Sunday, October 24, 2010

How the truths could be applied to political and social life

Sri Aurobindo Ashram: Lecture Series. “The Path of Surrender”, Sri Aurobindo Marg, 10 a.m. to 11-15 a.m..
Sri Aurobindo Society: Meeting, 5, Smith Rd., Anna Salai, 10-30 a.m.. 
Sri Aurobindo Devotees Prayer Group: Prayers to Sri Annai, Sasi Balika Vidya Mandir, Azad Road, RS Puram, 9.30 a.m.; Sri Annai meditation Centre, ...
The Lives of Sri Aurobindo Peter Heehs, 2008
During the six and a half years of Arya’s existence, Aurobindo never strayed far from this fivefold project: to reinterpret the Indian tradition, to develop a metaphysics based on the truths of spirit and nature, to uncover the principles of yoga by which these truths could be experienced, to show how the same truths could be applied to political and social life, and to make them the basis of a spiritualized literature and art.” (p.263) 
"It has been said that democracy is based on the rights of man; it has been replied that it should rather take its stand on the duties of man; but both rights and duties are European ideas. Dharma is the Indian conception in which rights and duties lose the artificial antagonism created by a view of the world, which makes selfishness the root of action, and regain their deep and eternal unity. Dharma is the basis of democracy which Asia must recognize, for in this lies the distinction between the soul of Asia and the soul of Europe". (SABCL, Bande Mataram, Asiatic Democracy)

Wednesday, October 20, 2010

Nothing to prevent each line of Savitri from being thrown into dispute

Avinashilingam Deemed University for Women and Sri Aurobindo Society: Seminar, ' Essence of Indian Philosophical and Religious Heritage as envisaged by Mahatma Gandhi and Sri Aurobindo' Sri Aurobindo Society, Race Course, 9.30 a.m.
Savitri – A Soul for Any Age Written by Eloise & Miriam  Monday, 18 October 2010 07:06
It was a real pleasure to see children of Udavi School on Friday morning being excited about the theater play. Under the gentle guidance of versatile director Jill children proved to the audience that they can be great actors, beside expressing themselves in other language. The beauty of classical great poem Savitri lies also in that, that it can be told and expressed on many ways, and the time doesn't play significant role in it. Jill skillfully engaged the sited audience, mostly consisted of Udavi School children, to keep them alert and active as she gave them a role to play as well.
Summary of Savitri by Jyotipriya (Dr Judith Tyberg) | Integral ... by Sandeep
This is Jyotipriya's summary of Sri Aurobindo's epic poem Savitri. Jyotipriya aka Dr Judith Tyberg (1902-1980) was the founder and director of the Sri Aurobindo Center of Los Angeles. Savitri is an epic poem in blank verse of about ...
Learning is continuous. Your body is learning all the time.2. Learning is total body learning.3. Learning does not teach lessons.4. Learn...
You might gain in one department…till each element learns… Love is the most destructive emotion. Sufficient vibrations of love but no desire ...
Anonymous has left a new comment on your post "You don't come to an Ashram to read the text":
The pompous nobodies on the editorial board are entitled to nothing. What they do is a service to the Divine and has NOTHING to do with RIGHTS and ENTITLEMENTS. Whoever came up with that statement was arrogating to himself/herself rights they did not possess. The Ashram has no business officially speculating on alternative readings of Savitri based solely on it's own grammatical/contextual/content-based/ etc. etc. mentation-based ignorance.
What the scribe heard is none of their business and shows a Titanic arrogance that would turn the whole Savitri topsy-turvy. What is there to prevent the same presumptuous brain from using the same logic to suggest alternative renderings of EACH LINE in Savitri? Nothing. There would be nothing to prevent each line of the Savitri from being thrown into dispute. While you can keep mocking Sunil based on totally irrelevant counts, we all know what he meant by eat the menu, your own words, howsoever grammatically correct betray an alarming lack of intelligence and mala-fide intentions against those who choose to question the integrity and correctness of those who question the integrity and correctness of the Savitri itself. Posted by Anonymous to Savitri Era Open Forum at 5:41 PM, October 20, 2010
Continuing on the theme of practice:
This is the full text of Aurobindo Ghose's best contribution to world culture, his epic poem Savitri. If you cannot find a hard copy of this text, use the online version and read it slowly and mindfully, with great care. Then watch what happens. …
[full disclosure: I amended the word "surprise" to "surmise," indicating this change with square brackets, on the assumption that the word "surprise" makes no sense in context and hence likely indicates a typographical error.]  9:27 PM 

