Instinctive expression of critical thinking, tolerance, and liberty

Sri Aurobindo - the vocal opponent of socialism - Sanjeev Sabhlok's ...
Most people think of Sri Aurobindo as a great spiritual and literary master. Few realise that he was, in line with Vivekananda and most Indian philosophers, a great proponent of liberty and – in Sri Aurobindo's case – a direct opponent of socialism.

Had Sri Aurobindo lived, Nehru's plans of socialism would have been still-born and India might have escaped from its (ongoing) misery of the past 65 years.

The more I think about it, it becomes clear that I am speaking from the ANCIENT INDIAN TRADITION. It is an instinctive expression of critical thinking, tolerance, and liberty that ancient India so deeply understood.

Till Nehru came in and confused everybody, including Team Anna/ Arvind Kejriwal and even Baba Ramdev. And of course, RSS/BJP are DIRECT godchildren of Nehru. There is no distinction I can make between BJP and Congress. (Btw, Modi is the same.)

NONE of these people are attuned to what Gandhi, Vivekananda, Aurobindo, and Tagore were attuned to: a deep instinctive tolerance and insistence on liberty. It was an instinctive expression of Indian-ness, the true Hindutva.

But Nehru the Westerner came in with half-baked German (Hegelian) ideas and destroyed India. It is time to reclaim Hindu Capitalism (also known as Hindu Dharma) and bring tolerance and liberty back to India. This includes economic freedom and incentive-based governance outlined in Arthashastra.

Sreelatha Menon: The Kejriwal club Business Standard-27-Oct-2012

It’s not just Arvind Kejriwal whose spirit is ablaze with the need to change it all. There are many Kejriwals working quietly for a change in the political infrastructure of this country. Most of them admire him — though they may differ with him on policy issues.

Jai Prakash Narayan started the Lok Satta party with the same intent, much before Kejriwal arrived on the scene. He has managed to win one seat in the Andhra Assembly elections so far. Others have followed his footsteps. There is the Jago Party, which was launched in 2007 and is active in Rajasthan…

Sanjeev Sabhlok, a former Indian Administrative Services officer, was fed up with the “system”, too. He says the system is like a cesspool feeding endless disease-carrying mosquitoes (or corrupt officials and politicians). He quit the services in 2001 to start a liberal party like Rajaji’s Swatantra Party. He has written a book, Breaking Free of Nehru: Lets Unleash India, and has been working with Bhagawat’s FTI.

FTI functions more like a club for anyone to join and take a plunge into politics with the intent of changing it for the better. It has 150 members at present. Sabhlok operates from Australia, and advises the government on public policy. He is gearing up to return to India the moment the field is ready for a new political party.

Both Sabhlok and Bhagawat admire Kejriwal, of course with plenty of reservations. They don’t approve of the economic policies that Kejriwal has spoken of so far. Sabhlok says he has met Kejriwal and tried to show him his idea of reform, “but he has not been responsive”. “I’ve not given up. I continue to try to reach out to him.”

But Kejriwal’s admirers have a word of caution for him. “Many of his ideas, such as fixing prices for essential commodities, are deeply socialist, and will take India further down the path of ruin. We need serious policy thinkers to come forward, not economics illiterates,” says Sabhlok.

The inaugural session From September 14–21, The Auroville Festival – Auroville, City for Transformation, was held at the India International Centre in New Delhi.

AVToday October 2012.

Smt. Ambika Soni, Minister of Information and  Broadcasting,  was  the  guest  speaker.  She recalled one of her most cherished memories and experiences, of having darshan of Sri Aurobindo and The Mother as a child, which, she said, has marked her relationship with the Sri Aurobindo Ashram and Auroville ever since. “When I went to Auroville a few years ago, it was such a beautiful experience. If India today has a message for the world, it is its basic mantra of inclusiveness, synthesizing the various religions, languages and cultural traditions, creating a global dialogue, creating understanding and compassion, avoiding the so-called clash of civilizations. And that is what you are doing in Auroville as well. We should not look at the individual colours, at the blue, the yellow and the red, but weave them together to get the colour white, the colour of love. This would be the greatest message of Auroville to the rest of the  world.”  She  expressed  the  hope  that  the Auroville  Festival  in  Delhi  will  be  the first  of many interactive processes  “of all of you from Auroville with the rest of us who are deprived of living in such experiments”.

Shri  Soli  Sorabji,  eminent  jurist  and Chairman of the India International Centre, first became  involved  with  Auroville  in  the  1980s, “when  a  case  came  up  at  the  Supreme  Court regarding Auroville  – was it  a religion  or  not? And then the Supreme Court held that Auroville was not representing a religion. That was my first contact with the work of Sri Aurobindo and Auroville. Eight years later I visited Auroville and it was an unforgettable experience, meeting so many people of different nationalities. It was a place of dedication; the whole atmosphere was alleviating or rather transforming.  Then, much later, I was asked for a legal opinion on the question if Auroville was a government organization or an autonomous institution and I gave the opinion that Auroville is an independent juristic entity, not a government body. I will soon go again to Auroville to replenish my batteries.”

He then proceeded with an assessment of the human condition today. “One of the most tragic paradoxes of our times is that an age that is witness  to  tremendous  progress  and  technological developments has  at the same time  also seen  a tremendous  decline  of  moral  and  spiritual  values.  Today,  human  beings  are  measured  in terms of mass and molecules, forgetting that there is a spiritual spark in every human being and that the divine is in the heart of everyone. Greed has taken enormous steps. And there is also a sharp the decline in the standards of politicians. Here I would like to read something by Sri Aurobindo which is still quite relevant today.