Dr. Nadkarni inculcated ‘Savitri’ as a mantra in his life

Mangesh V. Nadkarni From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Mangesh Vithal Nadkarni Born March 6, 1933 Kodibag, Karwar, Uttar Kannada, Karnataka
Died September 23, 2007 Puducherry - Auroville
Occupation Professor, Scholar, Writer and a Disciple of Sri Aurobindo
Nationality India Subjects English Debut works Epic poem Savitri
Influenced V. K. Gokak , Subbanna Ekkundi, Gourish Kaikini

[edit] Childhood
Dr. Mangesh V. Nadkarni (1933-2007) was born in Kodibag and raised in Bankikodla, a little village in coastal Karnataka, which is the most picturesque part of the west coast where the Sahyadri Mountains hug the Arabian Sea. Literature, folk art, spiritual lore, music and sports kept him enthralled during his school days.

[edit] Academic life
His teachers in Anandasharm High school gave impetus to his imagination and taught him to perceive the sheer excitement of ideas, leading him to the path of his inner quest. Subbanna Ekkundi and Gourish Kaikini were among his finest teachers there. Dr. Nadkarni had a brilliant academic career and completed his Postgraduation in English Literature from Rajaram College, Kolhapur, and began his teaching career in Rajkot. Later, he moved to Anand where he was Professor of English in Nalini Arts College. During his college career, he was a student of Professor V.K. Gokak , an outstanding man of letters, and a great teacher of literature who influenced Dr. Nadkarni towards Sri Aurobindo ’s philosophy. Mangesh did his Ph.D in Phonetics from UCLA California, USA, and was Professor of Linguistics at the Central Institute of English and Foreign Languages, Hyderabad. He later taught at the National University of Singapore (1985-93). His younger brother Sundar Nadkarni was a writer, poet in Kannada and a Professor of English in Gujarat.
He was married to Meera Mallapur from Mumbai. His mother was Indira Kaushik from Karwar.

[edit] As a Disciple of Sri Aurobindo and the Mother
The influence of Sri Aurobindo’s philosophy on him was gradual and he found it intellectually most liberating and satisfying. He was a Yogi on the path of continuous progress, and a renowned exponent of the Integral Yoga of Sri Aurobindo and the Mother. He lectured extensively in India and abroad on Sri Aurobindo’s philosophy and vision. Dr. Nadkarni was a master of the English language and spoke brilliantly on ‘Savitri’, a 24,000-verse epic poem by Sri Aurobindo. The poem recounts the saga of human victory over ignorance and the conquest of death. Reading ‘Savitri’ is itself considered a practice of integral yoga and a potent vehicle of aspiration. Dr. Nadkarni inculcated ‘Savitri’ as a mantra in his life.
He will be remembered for his vast knowledge, eloquence, sense of humor, melodious voice, smiling face and a magnetic, lovable personality. He was the personification of Sweetness and Light and carried an aura of Ananda with him. The soul incubates in the body as the bird in the egg; cracking the shell, the bird waddles away. Lament for the shell or rejoice for the baby bird?

[edit] His work - a few of them are listed
1. The kingdom of subtle matter, The glory and the fall of life.
2. The Traveler of the worlds: Approaching the second book of Savitri.
[edit] Notes [edit] External links
1. [ Science, Culture and Integral Yoga]
2. [ Nadkarni's contributions to Sri Aurobindo Invocations]
3. [ Nadkarni's village and high school]
Retrieved from "http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mangesh_V._Nadkarni"
Categories: Scholars People from Karnataka Professors Literature Sri Aurobindo 1933 births

One religion, one people is the concept preached by the Mother. No difference in humanity is the Divine Mother’s religion

www.newstodaynet.com Sunday, 24 February, 2008 Home Nation Special Report
Flower that bloomed this day, years ago
The Matri Mandir set in an area of 62 acres reflects the Mother’s spiritual beliefs (Inset Annai)
G Ramanarayanan Thu, 21 Feb, 2008,01:25 PM

Thousands of devotees flocked to Annai Ashram at Puducherry on her 130th birth anniversary today.
At Auroville Matri Mandir where the huge golden spiritual structure is being put up - a congregation dhyana mandir which is so designed that the sun’s rays converge at a point and fall on to the mudra at the centre - was the destination of one and all. .
One religion, one people is the concept preached by the Mother. No difference in humanity is the Divine Mother’s religion. Sri Aurobindo, her spiritual guru, from whom she learned the nuances of yoga - the foremost the Kundalini yoga (mother of yoga).
The Mother - Annai was born in Paris on 21 February 1878. Her house was at the boulevard Haussmann near the Opera. Her dad, Maurice Alfassa, was a Turkish banker from Adrianople, whilst her mom, Mathilde Ismaloun, came from Cairo.
The Mother was thus of Turkish-Egyptian descent, a fact which is significant in so far as these two countries are on the threshold between West and East.
It became evident later that the Mother came to know how to bring together these two worlds in a happy combination of ideas into a complex.
She was given the name Mirra and grew up in Paris where she was to spend the early part of her life. Her parents had moved to France a year before her birth and stayed put there.
Even in her tender age Mirra became conscious of her special purpose of life, her mission on earth: ‘I started contemplating or doing my yoga from the age of four. There was a small chair for me on which I used to sit still, engrossed in my meditation.
'A very brilliant light would then descend over my head and produce some turmoil inside my brain. Of course I understood nothing, it was not the age for understanding.
'But gradually I began to feel, I shall have to do some tremendously great work that nobody yet knows.’ (Utterances of the Mother on self which have been remembered and recorded by her disciples).’
After some years, the Mother married Paul Richard, a well-known and well-read philosopher who was keenly interested in Eastern and Western spiritual life as well as Vedantic yoga.
He had also political plans and so in 1910, in connection with an election campaign, he came to Puducherry, which was at that time part of French India.
He also wanted to consult an advanced yogi and therefore went to see Sri Aurobindo who was in exile outside British India.
Here it is to be noted that Sri Aurobindo’s life, which was later to merge more and more with that of the Mother.
Sri Aurobindo was born in Kolkata on 15 August 1872. He went to England for education along with his two brothers. Sri Aurobindo spent fourteen years in that country. He first stayed with an English family at Manchester, then he joined St Paul’s School in London and later studied at King’s College in Cambridge. He passed the open competition for the Indian Civil Service, but got himself disqualified by not appearing himself at the riding examination.
By then the Mother was back to Puducherry, in India, the small town in the South-East where Sri Aurobindo had been pursuing his integral yoga-path from 1910. Her return was now for sure and she never again left India, the country of her choice. Her relationship with Paul Richard was at this stage coming to a breaking-point since she could follow her destiny now and establish an ever closer spiritual collaboration with Sri Aurobindo. It was probably clear to Paul that the Mother was now completely giving herself to Sri Aurobindo and that there was a kind of collaboration and development in their relationship which he could not follow any more.
He could recognise Sri Aurobindo as a great yogi and sage, but he did not want to become his disciple and may have tried also to draw the Mother away from him. But this effort was bound to fail and so he left Puducherry.
The Mother had foreseen this development in a significant vision which Sri Aurobindo once related to a disciple: ‘The Mother (Mirra), Richard and I were going somewhere. We saw Richard going down to a place from which rising was impossible,
'Then we found ourselves sitting in a carriage the driver of which was taking it up and down a hill a number of times, At last he stopped on the highest peak. Its significance was quite clear to us.’
And so it was to others who follow the path on which the Mother who left a trail years ago.

