Mother’s Agenda Tape Recordings: 13 March, 1963

From Jitendra Sharma aurofrance@gmail.com to "Tusar N. Mohapatra" tusarnmohapatra@gmail.com date 8 April 2010 20:24 subject auroramirabilis – Comment auroramirabilis.blogspot.com/2010/04/satprem-is-suspected-or-known-to-give.html

Dear Françoise de Nielly,

           I just verified Internet's this free version of the Agenda Tape Recordings:   http://agenda.fromzel.com/ This conversation is available here:

“But in Savitri’s case … (I didn’t look after it, you know), he had around him Purani, that Chinmayi, and … (what’s his name?) Nirod – they all swarmed around him. So I didn’t look after Savitri. I read Savitri two years ago, I had never read it before. And I am so glad! Because I read it at the time I could understand it – and I realized that none of those people had understood ONE BIT of it.”  (Mother’s Agenda, Vol.4, 13 March, 1963, pp. 82-83)     Jitendra Sharma

From Mukut Mukherjee mmukherjeebangla@gmail.com to "Tusar N. Mohapatra" tusarnmohapatra@gmail.com date  9 April 2010 10:23

Dear Sriman Tushar Mohapatro,

What to say, I don’t know. My writing english are not good, but I sure that reading english of mine are better that Shri Jitendro Sharma.

I also think if Shri Jitendro Sharma continu saying Shri Nirodboron "moron", then actually Shri Jitendro Sharma, he only, behave like “moron”.

He proudly give example of Shri Ma speaking on Shri Nirodboron, in Agenda, saying Shri Nirodboron not understanding Savitri poem. So what? Shri Ma saying other peoples, and most peoples, also not understanding Savitri. That not insulting, no, only fact.

But Shri Ma not saying that Shri Nirodboron “moron”. Where really Shri Ma saying that Shri Nirodboron “moron”? Shri Jitendro Sharma only going round round, not giving clear answer.

Now I believe some peoples only wrongly using Shri Ma words for parsonal reason only. Very big shame. Nomoshkar. Mukut Mukherjee.   

from Jitendra Sharma aurofrance@gmail.com to "Tusar N. Mohapatra" tusarnmohapatra@gmail.com date 9 April 2010 11:24 subject Re:

Dear Mukut-da, 

               As an intellectual, I am not judging anyone. As you know neither good English nor French, I am helping you by showing the citations from the “Mother’s Agenda”. It is left to you to accept these words of the Mother or to reject them.  Jitendra Sharma

From Auro Lumiere aurolumiere@yahoo.fr to tusarnmohapatra@gmail.com date 9 April 2010 12:36 subject Savitri

Dear Mr. Tousar Mohapatra, Could you please add my reply to Mr. Jitendra Sharma’s comment on your website. Thanking you in advance.

My Dear Mr. Jitendra Sharma,

May I please request you to read a little more attentively, particularly if you wish to discuss something as serious and important as the Savitri.

Please read carefully the recorded passage that you refer to and quote from Mother’s Agenda, Vol.4, 13 March, 1963, pp. 82-83:

“But in Savitri’s case … (I didn’t look after it, you know), he had around him Purani, that Chinmayi, and … (what’s his name?) Nirod – they all swarmed around him. So I didn’t look after Savitri. I read Savitri two years ago, I had never read it before. And I am so glad! Because I read it at the time I could understand it – and I realized that none of those people had understood ONE BIT of it.”  

• Now, could you kindly indicate to all of us where in this passage has Mother said that «Nirod» is a « moron »? Wasn't that the real point of the matter? 
• Or do you think, infer and jump to conclude that not understanding the Savitri makes one a « moron »?

If that is so, please read carefully the sentence extracted from the passage above that quotes Mother: «I read Savitri two years ago, I had never read it before. And I am so glad! Because I read it at the time I could understand it…»

Please note from these sentences (please read carefully), that it can be clearly inferred that Mother did not think that she would have understood the Savitri before the year 1961. Thus, if Mr. Nirodbaran did not understand the Savitri during Aurobindo’s life (pre-1950) or even after, was he really in the company of « morons »?

And lastly, now, could you please tell us if you have understood the Savitri so that we may judge whether, according to you, who else is a « moron » or not? 

At the service of Light and Truth. Françoise de Nielly

From Jitendra Sharma aurofrance@gmail.com to "Tusar N. Mohapatra" tusarnmohapatra@gmail.com  date 9 April 2010 14:34 subject Re:

Dear Françoise de Nielly,           

                    It is obvious that you have not read my previous Post in SEOF in which I had quoted this passage from the ‘Mother’s Agenda’: “Unfortunately, there were two morons here who fancied correcting him – while he was alive! (A. especially, he’s a poet.)”  (Mother’s Agenda, Vol.4, 13 March, 1963, pp. 84-85)  

In the other passage, the Mother says: “But in Savitri’s case … (I didn’t look after it, you know), he had around him Purani, that Chinmayi, and …(what’s his name?) Nirod – they all swarmed around him. …and I realized that none of those  people had understood ONE BIT of it.” (Mother’s Agenda, Vol.4, 13 March, 1963, pp. 82-83)

Why should I disbelieve what the Mother is saying here? - Jitendra Sharma

From aurosatya vrata satyavrata54@gmail.com to "Tusar N. Mohapatra" tusarnmohapatra@gmail.com date 9 April 2010 19:26 subject Re: Reg. ongoing discussion on Sri Aurobindo's Savitri

Dear Mr. Mohapatra, 

Thank you for your message. I would like to respond to the points you raise but as it would take me some time, I would like to do so a little later. In the meanwhile however, I would like to respond to Mr. Jitendra Sharma first and would kindly request you to post the following message on your website. Thanking you. S.

