Noren Singh Nahar is the third son of Prithwi Singh

Noren Singh Nahar Recalls
By Anurag Banerjee

Noren-da, as we lovingly address Noren Singh Nahar, is the third son of Prithwi Singh. Born on 1 December 1920, he came to Sri Aurobindo Ashram for the first time in 1936 and became an inmate in 1939 at the age of nineteen. His first assignment was supervision of work in Golconde, the oldest Guest House of the Ashram which was under construction and he supervised the cutting and bending of the iron rods. He also worked in the Ashram Bakery and the Press in the printing section. His love for gardening was encouraged by the Mother who gave him a small plot of land behind the office of Pavitra in the inner courtyard of the Ashram Main Building where he, along with help from a senior sadhak named Jyotin-da, grew vegetables.

Pavitra was the first stamp collector in the Ashram. After he joined the Ashram in 1925, he brought his stamp albums from France and thus started the work of stamp collection. Noren-da used to work in Pavitra’s dining room where there was a small table and one stool. With help and guidance from the Mother (who had entrusted to him the responsibilities of the Philately Department which flourished under him) and Pavitra, he has enriched the department so much that now it houses a vast and spectacular collection of stamps of post-Independence India, French India, Canada, U.S.A., Brazil, France, Holland, Switzerland and some other countries of Western Europe. From 1975 he was helped in his work by his youngest sister Suprabha-di. It won’t be an exaggeration if I say that Noren-da and Suprabha-di are the soul and heart of the Department of Philately.

Noren-da is a beautiful person. He and his younger brother Nirmal Nahar are among the few people I’ve met who possess both beauty of form and beauty of spirit. Despite being one of the senior most members of the Ashram, Noren-da is easily approachable and his child-like simple laughter draws people closer to him. The Mother had remarked about Noren-da after seeing him that his psychic being was exactly on the front.

Whenever I visit Pondicherry, I often spend my evenings with Noren-da and Suprabha-di. During the course of the conversations, both Suprabha-di and Noren-da share with me the memories of the glorious golden days of the bygone era. And I make it a point to record those talks so that I can preserve them for posterity. Today (1 December 2009) on the occasion of Noren-da’s birthday, I would like to share with all some of the gems I have heard from him.

1. The Jail Term

I was never inclined towards politics; Nirmal was actively involved in it. I came to the Ashram at the age of nineteen so I could not participate in the Freedom Movement but I was jailed once. When I was in St. Xavier’s College, some students had organized a strike there; the gates were kept closed and many students sat at the entrance to prevent people going in. My friends, Subhas Chandra Bose’s nephews, were among the protestors. During this period I went one day to my College and sat in front of the gate with others. No sooner did I sit, the police arrived with a van and I was arrested along with the other students and was sent behind the bars. My eldest uncle came to bail me out. But overnight I became sort of a hero. Some Press reporters came to my house and took my interview which was published in a leading daily along with my photo. And the greatest advantage of this was that I came in contact with Subhas Chandra Bose and he was very affectionate to me.

2. First Spiritual Experience

It was either in 1938 or 1939. I had come to Pondicherry and was walking on the sea-beach. In those days Pondicherry was not so populated; there were hardly any cars and Pondicherry was a silent place. From the sea-beach I went to the Ashram Main Building. The more I approached towards it, I felt as if the atmosphere was becoming calmer and the silence was becoming more profound. The moment I stepped inside the Ashram, I felt as if I had entered a world of silence. My entire body could feel that sensation. It was the very first experience I had. It stayed with me for a while.

3. Becoming an Inmate

During holidays in 1939, when I came to the Ashram, the Mother wrote to my father that She would be glad if I stayed here. When my father asked me about it, I said that I shall stay on. While giving permission, She said: “If you want to continue your studies you can do so and then come back here.” But I told the Mother that I wanted to remain here from now on. Then I returned to Calcutta, with the Mother’s permission, to wind up my affairs, came back to the Ashram and became a permanent member. Since I started getting all my monthly requirements from ‘Prosperity’, I offered to the Mother whatever I had brought from Calcutta; I had withdrawn all the money I had in my bank account and offered it to Her even though the sum was negligible. I also offered my clothes to Her but She asked me to keep them with me and said: “Noren Singh, your clothes are of good quality and I won’t be able to give you such type of clothes.” After some time, while cleaning my luggage, I found some coins in my trunk. I felt bad because I had forgotten to offer them to the Mother.

4. Early Memories

In those days we were given two dhotis per year. The dhotis were short in width and measured up to my knees or a few centimetres down. Initially I found it a bit difficult to adjust with such outfits but got accustomed to it soon enough. In those days the Dining Room also seemed like the Ashram. All those who worked there worked with utmost concentration! There used to reign such a profound silence that it gave us the feeling as if we were in the Meditation Hall! The servers were very warm and would ask us if we would like to take some more food. There was Charu-da whom we used to call ‘Bhater Charu’ because he used to dish out rice.

5. Money Matters

Anurag: I’ve heard that the Mother used to sell Her saris and ornaments whenever the Ashram faced any sort of financial difficulties. Did She witness the prosperity of the Ashram before leaving Her body?

Yes, towards the last years of Her life, the Mother had seen some prosperity. I remember that once the Mother opened Her almirah to give some money to Dyuman for Ashram expenses. Since She trusted me She had opened the almirah in my presence. But things began to change after Sri Aurobindo’s departure. I remember one incident: I had asked for Rs.100/- from the Mother to buy stamps. She had approved of it and told me to collect it from Amrita-da. At that time the Ashram was going through a period of severe financial crisis, so Pavitra-da was not quite pleased with my request for money. When I went to Amrita-da, he asked me whether the payment could be made after some days. I understood the problem and readily agreed. When I was about to come out of his office, he called me back, gave me the money and said: “No, you take it. Yours is a continuous thing.” But after the Mother left Her body, the Ashram has never seen any cash crunch.

6. Contacts with the Mother

Anurag: I’m told that the Mother did not see anyone except for one or two of Her attendants for some days after Sri Aurobindo left his body.
Yes, but I had met the Mother during that period. When Sri Aurobindo’s body was kept in state I used to go to His room several times a day. It was either on the 6th or 7th of December 1950 that I went to the Mother’s room with a stalk of ‘New Creation’ flower and to put it in the flower vase quietly. She was in her apartment next to Sri Aurobindo’s and in deep concentration. She saw me and told me that the water of the flower vases has not been changed for a few days. “Can you do it?” Since then, for eight or ten days I was doing this regularly. At the same time the Mother told me: “Sorry, I cannot give you tomato.” This She used to give me daily in the morning after Balcony Darshan. Even when She retired to Her new room upstairs in 1962, my visits to Her were not interrupted. Satprem and Sujata used to go to Her twice a week for their interviews and I carried the tape-recorder which recorded her voice. So, in this way, I regularly met Her till May 1973 when She completely withdrew.

7. A Gift from the Mother

I had a green pen—a Sheffer’s life-time with a white dot on the cap. One day the Mother saw it lying on Pavitra-da’s table. She liked the pen very much and asked Pavitra-da whose pen it was. Pavitra-da said that perhaps it was Noren Singh’s. Next day the Mother asked me: “Noren Singh, can I keep this pen? It goes well in the Green Room”. I readily offered it to Her. Then She took me to Her Green Room and showed me that room. She said, “I shall give you my pen which I am using.” After a few days, the Mother gave me the pen which She Herself was using.