Piyush Kanti Bandyopadhyay birth centenary

BIRTH CENTENARY February 23 at Sri Aurobindo Bhavan, 8 Shakespeare Sarani; 6 pm: As part of Dadabhai’s (Piyush Kanti Bandyopadhyay) birth centenary programme, Piyushalok presents the release of Chatushtoy, a complete anthology of a collection of four earlier-published (1931-41) books of verse by Dadabhai, and the launch of Katha Chhilo Bhalobasibar, an audio CD of the reading of Dadabhai’s self-composed poems. Also, Dadabhai’s songs to be rendered by Sukti Subhra Dey, Subhankar Bhaskar, Sikha Dey and Pratul Mukhopadhyay. The Telegraph. Front Page > Calcutta > Timeout Saturday , February 23 , 2008

Sam Spanier, the founder of Matagiri, passed a few weeks ago

In Memoriam: Sam Spanier Verite ILC Studio ::: 7:30 PM
Dear Friends,
Many friends in Woodstock and Auroville came to know of Sam Spanier and Matagiri. Hundreds of visitors from the Ashram and Auroville came to visit over the years. We had a gathering in his memory shortly after we arrived in India at the Ashram and we are coming together once more at Verite in Auroville on Friday February 22nd at 7:30 pm. We'll have a memorial in Woodstock on the May 3-4th weekend before his birthday. Warmly, Julian

Film on Sam
Artist, yogi, wise elder, the founder of Matagiri the first Aurobindo centre in the USA, passed a few weeks ago.
A short film on his life, and an opportunity to honour his life and soul journey will be screened at the Verite ILC Studio, Friday 22 Feb, at 7.30 pm. All are welcome
Bhavana
posted by AVnet

We may do a bit of archival exploration while going through his relevant Savitri-drafts

The Mind of Light and the Yoga of Physical Transformation
by RY Deshpande on Wed 20 Feb 2008 01:45 AM PST Permanent Link

Can we say that the Mother’s work of physical transformation is a triumph? There are people who express doubts about it; they maintain that both she and Sri Aurobindo had promised it in the here-and-now, at this particular juncture, during this birth of theirs, right today, in our own lifetime, and not in some other age, in the distant future. In the strictest literal sense, for those who put forward scholarly dialectical arguments, the answer to the question if transformation is a triumph would then simply be ‘No.’

This is particularly so when they even go to the strangest extent of saying that Sri Aurobindo's retirement after getting the Overmind siddhi in the physical, in November 1926, was due to "inner despair". If not this assertive ‘No’, at the best, as if to accommodate or patronize the believers of the Avataric success, their line of thinking would be to concede a highly condescending ‘Yes’. But then is that the kind of a report the Guardian Spirit is going to give to the Eternal that she who had come "to open the doors of Fate, the iron doors that seemed for ever closed" forgot her mission, that the power he kindled in her body failed,

His labourer returns, her task undone? [1]

However, such a question simply belongs to the category of the physical mind and could perhaps be ignored. Or else the answer itself would be in the manner of the physical mind passing judgements on matters beyond its domain, matters that are totally occult-spiritual. Both lack perception and in the deeper sense one need not be much concerned about the question. There has to be another vision and another observant intuition, intuition born of wide luminous knowledge that comes only by identification with the spirit of the things. But in the absence of it one can at least be perceptive and try to understand the situation more open-mindedly, open-heartedly. Rational mind surely has the capacity to grow; it can acquire gnostic sense cognisant of spiritual shades and nuances and it should be promoted. The discerning insight of enlightened reason could be a sufficiently good guide.

Firstly, it should be recognised that what the Mother accomplished was something not only marvellous; it was also unique in the earth’s entire evolutionary history and that it is in full harmonious conformity with the aims and objectives of the Yoga of the Supramental Descent and Transformation. We must not forget that Sri Aurobindo and the Mother were dealing with the problem of the material world, a world that arose out of the Inconscience and that their method was more concerned with the basics than with the transient flashing miracles which avail nothing.

Although this world arose out of the Inconscience, both Sri Aurobindo and the Mother found that there is also sufficient truth in it to become overtly and manifestly truth-conscient in its truth-dynamism. The Mother’s intense yoga-tapasya proceeded in the depths of Matter, invoking in it, in the very density of darkness, the Will of the Lord himself. She suffered greatly in the process, painful as the resistance of the tamasic and brute ignorant material Nature is; at the same time, and undaunted by it, she won several grim battles while carrying this God-given mission...

But a question, a strange question, is at times asked whether Sri Aurobindo had realised the Mind of Light in himself at all. This may appear somewhat odd with its oddity implying that he was only theorising about the Mind of Light when he wrote those eight articles for the Bulletin of Physical Education during 1949-50. It is however hard to believe that the convincing Agenda he had put forward in his absolutely the last sequence of prose-writings could have originated without any experiential basis: that would have reduced him to a mere armchair philosopher and denied the status of a Yogi par excellence who indeed he was. Nor would it have concerned us in any deeper sense.

His was a world-redeemer’s task[10] and tirelessly he had carried out the God’s Labour and “willed all, attempted all, prepared, achieved all”[11] for this woe-begone mortality. His dynamism was committed to the action of the Spirit in the very inertia and resistive opacity of the material life...

When was this prerequisite complied with, fulfilled? At what point of time in Sri Aurobindo’s yogic life? We may do a bit of archival exploration while going through his relevant Savitri-drafts looking for possible clues if they are anyl. And the findings are interesting indeed. Fortunately for us the drafts at places do bear the dates of composition and these are pretty useful.

The “Mind of Light”-line—“His brain was wrapped in overwhelming Light”—in this form belongs to a revised version in Sri Aurobindo’s own hand and the date at the end of the Canto put by him is 6 September 1942. The first occurrence of this line pertains to a manuscript of the period prior to 1936 and it runs as follows: “His brain was swathed in overwhelming light.” At this stage of drafting Aswapati’s cosmic ascent on the world-stair occupied only one page which now stands expanded into several Cantos, in thousands of lines. The revision of “swathed” and “light” to “wrapped” and “Light” should be considered of capital importance. It suggests the definite entry of the Mind of Light in him by 1942.

The yoga-tapasya of the next eight years was chiefly concerned with the collective action of this achievement. Indeed, it is because Sri Aurobindo had realised the Mind of Light in him that he could gift it to the Mother at the time of his passing away on 5 December 1950. The subsequent saga presenting the Mother’s work, dealing with the cellular transformation, unfolds its manifesting aspect, it by now having become a part of the earthly evolution heading brightly towards the Supramental Descent and Transformation.

