Tuesday, January 27, 2009

The greatest menace to freedom is an inert people

Opinion - News Analysis Importance of liberty & democracy in India
Markandey Katju The Hindu: Monday, Jan 26, 2009

As early as 1927, Justice Louis D. Brandeis, of the U.S. Supreme Court observed in Whitney vs. California 274 U.S. 357: “Those who won our independence believed that the final end of the State was to make men free to develop their faculties; and that in its government the deliberative forces should prevail over the arbitrary…They believed that freedom to think as you will and to speak as you think are means indispensable to the discovery and spread of political truth; that without free speech and assembly discussion would be futile; that with them, discussion affords ordinarily adequate protection against the dissemination of noxious doctrine; that the greatest menace to freedom is an inert people; that public discussion is a political duty; and that this should be a fundamental principle of the American government. They recognised the risks to which all human institutions are subject. But they knew that order cannot be secured merely through fear of punishment for its infraction; that it is hazardous to discourage thought, hope and imagination; that fear breeds repression; that repression breeds hate; that hate menaces stable government; that the path of safety lies in the opportunity to discuss freely supposed grievances and proposed remedies; and that the fitting remedy for evil counsels is good ones. Believing in the power of reason as applied through public discussion, they eschewed silence coerced by law — the argument of force in its worst form.”

In 1949, Justice William O. Douglas in Terminiello vs. Chicago (337 US 1) made a crucial point when he noted that a “function of free speech under our system of government is to invite dispute. It may indeed best serve its high purpose when it induces a condition of unrest, creates dissatisfaction with conditions as they are, or even stirs people to anger.” (Justice Markandey Katju is a Judge of the Supreme Court of India.)

***

The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing. -Edmund Burke

Wednesday, January 21, 2009

Error on the music Savitri at ashram

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Monday, January 19, 2009

Thus I fell in a big whirlpool of good and unpleasant facts about Vivekananda

Vivekananda YB If you are not satisfied with this blog, please write your critical comments here. If you are satisfied, please tell others. ANONYMOUS COMMENTS, HARSH COMMENTS, are also welcome.
SEARCHING FOR FACTS
'NOW, what I want is, Facts. Teach these boys and girls nothingbut Facts. Facts alone are wanted in life. Plant nothing else,and root out everything else. You can only form the minds ofreasoning animals upon Facts: nothing else will ever be of anyservice to them. This is the principle on which I bring up my ownchildren, and this is the principle on which I bring up thesechildren. Stick to Facts, sir!' -- CHARLES DICKENS

Showing posts with label Why Swamiji's need airflights and air conditioners?. Show all posts
Thursday, September 27, 2007
#080, REPLIES TO COMMENTS (Rajesh)
Rajesh said... Hi yb,I saw ur blogs on vivekananda. I want to express my thoughts on it (if u feel i am wrong, plz forgive me). Observing from ur commnts on SV, i feel that you have got really hurt badly from something SV has said or done, which u have felt absolute mistake or nonsense. I want to know that one thing which has made u frustrated? as i am also not a big fan of SV..September 26, 2007 5:08 AM

multisubj yb said... Dear Shri Rajesh garu: 1. I have not been hurt by anything which Vivekananda has said or done. There is no frustration at all. I am a history student (Did M.A. History). Hence I have to search for truth as a historian. There is no place for "Raaga Dveesha".

2. In 1967 when I was just 17 I read the Telugu biography of Swami Vivekananda by Swami Chirantananda published by Ramakrishna Math, Chennai. Chirantananda was a disciple of Vivekananda. I read it several times. It influenced me greatly. I was trying to practise what he preached. I also purchased many books published by Ramakrishna Math. In my own way, I served the poor. While reading his biography I got a doubt why he was always talking to some native ruler or other (Alwar, Jeypore, Khetri, Junagadh, Mysore, Travancore, Lumdi etc.). At that time I was very young. I did not take it seriously to pursue.