8. The Mother’s Nails

One day I went to the Mother’s Green Room and saw that the Mother was paring her nails. I wasn’t mature enough at that time for if I had stretched my hands, Her nails would have fallen on my palms and I could have got Her nails. But I didn’t do so. Her nails fell on the carpet. It is a regret that I have.

9. A Dictionary

In the beginning of 1940 my father received two dictionaries for me: English-French and French-English. They were two big volumes. As usual I showed them to the Mother. The Mother saw them and said: “I shall like to have this latest dictionary. In exchange, I shall give you mine.” After a few days She got the old one well bound and gave it to me.

10. Lord Ganesh

Once the Mother said: “Ganesh is much more beautiful than he is usually depicted.” I made a monumental mistake by not asking Her to draw a portrait of Ganesh as he actually is. She could easily have done it as She was the greatest artist I have ever known.

11. A Regret

Once the Mother had told me: “Noren Singh, I’ll draw your portrait.” But it didn’t materialize for some reason or other.

12. Sri Aurobindo’s Return

I had once asked the Mother: “When will Sri Aurobindo return with His supramentalized body?” The Mother replied: “My child, five hundred years is nothing in evolution.” This means that there is little chance of His return before five hundred years.

13. Dark Force Behind the Mother

There was a long corridor in front of Pavitra-da's room. On its right was the door leading to the Mother's apartment and on the left was the Green Room. The Mother was walking on the corridor while I was standing in front of the door. Suddenly I saw a dark force was following the Mother. I felt very bad. The thought of informing Pavitra-da did not occur to me; I thought that maybe something was wrong within me that's why I saw it. Afterwards the Mother went to play Tennis; even then the impact of the dark force was there. I was feeling uneasy. I went to the beach for a walk. After some time when I returned, I heard that the Mother had fallen down in the Tennis Ground while playing. I understood that it was a hostile force that was following Her.

14. Experience of a Force-Field around the Mother

A protective shield existed around the Mother all the time and once I witnessed how it worked. The Mother was playing Tennis in the Tennis Ground and I was also playing in the court next to hers with a gentleman. While we were playing, my opponent hit the ball which was near the net very hard and as a result the ball hit my racket and rose upwards and went to the next court where the Mother was playing. To my horrors, I saw that the ball was about to fall on Her. But suddenly the ball, as it was falling down, deflected towards another direction and fell on the ground. Thus, I experienced how the force-field worked around Her.

15. Memories of Anilbaran Roy

Anurag: Were you close to Anilbaran Roy?
Not really. He was much senior to us and he hardly interacted with others. But I remember two humorous incidents about him. The first one happened when I had just joined the Ashram. In those days the Mother used to take collective meditation in the Meditation Hall and each inmate had more or less a particular place where he sat for meditation. I did not know which place was reserved for whom so I sat on a side of the floor which happened to be Anilbaran’s reserved place. When Anilbaran came, without wasting a word, he just sat on my lap! I hurriedly got up and vacated his place.
On another occasion, I saw him climbing the Psychological Perfection tree in my garden in front of ‘Prosperity’. He climbed up and sat on one of its branches and hung his feet low. When I went near him, he said: “Krishna used to sit like this on the Kadamba tree, isn’t it?” Anilbaran used to have many spiritual experiences. It would have been good if I had asked him if he had seen Sri Krishna in vision because he was very fond of Bhagavat Gita. Then we could have had a real image of Sri Krishna before us.
When Anilbaran left the Ashram, the Mother called me and said: “Many have approached me to have his room. You go and occupy it as fast as possible.” I did accordingly and took possession of the room. The room was absolutely empty, not a single piece of furniture was there. And this room has now become the Department of Philately where the Mother’s stamp and coin collections are preserved.

16. Rain of Golden Light

I’ve told you about how I saw Sri Aurobindo, on the road itself, with my eyes open in 1951 in the western sky while coming back to Golconde. His luminous face covered the last part of the western sky. On another occasion I saw that there was a drizzle of golden particles around and in front of me from the crossing of Balcony road up to the crossing of Golconde road (Rue St. Gilles to Rue Dupuy). I just walked through the golden drizzle. This is an unforgettable experience, I remember it as vivid as it can be. Noren Singh Nahar Recalls

from Anurag Banerjee anuragbanerjee2002@yahoo.co.in to tusarnmohapatra@gmail.com date1 December 2009 10:24

Honestly, it’s almost a cult. Scratch that, it’s totally a cult

இந்தியா India is my chosen battleground, but the longer I’m here the more I wonder if perhaps, despite my plotting to avoid fate, India has chosen me. November 29, 2009
ஆரோவிள்ளே [auroville]

Apparently, perfect places do exist. Apparently, I’ve been to one. The thing is, Auroville struck me as the single strangest place in the world. I’m not really sure where to start with it, so I’ll turn it over the city’s mission statement:
"Auroville wants to be a universal town where men and women of all countries are able to live in peace and progressive harmony above all creeds, all politics and all nationalities. The purpose of Auroville is to realize human unity."
The city was founded by a figure known as “The Mother,” a central spiritual figure in Pondicherry whose ashrams and ideas have spread throughout the world. It’s over 4,000 acres of hugely undeveloped wilderness on the outskirts of Pondicherry, with a population capacity of 50,000 people, though the populace currently numbers only 2,007.

Its residents renounce all politics, nationality, and religion, choosing instead a peaceful, hardworking (?) lifestyle. Many volunteer at schools or conduct research, and all garden. Daily all inhabitants gather to meditate around a huge gold-plated sphere (see picture) that contains a 70 cm crystal sphere through which sunlight falls, representing “future realizations”. The Mother meditated that the center of the city as where a huge Banyan tree lies.
Usually visitors are allowed to approach the huge dome, but as we visited on a Sunday, we had no such luck. My host mom does know an Indian woman living in a cottage in Auroville with her Danish companion though, so we snuck in a back gate and went to her house, where she treated us to homegrown tea, biscuits, and gave my host sister and me each a new selvar to be stitched.

She showed us some things unique to Auroville such as playing The Mother’s mantras for water to purify it before drinking and denouncing marriage (though not partnerships). Her house had a country cabin feel, almost like a cabin you might rent for the summer on Cape Cod, but was equipped with broadband, satellite tv, and a microwave. Strangely, the idea of “equality for all” that Auroville preaches doesn’t seem to prevent its residents from keeping servants.

Honestly, it’s almost a cult. Scratch that, it’s totally a cult. Forgive me (I just saw 2012), but you can’t help but wonder about this place. Everyone you meet has watery eyes and a huge smile on their face and greets you in whatever language seems to strike their fancy. From what I saw of it, it’s almost like a huge, permanent, UNESCO-endorsed Woodstock.
Anyway, I was given the offer from the Coimbatorian we visited to come back and stay for a week anytime, and I’m considering taking her up on it. Might make for an interesting visit, no?

