Amal-kiran (KD Sethna) is now 104 with a glowing personality

Amal-kiran—the Fire-Worshipper RY Deshpande rydesh@gmail.com Mirror of Tomorrow

This article was written to celebrate the birth centenary of Amal-kiran (KD Sethna) who is now 104 with a glowing personality as if some wise God of ancient Greece took birth to offer himself to Sri Aurobindo and the Mother. A versatile genius he may be—and he is—but what is most appealing to us about him is his soul given to the pursuit of things of the spirit, pursuit with an intuitivised intellect and with the psychic not only in his heart but also bold and bright on the face. There is much yet we have to appreciate about him, much to learn from him.

Narendra Kishor Das, Lalit Mohan Ghosh, Nimain Charan Mohapatra, & Gobinda Tej

Friday, September 01, 2006 Orissa: 1948-1968

Although the first Sri Aurobindo Study Circle began in Rairangpur of Mayurbhanj District in 1948, the movement grew gradually from 1960. In Cuttack, weekly Pathachakra sessions were conducted in the residences of Narendra Kishor Das (Naribabu) and Lalit Mohan Ghosh. Around the same time, Nimain Charan Mohapatra started a Study Circle in the Railway colony of Retang in Jatni. He also organized the first State level Conference there. Later in 1964, Gobinda Tej on behalf of the Sri Aurobindo Society held a Conference from April 4-7 in the Barabati Stadium. The next Conference took place in 1968.

Prasad Tripathy, THE MATRUBHABAN PATRA, AUGUST 2006 Editor : Gadadhar Mishra, Matrubhaban, Sri Aurobindo Marg, Cuttack - 753013 E.mail - ctk_matrubha@sancharnet.in Please visit us : matrubhaban.com
Posted by Tusar N Mohapatra at 1:59 PM

Suffering on the cross or in a solitary cell in the jail

Savitri: the Light of the Supreme Home Mirror of Tomorrow Main Page Previous: The Cross their Payment for the Crown they Gave (C)—Sri Aurobindo Narrates his Prison Life
The Cross their Payment for the Crown they Gave (C)—Sri Aurobindo Narrates his Vasudeva Experience in the Jail: Uttarpara Speech
by RY Deshpande on Thu 23 Apr 2009 05:00 AM IST Permanent Link Cosmos

After his acquittal in the Alipore Bomb Case on 6 May 1909 Sri Aurobindo was given an emotional reception at Uttarpara on 30 May 1909. This historical event should mark an important landmark not only in his life but also of the country for whose freedom and for whose values and ideals he spared no effort and did as an assigned task coming from the divine Instructor whom he obeyed implicitly, obeyed even at his personal risk of serious nature. In his speech at Uttarpara Sri Aurobindo disclosed some of the self-transforming and world-transforming things that had happened during the one-year period of incarceration. The speech was first published in his weekly Karmayogin, June 1909.

Sometime during this incarceration he wrote a remarkable poem inviting those who heard the call of the country to join him even if that should entail hardship. Against him were beating the wind and the storm, even as he was sporting with solitude and had made misadventure a friend; it is under these countries that the challenge was thrown to the brave and the upright. He declared himself to be the Spirit of freedom and pride and only they who could be kinsmen to danger could join him and walk by his side. Only those souls who are full of wisdom and strength, the brahmateja and kshātrateja, will be in a position to accept this remarkable invitation, invitation for the righteous conduct of life even in its difficult and trying circumstance.

But why should the great suffer? Or is their suffering only an outward thing, for show to the trusting? Is there any real content in it? In other words, do they really have pain and grief and ache, the agony of harrowing experience? This will be a ridiculous question when one knows in every detail the crucifixion of Christ. Sri Aurobindo himself wrote in a letter to his brother Barin about the severe and painful work he was engaged in. In another context he answered Nirodbaran about these matters as follows:

“The Divine does not need to suffer or struggle for himself: if he takes on these things it is in order to bear the world-burden and help the world and men; and if the suffering and struggles are to be of any help, they must be real. A sham or falsehood cannot help. They must be as real as the struggles and sufferings of men themselves—the Divine bears them and at the same time shows the way out of them. Otherwise his assumption of human nature has no meaning and no utility and no value. It is strange that you cannot understand or refuse to admit so simple and crucial a point. What is the use of admitting Avatarhood if you take all the meaning out of it?” [Correspondence with Sri Aurobindo by Nirodbaran, p. 175]

Perhaps suffering on the cross or in a solitary cell in the jail are much smaller aspects than the inner wounds they have to bear. Who has any idea about them? None. But let us first read the speech Sri Aurobindo gave at Uttarpara on 30 May 1909.