3. Around 1995, there was a Supreme Court case in which the Ramakrishna Mission claimed that theirs was an independent Ramakrishna Religion, entitled to the protection of a minority religion, whereas Vivekananda spent his entire life striving to protect the Hindu religion from the hurricanes of conversions by Christian missionaries.

When I started blogging a blogspot, first I did not have intention to write blogs on Vivekananda. One day when I was searching for Vivekananda's views on renunciation and detachment, particularly living on "madhukari (alms collected from house to house) while doing my blog on Bhartruhari Vairagya S`atakam (URL link you can see above), I found that at Blogspot itself there were around 9000 blogs eulogising Vivekananda, most of them repeating his quotations parrot-like. I thought that it would be prudent for me to search for truth as a history student. Fortunately, the Complete Works of Vivekananda are available on line aplenty. I was attracted by the word "epistle". I went to dictionary.com and found meaning "letter". Thus I started with letters written by Vivekananda to others. At some places, portions were found to be excised (deleted/censored/removed). I found myself handicapped. Besides, the letters written by others to Vivekananda are not available. Then only we can draw a complete picture. Thus I fell in a big whirlpool of good and unpleasant facts about Vivekananda. Now, I am struggling to come out. Recently I started another blog about Ramakrishna paramahamsa: http://ramakrishnayb.blogspot.com to verify what things were.

There is always a difference between what Maths and Sects publish and sell as propaganda books and what the founders of the Sects practice. But we must always keep one thing in mind. We can never find a perfect white or a perfect black shades of personalities. There is also a "gray". Just as we cannot find a 100% satva man or a 100% rajasa man or a 100% tamasa man. Everybody is a combination of percentages. In complex fertilisers we have percentages of NPK (Nitrogen, PHosphoras and POtassium) such 17-17-17 or 34-17-17 etc. Including you, me, Vivekananda and Ramakrishna Paramahamsa everbody has percentages of Satva, Rajas and Tamas.