Dear Mr. Jitendra Sharma, 

Please do not deliberately try to confuse the matter, by avoiding the direct questions that are being asked to you. It is now more than obvious that you are unable to produce even a shred of evidence which affirms that The Mother directly and unequivocally called Mr. Nirodbaran a “moron”.

If you still want to believe that Mr. Nirodbaran was called a “moron” by The Mother and if you wish to read only the 1972 edition of Savitri, so be it, be happy and live with it. 

But please do not go about distorting facts and information to suit your personal and limited interests and beliefs. 

Making a fool of yourself publicly will not help your cause, but it surely helps mine. So the choice is yours.

By the way, when I once wanted to read the Mother’s Agenda, I was warned by a wise and respectable member of the Sri Aurobindo Ashram, who informed me that Mr. Nolini Kanta Gupta had warned that if Mother’s Agenda fell into the wrong hands it would a great disaster.

Now, I can clearly see what he had meant after people such as yourself and few other unscrupulous characters are misusing the Mother’s Agenda and The Mother’s words to distort information and use it for your/their personal means. 

Please behave decently and have some minimum respect for The Mother’s words, at least publicly. Sincerely, S. 

From Jitendra Sharma aurofrance@gmail.com to tusarnmohapatra tusarnmohapatra@gmail.com date 9 April 2010 22:34 subject Re:

Dear Mr. S.,

               The questions of Mrs. Françoise de Nielly have no direct links with these ongoing discussions. They are meant to divert the focus of these debates. Hence, there is no need for me answer her questions in this Open Forum.

             If we believe that the ‘Mother’s Agenda’ is genuine, then we need to respect every word of the Mother. Do you believe that these are fictitious words, not spoken by the Mother?       - Jitendra Sharma

Now I study Sri Aurobindo every day

The Lives of Sri Aurobindo (Peter Heehs)  page by M.Alan Kazlev
page uploaded 11 August 2009, last modified 18 February, 2010

(update - I now am totally and unreservedly in the Heehs camp, see below for why. If you are a religious devotee and want to slander me because of that, go ahead)

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.] 

Jitendra Sharma - Max Theon's wife Alma Théon
1843 – 1908 Link: http://www.kheper.net/topics/Theon/Alma.html 25 Mar

Hugh Higgins - Thank you for these links. That seems to have been a strange episode in the Mother's life. But occultists are a weird lot -- you can never figure them out. To the world they are either eccentric or crazy. To their disciples they are entrees to new understanding or new powers. The irruption of the Divine in human lives does not follow man-made rules! 29 Mar

Hugh Higgins - That said, I must say that, having perused the site, there is a lot of b...s... surrounding Max Theon! There is no evidence whatever that he ever met Madame Blavatsky. It is much more likely that he learned from her (her writings) than the other way around, since most occultists of the era learned from her and then claimed her teachings as their own. She was a super-genius beyond all of them. His claiming to have known and taught her seems to me the stock-in-trade of the charlatan. That does not mean he was only a charlatan; obviously to impress his educated followers he must have known a lot. 29 Mar

Jitendra Sharma - @Hugh But still, the powers that Max Theon and his wife possessed seem so amazing! 29 Mar

Hugh Higgins - I remember the Mother talking about some of those powers, but the context was confusing to me so I was not thoroughly impressed. I guess "you had to be there." Which is one reason "scientists" have a hard time detecting the paranormal---it happens when it chooses to happen and you can't lock it up in a laboratory. "You had to be there." 29 Mar

Hugh Higgins - I would say that if anyone here has denied the truth of another person's scripture, it is david ihnen. I agree the scriptural quotation from Creative was too long. His report of his personal spiritual experience however is legitimate, although not exactly on the subject of reincarnation. There are Christian groups who accept reincarnation. Charles Fillmore, the founder of the Unity movement in the U.S. (in 1889) taught reincarnation although his chief guru was Jesus. Max Heindel who founded the Rosicrucian Fellowship, categorized as esoteric Christians, taught reincarnation along with many other Hindu tenets. So did Rudolf Steiner who called his system of Christian Theosophy Anthroposophy. There is room for reincarnation in advanced Christian thinking. I am sorry that the so-called "fundamentalists" do not understand this. 5 Mar

Hugh Higgins - I did not put words in anyone's mouth. I am a Christian because Jesus is my chief guru. Shortly after I accepted Him and he saved me in the classical Christian sense, He led me to the teachings of Sri Aurobindo. These two are both Avatars. They are brothers, not enemies! Jesus is the brother of Krishna and Rama. Theosophists teach that, so do the teachings of Alice Bailey who was an esoteric Christian, so does Rudolf Steiner who was an esoteric Christian, and so does Charles Fillmore who was an esoteric Christian. If you are not, that is your business and I am not trying to convert you to a more advanced perception of the Christian scriptures, that is up to you. I study the Gospels every day without fail and KNOW what Jesus taught. I believe Charles Fillmore understood it very well and he accepted reincarnation. I just wanted to make it clear that not all Christians are opposed to reincarnation---and yes we are real Christians because we accept Jesus and His teachings. That does not mean we reject all other teachings. We find what is common in them. 05:03