I’m not sure exactly how to define a “perfect city,” but I guess that Auroville in theory, does a decent, if communist, job of it. You hand over your assets to the city upon joining, help your neighbors, are friendly to all, and live off the earth. Still though, the end of the walking tour of Auroville dumped us right into a gift shop with prices on homemade paper, organic tea, and pottery that would raise eyebrows anywhere.
Ah, how capital prevails. Posted by Rianna ♥ at 3:55 PM Please send all fan mail to: Rianna Starheim108 Appusamy Layout Red Fields Coimbatore, INDIA 641045 stargirl2174@aim.com

Sujata tells a story

A Vision of Sujata Nahar

Translated by

Anurag Banerjee


[Translator's note: In 1995, Sujata Nahar's younger sisters Sumitra and Suprabha had gone to visit her at her residence in Kotagiri. One day, they requested Sujata to tell them a story. What follows is the translated version of the transcript of the recording of the story she had narrated in Bengali. The italicized words are those which she had spoken originally in English. The vision was of an ancient legend of the Vedic era which she had witnessed. It is rather noteworthy because it provides us with the assurance that if we plunge deep into matter, the 'riddle of death' can be solved and the 'secret of immortality' can be found. The vision echoes Sujata's revealing words: 'The hymns of the Veda are the triumph songs of the soul's battle in Matter, and its victory.']

—Tell us another story.

Sujata Nahar: So you want to listen to another story? Well, I don't know whether what I'm going to narrate was a story or a real-life incident. As you know, I wake up quite early when the night is still dark. In the clear sky I see many stars, constellations and planets; then I move here and there for my work and I witness how the sky gradually gets illuminated with the sun-rays. It reminds me of a line from Rabindranath Tagore's poetry—Dawn came and opened the gates of the East—do you remember it? When the cowshed is opened, I see how the glimmer of the light descends, the Sun-God himself comes to cleanse the path of darkness with the poetry of light. Then the cows go out to graze, the birds sing and after awakening from their slumber they talk for a while amongst themselves and then leave in quest for food. At least this is what I behold here. Then comes the Sun-God in his chariot—he changes his outfits daily just like us—sometimes he wears red and sometimes pink. So I witness his change of attire and colours every day.
One day what happened was: I observed that the darkness was not dispelling at all. Sometimes when the sky is cloudy darkness does exist in the region but this time it appeared to be rather dense, it looked precisely like night. One or two birds called out when they thought that dawn had arrived but they too ceased after a while. “What happened?” I wondered. The clock indicated that it was pretty late. Then what did go wrong? The entire day was spent like that and I must say that I have never seen such a deep night-like darkness because even when the sky is cloudy...

—There remains a little light.

Sujata Nahar: Yes, the difference between day and night can be understood. I was unable to comprehend what could have happened. And I was feeling a bit uneasy as well. It is difficult to grasp that particular feeling. That night also I was quite restless. Then probably I had gone to sleep; the body was on the bed while I had gone somewhere else. This happens quite often, I leave the body for some different adventures.
I saw a young paragon of beauty sobbing inconsolably. What happened to her? Then I saw people rushing towards her from the four corners. By the time I had gone there many incidents had occurred and those were revealed to me like the flashback of a movie.
Usha, the Dawn, had gone as usual to open her cowshed when she noticed that the door was already open. She was taken aback a bit. When she went forward and opened the doors wide she saw that the cowshed was empty, not a single cow was there. “Where did my cattle go?” she wondered. Then she thought of calling the Sun, her elder brother, and ask him about the whereabouts of the cattle but when she called him, there was no response. Someone had abducted the Sun as well. Usha's wail made the other gods and goddesses come rushing to her; they wondered what could have happened to Usha whose face was ever-smiling and heart always full of joy! Saraswati came, Sarama came, Lila came and so did all the goddesses. And from the other side came rushing to her, her brothers Indra, the Aswins, Agni, the Moon and all the other gods who rallied around Usha and understood what exactly had occurred. They realized that the cattle-stealers were none other than the Dasyus [robbers]—I'm unable to recall their names—so now they would have to go to the land of the robbers. “But how to go there?” they wondered because the path to their land was unimaginably perilous. They thought of approaching the Night and to please her. The Night happens to be Usha's elder sister (I think I have heard that there is a sutra in the Vedas known as the Ratri-sutra). But who would lead the way because the path is unknown to all? Then arrived Sarama—whom we address as Helen in English mythology—(it's from Sarama that the word sarameya [meaning dog] has come). So she led the way and was followed by Indra, the King of gods.

—The Chief of Gods.

Sujata Nahar: Yes, the chief. First went Indra, the Chieftain of the gods, followed by Agni who was like a priest—like what we call Purodha. But despite this arrangement, they felt that the presence of humans was required. The chiefs of the humans were the Angirasa Rishis; some say there are nine of them some say seven; they are called Angirasa because they took birth from fire just like us. The Nahars were born from the Fire. So they moved through that path of darkness. Sometimes they had to travel through several kingdoms from where at times someone came to offer some help and appeared as foes. By crossing several hurdles they continued to advance slowly. Then the Night too left the gods in the middle of the way for she was apprehensive that Sarama would supersede her. Hence she moved away and Sarama led the gods. At times the road was so narrow and steep that if one missed a step he would be gone for ever. But the Moon was with them, he made the gods drink soma-rasa because no food was available in those places and despite the fact that the gods were gods, they too felt tired like us. Therefore something was required to boost them up—it's symbolic. They moved on and on when suddenly Sarama heard the lowing of the cattle. From a valley amid steep mountains came that sound. But who would descend in it? However Sarama guided the gods to that place; then she searched the region and informed the gods that the cattle were there. Thus ended her work which was to show the way. The task of rescuing the cattle belonged to others. She, in Sri Aurobindo's terminology, is the Intuition.
The robbers were hiding in what we call an impregnable fortress, there was no gap or hole in it so how would the gods enter? The robbers—the Panis—had Vallar as their chief. He sent his men when he heard the commotion to inquire what the matter was. The Panis spied from a distance and reported to their chief accordingly. He instructed his men to shut all the gates so that no gods could enter. But the gods had Vrihaspati—the chief of the Angirasas on their sides—the power of his chanting of the hymns threw open the gates. Then all the creatures of darkness came out in groups and what to say about the fierce battle that ensued! It was a terrible war! Innumerable Panis were killed. The gods fought quite brilliantly. Indra was...

—Equal to a hundred.

Sujata Nahar: He was equal to a thousand. With his thousand eyes and vajra [his weapon] he fought fiercely and the Aswins too were present to help him. Those who got wounded were healed by the Aswins. And then there were Indra's forty-nine brothers who also helped. All came to help and each killed as many as possible. At last the Panis were defeated, Vallar too was vanquished. After defeating the Panis, the gods entered the cave and found that the cattle were indeed there. Then Usha, with the help of the Aswins, brought her cattle out and took them to her own kingdom—to the land where the cows of the Sun graze. That is the field of Truth. And what sort of Truth? You must have noticed that when you dip a stick in water, it appears as if the stick is bent but in that land it does not happen thus. Straight stick remains straight. That's why it is called ritam. Anyway, the gods went back but the sages went further inside the cave. Then they arrived at a pit which we call as gumpha.

—Cave.

