I know of no philosophy as comprehensive, as inclusive, as all-embracing, as that of The Mother and Sri Aurobindo

I was born in Islamabad, Pakistan, into a typical middle class Sunni Muslim joint family. I recall being extremely religious as a young child, but that I nevertheless was on some level conflicted about my religiousity and aspects of Islam that seemed unreasonable. For example, I remember not being allowed to fast during the holy month of Ramadan because I had just gotten my period, and spending the night sobbing. I was never a hypocrite about religion. I did not want to call myself “Muslim” in name. I took religion seriously. I thought, if this is my identity, I must be faithful to it, I must be a practising Muslim. Moreover, right from the start, I was not interested in blindly believing everything I was told about Islam. I wanted to read the Quran with translation (the common custom in Pakistan is to just read the Arabic without knowing the meanings — this, too, in my own educated middle class family), and I set out to do so at a very young age...

It was sort of a vicious cycle. My mind was constantly fixated on the misogynistic aspects of the Quran and Hadith, and I was clearly suffering and feeling trapped. On some level, I already knew that this approach was preventing me from actualizing my own potential, especially as a woman. Nevertheless, I just could not seem to break free, psychologically, from the chains of these fixed beliefs. I had perhaps on some subconscious level already done a lot of damage to my self-esteem by accepting literally some of the statements in the Quran and Hadith regarding the secondary status of women...

In my own journey toward the Divine, though I admire and respect many sages and mystics, my main source of inspiration has been the teachings and integral philosophy of the Indian philosopher-sage Sri Aurobindo and his spiritual companion Mirra Alfassa, also known as the Mother (who arguably went even further than Sri Aurobindo in terms of the transformation they sacrificed their lives for). At present, I know of no philosophy as comprehensive, as inclusive, as all-embracing, as that of Mother and Sri Aurobindo. Together they show us a practical way out of the present human condition and toward a harmonious Divine life on earth, an anarcho-socialist Kingdom of God, if you will. In this series of posts, I simply want to lay out briefly how I got to where I am, before I continue talking about my present situation...~ by ned on February 11, 2007.