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Sri Aurobindo's photograph by auroman
Re: Re: The Mortal's Lot became the Immortal's Share by RY Deshpande
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Re: The Mortal's Lot became the Immortal's Share by Tusar N. Mohapatra
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Re: The Embodied Guest within Made no Response [4] by auroman
Re: The Embodied Guest within Made no Response [4] by auroman
Re: A Shrine for the God of Love by Joan Price

The indignity, the ignominy that is there in the human life

Savitri: the Light of the Supreme Home Mirror of Tomorrow Main Page Previous: Hard is it to Persuade Earth-Nature's Change
The Mortal's Lot became the Immortal's Share
by RY Deshpande on Sat 18 Apr 2009 04:53 AM IST Permanent Link Cosmos

To live with grief, to confront death on her road,—
The mortal’s lot became the Immortal’s share.
(Savitri, p. 7)

Savitri coming as an incarnation means she accepting the mortal’s lot, the indignity, the ignominy that is there in the human life. The Immortal has consented to share, the lot, the plight of the suffering soul, all the uncertainties that fill this creature’s daily life. In a way it is as if thus alone could she rise to a yet higher state of immortality. Indeed, if the gods wish to rise to higher worlds they must come down and take a human birth. Progress is here, and this beautiful birth though downhearted and full of misfortune and affliction is the Creator’s wonderful boon given to heighten the soul in the glory, in the possibilities of the widening manifestation. This is what the Vishnu Purana says: gods come here to make progress, the progress is here and nowhere else. This is what Sri Aurobindo and the Mother have said a number of times. But most of the gods are happy with their lot. Perhaps they can afford to be so; perhaps they do not wish to undergo the travail that is associated with this life of the mortal. But we are tied to this condition, to this state of things; in fact by that very token we will not be allowed to remain where we are.

“The gods,” says the Mother, “do not have within them the divine spark which is the core of the psychic, because only on earth—I am not even speaking of the material universe—only on earth did this descent of divine Love took place, which was the origin of the divine Presence in the core of Matter. And naturally, since they have no psychic being, they do not know the psychic being. Some of these beings have even wanted to take a physical body so as to have experience of the psychic being—but not many of them. As a rule, they did it not only partially, through an ‘emanation’, not a total descent. For example, Vivekananda is said to have been an incarnation—a Vibhuti—of Shiva; but Shiva himself has clearly expressed his will to come down on earth only with the supramental world. When the earth is ready for the supramental life, he will come. And almost all these beings will manifest—they are waiting for that moment, they do not want any of the present struggle and the obscurity… None of these gods has a psychic being. It is only by coming down and uniting with the psychic being of a man that they can have one, but they have none themselves.” (12 January 1965)

Is Shiva going to miss something by opting to come down on earth only with the advent of the supramental, coming down only after the arrival of that world? By not participating in the present process is he going to miss the joy, the experience, the realization of the evolutionary being in his march towards the supramental life, the life of the earth turning into the divine life? Possibly so,—for the simple reason that the Mother had at all made such a suggestion to him.

And then, in contrast to this, the Mother says something interesting about her experience with Durga: “…I was in touch with her during my meditations upstairs, and this new power in the body was in me then as it is in me now, and… (how to put it?) I made her participate in the concept of surrender. What an experience she had! An extraordinary experience of the joy of being connected with That. And she declared, ‘From now on I am bhakta of the Lord.’ It was beautiful. Truly… truly, it was beautiful. I knew how it was with her because I remember the days when Sri Aurobindo was here and I used to go downstairs to give meditations to the people assembled in the hall. There’s a ledge above the pillars there, where all the gods used to sit—Shiva, Krishna, Lakshmi, the Trimurti, all of them—the little ones, the big ones, they all used to come regularly, every day, to attend these meditations. It was a lovely sight. But they didn’t have this kind of adoration for the Supreme. They had no use for that concept—each one, in his own mode of being, was fully aware of his own eternal divinity; and each one knew as well that he could represent all the others (such was the basis of popular worship, and they knew it). They felt they were a kind of community, but they had none of those qualities that the psychic life gives: no deep love, no deep sympathy, no sense of union. They had the sense of only their OWN divinity. They had certain very particular movements, but not this adoration for the Supreme nor the feeling of being instruments: they felt they were representing the Supreme, and so each one was perfectly satisfied with his particular representation. Except for Krishna…” (2 August 1961)

And for Savitri, who accepted to pass through the portals of the birth that is a death. She came here to do the Lord’s work. When the Mother was asked (on 19 February 1969) if the gods can help the work of transformation, she replied: “It is too soon to put such a question.” What chance then for techno-capitalism and our ideas of post-human destinies? What chance for the human potential? Perhaps nigh none.

Savitri came to live with grief; she came to confront death; she bore the mortal’s lot. Gods and Goddesses don’t do that; they wish also not to do that; they “do not want any of the present struggle and the obscurity”. It is one Savitri who can do it and she does it—because such is the command of the Lord to her. She has with her the unfailing Mantra of Surrender to the Lord and it is that alone which can accomplish the great miracle of transformation. She has found it, that Mantra with its efficacy in the deathful circumstance prevailing here. Gods and Goddesses perhaps do not even have the knowledge of it. In the process, to redeem in its greatness the creation, Savitri is willing to undergo all the misery and suffering. She has faith and she has utter confidence that things here will change. That is the faith born in the power of the Mantra, the Mantra of complete surrender to the Lord, to do things in his will alone.

