In order to increase the suppleness and
comprehensiveness of his mind, one should see not only that he studies many
varied topics, but above all that a single subject is approached in various
ways, so that the child understands in a practical manner that there are many
ways of facing the same intellectual problem, of considering it and solving it.
This will remove all rigidity from his brain and at the same time it will make
his thinking richer and more supple and prepare it for a more complex and
comprehensive synthesis. In this way also the child will be imbued with the
sense of the extreme relativity of mental learning and, little by little, an
aspiration for a truer source of knowledge will awaken in him.
Indeed, as the child grows older and
progresses in his studies, his mind too ripens and becomes more and more
capable of forming general ideas, and with them almost always comes a need for
certitude, for a knowledge that is stable enough to form the basis of a mental
construction which will permit all the diverse and scattered and often
contradictory ideas accumulated in his brain to be organised and put in order.
This ordering is indeed very necessary if one is to avoid chaos in one’s
thoughts. All contradictions can be transformed into complements, but for that
one must discover the higher idea that will have the power to bring them
harmoniously together. It is always good to consider every problem from all
possible standpoints so as to avoid partiality and exclusiveness; but if the
thought is to be active and creative, it must, in every case, be the natural
and logical synthesis of all the points of view adopted. And if you want to
make the totality of your thoughts into a dynamic and constructive force, you
must also take great care as to the choice of the central idea of your mental
synthesis; for upon that will depend the value of this synthesis. The higher
and larger the central idea and the more universal it is, rising above time and
space, the more numerous and the more complex will be the ideas, notions and
thoughts which it will be able to organise and harmonise.
It goes without saying that this work of
organisation cannot be done once and for all. The mind, if it is to keep its
vigour and youth, must progress constantly, revise its notions in the light of
new knowledge, enlarge its frame-work to include fresh notions and constantly reclassify
and reorganise its thoughts, so that each of them may find its true place in
relation to the others and the whole remain harmonious and orderly.
All that has just been said concerns the
speculative mind, the mind that learns. But learning is only one aspect of
mental activity; the other, which is at least equally important, is the
constructive faculty, the capacity to form and thus prepare action. This very
important part of mental activity has rarely been the subject of any special
study or discipline. Only those who want, for some reason, to exercise a strict
control over their mental activities think of observing and disciplining this
faculty of formation; and as soon as they try it, they have to face
difficulties so great that they appear almost insurmountable.
And yet control over this formative activity
of the mind is one of the most important aspects of self-education; one can say
that without it no mental mastery is possible. As far as study is concerned,
all ideas are acceptable and should be included in the synthesis, whose very
function is to become more and more rich and complex; but where action is
concerned, it is just the opposite. The ideas that are accepted for translation
into action should be strictly controlled and only those that agree with the
general trend of the central idea forming the basis of the mental synthesis
should be permitted to express themselves in action. This means that every
thought entering the mental consciousness should be set before the central
idea; if it finds a logical place among the thoughts already grouped, it will
be admitted into the synthesis; if not, it will be rejected so that it can have
no influence on the action. This work of mental purification should be done
very regularly in order to secure a complete control over one’s actions.
For this purpose, it is good to set apart
some time every day when one can quietly go over one’s thoughts and put one’s synthesis
in order. Once the habit is acquired, you can maintain control over your
thoughts even during work and action, allowing only those which are useful for
what you are doing to come to the surface. Particularly, if you have continued
to cultivate the power of concentration and attention, only the thoughts that
are needed will be allowed to enter the active external consciousness and they
then become all the more dynamic and effective. And if, in the intensity of
concentration, it becomes necessary not to think at all, all mental vibration
can be stilled and an almost total silence secured. In this silence one can
gradually open to the higher regions of the mind and learn to record the
inspirations that come from there.
But even before reaching this point, silence
in itself is supremely useful, because in most people who have a somewhat
developed and active mind, the mind is never at rest. During the day, its
activity is kept under a certain control, but at night, during the sleep of the
body, the control of the waking state is almost completely removed and the mind
indulges in activities which are sometimes excessive and often incoherent. This
creates a great stress which leads to fatigue and the diminution of the
intellectual faculties.
The fact is that like all the other parts of
the human being, the mind too needs rest and it will not have this rest unless
we know how to provide it. The art of resting one’s mind is something to be
acquired. Changing one’s mental activity is certainly one way of resting; but
the greatest possible rest is silence. And as far as the mental faculties are
concerned a few minutes passed in the calm of silence are a more effective rest
than hours of sleep.
When one has learned to silence the mind at
will and to concentrate it in receptive silence, then there will be no problem that
cannot be solved, no mental difficulty whose solution cannot be found. When it
is agitated, thought becomes confused and impotent; in an attentive
tranquillity, the light can manifest itself and open up new horizons to man’s
capacity.
-
‘Bulletin‘, August 1951
(concluded)
(CWM Volume 12,
‘On Education’, Sri Aurobindo Ashram
Trust 1978, Published by Sri Aurobindo Ashram, Puducherry)
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