Sri Aurobindo's writings on himself

Sri Aurobindo's Writings

Volume 35
Letters on Himself and the Ashram (TO BE PUBLISHED) Sri Aurobindo's letters between 1927 and 1950 on his life, his path of yoga and the practice of yoga in his ashram. In these letters, Sri Aurobindo writes about his life as a stu­dent in England, a teacher in Baroda, a political leader in Ben­gal, and a writer and yogi in Pondicherry. He also comments on his formative spiritual experiences and the development of his yoga. In the latter part of the volume, he discusses the life and discipline followed in his ashram and offers advice to the disci­ples living and working in it. Sri Aurobindo wrote these letters between 1927 and 1950 — most of them in the 1930s.

Volume 36
PDF last updated: 18 Dec 07 Autobiographical Notes and Other Writings of Historical Interest Sri Aurobindo's writings on himself (excluding the letters in volume 35, Letters on Himself and the Ashram) and other material of historical importance. The volume is divided into four parts: (1) brief life sketches, autobiographical notes, and corrections of statements made by others in biographies and other publications; (2) letters of historical interest to family, friends, political and profession­al associates, public figures, etc; also letters on yoga and spiritual life to disciples and others; (3) public statements and other communications on Indian and world events; (4) public statements and notices concerning Sri Aurobindo's ashram and yoga. Much of the material is being published here for the first time in a book.

Volume 37
Reference Volume (TO BE PUBLISHED) Index, glossary, editorial notes, supplementary texts. This volume will include a complete index to the Complete Works, a glossary of Sanskrit and other Indian terms, a chronology of Sri Aurobindo's life, a bibliography of his works, a note on editorial method, a list of emendations and errata, and supple­mentary texts not included in the main works.

Glossary to the Record of Yoga (TO BE PUBLISHED) A glossary to and structural outline of the Record of Yoga (volumes 10 and 11). This unnumbered volume — an appendix to Record of Yoga — will contain an alphabetical index of Sanskrit words and a structural outline of the seven-limbed yoga that Sri Aurobindo practised between 1912 and 1927. (A temporary glossary is available on this website under the heading "Research".)

The Mother's Collected Works ashram visitors darshan selected works research music publications image gallery Sri Aurobindo Ashram

The Mother's consciousness and mine are the same, the one Divine Consciousness in two

Bernard's site for Sri Aurobindo and the Mother

"As for the Mother and myself, we have had to try all ways, follow all methods, to surmount mountains of difficulties, a far heavier burden to bear than you or anybody else in the Ashram or outside, far more difficult conditions, battles to fight, wounds to endure, ways to cleave through impenetrable morass and desert and forest, hostile masses to conquer - a work such as, I am certain, none else had to do before us.

For the Leader of the Way in a work like ours has not only to bring down and represent and embody the Divine, but to represent too the ascending element in humanity and to bear the burden of humanity to the full and experience, not in a mere play or Lila but in grim earnest, all the obstruction, difficulty, opposition, baffled and hampered and only slowly victorious labour which are possible on the Path.But it is not necessary nor tolerable that all that should be repeated over again to the full in the experience of others.

It is because we have the complete experience that we can show a straighter and easier road to others - if they will only consent to take it. It is because of our experience won at a tremendous price that we can urge upon you and others,

"Take the psychic attitude; follow the straight sunlit path, with the Divine openly or secretly upbearing you - if secretly, he will yet show himself in good time, - do not insist on the hard hampered, roundabout and difficult journey." Sri Aurobindo (1872-1950) Letter from May 5, 1932in "On Himself", SABCL, volume 26, page 464

The Mother's consciousness and mine are the same, the one Divine Consciousness in two, because that is necessary for the play. Nothing can be done without her knowledge and force, without her consciousness - if anybody really feel her consciousness, he should know that I am there behind it and if he feels me it is the same with hers. Sri Aurobindo (1872-1950) Letter from November 13, 1934in "On Himself", SABCL, volume 26, page 455

There are two ways of doing Yoga, one by knowledge and one's own efforts, the other by reliance on the Mother. In the last way one has to offer one's mind and heart and all to the Mother for her Force to work on it, call her in all difficulties, have faith and bhakti. At first it takes time, often a long time, for the consciousness to be prepared in this way - and during that time many difficulties can come up, but if one perseveres a time comes when all is ready, the Mother's Force opens the consciousness fully to the Divine, then all that must develop develops within, spiritual experience comes and with it the knowledge and union with the Divine.Sri Aurobindo (1872-1950) (date unknown - between 1926 and 1938)

Published in "Mother India" November 1987, page 679 as referenced in "The Integral Yoga - Sri Aurobindo's Teaching and Method of Practice", a compilation of selected letters made by Archives and Research Library at Sri Aurobindo Ashram, Pondicherry by Peter Heehs and Bob Zwicker, published by Lotus Light publications, USA.

When in your heart and thought you make no difference between Sri Aurobindo and me, when to think of Sri Aurobindo will be to think of me and to think of me will mean to think of Sri Aurobindo inevitably, when to see one will mean inevitably to see the other, like one and the same Person, - then you will know that you begin to be open to the supramental force and consciousness. 4 March 1958 The Mother (1878-1973)

in CWM, volume 13 "Words of the Mother"page 32 (page 33 is a facsimile in Mother's own handwriting - the highlight is hers)SABCL and CWM are published by Sri Aurobindo Ashram - Pondicherrydiffusion by SABDA SABDA has now its own website (catalog and prices)
Meanings of the Symbols in Mother's own handwriting: Sri Aurobindo, The Mother & Center of Education.

Nightwind

Coming Events Thursday, 21 Feb
Introduction to organic farming ::: Buddha Garden Community Farm ::: Thu ::: 10:00 AM
Exhibition: South Calcutta Artists "Academy" Art Exhibition ::: Aurelec Cafeteria (till 17 March) ::: Thu ::: 10:00 AM
‘South Calcutta Artists’ Academy’ ::: Aurelec Cafeteria & Art Gallery ::: Thu ::: 8:00 AM
AV40: "Mother and Auroville" - exhibition ::: Savitri Bhavan (until 4 March) ::: Thu ::: 9:30 AM
"Quest "- an art exhibition ::: Creativity Hall ::: Thu ::: 3:00 AM
INFINITE MATTER : Group show by Auroville Artists ::: Gallery Square Circle : Kala Kendra ::: Thu ::: 11:00 AM
Joy of Heart Festival - Painting exhibition ::: "Le Colibri" at Sve-Dame ::: Thu ::: 9:00 AM
AV40: "Savitri Walk" exhibition by William Netter ::: Emerald Forest ::: Thu ::: 10:00 AM
AV40: Janaka House Exhibition (by appointment) ::: Janaka House, Ravena (till 29th) ::: Thu ::: 3:00 PM
Joy of Heart Festival - Belly Dance workshop ::: "Le Colibri" at Sve-Dame ::: Thu ::: 4:30 PM
Joy of Heart Festival –Capoeira workshop ::: "Le Colibri" at Sve-Dame ::: Thu ::: 6:00 PM
Joy of Heart Festival –Art of Play ::: "Le Colibri" at Sve-Dame ::: Thu ::: 7:30 PM
1-Month JOY OF HEART Festival –Evolving Contemporary Art Installation ::: "Le Colibri" at Sve-Dame ::: Thu ::: 9:30 AM
AV40: "Nightwind" performance and participatory workshop ::: New Creation "new studio" space, near La Piscine ::: Thu ::: 9:30 AM