Gist: I am not hurt by Vivekananda, Belur Math or anybody else. There are just obstructions whenever efforts are made to find truth. I request you to read my blog RAMAYANAYB.BLOGSPOT.COM or MAHABHAGAVATAYB.BLOGSPOT.COM. They will show you whenever we go deeply into a subject, we find more and more unpleasant things. Then the question will arise. Should we bring them to the notice of the readers are not. If we report, readers will misunderstand us. If we do not report, we shall be doing injustice to our conscience. This is a dilemma which I face everyday. I hope I have not harangued or sufficiently bored you. I apologise if I have indulged in didactics. Posted by Multisubj Yb TruthSeeker at 5:23 AM 2
Labels: , THESE LABELS WILL HELP YOU TO MAKE A DEEPER STUDY
#001 Sturdy- It is my karma? (1)
#002 Ms. Bull- India is the dirtiest and unhealthiest hole in the world (1)
#003 Alasinga- GET SOME BIG FOLKS (1)
#005 Sacrifice a goat on the eighth day of the full or new moon (1)
#006 I will try Madras and a few other friends in India (1)
#007 Otherwise Christian missionaries will take the girls (1)
#008 Alasinga- WHO TOLD YOU THAT I WANT SOCIAL REFORM? (1)
#009 RAMANUJA- SHANKARA ETC. ARE MERE PUNDITS (1)
#010 Mr. Sturdy: Boiled cabbage and potatoes and boiled rice and boiled lentils- three times a day (1)
#011 Sacrifice goat on eighth day- a superstitious guru (1)
#012 Holy Mother prohibited it what Vivekananda wanted (1)
#013 Bengal is asthmatic and America is not (1)
#014 Swaamiji does not know that Gita has madness of caste (1)
#015 How can a yogi who preaches Patanjali Yama Niyamas be an addict of tobacco? (1)
#016 A HUNDRED YEARS IS NOTHING TO HIM (1)
#017 Rakhal- these are countries of gigantic scholars. Is it a joke to make disciples of such people? (1)
#018 INDIA IS FULL OF LAZY ROGUES (1)
#019 Get up the nearest hillock and get a bellyful of grass (1)
#020 Alasinga: Bangalore and then to Ootacamund to pass the summer there. Alasinga My brain boils in heat (1)
#022 Akhandananda- make separate arrangements for Muslim Boys' food (1)
#023 What do I know about this Vedanta Society? Did I start it? (1)
#024 Shri Mishra- Spend money and get room (1)
#025 Bungalows are fun (1)
#026 All are saints for nothing (1)
#027 THEY ARE RASCALS (and I am gentleman) (1)
#028 WRITE ABOUT MY TRAVELS- WHO WILL READ PIOUS STUFF? (1)
#029 I SPENT JUST AS I LIKE (1)
#030 Brothers- I am mostly the guest of big people (1)
#031 Otherwise CHRISTIAN MISSIONARIES WILL TAKE (1)
#032 Mata-They come in crowds when there is a free lecture (1)
#033 Fanatics must have bad livers (1)
#034 Madras disciple- AMERICANS ARE A MILLION TIMES NOBLER THAN HINDUS (1)
#035 How I wish you were here to taste our SHADS (1)
#035- Alas- I am prevented from the taste of meat (1)
#035- Christina-This is our best season for eating turtles (1)
#035- overtaxed nerves (1)
#036 I ate one-sixteenth of a barphi (1)
#037 Philosophy and practices of monkhood in India (1)
#038 It is all Karma (1)
#039 Swamiji and rules (1)
#040 Akhanda- Trust only wealthy householders (1)
#041 Any other Hindu would have died if he had to work as hard as I have to (1)
#042 Alberta- Ignorance cranks taught yoga in your country (1)
#043 India -Awful mass of conservative jelly fish (1)
#043 Miss Sturges- I love the Yankee land (1)
#044 Christina- I am now in Bhakti- I am growing old (1)
#045 Christina- Countersign it and put it (1)
#046 It is better to get away from Calcutta now when the season of plague is on (1)
#047 Raja- Life is Misery- nothing but misery (1)
#049 Can anybody chose his date of death except when not committing suicide (1)
#050 Gangadhar: you should feed yourself by spending from your own pocket (1)
#051 Do not go about begging from the Hindu beggars (1)
#052 Get hold of big bugs (1)
#053 Should we lose self-consciousness often? (1)
#054 Replies to comments--Half baked knowledge (1)
#055 Evolution of monasteries in India (1)
#056 India is only inhabited by women and eunuchs (1)
#057 Ms. Halboister- Greatest misery in my life has been my own people (1)