Hugh Higgins - I have no trouble with any of the quotations from Jesus. Jesus said many things and he said different things at different times which seem to contradict each other. I am doing the will of the Father to the best of my ability, and that is all I am asked to do. "We played the flute for you and you did not dance" could be Krishna playing the flute for Christians, but they refuse to dance, although if you read the Bhagavad Gita all the way through you will find so many passages where Krishna said the same things Jesus did---especially in relation to the First Commandment, "Love God with all your heart and soul and mind." I do not find the attitude of trying to convict other Christians of being false Christians at all helpful, and Allen, I thought it was self-evident why I quoted that passage. The disciples said "These people are NOT WITH US and so we told them to stop invoking the name of Jesus to cure people." That to me sounds sadly like "Creative" who like too many "fundamentalists" so-called thinks that if a Christian does not belong to his particular group and believe its interpretation of Scripture, he is lost and going to Hell. That attitude is the bane of contemporary Christianity, I am afraid. It drives people away from Jesus instead of pulling them toward Him.5 Mar

Hugh Higgins - Creative, there is no way to talk with you because you are ignorant. You do not know the Bhagavad Gita. Krishna is not an idol! It is rank and utter blasphemy to call Him such. It is something like saying that Jesus is an idol because in some churches there are statues or pictures of Him. I am sorry, but until you educate yourself in Hinduism you have not a foot to stand on in comparing it with Christianity. I doubt you could read Sri Aurobindo, he is too difficult, but you could read biographies of Ramakrishna and that might help. Also the Autobiography of a Yogi by Yogananda would help you. It is a bridge between Hinduism and Christianity, and a very good one. If you do not inform yourself in that way I cannot discuss these things with you. And telling me that I am not a Christian when I know I was saved by Jesus is just plain ugly, inconsiderate and wrong from any ethical viewpoint. "He who is not against you is on your side" as Jesus himself said. Please take that to heart.05:56

Hugh Higgins - I am not lying about anything. I found out for myself at an early age that both Krishna and Jesus are Avatars. This is what many spiritually evolved people think. This is what Theosophists and Anthroposophists think. The Christian or, as you would put it, semi-Christian groups I mentioned believe this. God manifesting in a Jewish and Roman world 2100 years ago needed to manifest in a different way than He did in the India of a somewhat earlier period. His teachings are almost the same, for those who can see, although of course a Jewish Avatar making the path open for a new religion in the West would not teach vegetarianism and reincarnation directly because it just did not fit with the culture of the time. He had to do what he could. God is infinite and can manifest in infinite ways. I love Jesus and I study a chapter of the Gospels every day. I love Rama and Krishna and used to read a chapter of the Bhagavad Gita every day. Now I study Sri Aurobindo every day. I did not say you are stupid. When I said "ignorant" I meant ignorant of Hinduism and that is not a slander. I am ignorant of Icelandic and of many other languages and cultures. I am not ignorant of HInduism. I think your Christian experience and life would be enriched by studying Hinduism, especially the Vaishnava version of it, and especially Sri Aurobindo if and when you are ready for him. As mentioned, Yogananda's Autiobiography is a superb introduction for Western Christians. I long for the day when American Christians will understand Jesus as the Brother of the Hindu Avatars. They are cooperating, not fighting, and their followers ought not to fight. I am sorry if I sound arrogant but I feel that your arrogance evoked mine. I would prefer to cool it and have a more relaxed conversation. Perhaps in another lifetime! 10:06

Hugh Higgins - I am sorry that this discussion intended to be on rebirth or reincarnation degenerated into a heated argument because of Creative's dogmatism and his refusal to even try to understand any viewpoint other than his own. I would have dropped the whole thing long ago except that his last statement about me is another lie. He says I worship idols. A lie, a lie, a lie. I worship the One God who goes by various names; I worship the god Vishnu whom I believe to be identical with the Jehovah of the Jews, although He taught different forms of religion and sadhana to different cultures. He is also the same One God who manifested and manifests through Sri Aurobindo as the Avatar. He is the same One God who manifested through Jesus as the Savior, although Jesus in his divine humility said "The Father is greater than I" (an exact quote from the Gospel of John) and also said, when someone called him Good Master, "Why do you call me good? There is only one good, and that is God." These are exact quotations from the Christian scriptures. But since "Creative" thinks that I worship idols, which is a lie, there is just no way to communicate with him. He has cut himself out of the discussion, as far as I am concerned, by repeatedly slandering me with no basis for the slander. Therefore I am finished trying to talk with him. 6 Mar

Akashvani: Of mangoes & Mohenjodaro and why brahmacharya broke the logjam

Evaluating Democracy—by Ghazia Aslam and Wasim Q Malik Comment posted by: Akash

You get the government you deserve. (-Tocqueville/Jefferson/Shakespeare?)

With respect to Pakistan, not having a positive identity is one of the main contributors to not having an identifiable government.  If Islam is the identity, disappointment will continue because "first-class" Muslims such as Saudi Arabians will continue to treat Pakistan as "second-class".  Society has to do work to forge an identity.  For example, is Mohenjodaro a part of the identity (leave aside the intervening 4000 years)?  Is the silk route part of the identity?

21 February 2010—Darshan Message Comment posted by: Akash

Let's take the life of Buddha.  By secluding him from childhood, was his father following his own freedom or was he imposing on young Sid.  When he left, was he exercising his own freedom or imposing on the palace?  Had he stayed on but followed his own line of development without regard to princely norms - freedom or imposition?  Preaching after enlightenment - freedom or imposition?  Ashoka taking up Buddhism and sending ambassadors, formation of the Sangha, resurgence of Hinduism - freedom or imposition?  [Because what Mother says applies in so many senses and at so many levels, I said it was "deep".]

