere, the way of living and above all the inner attitude are altogether of a low kind, vulgar, gross, egoistic, sordid, love is reluctant to come, that is, it always hesitates to manifest itself and generally does not stay long. A home of beauty must be given for Beauty to stay. I am not speaking of external things—a real house, real furniture and all that—I am speaking of an inner attitude, of something within which is beautiful, noble, harmonious, unselfish. There Love has a chance to come and stay. But when, as soon as it tries to manifest, it is immediately mixed with such low and ugly things, it does not remain, it goes away. This is what Sri Aurobindo says: it is "reluctant to be born"—it could be said that it immediately regrets being born. Men always complain that love does not stay with them but it is entirely their fault. They give this love such a sordid life, mixed with a heap of horrors and such vulgarity, things so base, so selfish, so dirty, that the poor thing cannot stay. If they don't succeed in killing it altogether, they make it utterly sick. So the only thing it can do is to take flight. People always complain that love is impermanent and passing. To tell the truth, they should be very grateful that it manifested in them in spite of the sordidness of the house they gave it.(The MotheMother, 17 July 195712 May 1951)</span><ref>http://incarnateword.in/cwm/0904/1712-julymay-19571951#p11p4</ref></span>

<div style="color: #000000;">One can always try little experiments. I have said that one must use a torchAnd this vital, a strong light; then one must take a round within one's being. If one is very attentive, one can very easily find these ugly corners. Suppose if you have place it in a beautiful experiencebad environment, that suddenly in answer to your aspiration a great light comes; you feel all flooded it will imitate the bad environment and do bad things with joy, force, light, beauty, violence and have the impression that to an extreme degree. If you are on place it in the point presence of being transfigured... and thensomething wonderfully beautiful, it passes away—it always passes awaygenerous, doesn't it? especially at the beginning—suddenly, it stops. Then you tell yourselfgreat, when you are not vigilantnoble, "Theredivine, it came and it has gone! Poor me! It came and has gone, it just gave me a taste of the thing and then let me fall." Well, can be carried away with that's foolish. What you should tell yourself is, "Look, I was not able to keep italso, forget everything else and why was I not able to keep it?" So, you take your torch and go on a round within yourself trying to find a very close relation between the change of consciousness and the movements accompanying the cessation of the experiencegive itself wholly. And if you are very, very attentive, and make your round very scrupulously, you It will find that suddenly some give itself more completely than any other part of the vital or some part of the mind or of the bodybeing, something has for it does not kept up, in this sense that mentally, instead of being immobile calculate. It follows its passion and attentive, something enthusiasm. When it has begun to askdesires, "Wait a minuteits desires are violent, what is this experience? What does it mean?"arbitrary, begun to try to find an explanation (what and it calls an "understanding"). Or maybe in the vital something has begun to enjoy does not at all take into account the experience: "How pleasant it is, how I would like it to grow, how good if or bad of others; it were constant, how...." Or something in doesn't care the physical has said, "Oh! It is a least bit hard . But when it gives itself to endure thatsomething beautiful, how long am I going to be able to keep it?" It is perhaps does not as obvious as all thiscalculate either, but it is a wee bit hidden like this, somewhere. You will always find one of these three things or others analogous. Then, give itself entirely without knowing whether it is there the lantern is needed: where is the weak point? where is the egoism? where is the desire? where is that old dirt we will do not want any longer? where is that thing which turns back upon itself instead of giving itself, opening itself, losing itself? which turns back upon itself, tries good or harm to take advantage of what has happened, wants to appropriate to itself the fruit of the experience? Or rather which is too weak, too hard, too rigid to be able to follow the movement?..it. It is thata very precious instrument. (The Mother, you are now on the track, you begin precisely to put the light you have just acquired upon it; it is that you must do, focus the light upon it, turn it 9 September 1953) <ref>http://incarnateword.in such a way that the thing cannot resist it./cwm/05/9-september-1953#p22</ref></div>

<span div style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000;">One believes he has his own way of thinking. Not at all. It depends totally upon the people one speaks with or the books he has read or on the mood he is in. It depends also on whether you have a good or bad digestion, it depends on whether you are shut up in a room without proper ventilation or whether you are in the open air; it depends on whether you have a beautiful landscape before you; it depends on whether there is sunshine or drain! You are not aware of it, but you think all kinds of things, completely different according to a heap of things which have nothing to do with you! (The Mother, 26 April 195128 July 1954)</span><ref>http://incarnateword.in/cwm/0406/2628-apriljuly-19511954#p29p51</ref> </div>