The Mother’s prayer is such a happy splendid assurance: “What are these powerful gods whose hour of manifestation upon earth has come, if not the varied and perfected modes of Thy infinite activity, O Thou Master of all things, Being and Non-Being and What is beyond, Marvellous Unknowable One, our sovereign Lord?... What are these manifold brilliant intellectual activities, these countless sunbeams illumining, conceiving and fashioning all forms, if not one of the modes of being of Thy infinite Will, one of the means of Thy manifestation, O Thou Master of our destinies, sole unthinkable Reality, sovereign Lord of all that is and all that is not yet… And all these mental powers, all these vital energies, and all these material elements, what are they if not Thyself in Thy outermost form, Thy ultimate modes of expression, of realisation, O Thou whom we adore devotedly and who escapest us on every side even while penetrating, animating and guiding us, Thou whom we cannot understand or define or name, Thou whom we cannot seize or embrace or conceive, and who art yet realised in our smallest acts… And all this enormous universe is only an atom of Thy eternal Will. In the immensity of Thy effective Presence all things blossom!” (August 2, 1914)

But what else are these manifold brilliant intellectual activities if not one of the modes of being of the Infinite’s Will? In it is the place for our thought, for our philosophy, for our sciences and arts, for all the thousand human occupations that make a wider and brighter and nobler place for the Lord’s habitation. If human endeavour has a justification in shaping the destinies, it is here. The mortal’s lot then becomes the Immortal’s glad acceptable share. That is the joy of participation which is, indeed, also such a marvellous gift given to us. Should we not be thankful for it? Which means, should we not grow in it? Man’s manhood lies in it, in that superb greatness.

Re: The Mortal's Lot became the Immortal's Share by Tusar N. Mohapatra on Sat 18 Apr 2009 10:32 AM IST Profile Permanent Link [“It is too soon to put such a question.” - The Mother (19 February 1969)]
But question we must. [TNM] Reply

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The Mortal's Lot became the Immortal's Share
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That Heaven might Native Grow on Mortal Soil
The Embodied Guest within Made no Response [5]
The Embodied Guest within Made no Response [4]
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Re: Re: The Embodied Guest within Made no Response [4] by RY Deshpande
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Categories Photos Month Archive April 2009 March 2009 February 2009 January 2009 December 2008 Year Archive 20092008

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Re: The Core Problem Rick Thu 19 Mar 2009 02:24 PM PDT I am personally interested in the problem: How do we build a bridge between a more open, less reductive viewpoint, and the materialist view with its exclusive faith in reason—and that being mostly the reason of the physical mind. There seems to be some gap, some lack of linkage, that we haven’t got to, some bridges we need to build or, at least, add to a portion of the spans that already exist.

It’s not a matter of proselytizing towards some religion, but of opening a way so that the human mind, really the whole human being, can link up, and more effectively connect, with a more conscious way of knowing and experiencing. Dr. Nadkarni worked in this field and we need to continue to do so. AntiMatters journal, the SCIY website, and the publication of works attempting to engage with the academic mind, for example, are a step in that direction. So many blocks stand in the way; to remove those blocks is an authentic need. Rick Thu 19 Mar 2009 02:24 PM PDT Re: The Core Problem

Seekers must qualify themselves

Mirror of Tomorrow
Home Savitri: the Light of the Supreme Main Page Previous: Towards the Intermediate Race—the Early Writings of Sri Aurobindo [3]
Towards the Intermediate Race—Early Writings: Record of Yoga 1914 [4]
by RY Deshpande on Fri 10 Apr 2009 05:14 AM IST Permanent Link Cosmos

The theme of evolution was central to Sri Aurobindo’s thought almost throughout his life. We have a set of essays written by him in 1909 which first came out in the weekly review the Karmayogin edited by him when he was in Calcutta; this was after his acquittal in the Alipore Bomb Case filed against the revolutionaries, including himself, in 1908. It is quite appropriate that we should read these over again to celebrate the centenary year of their appearance. Along with these three selected pieces, from Harmony of Virtue, must also go the absolutely last set of articles Sri Aurobindo dictated in 1950; this was at the request of the Mother who wished him to contribute to the newly started periodical, the Bulletin of Physical Education. These last writings were later published, in January 1952, in the book entitled The Supramental Manifestation upon Earth.

The most important thing we become aware of in these revelations is the arrival of what Sri Aurobindo called the Mind of Light, the mind of the physical receiving the Supramental. It is this Mind of Light which governs the race of beings who provide a link between the Mental and the Gnostic beings,—the Intermediate Race. If we do see a change in the writings of these two periods, separated by forty years, then it is not a change or shift of any kind in his central concepts related to the principles and methods of evolution, evolution which is more a collective change of consciousness, a change pertaining to spiritual evolution than to the evolution of form.

