Every word spoken uselessly is a dangerous gossiping.
Every malicious word, every slander is a degradation of the consciousness.
And when this slander is expressed in a vulgar language and gross terms, then that is equivalent to a suicide―the suicide of one’s soul.
The Mother – Words of the Mother – II: CWM, Vol. 14, p. 205
It is bad and harmful and lowers not only the consciousness of those who gossip, but also the general atmosphere of the place.
The Mother – Words of the Mother – II: CWM, Vol. 14, p. 207
To gossip about what somebody is doing or not doing is wrong.
To listen to such gossip is wrong.
To verify if such gossip is true is wrong.
To retaliate in words against a false gossip is wrong.
The whole affair is a very bad way of wasting one’s time and lowering one’s consciousness.
Unless this very nasty habit is eradicated from the atmosphere, never will the Ashram reach its goal of Divine Life.
I wish all would repent…. and take the resolution of stopping this unhealthy activity.
The Mother – Words of the Mother – II: CWM, Vol. 14, pp. 207 – 08
…the Mother’s warning to you against the undesirability of too much talk, loose chat and gossip, social self-dispersion was entirely meant and stands; when you indulge in these things, you throw yourself out into a very small and ignorant consciousness in which your vital defects get free play and this is likely to bring you out of what you have developed in your inner consciousness….
Sri Aurobindo – Letters on Yoga – IV: CWSA, Vol. 31, p. 248
We all know how injurious it is to listen to and repeat slanderous gossip, but it is not enough to abstain from the words, we must also abstain from the thoughts.
The Mother – Words of Long Ago: CWM, Vol. 2, p. 94
It [gossiping] can be and very often is [a hindrance to sadhana]. A gossiping spirit is always an obstacle.
***
The difficulty you experience exists because speech is a function which in the past has worked much more as an expression of the vital in man than of the mental will. Speech breaks out as the expression of the vital and its habits without caring to wait for the control of the mind; the tongue has been spoken of as the unruly member. In your case the difficulty has been increased by the habit of talk about others,—gossip, to which your vital was very partial, so much that it cannot even yet give up the pleasure in it. It is therefore this tendency that must cease in the vital itself. Not to be under the control of the impulse to speech, to be able to do without it as a necessity and to speak only when one sees that it is right to do so and only what one sees to be right to say, is a very necessary part of Yogic self-control.
It is only by perseverance and vigilance and a strong resolution that this can be done, but if the resolution is there, it can be done in a short time by the aid of the Force behind.
***
Truth is far above this false gossip and scandal. Care only for the Divine’s opinion and not for that of men.
Sri Aurobindo – Letters on Yoga – IV: CWSA, Vol. 31, pp. 88 – 89
There is a state in which a simple conversation which obliges you to remain on the level of ordinary life gives you a headache, turns your stomach and, if it continues, may give you a fever. I am speaking of course about the gossip-type of conversations. I believe that apart from a few exceptions, everybody indulges in this exercise and talks of things about which he should keep silent or chatters about other things. It becomes so natural that you are not troubled by it. But if you continue in this way, you hinder your consciousness completely from rising up; you bind yourself with iron chains to the ordinary consciousness and the work in the subconscious is not done or has not even begun. Those who want to rise up have already enough difficulties without looking for encouragements outside.
Naturally, the effort to keep the consciousness at a high level is tiring in the beginning, like the exercises you do to develop your muscles. But you do not give up gymnastics because of that! So mentally also you must do the same thing. You must not allow your mind to stoop low: gossiping degrades you and, if you want to do Yoga, you must abstain from it, that’s all.
The Mother – Questions and Answers: CWM, Vol. 4, pp. 152 – 53
…. Experiences one’s own or others’ if one comes to know of them, should not be talked about or made a matter of gossip. It is only if there can be some spiritual profit to others and even then if they are experiences of the past that one can speak of them.
***
To show what is written about experiences or to speak about one’s experiences to others is always risky. They are much better kept to oneself.
Sri Aurobindo – Letters on Yoga – III: CWSA, Vol. 30, pp. 50 – 51
It is true that the habit of gossip and fault-finding with others does interfere because it brings down the consciousness from a higher to a lower level. But I do not think a retirement such as you propose is the way to cure it. It would only be suspended and the tendency come up again when you resumed free intercourse with others. It is on its field itself that it has to be first observed, then cured by detachment from it and rejection of it when it comes. A partial retirement may sometimes be helpful for concentration,—but not for these things; there the only cure is what I suggest or else the descent of a higher consciousness to replace the present imperfect nature.
Sri Aurobindo – Letters on Yoga – IV: CWSA, Vol. 31, p. 352
