Latest / Sri Aurobindo Studies / The Best Way of Widening One's Thought

Transcript

The Best Way of Widening One's Thought · Sri Aurobindo Studies

• 0:01
  If we observe carefully our interactions with others, we may
• 0:06
  note that when another person is describing or explaining
• 0:09
  something, our minds are eager to jump in, express a different
• 0:14
  point of view, or simply remain fixed in our own ideas and
• 0:19
  mindset. In other words, hearing without
• 0:23
  listening. This standpoint keeps us locked
• 0:26
  into a very narrow view of existence, expressing the
• 0:29
  habitual stance of the mental consciousness, which sees things
• 0:33
  in a linear fashion. Generally, there is another way
• 0:38
  which is based on a more global, wider view of reality.
• 0:43
  The mother describes this option in detail.
• 0:46
  By following this method, an individual puts aside for the
• 0:50
  time being, his own viewpoint and the rajasic impulse to
• 0:56
  express it, and puts himself in a receptive mode to gain a
• 1:00
  deeper understanding of the standpoint and view of the other
• 1:04
  individual. At some point, this process
• 1:08
  coalesces into a new synthesis of understanding that
• 1:12
  incorporates the essential truth underlying both positions.
• 1:18
  The mother notes, For instance, you are with someone, this
• 1:24
  person tells you something, you tell him the contrary, as it
• 1:29
  usually happens, simply through a spirit of contradiction, and
• 1:33
  you begin arguing. Naturally, you will never come
• 1:36
  to any point except a quarrel if you are ill natured.
• 1:41
  But instead of doing that, instead of remaining in your own
• 1:45
  ideas or your own words, if you tell yourself, wait a little,
• 1:51
  I'm going to try and see why he said that to me.
• 1:54
  Yes, why did he tell me that? And you concentrate, why, why,
• 2:02
  why? You stand there just like that,
• 2:05
  trying. The other person continues
• 2:09
  speaking, doesn't he? And is very happy too, for you
• 2:13
  don't contradict him any longer. He talks profusely and is sure
• 2:18
  he has convinced you. Then you concentrate more and
• 2:22
  more on what he is saying and with the feeling that gradually
• 2:26
  through his words you are entering his mind.
• 2:30
  When you enter his head, suddenly you enter into his way
• 2:34
  of thinking. And next, just imagine you
• 2:38
  understand why he is speaking to you thus.
• 2:41
  And then, if you have a fairly swift intelligence, and put what
• 2:46
  you have just come to understand alongside what you had known
• 2:50
  before, you have the two ways together, and so can find the
• 2:55
  truth, reconciling both. And here you have truly made
• 2:59
  progress. And this is the best way of
• 3:02
  widening one's thought. If you are beginning an
• 3:06
  argument, keep quiet. Immediately, instantaneously,
• 3:11
  you must be silent. Say nothing at all, and then try
• 3:16
  to see the thing as the other person sees it.
• 3:19
  That won't make you forget your own way of seeing it, not at
• 3:22
  all. But you will be able to put both
• 3:26
  of them together, and you will truly have made progress.
• 3:30
  A real progress. End Quote.
• 3:34
  Reference Sri Aurobindo and the Mother Powers within Chapter 13
• 3:40
  Power of Identification pages one O 5 to one O 6.