The difference is due to the great yogic work that had gone towards the realization of the life divine upon earth, the difficult and untiring yoga-tapasya of Sri Aurobindo and the Mother. To view it in any other manner, other than an occult-yogic work, howsoever appealing it might be to the rational mind, is to miss the entire purport of the evolutionary objective itself. One might please oneself with theories and concepts, but that would avail hardly anything if the day’s job is to make the evolutionary possibility a realised certainty. Precisely in it lies the convincing uniqueness of Sri Aurobindo’s vision and work, and it is that we must celebrate during the centenary year, celebrate the first appearance of the theme in 1909.

Belonging to the writings of this early period, we include here a relevant record Sri Aurobindo made in his jottings of yogic experiences, dated March 1914. These jottings or records were more for his personal use than for publication. But these have now been published in book form under the title Record of Yoga. We do not know if Sri Aurobindo meant these to be made public at all, as we understand that the heap of papers containing these details had on top of it a note, marking it as ‘confidential’.

Perhaps the best thing would have been to just keep them as proper archival documents for studies by the interested individual researchers of his works. Which means that, while reading these, we must be extremely careful about the parameters that were associated with them at the time—we should not apply the demanding inflexible criteria of academic or professional scholarship to them, for they do not belong to the mental domain at all; we must only try to enter into the spirit of the occult knowledge they contain. And what a treasure-mine it is, shining with luminous details, containing many a gem of the divine preciousness!

When Sri Aurobindo says, for instance, that the Sun is only a subordinate star of the great Agni, Mahavishnu, in whom is centred the Bhu, the Earth, he is actually talking of knowledge of another world altogether. It will be a sheer travesty of this knowledge, as much as of the knowledge obtained by our present-day science, if we mix them up. One should be extremely careful in reading such details, actually meant for advanced yogi-occultists, and that could well be the reason why Sri Aurobindo might not have approved the publication of his records. It is rather unfortunate that this important perspective is missed in the present publicity given to the Record of Yoga.

All that we can now say is that the Record is meant for the seekers of the occult truth-details and they must qualify themselves before picking them up for study which should be more in the direction of extending the investigation of the occult working of nature, that functioning in this vast domain of space and time, time comprising of its three operative divisions. Let us hope that this will well borne in mind before reference is made to the secrets of Record of Yoga. ~ RYD

Gokhale visited Sri Aurobindo Ashram and paid homage at the samadhis of Sri Aurobindo and the Mother

Madras High Court CJ visits Bharathiar House
Chennai Online - ‎15 hours ago‎ Puducherry, Mar 22:

Chief Justice of Madras High Court Hemant Laxman Gokhale today visited the poet Subramania Bharathiar museum cum research centre here and paid rich tributes at the his portrait.
The museum has been housed in the premises where the poet resided for nearly 11 years during his political asylum in Puducherry in the early part of the 20th century.
Puducherry government pleader in Madras High Court T Murugesan who accompanied the Chief Justice explained to him the various features of the museum and also the chequered career of the nationalist poet.
A video presentation on the life of the poet and his contributions to the literary world and to the freedom movement was displayed.
Earlier the Chief Justice offered worship at the famous shrine of Sri Manakula Vinayakar and also visited Sri Aurobindo Ashram and paid homage at the samadhis of Sri Aurobindo and the Mother.
Chief Justice was scheduled to visit the new court complex and the Auroville international township later in the evening, official sources said. - Agencies Mar 22, 2009

R.Y. Deshpande, a professor, a philosopher and a disciple of Sri Aurobindo lives in Auroville

R. Y. Deshpande
Born April 17, 1931 (1931-04-17) (age 77) India
Pen name RYD
Occupation Scholar, writer, philosopher, and cultural critic
Nationality Indian
Influences [show] Sri Aurobindo, K. D. Sethna

R. Y. Deshpande (born April 17, 1931) a professor, a philosopher and a disciple of Sri Aurobindo lives in Auroville. Deshpande is from Maharashtra. He lectured many times in India and abroad on Sri Aurobindo’s philosophy and vision. By profession, RYD started his career with Bhabha Atomic Research Centre for many years before moving to Pondicherry after retirement. He has headed a number of Atomic Energy and Space Projects in Advance Technology while working for Bhabha Atomic Research Centre. He is also the author of at least 50 scientific research papers in professional journals, and numerous books in poetry and prose. R. Y. Deshpande, Ph.D., was the associate editor of Mother India (journal), at Sri Aurobindo Ashram in Pondicherry.
Contents[hide]
1 Selected work and books
1.1 Selected contributions to nuclear physics
2 References
3 See also
[edit] Selected work and books
Perspectives of Savitri, Published by Aurobharati Trust, 2002
Journal of the Institute of Asian Studies, By Institute of Asian Studies (Madras, India).
Sri Aurobindo and the New Millennium: Reflections and Reviews, Published by Aurobharati Trust, 1999.
Vyasa's Savitri: A Verse-by-Verse Rendering and Some Perspectives, Published by Sri Aurobindo International Centre of Education, 1997. 135 pages.
A journey on The Sunlit Path - A collection of tributes to Nadkarni (Publisher Mirravision Trust, Pondicherry- 605003, India.), 2008.