Nolini's face was a mask, but Pranab uttered the fatal words in his grave voice, "Mother has left her body"

Arrived 17th November, the fatal day. It was my birthday, too. There was no question of having her darshan, but we could not imagine that things were so serious. Everything went on as usual, even the weekly cinema-show that evening. In the afternoon friends came to wish me 'Bonne Fête' and I was busy entertaining them, but my mind was not there. As soon as I could make myself free, I went up. I was sitting outside; Kumud opened the door of the Mother's room and asked me if I could find Pranab and call him. It was about 7 p.m. He had gone out for a short while. He came running. The doctor was also sent for before his usual time. Dyuman who never went up at that hour was also there. So Was Andre. Near about 8 p.m. he came out to go home. His face was grave and calm and bore no indication of disaster. But what about Dyuman or the doctor? What made them stay on and why had Pranab been urgently called back, - these were the questions disturbing my mind. The situation must be critical, I felt. Gautam, a young sadhak who had served the Mother personally, had come from his home to spend the night with us. I was moving to and fro pricking my ears for every little sound, went to bed for a while in Sri Aurobindo's room as usual and got up at a sudden noise. It was about midnight. I rushed out and saw that Nolini was coming down from the Mother's room followed by Pranab. Nolini's face was a mask, but Pranab uttered the fatal words in his grave voice, "Mother has left her body." The shock was too great to bear and the loss too deep to be told.
It was decided that the news should not go abroad at the moment. The body was to be brought down first and kept in the Meditation Hall.
Page - 165
Pranab carried her in his arms and brought her down to the landing from where some of us helped him carry her to the Meditation Hall. There the Mother's second couch had been kept ready and the body was placed upon it. It was about 3 a.m. Then the people were informed of the unbelievable painful truth.
The rest of the story is too well-known to be repeated.
Page - 166 Location: Home > E-Library > Works Of Disciples > Nirodbaran > Memorable Contacts With The Mother > The Last Ray

Many have been the past births attributed to The Mother

Re: The Mother’s Past Births

RY Deshpande Fri 01 Feb 2008 05:47 AM PST

Many have been the past births attributed to the Mother—Helen of Troy, Cleopatra, Mona Lisa, Queen Elizabeth I, Mirabai, Catherine the Great, apart from some of the earlier Egyptian births. But there is no clue about her being there in the time of Vedic or Upanishadic glory. Maybe, Vladimir could say something about this. Importantly, however, here was all along “the Divine working within the ordinary human limits,” as Sri Aurobindo writes to young Nagin Doshi in the mid 1930s. In a few cases, when some of these possibilities were pointed out to Sri Aurobindo, he did not set them aside, inferentially taking that as his approval. Yet “vividness” of their memory is quite reassuring in several instances.

In the Record of Yoga Sri Aurobindo himself has noted down the past births of some of the early disciples. He did disclose to Dilip Roy some of his (Dilip’s) past appearances during various periods. Similarly, when Amal asked about Harindranath Chattopadhyaya being the incarnation of Shelley, Sri Aurobindo replied:

“I imagine Shelley was not an evolutionary being but a being of a higher plane assisting in the evolution.”

Could that be the reason that he wrote of falling on the thorns of life and bleeding? About Amal’s own past births:

“…I would be inclined to wager that you were not only in Athens (that is evident) but in England during the Restoration time or thereabouts, in Renaissance Italy, etc…”

Well, what can we say about these deep matters? One can be pretty romantic about them and drift in whatever direction one might like to drift. This is a hazardous proposition, a dangerous proposition, in fact as Sri Aurobindo writes to Amal, it is a “perilous game”, and not of much avail to us, as we are not equipped to use that knowledge in moulding in any way our present or future life. Yet some of the clues about the past births of the Mother or Sri Aurobindo could be, not scientifically-rationally but perceptively-intuitively used to re-look into the history as otherwise we maintain to understand it. That whole era could be reconstructed in that perception-intuition by marshalling science and rationalism themselves. But I’d request you again to elaborate on the “good guesses” made by Amal. RYD

My life is zero without her grace

I hope to bring all the members who are dedicated to Sri Aurobindo and The Mother - SRI AUROBINDO ASHRAM, PONDICHERRY together for various activities organised at all the centres accross the country. Sri maa
Owner: Payal Joshi
November 18, 2005 12:25 PM
How you came to Mother? 2 1/20/08
Are there any center of SRI AUROBINDO at PUNE 2 1/19/08
Meditation Center in Pune or nearby Pune???? 0
Sudharshana Homa on Jan 26 1 1/19/08
New Center In Bangalore 1 1/9/08

## EN # AE # TE Hi
All, Nice question posted by Selvi, me coming to Mother was an interesting incident. None of us knew who Mother was and wat ashram is all about. I stay in chennai and our school in indira nagar had this sunday mediations going on.....

From some one my sis got a small photo of Mother and kept it in her study table, It was told to us dat Mother will full fill every ones prayer. I had a small problem one day, so with full faith and sincerity jus placed a flower and prayed for a min...

My prayer was answered, this is how I got the wonderful opportunity to reach Mother. Its almost 13 yrs since I know Mother, she is the one who is guiding me all through. My life is zero without her grace.........thanks to Mother. Cheers Nat

Themes and possibilites of an integral future

About Mirror of Tomorrow

Ron Jon Anastasia created this social network on Ning.
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For the past 10 years Ron has retired from the hi-tech fast lane and has been doing consulting and research around the world for various non-profit organizations. His passion has been working with intentional communities which integrate art and science with philosophy and spirituality into practical new models for sustainable development and human unity. He has worked closely with Paolo Soleri at Arcosanti, an experimental arcology in central Arizona, where he was the Co-Director with Michael Gosney of the biannual Paradox Conferences and wrote the Introduction to Soleri's coffee-table book What If? Collected Writings 1986-2000.” He also lived for 6-months per year at the Federation of Damanhur in the foothills of the Italian Alps while researching its fascinating work with esoteric physics. Ron's work is now focused on the international community of Auroville in Pondicherry, India, where he has lived for 2-4 months per year for the past several years.

Ron is presently the Founding Editor of SCIY (Science, Culture and Integral Yoga), a webzine which in 2 years has grown from its 4 founders to over 25,000 viewers located in 80 countries. Ron and his Hollywood Television-Director wife Kim live in the beach community of Marina del Rey, California. They're planning a move to the west coast of the Big Island in Hawaii.