<div style="color: #000000;">One may seek within oneself, one may remember, may observe; one must notice what is going on, one must pay attention, that's all. Sometimes, when one sees a generous act, hears of something exceptional, when one witnesses heroism or generosity or greatness of soul, meets someone who shows a special talent or acts in an exceptional and beautiful way, there is a kind of enthusiasm or admiration or gratitude which suddenly awakens in the being and opens the door to a state, a new state of consciousness, a light, a warmth, a joy one did not know before. That too is a way of catching the guiding thread. There are a thousand ways, one has only to be awake and to watch.</div> <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000;">(The Mother, 26 December 1956)</span><ref>http://incarnateword.in/cwm/08/26-december-1956#p23</ref> <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000;">You must have a </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000;">strong body and strong nerves</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000;">. You must have a strong basis of equanimity in your external being. If you have this basis, you can contain a world of emotion and yet not have to scream it out. This does not mean that you cannot express your emotion, but you can express it in a beautiful harmonious way. To weep or scream or </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000;">dance about is always a proof of weakness, either of the vital or the mental or the physical nature; for on all these levels the activity is for self-satisfaction. One who dances and jumps and screams has the feeling that he is somehow very unusual in his excitement; and his vital nature takes great pleasure in that.</span> <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000;">(The Mother, 14 April 1929)</span><ref>http://incarnateword.in/cwm/03/14-april-1929#p24</ref> <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000;">You carry with you, around you, in you, the atmosphere created by your actions, and if what you do is beautiful, good and harmonious, your atmosphere is beautiful, good and harmonious; on the other hand, if you live in a sordid selfishness, unscrupulous self-interest, ruthless bad will, that is what you will breathe every moment of your life and that means misery, constant uneasiness; it means ugliness that despairs of its own ugliness.</span><ref>http://incarnateword.in/cwm/03/conjugate-verses#p106</ref> <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000;">When the surroundings, circumstances, atmosphere, the way of living and above all the inner attitude are altogether of a low kind, vulgar, gross, egoistic, sordid, love is reluctant to come, that is, it always hesitates to manifest itself and generally does not stay long. A home of beauty must be given for Beauty to stay. I am not speaking of external things—a real house, real furniture and all that—I am speaking of an inner attitude, of something within which is beautiful, noble, harmonious, unselfish. There Love has a chance to come and stay. But when, as soon as it tries to manifest, it is immediately mixed with such low and ugly things, it does not remain, it goes away. This is what Sri Aurobindo says: it is "reluctant to be born"—it could be said that it immediately regrets being born. Men always complain that love does not stay with them but it is entirely their fault. They give this love such a sordid life, mixed with a heap of horrors and such vulgarity, things so base, so selfish, so dirty, that the poor thing cannot stay. If they don't succeed in killing it altogether, they make it utterly sick. So the only thing it can do is to take flight. People always complain that love is impermanent and passing. To tell the truth, they should be very grateful that it manifested in them in spite of the sordidness of the house they gave it.(The Mother, 12 May 1951)</span> <ref>http://incarnateword.in/cwm/04/12-may-1951#p4</ref> <div style="color: #000000;">And this vital, if you place it in a bad environment, it will imitate the bad environment and do bad things with violence and to an extreme degree. If you place it in the presence of something wonderfully beautiful, generous, great, noble, divine, it can be carried away with that also, forget everything else and give itself wholly. It will give itself more completely than any other part of the being, for it does not calculate. It follows its passion and enthusiasm. When it has desires, its desires are violent, arbitrary, and it does not at all take into account the good or bad of others; it doesn't care the least bit. But when it gives itself to something beautiful, it does not calculate either, it will give itself entirely without knowing whether it will do good or harm to it. It is a very precious instrument.</div> <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000;">(The Mother, 9 September 1953)<ref>http://incarnateword.in/cwm/05/9-september-1953#p22</ref> <div style="color: #000000;">One believes he has his own way of thinking. Not at all. It depends totally upon the people one speaks with or the books he has read or on the mood he is in. It depends also on whether you have a good or bad digestion, it depends on whether you are shut up in a room without proper ventilation or whether you are in the open air; it depends on whether you have a beautiful landscape before you; it depends on whether there is sunshine or drain! You are not aware of it, but you think all kinds of things, completely different according to a heap of things which have nothing to do with you!</div> <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000;">(The Mother, 28 July 1954)<ref>http://incarnateword.in/cwm/06/28-july-1954#p51</ref> <div style="color: #000000;">And on the trust he has in what happens to him, on the absence of the mind's critical sense, and a simplicity of heart, and a youthful and active energy―it depends on all that―on a kind of inner vital generosity: one must not be too egoistic, one must not be too miserly, nor too practical, too utilitarian―indeed there are all sorts of things one should not be... like children. And then, one must have a lively power of imagination, for―I seem to be telling you stupid things, but it is quite true―there is a world in which you are the supreme maker of forms: that is your own particular vital world. You are the supreme fashioner and you can make a marvel of your world if you know how to use it. If you have an artistic or poetic consciousness, if you love harmony, beauty, you will build there something marvellous which will tend to spring up into the material manifestation.</div> <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000;">(The Mother, 18 April 1956)</span><ref>http://incarnateword.in/cwm/08/18-april-1956#p55</ref></div>