[edit] Selected contributions to nuclear physics
Nuclear instrumentation methods, 46, 256 (1967) appeared in Semiconductor nuclear-particle detectors and circuits, By Walter Lyons Brown.
Observation of double injection in long p+ pn+ diffused silicon junctions and some related effects', Solid-State Electron, 1966 - adsabs.harvard.edu

[edit] References Books by R. Y. Deshpande
On the Amazon.com
[edit] See also His work in Savitri Bhavan
Currently he is one of the the editors in charge of the blog Mirror of tomorrow .

Categories: Nuclear physicists Indian non-fiction writers Sri Aurobindo People from Maharashtra 1931 births Living people Indian academic biography stubs

Fabrice has formed a network called 'Aurovilian on the Roads'

Aurovilian on the roads Written by Radio Team Friday, 20 March 2009

Today's news includes an interview with Fabrice talking about a network he's formed called 'Aurovilian on the Roads' which enables travelers to connect, worldwide. Also in the news announcements about three musical events: a pop-rock concert with the chance to dance Saturday night 8 p.m. at the Visitors Centre, a jazz concert also at Visitors Centre Sunday night 8 p.m. and a classical Indian sitar concert next Tuesday 8 p.m.at Bharat Nivas. Plus a workshop on the Enneagram's 9 personality types at Verite Saturday and Sunday. To download the news click here > Facebook

Article by Jitendra Lal Bannerji in 1909

Heehs traces “the beginning of the Aurobindo legend” to an article by Jitendra Lal Bannerji in 1909. This has nothing to do with devotees, much less with the Mother, and there is no suggestion that Sri Aurobindo “passively supported” it. Heehs notes that Sri Aurobindo himself “does not seem to have been taken Jitendra Lal’s article too seriously” and “published a letter... that scoffed at Jitendra Lal’s hero-worshipping tone.” (Lives, p. 199)

The Core Problem
by Angiras on Sat 14 Mar 2009 01:09 AM PDT Permanent Link Previous: Review of Lives of Sri Aurobindo: Religious Studies Review

20th century’s greatest avatar

Austria-India harmony Calcutta Telegraph - ‎Mar 12, 2009‎ > March 13 at Sri Aurobindo Bhavan, 8 Shakespeare Sarani; 6.15 pm: A seminar to mark the centenary year of Sri Aurobindo’s public speech at Uttarpara.

State to ban book on Sri Aurobindo Express Buzz - ‎Mar 5, 2009‎ > Heehs, a founder of the Sri Aurobindo Ashram Archives, has allegedly made defamatory comments on the personality of Sri Aurobindo pointing that his claims ...
Orissa Govt. told HC to ban publication of biography on Aurobindo Orissadiary.com State imposes book ban Calcutta Telegraph Biography on Aurobindo 'defamatory': Govt The Week all 5 news articles »

Dil ek mandir Times of India - ‎Mar 6, 2009‎ > I talk about the Ashram founded by Sri Aurobindo and the Mother. I talk about... You didn't see the Matri Mandir, did you? my interlocutors say accusingly.

The lives of Sri Aurobindo Express Buzz - ‎Feb 26, 2009‎ > Peter Heehs, an American historian, who lives in the Sri Aurobindo ashram, Puducherry, has attempted to recount the life of 20th century’s greatest avatar,

Vivekananda and Sri Aurobindo Renewal of the Indian mindscape Organiser - ‎Mar 2, 2009‎ > By Jagmohan > Vivekananda and Sri Aurobindo were the two towering figures of the Indian renaissance who contributed most to the regeneration of the Indian ...

Mother's birth anniversary celebrated at Aurobindo Ashram Hindu Business Line - ‎Feb 21, 2009‎ PUDUCHERRY: Followers of Sri Aurobindo from various parts of the country on Saturday offered prayers at the Sri Aurobindo Ashram here on the occasion of the ...

The book also stated that Sri Aurobindo had no spiritual and literary contribution

Home News Latest The Week - Kochi, India Friday, 6 March 2009 12:51 hrs IST
Biography on Aurobindo 'defamatory': Govt - Cuttack:

''The Lives of Sri Aurobindo'', a book by US writer Peter Heehs contains defamatory and perverse comments on the spiritual leader's character, according to affidavits filed by the union and state governments before the Orissa High Court.

Such writings on the life and thoughts of a spiritual leader Sri was bound to affect the sentiments of lakhs of his followers and hence whould be banned, the counsel of the Centre and state submitted before the court yesterday.

The counsel also told the court that immediate steps would be taken to ban the publication and circulation of the controversial book in the state and in the country.