Saturday, October 16, 2010

Lecture on “Self-observation, a tool for self-awareness” by Prabhjot Kulkarni

Sri Aurobindo Ashram: Lecture on “Self-observation, a tool for self-awareness” by Prabhjot Kulkarni, Sri Aurobindo Marg, 10 a.m. to 11-15 a.m..
Sri Aurobindo Society: Meeting, 5, Smith Rd., Anna Salai, 10.30 a.m.. 
Sri Aurobindo Devotees Prayer Group: Pushpanjali to Sri Annai, Sri Annai Meditation Centre, W2b, Kovaipudur, 4 p.m., Sasibalika Vidya Mandir, R.S. Puram, ...

I have great respect for Satprem but I prefer not to get caught up in this exhilarating rhetoric of impending dooms and the need for magnificent revolutions of consciousness.   Satprem, like many social thinkers, conveys his anguish with such burning passion that it can cause great agitation and frustration within the heart regarding the state of the world.   In the spiritual path, one has to detach oneself a little from the pressures of the world; one has first learn to remain silent, go within and wait for some inspiration to decide which cause to take up.
I have reached a state where I have become a little indifferent to the dire problems of the world.  It's a passing phase, and there are many such phases, and if at some point things change and I sense the need to do something, then I shall certainly do so. 

Anonymous has left a new comment on your post "They had mastered the forces of desire"
The Divinity of Mother Sri Aurobindo is a fact to me because I have experienced it and continue to experience it first hand. And I am far from being the only one. I understand that it may not be a fact to you. But the rational thing would be to find out for yourself instead of limiting yourself to premature conclusions which see only the outer human expression but miss the Divine Consciousness behind it. If you do choose not to verify for yourself then that is your choice, but I am not beholden to deny my experience and painfully squeeze myself into your tiny little nutshell. Posted by Anonymous to Savitri Era Open Forum at 8:16 PM, October 16, 2010

Continuing on the theme of practice:
This is the full text of Aurobindo Ghose's best contribution to world culture, his epic poem Savitri. If you cannot find a hard copy of this text, use the online version and read it slowly and mindfully, with great care. Then watch what happens.

Wednesday, October 13, 2010

I do not consider myself a devotee

An era of Gandhian journalism in Saurashtra region came to an end with the sad demise of Ishubhai Dave, a renowned journalist and philosopher of his age on October 7. 
A staunch disciple of Sri Aurobindo and The Mother, Pondicherry Ashram, Pondicherry, he served the world of journalism in Gujarat for 65 years and worked as district correspondent for The Times Of India for 54 years. He also served All India Radio, Ahmedabad. 
Ishubhai, was the witness to the Diu independence as he covered the event as a journalist from UPI. He was felicitated by the then chief minister Dilipbhai Parikh in 1997 during the golden jubilee celebration of the fight for ARZI HUKUMAT.

Comment posted by Sandeep: Re: Peter Heehs’s The Lives of Sri Aurobindo—by Raman Reddy
Admittedly, there are devotees who are offended by the book but I do not consider myself a devotee.  My objection to the book rest solely on the fact that it contains lies and distortions.
Most of the people like you who appreciate the book are unaware of the distortions that Peter has induled in, and the primary sources that he has ignored.

Comment posted by auroman: Re: What is Nationalism?—by Sri Aurobindo
I wouldn't waste effort arguing with this Doctor Raghu.  He has to follow his Swadharma as a doctor and we have to live ours.   He is free to think what he wants about Sri Aurobindo, Heehs and other.  He can call us a cult and we don't object to it either.
I have been saying all along that people who read this book "Lives of Sri Aurobindo" would conclude that Sri Aurobindo died a failure and Dr Raghu's comments have revealed this precise issue.   Those who are inside the "cult" gush about the book because they read it from the prism of their own beliefs.  But for people outside the "cult", the occult realities behind the physical realities need to be explained thoroughly, otherwise they may draw the wrong conclusions.  If the biography is not going to discuss the occult realities, then it must also omit the physical realities.   Unfortunately, this historian is so anal-retentive that he doesn't know how to make such trade-offs.