#057A- REPLIES TO COMMENTS- SWAMIJI AND RELATIVES (1)
#058 Californians- Time for me to try another country (1)
#059 SO WRETCHED AND DIFFERENT FROM WHAT YOU SEE AROUND (1)
#060 Next step is Brahminhood (1)
#061 WHY VIVEKANANDA COULD NOT GIVE SAMADHI TO PRIYA NATH SINHA? (1)
#062 ASHAMED OF APPLYING FOR A JOB (1)
#063 I would have to go from house to house to collect sufficient for one meal (1)
#064 A NEW YORK PAPER TRIED TO SCARE ABHEDANANDA (1)
#065 MUMBAI NEWSPAPERS SHOULD HELP (1)
#066- People who know not what appreciation and gratefulness are (1)
#067 Why should they take me to a low hotel? (1)
#068 DID HIS SPIRIT APPEAR TO MRS. BULL AND AUROBINDO? (1)
#069 Goat curry is Mother Kali's benediction at Hollywood (1)
#070 GLOBAL DONATIONS FOR EVICTING AND REHABILITATING SLUM DWELLERS? (1)
#071 I have found the pearl for which I dived into the ocean of life (1)
#072 Californians: Any fool can do that (1)
#073 Can Government of India help in tracing missing links? (1)
#074 Ramakrishna Religion in Supreme Court (1)
#075 Four Yogas discussion (1)
#076 Beef-biceps (1)
#077 Deussen: Vowed to conquer gold but not alcohol (1)
#078 WHY DOES VIVEKANANDA USE SCURRILOUS LANGUAGE? (1)
#079 Brahmananda: Granted that Ramakrishna was a sham (1)
#080 REPLIES TO COMMENTS (Rajesh) (1)
#081 Ms. Hale- I am thoroughly disgusted with this Slayton (1)
#082 Kindness to animals and kindness to humans (1)
#083 Bhakti Yoga: Any fool may abstain from eating this or that (1)
#084 Ms. Hale- I hear that Barrows was mad (1)
#085 GANDHIJI TAKEN ABACK BY NIVEDITA'S SPLENDOR (1)
#086 Bungalows where Vivekananda stayed (1)
#087 IT WAS VERILY RAMA NAMA (1)
#088 Christina- There was a great flutter in our dovecote (1)
#089 Vivekananda wanted to have BALI (sacrifice) done (1)
#090 In America there is the best scope for caste to develop (1)
#091 Only Rs. 400 in four years (1)
#092 INDIA IS A ROTTEN CORPSE inside and outside (1)
#093 Christina: A little gold will not be amiss to keep my jewel in proper surroundings (1)
#094 Ramakrishnananda: People of our country have not yet offered me even as much as a pice for my travelling expenses (1)
#095 When a great soul appears there will be numbers to bark after him (1)
#096 Margot: Not every one is born to lead (1)
#097 Important References (1)
#098 Oh Raja: Slay the tigers- gratify the westerners (1)
#099 Virchand Gandhi sent a shipload of wheat and Rs. 40000 whereas Vivekananda sent clippings (1)
#100 Sanfranciscans: Jesus worked hard for ages in previous births (1)
#101 Mrs. Ole Bull: Next phase will be the miraculous touch and not the tongue (1)
#102 REPLIES TO COMMENTs Himalayanswastika (1)
#103 Brahmananda: All of you are Saadhus and great saints (1)
#104 Christina: Come to dock if that is possible and discreet (1)
#105 Akhandananda: Leave the peasants and labourers to look to their own problem (1)
#106 DID HE TRAVEL BARE FOOT? (1)
#107- Remorse at not having reaped any appreciable results by serving the Sadhus (1)
#108 Mrs. Ole Bull: There was nothing ... I am afraid (1)
#109 Shivananda: I would pay half of the rent (1)
#110 Abhedananda: Inform Mahendra Babu that he is my Calcutta agent (1)
#111 India cannot yet produce great women (1)
#112 How hard it is to turn a donkey into a horse (1)
#113 I am busy in Himalayas directing the famine work in districts (1)
#114 Cellular Jail of Andamans (1)
#115 Greatest misery in my life has been my own people (1)
#116 What asses you are (1)
#117- 99.9 per cent have some motive (1)
#118 NANJUNDA RAO WILL WAIT (1)
#119 WRITING ON VIVEKANANDA AND EARNING FROM ADSENSE (1)
#121 SUNDARA RAMA IYER (1)
#123 We are not ordinary monks- we are Paramahamsas (Great Swans) (1)
#124 HOW DOES A GREAT GUIDE BEHAVE? (1)
#125 Mitra: Smritis and Puranas are productions of men of limited intelligence (1)
#126 PARAMAHAMSA'S FOOD (1)
#128 HOT TIME IN THIS OLD TOWN (1)
#129 REPLIES TO COMMENTs (Somdatta Bhattacharya) (1)
#130 MISPLACED GLORY(ies) (1)
#131 ENTITLED TO SHARE OF FUN (1)