Sujata Nahar: I think the monasteries of the Buddhists are called gumphas. And this was a cave. The sages entered more and more in it and they saw someone sitting in heart of the cave: someone immense and alone to quote Sri Aurobindo. And who was he? He was the eighth son of Aditi whom she had left behind. He was lost in darkness. He was Martanda, he is the eighth Sun. And he was hidden in the darkness of the cave by the robbers. But with his own luminous light he had illuminated everything in that dark cave. Then Martanda came out to the world.
Our Fathers the Angirasa Rishis pursued further to the end. They came to the darkest cave yet—I'm speaking in my own words. The darkness repelled—this is from Sri Aurobindo's poetry. They entered the caves on their hands and knees...they crawled on their hands and knees—because they were unable to enter on their feet as the cave had a very small opening. And in the heart of darkness they discovered Martanda who had been concealed there by the Titans. Martanda, the eighth son of Aditi. Who is Aditi? The All-creating Infinite Mother. Then the eighth son of Aditi was seated there, immense and alone. He is the black or dark, the lost, the hidden sun, the son whom he met.
I don't recall the reason. I remember the story Mother had recounted. She had seen that in the matter, in the deep matter, there is the Divine. Mother had seen it when she had gone to the Subconscient and she saw that the Being opened his eyes—the Divine in Matter in the Subconscient. If you follow Mother's visions, you will find a lot of things...She had seen it in 1907-1908 or may be even before that period. She didn't have the experiences of Savitri then. Mother's experiences were noted down by Sri Aurobindo much later. I don't recall well but Mother read Savitri much later.

*

Why should we take this inevitability as a harmful stigma?

Re: Reflections on THE IDEAL OF HUMAN UNITY By Debashish Banerji Science, Culture and Integral Yoga
by Rod on Fri 27 Oct 2006 05:56 AM PDT Permanent Link In Sri Aurobindo’s view, the evolution of consciousness is towards larger and more inclusive unities, and a sense of self that is universal. In his view evolution in its large aims works through groups rather than individuals to achieve large ideal potentials, like justice, knowledge, harmony, power.

Fukuyama also argues, as does Habermas, that such values as human dignity and freedom are rooted in a natural condition of equality before the genetic dice throw. (A new slant on “thrownness.”) If we choose to predetermine improvements of intelligence, health, strength, competitiveness, etc., in our species through genetic engineering, then we violate the principle of the luck of the draw and the randomness of opportunity which ground our choices and our sense of identity and dignity. We are who we are by virtue of random selection mitigated by parental breeding preferences and social conditioning. We should be free to change the latter but not the former, or else the balance of natural ethics and human rights will be altered forever.

This point of view is very close to the Judeo-Christian idea of the natural state of fall in which good and evil become known so that we may strive for the good, reject the evil, and be saved; also closely related to the Platonic/Aristotelian idea of the final cause being the good form of each thing, toward which it moves in its development from a state of ignorance, imperfection, smallness, matter toward the fulfillment of its purpose, by becoming capable of rational choice. According to these basics of “natural philosophy” what drives the human being toward its potential is the soul, what Fukuyama calls Factor X, the essence of the human when all the conditioning is stripped away, the principle of “nous” or reason. Faced with the choice to genetically alter and so improve some members of the species, to remain in a natural state of imperfection on a flat playing field and strive for an ethically progressive world order, or to renounce mentality, reason, preferential judgment altogether and allow a new principle of truth consciousness and force to manifest, why would one choose one or the other, on what grounds?

Sri Aurobindo’s leap forward consists in the recognition that the natural and ideal drives toward harmony, truth, justice are the embryonic movements of a Will in life-mind-matter to realize a higher form of existence, consciousness, bliss. But he also brings down the force that makes his solution a tangible, perceptible possibility, for those who make the choice to open to it. And so we may be back to the Augustinian/Pelagian paradox, with a slight twist. Both individual choice and divine grace are necessary if this evolutionary change is to happen. And it must be for the good of everyone – not just the elect. It’s a species, and not a communal or national or individual level process. But because of the dual necessity: choice and grace, it will have to be done first by individuals. Collective change will presumably follow (linearly and chaotically).

At this point in Auroville there is almost no sign of anything happening on the collective level that indicates a change of consciousness, but the supramental force can be accessed by the individual and at times it seems to encompass a group awareness, but still carries little impact in the arrangement of social structure. At the Ashram level, little effort is apparently even made on the outer collective structure. It’s all arranged for maintaining an inner openness, for worship and meditation. If this evolution (of supramental consciousness) depends in any way on social structure, on ethical choice, on economics, technology, or biogenetic engineering, then from what I can tell it’s doomed from the start. It’s strictly a matter of inner choice and grace, which presumes the presence of a soul, divine will, or psychic being in things. RH

by Rod on Sun 29 Oct 2006 01:54 AM PST Profile Permanent Link
This is a kind of reasoning, supported by revelation and text, ie. spiritual authority. As such it requires faith and practice on the part of those who choose to be heroic. Whether such a teaching was meant to become the basis of a new religion, or not, or whether such religion is desirable or not, does not disqualify it as a religious teaching. Sri Aurobindo said his purpose in writing the Arya was to lay down the metaphysical and religious basis for a new movement in humanity to exceed itself. That basis (foundation) is a categorical belief in the immanence of the supermind in evolution and the innate ability of humans to know it because of the presence in them of the soul. The philosophical pertinence of this idea today when everyone is questioning the origin of consciousness happens to make this teaching current and relevant. But, What's wrong with admitting both that this teaching requires existential experience to be meaningful and also that it is very natural, even inevitable, for it to take on all the characteristics of a religion, which in fact it has already done? Why should we take this inevitability as a harmful stigma? Do we think postmodernism should have the last word? Reply

by Rod on Sun 29 Oct 2006 02:36 AM PST Profile Permanent Link
I would like to make an important concession to the techniques of postmodernist criticism and to the importance of an understanding of being-toward-the-future in the context of Sri Aurobindo’s work, as mentioned above.

A meaningful intermediate step might be allotted to phenomenology and deconstruction as a preparation for an actual step of being-toward-the-future as well as a true grasp of Sri Aurobindo’s philosophy, similar to Derrida’s treatment of Heidegger. That would be to accord Sri Aurobindo’s philosophemes their due position within the history of metaphysics and religion, both Eastern and Western, and then to transcend our own embeddedness in that doxological framework by considering that position under erasure. Because the position of Sri Aurobindo is only really meaningful in relation to an ever-present future of consciousness to be realized through transformation and the transcendence of intellectual concepts, his metaphysical and religious structures must be erased in order for that transformation to be present and in order for the future represented by his writings to be understood.

