There is another quality which must be cultivated in the child even when it is quite young. It is the feeling of unease, of a lack of moral poise which he has when he does certain things, not because he has been told not to do such things nor because he is afraid of being punished, but spontaneously. For example, a child who hurts a comrade of his by his mischief, if he is in his normal, natural state will feel a discomfort, a sorrow within his being, because what he has done is contrary to his inner truth.
For in spite of all instruction, in spite of all that thought can think of, there is something within that has the feeling of a perfection, of a higher status, of a truth which unfortunately is contradicted by all movements contrary to that truth. If the child is not corrupted because of his environment, because of deplorable examples that surround him, that is to say, if he remains in his normal, spontaneous condition, without anyone telling him anything whatsoever, he will feel a discomfort when he does something which contradicts the truth of his being. And it is just there that is to be based, later on, his effort for progress….
There is only one true guide, the inner guide, who does not pass through the mental consciousness. Naturally, if a child receives a disastrous education, he will try more and more to extinguish in him this small true thing and at times he succeeds so well in doing it that he loses all contact with it and also the power to distinguish good from evil. That is why I insist on that and I say that from the very earliest age children must be taught that there is a reality within – within themselves, within the earth, within the universe and that himself, the earth and the universe exist only as a function of this truth and if it did not exist, he would not last, even the short time he lasts and that everything would dissolve as soon as it is created. And because that is the efficient basis of the universe, naturally it is that which will triumph, and all which contradicts that cannot be as enduring, because it is That, the eternal thing which is at the basis of the universe.
This does not mean naturally that one should give a child philosophical explanations, but one can very well give him the feeling of a kind of inner ease, satisfaction and at times an intense joy when he obeys this little thing very silent which is within him, which will prevent him from doing what is contradictory to it. It is upon an experience of this kind that the teaching should be based. One must give the child the impression that nothing can last unless he has within him this true satisfaction which alone is durable….
To give theories to children serves absolutely no purpose, for as soon as the mind will wake up, he will find a thousand reasons to contradict your theories and he will be right…. If you were an experienced observer, if you could take note of what happens in a being, simply by looking at his eyes!… It is said the eye is the mirror of the soul; it is a popular way of speaking, but if the eyes do not express the psychic, the reason is that it is very much behind, veiled by very many things; look at the eyes of the children with care and you will see a kind of light — people say candid — but so true, so true that looks at the world with wonder. Well, this wonder, it is the wonder of the psychic that sees the truth but does not understand much of the world, for it is too far from there. Children have that, but as they learn, become more intelligent, more educated, that thing fades away and you see in their eyes all kinds of things: thoughts, desires, passions, wickedness, but that kind of a small very pure flame is no more there. And you may be sure that it is the mind that has entered there and the psychic has gone very much behind.
Even in the case of a child who does not possess a sufficiently developed brain to understand, if you simply pass on to him a vibration of protection or affection or solicitude or consolation, you will see that he responds.
The Mother