#132 Replies to Comments (1)
#133 REPLIES TO COMMENTs- How can letters be frivolous? (1)
#134 WHEN KALI (KAAL`I) IS IN THE BODY WHY SACRIFICE GOATS? (1)
#135 EXISTENCE SO SERVILE- LIFE SO MEAN (1)
#136 DO VEGETARIANS THINK OF DEATH ALWAYS? (1)
#137 Ms. Ghosal: No other alternative for meat eating (1)
#138 Ms. Isabelle: So long as millions live in hunger (1)
#139 Supplicant for a piece of meat (1)
#141 SHOULD N'T A MONK BE JOYFUL? SHOULD HE BE GLOOMY? (1)
#142 GURU VS. PANDIT DISCUSSION (1)
#143 MONOPOLY OF SHOWING GOD (1)
#144 BIBLES - VEDAS - KORANS - AND OTHERS ARE ONLY WORDS (1)
#145 CAN THIS INCARNATE GURU WHO SUPPORTS SAVA SADHANA AND REBIRTHS SHOW THE GOD? (1)
#146 HOW DOES AN ILLITERATE TEACHER KNOW THE SPIRIT OF THES SCRIPTURES WITHOUT READING THEM? (1)
#147 WHAT IS MORE IMPORTANT? WHAT HE DOES OR WHAT HE SAYS? (1)
#148 WHY DID PROF. MAX MULLER CONSIDER VIVEKANANDA'S NARRATION OF RAMAKRISHNA'S LIFE A FABLE? (1)
#149 Waldo WHO IS THIS YOUNG MAN R_? (1)
#150 Christiana: We gave them a telepathic message (1)
#151 Pai: SANKARACHARYA WAS A MAN- YOU ARE A MAN (1)
#152 I CAN RENOUNCE EVERYTHING EXCEPT THIS- ice cream (1)
#153 Subba Rao: You will be burnt to ashes (1)
#154 Wright: MRS. BAGLEY seems to be unsettled (1)
#155 IS INTENSE MEDITATION OR EXTENSIVE MEDITATION NECESSARY? (1)
#156 FIRST CLASS VOYAGE FROM MUMBAI TO USA WITH POCKETS FULL (1)
#157 LAST LETTER TO MRS. BULL (1)
#158 I HAVE MADE ACQUAINTANCES OF NEARLY ALL THE DAKSHINI RAJAs (1)
#159 Haridasji: CAN YOU LEND ME ONE LION CUB FOR MY RAJA? (1)
#160 Ms. Hale: YOU MUST PERSUADE HARRIET TO GIVE ME A FEW DOLLARS EVERY MONTH (1)
#161 HALF OF THE UNITED STATES CAN BE CONQUERED IN TEN YEARS (1)
#162 Ms. Bull: Thousand Dollars I have in New York will bring Rs. 9 a month (1)
#163 People: Sweet vendor's shop is death's door (1)
#164 IS THIS THE WAY TO TACKLE ALCOHOLISM? (1)
#165 Saradananda: I hate the very name of marriage (1)
#166 We cannot keep chickens here (1)
#167 Ms. Bull: None of my people would be able to meddle with it (1)
#168 Ms. Bull: name of these Math people is enough to frighten me (1)
#169 My misery is my brothers (1)
#170 Only I have a right to write poems- others should be packed off (1)
#171 Ms. Hale: You ought to have sent a brainier man anyway (1)
#172 Pai: If like me you had visited the slums of Europe and America (1)
#173 Brahmananda: That makes me lose my temper. Send money (1)
#174 Bengalees: Exert yourselves and earn more (1)
#176 I am going to NWP as Bengal is malarious (1)
#177 Alasinga: In this land of Shuka's birth renunciation is looked down upon as madness and sin (1)
#178 Halboister: I will make a lecture tour When it is cooler (1)
#179 Ramakrishnananda: Cook (1)
#180 All of you come back to the Math at Calcutta or go to Ramnad (1)
#181 Ramakrishnananda: Finger twistings and kling phat (1)
#182 Ramakrishnanda: Do not use your wisdom too much (1)
#183 Ramakrishnananda- Don't forget to present him (Maharaja of Khetri) an address of welcome (1)
#184 A deafening applause would be raised for me (1)
#185 Alasinga: Am I any Nation's slave? (1)
#186 India is full of lazy rogues and curious- they never die of hunger (1)
#187 Black hole of London where I had to work almost day and night (1)
#188 Ms. Ole Bull: I LONG FOR MY RAGS- MY SHAVEN HEAD- MY SLEEP UNDER THE TREES-MY FOOD FROM BEGGING (1)
#189 I have manfully borne the terrific heat of my country (1)
#190 Thou alone art thy greatest friend (1)
#191 Feeding wife and children is beastly (1)
#192 Difference between God and Guru (1)
#193 Christina- I want to see how much of fat you have accumulated in one year (1)
#194 Statues are important for Indians and facts are not (1)
#195 Reply to Intolerance of religious bloggers (1)
#196- Columbian Fair Organisers were not fair to Vivekananda (1)
#197- Originality of Swami Vivekananda's speeches in circulation (1)
#198 REPLIES TO COMMENTS OF SHRI WILLIAM SCHINDLER a.k.a. Brother William at AllExperts.Com (1)
#199 Women freedom-fighters (1)
#200 Last Post (Concluding Remarks) (1)