Tuesday, October 12, 2010

Cloth-pieces from the Mother’s wardrobe

Dear Friends of Overman Foundation,                                

You are all aware that we have received the Mother’s sari and blouse and a cloth-piece of Sri Aurobindo as gifts from two senior sadhikas of Sri Aurobindo Ashram, Pondicherry. Allow me to inform you that we have received more of such invaluable treasures. The treasures include objects used by the Mother and Sri Aurobindo and have been gifted to Overman Foundation by Shrimati Vasanti Rao. We have also been fortunate enough to get two cloth-pieces from the Mother’s wardrobe. 

      We take this opportunity to thank Shrimati Vasanti Rao as well as Shrimati Chum Ganguly and Shrimati Dolly Mutsuddi for gifting to us the cloth-piece of Sri Aurobindo and the Mother’s sari with a blouse respectively. 
      These treasures shall adorn the shrine of Overman Foundation and be brought out for public darshan on special occasions.  
      To have the darshan of the sacred treasures, please click on the following link: http://overmanfoundation.wordpress.com/2010/10/11/more-invaluable-treasures/      
With warm regards, Anurag Banerjee
Chairman, Overman Foundation.

Sunday, October 03, 2010

Synthesis of Yoga is the greatest reading and transforming adventure I embarked so far

Sri Aurobindo Ashram, Delhi Branch: Lecture by Bimal Mohanty on “Upnishadsara”, Sri Aurobindo Marg, 10 a.m. to 11-15 a.m.. 
Sri Aurobindo Society: Meeting, 5, Smith Rd., Anna Salai, 10-30 a.m..
TIRUCHI: A special exhibition on flowers marked the anniversary of Sri Aurobindo Society, Tiruchi Centre 20, here on Saturday. A total of 200 flowers collected from different parts of state were on display at the Seva Sangam in the city, attracting a large number of people.
The exhibition on flowers was organised in tune with the philosophy of Sri Aurobindo and Sri Mother of Sri Aurobindo Ashram in Puducherry. “Each flower signifies a specific property. For instance, the rose stands for surrender to the Almighty; tuberose stands for transformation of one's self; hibiscus for power so and so forth,” says Nirmala Natarajan and Tamizhvvel, office-bearers of the Tiruchi Centre 20.
Apart from flowers, an array of books and rare photographs on Sri Aurobindo and Sri Mother provided vital tips to the visitors about the life and philosophy of these spiritual leaders and their efforts in making the universe happy.
K. Vanniaperumal, City Commissioner of Police, inaugurated the exhibition. K. Sekarr, Principal, Chidambaram Pillai College for Women and Janakan, a writer, spoke on ‘Sri Annai – the Mahasakthi'.
M. Murugananda, co-ordinator, said a few flowers were brought in from Bangalore for the exhibition. The Hindu : TAMIL NADU : TIRUCHi today
The Hindu : Other States : Puducherry News : Puducherry's contribution to art, literature hailed
Subbaiah and Ansari Duraisamy, he said that the Union Territory also shielded many great freedom fighters such as Subramanya Bharathi and Sri Aurobindo...
Auronet - 12 Sep
The Practice of Sri Aurobindo's Yoga, led by Kittu Reddy at Savitri Bhavan, 5–6 pm .... Study of the Rig-veda in the light of Sri Aurobindo: The Hymns to ...
Drummer Boy Delhi Newsline
At present, however, she and her French companion and guitarist Nadaka live in Auroville near Puducherry, where they conduct chanting classes. ...
Life and Yoga - Sri Aurobindo. There are two necessities of Nature's workings which seem always to intervene in the greater forms of human activity, whether they belong to our ordinary fields of movement or seek those exceptional ...
I am reading day and night in Sri Aurobindo “Synthesis of Yoga” – it's the greatest reading and transforming adventure I embarked so far in my life – it's pure bliss and rapture, almost every single page of his works. ...
“The Saint and the Sage: The Fiction of Raja Rao” – Part 1 – by ... by Richard Guzman
The idiom of the sage has been the language of the venerable Sankara, of Sri Aurobindo, and Gandhi, and is based on the central text of Hinduism, Tat tvam asi (Thou art that), which occurs in the second Upanishad, Chandogya. ...
One may also sense in Govindan Nair's fearlessly free style something of the courage that animated Sri Aurobindo, and Gandhi, and so many of ...
This book also emphasizes the continuity of the hermetic tradition in the past two centuries and includes biographical sketches of many esotericists such as Madame Blavatsky, Aleister Crowley, Dane Rudhyar, Sri Aurobindo, Alice Bailey, ...
Religion and Fanaticism | DigiPile by Fahad Khan
Such examples are Sri Krishna, Jesus Christ, Lord Buddha, Mahavir, Guru Nanak, Sri Ramakrishna, Sri Aurobindo, and many more. The list is unending; we encounter such great souls in every religion of every continent and in every era. ...
பகைவன் — M.P.Pandit « Balhanuman's Blog by BaalHanuman
Sri M. P. Pandit served as the personal secretary to the Mother at the Sri Aurobindo Ashram, and the Mother became the entire focus of his life. He studied the classical scriptures and living spiritual traditions of India, following in ...
Chaudhuri had been a correspondent of Sri Aurobindo, who developed his own perspective and philosophy. He established the California Institute of Integral ...
The man who was Ram Lalla's 'next friend'
Times of India
For several years, Agarwal was the president of Aurobindo Society. The 'next friend' of Ram Lalla, Triloki Nath Pandey, said, "His (Agarwal's) mother Ram ...
On being truthful in speech | Integral Yoga of Sri Aurobindo & The ... by Sandeep
This is technically incorrect according to Sri Aurobindo; it is only the self-realized sage who is inwardly conscious of the occult Truth who is said to have the power of prophecy. Words uttered by enlightened sages are said to have the ...
Sri Aurobindo describes the process of mentality: “We have in all functionings of the mentality four elements, the object of mental consciousness, ...
Sri Aurobindo Ashram Trust does not Approve The Lives of Sri Aurobindo · Poetry Time: 25 September 2010—To be, or not to be ...
Savitri—the supreme revelation of Sri Aurobindo's vision ... In Sri Aurobindo's Gayatri Mantra we have a phrase “SavitÅ—, the Light of the Supreme, ...
When he reached India, he felt he had reached home and settled in the Sri Aurobindo Ashram, Pondichery, where he met the Mother and immersed himself in Sri Aurobindo’s writings, which will have a deep influence on him all throughout his life…
Sometimes outsiders can see and respond more effectively to situations where insiders may be oblivious or even complacent to ground realities. Well Francois Gautier is one such French journalist who has steadfastly stood up for ‘just’ Hindu causes. So, in effect, he can hardly be called an outsider coz he is more at home and current with what is happening and what needs to be done than most of us. Rather he is an anointed Hindu with passion to serve the cause of religion as well as protection of its ethos.
Francois is visiting Atlanta October 1 thru October 3 and Atlanta is giving him a civic reception with his captivating lecture covering topics of varied interest, namely:
1. How terrorism is affecting India and USA
2. Need for saving Hindu heritage and creating
museum of  Indian history and Hindu holocaust in Pune
3. How and why Hindus in the
US must help preserve and uplift India's image
Mother Mira AlfassaSri Aurobindo has come to announce to the worldthe beauty of the future that will be realized.He has come to bring not a hope but the certainty ofthe ... More »