Sri Aurobindo’s Marriage—a discussion Comment posted by: Akash

Too many things are mixed up here.  Gita dealt with action, not evolution.  Are you saying that Sri Aurobindo's Life Divine (the expression) or his fundamental experience itself would have been substantially different if it had been done before Darwin?  What is your opinion on intelligent design as a post-Darwin movement?  Would a post-Internet Life Divine be substantially different?  Did farmers not know how to produce Basmati rice and Alphonso mangoes before Darwin?  Are you suggesting that Sri Aurobindo, being post-Darwin, was looking for a natural selection way towards the next step in human evolution? Bringing this back to the topic of the thread, how did his insistence on brahmacharya as a necessary element of his yoga square with the transmission of information from generation to generation using genes?  Or are you suggesting that since a hundred years have passed and some new "conceptual and linguistic material" has got developed, we must now update Sri Aurobindo's original works and still pass them off as his own?  Just trying to understand your precise point.

Comment posted by: Akash

And I can't help but notice that you haven't elucidated the relevance of the Gita to your point :-).  Like I said, I was not sure where you were going, and still am not - hence the multidimensional guesses.

Sri Aurobindo and the Mother came to effect a breakthrough in the logjam of the process of evolution.  They synthesized everything known and done up to that point useful to them (which included Darwin), and then forged ahead with their work.  The relevance of farming is that had Darwin not preceded, the essentials of hereditary transmission and selection were well known, which they would have synthesized.  The relevance of brahmacharya is that the logjam they broke was to shift from heredity to cellular transformation.

You have too high an opinion of "human life on earth" - if humanity cannot consciously collaborate in Nature's next step, if human life cannot make it its purpose to follow the yoga of the Supermind, it will be cast aside.  Sri Aurobindo's and the Mother's work was to enable the next step *inspite of* humanity and certainly not for humanity but for the Divine - but hey, if at least a few individuals can help, then why not prepare them (= write the Life Divine, letters, flowers, music, etc.).

Yes, a general level of development of Nature is necessary to prepare the next step, but "progress in the instrumental stuff of human mental knowledge" is mostly mental chewing gum and may color "new expressions of spiritual knowledge" but hardly cause it.

Comment posted by: Akash

I am relieved you are driven by a completely understandable curiosity.  It is one thing to be curious about Sri Aurobindo's views on later developments.  It is quite another to suggest (if you were so doing) that a specific scientific advance caused Sri Aurobindo's yoga.  It is like suggesting that the development of the notation of formal logic caused clarity of thought.  Once we open this door, it then starts to feel natural, perhaps necessary, to update his original works with later developments or sensibilities.  I hope you agree that we should not update the Gita, for example, to meet the needs of today's conscientious objector or wielder of scientifically advanced weapons.

The standard ways of dealing with the curiosity you experience are to write an imaginary dialog or a dissertation on the new new thing in light of Sri Aurobindo's Life Divine, or whatever, *in one's own name*.

By the way, your "a major expansion in human conception can play a role in facilitating a new expression of spiritual truth" is now terribly nuanced - you will excuse me for trying to sort out if you are implying cause or correlation or curiosity.

Sri Aurobindo announced that he was bringing something entirely new

Excerpts from 'The Void where Thought was born' by Patrizia Norelli-Bachelet (1989):

'[Any] Tantric will tell you that his aim is to secure release from birth ultimately, and a dissolution of his consciousness in the Absolute Brahman, unfettered by the coils of earthly flesh. This is no different from any other path. [In fact, the multiplicity of paths is mainly to cater to the different temperaments of seekers, rather than to provide different goals.] And hence the common slogan in spirituality is ‘there is only ONE TRUTH,’ and all paths and all religions ultimately agree and converge on this ONE Truth.

'Now, this is clearly where Sri Aurobindo’s work parts ways with ALL other spiritual paths. And this is why in the final analysis it is even difficult to refer to it as a ‘spiritual’ path. Again, this in itself introduces difficulties because one tends to rely on the old patterns and formulas which simply do not prove reliable in this work. But the new pattern or blueprint has been given; and it is this fact that I am constantly stressing. ...

'... When Sri Aurobindo announced that he was bringing something entirely new into the Earth’s atmosphere and revolutionising the world of the Spirit, he meant what he was stating very seriously. Far more seriously than what most people believe. That is, they do not have any idea of what such a statement implies.

'... There is a ‘knot’ that is very, very deep-rooted in the human embodied consciousness. It is common to all who inhabit a body. This Knot is so difficult to undo – for after all, it is the nexus of the mental creation – that no one prior to Sri Aurobindo has made any effective attempt to get rid of this tremendous obstacle. To attain the heights, as has been done by countless seers and yogis in the past, this Knot presented no obstacle. One could overlook it entirely – precisely because the ‘direction’ was otherworldly; in which case, one had no obligation at all to deal with this problem. Ultimately, it became resolved, or rather dissolved by withholding any reality from it. One could UNDERMINE its existence to the point where it became an ‘illusion’, and the creation that it upheld, the mental human creation, was, by consequence, equally illusory. This was a very effective way of dealing with that Knot. It was so very effective that it is precisely this effectiveness that stands in the way today when we try to deal with this problem. In other words, these great sages had attained such wondrous heights that when we try to convince seekers of the necessity to disregard those past achievements and strive for this ‘new way’, they are not easily convinced.' -- Patrizia Norelli Bachelet, 'The Void where Thought was born' [posted in full at http://circumsolatious.blogspot.com/2010/02/void-where-thought-was-born.html] from           Lori Tompkins  date                25 February 2010 01:24 subject                SEOF submission

Reconceptualizing the link between religion and politics

Fundamentalism and the Integral Yoga – Auroville Today Interview with Debashish Banerji

“Today we don’t know how it will all turn out. Maybe in the future we will say that we’ve learned a lot from all this and have emerged purified from dogma. Of course, for Peter at the moment it is very painful and completely unwarranted. The bid to evict him from the ashram and the country is a sign of the depths to which the dogmatism of religious distortion has sunk at this time.”