Sunday, January 18, 2009

Exagerated depictions of Vivekananda's spiritual and intellectual attainments

Hyperbole in Wilber from Gaia Community: kelamuni's Blog

I have at times referred to Kenny's use of hyperbole when referring to other individuals or their teachings. I take it that Kenny has picked up this particular rhetorical modality from the materials he uses, and that these materials in turn derive their attitude from tradition itself which has set certain precedents. In other words, my sense is that this curious penchant for hyperbole derives, at least in part, from tradition itself, specifically from the attitiude toward the "great sage" or "holy sant" that we find in traditional hagiographical materials.

We find, for example, in Sankara Dig Vijaya, loosely, Shankara Conquers the World, several depictions of Shankara that approach the hyperbolic. There we find the suggestion that Shankara went about India, defeating everyone he met in debate and virtually converting the entire subcontinent to Vedanta. It is story that is repeated often. But this idea is a 14th century construct. For it is evident that Shankara was not well known in his day and even in the centuries that followed, since we find no mention of him in the works of other major scholars and philosophers. There is every indication that his teaching was meant only for the few qualified wandering samnyasins he encounted in the countryside. The Vedanta itself was an esoteric teaching, as is evident from the fact that the Brahma Sutras themselves make no sense without their commentarial tradition.

The idea, found in popular contemporary scholarly material, that Shankara was India's "greatest philosopher" is largely based upon this hagiographical tradition, and on the fact that Advaita Vedanta is the last of the classical Indian traditions to survive and that most of the writers of this material are Vedantins. Even the idea that Shankara is India's "greatest philosopher" is not entirely accurate. For one, Shankara was primarily an exegete and not a philosopher.

We find similar a exageration involved in the depictions of Nagarjuna, whom Kalupahana has argued was also primarily an exegete. According to Mahayana tradition Nagarjuna is accorded the status of almost a "second Buddha." Murti goes so far as to say that Nagarjuna's teaching offered a "corrective" to that of the Buddha. In his introduction to his translation of the Karikas, Kennneth Inada states that Nagarjuna's veneration, "at times reached such ridiculous heights that his name was sanctified and stamped everywhere with reckless abandon..."

We find hyperbolic estimations of the philosophical importance of Shankara, Nagarjuna and Plotinus throughout the works of Wilber. Not only hyperbole, but inaccuracies.

As for Plotinus, Ken does not appear to be aware of the fact that Plotinus' "great philosophical work," the Enneads, was in fact a collection of notes cobbled together and scribbled down by his closest disciple, Porphyry, to be used by his own students. In this sense, Porphyry, and not Plotinus, is the real "founder" of the school of Neo-Platonism. The irony here is that Wilber says that Plotinus was the "greatest pundit ever." Presumably, it is "book-learning" that characterizes the pundit. But Plotinus never wrote the Enneads.

