Q: Mother, what is the difference between sports and physical education?
A: The Mother: Sports are all the games, competitions, tournaments, etc., all the things based on contests and ending in placing and prizes. Physical education means chiefly the combination of all exercises for the sake of the growth and upkeep of the body.
Naturally, here we have the two together. But it is particularly so because human beings, especially in their young age, still require some excitement in order to make an effort.
Replace the ambition to be first by the will to do the best possible.
Replace the desire for success by the yearning for progress.
Replace the eagerness for fame by the aspiration for perfection.
(The Mother to competitors participating in Sports /Athletics)
Q: Mother, I have seen that I am not able to force my physical body to do a little better than my actual capacity. I would like to know how I can force it. But, Mother, is it good to force one’s body ?
A: The Mother: No. The body is capable of progressing and gradually it can learn to do what it could not do. But its capacity for progress is much slower than the vital desire for progress and the mental will for progress. And if the vital and mental were left as masters of action, they would simply harass the body, destroy its poise and upset its health.
Therefore, one must be patient and follow the rhythm of one’s body; it is more reasonable and knows what it can do and what it cannot. Naturally, there are tamasic bodies and they need some encouragement for progressing. But in everything and in all cases, one must keep one’s balance.
(The Mother, ‘CWM’, Vol. 12, “On Education”, Sri Aurobindo Ashram Trust, Pondicherry)
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