The affidavits came in the wake of a PIL filed before the court by Balasore-based Gitanjali Bhattacharya seeking a ban on the book.The High Court, admitting the petition had asked both Orissa government and the Union government, to file their counters.

The counsel for the Orissa government in the affidavit had stated that a crime branch inquiry ordered into the matter found the contents of the book ''highly defamatory''. The Crime Branch, the affidavit said, found the book blasphemous, the affidavit said.

The division bench of court comprising Justice I M Qudusi and Justice S C Parija while accepting the affidavits asked the petitioner to withdraw her petition on the ground that her prayer had been allowed.

The petitioner had moved the court alleging that the writer had depicted Sri Aurobindo as ''morally loose'' in character and lacking in integrity as a person. The book also stated that Sri Aurobindo had no spiritual and literary contribution and his claim of spiritual experiences was questionable and irrelevant.It was slated to be published by Penguin Books in November last year.

State imposes book ban Calcutta Telegraph - Calcutta, India Cuttack, March 5: The Orissa government has decided to strictly enforce a ban on The Lives of Sri Aurobindo authored by Peter Heehs after state CID reports ...

We wanted to spread the grace of The Mother amongst the people - P.S. Saminathan

Home > Cities > Chennai Tribute to the Mother
Rinku Gupta Express Buzz - Chennai, Tamil Nadu, First Published : 23 Feb 2009 11:53:00 PM IST CHENNAI:

The launch of Annaiyin Thalattu and Thai, two audio CD's dedicated to The Mother of Aurobindo Ashram, Pondicherry was a solemn affair. Pyramid Saimira's chairman and managing director, PS Saminathan, an ardent devotee for the past 10 years, was the man behind the effort. Attended by KS Srinivasan, Venkat Prabhu, Premgi, Siva and Vaibhav amongst a host of other family and friends of the promoters, the function brought together avid devotees of the benign Mother as well.

Revealing the motive behind such a launch, Saminathan said, "Today is the Mother's birthday and we wanted to do something for the devotees on this day, in remembrance of her. We wanted to spread the grace of the Mother amongst the people. Every year we try to do something different on her birthday which falls on February 21."

Music is by Gangai Amaran and his granddaughter Shree Shivani Venkat has also sung in the album. Other singers include SPB, Unnikrishnan, Srinivas, Swarnalatha, Sujata, Vijay Yesudas, Anuradha Sriram, Gangai Amaran and Manikku Vinayagam amongst others. The CD also contains rare photos of the Mother. 10,000 CDs are already out in the market and available to the public. Rinkoo2005@gmail.com

Thousands of devotees throng Sri Aurobindo Ashram, Puducherry

India Devotees throng Sri Aurobindo Ashram Puducherry Saturday, Feb 21 2009 IST

Thousands of devotees from all over India and abroad today thronged the Sri Aurobindo Ashram on the 131st birth anniversary of the Mother, the principal devotee of Saint-Philosopher Sri Aurobindo.

Ashramites organised mass meditation to mark the occasion. The rooms used by Sri Aurobindo and the Mother were thrown open for public darshan. -- (UNI) -- 21MS3.xml

Babaji Maharaj: Rairpur, Cuttack, Ranchi, Ayodhya, Puducherry

HEMANG has left a new comment on your post "Babaji Maharaj used to root for Nama Japa": Hello Sir,

The information on Shri Babaji Maharaj is very good and I must compliment you for publishing such luminaries who has worked for Sri Aurobindo and Mother...becoming ICON for present and new generation. With best regards, H.Vyas

Mumbai. Posted by HEMANG to Savitri Era at 11:36 AM, February 04, 2009

There are any number of brands of the Integral Yoga on the Internet

Re: About Religion
by RY Deshpande on Tue 13 Jan 2009 05:24 PM IST Profile Permanent Link

We should recognize that the triple formula of aspiration-rejection-surrender is a formula for the spiritual life turned towards the Integral Yoga. For that to be applicable there has to be first the call, call to live for the Divine and to let the Divine work within us. To be driven from within is the key recognition for the entire effort. Essentially it is a formula for the individual, to begin with, and not for the collective or group life. It cannot be generalized or imposed on anybody, on anyone who is not ready for it, has no ‘call’ for this transformative spirituality. If so, it ceases to be “tricky”.

And what does one mean by “the real life”? We should not mix up the social aspects with the urging and aspiration of the individual’s soul. In other words, guidance from the Integral Yoga for the conduct of the society is be sought in another way, in the way that will ennoble all our longings and aspirations, elevate us to the dignity and greatness of man trying to transcend himself in the greatening values of the spirit. Expect not the triple formula of aspiration-rejection-surrender to be applicable anywhere and everywhere—unless there’s the call.