And what of Shankara? At times Wilber says that Shankara was a "sage," or "India's greatest realizer." And yet, unlike Plotinus, Shankara is best known for his various written commentaries on the Upanishads, and he even referred to himself as a pandita.

What is also odd about the exaggerated claims Ken attaches to certain individuals from history is that they so often do not appear to involve any consideration of other great luminaries. Where, for example, do we find a similar consideration of Abhinavagupta in Ken's works? Or the master, Shri Harsha? Like Da's collection of "seventh stage texts" (where is the Vimalakirtinirdesha Sutra?), Ken bases his judgements upon his own limited encounter with dated translations of Asian texts -- basically those that were available to him in the 70's.

I will close with one other precedent, a modern one -- that of Swami Vivekananda. Throughout his various "biographies," which are better labeled hagiographies, we find several exagerated depictions of Vivekananda's spiritual and intellectual attainments. For example, we read in such accounts that Vivekananda was a "multi-faceted genius." According to one account, The Life of Swami Vivekananda, by his Disciples Eastern and Western, the principal of the college Vivekananda attended, William Hastie, had said that Vivekananda (then called Naren) was "a genius" and that "he never saw such a one even among philosophy students in German univeristies!" And yet, we also find out from R. Chattopadhyaya's book, Swami Vivekananda in India: A Corrective Biography that the following were Vivekananda's grades during his graduating year of college: English 56% Mathematics 61% History 56% Philosophy 45%

These, it goes without saying, are hardly the grades of a "multifacted genius." Chattopadhyaya opines that this anecdote was probably concocted by Haramohan Mitra and disseminated via his many pamphlets.

My sense is that it is precisely this same sort of hyperbole that is at work in Ken's own estimation of the work and stature of certain of other personages. [> ** A legacy denied by GlobalCitizen]

Saturday, January 17, 2009

What he makes possible

Thursday, January 15, 2009 [www.keralites.net] Sri Aurobindo on "Man"

"Man's greatness is not in what he is but in what he makes possible. His glory is that he is the closed place and secret workshop of a living labour in which supermanhood is being made ready by a divine Craftsman. But he is admitted to a yet greater greatness and it is this that, unlike the lower creation, he is allowed to be partly the conscious artisan of his divine change. His free ascent, his consecrated will and participation are needed that into his body may descend the glory that will replace him. His aspiration is earth's call to the supramental Creator." CWSA, Vol. 12, p. 160.

Hi all intellectual friends,
I shall be happy to exchange views with you on Sri Aurobindo's poetry,
philosophy and life.
Prof. Jitendra Sharma
Chairman, Sri Aurobindo Society, Calicut
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Monday, January 12, 2009

Redemption came in the form of the most beautiful piece of landscaping I’ve ever encountered

Monday, January 5, 2009 A Saviour, a Miracle and a Little Science Fiction: Christmas in India (part two) by Chris

Auroville is an intentional community just outside the city. It’s based of the teachings of Sri Aurobindo (from my brief research a weighty and thoughtful Indian freedom fighter turned yogi from the early 20th century). The vision for the community is a place where human unity can be experienced; a new vision for living together with spiritual values as the premise. The community purchased about 20 square kilometers in the 60’s and have developed a global village that today consists of over 2000 people from some 40 countries. Passing by the bungalows, I tried to shoo away the rumors I’d heard of it being a refuge for criminals on the lam. I believe that everything deserves a fair shot from the beginning.

Our highly mechanized entry (including pre-registration through a contact days before and a secure checklist) led us to a viewing room for the official Auroville video. It glossed all the good stuff, human unity, responsibility and freedom, utopia stuff. It skipped all the grime of community, but I couldn’t blame them for that, hoping I might get it later on in the tour. From there we got in some electric people transport (which my friend related to the jeeps in Jurassic Park [fairly I might add]) to the center of the premises: Matrimandir. The massive golden orb raised out of the manicured garden like Epcot Center in Orlando.

