Yes this is mentioned in one of Her talks of 1957. Let me first give the full passage.
‘Perhaps, when one knows it is a game and plays it for fun, it is amusing. But when one doesn’t know it is a game, it is not amusing. You see, it is only when one is on the other side, on the divine side, that one can see it like that; that is, as long as we are in the ignorance, well, inevitably we suffer from what should amuse and please us. Fundamentally, it comes to this: when one does something deliberately, knowing what one is doing, it is very interesting and may even be very amusing. But when it is something you don’t do deliberately and don’t understand, when it is something imposed on you and endured, it is not pleasant. So the solution, the one which is always given: you must learn, know, do it deliberately. But to tell you my true feeling, I think it would be much better to change the game…. When one is in that state, one can smile, understand and even be amused, but when one sees, when one is conscious of all those who, far from knowing that they are playing, take the game very seriously and find it rather unpleasant, well… I don’t know, one would prefer it to change. That is a purely personal opinion.
I know very well: the moment one crosses over to the other side… instead of being underneath and enduring, when one is above and not only observes but acts oneself, it is so total a reversal that it is difficult to recall the state one was in when carrying all the weight of this inconscience, this ignorance on one’s back, when one was enduring things without knowing why or how or where one was going or why it was like that. One forgets all that. And then one can say: it is an “eternal game in an eternal garden”. But for it to be an amusing game, everybody should be able to play the game knowing the rules of the game; as long as one does not know the rules of the game, it is not pleasant. So the solution you are given is: “But learn the rules of the game!”… That is not within everybody’s reach.
I have the impression, a very powerful impression, that a practical joker came and spoilt the game and made it into something dramatic, and this practical joker is obviously the cause of the division and the ignorance which is the result of this division, and of the suffering which is the result of ignorance. Indeed, in spite of all the spiritual traditions, it is difficult to conceive that this state of division, ignorance and suffering was foreseen at the beginning of creation. In spite of everything, one doesn’t like to think that it could have been foreseen. Indeed, I refuse to believe it. I call it an accidentโa rather terrible accident, but still, you see, it is especially terrible to the human consciousness; for the universal consciousness, it may only be quite a reparable accident. And after all, when it has been set right, we shall even be able to recall it and say, “Ah! it has given us something we wouldn’t have had otherwise.” But we must first wait for it to be put right.
Anyway, I don’t know if there are people who say that it was foreseen and willed, but I tell you it was neither foreseen nor willed, and this is precisely why when it happened, quite unexpectedly, immediately something else sprang forth from the Source, which probably would not have manifested if this accident had not taken place. If Delight had remained Delight, conceived as Delight, and everything had come about in Delight and Union instead of in division, there would never have been any need for the divine Consciousness to plunge into the inconscience as Love. So, when one sees this from very far and from high above, one says, “After all, something has perhaps been gained from it.” But one must see it from a great distance and a great height to be able to say that. Or rather, when it is left far behind, when one has gone beyond this state, entered into Union and Delight, when division and inconscience and suffering have disappeared, then one may very wisely say, “Ah, yes, we have gained an experience we would never have had otherwise.” But the experience must be behind, we must not be right in the midst of it. For, even for someone whoโthis is something I knowโeven for someone who has come out of this state, who lives in the consciousness of Oneness, for whom ignorance is something external, no longer something intimate and painful, even for that person it is impossible to look on the suffering of all those who have not come out of it with a smile of indifference. That seems impossible to me. Therefore, it is really necessary that things in the world should change and the acute state of sickness should disappear, so that we can say, “Ah! yes, we have benefited by it.” It is true that something has been gained, but it is a very costly gain.
That is why, I believe, because of that, so many initiates and sages have been attracted by the solution of the void, of Nirvana, for this is obviously a very radical way of escaping from the consequences of an ignorant manifestation.
Only, the solution of changing this manifestation into a true, truly divine reality is a far superior solution. And this is what we want to attempt now, with a certitude of succeeding one day or another, for, in spite of everything, despite everything, what is true is eternally true, and what is true in essence must necessarily become true in the realisation, one day or another. Sri Aurobindo told us that we had taken the first step on the path and that the time had come to accomplish the work, therefore one has only to set out. That’s all.’
As you can see The Mother is describing the phenomenon of suffering and pain in creation from two standpoints. From the highest and universal standpoints it may all be understandable, especially given certain gains, especially the manifestation of Love. But from the individual point of view especially when one is caught up in this state of ignorance, the pain and the suffering are not something that aught to have happened in a creation impelled in its origin by Delight. That is where She proposes the idea of an accident and a practical joker that spoilt the game.
The meaning of accident here is that something that was not foreseen and yet happened. Did the Creatrix Consciousness knew that the creatures will undergo such suffering as a consequence of the creation. Her answer is No. So how come the accident came about. The accident is the complete plunge of creation into a state of total oblivion. Once the ‘Will’ pushed the creation out of the womb Divine, it went farther and farther away from the origin under the Impulsion. Once the process began it could not be stopped or reversed until it reached its full culmination. This part was obviously foreseen. But the slow emergence, the reversal became hazardous because now the contrary will buried in the Inconscient began to act powerfully creating endless struggle and suffering in the process. This seems to be the unforeseen part, the emergence of creation through a complex process involving countless forms. These forms needed for multiplicity will have to bear the double impact of powerful forces pulling out of them the hidden possibilities of delight and the forces holding it back to maintain stability. It is somewhat like balancing a flight between being pulled down by gravity and defying gravity to keep afloat.
The pain and suffering caused by the creatures could not have been foreseen before creation as then only Delight existed.
The practical joker could be the mind or the mental ego that introduces so much needless drama into the play under the influence of the Inconscient. It disturbs what could have still been a smooth process. But instead it becomes disorderly and chaotic.
The psychic being obviously does not know of suffering. Even here, if one finds the psychic being and identifies with it one is free from suffering except for the physical pain. Though one can rise above it and hence minimise it. So for the jivatma or the central being as it is called before the plunge, it was all very much worth it.
Affectionately,
Alok Da