Supramental truth-force is a direct seeing, through a transformed consciousness, that may or may not be mediated by an inspired text or a direct spiritual influence, such as those which Sri Aurobindo, the writer-yogi created. It is known and valid only through an opening to a unifying consciousness of the oneness and difference of all perceptions that yields a strong sense of their unity, a sense of a divine wholeness and rightness (ritam), “a smooth and even infinity everywhere.” In this experience, the Mother’s insistence that even a superhuman effort to attain a true knowledge and to uplift humanity pales and disappears before the realization of what in fact already is the truth of everything. Reply

by Debashish on Sun 29 Oct 2006 08:39 PM PST Profile Permanent Link
Very well put and true. In fact, to this I would stick my neck out and agree that this is exactly the necessary method (call it postmodern or not) that Sri Aurobindo demands for a legitimate understanding and practice of his teaching. DB Reply [ 3:15 PM 4:23 PM]

▼ 2006 (854) ► December (57) ▼ November (52)
In direct connection with supraphysical
A secret communication and commerce
Resistance, obstruction and limitation
The Life Divine does not mention avatar or the sac...
On magical powers called siddhis
The secret of the Veda
The supremacy of Sri Aurobindo
Impersonality
Romanticism, Colonialism, Hegemony
Existentialism and Vedanta
The Indian tradition is truly "postmodern"
The book has been a revelation
Transcendental to the Transcendental
Universal economy
Transcendental-Universal-Individual
The circle opens in truth closes in beauty
Metaphorical or figurative reading
On this day of the Mother's Mahasamadhi
Unconditional love at the heart of Derrida
A fundamental lack in Buddhism
The ordinary mind vs. Psychic being
Words as gateways for the Soul
Vedas as spiritual allegory
Have you mused on the incredible things described ...
The “integral” tent
The original Integral tradition
The holocaust of the Supreme
Science itself is no integral thought
Supramental Transformation of the world
We are our fate through our action
Danger of literalism and religious dogmatism
Counteract the virus of narrowminded blindness
A reflection of the Absolute in the relative
This is the process proclaimed by Savitri
The Mother and Sri Aurobindo are so revolutionary
Diversity and unity in a divine way
Sri Aurobindo and the 20th Century
Nothing can be taught
The psychic being is the key to evolution
Hegel, Heidegger, Sri Aurobindo, Gebser
An actual step of being-toward-the-future
Sri Aurobindo has claimed divine sanction
Self-stimulating irrelevance
A foundationalism based in experience
Victorian-sounding Overmental prose
"Religion" is not a stigma on the teaching
Hwa Yen, Sri Aurobindo and A.H. Almaas
Kazlev disagrees with Ken's description
A universal grammar of metaphysics
Teilhard de Chardin and Sri Auro­bindo
The Self-Aware Universe
Consciousness Studies and Indian Psychology

Practicality is part of the spiritual program and discipline

Re: India’s Independence and the Spiritual Destiny: Part Y Mirror of Tomorrow
by narendra on Wed 14 Oct 2009 03:09 PM IST Profile Permanent Link

From Mother's and Sri Aurobindo's writings we can identify following three significant lines of progress which Nature will pursue for India: 1. Schooling in Practicality. 2. Unification of Indian sub continent. 3. Freedom from falsehood of asceticism and rise of true spirituality.

Whether one movement will be independent and completely precede the other or they would mutually collaborate would depend on the precedent conditions necessary for these movements to reach their logical fulfillment. Logically it is practical for Indian sub continent to stop infighting and establish a loose confederation so maybe to that extent it is incumbent for States to become practical. In case States don't consciously choose such a line then maybe circumstances will force confederation by such political and regional instability and insecurity that the countries are forced to form a confederation as the only option for survival. Indians are unlikely to make a conscious effort to train themselves in practicality unless either forced by circumstances or they are seized by some spiritual movement like Sri Aurobindo's and the Mother's where practicality is part of the spiritual program and discipline. Reply

by narendra on Wed 14 Oct 2009 03:45 PM IST Profile Permanent Link

The IT and the dot com revolution in India may not have much value for Indian cutting edge excellence directly but has an immense value to its service in empowerment of the middle class of India and for wealth accumulation. The huge capital accumulation which IT has achieved and the business opportunities that internet and IT provide without the stifling controls of government have fired the entrepreneurial spark among Indians. I am very hopeful that this spirit of enterprise is going to drive India into realms of innovation and excellence if it stays free of government controls. It would be absolutely fantastic if this spirit of enterprise enters into rural areas and helps towards micro level empowerment.

Unless our national self-determination does not translate on the micro level to individual dignity of life, full opportunities for freely determining one's future's possibilities and freedom of self-expression and responsible citizenship the Nation will not progress. India's progress since independence has been slow on this account. Under the conditions of democratic political setup and Indian complexity of demography a decisive resolve and achievement of micro level empowerment by the government does not appear to be probable. Instead non-government initiative appears to be more likely to drive this movement. There are some shining individual examples of such work in water harvesting, education, small-scale enterprises and agriculture. There are some great possibilities in some government schemes like NREGA which can build village assets by using village labour to empower at the village level and if this can move out of its current road-fixation into water reservoirs, community assets and services etc it will be a big boost to India. There are some signs of enlargement of scope of Panchayats also which is very desirable. Up until now Panchayats were being used only for executing last mile of development work in the villages but now there is limited participation in the planning phase of development works. Hopefully villages can become long-term viable and self-supporting communities. Andhra Pradesh has made tremendous progress in this direction.

In general there are many obstacles to rural progress like the soical-complexes, lack of dignity of labour, irresponsibility towards community assets, illiteracy, poverty, lack of innovative and informed approach towards agriculture, depleting water resources, tamasic dependence on government and lack of self-application to their problems. Reply

by narendra on Thu 15 Oct 2009 02:22 AM IST Profile Permanent Link
India's loss of contact with its psychic happened by the systematic "cut off from the roots" policy of British as is suggested by Mother in the below quote. [...] Reply

We really have to come out of the falsehood of Gandhi's example

Re: India’s Independence and the Spiritual Destiny: Part Y Mirror of Tomorrow by narendra on Tue 13 Oct 2009 09:03 PM IST Profile Permanent Link

1. One of the greatest falsehoods afflicting India is the mistaking of Gandhi's asceticism with India's spirituality. This falsehood not only resides in the western perception of India but afflicts most Indians as well. A direct progeny of Gandhi's brand of asceticism was the idea of appeasement of Muslims. Partition of India is the living symbol of this falsehood. So we really have to come out of the falsehood of Gandhi's example to be that of spiritual accomplishment from which to draw inspiration.

The Mother in her conversations has identified the partition of India as the biggest obstacle in its fulfilment of its spiritual destiny and agreed absolutely that hypocrisy of "Gandhi's India" has to go. [...]

2. [...] This recognition by Indian Government of India's spiritual genius and mission "as a leader in the ways of the spirit and a friend and helper of all the peoples" within the very fabric of our constitution is critical and most essential so that Indian government can plan all their action, focus, education, institutions, structures and policy accordingly. This official conversion will go a long way in reorienting India back on its path of the sphere of activity that it derives its deepest delight, its highest rapture and fire this nation to its original vitality. (Maybe an essay on Indian Constitution specially focussing on Preamble could be taken up here.) [...]

3. India should really start a sincere and thorough reflection on its last 60 years to evaluate itself as to how it measures up to the opportunity it had and the reasons which hindered its true and optimal progress. This process of audit of national life is essential to come to the point where we can really reorient ourselves. [...]

4. India's spiritual effort failed to consummate in supramental realisation and the alternative solution of Nirvana became the only option. Consequently the life of this nation was sucked dry of dynamic delight by the ascetic conditions of spiritual life. India was weakened to a point to suffer conquests and then cultural exile inflicted by the evil genius of Thomas Babington Macaulay who institutionalised "cutting India from its roots" as a state policy. Finally India suffered the Falsehood of asceticism and freely chose after Independence to indirectly continue the policy of "cutting India from its roots".