Jibanananda Das, Post-Rabindrian Bengali Poet

Jibanananda Das (1899-1954) was a Bengali poet who marks the transition to Bengali Modernist poetry. Necessitated into the career most common to modern poets, he was a teacher of English in Barisal (Bangladesh) and Calcutta and was well-read in Mallarme, Rimbaud, Valery, Pound, Eliot and the like, whom he often references in his prose writings. Jibanananda relies largely on imagistic and symbolical means to express in his poems a complexity which grapples with the subjective realities of modern urban life. The range of Jibanananda’s poems far exceeds the scope I have outlined in this essay, but my purpose here was only to touch on some important repeating themes and concerns in his work. I believe that in work of this kind, new directions towards the Future Poetry announced by Sri Aurobindo were taken, directions that have added to the store of approaches that might be utilized in the climb to a higher utterance, which yet recognize the range and complexity of consciousness in its engagement with modern existence.

The Spirit and Form of an Ethical Polity: a Meditation on Aurobindo’s Thought by Sugata Bose

This article elucidates the meaning of Indian nationalism and its connection to religious universalism as a problem of ethics. It engages in that exercise of elucidation by interpreting a few of the key texts by Aurobindo Ghose on the relationship between ethics and politics in the first two decades of the twentieth century. Both secularist and subalternist histories have contributed to misunderstandings of Aurobindo’s political thought and shown an inability to comprehend its ethical moorings. The specific failures in fathoming the depths of Aurobindo’s thought are related to more general infirmities afflicting the history of political and economic ideas in colonial India. In exploring how best to achieve Indian unity, Aurobindo had shown that Indian nationalism was not condemned to pirating from the gallery of models of states crafted by the West. By reconceptualizing the link between religion and politics, this essay suggests a new way forward in Indian intellectual history.

The Future Poetry Chapter XXI Recent English Poetry (2)

Continuing with the history of The Future Poetry. In this passage Sri Aurobindo ’s stresses sound and foregrounds the metric/mantric element in poetry as a sign of an approaching future poetry. A future he envisages here as a progressive evolutionary movement of Spirit in the word. It was however, to be another movement, one away from the ear to the eye -imagist- that was to primarily orient the future of English poetry after this book was completed in 1920.

“The inmost seeing must bring out of itself to be poetically effective the inmost word and sound, must find out a luminous purity of its steps or a profound depth of its movement, must be said in the inmost way. Rhythm is the most potent, founding element of poetic expression, and though most modern poets depend or at least lean more heavily on force of thought and substance than on the greater musical suggestions of rhythm, — Shelley, Swinburne, Yeats are exceptions, — there must always be a change in this basis of the poet’s art when there is a substantial change of the constituting spirit and motive.”

Sinomania by Perry Anderson

What are going to be the consequences for the rest of the world? Traumatically for the United States, China will fairly soon replace it as hegemon, not only in traditional areas of Chinese influence in East and South-East Asia, but across former Third and First Worlds alike. The soft power of its sporting prowess, its martial arts, its costly painters, its multitudinous language, its ancient medicine, and not least the delights of its cuisine, will spread China’s radiance far and wide, as Hollywood, English and McDonald’s do America’s today. Above all, its spectacular economic success will not only inspire imitation wherever poor nations strive for betterment. It will reorder the entire international system, by holding out the prospect, not of democracy within nation-states, which the West vainly seeks to promote, but of ‘democracy between nation-states’. For we are entering a time in which the political and ideological conflicts that marked the Cold War are giving way to an ‘overarching cultural contest’, in which ‘alternative modernities’ will end the dominance of the West. In that emancipation a distinctively Chinese modernity, rooted in the Confucian values of devotion to the family and respect for the state, will lead the way.

Intellectual Property theft committed by Peter Heehs

from     RY Deshpande rydesh@gmail.com

to         Tusar Mohapatra tusarnmohapatra@gmail.com ,
Anurag Banerjee anuragbanerjee2002@yahoo.co.in ,
Sarani Mondal mumu2007@rediffmail.com

date      12 February 2010 14:27

---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: Gitanjali J B gitanjali333@yahoo.com
Date: 11 February 2010 23:32
Subject: Engagement with Columbia University Press Regarding Withdrawal of "The Lives of Sri Aurobindo"
To: Manoj Das Gupta manojdg@sriaurobindoashram.org

To

Shri Manoj Das Gupta,

Managing Trustee

Sri Aurobindo Ashram Trust

Pondicherry 605002

Subject: Engagement with Columbia University Press Regarding Withdrawal of "The Lives of Sri Aurobindo"

Dear Manoj Da,

1. This is to inform you that we are engaged with Columbia University Press (CUP) regarding the withdrawal of "The Lives of Sri Aurobindo" from all channels of sales and distribution.

2. CUP has been informed of the alleged Intellectual Property theft committed by Peter Heehs as also of his alleged Violations of the Copyright Agreement with Sri Aurobindo Ashram Trust (SAAT).

3. Further, it has also been conveyed to CUP that Peter Heehs is not the Founder of the Sri Aurobindo Ashram Archives as has been asserted by him to CUP.

4. All necessary and relevant documentation/ correspondence/ SAAT letters/ circulars/ agreement copies have been furnished to CUP for their evaluation and assessment.

