February 1, 1969
(Mother first translates into French the following extract
from a letter of Sri Aurobindo:)
"As for immortality, it cannot come if there is attachment to the body, – for it is only by living in the immortal part of oneself which is unidentified with the body and bringing down its consciousness and force into the cells that it can come. I speak of course of yogic means. The scientists now hold that it is (theoretically at least) possible to discover physical means by which death can be overcome, but that would mean only a prolongation of the present consciousness in the present body Unless there is a change of consciousness and change of functionings it would be a very small gain,"
Sri Aurobindo
(Letters on Yoga, 24.1234)
***
(Then Mother listens to a series of questions about death,
asked by pupils of the School.)
The first question: "What should we do in our daily life to halt
the process of death?"
Well, as Sri Aurobindo has just said, the process is, rather than remain wholly attached to the body, to attach ourselves to the Spirit, and to bring the Spirit down into the body’s cells. The process is to detach one’s consciousness from the body and to concentrate it on the deeper life so as to bring this deeper consciousness into the body.
Second question: "If the sense of ‘I-ness’ has identified more
with the mind in life, is it the same sense of ‘I-ness’ that has all
the experiences after death, that is to say, which retains at the
same time the memories of its life? I ask the question with
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regard to the mind, since after death it remains formed a little
longer than the other parts do."
That’s not true. It’s not true that the mind lasts longer.
Read it again.
" … Is it the same sense of ‘I-ness’ that has all the experiences
after death?"
No, not at all.
The psychic consciousness that has identified with the small part of the physical is what comes out of this small physical person. Insofar as that consciousness has fashioned one’s life, it remembers what it has fashioned, and the memory is closely linked with the psychic consciousness in the past events: whenever the psychic consciousness did not participate in the events, no memory is retained. It’s only the psychic consciousness that can continue.
It’s not the mind that retains the memories, that’s quite wrong.
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