So here we are rootless people trying to find roots in America! Incidentally Mother had seriously wondered the possibility of American occupation of India as one of the lines whereby the world can move towards its spiritual destiny with the lesson of 'practicality' for India to be learnt but then she thought it to be too painful for India and too time consuming. So maybe the kind of cultural colonisation by America of India that we see today could be a means of accomplishing the lessons that are supposed to be learnt without the side effects! [...]

5. The issue regarding the lack of Indian accomplishments in Science, Sports, Academics etc. through Indianness is very telling about our loss of roots. And we cannot just will those achievements. Indian soul has a certain uniqueness and it supports by provisioning a certain unique rasa of life, a special joy in activities. This apparently is sought in giving expression to spiritual realities.

• But how can a true body and mind of Indian scientist find its very deep joy in a science which has no mention of spirit?
• A sportsman any delight in mastering body without the conscious spiritual impulse?
• A poet brood find delight in spiritless externalities where his mind and body are limited in its possibilities of pure sensual rasas but crave for spiritual touch?
• Without this essential element of training in Indian-soul-environment how can any perfection be achieved in an Indian way by an Indian?

I am inclined to believe that for such achievements to come through regularly on a national level the conditions of an Indian soul environment are necessary. The fields of expression have really opened up with so many new platforms- for example where earlier there were just paintings now we have in addition cartoons, comics (where Word is also part of the picture), motion-comics, movies etc- and it is only expanding. With internet whole new possibilities of expression and training have opened up. Maybe we will see mini Indian ecology systems coming up where Indian training is possible for different fields but for that lot of pioneers have to do a lot of work. [...] Reply

We read the exact year and month of Sri Aurobindo's return to this earth

A comment has been posted in reference to an article titled: The birth of the Avatar
Comment posted by: Robert E. Wilkinson
date 7 October 2009 20:20 Comment permalink:

Of course there are signs as well as a large body of objective evidence which allows the Avatar to have his mission confirmed not by the sentimental, emotional and subjective experiences of his devotees, but rather the Cosmos becomes his credentials. God supports His supreme Realizer by the cosmic harmonies of His universal manifestation, the script written in his very body. Indeed if this is veritably the Supramental Manifestation, which is the ultimate reconciliation of Spirit and Matter, that ‘spirit’ must unveil itself unquestionably in the workings of the material kingdom which is the extension of its own truth-essence. This Vedic Divine Measure was the very essence of the Mother’s original plan for her Temple and its sacred dimensions contained the entire story of these sacred incarnations written in the language of Supramental Time. For those with eyes to see, one may observe all of the significant dates of the Supramental Creation recorded for all time in the Globe and Pedestal.

At the top of the Pedestal, which is to bear Sri Aurobindo's symbol, we find the date: 1950, the very year which Sri Aurobindo left his body. The exact center of the Pedestal and the "Power Point" of the entire Matrimandir, which happens to also coincide with the center of the lotus of his symbol when constructed properly... is 1956, the year of the Supramental manifestation. At the base of the Pedestal, the center of the room where horizontal diameter meets verticle axis in the center of the Mother's symbol carved in stone, we read the exact year and month of Sri Aurobindo's return to this earth. Every single dimension of this miracle of sacred architecture has been described in irrefutable detail by Thea - Patrizia Norelli-Bachelet in her numerous books and articles. But these as we know have been systematically rejected by the powers that rule in Auroville and the Ashram and banned from the official list of titles.

So one would have to say no, it is not the modern mind, the modern age which draws a thick veil over the intuitive faculty of ours prevents seeing such signs. It is the mental ego of the instrument that refuses to see even when shown preferring instead to arrogantly assert its own authority on matters far beyond its abilities. And what is the result? Men who talk and sleep. For how can one possibly present a true interpretation of Savitri when one has missed its central theme… the rebirth of Sri Aurobindo exactly as he predicted.

A comment has been posted in reference to an article titled: The birth of the Avatar Comment posted by: Vikas
date 7 October 2009 21:00 Comment permalink: "....but rather the Cosmos becomes his credentials. God supports His supreme Realizer by the cosmic harmonies of His universal manifestation, the script written in his very body.".

Interesting thought and nicely expressed....

Their teachings and personalities have become a religion

M.Alan Kazlev 11 August 2009: My thoughts on the controversy surrounding Peter Heehs' book The Lives of Sri Aurobindo Kheper Home Sri Aurobindo and the Mother Home Sri Aurobindo and the Mother Books Topics Index Divinisation New Search The Lives of Sri Aurobindo: Peter Heehs

The Lives of Sri Aurobindo (Columbia University Press (2008) 528 pages) is the first ever scholarly non-hagiographic study of Sri Aurobindo. Heehs is a scholar who managed the ashram archives for some 30 years; he wrote a very informative academic-style biography of Sri Aurobindo. I found it both facsinating and inspiring. Sri Aurobindo the unreachable perfect god, I have no interest in such a conception at all. Sri Aurobindo the imperfect and fallible human who at the same time was an avatar of Supramental transformation, that he went from being an ordinary person to such a great Realizer, now that is what I find inspiring!.

Rather than write a simple overview of what the book is about (which I find tedious to do anyway), I'll quote from the publicity blurb on Amazon com.

Since his death in 1950, Sri Aurobindo Ghose has been known primarily as a yogi and a philosopher of spiritual evolution who was nominated for the Nobel Prize in peace and literature. But the years Aurobindo spent in yogic retirement were preceded by nearly four decades of rich public and intellectual work. Biographers usually focus solely on Aurobindo's life as a politician or sage, but he was also a scholar, a revolutionary, a poet, a philosopher, a social and cultural theorist, and the inspiration for an experiment in communal living.Peter Heehs, one of the founders of the Sri Aurobindo Ashram Archives, is the first to relate all the aspects of Aurobindo's life in its entirety. Consulting rare primary sources, Heehs describes the leader's role in the freedom movement and in the framing of modern Indian spirituality. He examines the thinker's literary, cultural, and sociological writings and the Sanskrit, Bengali, English, and French literature that influenced them, and he finds the foundations of Aurobindo's yoga practice in his diaries and unpublished letters. Heehs's biography is a sensitive, honest portrait of a life that also provides surprising insights into twentieth-century Indian history.

Sounds straightforward...sounds good. And I really do feel this is an excellent contribution to the field of Aurobindo studies.
But...
Not since Satprem published the Agenda has the Integral Yoga community been wracked by such a schism.

The Western disciples and Westernised Indians praised the book, and no doubnt were inspired by it for exactly the same reason I was (well, some of them anyway). But the religious and devotional Indians hated it. I myself could find nothing at all objectionable about his book, but the ashramites are up in arms; Heehs has been driven out and there was even a court case brought against him.