5. A copy of one of our letters to CUP in this context is attached herewith for your information and necessary action.

Kind regards,

Gitanjali JB
gitanjali333@yahoo.com          Letter to CUP 2.2.2010.pdf 166K   View   Download  

[Attached letter to Columbia University Press] 
To
Clare Wellnitz
Publishing Director
Director of Subsidiary Rights and Contracts
Columbia University Press
61 West 62nd Street
New York, NY 10023
2 February 2010
Dear Clare,
Sub: Copyright Violations and Impersonation by Peter Heehs author of The Lives of Sri Aurobindopublished by Columbia University Press
Ref:

1. Our letter to Mr. James D. Jordan, Director dated 21.1.2010
2. Your email dated 1.2.2010

1. Thank you so very much for your email dated 1.2.2010.
2. As already conveyed in our previous letter, the matter relates to The Lives of Sri Aurobindo (TLOSA) authored by Peter Heehs (PH) and published by Columbia University Press (CUP) in 2008, and specifically deals with: a) proscription of TLOSA in India by the Government of India, b) deliberate and malicious distortion of facts in TLOSA, c) Copyright Violation by Peter Heehs, d) Intellectual Property (IP) theft by Peter Heehs, e) impersonation by Peter Heehs as Founder of Sri Aurobindo Ashram Archives.
3. Sri Aurobindo, whose biography TLOSA masquerades as, is a national hero here in India and a global spiritual icon. A prominent leader of the Indian freedom movement, Sri Aurobindo has remained a source of great inspiration to millions of people in India and the world. There are thousands of schools, streets, libraries and other major institutions named after him across the country, and his life-sized statue occupies pride of place at the Indian National Parliament.
4. The issues of immediate relevance to CUP are categorised as under:

A. Proscription of TLOSA by the Government of India

The accompanying documentation shows you that TLOSA is proscribed by the Government of India and by the Courts after due verification of its content, primarily on the grounds of distortions of facts intended to hurt the religious sentiments of the people of India. This is the reason why Penguin Books India was barred from bringing out the Indian edition of TLOSA, and they must have informed you of the same. (Refer documents #1, 2, 3, 4.) You may also have been informed that Google, Flipkart, A1Books, etc, among others have already withdrawn access to TLOSA and all sales of TLOSA within the territory of India based on the Government and Court orders. (Refer document #12.)

B. Deliberate and malicious distortion of facts in TLOSA

This point is placed here only for your reference, so that you may know the harmful intentions of Peter Heehs in distorting the facts regarding Sri Aurobindo's life and consequently the explosive character of the present situation. This was fully taken into cognisance by relevant academicians and advisors to the Government of India, in taking decision to proscribe the book. (Refer documents #2, 4.)

C. Copyright Violation

The publication of the book involves multiple violations of copyright on the part of Peter Heehs. As the accompanying documentation will show you, Peter Heehs has given CUP more rights than he has himself acquired from the Sri Aurobindo Ashram Trust. He has also failed to comply with CUP's requirements for its authors to get appropriate permissions from copyright holders and owners of unpublished text. (Refer documents #5, 6, 7, 8, 9.)

D. Intellectual Property Theft

The content of the book also involves multiple Intellectual Property violations, as documented in the attachments. PH has claimed ownership of the entire research database of the Sri Aurobindo Ashram Archives developed over 40 years involving several million dollars worth of investment. The names that Peter Heehs thanks are his colleagues, and as their letter to the Ashram Trust shows, they have taken the matter seriously and have placed this theft by Peter Heehs on record. (Refer documents #5, 6, 7, 8, 9.)

E. Impersonation by Peter Heehs as Founder of Sri Aurobindo Ashram Archives

The letter of the Ashram Trust declares unequivocally that Peter Heehs is not the founder of the Archives as he has claimed to CUP to be and which false assertion CUP has widely publicised in promoting the book. (Refer document #8.) Attached also are the order copy and the arrest warrant issued by Barbil Court in connection with the criminal case against Peter Heehs regarding his impersonation. (Refer documents #10, 11.) Also a letter from PH to the Ashram Trust in which he declares that he never wrote to CUP to claim himself Founder of the Archives, and that a sub-editor of CUP wrote this on his own! (Refer document #13.)In this connection, you may also note that there is a pending non-bailable warrant of arrest out against PH within India. (Refer document #11.)

5. In view of the above, we would be greatly indebted if CUP takes immediate and necessary steps to halt publication, sales and distribution of the book TLOSA, given the fraud and misrepresentation being perpetrated by Peter Heehs and the anguish that this book is causing to millions of devotees of Sri Aurobindo all over the world.
6. We are confident that CUP will be sensitive and responsive to the feelings and sentiments of millions of Indians for whom CUP has always been a standard bearer of the highest levels of integrity in the publishing business.
7. We would be obliged to receive an acknowledgement of this letter, and hope to hear from you at the earliest.
Sincerely,
Gitanjali J B
gitanjali333@yahoo.com

List of Attachments (all files in PDF format, and numbered as below):

1. High Court of Orissa order dated 4.11.2008 proscribing the book in the territory of India.
2. Gazette Notification of the State Government of Orissa dated 9.4.2009 proscribing the book in the territory of India.
3. Two letters from the Ministry of Home, Government of India.
4. Three letters from Government Intelligence departments.
5. Letter of Pranab Bhattacharya, Director of Physical Education, Sri Aurobindo Ashram Trust, dated 5.8.2009 with legal opinion of Copyright Violation and Intellectual Property theft.
6. Letter of researchers of Sri Aurobindo Ashram Archives (Peter Heehs' erstwhile colleagues) dated 20.9.2008 regarding theft of intellectual property / research database by Peter Heehs.
7. Letter of Peter Heehs to Sri Aurobindo Ashram Trust dated September 2008 confirming copyright violation.
8. Letter of Sri Aurobindo Ashram Trust dated 11.11.2008 regarding disciplinary action taken against Peter Heehs and his impersonation as founder of Archives.
9. Notice of expulsion of Peter Heehs by Pranab Bhattacharya dated 30.10.2008.
10. Barbil Court order relating to issue of non-bailable warrant of arrest of Peter Heehs in the case of impersonation as Founder of Sri Aurobindo Ashram Archives, dated 8.5.2009.
11. Non-bailable warrant of arrest against Peter Heehs in the case of impersonation dated x.5.2009.
12. Letters from Google, Flipkart, A1Books, major online content provides for India, confirming action taken to withdraw TLOSA.
13. Letter of Peter Heehs to Sri Aurobindo Ashram Trust of 2008 claiming that he never told CUP that he is the Founder of Sri Aurobindo Ashram Archives.