The question of the biographer’s approach you mention above is for another manner of life, and not for the life dedicated totally for the original Integral Yoga—remember well that there are any number of brands of the Integral Yoga on the Internet and one of them is the crudest rationality alone, and nothing else. A clear distinction must be made between them. In fact, this is one of the confusions lots of well-learned and scholarly people are falling into. But that need not be our chief concern, in the least perhaps. Go to the original Source, the unfailing Fountainhead of Reality, and live in it—and everything will be assured. And there’s no doubt about it. ~ RYD Reply Mirror of Tomorrow

A virtual sea of humanity on the sea shore in Puducherry

Tourists throng Pondy

Puducherry, Dec 31: Tourists from neighbouring States and also far off locations have thronged Puducherry on the eve of New Year. It has been a virtual sea of humanity on the sea shore, in temples and other places of worship since yesterday. All lodges and accommodation centres had been full and bookings were made much in advance by those making Puducherry a part of their itinerary particularly on the occasion of New Year.

Sri Aurobindo Ashram, the famous shrine of Sri Manakula Vinayakar and the beach besides the museum and the beautifully maintained Bharathi park are famous tourist haunts. Police have made elaborate arrangements to restrict movement of vehicles and special police teams have been deployed at important centres to ensure that visitors faced no disturbance. - Agencies Dec 31, 2008

Trustees should set themselves as examples before they impose any external rules

TOPIC WISE COMMENTS ON “RULES OF THE SRI AUROBINDO ASHRAM”
Publisher’s Note:

“…The first comprehensive list of rules appeared around 1930; modified versions of it came out in 1933, 1938 and 1950. In 1965 the Mother made a new list of rules. Most of these rules are not well known…”

It is an admitted fact that most of these rules are not well known. It means that these rules are not in vogue. It also implies that these external rules are suggestive and meant for one’s own guidance. In fact this aspect is clear from Sri Aurobindo’s own words which is reproduced in page 4 of the instant booklet of which Rule 4 reads:

“…4. There are no external rules, except those made from time to time for inner discipline of the Asram…”

In fact the Trustees should set themselves as examples before they impose any external rules. Of the present 5 Trustees not one Trustee is setting himself as an example before he imposes external discipline expects from others. Trustees not setting themselves as examples and imposing external discipline on others are contrary to the Teachings of the Masters.

Page 1 # Part I
Rules of the Ashram A Historical Survey

The publishers are not very clear when they say ambiguously “…Some of the rules are known to have been written by Sri Aurobindo or else taken almost verbatim from his letters. Sri Aurobindo revised rules on two of the lists and may have revised others.” “….In 1971 she signed a list of five rules that was probably formulated by one of her secretaries…”

Page 3 # Early Rules , 1927-1929
Sri Aurobindo Ashram , Pondicherry
Rule 4 Reads:
“4. The conditions for admittance as a member of the Asram are:- the call to the way and spiritual purpose of this Yoga; an entire and one-minded readiness for surrender and the giving up of all else for the One Truth; acceptance by Sri Aurobindo and the Mother.”

The present Trustees neither have the insight nor an effort in that direction to know whether the intending seeker has “the call to the way and spiritual purpose of this Yoga…”

Page 5
Rules and Regulations of the Asram, 1930
Rule 6 Reads:
“6. Nothing should be sent out for publication (contributions to newspapers and magazines or books) without having been first submitted to Sri Aurobindo for approval.”

In fact the above rule is grossly abused by the Trustees themselves. The Trustees are always biased in invoking this rule according to their whims and fancies. The Trustees have promoted and encouraged all kinds of stupid publications by 1. Manoj Das (reply in The Statesman), 2. Peter Heehs (reply in the “Outlook”), 3. Subrato (reply in “Outlook”) and 4. Soumya Bableshwar (reply in “News Pondicherry’), just to support their wrongful actions. Home Sri Aurobindo The Mother Savitri For the Prosecution of Peter Ashram Auroville About Saaba

Despite a shortage of money, Sri Aurobindo was able to concentrate on his sadhana as well as writing

OPED Monday, November 24, 2008 Pioneer.com Aurobindo’s life divine Prafull Goradia

82 years ago this day, he attained siddhi

On November 24, 1926 at Pondicherry, Sri Aurobindo had his major vision of the divine which he called siddhi. Commenting on his greatness, the Times Literary Supplement wrote that he might prove to be one of the truly creative philosophers who has given mankind a new thought and a new vision. The philosophers the journal had in mind included Plato, Kant, Hegel and Bergson. The same publication had elsewhere quoted Sir Francis Younghusband as having said that Sri Aurobindo’s mystical magnum opus called The Life Divine to be the greatest book which had been produced in his time (The Lives Sri Aurobindo by Peter Heehs).

It is not widely realised that yoga means not only a union of body and mind but ultimately also of the human with the divine. True, the latter union is extremely rare. Over the last several centuries, only two individuals are reputed to have been able to view the divine, namely Sri Ramakrishna Paramhansa and Sri Aurobindo. It is believed that both attained mukti or salvation; the former through bhakti while the latter with the help of jnana yoga. Their mystic experiences were at once similar and yet very different.