The whole thing spilled over to the Aurobindo mail list, auroconf, which I am no longer subscribed to. The reason I unsubscribed is because I found the whole argument (even if it was conducted in the most civil and respectful manner) about the book so absurd, with all that emotionalism. (but i'm very a solitary person and don't fit in groups anyway).
The battle-lines were drawn, several blogs and websites were set up or - if already established - took positions along factional lines.
In this way, the whole affair has been documented in mind-numbing detail by each side, each of course with its own bias.
So, against Heehs' book (devotee websites and blogs) there is:
The Lives of Sri Aurobindo - despite the title, this isn't a site to publicise the book. It's a devotee site set up to criticise it.
Mirror of Tommorrow archives. Mirror of Tommorrow is a devotee blog, this particular page describes some objections in great detail. Again, for me it is this very human, intimate, side of Sri Aurobindo and Mirra's relationship that I am most interested in, not some idea of sterile sanitised detachment
Heehs Biography Controversy - my friend Tusar N. Mohapatra is anti-Heehs, here he has collected a series of links and documents

If you look at the Pro-Heehs camp in the same objective way, you can notice the same "us and them" projection of the shadow, although they do get the facts about the book right! And the critiques by Peter's supporters are for the most part well written and eminently reasonable. The impression I get from those who argue in support of Peter Heehs' work is that they come from a place of secular Modernity, of an enlightened (in the sense of the secular enlightenment) and spiritually sympathetic and rational modernity. Just as those who attack the book seem to my biased perception at least to be coming from an uncritical guru-religious position. And it is noteworthy that Sri Aurobindo himself, and even more so The Mother, spoke out very strontgly against religion. But in the end their teachings and personalities have become a religion, just like what happened with Jesus and all the rest.

Enlighten Next blog post overview by Carter Phipps, chief editor of Enlighten Next, and hence, a devotee of the controversial guru Andrew Cohen, seems to engage in his own shadow project, the way he seems to imply taht teh entire Aurobindo internet community is up in arms against Heehs (not so, not so...). The position of Enlighten Next is essentially that of Cultural Creative modernity, there is no gnosis there. I'm not saying they are no good, only that they are non-gnostic (but sympathetic to those who do have gnosis, even if they don't understand it themselves)

Integral Yoga Fundamentalism - a whole website set up to oppose the critics; the name is bound to antagonise (a friend of mine criticized them over this, and I cannot but agree). But if I ask myself are the anti-Heehs people Aurobindo fundamentalists, I have to honestly say yes, they are. But it is precisely through that religious fundamentalism they access Sri Aurobindo and the Mother's Light. Indeed, I was an Aurobindo fundamentalist for a long time as well, you do get a certain connection through the intense literalism of belief. The ideal is to retain the connection, but without the literalism.

The Integral Yoga Fundamentalism site is organized by the SCIY blog people, who tend (so it seems to me) to adopt a non-religious, postmodernist approach to Sri Aurobindo. It would be arrogant to say that only the religious types can access Sri Aurobindo's Light. Why shouldn't the postmodernists as well? And of course he SCIY blog, being is pro-Heehs and against the religious, has a lot on this, although I can't be bothered sifting through (and I guess that's why they set up the IY Fundamentalism blog. But you can always try a Google search approach

Now, I would love to remain neutral; I don't want to be drawn into another war; what happened with Sai Baba was enough for me! Especially after the google vandalism I got from a rabid Sai Baba devotee. But the fact remains that the most absurd lies have been said about Heehs book (and about Heehs; that he has hatred for Sri Aurobindo, that he's a drug addict, etc), in a manner reminscent of the slanderous devotee phenomenon. When I first encountered this my immediate reaction was: How can this be??? These are devotees of Sri Aurobindo and the Mother, not of some abusive guru, and yet there is full-blown shadow projection! I found the whole thing appalling, and decided I wanted nothing to do with the Aurobindo community (apart from a few people on both sides of the fence that I know, like, and respect).

To be fair on Heeh's critics, I can appreciate and respect that they are devotees who have a religious worship of Sri Aurobindo, and would therefore be offended by a non-hagiographic biography, especially by an ashramite who they had always considered one of their own. And certainly there is great value in passion and of faith which is lost in secularism. Also I can understand the ashramites (as Hindus) see it as another attack by a Westerner on their culture and sacred traditions, a culture i myself resonate very powerfully to (because of past life samskaras/vasanas no doubt!). But that doesn't excuse the lies and hysteria that they have spread about Heeh's book; I know their claims are lies because i read (most of) the book, and apart from one or two correct things almost everything they claim is in the book isn't.

The only thing I myself would say that is really critical of the book is that Heehs does not clearly specify that Sri Aurobindo attained the Supramental state early on; just the opposite, he seems to imply that Sri Aurobindo never really attained it, even after thirty years. The reason for this error is easy to see. Heehs is an academic, not a gnostic, and therefore he is not in a position to understand the higher aspects of Sri Aurobindo's life and teachings. In this respect at least his critics are right.

Sri Aurobindo in fact had totally supramentalised his own consciousness and even his body, he had attained supramentalisation very early on, it may have been as early as the 1910s on his own (during the period he was writing Record of Yoga, a cryptic diary of his experiences), or the early 1920 or thereabouts with The Mother. But what he and Mirra struggled and did not fully achieve was the Supramentalisation of the Earth (the Terrestrial Consciousness) as a whole. That is what Heehs got confused about. The individual supramentalization was relatively easy in comparison (although still far beyond ordinary Liberation); and Sri Aurobindo later noted that other yogis had attained Supermind, but in an individual yogic manner, not as a collective transformation.

In this respect, an intelligently written hagiography like Van Vrekhem's Beyond the Human Species is better, because he at least conveys the sense of the occult, esoteric, and transcendent, even if it is in a religious - one could say an esoteric religious - perspective. This is why scholarship itself is not enough. Scholarship is caught up in secularism, so if you don't have gnosis yourself, at least you can get some sense of the transcendent through religious devotionalism. I didn't find Van Vrekhem's book anywhere as interesting as Heehs'. It is just the same old hagiography. But it does contain imporatnt esoteric information that Heehs, by his very nature as an academic, is not allowed to talk about. Therefore Lives of Sri Aurobindo has to be suplemented with hagiographic material if it is to convey a more complete picture.

It's worth considering that the Integral community (Wilber et al) have tried to approach the gnostic without religion. I don't think they succeeded; in my experience the mainstream integral movement - everyone from Wilber down - is still exoteric, non-gnostic, and secular; even if it is at the high end of the exoteric and non-gnostic (and that's no doubt what their contribution is; everything in stages; it is just that I want to make bigger leaps!).

What I find the most troubling is that it is evident that, with very few exceptions, the people attacking Heehs have not even bothered to read his book . They are just reacting to what others (who likewise have not read it) are saying. It is like a mob reaction. One gets stirred up, then another, and everyone's rampaging. With the customer reviews of the Amazon.com link above you will notice that some people (including the same guy - "A Reader", from Boston - voting twice) rated the book one star (Amazon com ratings don't allow zero stars). I bet that none of them have read the book. Those giving it five stars however clearly have. So what does that say? It doesn't put the critics in a good light.

