We often speak of lower consciousness, higher consciousness etc., our whole theme is based on getting higher consciousness or adhering to the higher self. And most of the time we think that we are well on that path.

When I went through Mothers questions and answers – I am for utter shock -to know that I am nowhere, even, near to that. Mother says – if anybody says that he is thinking of Divine all the time, he is for higher consciousness, he is preparing for higher self-etc.-it only means that he is so unconscious of his self. Not even conscious of him. It is only preoccupation on something which he liked.

I started comparing my other thoughts with what I thought as constant remembrance of Mother. Yes it had all the attributes of preoccupation-as when I visit a city, I want to visit a particular restaurant, when I want to visit a friend, when I want to buy a book which is mostly off the shelves now, when I fall ill and every thought that lingers on seems to be as same as my thought on Mother.

So how to know that it is really a conscious thought of Mother. Mother says,” It is gradually, slowly, with perseverance, first of all with great care and much attention, one becomes conscious, learns to know to remember the Divine and then to become master of oneself to constantly be with Divine.

The following are some of the questions Mother puts before us. If you say that you are conscious -try this little exercise: at the beginning of the day, say: “I won’t speak without thinking of what I say.” You believe, don’t you, that you think all that you say! It is not at all true, you will see that so many times the word you do not want to say is ready to come out, and that you are compelled to make a conscious effort to stop it from coming out.

I have known people who were very scrupulous about not telling lies, but all of a sudden, when together in a group, instead of speaking the truth they would spontaneously tell a lie; they did not have the intention of doing so, they did not think of it a minute before doing it, but it came “like that”.

On comparing our thoughts on Mother with this we can very well see that – in every act, in every resolution-we are not conscious of that unless that makes us to be preoccupied for some reasons.

So before thinking or speaking of higher consciousness- first we have to practice- to be conscious. Mother calls this as “Becoming Conscious”. Unless we are always conscious of Divine around us, or always conscious of the happenings that bars Divine from us -there is no meaning in saying that we are constantly remembering the Divine.

Being conscious of self, happenings and atmosphere around us – is being conscious of our individual self. At present we are not separate individualities. Every moment we are influenced by all kinds of forces, energies, consciousness, movements, vibrations, etc. From moving in a crowd as per the push in the back – to -not able to express what we think, do an act as per our wish, culture, social structure, relationships, -in almost everything we can see, we are much influenced, more than our Divinity inside.