Changes

<div style="color: #000000;">Fundamentally, whatever be the path one follows—whether the path of surrender, consecration, knowledge—if one wants it to be perfect, it is always equally difficult, and there is but one way, one only, I know of only one: that is perfect sincerity, but perfect sincerity! </div></span>(The Mother, 12 May 1954)<ref>http://incarnateword.in/cwm/06/12-may-1954#p34</ref><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000;"><div style="color: #000000;">If you want to be peaceful, happy, always satisfied, to have perfect equality of soul, you must tell yourself, "Things are as they should be," and if you are religious you should tell yourself, "They are as they should be because they are the expression of the divine Will" </div>(The Mother, 22 February 1956)<ref>http://incarnateword.in/cwm/08/22-february-1956#p17</ref><div style="color: #000000;"><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 the divine Will in the world", then for this instrument to be perfect, it must be cultivated, educated, trained. It must not be left like a shapeless piece of stone. When you want to build with a stone you chisel it; when you want to 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 to make a beautiful instrument for the Divine, you must cultivate it, sharpen it, refine it, complete what is missing, perfect what is there. </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000;">(The Mother, 13 May 1953)</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #0066cc;"><ref><u>http://incarnateword.in/cwm/05/13-may-1953#p18</u></ref></span>

<div style="color: #000000;">To perfect oneselfIf you want to be peaceful, one must first become conscious of oneself. I am surehappy, for instancealways satisfied, that the following situation has arisen many times in your life: someone asks you suddenly, "Why to have you done that?" Well, the spontaneous reply is, "I don't know." If someone asks you, "What are you thinking perfect equality of?" You replysoul, "I don't know." "Why are you tired?"—"I don't know.Why are you happy?"—"I don't know"must tell yourself, and so on. I can take indeed fifty people and ask them suddenly, without preparation, "Why have you done that?" and if they Things are not inwardly "awake", as they will all answershould be, "I don't know." (Of course I am not speaking here of those who have practised a discipline of self-knowledge and of following up their movements to the extreme limits; these people can, naturally, collect themselves, concentrate and give the right answer, but only after a little while.) You will see that it is like that if you look well at your whole day. You say something and you don't know why you say it—is only after the words are out of your mouth that religious you notice that this was not quite what you wanted to say. For instanceshould tell yourself, you go to see someone, you prepare beforehand the words you "They are going to speak, but once you are in front of the person in question, you say nothing or it is other words which come from your mouth. Are you able to say to what extent the atmosphere of the other person has influenced you and stopped you from saying what you had prepared? How many people can say that? They do not even observe that the person was in such or such a state and that it was as they should be because of this that they could not tell him what they had prepared. Of course, there are very obvious instances when you find people in such a bad mood that you can ask nothing of them. I am not speaking of these. I am speaking the expression of the clear perception of reciprocal influences: what acts and reacts on your nature; it is this one does not have. For example, one becomes suddenly uneasy or happy, but how many people can say, divine Will"It is this"? And it is difficult to know, it is not at all easy. One must be quite "awake"; one must be constantly in a very attentive state of observation. </div>(The Mother, 13 January 195122 February 1956)</span><ref><u>http://incarnateword.in/cwm/0408/1322-januaryfebruary-19511956#p22p17</uref></refdiv>

