Sri Aurobindo Center of Los Angeles

Words are not good and useful unless through a special grace they put you into contact with the Thing, but in themselves they have no value.
In fact, the ideal condition – which has already been partially realised by some people – is to transmit the essential idea and even something that is higher than the idea: the state – the state of consciousness, of knowledge, of perception – directly through the vibration. When you think, the mental substance vibrates in a certain way in accordance with the form your consciousness gives to your thought, and it is this vibration which should be perceived by the other mind if it is well attuned.
Indeed, words serve only to draw the attention of the other consciousness or the other centre of consciousness, so that it may be attentive to the vibration and receive it; but if it is not attentive and doesn’t have the capacity to receive in comparative silence, you may pour out miles of words without making yourself understood in the least. And there comes a time when the brain, which is very active in emanating certain vibrations, can only receive vibrations which are clear and precise, otherwise it is a kind of vague mixture of something confused, imprecise, which gives the impression of a cloudy, woolly mass and doesn’t evoke any idea. So one speaks, the sound is clearly heard, but it conveys nothing – it is not a question of sound, it is a matter of precision in the vibrations.
If you can emanate your thought in a very precise way, if it is something living and conscious emanating from your consciousness and going to meet the other consciousness, if, so to speak, you know what you want to say, then it arrives with the same precision, it awakens the corresponding vibration and with the corresponding vibration comes the corresponding thought or idea or state of consciousness, and you understand each other; but if what is emanated is woolly, imprecise, if you do not know very well what you want to say, if you yourself are trying to understand what you want to say, and if, on the other hand, the attention of the hearer is not alert enough or he is busy and active somewhere else, well then, you may talk to each other for hours, you will not understand each other at all!
And in fact this is what happens most often. When you are able to see in the consciousness of others the result of what you have tried to communicate, it always gives you the feeling of…you know what distorting mirrors are? Have you never seen distorting mirrors? Mirrors which make you look taller or fatter, which enlarge one part and reduce another, you are faced with a grotesque caricature of yourself – well, this is exactly what happens: in the other person’s consciousness you have an altogether grotesque caricature of what you have said. And people imagine that they have understood each other because they have heard the sound of words, but they haven’t communicated.
So, if you want to exercise the least effect on the mental substance, the first thing is to learn how to think clearly, and not a verbal thought which depends on words but a thought which can dispense with words, which can be understood in itself without words, which corresponds to a fact, the fact of a state of consciousness or a fact of knowledge. Just try to think without words, you will see where you stand.
Have you never tried it? Well then, try.
You have an absolutely clear and precise understanding of what you want to communicate to others – vibrates in a special way, it has the power to give a form to the mental substance; and then, afterwards, as a concession to human habits you organise a certain number of words around it to try – there, much lower down – to give a verbal form to the vibration of consciousness. But the verbal form is entirely secondary. It is a kind of covering, a rather crude one, for the power of thought.

What provides the words?

Ah, no! Think clearly, I don’t understand you. It is coming like that, like whirls of cottonwool, and it makes no sense to me.

I see, the word comes out before the thought is formed.

Exactly!
The illustration of this power of thinking is what used to be called the gift of tongues. And in fact this phenomenon did take place and can still do so. You think – that is to say, what I call thinking – quite independently of words, with the clear vision of things and the power to communicate this vision, this phenomenon of consciousness which can be transmitted; now, you are with a large number of people or with a few people, who speak different languages and are used to thinking only in one particular language, for they have been brought up like that; but you project the vibration of your vision, of your understanding, of your experience of things. To attract the attention of the audience you pronounce some words – any language at all, the one most familiar to you, that’s of no importance – but your vision and your emanation are precise enough to be transmitted directly to the brain of the others, and in their brain to be automatically translated into their own language. So, outwardly, you are speaking in French or in English, but each one understands in his own language. People think this is a legend\is not a legend. And it is quite understandable, it is something almost elementary when one goes into the region which I call the region of thought. I am not speaking of supramental things, mind you; it is not a supramental power, it is simply the true realm of thought. That is, you begin to think.
And if you had an audience which also thinks, the phenomenon would take place automatically; only there are very few people who really think. But when they do it powerfully enough, it breaks down the obstacle in the altogether superficial and down-to-earth perception, it rises up like this (gesture showing a curve), it goes up into a higher region of perception, and then, in each one, it falls back into the domain of his own language. And each one says with all the sincerity of his experience, “Oh! This person is speaking this language”, and another says, “Excuse me, he is speaking that one!” and the third one says, “No, no! He is speaking that other one….” And in fact each one is telling the truth; he probably does not speak any of them except the one he normally uses, or one or two others.…But, it’s that, it does this (same gesture) and then falls back…like radio-waves.