I dropped off my bag, camera and phone at the coat check and listened to a kind Frenchman explain to us all about Matrimandir. It’s here that it all started to get a little more interesting for me. At Aurobindo’s passing, a woman (who later became known as The Mother) got hold of the band of devotees and took the ideas forward for the next 25 years. She held onto some of the teacher’s principles, but also took a hectic turn by introducing a good dose of her “visions” into the philosophy of the place. She dreamt up the massive golden orb (some 7 to 8 stories high) and its entire inside design, which included long indoor waterfalls, tricked out blue and red lighting, circling staircases and a meditation room centered around a huge crystal ball.

My friend said as we walked into the orb “This all just went a little Star Trek on us.” I agreed, It looked like we had just jumped onto the set of TRON. When I heard that one of the six main reasons for creating Auroville was to hasten the arrival of a more highly refined species to earth, I decided to cut my losses and try to focus on what positives could be taken from the place, even if the philosophy seemed to go crack.

Redemption came in the form of the most beautiful piece of landscaping I’ve ever encountered. An epic Banyan tree, carefully manicured to create a most spectacular grove. As a Banyan tree grows, it rains down rootlike vines from its branches which grow into the ground and serve as new sources for nutrients. Typically, this process takes over and the tree grows in a spectacularly untamed jungle of tree. But in this case, the gardeners had pruned these bundled vines, keeping only one each at various points on the tree. These once-thin vines had now grown into the size of tree trunks and supported the extremely long branches of the tree that now stretched horizontally from the main tree trunk up to 50 or 60 feet. With careful attention, this tree could continue to grow in such a manor for hundreds if not thousands of more years.

Ah! A Christmas Tree for the Ages. Sweet redemption and definitely a signal to bounce. Leaving the compound, I laughed to myself. Is this where I really spent my Christmas morning? I thought about the hundred times my family used to think about going to watch the re-enactment of Washington crossing the Delaware on Christmas and always turning it down, placing priorities on food, family and chilling with our new gifts. Ha! I never imagined my first big Christmas Day outing could be this! ... Posted by Chris at 10:01 AM

Tuesday, January 6, 2009

While BKS Iyengar is my teacher's guruji, Sri Aurobindo is his gurudev. We speak of the master's work often

Sri Aurobindo Moderators: Moderators Yoga > Philosophy and Religion
Shakuhachi Posted 2008-12-20 3:44 PM (#112451) Subject: Sri Aurobindo MemberPosts: 17

Anyone here read much of Aurobindo. I can only say that for me he has the answers to all my questions. It took me a while to appreciate him though. He has written so much and a great deal of is seems so "heady". But reading him is a meditation, not something to hurry through, rather something to ponder. And the great thing is that he has written so much there is almost no end to the reading. I am about half finished with The Synthesis of Yoga, 900 pages. I had always wished there was some sectret ancient book with all teh deepest insights and answer to the mystery of our existence. I beleive I have found that book though it is not really so ancient.
I would love to discuss it with others.

suryadaya Posted 2009-01-05 1:57 AM (#112723 - in reply to #112451) Subject: Re: Sri Aurobindo New UserPosts: 4

I just bought a book of his last week, but its the luggage lockup and I won't get it until two days from now when I leave! From what I have experienced, his teaching are at the base of many of the influences I have had, so I am excited to learn more!

purnayoga Posted 2009-01-05 2:40 AM (#112724 - in reply to #112451) Subject: Re: Sri Aurobindo Expert YogiPosts: 2310Location: Seattle, Washington

Thoughts and Aphorisms. I have several of his books and books of The Mother, who continued the work after he left the physical body. While BKS Iyengar is my teacher's guruji, Sri Aurobindo is his gurudev. We speak of the master's work often. The work is gargantuan in nature and Aurobindo himself was an influence beyond comprehension. Edited by purnayoga 2009-01-05 2:41 AM