<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 the divine Will in the world", then for this instrument to be perfect, it must be cultivated, educated, trained. It must not be left like a shapeless piece of stone. When you want to build with a stone you chisel it; when you want to 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 to make a beautiful instrument for the Divine, you must cultivate it, sharpen it, refine it, complete what is missing, perfect what is there. (The Mother, 13 May 1953) <ref><u>http://incarnateword.in/cwm/05/13-may-1953#p18</u></ref></span> <span style="color: #000000;">To perfect oneself, one must first become conscious of oneself. I am sure, for instance, that the following situation has arisen many times in your life: someone asks you suddenly, "Why have you done that?" Well, the spontaneous reply is, "I don't know." If someone asks you, "What are you thinking of?" You reply, "I don't know." "Why are you tired?"—"I don't know.Why are you happy?"—"I don't know", and so on. I can take indeed fifty people and ask them suddenly, without preparation, "Why have you done that?" and if they are not inwardly "awake", they will all answer, "I don't know." (Of course I am not speaking here of those who have practised a discipline of self-knowledge and of following up their movements to the extreme limits; these people can, naturally, collect themselves, concentrate and give the right answer, but only after a little while.) You will see that it is like that if you look well at your whole day. You say something and you don't know why you say it—is only after the words are out of your mouth that you notice that this was not quite what you wanted to say. For instance, you go to see someone, you prepare beforehand the words you are going to speak, but once you are in front of the person in question, you say nothing or it is other words which come from your mouth. Are you able to say to what extent the atmosphere of the other person has influenced you and stopped you from saying what you had prepared? How many people can say that? They do not even observe that the person was in such or such a state and that it was because of this that they could not tell him what they had prepared. Of course, there are very obvious instances when you find people in such a bad mood that you can ask nothing of them. I am not speaking of these. I am speaking of the clear perception of reciprocal influences: what acts and reacts on your nature; it is this one does not have. For example, one becomes suddenly uneasy or happy, but how many people can say, "It is this"? And it is difficult to know, it is not at all easy. One must be quite "awake"; one must be constantly in a very attentive state of observation. (The Mother, 13 January 1951) <ref><u>http://incarnateword.in/cwm/04/13-january-1951#p22</u></ref></span>

<span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000;">But we can attain to the highest without blotting ourselves out from the cosmic extension. Brahman preserves always Its two terms of liberty within and of formation without, of expression and of freedom from the expression. We also, being That, can attain to the same divine self-possession. The harmony of the two tendencies is the condition of all life that aims at being really divine. Liberty pursued by exclusion of the thing exceeded leads along the path of negation to the refusal of that which God has accepted. Activity pursued by absorption in the act and the energy leads to an inferior affirmation and the denial of the Highest. But what God combines and synthetises, wherefore should man insist on divorcing? To be perfect as He is perfect is the condition of His integral attainment.</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #0066cc;"><ref><u>http://incarnateword.in/cwsa/21/the-destiny-of-the-individual#p18</u></ref></span>

<div style="color: #000000;">But if you remain in that consciousness and look from there, then you begin to understand something of the truth. And this consciousness has to be so total, that even if things come directly against you, even the physical movement of someone coming to beat you (you must not allow him to kill you, no; you have perhaps to do what is necessary not to get killed), but if you are yourself in this perfect consciousness and have no personal reaction, well, I give you the guarantee the other cannot kill you. He will not be able to, even if he tries. He will not be able to beat you, even if he tries. Only, you must not have a single violent or wrong vibration, you understand? Even if there is just a little false vibration, that opens the door and the thing enters and all goes wrong. You must be fully conscious, have the full knowledge, the perfect mastery over everything, the clear vision of the Truth—and perfect peace. (The Mother, 20 May 1953)<ref>http://incarnateword.in/cwm/05/20-may-1953#p54</ref></div><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000;">

<span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000;">It is only in the supreme Consciousness that you can attain the perfect expression of yourself. (The Mother, 29 February 1956) <ref><u>http://incarnateword.in/cwm/08/29-february-1956#p24</u></ref></span> <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000;">… if you are perfect in your self-giving and absolutely sincere, you are sure to attain the spiritual goal. (The Mother, 1 August 1956) <ref><u>http://incarnateword.in/cwm/08/1-august-1956#p4</u></ref></span>

<span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000;">… </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000;">sincerity is progressive, and as the being progresses and develops, as the universe unfolds in the being, sincerity too must go on perfecting itself endlessly. (The Mother, 19 December 1956) <ref><u>http://incarnateword.in/cwm/08/19-december-1956#p25</u></ref> </span>