Sri Aurobindo was so informal, so affable, so genial, so lovable, so adorable, so willing to listen to us

1: Sri Aurobindo and the Mother as I saw them — by V. Chidanandam
posted by RY Deshpande on Thu 17 Jan 2008 06:05 AM PST Permanent Link

My brother V. Chandrasekharam and I lived in the house next door to 9 Rue de la Marine, the Master's residence. There were about a dozen disciples then living in a few houses close by. It was like Gurukul. There used to be informal sittings in the evenings when we used to talk on all kinds of subjects. It was often like table-talk. Sometimes serious sub­jects also were discussed. At other times the talk was in a lighter vein on men and matters, on politics at home and abroad, etc., but it was all off the cuff.

Sri Aurobindo's voice was soft and gentle, almost feminine. His words flowed like the cool waters of a perennial spring. Thoughts came to him incessantly. It appeared as if he was in communication with higher levels of inspiration and direct knowledge. His experience in the sphere of Sadhana as well as in other spheres was vast and profound. But he made us feel quite at ease in his august presence. I never saw him solemn or serious. The Master would talk in a relaxed and jovial mood. He had a fine and subtle sense of humour. Even light hearted jokes and jests used to be there in plenty. His repartee was good humoured and enjoyable. On occasions he would chuckle happily... Science, Culture and Integral Yoga

Influenced heavily by the Integral Yoga of Sri Aurobindo and His immortal epic, 'Savitri'

Ra K Sankar Location: Chennai : Tamil Nadu : India About Me

I am a Chartered Accountant from India. Practised for 10 years in Africa. Translated about 10 non-dual Tamil scriptures of Sage Ramana into English, available in the webpage www.nonduality.com/shankar.htm

Influenced heavily by the Integral Yoga of Sri Aurobindo and His immortal epic, 'Savitri' and a worshipper of Mahakali and Siva. Blog Name Range_Infinite

Uniting annai bhaktans from all over the world

Annai Mira Alfassa - The Mother Sunday, January 13, 2008

About The Mother
Early yearsMirra Alfassa (Paris 21.2.1878 - Pondicherry 17.11.73) was born as the second child of an Egyptian mother and a Turkish father, a few months after her parents had settled in France. An extraordinarily gifted child, who became an accomplished painter and musician, she had many inner experiences from early childhood on. In her twenties she studied occultism in Algeria with Max Theon and his English wife Alma, who was a highly developed medium. After her return to Paris, the Mother worked with several different groups of spiritual seekers.
Meeting Sri Aurobindo

She first heard of Sri Aurobindo from her friend Alexandra David-Neel, who had visited him in Pondicherry in 1912; and in 1914, along with her second husband Paul Richard, she was able to travel to Pondicherry and meet him in person. There, she immediately recognised him as a mentor she had encountered in earlier visions, and knew that her future work was at his side. Although she had to leave India after the outbreak of the First World War, first returning to France, and then accompanying Richard to an official post in Japan, in April 1920 she returned to join Sri Aurobindo in Pondicherry and never left again. Sri Aurobindo recognised in her an embodiment of the dynamic expressive aspect of evolutionary, creative Force, in India traditionally known and approached as the 'Supreme Mother'.
Sri Aurobindo Ashram and Auroville

It was the Mother, as Sri Aurobindo's 'Shakti', who organised the growing group of followers around him into the Sri Aurobindo Ashram from November 1926 onwards, and who in 1952, after his passing in 1950, created the Sri Aurobindo International Centre of Education to fulfil his wish to provide a new kind of education for Indian youth. In 1968 she founded the international township project of Auroville as a yet wider field for practical attempts to implement Sri Aurobindo's vision of new forms of individual and collective life, preparing the way towards a brighter future for the whole earth."Humanity is not the last rung of the terrestrial creation. Evolution continues and man will be surpassed. It is for each individual to know whether he wants to participate in the advent of this new species."
"For those who are satisfied with the world as it is, Auroville obviously has no reason to exist."The Mother, 1966
Consciousness beyond Mind

Both Sri Aurobindo and The Mother worked all their lives for the manifestation of a mode of consciousness beyond mind, which Sri Aurobindo named "Supermind" or "The Supramental". The full expression of this consciousness on earth would result not only in a new species, as far beyond Man as humanity is beyond the animals, but also in a modification of the whole terrestrial creation, even more complete than the change brought about by the entrance on the world scene of the human race.Between humanity and the fully Supramental species there would have to be one or several transitional steps, represented by transitional beings, born in the human way, but able to contact and express the higher consciousness. These transitional beings would prepare the way for the advent of the Supramental Race by establishing suitable conditions.
Transformation

After Sri Aurobindo's passing, the Mother continued his work of psychological and physical transformation with the help of the new force. An account of her experiences in the course of this work is given in The Mothers Agenda, an intimate record of the last 18 years of her life.Their work continues.
posted by Ramakrishnan at 9:45 PM 0 comments links to this post

Orkut- Annai Mira Alfassa Community

"This is for all the Annai believers like me. This is the place to share your experiences about the Miracles the mother has brought into your life."

This is what the introduction of the community reads. A community fast growing, uniting annai bhaktans from all over the world. Its new additions include new links to Annai Songs, blogs etc. and it is aiming to reach a member count of over 1000. Looking at the way it has been growing, one is sure that the aim would be achieved very soon.
posted by Ramakrishnan at 9:36 PM 0 comments links to this post
Tuesday, April 04, 2006


"Without God's blessings, NOTHING is possible"
I credit all my achievements, all my success to God, to Annai Mira Alfassa. It is my faith in her that has brought me all my success.
She is the Greatest of them all. One experiences this when one has Faith in god, faith in Annai Mira Alfassa. One feels peace,happiness and much more both Inside and Outside. If you haven't felt that, the time has come for you to feel that.
There are many websites which have information about Annai Mira Alfassa. Some of them are :
http://www.mirapuri-enterprises.com
http://www.auroville.org/vision/ma.htm
If you haven't been on the right path yet , the time has come for you to be where you deserve to be. You deserve to be successful. You deserve to be happy. You deserve to be on the "RIGHT PATH". You deserve to be "BLESSED". All your Sins shall be washed away.
God will indeed bless you , Annai Mira Alfassa will indeed bless you. From now on, you will achieve success and only success. You will be Blessed and Blessed on.
" ANNAI MIRA ALFASSA WILL BLESS YOU AND SO WILL GOD"
"Count your blessings name them Two by Two,
Count your blessings name them Four by Four,
Count your blessings name them Score by Score,
And you would be surprised there are MILLIONS more."
Lets Join our hands together to create a beautiful world.
I WOULD LOVE TO HERE YOUR COMMENTS AND THE CHANGES YOU FELT PERSONALLY AFTER READING THIS ARTICLE. YOU CAN ALSO POST YOUR VIEWS HERE.
I am her follower, I have been her follower and I shall always be her follower.
posted by Ramakrishnan at 9:53 PM 4 comments links to this post