Stagnation in the Ashram and the chaos in Auroville

From 'The Infinite and the Detail' by Patrizia Norelli-Bachelet (1989), posted IN FULL at http://circumsolatious.blogspot.com/2010/01/infinite-and-detail.html.

[Integration and harmonisation of the consciousness-being] can only come about when in your consciousness you create that cosmos, when you establish that Point which is the new base of life that Sri Aurobindo described. For that an entirely new dimension of the psychic realisation has to come into being. And that is the focus of my work. You see, until 1971 nothing was really known of all this. But let us look at the facts: in 1970 the Mother completed her work in terms of dealing with DETAILS within the parameters prescribed for her Incarnation. The original plan of the Temple was the proof that this firstordering had taken place and that her Yoga had made that possible. The City is the physical representation of that Cosmos, which is ‘held together’ by the Temple, which, in turn, is that central Point, the core-point of the cosmos that ‘holds it together’. In this light you can understand quite easily why the actual shape of Auroville was designed by the original architect as a galaxy, and how perfectly accurate that was. The only problem with the physical reality that is the Auroville we know is that there is no central Point that is capable of ‘holding the city-consciousness together’. Hence there is only chaos there as a result. But this was no fault of the Mother, insofar as she did give the key to the true foundation of the City. And here we have used that key in our work, with accurate and measurable results.

A further point is that the Matrimandir was described as ‘the soul’ of the City. And this provides another clue to the process I am describing. You see, as stated, when you are dealing with matter this question of DETAIL comes to the fore. At the same time, when dealing with matter the question of the soul’s role is immediately introduced, because the soul is the nexus of being in material creation.

Now with this you can perhaps begin to draw certain important correlations: the soul, the Individual Divine, the Third member of the Solar Line, the Temple, the question of ‘perfection in detail’. All of this begins to make very logical and coherent sense. We understand fully why the Descent was arranged the way it has been and why, at this stage, we are faced with the question of Measure in the first place, why the Mother insisted on ‘accurate measurements’ and that she wanted ‘only an engineer’ and not an architect because accuracy was of the utmost importance. And we also realise why this was so hotly combated in Auroville: we are dealing with the ‘mire of detail’ in this issue. It is like the city of New York: from above it is clean and pristine and an exquisite creation of man; but when we descend we see the other side, and we may be appalled. The same applies to the City and the Temple. In the plan stage these were impeccable creations; the Mother’s original plan of the Chamber is unparalleled, it is a perfect cosmos and a replica of the Soul in Matter as the binding nexus of a material creation.

But when in the process of bringing that perfect Vision into the material plane – that is, in EXECUTING the plans the Mother left – then we are confronted with those unpleasant facts which we would rather ignore: the murkiness of the detail, with all the knots that have come into being in this material plane because Supermind has not been the overt ruling Principle in creation. This can explain why the work of Sri Aurobindo and the Mother and our present contribution is always so entangled, so difficult, so obstructed. We are working through those knots in the course of our collective endeavour. There is no ‘sunlit path’ here; there is only one direction. And that is through the entire wheel and all its various ‘points’. Precisely because we are dealing with an INTEGRAL REALISATION. …

…‘[To] help you out of the impasse, all you need to do is to observe the ACTUAL and REAL course Sri Aurobindo’s yoga and work have taken.... You see, if you ignore this, then the stagnation in the Ashram and the chaos in Auroville and the split between those two bodies of their work would not make sense at all. But when you do see those ‘disasters’ on the background of this larger vision and fuller knowledge, then it is perfectly clear and ‘all is as it should be.’ (from            Lori Tompkins 360lotus@gmail.com to  "Tusar N. Mohapatra" tusarnmohapatra@gmail.com date    29 January 2010 06:24 subject another SEOF submission) The New Way: A Study in the Rise and Establishment of a Gnostic Society (Two Volumes in One), The Gnostic Circle. A Synthesis in the Harmonies of the Cosmos, The hidden manna, being the Revelation called Apocalypse of John the Divine with complete text and commentaries, Time & Imperishability, The Magical Carousel & Commentaries (2 vol set), Symbols and the Question of Unity

Madhav-ji, you say that Superman is not needed to steer the Ashram and its people in the right direction

pranab, we should stir ourselves before things cross the brink 25 Mar 2009 the response was a valuable correspondence between sri madhav pandit and pranab-da, both leaders in their own right and in their respective fields carrying influence and impact which is more than evident. ...

the present administration is or feels powerless to arrest ... 25 Mar 2009 well, pranab, i have done for the moment. i have trodden many a path in these matters and have acutely realised where and how i could and should have done vastly better. But lost opportunities do not come again—at any rate in the same form. I have a deep feeling that the Mother is offering us opportunities to vindicate the truth of Her life. With much love, Yours affectionately, Madhav 28.11.91

Pranab - Pranab Bhattacharya has been a resident and highly influential member of the Sri Aurobindo Ashram since 1945. From an early period during this stay, he was made responsible for the Physical Education

Overview  ... (“Narad”) to Ashram trustees, 1 October 2008 (RE) Notice by Kittu Reddy (“Pranab’s Proposal”) , mass email dated 11 October 2008 (KR) These materials...

