In the last century Sri Aurobindo wrote of our times in a style
similar to what we find in both the Old and New Testaments. In his short prose
piece, The Hour of God, written some time in the first quarter of
the last century, he gave a warning to nations to be prepared because the ‘hour
of the unexpected’ had arrived. It is timely to re-examine his piece in the
light of recent happenings. The Hour of God indicated that the
time of ‘fulfilment’ was near, but only after what Sri Aurobindo foresaw as a
possible apocalyptic upheaval. Indeed, the First and Second World Wars
justified his warning. Have we reached a similar turning point that requires the descent of a
Godhead in the form of the War God, as he is described in The Revelation as
well as the last Avatar of Vishnu?
India will become the spiritual leader of the world, as India’s Great
Sage, Sri Aurobindo, had predicted nearly a century ago: And one is
tempted to shout in the ears of all those “secular”, cynical, westernised,
Indians of today, the eternal mantra: Ah, we are coming back again full circle
to the wonder that WAS India, the India of the Vedas and the Upanishad, which
A.L. Basham, the best-selling author of “The Wonder That Was India”, criticised
as being militant and politically disunited. But the truth was that they were
united in their diversity, that it was much more democratic and allowed much
more freeplay and freedom, individually and collectively, than the India of today
allows. Let us again reread history, let us look at India , not through the Western
prism, but with the ancient wisdom that She has bestowed upon us.
But for that India has to succeed in her attempt to liberalise her
economy, it has to learn to decentralise the heavy hand of its Government in
Delhi, it has to rewrite its Constitution, which it adapted blindly from the
British, it has to re-indianise her education methods, reform her political
system, which has made a mockery of democracy… In one word, She has to become a
superpower on par with any western nation. Then, when She will have the respect
and the attention of the West, can Her message of spirituality and the ancient
wisdom of santanam dharma, once again shine forth and bring down a New World to this beleaguered planet, which is on the
brink of self-destruction. François Gautier fgautier26@gmail.com
Ph: 0413 2622209 / 9811118828 February 14, 2013
A cosmic vision as unveiled by science today preserves the feeling of
the sacred that we see in the scriptures of humanity but transcends the visions
of deities which claim to be creators and sole custodians of the ultimate
truth. Evolution shows us the value and wonder of life. The value of life we
see around us – the result of billions of years of organic evolution – provides
us with an ethics that compels us toward the preservation of nature and a
resource sharing that unites us across petty national barriers into one planet.
The codes of Hammurabi, Moses, Muhammed and Manu never achieved such wonderful
heights and spiritual depths as the codes which the vision of the web of life,
as revealed by science, compels us to live by for our survival as a species.
Perhaps it was there in our heritage too – as reflected in the traditions of
mother goddess which we inherited from our paleolithic ancestors, which
manifest in the words attributed to Chief Seattle.
Skanda - 2 days ago Idea of
evolution is not just "consistent" with Vedantic idea but is inherent
in Hindu knowledge. The sequence of Avataras as Sri Aurobindo notes is an
emphatic expression of evolution. The anti-evolution of ISKCON does not emerge
from veda pathasala either. ISKCON is Hinduism's abrahamic version in many ways.
Comment on Sri Aurobindo on Nationalism by Sandeep
Comment on What is wrong with promiscuity? by Sandeep
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