Surrender, Self-offering and Consecration

the mother · IN SEARCH OF THE MOTHER
Messages Nectar of Light 12th January 2008
Nectar of Light 12th January 2008
NECTAR OF LIGHT 11th January 2008 On the margin of great immaterial planes, In kingdoms of an untrammelled glory of force, Where Mind is master of the life and...
Gopalgbathani
Jan 12, 2008 1:24 am
620
Mother & Aurobindo Picture");
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Mother & Aurobindo Picture
Mother & Aurobindo Picture
Hi everyone, I came across a picture of Mother and Aurobindo which I am enclosing. You can see Mother wearing a crown having the symbol which is a combination...
cs venkateswaranindianaapple
Jan 12, 2008 1:23 am
619
Surrender, Self-offering and Consecration");
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Surrender, Self-offering and Consecration
Surrender, Self-offering and Consecration
Surrender, Self-offering and Consecration Surrender is the decision taken to hand over the responsibility of your life to the Divine. Without this decision...
insearchofinfiniteinsearchofin...
Jan 12, 2008 1:23 am
618
The Mother's Agenda");
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The Mother's Agenda
The Mother's Agenda
July 21, 1958 Human beings don't know how to keep energy. When something happens - an accident or an illness, for example - and they ask for help, a double or...
insearchofinfiniteinsearchofin...
Jan 12, 2008 1:23 am
617
Nectar of Light 11th January 2008");
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Nectar of Light 11th January 2008
Nectar of Light 11th January 2008
NECTAR OF LIGHT 11th January 2008 Thought lay down in a mighty voicelessness; The toiling Thinker widened and grew still, Wisdom transcendent touched his...
Gopalgbathani
Jan 11, 2008 8:26 am
616
Message of The Mother");
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Message of The Mother
Message of The Mother
What I see is the world of tomorrow,but the world of yesterday is stil alive and will still live for some time.Let the old arrangements go on so long as they...
sareeta_patra
Jan 11, 2008 8:26 am
615
The Mother's Agenda");
// -->
The Mother's Agenda
The Mother's Agenda
July 21, 1958 Human beings don't know how to keep energy. When something happens - an accident or an illness, for example - and they ask for help, a double or...
insearchofinfiniteinsearchofin...
Jan 11, 2008 8:26 am
614
Fwd: For the grace of the Divine Mother is the sanction of the Supre");
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Fwd: For the grace of the Divine Mother is the sanction of the Supre
Fwd: For the grace of the Divine Mother is the sanction of the Supre
Note: forwarded message attached. ____________________________________________________________________________________ Never miss a thing. Make Yahoo...
Kannapiran Vhi_kans
Jan 10, 2008 6:41 am
613
Nectar of Light 10th January 2008");
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Nectar of Light 10th January 2008
Nectar of Light 10th January 2008
NECTAR OF LIGHT 10th January 2008 There knowing herself by her own termless self, Wisdom supernal, wordless, absolute Sat uncompanioned in the eternal Calm, ...
Gopalgbathani
Jan 10, 2008 6:37 am
612
The Mother's Agenda");
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The Mother's Agenda
The Mother's Agenda
July 1958 To do this Yoga, one must have at least some sense of beauty. Without it, one lacks one of the most important aspects of the physical world. There is...
insearchofthemotherinsearchofth...
Jan 10, 2008 12:25 am
611
Victory over Falsehood");
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Victory over Falsehood
Victory over Falsehood
Victory over Falsehood The lords of Falsehood hold, at present, almost complete sway over poor humanity. Not only the lower life-energy, the lower vital being,...
insearchofinfiniteinsearchofin...
Jan 9, 2008 1:06 am
610
The Mother's Agenda");
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The Mother's Agenda
The Mother's Agenda
June 22, 1958 Do not ask questions about the details of the material existence of this body: they are in themselves of no interest and must not attract...
insearchofinfiniteinsearchofin...
Jan 9, 2008 1:06 am
609
Nectar of Light 9th January 2008");
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Nectar of Light 9th January 2008
Nectar of Light 9th January 2008
NECTAR OF LIGHT 8th January 2008 Happy are men anchored on fixed belief In this uncertain and ambiguous world, Or who have planted in the heart's rich soil One...
Gopalgbathani
Jan 9, 2008 1:06 am
608
Nectar of Light 8th January 2008");
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Nectar of Light 8th January 2008
Nectar of Light 8th January 2008
NECTAR OF LIGHT 8th January 2008 There comes no close to the finite's boundlessness, There is no last certitude in which thought can pause And no terminus to...
Gopalgbathani
Jan 8, 2008 12:44 pm
607
Man");
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Man
Man
Man The Shastras use the same word for man and the one divine and universal Being—Purusha—as if to lay stress upon the oneness of humanity with God. Nara...
insearchofinfiniteinsearchofin...
Jan 8, 2008 5:44 am
606
The Mother's Agenda");
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The Mother's Agenda
The Mother's Agenda
June 1958 (?) We are preparing upon earth the connecting-point, that point of communication and junction between the mental and terrestrial human consciousness...
insearchofinfiniteinsearchofin...
Jan 8, 2008 5:44 am
605
Re: Three typical modes of total self-giving to the Divine");
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Re: Three typical modes of total self-giving to the Divine
Re: Three typical modes of total self-giving to the Divine
dear children of MOTHER, actualy i tried the second method for a while found it to be very effective; it was really wonderfull it gave me even some types of...
gopalakrishnan eagopalakrishn...
Jan 8, 2008 5:43 am
604
Nectar of Light 7th January 2008");
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Nectar of Light 7th January 2008
Nectar of Light 7th January 2008
NECTAR OF LIGHT 7th January 2008 He saw the splendour of the spirit's realms, The greatness and wonder of its boundless works, The power and passion leaping...
Gopalgbathani
Jan 7, 2008 1:19 am
603
Three typical modes of total self-giving to the Divine");
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Three typical modes of total self-giving to the Divine
Three typical modes of total self-giving to the Divine
Three typical modes of total self-giving to the Divine 1) To prostrate oneself at His feet, giving up all pride in perfect humility. 2) To unfold one's being...
insearchofinfiniteinsearchofin...
Jan 7, 2008 1:19 am
602
The Mother's Agenda");
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The Mother's Agenda
The Mother's Agenda
June 1958 (At the time of publishing the following conversation of March 19, 1958, in the Ashram 'Bulletin,' Mother added certain commentaries that have a...
insearchofinfiniteinsearchofin...
Jan 7, 2008 1:19 am
601
Re: The Principle of Evil");
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Re: The Principle of Evil
Re: The Principle of Evil
simply gr8. it was a timely one for me. this is the real power of masters like SRI AUROBINDO & DIVINE MOTHER to help their disciples in right time by right...
gopalakrishnan eagopalakrishn...
Jan 7, 2008 1:19 am
600
Nectar of Light 6th January 2008");
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Nectar of Light 6th January 2008
Nectar of Light 6th January 2008
NECTAR OF LIGHT 6th January 2008 Along a road of pure interior light, Alone between tremendous Presences, Under the watching eyes of nameless Gods, His soul...
Gopalgbathani
Jan 6, 2008 5:07 am
599
The Principle of Evil");
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The Principle of Evil
The Principle of Evil
The problem of evil is one that has taxed human thought and evolved various and conflicting solutions. To the rationalist who does not believe in anything not...
insearchofinfiniteinsearchofin...
Jan 6, 2008 5:07 am
598
The Mother's Agenda");
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The Mother's Agenda
The Mother's Agenda
June 6, 1958 It's all the same thing, but the word realization can be reserved for something that is durable, that does not wear off. Because everything on...
insearchofinfiniteinsearchofin...
Jan 6, 2008 5:07 am
597
Hymn To Durga");
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Hymn To Durga
Hymn To Durga
HYMN TO DURGA by Sri Aurobindo Mother Durga! Rider on the lion, giver of all strength, Mother, beloved of Shiva! We, born from thy parts of Power, we the youth...
insearchofinfiniteinsearchofin...
Jan 5, 2008 8:11 am
596
Nectar of Light 5th January 2008");
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Nectar of Light 5th January 2008
Nectar of Light 5th January 2008
NECTAR OF LIGHT 5th January 2008 Immutable in rhythmic calm and joy He saw, sovereignly free in limitless light, The unfallen planes, the thought-created...
Gopalgbathani
Jan 5, 2008 8:11 am
595
The Mother's Agenda");
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The Mother's Agenda
The Mother's Agenda
May 30, 1958 (On Hostile Forces) I have noticed that in at least ninety-nine cases out of a hundred, it is an excuse people give to themselves. I have seen...
insearchofinfiniteinsearchofin...
Jan 5, 2008 8:11 am
594
The Greater Plan");
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The Greater Plan
The Greater Plan
The Greater Plan I am held no more by life's alluring cry, Her joy and grief, her charm, her laughter's lute. Hushed are the magic moments of the flute, And...
insearchofinfiniteinsearchofin...
Jan 4, 2008 1:22 am
593
FW: New Year e-card & Next Future update");
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FW: New Year e-card & Next Future update
FW: New Year e-card & Next Future update
... Subject: New Year e-card & Next Future update Date: Thu, 3 Jan 2008 5:43:56 From: vijay To: Gopal. B. Athani...
Gopal. B. Athanigbathani
Jan 4, 2008 1:22 am
592
Nectar Of Light 4th January 2008");
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Nectar Of Light 4th January 2008
Nectar Of Light 4th January 2008
NECTAR OF LIGHT 4th January 2008 A force demoniac lurking in man's depths That heaves suppressed by the heart's human law, Awed by the calm and sovereign eyes...
Gopalgbathani
Jan 4, 2008 1:22 am