At the end, where do I stand on this? Well, I have no choice but to fully and completely support Heehs and his book. Flawed though it may be in its apologetics to gross materialists and its failure to emphasise Sri Aurobindo's supramental attainments, it is an important, indeed, essential, contribution to Aurobindo Studies. Most importantly from the perspective of modernity, people should be allowed to write books without fear of abuse or attack. Even if most people are not at the level of gnosis, it is important to move beyond literal religion of any sort. According to the Wilberian integralists, society has to evolve through modernity before it can get to higher, integral stages. And I actually agree there, you need a certain emotional calmness and intellectual clarity, and you won't get that through the shadow projection that comes with religionism. Even if most people who support Heehs are only at the level of modernity, I still feel that is more important, and at a higher degree of consciousness, than devotionalist inspired opposition. Then, having attained mental clarity and the historical objectivity that secular modernity provides, you can return to devotionalism, but from a higher turn of the spiral. And that's what it's all about :-)

Finally, if you are concerned about Fundamantalist devotees, or any sort of fundamentalism, you may want to check out this event, which is free, but requires you to be in San Francisco
Fundamentalism and the Future is hosted at the California Institute of Integral Studies. The forum is organised by pro-Heehs students of Sri Aurobindo and Integral Yoga (including some of the SCIY blog people) Kheper Home contact me
page by M.Alan Kazlev page uploaded 11 Aug 2009

An Aurobindian should have the largest encompassing mind in the world

Auroville Today > Current issue > August 2009 - In conversation with Carel
Writing as a student: Georges van Vrekhem “If I am here, it is because I have been brought here by Them. So I write as a student of Sri Aurobindo and The Mother. My study is an endless journey of exploration, going from discovery to discovery... Most of my books are written for people interested in Sri Aurobindo and The Mother, for Aurobindians, although I am amazed that Beyond Man and other books of mine have spread far outside that circle. "

“I have been hurt by the fanatical attitude of a group of Aurovilians who treated me like a leper because they disagreed with a few phrases or sentences in Beyond Man. Likewise, I was hurt because Overman is not for sale in the Sri Aurobindo Ashram as there seem to be objections against the term ‘overman'. I cannot understand how somebody who prides himself or herself on being a disciple of Sri Aurobindo and The Mother can become a fanatic and insult or hurt others who see things differently. An Aurobindian should have the largest encompassing mind in the world, while being in his yoga one-pointed and totally surrendered.” [...]

“To me a fact is a fact. And I am grateful for the biographical information which has been gathered about the lives of Sri Aurobindo and The Mother. Now Sri Aurobindo would no longer have to write a book to contradict the false rumours about him. But scientists and philosophers also tell you that facts are only understandable in a context. How could I write about the external, physical lives of Sri Aurobindo and The Mother, and leave the reality inside and behind out of the question? Does writing about that ‘real reality' make me a ‘hagiographer'? There is a line between mindless adulation and a search for the truth, taking reality into account on its various levels.

“Sri Aurobindo called his own method ‘spiritual realism'. Matter, the vital and the mind, as well as the spiritual levels and the supermind, are realities. If there are people who prefer to remain stuck in the one-dimensionality of matter – Wilber's ‘flatland' – that is their choice. I try to write for intelligent people as an intelligent, dedicated student. My subject is the vision and realization of Sri Aurobindo and The Mother. I have experienced certain aspects proving the existence of the spiritual worlds, and I find in Sri Aurobindo and The Mother a coherent philosophy which explains it all to me, and a guidance which allows me to put it into practice to the extent of my limited capacities. People on the same frequency, knowingly or instinctively, may read my writings if they have the time and the inclination. If not, they should read or do something else, in agreement with the need of their soul.”

(Georges van Vrekhem is the author of many books on Sri Aurobindo and The Mother. He was awarded the Sri Aurobinbo Puraskar 2006 for his writings on Sri Aurobindo and The Mother by the Government of West Bengal .) Home > Journals & Media > Journals > Auroville Today > Current issue > August 2009

I paid a visit to the Aurobindo complex near Pondicherry a year and a half ago

a critique from India from Object-Oriented Philosophy by doctorzamalek
I wasn’t expecting a critique from India this soon, but here it is (just a couple of sentences and some reading advice, not a full critique):

“SR/OOO is poised dangerously to foist yet another fallacy in philosophy. A thorough reading of The Life Divine by Sri Aurobindo can redeem the situation.”

Actually, I paid a visit to the Aurobindo complex near Pondicherry a year and a half ago. (The exact name of the place escapes me at the moment.)

***

one other point about the Pyramids area from Object-Oriented Philosophy by doctorzamalek

Egyptians who sell goods and services near the Pyramids... are bad people. They are an all-star team of the most horrible humans that Egypt has to offer. Their only purpose in being in that area is not fair business, but organized cons, traps, and rip-offs.
This starts with the jerks who hang out near the ticket line and pretend to be official guides...

Another of their tricks is to pretend that the price they had quoted in Pounds was in British rather than Egyptian Pounds, which is something like a ninefold increase.
I hate all of those people. Most tourists are plenty generous when visiting this country, and don’t need to be exploited by professional con artists on top of that. These are not Robin Hood figures, but merely the worst face of international capitalism.

However, Agra in India (home of the Taj Mahal) is even worse. I had mobs of taxi and rickshaw drivers hassling me in Agra. Even the hotel desk clerk was hassling me there to hire his cousin.

R.K. Selvarajan Chettiyar is not the son or heir of Late R.K. Shanmugam Chettiyar

Anonymous has left a new comment on your post "There are more dangerous people within spiritual e...":

I would like to make something clear to the readers about the posted news here. Sri R.K. Selvarajan Chettiyar is not the son or heir of Late Sri R.K. Shanmugam Chettiyar, the first finance minister of free India. They both belong to the same caste and are also relatives. Posted by Anonymous to Savitri Era Open Forum at 10:13 AM, September 08, 2009

eternal child has left a new comment on your post "Savitri Era Party needs 500 honest persons to serv...":

Sri Aurobindo was against going for poltics for His Sadhaks. must concentrate on your Saddhna. Posted by eternal child to Savitri Era at 11:43 PM, August 26, 2009

Anonymous has left a new comment on your post "Pournaprema, the Mother’s Granddaughter":

happy reading about Purnaprema ji. god bless you to share it in such beautiful way. Posted by Anonymous to Aurora Mirabilis at 6:29 PM, August 16, 2009

Canadian Pragmatist has left a new comment on your post "One of Rorty's central and oft-repeated themes is ...":

I don't really think you believe that when you think about a dilemma and finally arrive at a decision, you really think that you're made the objectively right decision; do you?

I think people might think of their actions in this way, but upon a closer look, that's just how people think they operate. On a more macrosscopic level, people might think that say, going entering into medical school is objectively the best thing I can do with my life and the skills I already possess.

Really going into medicine is only one of many other compelling and compatible career choices. Not all of them are as good as the other, but certainly, it depends on what you want to get out of life and your career, whether medical school is a good choice at all.

Where is the objectivity, and furthermore, what reason do you have to think that you or anyone else needs to believe their decisions are objectively valid, and not "merely" one of many other possibly just as good decisions? Posted by Canadian Pragmatist to Feel Philosophy at 3:05 AM, September 05, 2009

Dsylexic has left a new comment on your post "Education shall be free":

what kind of puerile idea of 'free' education is this?. it is ofcourse not free. it is paid for by forced taxation and sly inflationism. all bogus socialist rights are condemnable and unacceptable lies Posted by Dsylexic to rainbOwther at 12:42 AM, August 27, 2009

Anonymous has left a new comment on your post "Kechala, District Koraput, Orissa":

How about some recent links on this project... Posted by Anonymous to Plain & Simple at 10:08 PM, August 25, 2009