Friday, October 01, 2010

Should everyone start posting and talking about their experiences

Rick Lipschutz reflects on the continuum which stretches from religion to spirituality. Drawing on the Mother's distinction between spiritual realization, spiritual philosophy, occultism and religion and her perception of a complementarity in their workings, the author calls for a more integral understanding of the yoga and its stages and processes.
Govind has left a new comment on your post "Integral Yoga is an irreversible call that make yo...": 
The most beautiful post I have read so far on this forum, and perhaps the only one that is truly worth reading. Posted by Govind to Savitri Era Open Forum at 6:29 PM, September 29, 2010
Anonymous has left a new comment on your post "Manoj duo have turned Heehs Das": 
You have revealed the ugly force behind the book in your revelatory, and by far the best critique that there exists. True, eloquent and masterful are both your comments. Posted by Anonymous to Savitri Era at 12:37 PM, September 21, 2010
[When the facts change, I change my mind. What do you do, sir? - John Maynard Keynes] Posted by Tusar N Mohapatra to Savitri Era at 6:03 AM, October 01, 2010
Should everyone start posting and talking about their experiences to be included in the spiritual club and be seen as a sadhak? It is also a fallacy to believe that integral yoga begins for everyone only after they come to av, more so that iy is possible only at av and the ashram. - intranet