Pranab's Proposal - Notice by Kittu Reddy displayed on the Ashram's notice board and mass emailed on 11 October 2008. PRANAB'S PROPOSAL By writing the book "The Lives of Sri Aurobindo", Peter Heehs ha

Email from Ananda Reddy to Pavitra  ... asuric forces to raise their heads once again. The first shots of this battle were heard in 1986-87 when Pranabda and Jugalda had raised their voices against such tendencies in the works coming out o...

The Strange Case of Dr. M and Mr. S  ... he supported a movement which has called for such acts? He should at least have protested against “Pranab’s Proposal,” posted in the Ashram in October 2008, which demanded, among ot...

hee-hee – hah-hah & co 28 Dec 2008 the line which (pranab) bhattacharya accuses of deleting was deleted by aurobindo himself.” ' saaba states that this is a blatant lie by hee-hee – hah-hah & co and is the product of their fertile imaginations. ...

a decade ago we campaigned against power mongers within sri ... 30 Jun 2008 pranab bhattacharya, the ashram's physical education director, points out in his book i remember “the editor must have thought, himself to be very clever in avoiding one line and bringing changes perhaps thinking that it could change ...

pournaprema, the mother's granddaughter 27 Oct 2008  dada [pranab kumar bhattacharya] told everyone not to speak a word about it. it was not declared until dawn.” we discussed some other matters after that; after a while, pournaprema asked me: “how many people do you know in the ashram? 

today is sujata-di's second death anniversary 3 May 2009 after the mother left her body pranab said certain things which were absolutely rubbish because in mother's agenda, there were certain instructions related to the mother's cataleptic trance which might look like death. 

all of you all along knew all about this book but slept over it 17 Oct 2008 - 07.07.87 by pranab bhattacharya did not bring any result , most relevant excerpt of which runs as follows : peter is an ashramite, eating ashram food, staying here on ashram expenses and enjoying all its facilities.

peter's life has become a high security risk for the ashram 15 Nov 2008 subject my letter to pranab.pranab is our only hope. his timely action on peter has brought great confidence in us.

heehs has used several passages from unpublished manuscripts 7 Sep 2009 subject sri aurobindo you can put in blog or your domain. 09.09.09. mr. pranab bhattacharjee ...

why don't you come over and take a fresh mandate 1 May 2009 it is really strange that despite him being involved with such controversies for so long, involving a long drawn court case as well, he is being considered indispensable,…despite respected veterans like pranab da and jugal da pointing ...

pranab is our only hope 16 Feb 2009 pranab is our only hope. sex harrasment, ashram adv's role in legal work. for the prosecution of peter. auroville today; banish ph by narad ...

manoj das gupta camouflages his complicity 17 Oct 2008 by Tusar N Mohapatra it is not easy to decipher what prompted manoj das gupta to undergo the trouble of writing his reply to pranab in long hand; to stress humility and subordination on his part, perhaps; and to camouflage his complicity. ... savitri era party disapproves pranab's talibanistic diktat 12 Oct 2008   

when one thought that the controversy over peter heehs has petered out during the festivities, comes this fatwa signed by pranab on 10-10-2008 to “destroy” the book, the lives of sri aurobindo. savitri era party, however, ...

morals or money? 2 Feb 2009
that manoj could muster temerity to defy pranab is now part of mythology. but whether the driving force was morals or money is not that clear as banerji seems to imply. [tnm]

savitra smites 2 May 2009   

whether the exit of dk roy and barin da was really graceful is a matter for historians to adjudicate. savitra's "proposal" however is no less pernicious than that of pranab. [tnm] at 12:42 pm.

savitri era party is thankful to all those who have participated ... 4 Jun 2009

the party, therefore, defends the book in toto as a work of art and disapproves pranab's proposal for destroying the same. the party, further, is against the govt. order prohibiting the publication and distribution of the book in india ...

Pranab Kumar Bhattacharya « The Mother's Lasso

Pranab Kumar Bhattacharya was born on 18.10.23, in a family of respectable lineage staying at ....

Pranab passes on January 8, 2010 9 Jan 2010  

Mirror of Tomorrow Re: Pranab Kumar Bhattacharya (Dada) 18 October 1922—8 January 2010

all orissa sri aurobindo study circle conference souvenir 2007 27 Apr 2007  this was what dada (sri pranab kumar bhattacharya) had recently expressed as he gently replied to a query by prasad and nirakar as to what attitude we should take in the present circumstances. pranabda's other advice was “harmony at ...

udar's immense enthusiasm and commitment to the mother's work 7 Feb 2009 these forty-two songs, written and composed by pranab bhattacharya over the course of many years beginning around 1967, appear in their original bengali with english translations. musical notations have also been provided. ...

practical suggestions for an experimental institution of integral ... 2 Nov 2007 pranab kumar bhattacharya publisher: sri aurobindo ashram publication department, pondicherry binding: soft cover pages: 81 price: rs 55. this book offers five different exercise programmes, each designed to give ...

from the road it seems that the sea has gone further down. no one ... 13 Jun 2008 shyam sundar reminisced that the mother with pranab graced each. dredging and shifting and littoral drifting. gradually narrowed the beach, a precious thing. stormy and raging sea was the result of terrible tsunami ...

Aurora Mirabilis: Even if it takes a thousand years Auroville will be Pranab has been the instrument for my moving to Auroville, twenty-five years ago: he did not accept my small child to attend the Ashram kindergarten because of my relationship with Auroville . ...

the Orchid and the rOse: Pranab: A royal death! [Savitri Era of those who adore, Om Sri Aurobindo & The Mother.] Director, Savitri Era Learning Forum. [SELF posits a model of counselling and communicative ...