Mr. Madan would make Sri Aurobindo's complex philosophy so simple!

Meeting Mr. Madan - A Teacher of the Old School Variety July 24, 2006 Shantanu Dutta

It was in class IX that I knew failure formally for the first time. That year, my school not only decided that, on the basis of my academics, I did not deserve to be promoted but also expelled me from the school for a year. Not formally expelled, but my father was called and told that the school would be happy to provide me a Transfer Certificate. I was not shown the door by the school for anything complicated - it was just that I had violated school discipline. That was true.
Most of my class VIII and class IX, I hardly attended school. During school hours three days a week, I would walk down the Qutub Minar about three km away and act as an unofficial "tourist guide". Two days a week, I would be in class in a futile effort to keep track of what was going on. School was incredibly boring but I had modest success as a guide. But somehow I passed class VIII.
After learning the ropes for about three months in class VIII, I launched out on my own. I had observed that most people preferred the unofficial guides to the official ones who would wait for a large enough group to gather, demand larger tips and would still be boring. The unofficial ones like me would be more flexible both in the size of the groups and the size of the tips. Blessed with a glib tongue, a love for history and a fertile imagination, I did well.
Imagination is important in a guide as since the basic historical facts are essentially dry, lots of fanciful embellishment is required to make the tour palatable to the tourist. As regards Qutub Minar, I knew all the official history as well as a lot of the unofficial one that an off beat historian P.N. Oak had written about. On an average, I made about Rs. 20 a day which paid for a good lunch in a shack outside the Qutub and my bus fare home (60 paisa that time). Some times, I would come back to the school, clamber over the wall and take the school bus back. I had hidden a change of clothes in a dry drain outside the school wall.
After the expulsion, my father was at his wit's end. He took me around to a couple of schools which didn't work out and then he decided to put me in a Bengali medium school. Regional language schools were then as now generally considered down market but I guess that my father was left with little options. Most schools were curious to know the reasons of my wanting to shift schools and the fact that in had failed in class IX did not help.
The final snub came when the Bengali medium school conducted an entrance test which I flunked and the principal called my father in and told him that they might be running a Bengali medium school but even they had some standards. Left with no alternative, my father decided to go back to my old school and plead for another chance. It was then that I met Mr. Madan.

Mr. Madan wasn't the principal. He use to sit in an office labeled "Registrar". I didn't know who a registrar was. The word sounded like register and those who maintained registers were clerks and so I thought that Mr. Madan must be a clerk - even if a clerk with a room to himself. I didn't know why my father was wasting time with a clerk when he ought to be meeting the principal. My father and he spent a lot of time together and then I was called into Mr. Madan's office where he told me that I was being taken in and being given a second chance.
Shortly thereafter, the existing principal left and Mr. Madan became principal. Among his jobs as Principal was to lead the school assembly. Many incumbents would go through the motions but not Mr. Madan. He effortlessly and beatifically would look forward to this time and would take the mike to talk to students about the life and teachings of Sri Aurobindo. He would make Aurobindo's complex philosophy so simple!
He would talk about Aurobindo's conversion in the Alipur Jail in Kolkata - where he saw God in every prison bar, warden and fellow prisoner and later in the court room in the faces of the judge, the prosecution and his counsel, C.R. Das; how after his acquittal, he gave up revolutionary politics or any kind of politics and devoted himself to yoga and how his book "Savitri" is only the second epic in English after Milton's Paradise Lost. Sometimes he would invite outside speakers and they would speak long and some classes would get cancelled.