Sri Aurobindo was almost entirely educated in England over a period of 14 years. In his second year at King’s College, Cambridge, he completed his classical Tripos. Praising his essay, on a comparison between Shakespeare and Milton, written for the Tripos, Oscar Browning called it wonderful. The famous writer went on to say that in his 13 years as an examiner, he had not come across such excellent papers as this student’s. Sri Aurobindo passed the ICS examination but ducked out of the appointment by missing the horse-riding tests. Nevertheless, his learning was versatile, ranging from the Greek classics to Latin, not to speak of Sanskrit and English poetry.

Politics and India’s freedom had begun to stir Sri Aurobindo while in England. One of his biographers, AB Purani, has written that when he put his foot on the soil of India at Apollo Bunder (Mumbai), he experienced tremendous peace. He proceeded straight to Baroda to take up his appointment that he had accepted from Maharaja Sayajirao before leaving England. He served the state for over 13 years until he was 35. During these years, Sri Aurobindo took keen interest in politics in Bengal especially through his brother Barin. Being in the Maharaja’s service, he had to remain in the background, until the British Government decided to prosecute him for writing in Bande Mataram, a journal founded by Bipin Chandra Pal.

In 1904, Sri Aurobindo started practising yoga five to six hours daily. He called this practice sadhana. Although he did take a few advanced lessons from one Yogi Vishnu Bhaskar Lele in 1907, the rest of his efforts all his life were his own. Incidentally, Sri Aurobindo attended the historic Surat Congress of 1907. Incredibly, he was already looked upon as a leading light of the extremists. Bal Gangadhar Tilak was about his only senior. Although he had taken to political activity like fish to water, it disturbed his sadhana. On many a day he could not even practise yoga; he found this disturbing.

In May 1908, Sri Aurobindo, along with others was arrested in the Alipore Bomb Conspiracy case. He left his defence to Chittaranjan Das and busied himself with sadhana even if in the full view of the prison inmates. Once when the Governor visited the jail, he remarked that Sri Aurobindo’s eyes were like those of a mad man. Charu Chandra Dutt corrected him by saying that they were those of a karmayogi!

There were times when Sri Aurobindo experienced siddhi, the attainment of seeing light much greater than experienced in our world. On occasions he heard the voice of Swami Vivekananda. During the trial in court, he saw Vasudeva and Narayan instead of the magistrate and the prosecutor. One day he was reported to have experienced the divine. Sri Aurobindo has written about how he was urgently removed to his solitary cell, but in his own words, what happened then and day after day “I am not impelled to say except that ‘He showed me His wonders’.” Thereafter, he often asked the divine for an aadesh (instruction).

After being acquitted in the Alipore Bomb Conspiracy case, Sri Aurobindo began editing two journals, Karamyogi and Dharma. At the office one afternoon, came an aadesh: ‘Go to Chandernagore’. He obeyed immediately and reached the French colony the same evening. In less than two months, came yet another aadesh which asked him to proceed to Pondicherry which he did on March 31, 1910 by a French boat named Dupleix. Despite a shortage of money, Sri Aurobindo was able to concentrate on his sadhana as well as writing, including his epic poem Savitri.

His devotee, later the legendary Mother named Mira, wife of Paul Richard, first called on Sri Aurobindo on March 29, 1914 along with her husband who was a French journalist. She had repeatedly dreamt of Lord Krishna; when she met Sri Aurobindo, she knew she had found the avatar. Her life was dedicated to spreading the message of Sri Aurobindo.

Sri Aurobindo mingled more and more with the divine and found the ultimate success or siddhi on November 24, 1926. In his own words, life is all yoga. After the siddhi he confined himself to his apartment in the ashram and met no more than seven or eight outsiders in the course of the following 24 years. He was no organiser. It was the Mother, who in the celebration of Sri Aurobindo, played the role reminiscent of Saints Peter and Paul for Jesus Christ or Ashoka in the spread of Buddhism.

Post Comment COMMENTS BOARD :: Aurobindo’s life divine 24 November, 2008

By all means, please continue writing on Sri Aurobindo- but do we really need to quote Peter Heehs's book? By Tathagata Mukherjee on 11/24/2008 1:55:57 AM Its great to see some articles on "prophet of Indian nationalism", Sri Aurobindo, in the pages of the Pioneer lately. However, I have a question to Shri Goradia who is quoting from Peter Heehs's book and probably to the Editor as well (as we have seen a piece of Peter Heehs appear in the Pioneer lately): This book of Peter Heehs has many derogatory references to Sri Aurobindo. By all means, please continue writing on Sri Aurobindo- but do we really need to quote Peter Heehs's book?

The Search Results are given below using word ALIPORE BOMB CASE 'God cannot be jailed' 22 November, 2008 The bomb that shook an Empire 22 November, 2008 100 years of righteous terror 22 November, 2008 Politics of reaching out 11 October, 2008 Alipore bomb case to be exhibited at SC museum 12 May, 2006 11:57 AM