Latest / Sri Aurobindo Studies / Does Everything That Happens, Happen for the Best?
Transcript
- 0:01Many people believe that once they become adherents of a
- 0:04particular religion or spiritual tradition, they need no longer
- 0:09make an effort. The idea that someone else is
- 0:12taking charge and taking on the burden of one's life is
- 0:16particularly enticing for people.
- 0:19They frequently then accept that whatever happens is for the best
- 0:23and nothing they do or could have done would change that.
- 0:29The mother takes up this question and makes it clear that
- 0:32the individual is not simply a victim of circumstances, but
- 0:36actually has an influence on results by virtue of the
- 0:40attitude of consciousness and standpoint the person is able to
- 0:45take in each circumstance. Scientists in the field of
- 0:49quantum mechanics indicate that the observer influences the
- 0:54results at the atomic level of quantum physics.
- 0:58The same principle holds true in our human existence.
- 1:02The participant observer, however we may choose to frame
- 1:06the role of the individual, has the ability to influence the
- 1:11eventual result. As in quantum mechanics, 1
- 1:16cannot know which possible status actually becomes fixed as
- 1:20the event, but once it is concluded we can identify the
- 1:25result. So also with human events we are
- 1:29able to define after the fact what actually took place.
- 1:34But up to the moment of action, the role of the observer,
- 1:39participant and the force that is active remain fluid and
- 1:43subject to any number of a range of results.
- 1:48The mother observes quote. Is it really the best that
- 1:52always happens? It is clear that all that has
- 1:56happened had to happen. It could not be otherwise by the
- 2:01universal determinism, it had to happen.
- 2:05But we can say so only after it has happened, not before.
- 2:10For the problem of the very best that can happen is an individual
- 2:14problem, whether the individual be a nation or a single human
- 2:18being, and all depends upon the personal attitude.
- 2:24If in the presence of circumstances that are about to
- 2:27take place, you can take the highest possible attitude.
- 2:32That is, if you put your consciousness in contact with
- 2:36the highest consciousness within reach, you can be absolutely
- 2:41sure that in that case it is the best that can happen to you.
- 2:46But as soon as you fall from this consciousness into a lower
- 2:49state, then it is evidently not the best that can happen, for
- 2:55the simple reason that you are not in your very best
- 2:58consciousness. I even go so far as to affirm
- 3:02that in the zone of immediate influence of each one, the right
- 3:06attitude not only has the power to turn every circumstance to
- 3:10advantage, but can change the very circumstance itself.
- 3:15For instance, when a man comes to kill you, if you remain in
- 3:20the ordinary consciousness and get frightened out of your wits,
- 3:24he will most probably succeed in doing what he came for.
- 3:28If you rise a little higher and, though full of fear, call for
- 3:32the Divine help, he may just miss you, doing you a slight
- 3:36injury. If, however, you have the right
- 3:41attitude and the full consciousness of the Divine
- 3:44Presence everywhere around you, He will not be able to lift even
- 3:49a finger against you. End Quote.
- 3:53Reference Srioro Bindu and the Mother, Looking from Within,
- 3:57Chapter 1. Looking at Life and
- 3:59Circumstances, Page 3.