Mr. Madan taught us English Literature. He taught Shakespeare. He taught Shelly. He taught Thomas Grey. And most importantly through all this he taught us life. When he taught us Thomas Grey's "Elegy Written in a Country Churchyard..." he taught us to dream big dreams even if they did not always happen and would end like dreams buried in Grey's country churchyard. When he taught Merchant of Venice, he did not just teach Antonio, Portia and Shylock, he also taught compassion, mercy, justice and their relative place in life. He made us memorize Portia"s famous speech "The quality of mercy is not strained" to emphasize that though justice was important, mercy and compassion overrode every thing. He did not just preach that. He lived that. He picked up a student who had been expelled and took him and back and never let him feel that he had done a favor. In English literature, I always seemed to get the highest marks. Was it because I loved the subject and the way it was taught or I really deserved them, I never knew.
Mr. Madan never used grand words and I never heard him say that he was "called" but it was in his life that I first understood the word "vocation". He was not a teacher because he was paid to teach. He was a teacher because he had a vocation to teach. He did not teach a subject, he taught people and they bloomed and blossomed in his care and nurture. Though he taught only one subject and that was not Physics, or Chemistry or some thing like that, he put a spark in his English lessons that their ripples carried far and away. Mr. Madan taught us a book by James Hilton called Goodbye Mr. Chips. Those who have read the book will know what it is about. There are films with a similar theme like To Sir With Love and even a Hindi film called Sir.
I haven't seen the films. I have read the book though. But I can't read the book too many times without the tears brimming. For I have my own Mr. Chips. Mr. Madan - my one time principal and forever my teacher.
I wonder where he is today.

Shantanu Dutta is a doctor by training and a development professional by vocation. His blogs mostly deal with change, complexity and conversion. Most of of what he writes is guided by the axiom WWJD - How would Jesus understand, interpret and write about the situation.

I met The Mother of Sri Aurobindo Ashram

I believe in rebirth after death. So when I was compelled to live in Baranagar, in Calcutta, I found myself living in another world. Calcutta was a contrast to Ranchi. Calcutta appeared to me ugly and rough and if the city lacked the one most important thing of life, it was delight of mere existence. Perhaps I had to experience two lives in a single birth. I could never compromise with my life after coming from Ranchi. I felt myself most unfortunate man – a man who had lost his birth place - his motherland.

Long-long after this when I began to gather myself I met the Mother of Sri Aurobindo Ashram. And I again felt the delight in a person. He was Sachindranath Chatterjee of Sri Aurobindo Ashram. He belongs to another tale. So from Sri Ramakrishna to Sri Aurobindo I have had the experiences of more than one birth. But it is a single being and all is merged as a single feeling as the innumerable stars in the sky above and the chirping of the crickets below are caught in the single experience of silence. I am unmoved in it. Posted by Debabrata Ghosh at 20:00:00

Swami Vidyanand continues to teach yoga at Sri Aurobindo Society, Adchini, Delhi

Sunday, December 30, 2007 Advisory Board of Yoga Alliance Swami Vidyanand (India) Founder - President of Yoga Alliance International Honorary President of World Yoga Council of International Yoga Federation 2008-2010 President of Asia Yoga Alliance, President of Yoga Alliance of India.

Swami Vidyanand mastered yoga in the traditional Indian yogic way, through apprenticeships under enlightened yoga masters in India and anonymous ascetics in the Himalayas. Swamiji is inspired by the Integral Yoga of Sri Aurobindo The Mother and was developed when he taught yoga for more than a decade at the Sri Aurobindo Society, Adchini, Delhi, where he continues to teach. Posted by World Yoga Parliament at 7:51 PM

Just replace the word "Savitri" with the word "Mother"

Savitri By Sri Aurobindo Friday, December 28, 2007 [Savitri] The Growth of the Flame by Joydip Chakladar

A key to a Light still kept in being's cave,

The sun-word of an ancient mystery's sense,

Her name ran murmuring on the lips of men

Exalted and sweet like an inspired verse

Struck from the epic lyre of rumour's winds

Or sung like a chanted thought by the poet Fame.

But like a sacred symbol's was that cult.

The quality of experience, of Savitri, in the Human world, becomes richer and richer. And so becomes the subtle use of words. The poetic beauty and the musical rhythm, of this metre, can very well stand, the test of time. Even if Savitri, didn't had any spiritual significance, and mantric powers, which is not the case anyways. The poetry and the musical rhythm, which goes by each metre, could put it, into the category, of the best poetry, ever written on human understandable languages.

I am not basing the inherent logic, of the above statement, on the framework of my belief system towards Sri Aurobindo and Mother. But, being very objective and dispassionate , and with the comparative studies, on different other forms of literary expression, of spiritual experience, I could pretty well say, that lot of the spiritual experience, which have been talked in Savitri, are never been talked in any spiritual literature, till now, as far as I have read. And my reading list, was quite comprehensive, which includes all spiritual literatures, related to early Indian and Chinese traditions, obviously not excluding the western counterparts.

This metre, is also an example of new line of spiritual experience, with a comprehensive manifestation and judicious use of semantics, carrying a very subtle message. The opening line talks about a mystical light which is still now invisible and staying on the 'being's' cave. From there the metre continues, to create new grades of mystery. There is also judicious of the word 'Sun-word'. The 'Sun-word’, or the mantra of the sun, is a very fundamental stuff, for all the civilisation, which existed in earth upto this extent. It is very pervasive, to our existent in earth.

And in this context, author, takes us to the mystical significance of the word "Savitri" who seems to be the daughter of 'Sun-god'. He shows us that how even "Savitri" name is also like an inspired verse which goes on murmuring on the lips of man. And it takes a shape of Sacred symbol, for all of them. The name itself gives the magical solution for a wide range of situation. Now, you might think, that it is just a beautiful poetic description with a high degree of musical rhythm. But wait. Sri Aurobindo, has always more to say, that what we could understand from our thought process.

Just replace the word "Savitri" with the word "Mother". And you can see, he is talking a phenomenon, which is already there among us. For us the name of "Mother", is a magical solution, which could drive away a lot of problem, from our life. It is an inspired verse which keeps us murmuring on the lips of all devotees. Mother, herself described a vision, before her death where he could see, how people from all over the world by uttering her name only, are getting all kinds of spiritual support, they want in their life. She was earlier, little concerned about how the things will be carried on, after her. But, after that, her all concern was gone, and she was very confident, that things should carry on, even if she was not there.

Now after describing this we have only ended with the symbolic portion of the metre. But we have, not really contemplated on the more deeper and subtler message, he is throwing light into. Under this poetic, rhythmic and symbolic metre there is an important message which is carefully wrapped up. That message says, about an ancient yogic process which is known as 'Nam-Japa'. 'Nam-Japa' is a process by which a person attains higher state of spiritual experience by uttering the name which he loves. And that name, becomes a sacred symbol to that person. This doesn't end there. There are more subtler messages which are there which itself will make a book, and, might not be a good idea to discuss on the mailing list.

The message of this metre and all the metres have different levels. The depth of the levels are revealed according to psychological makeup of reader. And the meaning can expand more and more, we go back to the same passage, and read again and again. In fact, Savitri is the knowledge of universe in a compact form. Spread the word del.icio.us Digg Furl Reddit Ask BlinkList blogmarks Google Ma.gnolia Netscape RawSugar Rojo Shadows Simpy Socializer Spurl StumbleUpon Tailrank Technorati Windows Live Wists Yahoo! Help Posted by Joydip Chakladar at 10:53 PM Labels: Growth of Individual soul