Sunday, June 24, 2007

Its mandate was to promote the teachings and ideas of Sri Aurobindo and it did so with compassion and grace

I studied in a school run by the Sri Aurobindo Ashram
The Minority institutions that were typically envisaged to enjoy the state’s protection were those which would actually serve to preserve minority languages, customs and traditions but by the question is are they fulfilling their mandate?
home > India > Minority Institutions: Examining the Foundations Shantanu Dutta 24 June 2007, Sunday Views: 51 merinews.com
I studied in a school run by the Sri Aurobindo Ashram. The Ashram management in no sense of the term attempted to "convert” any one to Sri Aurobindo’s philosophy but in every turn and gesture, they indicated in word and deed, that they cherished Sri Aurobindo and his successor, The Mother and their teaching wasn’t just lip service for them. Sri Aurobindo’s philosophy is not easy to understand, but in the school assembly where his teachings were unabashedly taught, the school principal and other speakers made every effort to present them with passion and reverence and the atmosphere was live and electric and Sri Aurobindo’s thinking and influence was every where and it wasn’t phony.

My Ashram school of course wasn’t a minority institution, but to me it represents all that a minority institution should be. Its mandate was to promote the teachings and ideas of Sri Aurobindo and it did so earnestly and with compassion and grace. In the same way, the definition of what is a minority institution is not to be determined by who owns a piece of property or who sits in the board room but by the larger question ---- is the institution fulfilling its mandate?

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