In the spiritual path, and also in our ordinary life, there are two questions, related to each other, which often arise. The first is-
Question: Why do we do something wrong, almost compulsively, even when we fully recognize it as a mistake?
The other question which naturally follows is-
Question: Does one have the power to say ‘no’, to refuse, even when it appears that circumstances are moving towards something inevitably?
Here is the Mother’s talk to the children of the Ashram, where she answers both questions. She goes on to affirm that one can even decide whether to die or not, in a given situation.
The Influence of the Lower Nature
This is exactly what happens! It is the lower nature, the instincts of the subconscient which govern you and make you do things you should not do. And so it is a choice between your will and accepting submission.
One has the Power to Decide
There is always a moment when one can decide. It goes to the point where as I said there is even a moment when one can decide to be ill or not to be ill. It even goes so far that a moment comes when one can decide to die or not to die.
But for that one must have an extremely awakened consciousness because this speck is infinitesimal in time and like the hundredth part of a second, and because before it one can do nothing and after it one can do nothing; but at that moment one can. And if one is absolutely awake, one can, at that moment, take the decision.
Choice between Weak Submission and a Controlling Will
But for ordinary things, as for example, giving way before an impulse or refusing it, it is not a space, not even the space of a second; one has plenty of time before one, one certainly has several minutes.
And it is a choice between weak submission and a controlling will. And if the will is clear, if it is based on truth, if truly it obeys the truth and is clear, it always has the power to refuse the wrong movement. It is an excuse you give yourself when you say, “I could not.” It is not true. It is that truly you have not wanted it in the right way. For there is always the choice between saying “yes” and saying “no”.
But one chooses to be weak and later gives oneself this excuse, saying, “It is not my fault; it was stronger than I.” It is your fault if the thing was stronger than you. Because you are not these impulses, you are a conscious soul and an intelligent will, and your duty is to see that this is what governs you and not the impulses from below.
