Although Sri Aurobindo did not proclaim his own Divinity, it is demanded that the faithful invest him with such divinity

I am not attempting to "Aurobindo-ize" Christianity." Why Darwinists Reject Evolution from One Cosmos by Gagdad Bob Sep 17, 2008.

I think he was influenced by both Christianity and western science -- including the theory of evolution -- and applied them to Indian metaphysics. So when Aurobindo talks about "divinizing matter" or reconciling all the levels of creation, he is really talking like an Orthodox Christian. It's all very Jewish as well. God is a Joke and Bill Maher is a Barbaric Idiot from One Cosmos by Gagdad Bob Sep 22, 2008

Personally, I'm a Westernized Pakistani, who more or less gave up on all religions and religious practices many years ago. I thought it was all superstitious nonsense. However, I have recently been coming around and learning to respect and see the value of traditional ritualism...And sometimes, when I've had experiences of darker dimensions of Reality, I tell you, spontaneously prostrating to photographs of Sri Aurobindo and the Mother has gotten me out of an awful lot of trouble. -- by ned on Tue 05 Aug 2008 Permanent Link

Continuing to operate with all the trappings of traditional religious practices while claiming not to be a religion is a Huge contradiction and IMO has produced a myriad of unresolvable problems in the Integral Yoga community after Sri Aurobinodo's and Mother's passing. -- by Rich on Tue 05 Aug 2008 Permanent Link

there is not a shred of evidence you can offer to support your arguments that they were Gods. The best you can do is to supply texts which can only refer to themselves in endless tautology. by Rich on Sun 24 Aug 2008 Permanent Link

And of course there is Integral Yoga fundamentalism with its claims that its founders are gods or avatars and that similar to the Christian myth make the case for them descending to Earth to take up the suffering and redemption of humanity. True to all fundamentalist assumptions in this one the founders are seen to be infallible, beyond the scope of any critical inquiry... by Rich on Tue 23 Sep 2008 Permanent Link 11:39 AM

Although Sri Aurobindo did not proclaim his own Divinity, it is demanded that the faithful invest him with such divinity. Although none can demonstrate miracles, it is demanded those faithful to the yoga believe in a narrative of Origins which is exclusively supernatural. The supernatural is the domain of a few to interpret. Interpretations are decoded in culturally privileged ways... by Rich on Sun 19 Oct 2008 07:49 PM PDT Profile Permanent Link

• Barindranath Chaki started a discussion called Is Sri Aurobindo's teaching a religion?
• Mamata dash started a discussion called Is Sri Aurobindo's teaching a religion?
• Donna Osborn replied to the discussion Is Sri Aurobindo's teaching a religion?
• Debabrata Ghosh added the blog post 'There can not be a religion with Sri Aurobindo' Oct 17
• Let our mind be free from all conventional separative thoughts including religion and nationality Started by Debabrata Ghosh Latest Reply Tusar Mohapatra on Aspiration Aspiration

Debabrata Ghosh has left a new comment on your post "Symbiosis": "Let a million freedom-flowers bloom Let us sing in a billion strong tongues May we unite in our aspirations To build the one Gnostic community."

YES. But it is not possible for a thinker or dreamer -who is in a specific religious fold-however great it is. We love to see flowers blooming in nature -not in a personal garden -protected by barbwires. Sri Aurobindo is not a groomed garden -he is the peak of the Himalayas-under which we find Nandan Kanan. Posted by Debabrata Ghosh to Tusar N Mohapatra at 12:53 PM, October 18, 2008

The Greyscale Between Religion and Spirituality by Rick Lipschutz
on Sun 26 Oct 2008 10:17 PM PDT Permanent Link

Religion brings us closer to the Divine; yoga brings Union with the Divine - we can't have one entirely without the other; but neither can we forget that our goal is a true spirituality founded on direct realization of the Spirit, and working always from there. Let me make clear and please note (since here I am trying to show the necessity of religion in the continuum, and not as the culmination!) that Sri Aurobindo and the Mother unequivocally did not found any new religion (even a more-universal or the most universal religion), but a Yoga based in a complete all-inclusive spirituality that would lead even beyond the transitional human condition to a direct power of Spirit in matter: the materialization of the free Spirit, individual and collective, in fulfilling, living action.

"All Life is Yoga," and to reach this goal, this seemingly distant culmination (which is probably only the beginning of a new and greater lift to something even more inclusive, or into another "category" beyond inclusive) - we need to make use of any and all materials and get to know realistically the materials we have at our disposal. As the Mother said, religion is one of those elements "true religion" and not "religionism" in Sri Aurobindo's earlier-quoted sense): physical actions, devotion - and I'm not saying here that devotion is only a religious phenomenon - far from it! Sri Aurobindo himself as he grew in his realizations grew ever so greatly in a spiritual Bhakti - worship, morality, some level of rules - these play a needed part, serve as a springboard to our spirituality, may give a needed (though temporary) form to our aspiration.